The OtherWorlders

Chapter 2

I twisted my hands in my lap, shivering in the chill of the cool leather interior, my throat dry with nerves-I wished our house had had water to bring. I peeked over through my hair, watching Justin look out the window, and my stomach churned with fear, making me feel sick. We had all grown up hearing stories of fellow humans sold to OtherWorlders, and none of them had turned out well-many times during my childhood a body had been returned, bloodied and desecrated, to their family. Even more frequently, no body was ever brought back after they were taken to the city.

"How old were you, when your parents told you about our arrangement?" he asked, his voice breaking through my musings.

I started at his voice, soft and yet impossibly loud in the close confines of the car. "On my tenth birthday" I whispered softly, and I wondered if my voice sounded as bitter out loud as it felt in my head. It was quiet for so long that I began to wonder if I had spoken aloud or only inside my own head, but when I lifted my gaze I found him watching me with a peculiar expression.

"They told you on your tenth birthday that they were giving you away to a stranger?" he asked.

I chewed on my bottom lip at his tone, a nervous habit I had always had-his eyes dropped to my mouth and the blue in them deepened and seemed to melt. I released my captive lip quickly, and my innate fear of this man and the uncertainty of my future warred with my curiosity; why should it matter to him how my parents told me? He shook his head slightly, as if he wasn't sure why it mattered to him either, and he crossed his foot over his knee as he awaited my response.

I racked my brain to recall what the question had been, shrugging. "There's not really a good time to tell your child that news, I don't think" I said truthfully, and he inclined his head towards me in agreement.

"That dress was the perfect pick, it looks stunning on you" he said softly, and I self consciously lifted my hands to smooth down the already perfectly smooth fabric.

"Thank you" I said, and was shocked at the husky whisper that my voice came out as, clearing my throat as one corner of his mouth tilted up the barest fraction.

The almost-smile vanished so quickly that I wondered if it had ever been there at all. He looked up, readjusting in his seat as I turned around in trepidation to see what we were looking at. As I watched, what he had clearly been able to see through the darkness with his heightened vision finally came into my view, and my mouth dropped open. Before us was an enormous house, a castle really, all turrets and ornately carved moldings and stained glass windows; its grounds stretched out behind it into the darkness surrounded by a wrought iron fence topped with vicious looking black spikes.

"This is your home?!" I half shouted, forgetting myself and my fear in my awe, tilting my head back as I leaned further against the window to keep the impossibly tall towers in my view as we got closer.

"It is." He rolled down his window to press his palm against a subtle panel in the bushes beside the car, and with a soft red light and a beep the huge gates before us began to open; as we moved forward I was unable to see anything else, resigning myself to sit back in my seat, my foot bouncing with panicked nerves.

"Quit fidgeting like that" he snapped sharply, and I stopped instantly. I curled my legs up under my thighs to make myself small, a task in sharp stiletto heels. He sighed, squeezing the bridge of his nose for a moment. "My apologies" he said in a softer tone, "I realize you must be tired and scared. I must work on my patience with you" he mused. I blinked, caught off guard for the second time by his unexpected kindness. We pulled into a brightly lit garage full of cars, a large and thick metal door closing behind us with a dull and final thud. Justin's door was pulled open and he slid out, a moment later opening my door for me and lowering his hand inside the cab. I took it and he pulled me up and out of the car.