Escaping Her Curse—Completed

Chapter Thirty-One

After getting undressed and washing up, Lauren then slipped into the provided night attire and crawled into the luscious bed. It was spacious, clean, and as comfortable as the bed in the palace. She only briefly wondered how Bossman had acquired such things. His mansion was such a contrast to the rest of the poverty in the Undergrowth. This told her that he had lived in wealth before descending into the dark and dank tunnels of the place. Everything that she had seen thus far was top quality. Only those who grew up in such a lifestyle would be able to recreate it later. There was a difference between those born into money and those who attained later and tried to fit in. It was another question occupying her mind.

Sleep eluded her as she tossed and turned. Their conversation weighed heavily on her mind as did the curiosity she felt toward whatever was lurking behind her door at night. The way in which Rosy had warned her had almost sounded like a threat, and she thought about whether she really had a choice to accept Bossman’s offer or simply the illusion of choice. If she didn’t accept his offer, she assumed that he would have her locked away in order to ensure she stayed out of his plans, especially now that he knew she could do magic. And, with him knowing her fake identity, she was well aware of the power he held over her. Lauren was sure that he would not let her go, even if she did decline.

However, the alternative was to work for him. He would control her movements whether she agreed or not. There had to be some way to gain a little freedom if she was at least working along side of him. Perhaps she could leave with Simon if things become too much to handle, though it would drag him into the mess with her. She was certain that Bossman would attack the Ponce name if he knew that was where she’d gone. She regretted bringing his name into their conversation, but since he’d known so much about her life in the palace, she assumed he knew about Simon already.

Sighing, Lauren attempted to clear her mind of all her thoughts. She needed to count sheep or something, except every time she pictured them running across her mind’s eye, her thoughts would inevitably travel back to how she was way over her head in this situation. She had no one to trust in the Undergrowth, and there were more unanswered questions popping up with each passing day.

Suddenly, a creak outside her door startled her. She bolted up into a sitting position, gripping the comforter in her hands. She watched the ‘L’ shaped door handle jiggle until it turned all the way down. Something pressed against the door, and she held her breath, hoping she had properly locked it. Several heart beats later, the handle returned to its resting position. The pressure lifted off the door, and she listened as lumbering footsteps faded down the hallway.

Her heart still beat wildly as her mind raced even further about what had just happened. Despite her better judgment, she crept out of bed and to the keyhole in the door. If she could just catch a glimpse at whatever it was, then perhaps she could reign in her overactive imagination. Peering through the hole with one eye, she adjusted her line of sight, but only saw the dark hallway. There were no lights on, which cast an eerie and chilling feeling. Right as she was about to give up, a loud thunk hit against the door. Lauren let out a yelp and was frozen in fear as a large eye stared at her through the keyhole.

It looked at her in an unblinking fashion. The eye itself was yellow, with dark, sagging skin hanging off around it. There were open sores that oozed with puss on its face as it moved around to get a better look at her. It pounded against the door, and she heard the distinctive sound of scraping. Moments later, a clawed finger broke through the wood and sent slivers cascading down onto the floor. Lauren screamed, backing up as quickly as she could. The thing tore at the door, making a larger hole until she saw its full face.

While one eye had been yellow, where the other should have been was just a gaping hole into its head, which was oblong and craven in on the left side. Wiry hair protruded from its skill and stuck out straight as though it had been electrocuted. Its mouth was carved into an unnatural grin that took up half its face with large, pointed teeth clearly visible. One hand was raised, outstretched towards her, but it was morphed into a clawed and bloody mess. Its skin was ashen and dark grey, and it looked like it was about to fall off its body. She was able to see its upper torso, which had matched sores and many scars that overlapped each other.

Shouts echoed in the hallway, andi t briefly looked away from her, drawn to the noise. Someone was yelling at it. A male servant looked into her room, seeing her crouched in the corner and pieces of the door spewn everywhere. The thing lunged at him, but he produced a flame in his hand and warded it away from him. It screeched, piercing her eardrums. It then turned to look back at her and jumped; its one eye locked onto her cowering figure. It continued to scream at her.

Lauren held her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut in terror. She waited for it reach her, but instead felt hands pulling on her arms.

“Miz! Miz! Come on!” Rosy’s voice called to her.

Barely looking up, she stumbled into the other woman’s embrace. She was shaking uncontrollably.

“I got ya, now. It’s gunna be fine. Ya’s gunna be jus fine,” Rosy cooed at her.

Lauren didn’t pay much attention to where they ended up, but after a minute of walking, Rosy sat her down onto another bed.

“Ya gotta say sumthin’, miz. Now’s not the time ta lose ya head. Ya safe now.”

She nodded, choosing to look around the new room they were in. It had the same layout as her previous room, only instead of being decorated in different shades of blue, this one had a pink theme. It wasn’t to her taste; however, this room still had a door attached to its hinges.

“Th–thank you for g–getting me out of there,” she mumbled.

Rosy nodded at her. “It wuz Jay, but ya welcome.”

“Wh–what was that?” Lauren shuddered as she asked.

She could still see its one eye angrily staring at her. It had felt it wanted something from her, almost like it had been drawn to her. It was almost like–

“A wandra. Like I said, ya don’ wanna get caught up wit ‘em. They nasty creatures, but they’re dependable.”

Lauren was filled with confusion at her statement. “Wh–what? What does that even mean? What would you even use those creatures for? It definitely didn’t look natural. And the–the Church would disapprove.”

Rosy then firmly gripped her shoulders, squeezing them tightly. “Listen ‘ere. Ya gonna tell no one about ‘em. Nah a soul, ya got it?”

She could only nod her head in response.

“Ya gonna sleep ‘ere. Bossman’s gonna get ya tomorra. He’ll answer ya questions. Until tomorra,” Rosy paused, glancing behind her. “Do not touch that door.”

Lauren froze as Rosy pronounced each word of her last sentence clearly. She’d never heard the woman say anything without her heavy accent.

“Undastand?”

“Yes,” she breathed.

Lauren then watched as Rosy left her, slamming the door loudly. Before she could even get up to lock the door on her side, she heard a heavy sliding noise. Feeling her heart drop into her stomach, she ran to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. They had locked her in. Though Lauren wanted to be safe from the thing that had tried to attack her, she couldn’t help but feel sick at the thought of being locked in her room.

Realizing that no one was coming back to let her out, she gave up and sat down on the bed. Every time she closed her eyes, that thing flashed before her. She needed to know exactly what it was. Rosy’s answer had been insufficient, and she knew that she would demand Bossman to tell her what had happened. If he wasn't going to be honest with her, then she knew she wouldn’t work with him and would devise a way to escape the Undergrowth. There was more going on here than she had first understood. There were many secrets lurking in the far corners of the fancy mansion. Lauren was determined to either be clued in on everything or do her best to escape the situation.

Though it took a few hours, Lauren finally succumbed and slept. Her dreams were troubled, and she tossed and turned as she ran from the yellow eye that seemed to find her wherever she ran.

The next morning, Rosy woke her up and told her to dress for breakfast. She would be meeting with Bossman to discuss the events of the night and talk about how they could move forward. Dressing in a much simpler dress of light yellow with buttons down the bodice, Lauren followed Rosy solemnly to a different room that had windows that overlooked the garden.

“Good morning,” Bossman said, looking up from the book in his hands. “Though I doubt you slept much. We have a lot to talk about today.”

“Yes, we do,” she replied, as he slipped the book under a pile of papers.

Though he had attempted to hide it, Lauren had clearly read the title of the book he was reading, and she felt uneasy as she sat. The title had read, Understanding and Utilizing the Forbidden Darkness.