The Debt

Chapter 8

      My vision is blurry when I wake up, my head hurts a lot, and I can't work out where I am. I'm definitely not in the house with Alaric and all the rest of them. I put my hand up to my head and i feel something wet, I look at my finger and see red . . . blood. I look around me to see if there's anything that can tell me where I am, but all it looks like is just a normal bedroom. I stand up quickly and head toward the bathroom, which the door was left open to. I gasp when I see myself in the mirror. I have a bruise on my forehead on one side and a bad cut on the other side. I try to clean myself up a bit but I'm still shaking so much. 

     I've also got a busted lip and a bruise on my cheek which hurts to the touch. I cry again when I see what I look like minus the blood. I was walking back into the bedroom to try the door when someone pushes down the handle from  the other side to get in and I run back into the bathroom, hiding in a little space that you can't see from the bedroom and could be missed if you didn't know the layout of the room.

    "Sienna?" a voice questions, and I have to put a hand over my mouth so he doesn't hear me breathing. 

    "What do you mean she's not in there?" his voice questions irritably and I tense instantly, even though I cannot see him. His voice alone causes me to go into panic mode. 

    "She must be, the door was locked," he says, I hear him striding into the room confidently, obviously seeing I'm not in the bedroom and marches into the bathroom and stopping dead. I'm not making a sound as I realise something really stupid, there's a mirror. Which means he can now see me. The other man couldn't as he was just looking past the door to the bedroom. I look at his face in the reflection as he walks up to me slowly, very slowly, which makes my whole body shrink into itself, tears falling down my face. 

    "Looks like I'm going to have to keep a better eye on you, Siena," he says, lifting his hand to my face, causing me to flinch but he simply wipes the tears away from my face; which seemed a little odd to do. I don't say a word as he leads me back, holding my upper arm with not a firm grip but hard enough to know that I shouldn't push him. 

    "Your Father's here," he says, not looking at me. My eyes widen even though it hurts my face and I give him a pleading look even though he isn't looking at me. 

     "Would you like to see him?" he questions me, and I nod. 

     "Use your words, Sienna. I want to hear your pretty voice," he asks, playing with a curl of my hair, but his hands on me makes me feel sick. 

     "Yes," I reply, not saying more but he must have taken that as being enough as he gestures for me to leave to the room. I do as he asks, waiting for him as I wouldn't dare to try to leave right now. He takes my lower arm gently and leads me along the corridors which twist and turn until he gets to a door. He gestures for me to go inside and I do as he tells me not wanting to anger him but also because I am so happy to see him. For some reason even though all that's happened to me, I need my Pappy right now. What I see causes me to stop dead.

     My eyes widen at the sight. I put a hand to my mouth and run up to him. 

     "Pappy?" I question, grabbing at his stone cold arm. I try hard not to cry, really hard; but it's no use. The tears fall and they won't stop. I sob as he just lies there, not picking me up in his arms to tell me everything is going to be okay. What seemed like finally something good of course didn't end up that way. What happened? How did this come to pass? My poor Pappy in this room all by himself. How could he just leave him here? I find myself getting angry, really angry at being treated this way.

    "What happened to him?" I whisper; not looking at him but he knows that I am talking to him. When he doesn't answer I turn my body so I'm looking directly at him.

    "I said what happened to him?" I say louder this time; demanding that he tell me everything that I want to know. I stand up, and walk up to the man. Even though he scares me to death I can't allow this to go unsaid. 

    "He did the one thing I told him not to, Siena; and don't use that tone of voice with me. I didn't have to come and collect what's owed to me. I shouldn't have had to! He should have taken the offer that I gave him instead of running around like a scared child," this man states with just as much anger as I project, but this is doing nothing but adding wood to my fire. 

    "How dare you speak of a well respected man this way? I'm glad you didn't get what you wanted, I'm glad my Father did what he did," I say, though I'm not happy about what's happened to me because of it, but if it made this . . . monster unhappy then it's worth it.  

    "Don't think that you will get away with this little outburst. I understand finding your 'Pappy' like this must have been a shock, but don't get my sympathy for your plight mixed up with my intentions. I still fully intend on getting what was supposed to be mine. When I found out what you had agreed to on behalf of your family I was shocked that your brother's or sisters did not try to defend you. You're the talk of gossips Sienna. The girl who wouldn't back down. We will see how strong willed you really are," he says, stepping closer toward me. 

     "What do you want with me? Why am I here?" I request, demanding him to answer my questions. He chuckles and takes a hold of my chin roughly, making me wince because of my bruises. My eyes are forced into line with his and I find my anger disappearing by the second. His smirk on his face makes me forget my earlier bravery.

    "Sienna. . . we are engaged. We've been engaged for three years," he says, pulling me close and forcing his lips upon mine. I squeak with panic as I try to tear myself away from him. 

    "Sienna the more you protest the more I am persuaded to get what's mine next to your Father's corpse," he says, and I stop dead. He wouldn't . . . but the look on his face tells me is he being deadly serious. 

   "You're a monster," I state, pushing him away from me and walking back toward my Father. I kiss him on the cheek and try my best to remain brave. I look up toward him and notice that he's got his hand outstretched, inviting me to take it. My head lowers as I do as he instructs, we walk out of the room and down the hallway to a room I do not know. He opens the door and I look around. The bedroom is almost exactly the same as the one I woke up in, apart from it's a little bigger and looks a lot more furnished and well kept. 

    He's still holding my hand as he sits on the bed, gesturing for me to sit next to him. At first I object but he raises his eyebrow at me questioningly until I sit on the bed with as much space as I can from him.

    I feel his presence getting nearer toward me as my heart beat quickens. My eyes close with fright as he kisses my neck, pulling me closer toward him. His hand moves my hair from my shoulder and moves his attention to my shoulder, as his other hand strokes my hip, squeezing gently. No words are spoken as his hand slowly lowers me down to lie on the bed. His body moves above mine as my brain switches off, not even tears fall down my cheeks. I've realized what my purpose was in the family . . .