She ran through the dimmed hallway, stretching endlessly only today. The pictures of all his ancestors seemed to sneer at her, watching prey run around before the predator finally snaps its neck in half. The only place that she had in mind was the library nearby. But she had to cross it off; Caius would know she would be there.
"Young miss." Diana, the kitchen maid whose daughter and son played with Gideon all the time, dragged her to the laundry room. She closed the door and locked it.
Odette looked around and stared back at her, confused.
"We heard noises from the kitchen. Toby saw you running down the hallway." She hurriedly grabbed her arm gently and ushered her down a pair of stairs. "Our late madam had a place..." She smiled with grief-etched eyes. "She would hide there when our late master would wreak havoc."
"Are you..." Odette gulped and took a deep breath. "Are you helping me?"
Diana nodded. "You have been especially kind to my children." She smiled. "This is what I can do to repay you." She looked at the door closing them off from the unnerving feeling creeping towards them. Pointing at the wooden door at the end of the stairs.
"When you go out of this door, run across the field, past the chicken coop. There will be a plant conservatory named the Garden Room." She pushed her gently. "Stay there and hide until I send Toby over, okay?"
Odette nodded and hurried down the stairs. One last time, she glanced up and bowed her head, acknowledging the kindness that was shown towards her. Diana watched as the young woman left through the door. When it closed shut, she almost felt like her old mistress was alive again... running away from a man who chained her to this doomed mansion.
When Odette reached the field, the skies were grey—there was going to be rain. Without wasting a second, she took one last glance at the vast sky above and the green field in front of her, and she ran. She ran until she found a small, neatly paved road covered by tall trees and engulfed by the dim sky. There were two women near the chicken coop, and they bowed... She wondered whether they knew that she was sent by Diana.
When she was passing by, one woman smiled and rested her finger on her lip, nodding as if she understood. This made no sense for Odette. Had there been a woman before her, like Diana said, who came here so often that any other woman running towards that place was deemed helpless and seeking shelter to hide?
The path ended when she was met with an octagonal building made purely out of glass, yet nothing inside was seen, for it was filled with various types of greenery. She entered and locked the doors, then she walked around and locked the windows. All around stood tall trees that would fit inside the conservatory, various flowers, tables of equipment needed to tend to them—they all scattered into one art piece.
Odette walked around to find a place where no one would be able to spot her through the glass walls. Hearing a simple patter of the rain, she could foreshadow a night-long gloomy weather.
"I will stay here." She sat on a wooden platform that had a brown couch and some books. They were dusted and kept clean, and she assumed it was done by the maids, faithful to their late mistress. Heaving out and letting the silence seep in, she slowly started to let the situation sink in.
When night drew in, Odette almost screamed when someone lightly knocked on the doors. She had fallen asleep. From the outside, there was another knock once again—gentler. She slowly stood up, walking towards the door behind the greenery. She could not make a sound as well, lest it alert anyone who had harmful intentions towards her.
The sound of rain... leaves dripping water, and the distant sound of chickens clucking... that was all she heard. No more knocking, no more sounds.
Suddenly, the entire dimmed conservatory lit up. One by one, the bright lights fixed upon the glass dome above her flicked on. She could only watch in fear—her eyes wide open and her lips taking in big breaths. Odette's vision traveled through every light, adding brightness to the room, and finally fell on the glass wall in front of her.
"AH!"
Caius stood outside. Gaze locked onto hers, eyes holding malicious intent no different from a feral beast. With him stood four men, and she could clearly see the blood splatters on his face and shirt. Her legs gave way.
"Please... God... help please," she pleaded inside, yet no one was around—not Nathaniel, not Diana, not Toby or anyone. At the thought of Nathaniel, her heart froze in fear, and an expanse of possibilities flooded in. She fearfully stared at the man who stood unwavering, eyes not blinking a second away from her. They were only divided by a thick glass wall.
A few minutes of silence, and he smiled at her, as if he found a lost loved one. Then she heard a muffled chain of words and saw the men behind him raise their guns. At his next command, they were going to shoot the door down. Odette felt her chest heaving as she realized what was about to unfold. With her heart thumping louder and her hands and legs shaking, she forcefully stood up, staggering to turn away and ran into the greenery.
After a few minutes of her running into the thicket, she heard loud bangs and the thick glass shatter. She did not stop—she ran and made turns and cried out while she sought a proper place to hide. One by one, she could hear how the sounds, once muffled, seeped in like venom through the shattered doors.
Loud sounds of rain, the trees bellowing in the wind, and the chickens screeching as a response to the gunshots—all these added to the loud footsteps.
