Within His Reach

Chapter 5

BRAIR POV

I let the thousands of tears fall from my swollen eyes as I sat on the window seat with my knees close to my chest. I knew that this day was coming and had been telling myself for years that everything would be okay. But now that the dreaded day was actually here, I was no longer able to lie to myself with such unconvincing crap.

So instead of making up stories in my head of how loving and caring Theo would be towards me, I allowed myself to break down. I owed myself that much. I cried for the loss of my family, their brutal deaths. I cried for my future children who were doomed to live a dull and violence obsessed lives. But most of all I cried for myself and the mess that my life had become.

I turned eighteen yesterday which meant that today I was about to sign any freedom that I still had away and fall into the violent arms of Theo Emberson. 

Another sob tore it's way through my throat as I burrowed my shivering body deeper into the blanket. Not that the layers helped since I was pretty certain that the shuddering was not due to the cold, but the fear.

I'd spent my birthday in a similar state, wrapped up in bed too depressed to come out. Theo never gave me gifts as such on my birthdays although he would always have the cooks bring me a birthday cake. Though I never ate much of it because my appetite was slowly but surely withering away along with my happiness. 

I heard the knock at the door, meaning that Alison was here, so I quickly wiped my puffy eyes before shouting for her to enter. 

She came inside along with a trey of food, my breakfast, it contained some sort of tea and some pancakes. She closed the door behind her and placed the trey down at my desk table before turning to where I was sat. I didn't miss the look of guilt that washed over her face once she saw me and the state that I had currently fallen in to. 

"Oh Briar..."

She murmured softly while taking a seat besides me and wrapping me up in her comforting arms. I screwed my eyes shut as tightly as I possibly could and imagined that the person holding me was my mother who loved me dearly. 

"I know this is hard."

No she didn't, she wasn't the one who was about to be wed to some psychotic killer before she could even experience the joys of this world. She didn't know a thing about what I was going through right now.

"It will be okay if you just-"

"Please don't talk."

I murmured quietly, though I know that she heard because not even another peep came out of her whilst she did my hair and makeup.

I didn't want to be spoken to right now. I knew exactly what Alison felt for me and that was the last thing that I wanted from anyone at the moment. Their pity. It made me feel even worse about my admittedly, pitiful situation. I wanted to cry and curl up into a ball, yet for some reason the tears just wouldn't fall. Perhaps it was because I had already shed far too many. I would simply enjoy the silence whilst it lasted.

I stared back at my reflection in the mirror. My hair had been pulled back into a half-up half-down style, the bottom of my hair curled to give the look a princess like feel. Yet I knew that I was the opposite of royalty. I was a prisoner and any chances that I had at freedom were long gone now. My makeup was light, no foundation or other heavy products had been applied to my face. Instead I wore a simple streak of eyeliner and had a delicate layer of mascara coating my lashes. Some blush had been spread across my cheeks and my lips painted with a rose-tinted gloss.