Carnal Desires

58

Taylor Swift - The Great War

The smearing pain, like flesh under blazing hot water, gripped Rory's abdomen, somehow, she pushed her body up with her elbows. Her teeth clamped down on the inside of her cheek to muffle the winced moments away from erupting. Blood fell on her tongue and she clasped back down on the mattress, taking deep breathes to calm herself.

This would be nothing compared to what was coming in 6 to 7 months time.

Once again, Rory pushed herself off the bed while tears prickled her eyes. Every step, every movement felt like her body was set ablaze. She eventually made it to the mirror where she inspected the straight gash across the top of her stomach.

Luci was kind enough to not cut her too deep and was even kinder to let a doctor see her. She should be grateful but the thought only left a bitter after taste.

It was a warning, Rory recalled, any more defiance from her meant more excruciating pain.

At least she was moved from the damped basement room to one of the private family floors. Except every escape route was locked and she risked being caught if she smashed through the glass of the French doors.

Cradling her belly, Rory stood by the door watching a storm raged outside while she settled the one violently brewing in her chest. Anger plagued her day and night - at what she wasn't entirely sure.

Gideon's death? Betraying him? Being too trusting? Too naive?

In the end, these reasons led to one thing - her actions. It was her fault, her inability to accept her fate. She should have sat quietly became Gideon's trophy wife.

"Even if you did escape, you won't make it far in this weather and not in the condition you're in."

The nonchalant voice of Luci sent shudders down her spine. She spun on her heels, arms protectively wrapping around her belly and eyes narrowing at the figure casually leaning against the doorframe.

Luci was donned in a black sheer dress, slender fingers in long gloves and a black formal headpiece with a short veil that fell over he eyes.

She looked like a nightmare incarnated; the opposite of the once loving person Rory knew. Or, thought she knew.

"I'm in mourning." She smirked, sensing Rory's eyes on her. "My big brother died and my sister-in-law chose me to represent her at the will reading because she's heavily pregnant and can't move around so easily."

Rory bite the inside of her cheek, feeling ashamed of having given in so easily to Luci's demand. Giving her the rights to represent her was the only way she could stop her from cutting her stomach any deeper.

"Great story, right?"

In mere steps Luci cornered her, towering over her in those high heels. As if on instinct, Rory curled her arms tighter over her stomach and pushed herself further into the French doors. Every fibre in her screamed to run because a fight with Luci was a fight she'd never win. Because after all, Luci was like her brother.

Twisted and calculating - always one step ahead of everyone else.

"I'm going to Bogotá to retrieve what's mine." She said in a low tone. "Be a good girl and I won't cut that baby out of you." A slender hand reached out to stroke Rory's curls. "I'll let you keep the last bits of him as a reminder of what you've done to your child."

Luci stepped back and a sinister smile tugged at her lips; "He would've been a leader, a respected and feared figure in South America. He would've been something great just like the men before him but his mother was a selfish and spiteful brat; a dumb bimbo who's only purpose was to be a sex toy. She was only focused on getting back her sad and pathetic life that she didn't see the opportunities swimming at her feet."