His Slave

10. Caught

"Y-you can't... be s-serious," I stutter, ever so slightly trying to inch my way towards the door. I have to get away from this maniac. 

James laughs. "I've given you no reason to think I'm joking," he retorts, stopping me from moving any further. "And if you think I haven't noticed your side steps towards the door, you're being delusional." 

"Please let me go," I beg as horrific scenes play out in my mind. Tears are threatening to spill out and I hold them back as best as I can. "I'm sorry."

"You had your chance to apologize. You chose not to take it." He steps a little closer, leaning down to my level. Our noses are practically touching. "You disrespected me, Erin," he whispers, trailing his fingers along my shoulder. I shudder. 

"Do you know what I do with people who disrespect me?" He asks, still whispering. 

I shake my head, too terrified to say a word. I stare into his violet eyes for a long time, waiting for him to continue. I can't help but wonder if his eyes are naturally that color, or if he had them dyed. 

"I teach them respect," he replies, dragging his index finger along my cheekbone. I shut my eyes, trapping my tears behind my eyelids. James slides his fingers under my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. "You can't escape me. And trying will only make your life worse. No matter what you do, you'll lose this fight," he says confidently. As if I'm actually going to listen to him. 

I scoff, regaining my will to fight. "Maybe, but if I stop fighting, I've already lost!" I spit back before punching him as hard as I can in the stomach. 

James gasps, clutching his abdomen as he stumbles backwards. "You're going to regret doing that!" He snaps at me as I dart out of his bedroom door and down the hall. He follows me. 

I run as fast as I can, hurrying towards the staircase. If I can get to the garage I might have a chance at escaping. Sure, I barely know how to drive and I might end up hitting a pedestrian, or something but it would be worth it if it means getting away from this creep.

"Erin, get back here!" He snaps as he chases me down the hall.

"No!" I spit back between breaths. My heart is racing. 

"I'm giving you one chance to stop running from me, or else you won't like the punishment you'll receive for this!" He yells, catching the attention of one of the servants down the hall. I turn the corner and start down the stairs, taking them by twos. I've almost made it to the first floor when I notice that James isn't following me anymore. That's weird. There's no way he'd just let me leave. When I reach the bottom of the stairs, I take a minute to regain my breath. That's when I hear crackling overhead.

"Attention all manor staff," James starts, using some sort of internal communications system. "It seems my new... acquisition thinks its cute to run from me and I don't feel like chasing her down right now. So, whoever finds her and brings her to me gets the rest of the week off," he says.

There isn't much I wouldn't have done to get a week off while working for the Daltons, so that means I'm probably going to have a mob of desperate debtors chasing me in a few minutes. I hurry towards the front entrance but when I grab the door handle, not only is it locked, it burns my fingers. I snap my hand back, trying to stifle my cry of pain. Damn DNA recognition scanners. Damn the Court of Debts for giving him my blood and fingerprints already. 

I decide to head for the library since it's the biggest room in the mansion and probably the easiest to hide in. When I get there, I start looking for a place to hide. Every hiding spot I come up with would be too easy for them to find and I start to get discouraged. Until I think of the one place none of them would think to look- on top of the bookcases. They're at least twenty feet tall and falling would surely mean death, or at least a lot of broken bones but if I can stay up there until nightfall, I might have a chance at escaping.  

I quickly start up one of the ladders, ignoring my fear of heights as I climb. The ladder doesn't quite reach the top and I have to stand on the last wrung on my tippy toes to be able to get there but I make it. It's dusty and a bit gross but I lay down anyways, hoping no one can see me from this high up. As I lay there, I think of all the stupid things that lead up to this. As humiliating as it would have been, if I had just apologized and begged for his forgiveness, James might not have taken things so far as to report me and get me transferred to work for him instead. 

And then I think about Toby. He'll be all alone now. And we might not ever see each other again. Tears well in my eyes and I wipe them away with my shirt sleeve. No. I'm getting back to my brother one way or another. I just have to wait it out up here... for like twelve more hours.

I'm not sure how much time has passed but it's been a while. My stomach starts to grumble, reminding me how hungry I am. The dust is starting to make me sneeze and the silence is eerie. I mean, I definitely don't want anyone to find me, but I didn't realize just how painstaking it would be to lay on top of a bookshelf for most of the day. This is driving me insane. 

I'm so lost in my thoughts that it takes me a minute to notice the girl staring down at me from the railing of the fourth floor. Our eyes meet for a brief moment and then she turns and hurries away. 

Shit. I take a deep breath, contemplating whether I should climb down and find another hiding spot or stay here. It's going to take them a while to figure out which bookcase I'm on top of. But staying here means James knows where I am. I sneeze as I sit up, crawling back over to the ladder. I swing my leg over the edge of the bookcase, but I miss the ladder, screaming as I fall twenty feet right into James' arms.