"No one is permitted to come in!" Odette could hear Caius order his men, and they all yelled in unison, "YES, SIR!"
I'm not letting him hurt me today. With this thought in her mind, she quickly hid behind a big tree trunk. Nearby, she saw a table, and upon it were scattered a few garden tools.
Silence.
She could only hear her loud heartbeat, hastily trying to break through her chest. Slowly, she took some steps forward, hand clasped on her mouth. She walked forward. The path was made of soil; various bushes of jasmine and small trees of tangerine framed the path. Under the light and the loud rain, she walked one step at a time, eyes and ears open.
"You know, my mom used to come here too."
Like a block of ice instantly melting onto her head, fear crept over her, and she looked back to see him at a considerable distance. With eyes lined with rage, reddened at the nerves, he began to advance towards her—and she wasted no time scurrying away.
Caius was not planning to let her out of his grasp easily. He rushed behind and latched onto her arm, pulling her fast. Odette did not have time to even scream when a painful tug landed her on his chest. Her face knocked into him, head hitting his chin. She yelped and tried to pry herself off, but another strong hand held her tight.
Caius observed. Her face was beaded with sweat, and her entire body was a little cold. She had tears swelling in her eyes and traveling in streams. Her chest heaved up and down, visibly panicking.
"You thought I could not find you?" he said. Odette looked at him and muttered, almost like a whisper, "I'm sorry. Don't hurt me."
Caius sighed. "Odette... I would never hurt you." He leaned over, and their faces were right in front of each other. Under the loud rain, he observed her fear-filled face. Pain erupted within him; there was guilt and self-hatred for putting her through this.
"I don't know why you kissed me that night," Odette stuttered. She looked away, but in an instant, her demanding eyes locked onto his. "Let me go, and we will be even."
Eyes losing their light, he shook his head. Bringing one hand to her cheek, he cupped her face and pulled her close. "You really don't know why I did that?"
Odette could feel his other hand slithering behind her, latching onto her waist. She backed away, but he held her firmly. "When I saw you at your home..." She huffed and looked away. "I thought it was just me feeling gratitude." She could feel his eyes traverse her face. "When you stayed here, when time went on... I watched you. I watched how you made my heart burn whenever I saw you."
At this utterance, her eyes naturally stared at his face. He was serious. There were no traces of violence or a smile. "You..."
"I like you, Odette." The fingers holding her waist rested upon her face. Now he was holding her face like a precious diamond. His eyes close to hers, breathing against each other. Caius could see how taken aback she was by his words. As usual, her eyes widened, her lips parted, and her breathing froze. She stared at him in disbelief for a second and then held his arms that were holding her face... looking down.
He followed her eyes.
"Caius... I-I—" She did not know what to say. This man—the one who owns almost half of this country's worth—likes her. Should she be happy? No! She never thought of him that way. She never wanted to live in this dangerous extravagance like he did. And she never fell for him.
"Yeah?" Caius had eyes filled with hope. Empty eyes filled with hope. Odette pursed her lips and faced him.
"I never thought of you that way," she said.
He blinked, and there was grief drawn on his face—so much burden etched on his forehead. He blinked as if he had lost his breath for a second and smiled mockingly. It followed on to a chuckle as he looked away, laughing while looking around. She felt his hands free her, earning a stagger.
He was showing traces of emotions she could never put a word to, but it had to be said. "When we spent those times together, I really felt safe. Thank you."
He looked at her mockingly, letting out a breath. "When you listened to me..." her heart ached. "It felt nice. But I've never thought of you—that way."
At this statement, he lost it. With one sudden move forward, he cornered her against a tree nearby. She could feel her back hit the bark. One hand blocking her from escape, he leaned down, touching her nose with his. Slowly, he whispered, "Look me in the eye and say that you did not feel anything for me at all, one more time."
Odette was tired of being cornered. Every time she was this close to him, her heart would jump out and do a tumble. This time, she was scared of the way he wreaked havoc on the people she cherished. She knew that he would change... Someone who was from a background like his would never match a common person like her. What he was exposed to, she would have never known if it was not for her act of kindness ten years ago.
Caius felt his chest burn. It was rising to his throat. He was beyond hurt by her words. He knew that she would never love him. She would fear him just like others. This curse of a life, this cursed bloodline haunted him, and it broke him to the core when the one person he loved was right there thinking of ways to reject him. He grabbed her hand and held it tight against the tree next to her face.
She took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes. "I really never thought of you that way."
"Liar!" Caius viciously whispered and closed their distance. Before Odette could react, his lips crashed onto hers.