Old Baggage
Charlie gets up to answer the door. We were in the middle of dinner. I watch Blue cock her head to the side and then Ivy. I follow their curious gaze to the entrance of the dining room and see what roused their attention. Sally dressed immaculately in a skin fitting red cocktail dress with matching high heel pumps. I vaguely wonder where Chance is, her loving slave. She rarely leaves anywhere without him.
The devil in a red dress, I think.
I continue to eat, avoiding her altogether. She doesn’t deserve the gift of my acknowledgment. A sexy smirk plays on Ivy’s lips. Ivy knows all about Sally. Ivy knows everything, well, except that I keep Isabel locked away in the dungeon of my childhood home of horrors. Blue’s gaze alters from curious to watchful to deadly in a matter of seconds. Blue is aware of who Sally is to me, which means she’s aware that Sally is a threat to Ivy and Blue doesn’t do well with anything that threatens Ivy. Blue and I have a common foe and I can’t help but think this should be a reason to celebrate.
Out the corner of my eye, I notice Sally cross her arms over her chest and lean against the wall. Charlie glances at me and then at Sally. He does this twice and then curses under his breath, snatching his plate and glass of wine off the table. Charlie moves his dinner upstairs. He knows that I can’t tolerate Sally, but he doesn’t know why. I never told him what she did to me. I don’t have the courage. I swear Blue’s irritation only peaks when Charlie leaves. Ivy must feel the undeniable tension because she reaches out and squeezes me and Blue’s hand on top of the table.
“I love you, Hunter. I love you, Blue,” Ivy avows, looking between the both of us.
“Hunter,” Sally snaps.
“Love you too,” I whisper, completely disregarding Sally.
Blue grips Ivy’s hand in response.
Never one to be ignored, Sally walks up to the table and blatantly sits in Charlie’s vacant chair. She grabs a nearby knife and viciously stabs the black placemat as if she wishes it was one of us instead. Ivy jumps and Blue simultaneously yanks the lodged knife out of the wood and has it aimed at Sally’s jugular.
Running a hand down Ivy’s back, I soothe the tense muscles there. I’ve learned to never display fear when Sally is around. She feeds off it. It’s better to keep it suppressed and well hidden from her view. Ivy settles back in her chair, squeezing my knee under the table. Ivy isn’t particularly strong when it comes to confrontation. But that’s what she has Blue for.
“Hunter, control your pit bull, will you,” Sally says through gritted teeth.
Blue adds more pressure to the knife against Sally’s throat. “This pit bull will rip your spine from your throat.”
“Blue, please,” Ivy whispers.
Sally gasps when Blue nicks her beneath her chin before reluctantly removing the blade. Wanting to rid myself of Sally as soon as possible I give her the one thing she craves: attention. “Sense you have so kindly blessed me with your presence, what can I do you for?”
Snatching a napkin from under an empty plate, Sally holds it to her bleeding cut under her chin. Her darkening brown eyes land on mine and I have to force myself to keep the vomit down my throat, because seeing those eyes, those deadly familiar dark eyes causes me to become physically ill and utterly disgusted. It’s unnerving in the most horrifying way. She represents everything I despise, right down to the very fiber of her high-end designer dress. Sally is simply a young modern day Grace. She helps herself to some wine and then she smiles malevolently down in her glass. “I see that Charlie’s in town. How’s family bonding coming along?”
“Great, actually. But I’m sure you didn’t come all this way to concern yourself about my family affairs now.”
“Plus, infliction of any kind of pain is sort of your thing. Right, Grace?” Ivy says through an impish grin.
Sally’s brows raise and she nods her head. “Ivy is it? I’m impressed with you. You’ve done some research. Well, I’ve done quite a bit of research myself.” Her darkening irises turn black as a moonless night and slides over to me.
My chest tightens and I squeeze the fork in my hand harder. Now I know that my suspicions about Sally’s intent are all confirmed. She came to harm and destroy. That’s the only will Sally understands. “Yes, quite a bit of research. Blue, are you enjoying your stay here? I know Hunter and he can be a bit…inhospitable at times. He means well, though.”
Blue lifts a roll to her lips, taking a huge chunk from it. Blue’s attitude towards Sally is so dismissive I could laugh if I didn’t have to worry about vomiting first. “Another word from you to me, Sally,” Blue says through a mouthful of bread without bothering to give her the simplest of looks, “and I will sever your tongue from your mouth and shove it very far up your anus. You will learn the real value of shit talking as the Americans say.”
Ivy laughs and Sally swallows loudly. I entertain myself with the visual in my head. “It’s good news that I’ve come to chat with Hunter, then.” She takes a hefty gulp from her glass and looks at me. “Hunter, it doesn’t surprise me that Caleb isn’t here with you and Charlie. Like I said, I’ve done my research about you and your lovely new girlfriends. But more importantly, girlfriend is more like it.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Ivy asks, irritably.
Sally lips turn up on the sides. “Everything, sweet girl.” She digs a folded piece of paper from her bra and hands it to Ivy. “Would you be a dear and hand that to Blue? I would do it myself but I’m rather fond of my fingers—pit bulls are such ghastly creatures at times.”
Ivy stares down at the paper in her hand for a moment but then passes it to Blue. Blue unfolds it, her eyes narrowing on something I can’t see.
“What is it?” Ivy whispers to Blue.
“Impossible,” Blue murmurs.
Sally smiles and clasps her hands with a musical laugh from hell. “Hunter do you know why Caleb hates Charlie?”
“No. But I’m sure you’re going to enlighten me.”
“This cannot be,” Blue breathes.
