Chapter 49

29th October 2000

It was one of the darkest nights, he was in his room, curled up in a ball while lying on his bed. The beads of sweat dripped down his forehead to his bedsheets. His body quivered and he found it difficult to open his eyes. He gasped for air.

Another nightmare broke into another anarchical repose. The ticking of the clock stopped and was replaced by the sound of the tintinnabulation. Alexander's eyes were wide open when he heard the ding of the clock bell. His room was encompassed by darkness. But that was how he liked it. He liked being in the dark because the tenebrosity was the only thing that could perceive him and was parallel to him. He was not more than seven years old. But he understood the clandestine of the darkness.

At that moment, his nightmare was more violent and brutal. The loud gasps coming out of him and the continuous flowing of the egestive on his body were the evidence. His hand reached for the lamp on his bedside and switched it on, defeating the darkness and escalating its light on a small portion of his room.

One of the maids of the Kings was walking in the hallway when her eyes landed on Alexander's room. The door was slightly opened and the light could be seen by her. She pushed it farther and knocked on the door.

"Are you okay, young master?" She asked gently. Alexander's eyes landed on the maid and he swiftly got out of his bed, running to her. His little arms were wrapped around the maid as he sobbed onto her black maid dress. The maid felt pity for him and put her hand on his head.

"You can talk to me, honey," she whispered to him.

"I-I have n-nothing. I ha-have no f-family," the maid hugged him tighter and kneeled to him.

"That's not true, honey. You have a family, even though they are your adoptive parents. They both love you and your brother," he shook his head violently.

"They are n-not my real p-parents. They will never be!" His voice suddenly got louder. He refused to accept them as his parents.

Arabelle loved him and his brother, but she could never replace his biological mother.

She inhaled sharply and responded, "sometimes there are people in our lives who come at the right time to extricate us. And these are the people who will be with you till the end of the day, Carlos. Maybe Xander and Arabelle are not one of those individuals, but there will be someone..." It had been long since someone called him Carlos. She paused to break the hug and cupped his wet-red cheeks and said, "Who will salvage you from the depth of the sea of melancholy. There is someone for you. One day, you will find what is rightfully yours."

***

She winced when the cold water from the shower touched her body. She had countless bruises all over her body. She gritted her teeth together as she scrubbed her body with the soap. It hurt. It hurt so much she wanted to cry.

Her body was screaming at her to stop but all she wanted was to get rid of his touch, it disgusted her. She almost poured all the liquid soap from the bottle and began scrubbing her body. Each part of it.

Her hands.

Her shoulders.

Her neck.

Everywhere her hand could reach, she scrubbed it all. She cursed her life, she cursed for being an orphan, and she cursed her foster parents to treat her like crap. She cursed her bullies from her old school that made her so infirm. She cursed for working at the Kings.

If only she would have looked for a better job... she would not have to work for Kings. It was her biggest mistake, Caroline warned her several times but she never listened.

Why did I not listen?!

Her eyes began to tear up and her movements slowed down. A loud sob escaped her mouth and she felt as if she would fall at any time if her hand was not gripping something. The water was still running on muffling the sound of her loud sobs.

She turned around to face the opposite side of the shower and involuntarily her back rested on the wall behind her. The soap was washed away from her body as she glided down and her bottom touched the cold-hard floor. Why was that happening to her? She wanted to escape! She wanted to run away. But, there was no escape, she knew it.

After she came out of the bathroom, she got dressed and sat on her bed. Emma looked to her bedside and saw her bags on the floor. Her hands clenched tightly onto the bedsheet. Was it fear she felt? Or was it the anger? The emotions were so intense she could not comprehend.

With her shaky legs, she got up from the bed and walked toward her belongings. All of her clothes were somehow tugged inside the bag, her small pouch was lying beside it on the floor. She picked up her pouch and found it open, but what surprised her was a decent amount of cash sticking out of the half-opened zipline of the pouch. She frowned. She did not remember putting an amount this big in her pouch. She opened the zipline and was beyond shocked. She counted it after pulling out the money.

$2000.

