Chapter 4

  Lady Blackwood called Demire and Desire entertainment to inform the people she was meeting at 8:00am that she would be delayed for an hour or two. She also told them they should treat themselves to breakfast, entirely on her.

  Lady Blackwood turned to me before walking out the door.

  “You have anxiety medication you take regularly? Do you have any on you?” I should have known that she knew about the prescriptions I take. Employers must know everything that is going on with their Blood servant, no matter what the issue. Since I have been taking the medication for over six years now, it means she approves it.

  I reached into my bra and took out a small baggy that held 4 anxiety pills. I needed a way to carry them without people becoming suspicious and reporting me for no reason. I was slightly scared of her reaction.

  “Good. Take one now. Do you need any water?” I shook my head no; I can swallow pills dry during the day. However, during the night when I have nightmares, I have cotton mouth, so I need water. I took a pill out and The Lady’s phone rang.

  “What’s wrong!?” She answered, her voice reverting back to the firm tone that she uses with most people. I stared at her.

  “Fuck. Okay. Give me a second.” She shut her phone in a huff. “Take that, do not change and I will be back when I can. I will find you when I am done.” The lady said, then walked off, leaving me standing there confused.

  “Okay.” I laughed awkwardly.

  I did take the medication because she was right. At any point in time, I could be triggered back into an attack. Taking this will prevent that by 65%, however walking around this house wearing this outfit might be a bit problematic.

  I decided to walk up to the library, which is on the opposite side of the house. It may be farther than I was supposed to go, however, majority of the staff and family know if they can’t find me, they go to the library. The library was the first place I found when I came here 10 years ago. It was, and still to this day, the one safe place I have if I don’t have anyone else.

  I would nosedive into books that contained the worlds that were once a place on this old earth. Books of worlds that have been laid to rest by elders, fascists and people who say one thing and will make sure that it is law.

  I roam into books of places that don’t exist but find comfort in because life seems less like a death trap than the life I am currently living. The library is a home that I belong to.

  I walked up the 6 flights of stairs that took me to the Easter Bridge, which is the bridge that connects the east part of the castle to the north part. As I crossed the bridge I heard Ava-Lynn yelling my name. I looked back at the staircase, but she wasn’t behind me.

  “Scarlett!” I heard her again. But I couldn’t pinpoint where she was.

  “Scarlett, down here.” What does she mean down here? Oh no, not again.

  I walked over to the window that looked out into the courtyard. I opened the window and looked over at the wall that holds the staircase I just walked up.

  And there, on the outside of the wall, was Avalynn in her riding clothes and a pair of hiking boots, scaling the outside of the wall. She moved up closer and waved at me with a smile.

  I didn’t know whether to panic, tell her to get into the castle, or both. However, I know Avalynn very well, she is a smart girl, 12 years old and has already skipped two grades. Loves science and loves taking risks, keeping that in mind. If I tell her to get inside there are three possibilities of what she would do. 1. She will climb down the normal way to go inside. (This is the least likely outcome because I am the one telling her to come inside.) 2. She will climb up high and meet me in the library (because the only time I usually cross this bridge in a calm manner is when I am going to the library.) The third option is the option I am most definitely sure is what she is going to do, she will jump onto the bridge structure, then inch her way to the window and ask me to open it. Then say, “I’m inside!”

  “Avalynn, can you please get down from there. You know you’re not…” I thought for a second. Isn’t it Monday? “Avalynn, why aren’t you at school?”

  Avalynn laughed, she then proceeds to jump onto the bridge structure and opens the window near the place she jumped.

  “Wait, you could open them from the other side?” I asked shocked.

  “Of course you can. Remember when Mindy, my cousin, shattered every single window in this area last year? Well mom told the people who came to fix the windows, to make sure all the windows can open and close from both sides. She did it because I took that rock climbing class during the summer and she knew that I would be scaling the wall more often. You didn’t know that, Scarlett?”

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  I sighed. I was happy at this fact because it scared me half to death to open the window while she was so close to it. Nonetheless, I was far away from this part of the castle when they were fixing it.

  “No, I knew nothing of the work that was done in here. I am highly allergic to the chemicals they use to bind the windows in. And please answer my question of why you are not in school right now?”

  “None of us went to school, Aaron told us we could stay home because he needed Micheal, Margery, Charlotte and Malik to come with him to sort something else. So, because they are usually our main people to give us rides, we stayed home.” I nodded my head trying not to show my discomfort.

  I took a breath in and exhaled.

  “I heard. Anyway, I am going to head to the library until your mother calls for me again.” I gave Avalynn a weak smile. I started to walk away.

  “Everything will be okay, right, Scarlett?” I stopped in mid step, my chest tightened and I pivoted back towards Avalynn. I gave her the smile that my sister would always give to me.