My stomach is tied in knots. Blue never wavers from the cold hearted devil she is. Now I’m curious about what’s on that piece of paper she’s holding. Whatever it is, it’s causing her distress. Despite me and Blue’s dislike for each other, it’s not sitting well with me that Sally is upsetting her.
“Charlie has a way with the ladies as you and I know,” Sally says, “But his little indiscretion is sitting right in front of your nose. How does it feel to be one big happy family with your new cousin, Blue? As I remember, incest was a hard limit for you, Hunter. No?”
The dread in my stomach intensifies when Blue’s trembling hand comes toward me, holding the creased paper. My eyes scan over it when I take it. It’s a copy of a picture. It’s Caleb. He’s dining outside a restaurant with a woman, who appears to be around the same age. I squint at the photo, attempting to see the woman’s features more clearly. My heart skips a beat as I take in her face. The unmistakable blue eyes and blonde hair. It’s like staring at Blue’s twin. She’s obviously Caleb’s half sister and Blue’s mother and my…aunt.
“Charlie!” I yell.
***
Isabel
A strong hand holds mine back as a cluster of feathers explode from the ripped pillow. My body tenses, bracing for the beating I’m sure will come. I’ve wrecked the room. I broke the mirror in the bathroom with the thought of a vengeful suicide on my mind. Hunter wasn’t too careful. I wanted to prove that point to him. I wanted him to comprehend that I am still in control over me. But when it came to actually going through with it, I couldn’t. I had the shard of glass right under my throat; my haunted reflection in the shattered mirror prevented me from the peace I wanted.
Infuriated at myself and Hunter and everyone, I took the jagged shard of glass and tore apart the mattress, sheets, and pillows. I temporally lost my sanity. I wanted to cause more damage but everything else was out of my reach because of the chains. Now the room is covered in a thick layer of white down. If I had an imagination I could pretend it was a majestic snowy wonderland. It was too quiet. I am alone way too often. It felt like I was losing my mind. I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed noise, even if I was the one causing it.
“Beat me. I don’t care anymore,” I murmur into eerie silence with my chest heaving. “Maybe if you beat me heard enough, all of my misery will finally fade away and come to an end.”
“I’m not going to beat you,” says a male voice.
Soulful brown eyes meet mine when I turn around. Taking in a sharp inhale, my fingers loosen around the shard of glass and it falls, clinking raucously when it lands between us. “Chance…what are you doing here?” It’s Sally’s slave, Chance. The one she brought with her that night she told me about the aborted babies.
He opens his mouth but I cling to him in desperate need to get out of here. “Please, you have to help. Hunter…I don’t want to be here. You have to help me escape, Chance. Please.”
His eyes roam over my panic-stricken face and then his gaze drifts down to my collar. Something in his eyes alters. He no longer looks perplexed. If I’m not mistaken…he looks envious. But of what, though? His slender fingers tap against the metal collar. “I’m not allowed to wear mine in public. You have the real deal, I see.”
My hands hold his outreached wrist. “No. I don’t want the real deal, Chance. I want out. Please help?” I release him when he drops his hand. My heart fills with glee and relief as he pulls out his mobile cell. I can be free of Hunter now. I can see Max again. God, do I miss Max. The thought of him and Birthday waiting at home for me brings tears to my eyes. I don’t dear let them drop though. It’s much too early to celebrate. Chance looks down at the phone in his hand and back up to me. He stares down at his mobile cell, at my freedom, with more hesitation and apprehension than I am expecting.
“Chance?” I whisper, my stomach filling with nauseating dread.
“I was supposed to call and report back to Sally,” he says as if I never spoke, “but I can’t tell her I found you down here. She’ll…” he doesn’t finish his sentence. Chance leaves it open for interpretation.
“You’re not going to call the police and help me get out of here, are you?”
His dark brows furrow and he swallows hard as he stuffs his phone back into his jean pocket. “Please understand, Isabel. I am helping you. It may not be in the way you wish…but in my own special way, I am offering you my services the best I can.”
I’m astonished and utterly baffled by Chance’s genuine words. But I can somehow understand completely where he’s coming from. He’s offering me aid by not reporting back to Sally. Going against her is something Chance probably never does.
“She would hurt me. Wouldn’t she?”
He studies me for a moment. “Hurt, yes. Harm, no. Sally is more merciful than you think. What Sally is…it’s just a persona. Nothing more. She enjoys manipulating people’s perception.”
“Aborting three babies isn’t merciful to me. Sally is just sheer evil. That is no persona Chance. You need to wake up while you’re still breathing.”
He snorts, unamused. “I can see why you think that.” Chance pauses for moment, contemplating on something. “If I keep your secret, will you keep mine?”
With my back to the tattered mattress, I spread my arms wide open like wings and drop like a fallen angel on the bed. Bits of fluffy white down fly in a flurry around me. This is my hell for now. I might as well make it my home.
Chance mimics my action and even more white feathers swirl around us. It’s like we really are angels inside a snow globe. “I will keep your secret, Chance. But just…visit me from time to time. Okay? I feel like I’m going insane.”
“I’ll visit you when I can. If Sally catches on to me…it wouldn’t be pretty. I love her, Isabel. She’s all I dream about, all I ever wanted, all I care about. I wake up in the mornings and thank God she’s still by my side. I have never been luckier. I love her.”
Although Chance is speaking perfect English, I can’t comprehend a single word he’s saying. It’s like he’s speaking a foreign language to me.
How can he love a monster like Sally Baker?
“Secrets,” I prompt. “I’m good at keeping them.” Chance will likely be the only friend I get to see while I am in captivity.
“Sally didn’t abort the babies.” He inhales through his nose and stares at the ceiling. “She could never carry them full term.”