A New Beginning

Chapter 77: Unlikely Kindness and Revelation

Chapter 77: Unlikely Kindness and Revelation

Darkness has been her escape. Rose hasn't felt despair like this before, except maybe after the sinking, but both times was separated from Jack. She truly was in prison and Cal was her captor, taking great pleasure in keeping her from the life she wanted. Most of her thoughts were of her child, could he or she be able to survive this imprisonment? What did he want from her that he hadn't already taken? She also thought of Jack all the time. She has high hopes that he would come to rescue her, or she'd wake up and this would all be a dream. She'd be happily married to Jack and they were on their honeymoon. Of course, every time she opened her eyes, she was still in this hell hole.

Cal spent most of his time down there taunting Rose; gloating about how he'd finally won, and he'd also read out headlines of the newspaper about Jack's arrest just to make her more miserable. His gloating was torment enough, but he kept her locked up and in the dark.

Her only escape was unconsciousness, where she felt nothing at all and could dream of Jack holding her tightly. Her hands were bound in front of her this time, which allowed her to put her hands on her swollen stomach. She kept praying for God to protect her baby and so far, he'd answered those prayers, she still felt movement inside and when she was alone, she'd talk to the baby. Tell him or her that she loved them and that she was sorry for what had happened. The quiet moments were heavenly and she kept her hopes up that her friends and Jack would find her...

"When we get out of here, I'm going to spoil you rotten," she says quietly. "And I can't wait to meet you."

She hears the lock being adjusted. Rose swallows, afraid of what might be on the other side of the door... more sadistic moments... more pain. To her relief, it was only Riptide.

He brought a tray of food to her and even though she was a prisoner, Cal insisted that she remain fed and hydrated... why was unclear because of all the other things he'd been doing to her?

She keeps her eyes down as the man places it in front of her. Rose reaches forward with her bound hands and begins to eat.

"I know that there is a special place in hell for people like you," she hisses, eating a piece of bread. She may not speak out to Cal out of fear, but for his manservant, she could be as mean as she wanted. She told him the truth and confronted him with what he was allowing to happen. "No moral compass or compassion."

Riptide says nothing, he remains poised and looks away from the prisoner.

"That's what you all are, soulless robots, take command without question."

The butler remains silent.

"Cal never told you what happened to the last manservant, did he?"

The man continues to stare forward.

"The things you do to remain employed. People like you disgust me..."

The silent witness merely turns away from the woman, not wanting to hear anything else.

He shuts the heavy metal door and lets out a very strangled sigh. His hands were shaking violently. He couldn't stand it... He was going mad. He couldn't imagine doing this to a woman, a pregnant woman no less, leaving her so broken and afraid.

Why must this man do this? Pursue this one woman? Why not leave her be? Why report her fiancé to the police? Why break her down like this? There are many other women he could have and yet, he's pursuing this one... holding her prisoner for no real reason except to prove a point... But to whom? Himself?

The manservant still had nightmares, Rose's cries of misery echoing in his mind and Cal's taunting words. It was pure evil what they were doing keeping this woman as their prisoner, a statement of revenge and anger, blurring the line of sanity it seemed, which Riptide felt he was losing himself. And he also questioned what his boss planned to do next. The city of New York was looking for Rose. It's not like he could get her to another country right now. His conscience was tearing his mind apart and he often cried alone... he could never forgive himself for what he'd done, which was to participate in this entire scheme. He could've gone to the police or perhaps done more to talk Mr. Hockley out of it, but what good would it do?