Chapter 5 - Twisted Stories

Twisted Stories

Out in the hall, Ethan stops and takes me by the shoulder, turning me to face him. I focus on the intercut patterns in the carpet under my feet and pray that Terri was not telling the truth. He stands, I can feel him staring at me, before leaning down and softly sniffing. He freezes.

“Someone touched you.” The calmness in his voice was unsettling. I squeeze my eyes shut and my body automatically goes rigid. He stands up and turns, striding down the hall with inhuman speed. I stand there staring after him, fear gripping at me from every core. I hurry after him. I must try and save this boy. It is not his fault I decided to be stupid.

“Wait, no! It wasn’t like that! I touched him- “

He stops so suddenly that I almost run into him. He turns half way to look at me, a dark aura clinging to him like a snake. “What?” He asks through his teeth, anger making his blue eyes burn into mine. I gulp, uncertainty creeps in. Maybe telling him is not such a good idea.

“I mean, I was just going to ask him something,” I stutter, “I just touched his arm to get his attention!” In that moment, all my hope of Ethan being understanding died.

He turns slowly, the more he turns the more menacing he becomes. I swallow and take a step back; the feeling of uncertainty and fear makes me unable to move. Do I dare run? Do I stand my ground and brave through his wrath? My heart races with anticipation. His hand reaches down and grabs my left wrist. I let out a small cry from his bone-crushing grip. With his other hand he takes my pinky finger. In one swift move, he bends the middle bone of the finger and snaps it in two. Pain shoots all the way up my arm but before I can move he grabs me by the waist and swings me over his shoulder. I clutch my hand and sob uncontrollably. I glance at my finger and quickly look away. Seeing my finger bent in such an unnatural state only made me cry harder and the pain more intense.

“Stop bawling,” he says coldly, calmly walking down the hallway, “I could have broken all of them!”

I press my face into the back of his shirt, unable to stop crying, but trying to muffle the sound. It seems to appease him. Before long he places me roughly on the floor. I pull my knees to my chest and let my throbbing hand rest gently on the floor. I press my face into my knees and try my damnedest to block out the whole world.

“I’ll be back. I have to go take care of something. Give her something for the pain then help get ready for tonight.” He tells someone. I hear a door close and soon after a hand rubs my back softly, which only makes me cry more.

“What’d he do, Heather?” Grace’s voice asks, sounding concerned and kind.

In answer, I raise my hand to show her my broken finger, my voice unable to produce sound. I glance up, my hair falling in my face.

Grace looks sympathetic. “Oh, Heather, I’m sorry.”

“H-he…br-broke it,” I manage to get out through the lump in my throat. The fact that he did it without a second thought makes it worse. All because I touched someone to ask a question. How could anyone be so cruel and violent?

Chloe and another girl rush over to Grace’s side, the other girl has black hair and an Asian appearance. She has the most stunning violet eyes I had ever seen. I look at her fearfully, distrustful of anyone new. The girl smiles in the same tired way that Grace and Chloe have.

“Here, take this.” The Asian girl hands me a small pill. “My name is Amy,” she adds. Her eyes hold an immense sadness, despite the feigned cheerfulness. I decide that she is friendly and take the pill with my right hand. Amy gives me a cup of water and I swallow it along with the pill.

Chloe and Grace leave and come back with some bandages and a splint. I watch them carefully, trying to prepare myself for the pain I knew was sure to come. Amy holds my hand gently, turning it palm down. I grit my teeth and tense up my body and wait. Grace takes my pinky and I squeeze my eyes shut. I feel her press on the bone and set it back into place and the pain shoots back up my arm. She puts the splint in place and wraps it in the bandages. The pain did not just shoot up my arm. Black dots fogged my vision and felt myself falling slowly to the floor. The last thing I remember was the new girl shaking my shoulder and being lifted.

I wake up with my head feeling fuzzy and heavy. I look around and view my surroundings and am instantly confused. I am in a large room, decorated all in dark red and black. Instead of beds there are mats on the floor covered in red and black pillows and a couple of blankets of the same color are neatly folded by each mat. There are three makeup tables, each supplied with various accessories. The only doors in the room are the exit behind me and by a huge wardrobe, I am assuming it leads to the bathroom.

“You need to keep that on for a day.” Grace tells me, tapping my injured finger. I just stared at her for a minute wondering where in the world she came from. I glance down and look at the splint they had applied while I was unconscious. It is small and only noticeable because of the white tape wrapped around it. I wiggle it slightly, anticipating the awful pain to come back, but I do not feel anything except for a twinge of aching. Surprised, I rub the back of my good hand across my face.

“Only a day? Don’t breaks usually take longer?” I ask, still staring at my finger.

“Not when you take that medicine.” Grace replies, getting up and walking over to one of the other mats. She sits down and stares morosely at the wall.

“What’d you give me?” I ask. There is no way that was just ordinary medicine. No medication works that fast, unless I have been out cold for a while.

Amy answers, “One of Ethan’s experimental medicines. He invented it. He tries it out on the lower slaves, and if they don’t die or develop some sort of disgusting disease, he has us try it. Then, if it works, he sells it.”

I feel like throwing it back up. I do not want to eat something he made. The last thing he gave me is what got me into this mess. Although, I must admit that throwing up would do no good. The pills wonderful magic is working and working well. I can hardly feel any pain in my finger.

