Prelude (Underworld Lucian Fanfiction)

92 - Chapter XCII: A Desire for Recompense

A day passed without news...

...and then a week.

Yet still...

...she remained at the window.

Though she could have broken her way through the door and forced her way to freedom, she remained where she was.

Waiting.

Only the twins thinking to wish her well in the new year, flicking a pebble at her window and giving a wave before they left with all the rest. The guests leaving in their cavalcade of automobiles...or motor-cars as Sabine had told her to call them, perhaps thinking it was a step better than her calling them 'horseless carriages' again. Allegra and Raze still to be seen walking the grounds. But leaving her unquestioned and uncertain of her future now.

The restriction to quarters stopping even Sabine from visiting her, though she could spot the red hair a mile away. On occasion gesturing in frustration during the winter walks...and if the curtains were drawn back, raising a hand quickly into the air...and hers to the window. Even as the string started to pull again. The girl reminding her of the old days, the sight of Lucian walking in winter with his hands grimly clasped behind him.

A memory holding her back each night from packing her bag. Instead drawing her hand back into her pocket, where it would linger until she found the Queen of Spades. Wondering at what point a black card, stained on one corner-by what she knew was vomit-had become a key to her future. The opposite of the silver key hanging from her waist. And a question now of what she waited for...

...and whether the pull was strong enough to keep her there. Another pull telling her to break the string. Break a window. Steal one of the motor-cars. Hope that Rena would come with her so she could find a safe haven before dawn. Each night giving her a reason to burn the card, but the fire still unlit by the following morning.

Like a mutiny against warmth...and comfort, she found herself avoiding the grate. Going so far as to pour water on the flames whenever Rena tried to light it. Her ability not to scream starting to feel like insanity. That every night, Rena came to her door with breakfast...and every morning, she found herself staring at the top of her bed-frame.

Until another week had gone and the fire was lit, and she could not bring herself to put it out. Knowing now why she'd been afraid to keep it alive. But too tired to go any further. So that by the end of that night, she had reached into her pocket, seating herself on the carpet, spending an hour memorising the form of his hand, before flicking the card away.

Finally.

So it could land in the fire...and burn.

And she could move on.

Packing a bag.

o...o...o

And yet it still took three more days. Like she was tearing off a limb, but the act necessary if she was to find herself again. On the first day, placing the bag ready on the bed, holding everything she'd need for an escape. Some of the items foolish, she realised, such as the flower pendant and the perfume. But most of them practical. Toiletry bag. Comb. Tooth rag. Two rolled-up dresses, including undergarments, that took very little space. A small container filled with the marrow she'd been saving from the tea tray in case she ran out of blood. Two empty flasks from the drinks cabinet, ready to be filled with blood the day before she left. Her photograph, the key, and her chatelaine.

Thankfully, Rena also had packed...

...so there was an unspoken consolation. She would not be alone. She had a better chance of survival...and though she would miss Sabine, she trusted the woman at her back. Though upon reflection, there was an immense difference between planning an escape and executing one. Particularly as an exile. Her life...her ability to feed...and survive...tied to the lycan Horde. So another day would go by...and as dusk would turn into night, they would sit in silence...and eventually...rather than breaking the window, Reinette would go to bed. Frustrated by her own ineptitude. That there was still nowhere safe beyond the hills that surrounded them.