Captured Witch

IX. Meeting Him

I walked down the next wing looking for someone. I knew it wouldn’t be smart to walk around opening doors. I placed my hand on each door to sense who was in there. I finally found a room with just women in it. I opened the door and saw Tam inside. “Tam!” 

            “Adalaide? How did you get here?”

            “It’s a long story, one that I probably shouldn’t tell you. I probably don’t have too long before they find out.”

            “Find out?”

            “Long story. Did you find my mother?”

            “No but she saw her earlier today.” Tam pointed at the woman next to her.

            “She’s being kept away from you. She knows you are here, and she wants to see you. They won’t let her. I saw them lock her in her suite earlier.” The woman said.

            Then the sirens went off. “Well so much for being discreet. I’ll probably get in pretty big trouble for this so might as well make it fun right? Anybody have some of these ugly clothes that they give us?”

            Tam walked to the chest of drawers and picked out some clothes. She handed me an outfit. I quickly got dressed and left the room. I walked down the hall keeping my head down. I’d go undetected longer now that I blended in better. So many running guards passed me without recognizing me. I heard someone shouting a bit away. “How hard can it be to find someone who looks completely different from everyone else!” The shouting was getting louder, I must be getting close. There was a hallway to my left that I took. There were no guards in this hall, so I kept walking. Suddenly, about halfway down the long hallway, someone grabbed my arm and yanked me into a room. I started to argue but got a hand over my mouth. 

            “Shhh. Do you want them to find you? I thought the whole point of you killing those guards was to escape.” It was a man’s voice. 

            He flicked the light on. It took a second for my eyes to adjust, but when they did, I saw a familiar face. I worked to free myself from him, and he quickly let me go. “Robert? What the hell man?”

            “Shut up!”

            “I’m better off on my own. I’m definitely not getting help from someone who led me on for a year only to be the person who was helping these monsters kidnap me!” I turned to walk out of the room, but he grabbed my arm and pushed me against the wall.

            “It wouldn’t be smart to try and escape. You won’t get out of this wing, let alone the building. You might want to rethink your plan. At least your mother had one.”

            “Yeah? Well my mother still got caught and I’ve had more training than her. So as far as I’m concerned, I’m doing pretty well.” I tried to walk off again but got thrown back against the wall. “No one is going to recognize me.”

            He raised an eyebrow at me. “I recognized you”

            “Look, just let me do this. If I fail, oh well that’s on me.” He let go of my arm and walked out of the room, leaving the door open behind him. I composed myself and walked out of the room. I turned the corner and immediately ran into someone. “Well f**k” I said. I threw my hands in the air and looked up. Edwin, who was staring back down at me, did not look happy.

            “Well, here you are, not on the wing we told you to stay in. But I must say these clothes are a great improvement.”

            I stared at him angrily, not saying anything. “Since you’ve changed your clothes, I suppose we can show you around properly now.”     He roughly grabbed my arm and pulled me alongside him as he quickly walked.

            We walked at this pace for what seemed like an hour. When we finally stopped my legs felt sore and my lungs ached for air. I attempted to catch my breath as I looked around. We had been brought to some sort of hall, like with thrones and s**t. When we first arrived, the hall was filled with the sound of talking, but it soon stopped.

 My eyes continued to roam the room, until they stopped on one man at the far side of the room. He was standing talking to a group of people, but when I arrived, he moved to lean against the wall staring at me.  I wanted to look away, but at the same time I wanted to walk toward him. It felt as if he was calling me over there. Edwin chuckled, breaking me somewhat out of my trance. He dropped his strong grip on my arm and pushed me forward. I stumbled a bit as I stepped forward.

            “Here she is, your majesty. The must stubborn girl you’ll ever meet. She’s been the cause of all the commotion today, but we’ve got her.”

            I made a face of disgust when he called me a girl. That got a smile out of the man that I’ve been drawn to. He took a step forward, straightening up after leaning against the wall. “So, you’re the one who has caused all this trouble. You’ve escaped my men’s grasp more times than I can count. Though, I suppose that speaks more for my men if they can be outsmarted by a girl.” As he spoke, he walked toward me, ending right in front of me. I wanted to speak so desperately, but fear like I had never felt struck me suddenly. He raised an eyebrow at my silence. “Surely you haven’t suddenly lost that stubbornness Edwin spoke of?”

            I took a deep breath, feeling the heat rising in my face. “I’m sure your men weren’t prepared to deal with such a powerful witch like me. Though, I suppose that speaks more on your behalf as the one who was meant to prepare them.” I mentally gave myself a high-five. He looked at me amused. He grabbed my chin turning my face to get a look at me. “I suppose she is just as stubborn as you say Edwin. Congrats on your ability to catch her, I truly am amazed.”

