Wonderlust

4:30

It had been two days since I had seen the world outside of the guest room that I had been given. The door was locked. It stayed that way until meal time, when the butler came to give me food.

He did not speak when I asked for an explanation. He simply puts the tray of food onto the table and leaves, locking the door behind him.

What should be done? How should I handle this situation? How could I find my way back to my brother? Questions swirled through my mind but no answers came for them. If I had stopped, even for a moment, to question the experience I was certain that I would have been forced to consider my sanity.

"Is any of this even real?" I murmured one morning as I gazed out of my window and into the rose garden below. Certainly, I was not considered to be "normal" by anyone's standard, but that was only because of the circumstances that led me to begin my journey. No one had ever said, "That girl is a razing lunatic," or "What a crazy wench she is." Rather, they choose word that would cut much deeper. "That Allis Riddle is just like her mother." They said it with pity, as if it would lighten the blow that their words inflicted. But that did not keep me from disliking them.

Perhaps they could not help it. They had never experienced anything other than their dazzling lives. They had posh sitting rooms to keep them safe from the storms that threatened them. Though, so did I. It was unthinkable that I- we- would loose two parents in one night. Those glistening diamond shields that we hid behind were merely glass. It shattered with a gentle tap.

I watched as a song bird perched on my window sill outside. It had lovely blue feathers. On impulse, I reached for the ornate handle on the window. I never expected it to actually open. The bird hopped closer, cocking it's head to look up at me with a curious manner. It was as if it were asking me what I was waiting for.

Yes what was I waiting for? The tree beside my window would drop me into the garden, but then what? I didn't even know which direction would lead me to the nearest town. But...

As I looked back into the finely decorated room, I realized how much I absolutely loathed it. I at least needed fresh air and some exercise. I leaned over the window seal to gaze down at the ground. It was a long drop. If I messed up I could end up with some nasty injuries. My hair slipped over my shoulder reminding me that I needed to prepare myself. The thought of getting my hair tangled in tree branches did not appeal to me.

I pulled my silver locks into a hasty bun on the top of my head, before going back to my window. The closest branch was not as thick as I would have liked it to be, but that did not stop me from crawling out of my window sill and onto it. It creaked under my weight. Ignoring the branches warnings, I slid closer to the trunk. A few feet below, another branch awaited me. I slid off the branch I sat on and dangled from it.

I wasn't tall enough to reach the other branch and I was not strong enough to pull myself back up. My only option was to drop down, and hope that I catch myself before I hit the ground.

I hesitated for a moment. I could break a bone, or get a worse injury... or die if I fell on something. But I could not let myself be found in a situation like this. The thought of Ciel's amused smirk gave me the courage to let go. My eyes squeezed shut.

I dropped a few feet, until I was caught under the armpit by another branch. When I opened my eyes I realized that I was still moving, or rather the branch was. It dipped down to the ground so that my feet touched the green floor safely before it went back to it's original position.

"It seems a little bird has escaped it's cage."

His voice gave me chills. I turned around to face the master of the house. He did not seem angry at all. In fact, he seemed amused. That damned smirk...

"Perhaps the bird got tired of the same view everyday." I sent him a heated glare.

He laughed as if I had given him a splendid response. "If you had just asked I could have given you another cage. "

"Your butler is deaf. He wouldn't have heard me."

This only earned a chuckle. "Yes. I must say, Josh isn't one for useless conversation. If you would like-"

Before he could finish I was already walking away. I was sure I saw a gazebo.

"It seems you aren't a good conversationalist either, miss Riddle." Ciel said as he matched me brisk strides with ease.

"Then why don't you leave me alone?"

"Because, though you don't seem like you like to speak much, when you do you always say something interesting."

"Is that all?" I said as I studied him from the corner of my eye. His hair was down and his hat was missing. He looked to be relaxed

"What do you mean is that all?" He looked over at me with a smirk, " That is going to be useful in the coming days."

"For what?" I asked as I climbed the gazebo steps to lean against one of it's marble pillars.

"To fend off boredom, of course."

This caused me to pause. And then something incredible came out of my mouth.

"I will not stay here as your toy."

This caused him to jerk in surprise. I expected him to laugh at me and make a joke, however what actually happened was much worse.

His fist slammed against the pillar beside my head. I jumped and tried to slide away, but there was nowhere to go. He had already placed his other hand on the pillar to cage me in. Now I really did feel like a frighted bird in a cage.

"I'm afraid you have no choice, Aliss Riddle." I could smell tea as he leaned in closer to me. His eyes looked dangerous. The purple had become much darker. almost black. "You see, the moment you made that promise you became my property. There is nothing you can do about it."

I began to tremble, and coward away in the hopes that I might get away from him. He did not seem to care that I was frightened and reached up to pull my hair out of the knot that I had put it in. It fell in wisps, till it reached the ground.

Suddenly I was no longer under the gazebo, or even in the present. I was being strangled on the floor of my bedroom as scream mingled with the sound of heavy rainfall from outside.