CHAPTER 1: STRANGERS AND A STRANGE PLACE
Like icy bites to her skin, something pricked at her toes, her fingers, her hands. It was cold, too cold. Octavia tightly wrapped her legs around her body, hoping to retain enough warmth, but it proved insufficient, regardless of her efforts to curl up. She pulled on the blanket over her, holding tight enough, but shivers still ran down her spine, keeping her mind and body awake and unable to drift back into sleep. Octavia whimpered and reluctantly opened her eyes.She hated this, the cold, the air, but waking up was inevitable and she was ready to bounce at Kate for turning on the air condition when she clearly knew how cold the night already was.
But something was wrong. Kate wasn’t beside her, as she usually was with an open mouth and her hair all over her face. Maybe she woke up early, but that could never be her sister. However, that wasn’t the only thing. The bed felt different, the walls were painted in green and a strange lamp was beside the bed. The air seemed different, felt different, smelt different. Octavia immediately opened her eyes and jumped up from the bed. The room itself was massive, and so was the bed. It looked exquisite, with chandeliers that seemed to be made of silver standing right in the middle of the room. She swallowed, wondering if she was perhaps in a dream. It had to be the only way she could be in this strange room. A shiver ran down her spine again and goosebumps filled her skin. She hissed, hating the cold, and looked around for the air conditioner. But there was none there. Well, it was time to wake up. So she went back to bed. Mom always said it worked, and with how old she was, she shouldn’t believe that, but she still covered her body and pinched her arms while closing her eyes tightly shut. Yet, when she opened them, she was still in that strange room.
“What is happening?” This wasn’t a dream. It felt real and so was the fear.
“Mom…” she called out, now scared out of her mind.
“Dad…” she yelled out, stepping down from the bed and towards the mighty double handed door. She pulled on the knob, but the door didn’t budge.
“Kate..” She banged her fist against it.
“Is anyone there?” Octavia screamed at the top of her lungs. Silence was all she got.
“Oh, God….”
“What is going on? Is there anyone there? How did I get here?” Her thoughts rambled on and on, leaving her in a state of panic and utter fear.
She knew how the previous night went. She yelled at her mom and she yelled back at her. Then she ran back into their bedroom, shutting the door in her face, which she might totally kill her for, and climbed on the bed. Kate had walked in minutes later to try to make her feel better, but she sent her away. She had cried myself to sleep. And was pretty sure she had climbed back to bed later that night since she could be very noisy. So how the hell was she in an unfamiliar room?
“Mom…” she screamed again, this time louder, with her fist hitting even harder against the door.
Almost immediately, the knob moved, and she jumped back. It opened up and someone walked in. A lady, in a simple gown that reached below her knees and a weird smile on her face. She had never seen her, so she took more steps back.
“Who are you?” Octavia asked first. She said nothing, but simply stared at her with a certain light in her eyes. It was crazy.
“Hey, are you mute? Answer me, where am I? Who are you? And how did I get here?”
“I’m not.” She answered, stepping forward, with a smile on her lips and that same shine in her eyes.
“I know how confusing this all is. But I think you should sit down first and….”
“Answer me, damn it.” Octavia snapped, irritated, with her heart racing and her hands shaking. She sighed and let out a breath.
“My name is Abigail. Master Alexander brought here you. He told me to take care of you, so I will be your caretaker from here on out.”
“Brought here? By your master? So I was kidn*pped?” her eyes widened and her heart raced even more.
“No, not so….” Her eyes widened as well. And she tried coming closer. But Octavia took a step back, scared out of her heart.
“What do you want from me? Money? My family does not have much. Please take me back. My parents and sister will be worried about me.”
“My lady…”
“God, please, just let me go.” The back of her eyes stung with unshed tears and the fear of what might happen to her plagued my mind, leaving her in trembles and panic.
“My lady, please, you have to calm down….” she tried coming closer, but she moved away again. In all things, she was small and might not even stand a chance against her in a one-on-one shuffle, yet, they had somehow taken her from her home, in the middle of the night, with her family around and she had no idea how. What if they killed them?
“My parents, Kate, what did you do to them?” She stiffened, then let out a sigh the next second.
“I understand how misunderstanding this all is. But they are fine. We do not plan to hurt you. That’s a promise.” She lowered her voice and her tone, but it only made her keep her guard on high alert.
“Master Alexander didn’t bring you here to hurt you.”
“How do I trust you when you kidn*pped me?”
“He will explain better. But just so you can trust us….” She stretched her hands in a direction.
“There is the bathroom there. Freshen up, there are clothes in the wardrobe for you. I want to show you around. I’m guessing that you are hungry as well. We will get you something to eat along the way.” She completed and turned to the door. Her steps were graceful and now that she looked at her pretty well, she was tall and pretty fair. She stopped in front of the door and suddenly turned back to Octavia. Her eyes were soft and kind and very friendly. She looked to be exactly her age.
“He was right.” She smiled.
“You look exactly like her. It’s good to see you again, my lady.”
