The Camden Girl and The Devil (Tommy Shelby)

"You need me."

Another two weeks had passed, and Tommy had hardly been in the building. But when he was, the two spent their meals together. The conversations were always along the same lines. She asked about Alfie. It all seemed the same. She talked about her books, and he told her the very minimal things he did that did not involve business. But each time they had a meal, he seemed to speak that bit more about his going on outside the house.

One morning, Ivy woke up and decided she was officially fed up with seeing the four walls of her room. As nice as it is, she was a woman who enjoyed exploring and not being stuck in one room. Back in Camden, she often left the house with her books and went to different locations just to experience something new. She enjoyed the sun on her skin, the wind in her hair. But even Ivy knew leaving Tommy's house would be a step too far.

But that did not mean she could not explore the house. There were hundreds of rooms, there had to be something interesting. So, she pick-locked her door open. She had no intention of running. Escape will always be out of the question until Tommy started torturing her. Ivy's first stop was the library. She knew its location because she went past it every time she went to have dinner with Tommy. She was careful as she made her way through the long halls. Listening for footsteps of maids. Quietly, she opened the library door and shut it. And honestly, Ivy could not be happier. A room filled with books? It was like she was living in a dream.

It was just over an hour later when Frances walked in. She froze at the sight of Ivy and stepped back cautiously. "What are you doing?"

Ivy gave her the friendliest smile. "Oh sorry, did Tommy not tell you? He left the door unlocked after dinner last night so I could come to get some new books when he was gone. I've read all the ones in my room, you see."

Frances was bewildered. "I-I... I must talk with Tommy."

Ivy's smile did not falter. "Of course. Tell him I'm going to read the third book of the Holmes series. He'll know what I mean."

Frances was hesitant to turn around, looking as though she wanted to say something else before leaving, but ended up giving a polite nod. Ivy gave an irritable sigh. Tommy obviously did not know she was out of the room, but she had run out of reading material. She expected in a few hours' time for him to come home furious and cram her back into her room before she could get out a word. It would probably be the end of their meals together. She closed her eyes and hung her head back.

Why did she always have to ruin something good? Not that being locked up was any good, but at least the meals with him were refreshing of sorts. And not even just from the room, but in life. A person, a man, willing to listen to her talk for longer than ten minutes? About a subject that he had no care about? Ivy did not think such men existed. And now, once again, the one good thing she had, she blew it. She should have just asked him to show her where the library was and she could have picked them out with him there.

But she wanted to explore the house. There was so much of it, surely something would be interesting. She was losing her mind in her room and going back to it now would not stop the inevitable of Tommy's wrath when he returned. So, after she got a pile of new books and put them on her bed, she explored everywhere. Top to bottom. And honestly, it wasn't at all as interesting as she thought. She just saw more paintings of the Shelby family and of his dead wife, which, oddly enough, made Ivy smile. Despite her being gone, he refused to forget her.

The next-door she opened was to a room that was not the same as all the other guest rooms. But, a kid's room. She had seen the paintings of their kid, but never seen the boy around. Until now, he sat on the floor, head in hands, staring down at a piece of paper.

"Are you okay?" Ivy said.

The boy jumped and turned to her. "Who are you?" He was only about two or three years old. His words were hardly recognizable, but she could manage.