Please note that the chapters from here on out are not edited and that there will be mistakes. Feel free to comment on them as it will help me improve as a writer. Thanks!
Mrs. Adams groaned due to her sore muscles. Never had she endured such a beating in all her days. Her back was bruised in multiple places and her left leg was red and burning, no doubt from the wound being infected. Her left eye was swollen shut and her upper lip was split open. She wasn't really concerned about herself. Her body would heal in its own time, whereas if Keelia were found, her heart would be scarred forever.
Mrs. Adams coughed loudly and the sound reverberated off the stone walls in the cellar. The room was damp and smelled of mildew and rat feces. It was dark with only a small gas lantern supplied for lighting. Mrs. Adams sure hoped that her youngest daughter was alright, for her two other children had been murdered at the hands of their own uncle. Mr. Adams had been executed right on the spot before Keelia and Mrs. Adams had even left the bedroom earlier that evening.
Mrs. Adams knew why all this was happening. She knew why her deceased husband's brother had killed his relatives. What she couldn't understand was why after all these years? Surely her brother in law had been thinking about this ever since Stella had married Stephen. Why start all this madness so suddenly?
Stella felt a tear slide down her cheek, leaving a wet smudge in its wake. Stephen was gone. He was her world, her very reason for existence. She had run away from her home just to stay in his arms for all her days. She gave up her previous life to start a new one with him. Now it was gone.
The sound of feet echoed through the hall leading up to Stella's cell. She knew who was coming to taunt her with his annoying and hateful voice. Stella heard him clear his throat and straighten out his well-tailored suit. She could almost see his smug grin now, his eyes that had been so full of joy but were now full of hatred and disdain.
Thomas rounded the corner and reached the entrance to Stella's cell. His suit was a gray one, not even that flattering on him, just a plain look. Stella had grown used to him wearing such brilliant clothing and now was facing something she did not recognize.
"My dear Stella," Thomas' voice echoed into the cell. "Are you comfortable?"
Stella knew that he only asked to taunt her some more. He didn't care about her comfort, at least that was what Stella thought. Thomas knew that he loved the woman before him. He had loved her ever since his dead brother introduced them. He knew that she was the only woman that could ever make him happy. Seeing her in the dusty and mildew scented cell, it was almost too much for him bear.
Her once beautiful gown was now in ruins from mud and various debris from the now burning mansion. Her curls were no longer situated on top of her fair head, but rather framed around her pale face. Thomas' heart was burning with desire, his want of holding her close to him was so strong, but he refused to give in until he had gotten the information that he wanted. He didn't like hurting his Stella, but there was no other way to get her to speak the truth. He would slowly have to break her until she gave in.
Stella turned away from the crazed man in front of her, "If you're here to beat me, you might as well begin. I am not one for small talk with my captor."
Thomas felt his hear sink at the disgust in her voice, but he didn't let his face show the impact of that statement. He unlocked the cell door and entered into the area. He went to her side and knelt down next to her.
"I am not here to beat you, at least not yet. It pains me to deliver such violence your way."
Stella scoffed, "I am sure it pains you so much." Her eyes full of menace.
Thomas ran a hand through his shaggy hair, "I am going to let your body heal at the alarmingly quick rate it does and then I will be back to begin the pattern all over again." He adjusted his position. "But for now I am here to only speak with you, my dear Stella."
"And what could you possibly want to talk about with me other than the whereabouts of my youngest daughter? I am sure you already know what happened to my two other children, you killed them in cold blood."
Thomas stood and walked to the other side of the cell, "It was not I who murdered them."
Stella groaned as she adjusted her body, "Of course your own hands didn't touch them, but by the power of your word, another man harmed my daughters. They were your family yet you ended their innocent lives."
Thomas had no response for her. He stood there, watching as a few tears fell from her blue eyes. Even when she was weeping, her beauty still remained.
"And what of your brother, my husband? Why would you kill him?"
Thomas approached her side once more, "He was in the way of the fortune that was rightfully mine, and he had married the woman I love."
Stella gasped at his confession. "How dare you say that you love me!"
Thomas inhaled a deep breath, "I had to be rid of him before I took you for myself. You are the woman I breath and live for."
