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Update: small corrections of the grammatical errors.
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He blinked and in the next millisecond moved his dark blue eyes from the newspaper into a locked stare with mine. I froze.
"Your clothes seem rather.. monochromatic and your bag looks heavy. Doesn't it hurt to carry it around the house?" William asked calmly.
I couldn't stop a nervous gulp. "Uh, yeah, I really like clothes of colours from the black and white spectrum, haha.
And about my bag, it just reminds me of my house so I decided to keep it close to me for a while" I looked down contemplatively for a more plausible effect.
"I see." William said simply.
I breathed out relieved in the most secretive way I could at the moment.
--------- William's POV ------------
I know you're lying, Emily...
Your scared little bunny eyes gave away all of your lies.
I know what you plan on doing, but you're just tiring yourself in vain.
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A shiver ran down my spine, but I brushed it off.
We stood silent for a while, when I couldn't fake it anymore.
"...Can I go home?" I asked sorrowfully.
"I'm afraid not, Emily." William answered, taking another sip of coffee.
His calmness annoyed me. I clenched my teeth, trying to remain calm.
I reasoned with him "I really have to go. My family must be worried."
"Hmm, they "must be", but are you sure they are?" William continued calmly his outrageous replies.
I stood up and through gritted teeth asked venomously "What. are you. implying?"
His face didn't move a muscle, yet his eyes seemed to be glued on me. This wasn't the William from last night who joked around and prepared me a bagel sandwich. "I wonder if he's bipolar."
"Nothing. I merely repeated what you said and I want to hear what you think." He responded plainly.
"That's a stupid question." I spat.
"Don't play with me." I told him warningly.
Slightly taken aback by my statement, he asked darkly "Or what?", not denying my accusation.
I paused, repeating his question in my head. "Or I will kill you." I said without much thinking and regretting afterwards, rushing my gaze to William.
On his face I could read surprise. Fear taking over, I expected the worst. I expected him to get up and grab me by my neck, chocking me against the wall or call me something like "ungrateful bitch!" for threatening him after all what's he done.
I wanted to apologise, but the words wouldn't come out. I didn't think he deserved an apologise. I didn't know the reason he did all this for me. But I knew it was something dark behind his motives.
His face softened and he chuckled
"That would be a little cruel, don't you think?"
My eyes flew open in surprise, but then I realised.
"William used mockery. It was effective!"
He never took my threat seriously, he was just messing with me.
This man was the epitome of unexpected, I concluded.
I didn't know what to respond since I'd been made fun of. I gulped and went to my next question.
"I want my phone back." I asked demandingly.
"Afraid I can't do that either." William responded instantly.
"You stole my phone and you "can't do that either", meaning you can't give it back?" I repeated through gritted teeth.
He nodded without as much as looking at me standing there up "Precisely."
I clenched my firsts "You..f-"
"Choose your next words carefully, Emily." This time he met my glare with a dangerous look in his eyes.
I shut my mouth. He hadn't "punished" me yet and I didn't want to lose any more of my freedom.
He continued, noticing my silence
"I can't give you your phone back as I can't have you contacting the outside world, unquestionably.
But rest assured, it is turned off in a safe place." William guaranteed.
I thought for a few seconds, then explained "I need to check some apps I have on it. I won't contact "the outside world." " slightly rolling my eyes at the end.
"Hmm, I see. Well, you'll be free to do that, under surveillance, only if you accept the terms I mentioned before."
"Oh, also, if you decide you want to cooperate and get out of here in 12 months, let me known. We will discuss the terms."
I scoffed. "No thanks, I'll find it myself in that case."
"Then you'll be defying the accessibility rule." He responded simply.
I sighed. "I have no intention of following your rules, William.
I'll get going." I pushed the chair and started walking.
His voice echoed from behind me "Then you know the consequences, Emily. I trust you'll make the right decision."
"Tch." was my frustrated response more to myself as I didn't bother to turn around back to him.
I made my way to the entrance hall. From the neatly arranged shoes, I chose some black boots to match my attire and to not be too obvious when dirty.
I opened the front door furiously and jumped outside.
This time I started walking slowly, conserving my energy for my possible escape.
I walked along the path from the front door, but the road ended in a circle with a lovely fountain in the middle.
There was no road towards the house from what I was aware.
I passed the workers who shot me a few glances of curiosity, but more paid no attention.
I started jogging towards the woods and when I was fully submerged in the fairytale realm, I walked and enjoyed the beautiful green of the grass, bathed in the golden hue of the sun rays. The leaves whispered in the wind and
I breathed in slowly the fresh, clean air.
This place was beautiful and.. comfortable. I admired the natural beauty for a while, when I got a flashback of my nightmare.
I reminded myself of what my purpose was. So I continued towards the wall then started looking for any weaknesses in the solid structure.
I walked rapidly along the wall, not intending to lose any more time.
After some time, I felt like I was losing my breath and crashed yet again under a maple tree.
I put my bag down, annoyed that William was right. It was way too heavy.
I was breathing heavily, leaning against the rough bark.
Looking at the wall a few meters in front of me, I frowned with rage. Grabbing a stone, I threw it towards the wall "Damn you!" I yelled.
The stone hit the wall and bounced slightly. I looked at the spot it hit, expecting a miracle like I had hit the exact hidden button for a secret automatic door.
Waiting breathlessly, I came to realise I didn't have that luck. I lowered my glare and felt as tears overwhelmed me yet again. "Mom..dad..are you okay out there? Do you miss me?" I asked in a weak voice, almost whispering. I left the questions linger in the air, hoping they would somehow teleport themselves to my parents' ears or into their mind.
I stood there for some time, just watching the slow movement of leaves and the gleeful dance of the sun rays on the green rug.
Gathering myself up, I decided to go towards the house and walk around, maybe notice anything suggestive to a way out.
I knew which way I had to go because of the wall, the forest seemed dense, but the way was pretty much clear.
As I walked slowly, I could make up a figure approaching me, and then another one, smaller.
Hesitantly, I kept walking when a voice called "Miss Emily? This is Isabella, we came to tell you it is time for lunch."
By the time she finished these words, I could see her face clearly and recognised Veronica sitting besides her, almost behind actually.
She was visibly scared of me as she held onto Isabella like a child, yet I was sure there wasn't that big of an age difference between them.
I looked at her with tired eyes. "Already?" I whined.
I didn't want to eat. I wanted to find a way out.
Switching my eyes from her face to her left, I started walking, passing by her "I'm not hungry, Isabella."
She grabbed my forearm. I turned around to see her worried face "Emily, you know that's not an option. Master wouldn't-"
I cut her off, furrowing my brows in annoyance "Isabella, I don't care about what he wouldn't approve. I need to get home." and snatched my arm from her hold.
As I turned around, I noticed her face turning to shock and then to determination.
My gaze remained fixed on her. She reached in one of her pockets and took out something.
My eyelids raised in surprise. She had a phone.
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Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangek7/34640056962/
Thank you for reading! Please comment your thoughts if you'd like.
Stay safe and healthy everyone, wish you the best of luck & a great day/good night.
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