She did not earn this much. Why would the Kings give her an early salary which was double the normal amount?

She took the pouch with her and went downstairs. She noticed the golden walls as she walked down the staircase, all of the furniture was shining bright for Christmas. But she was not sure if she would be there during Christmas. Although she would hate to be in that big house all alone during her favorite holiday, she could not imagine spending it with Alexander at his penthouse.

Emma bit her bottom lip to suppress the sob begging to leave her mouth. She had to be stronger than this. She could not just let him take her away! But what would stop him?

"What are you doing here?" Ela asked her. She just came out of the kitchen and made her way to the living room where Emma was standing unknowingly.

Her question brought Emma back to reality. She was not dressed in her regular maid outfit, instead, she wore simple white pants and a red half-sleeved t-shirt. Her hair was still wet from the shower and her t-shirt was wet from the droplets of her drenched hair.

Ela's eyes shifted to her hand and saw Emma holding her pouch. That did not go unnoticed by Emma, she assumed Ela had understood why she was down there.

"Master gave it to you. He said it is a Christmas bonus. All of the maids got it before they left," oh, she was aware that they were given a bonus, but they were not given twice their salary for the bonus.

Alexa and Ruby had been working for longer than the other girls, so they were given the highest amount of $300 extra as the bonus. Emma only earned not more than $600 a week there. There was no way Alexander would give her $1400 more as a bonus.

Emma timidly nodded her head even though she did not believe a word Ela had said, or maybe Alexander did not tell her the actual reason.

Nevertheless, Ela was aware of everything that happened in the house.

She turned to leave for her room.

"Emma," Ela called her out. She stopped in her tracks but did not turn around.

"You will be leaving with him tonight," a grievous feeling passed her heart that juddered her entire body. A low wheeze left her mouth. Her eyelids seized against one another, she did not respond to her and ran to her bedroom, closing the door behind her and carefully locking it.

No, I cannot let it happen. I need to do something. I need to escape!

Alexander was yet to come home. She thought it would be the perfect timing for her to leave the house. She walked to the window and looked outside, thankfully there were not many guards.

It would be easier for her to leave. She quickly dried her hair with the towel and brushed it. Suddenly, her phone rang. She picked it up and the soft voice of Caroline was heard from the opposite side of the phone.

"Hello sweetie, how are you?" Emma's throat dried in poignant. She had never hide anything from Caroline.

Caroline always taught Emma to share her every sorrow with her no matter how painful it would be for her. But that time Emma could not do it. She could not hurt her only family. Caroline would be devastated.

"H-hello Caroline, I-I am good, and you?"

"I am fine honey, but are you sure you are alright? You sound distressed. Are you sick?" Emma bit her bottom lip. Her eyes began to water. She gulped down her sorrow and responded. "No, I am fine Caroline. I-I just can't wait to see you."

Caroline's face lit up by her response. "I am looking forward to meeting you during Christmas, honey. I am planning to prepare your favorite chicken roast and baked potatoes!"

Listening to the excitement in Caroline's voice, Emma's knees gave up on her shivering body. She fell onto her bed and clenched her fist tightly.

"You will be coming for the holiday, won't you?" There was a sudden sincerity and worry in Caroline's voice. Emma immediately spoke up.

"Of course! I will be coming, Caroline. But I need to go now. I will call you later," she was thankful her voice did not break that time.

"Okay sweetie, Take care," she politely responded and ended the call.

Throwing her phone on the bed, she rested her hands on her legs and touched her forehead with her palm. She was sweating badly. She wanted to tell Caroline everything, but she was too scared. Her anxiety was killing her.

Emma lifted her bag and her small pouch in her other hand. She looked around the room one last time. She could not say that she would miss that bedroom because even though those walls held a bad memory, those walls also echoed her cries of agony. She wiped a drop of tear that glided down her cheek to her neck and twisted the doorknob to open it. It opened with a cracking voice of the wood and she took a step ahead in the hope to search for a new life, a life full of freedom.

"Going somewhere, butterfly?"

That voice.

The familiar ridiculing voice.

She looked up and wished she never did.