Stella pulled away from his advancing hand. "How could I ever love the man who took away my husband and my children?" she shouted in his face. "You are a monster! You will never gain my affections!"
Thomas felt the full impact of what he had heard. But he still believed that everything he did was for the best. He had to be rid of his brother to gain Stella's heart. Her children couldn't be around either, they were just another reminder of the man that Stella loved. She would have to come to terms with the affections she was hiding from Thomas. He believed that with all his heart. Stella had to feel something for him deep down.
Thomas removed himself from Stella's side and went to the cell door. "I shall return tomorrow. The questioning will begin again."
Stella didn't watch him leave. She didn't even acknowledge that she had indeed heard his announcement. But she did hear his echoing footsteps as he went off down the long row of cells and back out of the prisoner building.
The tears that she had been holding back escaped in a cascade of sadness. Her heart had never experienced such sorrow. Her body shook with each sob that came from her mouth. And her fingers twitched with each movement.
The feeling of losing one's children could never be described to the fullest. There were no words to do it justice. A mother was never supposed to outlive her children. A mother was supposed to protect them at all costs, even if it meant having to kill another person in the way of any of her daughters' safety.
Stella believed that she had failed being a mother. She hadn't protected Victoria and Charlotte. She hadn't gotten them out of their home in time to accompany Keelia out and down the long tunnel. And she hadn't gotten to them in time to stop those sharp blades from ending their lives.
Stella found it hard to even believe there was a purpose to her life, now that the majority of her family was gone. She didn't even know if Keelia was safe, or if she was frightened and crying out for her mother. She didn't know if Keelia was hurt and dying in a ditch somewhere. She didn't even know if Keelia made it out of that tunnel before the mansion was set ablaze. Keelia could have very well perished in the flames that claimed their home.
Stella's thoughts soon ventured to the death of her husband. Then they trailed to a memory of the first time they had met. His eyes had been so bright and filled with joy as he was lingering his fingertips on various flower petals in the forest. Stella had noticed that anything he touched was left with a soft glow, revealing the magnificence of the plant. Stella knew right away that he had the Touch.
She had watched him from up in a tall tree. Stella had always been good at climbing and balancing, so she found that watching this stranger from high up was the best viewpoint.
He had seemed familiar with his Touch. The glowing of the plants around hadn't seemed to faze him at all. Stella continued watching as he was marveling over the beauty around him. The smile on his face had been just radiant and so very bright. It had made her smile too.
Stella had adjusted herself in the tree above, trying very hard not to make a noise. However, despite her efforts, an acorn fell to the forest floor below her and had hit the man's head. Stella had to stifle a giggle when the man was surprised and let out a yelp. But once again, Stella hadn't concealed herself enough and let out a louder giggle when the man had tripped over a fallen tree trunk.
"Who's there?" the man had called out. "Who's watching me?"
Stella had chuckled quite loudly that time round, betraying her hiding place.
"I can see you!" the man had called. "Come down from there!"
Stella couldn't muffle her giggles any longer and thought that speaking to the man wouldn't do any harm. He was simply a human after all.
Stella reached the ground quickly and stood next to the human man. He stared at her with wide eyes and a grin upon his face. She stared at him with curiosity. Usually human men weren't so handsome and the surely didn't give of such an alluring vibe such as this one before her. He was different. She could plainly see that he was from his Touch. But that wasn't all that attracted her. What it was, she couldn't put her finger on it.
"My name is Stephen," the human had said.
Stella knew that revealing her true name would possibly be death for this man, so she thought about a nickname her best friend had given her.
"You may call me Stella," had been her response.
"Stella," he tried it out, "you certainly do shine as bright as a star."
Stella smiled, knowing from that day onward, the two would grow close. They grew so close that Stella had run from her home and married Stephen only two years later. Getting married to a human was something most nymphs would never do. But Stephen had the Touch, so that made marriage possible between the two.
To the very day, Stella wished that she had told her husband who she really was, where she had come from, who her parents were. She wished that she could have told Stephen her real name. But it was all too late. Now she could only dream of the many special moments they had shared together.