Chapter 53

Emma

96 hours and 50 minutes have passed. Emma was locked up in that same bedroom of her captor's. Her eyes were sealed at a certain surface of the white ceiling. Her eyes were dull, they looked as if they belonged to a dead person. Dull and lifeless. It didn't shed any more tears, they were dried and her tears were now parched on her cheeks.

She wasn't wearing the same clothes anymore, instead, she was in a white knee-high simple dress and matching undergarments. Her arms were sore, she pulled on the ropes that were fastened to her wrists and almost screamed in pain. She had been in that position for two days straight, her wrists were on fire, and her arms went numb from the pain. She tried to scream but it was interrupted by the thick material that was placed on her mouth. The cloth muffled her agonizing screams and painful whimpers.

The bedroom wasn't soundproof, so the maids and the guards could hear her screams but Alexander warned them to not untie her or let her out of the bedroom.

She wasn't entirely alone there, one of the maids would always come and check on her, they would give her food and escort her to the bathroom if she needed to go. But they never untied her, she tried to leave the room thrice but never succeeded. The maids eventually felt pity for her but they didn't dare to help her escape.

She tried to move her legs but at that time her legs were also tied, she couldn't see what it was tied to but she would feel a sharp pain every time she tugged on the ropes. She had been trying to get free from the ropes for two days straight and that was the third day she was lying on the bed, and too tired to even move a muscle.

Her eyes closed as she began to recall the day, the moment, and the inducement of her contemporary condition.

***

It was seven o'clock at night, Alexander was never in his bedroom at that time and Emma tried to go out of the room but it was locked from the other side. She grabbed the blanket in frustration and threw it on the floor, her anxiety was taking over her normal state. She had planned out everything she wanted to do and now she could only hope her plan would work out.

After thirty minutes, a maid entered the room with a trolley with lots of different types of food on it. She locked the door behind her and put the key in her white apron pocket. Emma carefully eyed her actions.

'If I could just take the key from her somehow...'

She thought. She still had to plan something out before the maid left the room. Her teeth nibbled on her bottom lip; her eyes looked up to the maid.

The maid was putting the food on the plate carefully and served her with a gentle smile. Emma tried to pass her a smile. But all she could think about was the key and the unlocked door, she thought she might succeed if she just tried once.

The maid placed a big piece of bread on a plate with a ton of vegetables on it, she served it along with a small bowl of soup. Emma was starving, but she could not think about the food at that time, she had to run. She refused to eat and told the maid that she wasn't hungry but the maid insisted that she ate a little.

Emma was afraid that if the maid left, she'd lose her chance to escape. She grabbed the bowl of soup and loosened the grip on the bowl when she was taking it close to herself. The bowl dropped on the maid, staining her white apron.

"Oh no!" Emma said. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that," she went to help the girl by smudging a wet napkin on her apron.

"Don't worry, ma'am. I will take care of it," the maid smiled and took off her apron. Emma felt terrible for her but at the same time, she felt rage. Rage for her 'master'. He was the reason she had to cause trouble for someone so that she could escape the devil.

Her throat was getting dry, she had never thought to hurt anyone emotionally let alone physically, and here she was dropping a hot bowl of soup on a poor girl who wasn't even responsible for her bad condition.

"Can you please give me some water?" Emma asked her. The maid gently smiled and turned away from her to get her some water. She took that as a chance to slip her hand inside the apron that she had placed over the trolley and took out the keys. She hid it inside the bedsheets. When the maid handed her the glass of water, she took it and finished it in a few gulps. She was nervous.

After a few minutes, Emma dismissed the maid. She ate a little and hoped that the maid would leave the room. She also hoped the maid wouldn't look for her keys, but she wasn't that fortunate.

The maid went to lock the door and she realized the key was gone from her apron, she frowned and looked for it everywhere. Emma chewed on her bottom lip to stop it from shivering.

'What do I do now?' She thought to herself.

Before the maid could take any action, Emma pushed her aside and her body hit the wall making her scream. She felt terrible for what she did but it didn't stop her from running. She kept running till she was out of the house. She was thankful that the house was big enough to muffle the low scream that came out of the maid's mouth.

***

Emma ran as fast as she could. Her heart was beating so fast that she felt like it would explode out of her chest. Her whole body was sweating despite the freezing temperature. She heard a loud roaring sound coming from the sky and realized it was already raining.

A few droplets of rain touched her face and in the blink of an eye, she was fully soaking wet from the rain.

The white knee-high dress she was wearing was covered in mud and dirt from all the times she had tripped down on the ground.

She did not know where she was going, she just knew that she had to run!

Emma did not know where she was. She stopped running and looked around her.

She could see a park surrounded by fences and a metal gate. It looked empty as it was late at night.

There were no houses anywhere near that place, just a few street lamps. She gulped and clutched her dress tightly. She slowly made her way near the gate and opened it. There was a small park inside. She was surprised to see that the gate was open at that hour of the night. It was so dark she could barely see a thing. She didn't even bring her phone or any flashlight with her.

Emma slowly stepped forward; her heart was pounding in her chest. She was scared. No, she was terrified. The whole thing was scaring her to death.

'I finally ran away from him...' She muttered to herself. She finally did it!

But she knew he would be looking for her. She prayed to God that she would not get caught, she did not want to return to that hell again.

Emma noticed an empty bench near where she was standing. She sat on it. Her throat was dry and her bare feet were in pain from all the pounding they had received from the ground. She brought her hands to her feet and touched them, hissing in pain, and noticed that they were bleeding already. She was sure it was some rock that had cut her feet.

Her cheeks warmed up and her eyes were filled with tears.

"How would I run now?" Her heart filled up with helplessness with that despairing thought.

Emma tried to stand up but failed miserably, she sat back on the bench, too tired and hurt to stand up. But she knew she couldn't stay there for long. She knew that if she did, he would find her and drag her back to his hell. But for now, she had to find shelter from the rain beating down on her body.

She tried looking around the park to see if there was any shed that she could stay in for the night. She could not see anything in the dark.

She wrapped her hands around herself and rubbed her palm on the arms in order to warm up her body from the cold droplets. She wasn't wearing any proper clothing to shield herself from the rain and the coldness.

All of a sudden, she suddenly felt someone touch her shoulder. She froze in her seat and gasped.

The hand was cold and rough... it was a similar touch that she could recognize.

Emma gulped and looked behind and she wanted nothing but to just cry her heart out when she saw who was standing there.

"Hello, butterfly. Missed me?"

All the terror was too much for her to comprehend. She felt her heart drop like it never had been before. The gulp in her throat was so intense that she could not even breathe and after a few moments of trembling in horror, she started to feel dizzy and passed out.