My mattress sank with the weight of the monster, and I squeezed my eyes tight. I could smell the alcohol on his breath. The covers were ripped off me, and in the dim light from the window, he looked even scarier.
“It’s time to play our game, little girl,” he said as he ran his big hands over my thighs, lifting my cotton nightgown. I started shivering. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt like the last times. My stomach twisted in disgust recalling them, and I wanted to throw up. He pulled down my cotton panties, and I shivered.
“It’s my turn, daddy,” I heard a small voice. I turned to find Gabe standing beside the bed. I hadn't even heard the door open. No, he shouldn’t be here. This was what I did so the monster wouldn’t hurt Gabe.
“You want to play too?” The monster asked. I curled up and shut my eyes, covering my ears to drown out my brother’s screams, but they still followed me into my dreams. He never came into my room again. Gabe and I never spoke of what happened that night or any night after, but I heard Gabe’s door opening, and I heard the screams. I cried myself to sleep every night, promising that I’d save us both one day.
I shut the door behind me, my ears thrumming, my heart pounding. That was not my brother down there. He was absolutely gone, and Arthur was responsible. He was deluding himself into thinking that our father would come for us, he didn’t understand that man the way we did. My father did not give a shit about Gabriel or me. He’d abused us, he hated us, so why on earth would he save us? I could not even rely on my mother to do that.
I sank to the floor against the door, tears streaming down my face while a wave of seething anger for the man that held me captive burned in my chest. I decided that I would end Arthur if it was the last thing I did. I would find a way, get a weapon and slice that motherfucker’s throat, and his men would follow.
* * *
Someone knocked at the door, my eyes snapped open, and I panicked for a second in the darkness. Another knock followed, and I realized I’d fallen asleep in a seated position on the floor. I stood, my legs numb and wobbly. I felt along the wall for a light switch and turned it on. I squinted and opened the door.
A young woman stood before me in housekeeping uniform. “Can I help you?” I asked.
“Mr. Calthorpe has asked me to assist you in getting ready for dinner.”
I looked at the clock on the wall, realizing it was six thirty. How long had I been out for?
“You can tell that asshole I am not hungry and will not be dining with him.” I was sure to use a his fancy accent on the word dining.
“He said you might say that but asked that I remind you that you have an agreement.”
I slammed the door in her face. “Sorry, Ms. Muffet, but I don’t follow his rules.”
I stepped into the extravagant bathroom and peeled off my clothing. I turned on the shower and brushed my teeth. I would only use personal hygiene essentials, I reminded myself.
I stepped into the spray and used the vanilla scented shower gel to lather myself. Was it a coincidence that he had the exact brand I used?
I turned off the shower and wrapped myself in a fluffy towel, drying my hair with another.
I entered the room and sighed. There was Arthur himself, sitting in an armchair in my room.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“Escorting the lady to dinner.” He said smoothly.
“I already told your minion I’m not hungry, so it was a wasted trip.” I continued to dry my hair with the second towel until it hung in strands over my shoulder. “So, if you’d be on your way.”
“I’ll wait for you to get dressed and we can leave together.” His face was expressionless.
“No,” I said, staring into his eyes. His jaw ticked. “I will not be having dinner with a tyrant like you. Just like I will not be wearing those clothes you got me, and I will not be dictated to. Not by you or any of your goons.
“You’re testing my patience, Gaia.”
“What are you going to do? Lock me away in one of those dungeons you have downstairs? Fuck me like one of those whores you keep? You think I am afraid of that, asshole? I fear nothing.”
He stood and walked up to me. His chest rose and fell, and I could tell he was struggling to keep his composure. I poked at his hard chest. “I have had monsters like you under my bed for years. Don’t think you’re special.”
He glared down at me. “Get dressed and meet me downstairs, or I’ll take you down there in this towel. If you want things to get ugly, they can, and fast. I have no idea why I haven’t done exactly what you just said. Locked you in a dungeon where the most brute of my men could have their way with you. Pretty thing like you can drive a man to madness.”
“Like I’ve driven you, Arthur? You want me wrapped around that dick of yours, don’t you?” I used my most alluring voice.
He gripped my chin,our eyes meeting, his as dark as night. “Get down there, because I won’t be so kind the next time I ask.”
And with that, he left, and my heart thudded against my chest. There was something in those dark eyes that finally scared the shit out of me. It was as if he was soulless. Perhaps fear wasn’t imaginary after all.
