Trapped inside a Thunderstorm

Why... WHY.... WHY NOW?!

A/N: Penelope's POV unless said otherwise. 

There was quite the offroar going on and all I knew was that Eckless came back. For once I was happy to hear that since he was my way out. Last time I checked he had about 98 or 99% and if he would confess to me than this whol nightmare would finally end. Though why... why was I feeling this scared. No, this was not some kind of anxiety, I felt. It was something deep down in my bones which made me shiver just thinking about it. Was this dread? Was I dreading this moment since I didn't know for certain if that would be the escape or not? was this it? Who knows but I knew one thing for certain. I wanted to get out of this hellish place. I've been living Penelopes life for now always being scared to be stabbed, poisoned or be put in prison for life till one day they would bring me to the guillotine to breath my last breath.... just thinking about it made me shiver. No, this couldn't be the end! Not after how much I was fighting.

I need to see Eckless... the duke is for sure gonna question him out.

I need to be there and be at his side.

Maybe I can get him to confess today.

This was all what I could think about when I got out of the room and quickly got down to the entrance area... but what I found was not Eckless or the duke screaming at him, no I could see a girls figure behind his back. He was shielding someone and not only that but I could see the faint pink hair behind him that got me alarmed. In an instant, I froze in place. It was not shock that came over me, it was the feeling of desperation. For all this long, I was fighting to survive knowing that if the main story with Ivonne would take place, I would certainly end up dead. Now it was final. This behind Eckless was Ivonne... not only that but it was him, the one I thought would rescue me who brought her here. Was this how it felt to be betrayed? Was this deep feeling that I had which felt like a bottomless pit, right? Was this the end for me?

I have no idea and that scared me.

Not knowing what would happen was not my strength and it scared me more than ever now.

One slip up and I am dead.

I knew this.

I always had a rope around my neck and it finally had pulled itself tight around my neck.... What now? Where was my escape? Where was my rescue? Was there even a way to get out?

For some reasons, I highly doubted that.

Just looking around, I could see the duke there and before I knew it, I was already moving towards Eckless. It was nothing I had relaly thought about at all. I was just purely acting upon my feelings now. I mean if I wanted to slap Eckless, why would I do it now? Why would I do it in front of everyone? Why here? Why not talk to him? No, I slapped him not because I wanted to intentionally. I slapped him because there was this feeling of betrayal and mistrust. I believed him, I put everything on one card and this card just turn on me. There was no way out anymore. 

Duke: PENELOPE ENOUGH!

Before I had realized what I did, I was looking at Eckless who was staring at the ground after I had slapped him. Not only that but the way my brothers and my father looked at me. They hated me. This was for sure. No one knew how I was feeling right now. I had no way to live anymore. Everything, every single bit of hope just shattered in one go and all that I could feel was an imense emptiness.

Why was I still thinking that something had changed?

Why did I thought that they would think about me differently after all the time I was Penelope?

Haven't I shown them how different I was now compared to back then?

No... this was not their fault... I knew this but it hurt soo much.

None of the person in here right now were looking at me with pity but with spite and shock. How could I after all behave like this? How could the fake daughter dare to do something like this? How could I even exist? I knew it... I knew I was nothing and I knew I was worse than any vermin in this house. No one had to tell me that.

So before anyone could have said anything more than this, I decided to walk to my room, holding back the tears. I needed to be alone. No, I couldn't stand being with them was more precise. I wanted to get out, I wanted to escape but I was just trapped with no way out.

What was I supposed to do now?

Was there a way out?

Could I continue fighting after all this?

Was it even worth it?

The moment I got into my room, I locked the door and then slowly slid down till I was sitting on the floor leaning against it. It was only now that my tears started to flow and everything seemed to blurr out. I had high hopes of escaping till now but reality had to give me a reminder of how useless I was. There was no escpaing the real plot from the very beginning so why did I faught so hard until now? For what reason did I do all this?

Tears continued to fall down as I was sitting there hiding my face away in my arms as I tucked my legs towards me leaning against this door. No one came to look for me, no one asked how I felt or how I've been.... no one was interested in the fake daughter at all.