Ruthless

Chapter 11 - A Splash Of Terror

She walked around in her room. One leg in front of the other. It was pretty easy. And she looked like she wasn't having a difficult time. Her arms crossed over her chest, one hand supporting her head under her chin. But on the inside is where her pain and agony was.

She looked into the beautiful mirror and her reflection startled her. This was the first time she really looked at herself, saw herself in a long while. Her eyes looked as red as she had never seen them before. They looked hollow and lifeless. She had been crying for days. It surpised her how much she could cry and how it made her head pound every time. 

Her body looked a lot skinnier. She wasn't the heaviest girl but was very proud of her curves. It had only been a month in this castle and in that month she had eaten less than she would have in a week's time. Her hair looked... Disgusting. She hadn't showered in over a week and the smell on her started to bother her.

Inside her head was the worst, though. Her head was a chaos. When she didn't cry, she'd stare at the back white wall of her room. Why was she here? What made her so important? Would she really die? Why did she have to suffer so much?

Her maids would never talk to her, even when she asked them all of these questions. They would clean her room or put the tray of food on her table and leave.

A few times, she screamed at them. She yelled all of the questions that marked her brain. She had thrown the tray of food in their faces when they didn't answer. But that only resulted in the king sending an older, very mean looking maid to beat her. Thinking about it made shivers run down her spine. How the woman came in her room, blankly stared at her... How she came closer very slowly. Ruth had asked her what she wanted, but before she could finish her question, the first slap landed on her face.

That woman had busted her lip and left many bruises on her arms and thighs. Ruth looked at the cut on her lip. From that day on, she didn't speak to any of the maids. Dominic never visited her either. She had only talked to him once but felt a strange sort of attachment to him. He was probably the nicest supernatural being she met. And she had met one too many.

Her heart started racing again and she could feel another breakdown approaching. She thought of utilising her private pool, maybe that would calm her.

She had been dining with the king every day. Delicious looking food would be laid in front of her but she never ate, until he forced her to. They never talked during these dinners. Sometimes he'd throw a rude remark at her. Like last time, he told her she smelled so bad it made him lose his appetite. So a bath would be nice. But mostly he would just stare at her and think.

She opened the door next to her bed and noticed how there were already candles burning in the dark area. The hot water looked very clear and inviting. Ruth took off all of her clothes and walked into the waterbath. The water was scolding hot but she enjoyed it. She started washing her hair and scrubbing her body. She could feel her mind easing as she looked at her hands. She had been in the bath for only 10 minutes but her fingers were already wrinkled.

I bet vampires' hands wouldn't wrinkle... She bitterly thought. But enough of that. She wanted just one moment of calm bliss and put her elbows on the edge of the pool and rested her head back.

She enjoyed her vampireless moment until the one vampire that put her in all of this misery came in.

The cracking of the door startled her and she lifted her head. The king walked in with his magnificent stride. He was wearing an all black suit and no one could deny how handsome he looked. But not to Ruth. She was overcome with fear and her heart started beating so fast she thought it would beat out of her chest. Ruth even forgot she was completely naked until she saw the king's eyes wandering over her chest. He looked very satisfied by the sight of her.