Battle of Fear and Trust

Broken Teacups

"Did you see what Margaret wore at the party?"

"Oh, yes it's a wonder she even left her house in that outfit," I hear Jean and Samantha say to each other as we took the train home from Cambridge. We had gone to what was supposed to be the party of the year, though it turned out to be rather dull, and my date wasn't much better.

Luckily Lord Chesterfield let me have some time off. I smile, thinking about him. He is such a charming man and I almost wish I could have asked him to come to this party with me. I didn't, as he is married and has a high position in society; I couldn't risk that kind of scandal. Although, I have been trying to pursue him in secret and while he does seem interested, it doesn't look like he's going to give in. I'm guessing he didn't want to chance it either. But I'm sure he can only resist for so long.

"At least it's not as absurd as Cindy leaving the country without a word." Samantha says, drawing my attention back to them.

"I still can't believe she didn't tell us. I mean, we were her friends. The least she could do is tell us where she moved to." Jean says.

"She was never one to see the value in any of her relationships. It's obvious she thought she was too good for us and moved on. If you ask me, we're better off without her." I smile knowing the real reason she fled the country was because she was afraid of what I might do to her if she didn't let me take charge of the group.

"I guess you're right. Cindy was always too bossy and self-centered to think about anyone other than herself." Samantha tells me.

"Not to mention you have more style than Cindy ever had," Jean adds. Of course, getting those two to follow my lead was easy. Neither one has any type of leadership skills and would cling to whomever they thought had the best clothes and was well-liked among others in this society.

I'm glad I finally took down Cindy. I've proven that she is weak compared to me and now I have power over this group and I'm closer to the life of a queen I so rightfully deserve. I can still see the fear in her eyes as I pulled her hair and I remember her screams. They were...painful. My heart sinks as I picture the hurt she went through that day. Sometimes I wonder if I went too far.

"She deserved every minute of what happened; after all she was going to ruin everything, and if you ever want to be treated like a queen, you won't let someone like that stand in your way". Jadis tells me.

I guess, I disregard the sickening feeling or try to anyway. But I can't shake the image of how she looked at me. Like I was some sort of... As the train starts to slow down and come to a stop it emits a loud screeching sound, causing the car to shake.

"What was that?" Samantha asks, getting up from her seat.

"I think it came from this old train, I'm sure many of the cars have bad brakes," Jean states after standing up.

"They should really have someone fix them, you never know when something drastic might happen," Samantha replies in a rather dramatic way.

"Well, there's no point dwelling on something that didn't happen," I tell them after grabbing my suitcases. "Both of you should be more focused on what to wear to Elizabeth's party tomorrow night; you wouldn't want to look like fools," I add, knowing that there are more important things in life than brakes on a train.

I leave the station and take a cab home. I'm not sure how I feel about facing my family; I never have a pleasant day around them. They're always bothering me with religious ideas, and they get on my case for going to so many parties and wearing too much make-up. Even worse, my siblings always go on and on about the Lion's Game as though it were something to celebrate; they even want to get me believing that we used to...urgh I don't even want to think about it.