What's The Worst That Could Happen?

Fade to Black

I didn't step out of my room for three whole days. 

I slept mostly.I ate very little.

 Everyday, food was left outside my room - breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I ate scraps and turned the rest away. I think, I was trying to die. But dying is an awful long process, especially if you're not committed. Eventually, I was starving, and by the third day, I was hungrily eating what was offered to me. 

After I was full off of soup and bread, I decided that dying wasn't in the cards for me. I'd have to live in this hellish nightmare. 

My husband to be was a wolf or lycan, whatever he called it. And I was his mate. 

Out there, in this world, were creatures that could transform, changing shape at whim. What else was out there I wondered. Were vampires real...elves...Tinkerbell? What was real and what was fantasy. I didn't know reality anymore and everything seemed flipped on its head. 

I was trapped in this house and I had no one to turn to. No one to run to. I mean who would believe me? Telling the police seemed out of the question. Without proof, I'd be thrown into a psychiatric hold for sure. I mean, who would thing that Darren and his well-bred family were anything but standing, up-class citizens.  

I was tired of crying and bemoaning myself and my life but I was still hurting. I stood over my toilet, considering flushing my wedding ring down the toilet, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. It represented more than just Darren and I but also everything that used to be. Nothing would ever be the same again. So, I just put it in the bottom of my drawer, and tried to pretend it wasn't there anymore.

Of all the things that were hard to swallow, Darren's lie was the worst of all. Or should I say lies. I'd been with him a year now...three-hundred and sixty five days. I thought we had shared everything together...our hopes, dreams, worries, and fears.  But now, it seemed that I knew nothing about the real Darren. Everything he told me was  a facade...words strung together to conceal his true world. Yet, he said, he loved me? How could love do that?

On the third day, I felt numb, and tired, and exhausted. I didn't want to be in my room anymore. I wanted answers. I wanted the truth. So I resolved myself to leave my room and set off in search of Darren. I found Nina first, in the living room and she clapped with joy at the sight of me. She ran to hug me but I flinched and stepped back. She stopped and sadness washed over her face. I couldn't help my reaction. I felt somewhat bad for hurting her but she hurt me too. They all did - Nina, Samuel, Lucia, and Callen. They didn't star the lie but they all fed it.

When I finally found Darren he hugged me but I didn't hug him back. He took me aside and swore to tell me the whole truth. He and his family were just born this way. A different species. 

Stronger. Faster. More menacing.

Beings that just wanted to preserve their way of life and had to live a life of secrets and half-truths. He wasn't a business executive. He was next in line to be alpha, once his father stepped down. That's where I came in. As his mate, I'd be able to bear a heir, and solidify his position. He'd be leader among his race of wolves in his region. He would rule and I'd be beside him. We'd live a blissful life. He promised.

I sat there, nodding my head. He made it seem so simple. All I had to do was be his mate - ride off into the sunset with him. It seemed like I was just a puzzle piece, a part of an equation I never asked to be a part of.

But I nodded. I agreed. Or, at least on the outside. 

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

It's been over a month since that fateful day. Darren gave me my cell phone back but he said that he's able to see all the calls I'm making and my texts. My web activity was being monitored too. "Don't do anything rash." He warned when he gave it back to me. I'd missed a few lessons for my classes but I didn't see the urge to complete them. What was the point? I wasn't going to be a social worker. That wasn't in the cards. And they knew, the entire time. They let me believe that I had choices, but I never did. 

I'm trying not to think about it. Currently I'm sitting in the library, where I've holed myself up. I say that I'm just trying to focus on my studies but the truth is that I am just trying to keep myself away. Who could I turn to with my moves being followed and even my personal conversations being monitored. I spoke to Jora on the phone and tried to keep the conversation light and friendly. I wanted to shout and scream and cry but I couldn't. There was no one to turn to. 

I hear a knock on the library door and Nina peeps her head in. 

"Nina, I say." With a smile. "Come in."

"How's the studies going, Elsa?"

"Oh you know, school is never fun."

"I brought you something." She says, placing her back pack on the ground and holding out a paper sack to me. "Scones. I stopped by my favorite bakery on my way here. Yummy right?"

"Yummy." I say, with a small smile. "Honestly, Nina, I haven't been very hungry lately. Why don't you share this with your mom and dad?"

She looks crestfallen.

"But I got them for you Elsa. I know I can't fix what happened but I'm trying to make things better."

Nina has been my shadow lately, showing up wherever I've been. 

"Nina, I appreciate the gesture, but really I'm not hungry."

"Okay. Can I stay and do homework with you."

"Sure."

"Okay." She says, taking out her laptop and a few notebooks. It's quiet for a while, which I relish, but I know that isn't for long. 

"How are you and Darren?"

"How do you think, Nina?" I say, curtly. 

Things between Darren and I have been frigid. He is as pleasant as ever but it just doesn't reach me. When I sleep I dream of those eyes, and the hair, and fur, and claws. I've woken up several times from terror, sweating. He scares me. Our future scares me. He was different too - more watchful and cautious. My goofy, carefree Darren - where was he?

"Elsa, I know it's hard now but trust us, everything will be okay. I told Darren to tell you when he first started talking to you but he didn't think you were ready or that you would understand."

"Nina!" I shouted at first before clenching my hand and trying to temper my voice. "Nina, everything is not going to be okay. You lied to me. Darren lied to me. If you're so sorry then you're going to help me."

"Help you how?" She said, he eyebrows high.

"Help me escape."  I said gripping her fingers.

"Escape? How can you ask me that!" Nina said, pulling her hands away. "What do you mean escape?"

"I want to go home, Nina. I miss my mom and my friends and I want to go home for just a while. Darren, he's never going to let that happen."

"There is no leaving here, Elsa. You just have to accept the fact that things are different and then you'll learn to like being here again, I promise you. I don't want you to go. You're like my big sister." She said with a smile.

"And little sisters help big sisters, Nina." I pleaded. "I'll come back I swear it."

"And even if I could help you Elsa - " Her voice turned to a whisper. "How could we do that? You're not the only one who is in tight reigns. I don't go anywhere without my parents knowing about it." 

"Then we'll go somewhere together."

"What you're asking for just won't work, Elsa. Please just stop. Stop. Okay.  You need to just accept reality." She packed up her things and got up from the chair, getting up to leave. 

"I need you, Nina. Don't abandon me now."

"I'm sorry." She said, stepping away.