  “Of course it will be, honey. Don’t worry so much.” I said, making myself sick to my stomach. Avalynn smiled and walked to the staircase and made her way back downstairs. I stood in that exact place for another minute.

  I shuttered at the thoughts going through my head.

  * * * * *

  15 Years Ago

  “Scarlett are you ready or not. I must get to work, and your father has already left.”

  My mother called me from downstairs. Our house in Vanderbilt was a decent arrangement for a house in the education district. My parents were a type of middle-class worker, Mother worked in a hospital and a clinic, while my father worked in Toronto, which was 3 cities away as a commercial driver. My parents are paid well and with only 2 kids, one in high school and another in college as a graduate student, they were the ideal couple for fair housing.

  “Is Briella home? Maybe she can take me?” I yelled from my room. I was looking for a cute yet noticeable outfit for today. It was a sort of picture day without professional cameras. This was the day when the student body went around and took pictures of the other grades. Since I was a younger high schooler, I had to stand out more than, well more than I really wanted. My old friend Marabella was also in this category; however, we were at different levels. There are grade levels, levels in courses within that grade and level of status. Most people care about grade level and level of status, not so much course level because that only matters to the teachers.

  Marabella and I are very close, we are the same age, we have the same interests, and we never judge each other for anything that went on in our lives. Marabella’s family can be a lot; they are on the lower status. Her father is well into shady business that is allowed in the cities but not talked about. Her mother is … well her mother is her mother. She has 8 other siblings and while she is the 3rd

  oldest, she is treated like she is the parent.

  “Well, you better look and you better look fast because if she isn’t home or she isn’t going to take you. You have 5 minutes to get your ass downstairs and into that car.” I had just found a cute black and pink plaid skirt when I heard my mother yell up the stairs.

  “Shoot.” I ran out of my room still very much in my pajamas. Running down the hall to the last room on the right. I walked in as I knocked on the door.

  “Briella, can you take me to school?” I yelled out.

  Briella’s room was pitch black and there was a strange smell to it. I tried to squint my eyes to see if she was in bed. There was a lump there, so I walked closer to the bed. When the curtains in her room opened flashing a blaring amount of sun into the room, I was almost blinded.

  “Don’t touch shit in my room. Yes, I can take you to school. Just get dressed.”

  Briella had a smile on her face but a twitch in her eye.

  “I was just going to see if you were in bed. Yeesh!”

  “Yeah, and what if there was a naked man under there instead and I was in the bathroom.”

  “Well then, you will have to pay for my therapy.” I laughed and walked out. I ran back into my room and started back into my closet. I finally found the outfit I was going to wear, when I almost forgot to tell mom that Briella was going to take me to school. I was about to run out of my room when I heard mom and Briella talking in the hall outside my bedroom door.

  “Hello, mother. Don’t worry about Scarlett. I’m going to take her to school, and I’ll even pick her up.”

  There was an attitude in my sister’s voice. I walked closer to the door.

  “Why didn’t you tell us that you were home. That’s what you’re supposed to do, you know, since we pay for you to stay at the college.”

  “I mean, I have a room here. I send money every month to keep things afloat here. I am here more than you and father are. So why do I have to announce that I am in the house? You know mom, I think you should go to work before you are late. You know that job that keeps you from coming home to your family… all the time?” Briella seems off today,

  “You stopped going to see Amanda Wilder, haven’t you, Briella?”

  I heard a split silence.

  “No, she moved away, so she dropped me. I can’t see someone who doesn’t want to see me. Right?”

  “Moved away huh.”

  “Yes, mother. She moved away. Why is it so hard to believe a grown-ass woman, with no family, no kids and no visible reason to stay in this God forsaken dump, would stay here?!”

  Another pause.

  “It’s just interesting how everyone you seem to have problems with, just up and move away. Isn’t it Briella? Why do they just move away without letting anyone, but you know?”

  There was another long pause. I put the rest of my shirt on and moved closer to the door. I wanted to see their faces.

  “I don’t think it is. I think they just can’t handle having problems with me. So, they ran before something got out of hand. I mean, they could have been afraid of looking like a fucking coward in front of their families. So, they just told me they would leave. You know mother, I mean you wouldn’t want to look like a coward in front of your family…again. Right?”

  Mother gave a loud sigh.

  “Be careful with your sister. I don’t want any accidents. Do you understand me, Briella?”

  “Crystal clear, Mommy.” Briella said in a taunting tone.

  “Scarlett, if you need me, call me, no matter what, I will come running. But, for now, I’ll see you when I get home.”

  Mom knew I was eavesdropping.

  “Bye mom, Love you.”

  “Love you too. And you as well, Briella.”

  That school day was one of the best days I had. When I got home that night, my life fell into purgatory.