A silent menace:
So, the heart of Zoey drum beats in the cold calculated eyes of Lily as she stares at her. Through flickering candlelight, shadows danced on Lily's face, making her appear even more sinister than ever before.
"Think you're smart, ain't you?" breathed Lily, with a keen-voiced low note, like a dagger. "Getting Alex's attention. Do you think this is some fairytale where the maid gets the prince?"
"Shh." It was almost cleaving the voice. She glared, and on her eyes were razor-sharp edges. So, you will listen very closely to me, If you ever, and I mean ever, get near Alex again, I will make you regret it. I am going to have my men come and throw you out so fast you will beg to disappear.
Zoey felt like she was stuck in a vice grip as her throat closed.
"I won't tell you that Alex is going to save you," Lily smirked, the thin lips curling into that familiar cruel smirk. That's just about how he sees you as toy. And in that instant he calculates it, you won't have anyone left."
The words hit her as though thrown punches; fists bunched, hands curled tightly at her sides.
"Do you understand me?" hissed Lily, the words bloodied against the flickering candlelight creating shadows all over.
Zoey feebly nodded, the power of her speech somehow lost in the atmosphere.
Lily grinned, satisfaction shining through her face. "Good. Stay in your place, Zoey. That's where you belong."
She turned around sharply and left Zoey trembling in the dark as the echoes of Lily's footsteps faded down the hall.
A Decision in the Night:
Impossible to sleep, Zoey lay awake, staring at the ceiling of her small room, with Lily's words echoing in her mind.
"What are you? No one... Keep your place," she was filled with tears by this. Lily tortured Zoey for months. All she could tell herself was that it was all worth the suffering because, at least, she had a small chance of escaping real poverty and reshaping the life of her family. And now? Now it finally reached a point when it felt as if living in a dream-the kind you could be stuck in, waking without ever knowing if you were awake or dreaming. And then there is also Alex. He has been nice and offers hope-and it is a bad hope. She could not let herself think it meant he really cared. Not for everything would turn into a loss. "I need to go," she whispered to herself. That thought, however, terrified her. Nowhere to go but then it's far more dangerous than the rest to be left here under Lily's constant scrutiny.
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Next day Before the sun had the chance to shoot its rays towards the land, Zoey was already quietly putting her things into an old small bag. Every creak of another noise hearing the hallway, every touch on floorboards, made her heart pound. But time was running out. Carefulness might do here-everything could come tumbling down if Lily saw how it was happening; and now, just for the little time that remained.
She heard a familiar voice coming from behind while sneaky along the service hallway and reached the back entrance. "Where are you going?"
Zoey spun around to see Alex standing there, his brows furrowed in concern. "Mr. Alex-," "Where are you going?" he asked again, stepping closer and then looking at the bag in her hand. "You're leaving?"
She bowed down her head. "I have to go." "Why?" Alex demanded, his voice soft but urgent, "Is this because of Lily? Did she say something to you?" "Please, Mr. Alex," Zoey whispered. "You don't understand." "Then help me understand," Alex said, his voice breaking slightly. "Zoey, you don't have to run. If it's about Lily, I can talk to her-"
"No," she screamed, and before she knew it, her voice trembled and tears came rushing down her cheeks. "You cannot fix it, Alex. You have no idea what she can do. You don't know who I am." Alex froze, a painful expression sliding onto his face at the next question he asked her. "What do you mean?" "No, let me answer," she shook her head. He reached for her arm but it was shrouded in a gentle hold. "Please, Zoey. Don't leave like this." "I have to," said Zoey, her voice quaking. "It's better this way." In silence, they remained for a moment, the discomfort loud in the unspoken language for the two. Finally, he released her, and his hand fell to his side. "If you walk away now, Zoey... I might not be able to ever find you again." She looked up at him, and her heart broke at the desolation reflected in his eyes: "Goodbye, Mr. Alex." And she turned and walked away, with the door softly closing behind her. The Outside World No plan, no destination-only that she couldn't remain in that house any longer. For hours she walked through the streets of the city, her bag clutched tightly as the sun crept ever higher in the sky.
Outside, it was different and hard. She passed busy market stalls and streets thronged with bustle, through buildings that seemed to close in. For the first time, she saw how very small she was in this world. What now?
Her feet felt sore, and her belly rumbled with hunger, but still she walked on. There was no stopping; that was thinking about Alex, and the home she had left behind, and the unknowable future that stretched waiting in front of her.
Once more at Sinclair Mansion
Alex sat isolated in the garden before the flowering roses that Zoey had tended to at midnight last night. The house was empty, void without her presence.
There stood Lily behind him looking most smug. "I just knew she was not worth it," she said.
Alex didn't look at her. "What did you say to her?"
"Well, only the truth. She is a servant, Alex. Someday, you will thank me when you will realize how right I was," Lily answered with a shrug.
The tautness around his jaws showed in that he didn't reply. It was a dull ache in the heart which insisted on being there.
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The Shadows of the Past
Evening found Zoey perched just outside the town, gazing at an old abandoned inn. Not much but better than nothing. She walked straight in and booked the cheapest room available with the little money she had saved.
An empty dusty room with some furniture made her remember about her family-her ones with the siblings and mother. They had been left behind to come here for finding work for making a better future, and now she had nothing.
Spent time thinking about Lily and her threats while also thinking of Alex's calling sound. Burying her face in hands, tears rolled down her cheeks.
"What am I gonna do????"
Outside the window, it was turning dark. As thunder rumbled in the distance.