            The man turned away from me to Edwin, but I wasn’t done. “Where is my mother? I want to see her.”  He turned back to me sharply.

            “What a demanding little witch she is.” He laughed and walked away. I opened my mouth to speak again but Edwin had grabbed my arm and pulled me forward again, following the man who had spoke to me. “Let me go, I can walk by myself!” I screamed clawing his hand on my arm. My screams were attracted attention but both Edwin and the man ignored them. They continued on to a private suite, the guards that stood in the doorway moving aside to let us through.

            When the door was shut behind me, I was thrown into the room. I fell, catching myself with my hands. I flipped over to sit on the floor looking up in disgust. Edwin looked at the man and was waved away. When he left the man began to approach me. I began to scurry back but soon found myself against a wall. I used the wall to help stand up but once I was on my feet, I found myself pinned against the wall.

            “So, you’re the one who causes so much trouble. The one who has been shaking my entire palace all morning. You’ve broken windows in a hotel, run away from my men, led us to an entire community of witches like you, and still you found yourself here.” He covered my mouth with his hand and continued to speak. “I’ve spent quite a lot of money in order to acquire you again, let’s hope that you prove worth it.” Shock must have flashed across my eyes because he laughed and removed his hand from my mouth.

            “What do you mean, your palace? You own this awful place?”

            “I own everything here, including you now.”

            “I want to see my mother. Take me to her” I demanded.

            “Hmm, that sounded like a demand. Maybe if you beg me, I’ll take you to her.”

            I scoffed. “I’ll never beg you for anything.”

            “Are you really so sure about that? Never is a very definite word.” He started to kiss my neck. I tried to shove him off of me, pressing my hands against his chest. He grabbed my wrists and pinned them against the wall. “I know you have experience in things like this. I expect a lot from you Adalaide.”

            “Get off of me!” I screeched, “I’ll never f**k you, never.”

            “There you go with that word again, never.” He rolled his eyes. “I suppose I could just wait until I marry you. Then you won’t have a choice at all.” I gasped. I could feel the tears building up in my eyes, but I refused to cry in front of him. He suddenly let me go and backed away. I fell to the ground, to weak to stand up. He crouched down to my level and picked my chin up. “You really are so stubborn. I can see the tears in your eyes.” I felt a tear roll down my cheek. Dammit. Why am I crying? “Now if you ask me nicely, I just might take you to see your mother. After all, I don’t consider myself to be a cruel man.”

            He continued to stare at me. I knew all I needed to do was to say was please but that would mean he won. But every fiber of my being just wanted to give in to him. I felt like my soul was being ripped apart. I finally gave in. “Please, will you take me to see my mother?” I whispered; it was so faint that I barely even heard it myself.

“What was that?” He asked mockingly.

            “Please, can you take me to see my mother?” I asked again, my voice had a pleading tone to it.

            “There’s a good girl.” He said. Hearing those words made me feel sick to my stomach but also peaceful. What was happening to me?

            He picked me up off the floor and wiped the tears from my cheeks. “All you had to do was ask. Now when we go into the hall, you’re going to stay right by me and not say anything, understand?” I nodded. “Use words Adalaide. Say yes, sir.”

            I snapped my head up and looked at him shocked. He tilted his head in a manner that made it clear saying it was not optional. “Yes sir.” I repeated, barely getting it through my teeth. He motioned for me to stand beside him. The door opened and we stepped out, me beside him. We walked through the hall that I had been dragged from, only now it was empty. He didn’t walk fast but I wanted to stay in the hall. He sensed my hesitation and stopped with a sigh. I looked around in amazement. “Have you never seen anything like this?” I shook my head and stared at him. “Hmm. I suppose you wouldn’t have, going to school in the human world.”

            “Can I ask you a question?” He nodded in response. “What’s your name?”

            “Daniel.”

            I nodded. Daniel continued to walk, and I had half run in order to catch up to him. I got to his side and walked at his pace. We finally stopped at a door and Daniel looked at the guards and motioned them away. Suddenly it felt if time had stopped. I wanted this, I wanted to see her. Why was I hesitating. Daniel stepped inside and turned for me to walk in. I felt as if my feet had been cemented to the ground. I shook my head. “Adalaide, why are you standing there? I thought you wanted to come see her.” He said teasingly.

            “I can’t. I don’t know why but I can’t.”

            “Adalaide get in the room now.”

            I felt this overwhelming urge to do as he said. I took a step forward and breathed out. I continued to walk inside. When I saw her my fear and anxiety turned to rage.