For a moment the room goes quiet and everyone just stares off into space. Almost like no one knew what to say or what not to say. I hear someone get up and cross the room. Amy sits in front of me, eyeing me curiously. The other two continuo to sit and stare at the walls. I lick my dry lips, sniffle and return Amy’s stare.

“You know, we tried to warn you,” Amy says abruptly.

I stare at her in surprise. “That was you guys on the phone?”

“Actually, it was Grace, but we were there too. Ethan left us by ourselves when he went to get the party ready and we found a phone.” I blink and glace over at the other two. They’re listening to the conversation now and nod.

“I didn’t… I mean, I thought it was a prank. You sound a lot like one of my friends.” I stumble over the words, wishing more than anything that I had listened when they had tried to warn me. That is probably why they had so many bruises when we first met.

Amy shrugs and the other two look away. “I guess it wouldn’t have helped anyway. He would’ve found another way,” she mumbles

I sit in miserable silence for a little while before venturing a more difficult question. “Um… about the boy I touched. Terri said Ethan will eat him or something. Is that a figure of speech? Is he a- “I pause, feeling silly even thinking about the possibility of it being real. “A vampire?”

Amy shivers slightly before answering. “No to both questions.” She goes quiet, her eyes shifting to the wall beside us. The topic if uncomfortable for her. I open my mouth to ask the next part of the question, but she cuts me off like she already knew what I was going to ask. “He’s a- well, he’s… somewhat of a hybrid of several species. I don’t know all of it, but I was told that when he was a baby, he was orphaned. He ended up at an illegal testing facility. He wasn’t the only human they tested on, but they managed to mess with his DNA and make it conform to the patterns of different creatures they had found. There was a vampire in the mix, I think. You can just tell. Werewolf, dragon, and a lot of other creatures. His werewolf part is evident in his eating habits, unfortunately. That’s also why he sniffs like a dog. He can smell anything from miles away, which also affects his… cravings.”

I cringe, catching her drift. Amy takes a deep breath. “Heather… you only have to endure this for a few months. Then Ethan will find someone or something new. He’ll spend all his time on that and forget about you. That happened to me, then Grace, then Chloe. You’re just next on his ever-growing list.”

My face grows hopeful. “So… he’ll let me go?” I realize the stupidity of my words. He never let any of his other slaves go. Why would he do it for me?

Amy winces and bites her lip. “No. He’ll keep you with us, calling on you to… serve him whenever he’s bored.” She glances away and my face falls.

We sit in silence for what seems like hours. Amy stands up briskly. “Come on, let’s get you dressed.” I rise a bit wobbly, being careful not to touch my finger. Amy leads me to the wardrobe. Up close, I can see how the cherry wood gleams in the dim lighting. I am in awe with how clean Ethan’s home is. For a moment I wonder how on earth these girls do it, but focus at the tasks at hand when Amy opens the large doors. Racks of clothes hang there, some in pastels or bright neon colors, but mostly dark colors like shades of black and red.

Amy rifles through the clothes before pulling out a moss green halter top. She eyes it a moment before handing it to me.

“Brings out the green in your eyes,” she mumbles then dives back in. She pulls out a ruffled, black mini-skirt, thrusting it at me, and at last drawing out a pair of black platform shoes that strap halfway up each calf.

Holding all three, I bite my lip and look up at Amy, who gestures for me to put them on. With a sigh, I decide there is no harm in changing in front of them since they are girls. I quickly put on the outfit and look down at myself dejectedly. I look like a slut. A classy slut, but a slut nonetheless. My shoulders slump before I look back up at Amy with a tiny sigh. A flash of pity crosses her face, but it disappears just as quickly.

Another hour and I find myself staring at myself in a mirror hanging above one of the vanities. They had ringed my eyes with a thick line of liquid eyeliner and brushed a light green shadow onto my eyelids. Somehow it makes my hazel eyes seem bigger, flecks of green and yellow radiate from them. My chestnut hair is held up atop my head in a mass of curls that trail down my neck and frame my face.

I stick my tongue out at the reflection. I have never wanted to look this good. I can only imagine what Ethan will think… and what it will probably lead to. I shudder at the thought. As if my thoughts had summoned him, the door to the room opens. I can see him in the reflection in the mirror leaning in the doorway. My pulse quickens, and my breath grows shallow. The sight of him frightens ever bone in my body. My finger throbs as if recognizing its tormentor.

Amy takes me by the shoulders and pushes me to my feet, tucking a small black rose behind my ear as I stand. I slowly turn around, my eyes wide with fear. The corner of Ethan’s mouth turns up in a satisfied smirk. He is pleased with how I look. His eye travel along the length of my body, pausing on my chest for a moment before returning to my face. He motions me toward him. I go as slowly as I dare, wishing the floor would open and take me away from here. Even if that means I get to face the Devil. I would gladly take that option if it meant not being here.

Once I reach Ethan, I stare down at his feet, noticing he is rather untactfully wearing a pair of black skater shoes with nice slacks. Does he own anything but black? I follow as he exits the room, glancing miserably over my shoulder at the other girls. Every single one of them has their backs turned from me, once again staring at a wall.