The Price {Completed}

Chapter Forty-One

I slid down on my bed, resting my burning cheek against the pillow and staring at the opposite wall while tears ran tracks along my nose and into my mouth. The bedding smelled of dust and mouse droppings. It was the smell of disuse, of something that did not belong in my life any longer. Yet here I lay on it once again, tied and bound until Mr Lennox came back and decided what he wanted to do with his doll that would no longer dance for him.

At first, I tried to think of nothing, knowing that the more I lingered on my situation, the more the grief would build. So I retreated into an almost sleep, barely conscious of the night moving on without me. Time passed without me noticing how much of it had gone, and only the ache in my shoulder kept me from floating off entirely.

It was the pain that reminded me of Ferdinand. I sat up, wincing as my shoulder protested. He was still out there, maybe even at the train tracks. Perhaps Mr Lennox had gone back there to find him. I had no doubt he would kill Ferdinand if he had the chance. A blast of energy ran through my veins and I yanked and pulled at my bonds. I stood up, pulling with all my might, but the loops only grew tighter and tighter until I could barely feel my fingers anymore. Defeat and anger robbed my strength and I collapsed to the floor with tears and a groan of frustration. I kicked the bed and it rang softly.

The night passed, and morning filled the curtained window. I'd fallen asleep at some point, purely do to the exhaustion that haunted my bones, but I awoke as soon as I heard a noise outside on the pavement. I jerked upward, my neck protesting from being kept in a strange position for hours, and my eyes swiveled to the door. This lodging house was abandoned, as far as I knew, and the odds that the person thumping up the stairs wasn't Mr Lennox were slim.

I pushed up against the wall behind me, shivering in the cold air, as a key scraped in the lock. The door opened and Mr. Lennox walked in just as he had all those days we'd spent in this room. His scarf, the one I'd noticed on a chair in our new lodging house, was now around his throat, and snow stuck to his hat.

He didn't pay me any attention as he walked into the main room and placed his outerwear on the wooden pegs by the door. I waited, tense and watching his every move. He walked to his bedroom and entered.

The room went silent.

My breath came fast as I tried to strain to hear anything that might alert me to what he was doing. Had he found Ferdinand? I just wanted to know what he'd done while he was gone.

The day progressed, never quite throwing off the grayness of morning due to the heavy snowclouds. My stomach began to growl, but being hungry was the last of my worries. I'd known the empty feeling in the pit of my stomach from the days on the street, and now I was more occupied with watching that bedroom door and wondering when the man behind it would come out to finish whatever plan he'd made.

When evening deepened the shadows, the door finally cracked open. I jumped to attention, watching as Mr. Lennox walked into the main room and took a deep breath as he looked down at me.

"I'm going to give you some dinner now, Nadia," he said. "I want you to eat it, as you'll be needing your strength."

"Why?" I asked, imagining him walking me far into the city, somewhere Ferdinand would never be able to find us.

"No questions," he snapped, his eyes flashing. He reached behind him to the cupboard and opened it to reveal supplies that had not been there when we'd lived here so long ago. He must have been planning on this. He knew he'd find me eventually, and that he'd bring me back here. He'd prepared the house to be like how it had been before. Before his dream to create our company had ruined his dream to keep me by his side.

He dumped a plate of beans and bread in front of me, and crouched to watch as I stared at the food. I didn't want to eat it, especially with him staring, but my hands shook with hunger and I couldn't resist the pull of food.

He hadn't given me utensils, and so I was forced to scoop the beans up with my hands and the bread. I felt like a dog as its master watched, and my face burned with the shame. He smiled, crouched there just a few inches away, and I finished my food as fast as I could. When the plate lay empty, he picked it up and chucked my chin. I jerked back from his touch, and he frowned.

He got up, walking back to the cupboard. His black-clad shoulders blocked my view, and so I quickly glanced at the front door. Had he locked it when he'd entered? I couldn't remember. If he had left it open while he was indoors, I just had to find a way to distract him long enough for me to slip my bounds and run out into the hall. But even as I thought it, I knew it would be impossible. The ropes were tight on my wrists, and even if I made it out of the room, he'd be right on my heels.

Just then, Mr. Lennox turned back from the cupboard and walked toward me. I glanced behind him, catching a quick glance of a dark brown bottle with the cork out before he kneeled back at my side. In his fist he clutched a square of white cloth.

"It's time to sleep now, Nadia," he said, calmly. His hand came up, the cloth suddenly at my mouth and nose. I jerked, trying to free myself, but he held me tightly by the back of my neck. The cloth pressed into my skin, and eventually I had to breathe. It smelled faintly of alcohol or something sweet, and the more I breathed the more my head swirled and buzzed. My vision blurred at the edges, slowly building until I saw nothing but smudges and shadows. Mr Lennox's hands laying me on the cold floorboards were the last things I remembered.