Chapter 12

A few hours later, Violet found herself waking up in a rather extravagant bed. She was still wearing the same oversized t-shirt of Adam’s that she remembered going to sleep in, but the light coming in through a couple of windows revealed to her that it was morning, and her surroundings were very unfamiliar. She sat up and felt a slight pain on her neck, reaching up to find a cotton swab underneath a band-aid. She sighed and looked to her side, immediately becoming alarmed that Adam wasn’t next to her.

Violet’s head spun towards the door as it opened and Montoya stepped in. Her eyes widened and she pulled the covers up to her chin. What did this mean?

Montoya sighed at seeing her so scared. He stepped up to the bed and offered her his hand “I first want to put forth my deepest and most sincerest apologies, Violet. It was my fault that you were taken by those barbarians. I can’t imagine what horrors you endured while you were there, but don’t worry, my child. I assure you you are safe now.”

Violet was looking up at him most confused. She tried to speak several times, but she didn’t want to cut him off. “What? No, no ... I was ... happy there.”

Montoya went from a saddened look to an equally confused look, “They shot out the tires of the limo. They took you from us at the end of a gun. They live in huts, and scrape to get by. They might have made you believe you were happy, but surely that was just mind trickery. No human would choose to live by such standards.”

Violet looked back at him angrily “NO! I WAS happy! I had Adam! Everything was finally going right!” She flung her hand to slap Montoya across the face and sat up, slamming her fists onto his chest. She was simply so frustrated at how things have kept changing and how things continued being so very unfair that she started crying as she was pummeling her fists on Montoya’s chest.

Montoya took the slap, because honestly, he hardly felt it. It probably hurt her hand more than it did his cheek. As she kept hitting his chest and shouting “Take me back to Adam. Bring me to Adam.” He wondered exactly what they did to make her this way. Stockholm Syndrome was the first thing that came to his mind. He sighed and grabbed her arms tightly but gently.

“Violet ... calm down.”

She slowly came to a halt, but kept whimpering. Sabien would not like her looking like this. He snapped his fingers and a maid standing at the door stepped forward. They both look at the maid as she was addressed.

“This young lady is Violet. Get her cleaned up and dressed and bring her to Sabien’s office.”

He looked back down to Violet, “I’m sorry, Violet. There is no more Adam.”

She gasped and was speechless as she watched him stand and walk out of the bedroom. She pulled the covers more tightly around her, wanting to cocoon herself up and disappear. The maid started saying something, but she wasn’t listening.

Violet was too busy crying her eyes out to hear what the soft spoken maid had said. Her mind was going a million miles per second. Had they killed Adam? She tried to remember what happened. It was all such a blur. The thought that Adam had been killed, combined with the fact that she was still grieving over her mother, made the pain too much to bear. The maid, who’s name was Natalia, tried to get Violet to get up, but it was no use.

Violet cried on the bed for a good twenty minutes until she started to quiet down, the maid again tried to speak to her.

“Please, young miss. I have to get you ready.”

She pulled back the covers, and tried to help Violet to sit up, pulling her arm. Violet pulled her arm away quickly.

“Leave me alone”! She screamed.

“Please young miss, I beg you. Please don’t fight me, or I will be forced to get Adela. She is not nice, and she will most likely be very rough with you. Then I will be punished for not getting you ready. So please, just come with me to the bathroom.”

Violet didn’t like the sound of anyone “getting rough” with her. So she forced herself to cooperate. She stood up, tears still falling from her eyes, and followed Natalia to the bathroom. She watched as the maid, dressed in a long black dress with a crisp white apron over it, leaned over and started running her bath water for her. Violet would have been impressed, it was the most beautiful bathroom she had ever seen, but she honestly didn’t care about much at that moment. The ceilings were so high, and the large window looked over the ocean. The waves crashed over large rocks in the distance, as the sound of water filling the tub filled the room. The maid then brought two fluffy white towels over and set them on the vanity next to the claw foot tub. Then she placed a can of shaving cream and a new razor by the tub.

“Make sure to shave all of your body hair. Master is not a fan of body hair on any of us,” she instructed.

Those words sent a chill through Violet’s body. What the hell had she just said? Master? Shave? Any of us? What in the world was going on here? She began to tremble in fear. Natalia noticed. She felt bad for the young girl. She knew how she must feel. She tried to offer the young new girl some advice.

“Please miss, just do as you are told, and everything will be easy for you. If you try to fight, or resist you will surely regret it. Believe me, I know from experience.”

Those words made Violet’s blood run cold. What was this place? Who was “The Master” and what was he going to do with her? She was so terrified, exhausted, and defeated, that she suddenly collapsed to the floor.

Natalia quickly rushed to the girls side. She checked her pulse. She was still breathing. After a minute or so of Natalia shaking her, and gently slapping her cheeks, Violet woke up. Natalia helped her undress, then watched as Violet sank into the very warm tub of water. The water felt so good, and she held her breath, as she let her head go under.