my name is tina worthington

chapter 11

"that's a jasmine flower" leah chuckled outloud

i was astonished with the numbers of flowers that were in the garden

the whole place looked 10x bigger upclose

and as for the house of hell i have to admit it looks astonishing considering how big the place is

the whole entire area looked like a fairytale

forest surrounding us in every direction

there had to be hundreds of different flowers because i haven't ever seen half of these flowers in my life!

each flower had its own unique patterns of color on each petal

i knelt down to take a closer look at the jasmine flower

leah kept laughing at my reaction to the garden

pure shock

leah sat down on a bench "happy to see you taking a liking to the garden.."

i looked up at her "yeah it's..very beautiful"

leah's smile widen at my compliment

"anyways i figure you have a ton of questions, as i have a ton of answers for you"

reality kicked in and sadness swarmed my entire head

i nodded with tears in my eyes, threatening to spill

leah patted next to her on the bench, signaling me to come sit

i quickly got up and sat down

"now i'm not sure where you are from but from the looks of it i can tell your not used to seeing greenery like here."

i nodded my head, agreeing with her

leah sighed

"Mr. Zachary was the man you first saw upon your arrival, all this land around us is his. He is the mayor of town; Forestton Hill, a very well respected mayor."

"here in Forestton Hill is very conservative and..traditional.."

i glanced at leah as she further explained

"here men are way more superior and inferior to women..but that's only part of the traditional culture around here"

"what else is there to it?" i interrupted

"a lot.." leah shivered

"could you explain a little more?" i asked

i watched as leah stood up and knelt down to a daisy flower

"those who are taken here have no say at all in life. as long as you are here you are never free. they pick your destiny and you must accept it.." she plucked out the flower from the ground and walked up to me

she looked at my hair and started fixing it up

i scrunched up my eyebrows,"okay but then why am i here?"

"when the man becomes of age he picks his wife, he can pick any girl he wants..most people taken are used as servants and maids, not many are picked for wife's but it's a common tradition here"

my heart dropped," i have never seen Mr. Zachary or his son before ever in my life..how could i get married to someone i've never even met!"

"well to be fair..you haven't actually seen him before..but-uh that won't be a problem because alex, your soon to be husband, will be coming home..tonight"

"..what?"

leah looked at me with sadness," you will meet him tonight.. the family will plan for the wedding. it will most likely be held here before he takes you along his home"

i couldn't believe what i was hearing

marriage?

i'm only 16 i've never even had my first kiss

i've never had a boyfriend ever

and now leah is talking about marriage with some man i don't even know..

"i have to leave this place" i went ahead about to take a march towards the forest when leah grabbed my arm harshly

"bad idea" she sternly said

("BAD IDEA..BAD BAD BAD IDEA!"-gorilla glue haired girl, sorry i just had to do it!! 😂)

she pointed at the forest," you go out there..they will catch you, drag you back, torture you, and make you wish you never did such a thing"

i glared at leah

"so am i just supposed to let my life go to these people" my voice cracked

i yanked my arm away from her," am i supposed to give up?! i don't even know what's going on and your telling me that i have to just let it happen?!" i yelled out

leah just stared at me

"there's nothing i can do for you except be a friend"

hearing that reminded me..

"where is ella"

"who?" she said with confusion

i couldn't believe it

i cant believe i forgot all about ella

i guess waking up i was too stressed and panicked to realize that i was last with ella

leah didn't even know who i was talking about so what happened to her

"when i was taken i had a friend with me"

i could see a glimmer of realization in leahs eyes,"she could have been taken to another family member..i'm not sure"

i have to find out what happened to her