Sombre

Chapter 23

Serena is not the one to serve me breakfast the next day. I wake up to see an unfamiliar face standing in the door. She enters without knocking and passes me a cup with two tablet in it. As Preston said I started taking sleeping pills at night .

" I took my sleeping pills last night" I say without looking inside the cup.

" These aren't sleeping pills , these are vitamins."

I take them without questioning her further . My mood already went a little low because Serena didn't show up. I contemplate asking the new maid about her but then stop myself.

As Preston had allowed me to go outside my room , I roam through the house, trying to find new places. Some of the doors have locks on them and I press my ear to listen .

The maid follows me at a distance. She isn't as friendly as Serena . She only speaks to me if she has something important to say or when I ask her something. I didn't bother asking her name.

The day goes by gloomily and I impulsively ask her about Serena. Her face darkens as soon as I take her name and my dislike immediately increases towards her.

" I don't know . You should ask the master if you are so concerned about her. "

I ignore her contempt tone and ask her again , " is she well? She isn't sick , is she?"

" Why do you care ! She is just a bloody maid for fucks sake. What does she do to make you all dance around her fingers!" She yells suddenly.

" Do not raise your voice at me" I say as calmly as possible.

" Or what? Your husband wants you dead honey ! You are not the bloody queen anymore. I'm not here to serve you! I'm here to take care of the master!" She yells

My face goes red and the sound of a slap resonates through the room. One of the maid stops dead when she sees what I did and quickly runs back to the kitchen. Meanwhile, her face snaps to mine and she starts crying as loudly as possibly. She starts screaming and I suddenly get the urge to slap her again just to shut her up.

" What the hell is going on!?" Preston screams when he sees the maid crying.

" S..sir she ..she slapped me " she says

" I just told her that we didn't have mushrooms and ma'am wanted them so she slapped me!" She says and my eyes widen in disbelief.

I start to defend myself when Preston speaks ," apologize "

I wait for her to apologize but then I see them both staring at me . I look at him in disbelief.

" I didn't! She is lying !" I say

" Did you or did you not slap her ?" He asks and gestures to the red mark on her face.

" I did but it was beca.."

" Then apologize to Brinda !"

Quiet murmers fill the room and I look around to find all the maids gathered on one side of the room.

"No" I say in defiance.

" I'm not going to ask you again Alicia ! Apologize right now !"

" No" I repeat

I yelp as he grabs my arm and starts pulling me over towards the maids.

" Everyone, remove your shoes " he says to them.

They look at each other and start removing their shoes. His grip doesn't loosen as he hauls me where they removed their shoes.

" I want all of their shoes cleaned within an hour " he says and pushes me , making me fall .

I scoff , pick up a shoe and throw it at his head when he starts to walk back. She stops just as the shoe hits him on the head. I hear a few gasps and then the room goes deadly silent.

He slowly turns around and looks at me .

" I won't let you humiliate me like this!" I say and he laughs.

" Is this humiliating to you? Well then I'll show what actual humiliation looks like!"

I scurry back as he strides towards me and hauls me up by my arm. He whispers something in the maids ear and she quickly saunters away.

" Follow me ! " He tells to everyone and starts dragging me outside. He makes us wait for a few minutes and when the maid returns , he takes us further away from the house. It's already pretty dark.

The first thing I see is the pole hauled in between the grass and the ropes lying in front of it. I start thrashing in his arms but he quickly orders Brinda to hold me tight as he ties me to the pole. He makes sure that my feet Don't touch the ground and are a few inches above. Brinda's fingernails dig into my arms and I regret not slapping her twice.

If I think the worst is this then I was wrong. His nails scratch my chest as he tears the gown away, leaving me in my undergarments. Goosebumps spread across my body as the cold air hits me. I shiver as he completely takes off my gown harshly.

" Let me go!' I screech .

"This is the new garbage bag . Make sure you dump all the garbage here or I'll make sure that I cut all your fucking wages !" He says nastily.

" You..you can't be fucking serious! It's freezing! I'll freeze to death here !"

" Well that's definitely a better way to die than what I have in store for you " he says and starts walking away.

Everyone leaves and I hold the urge to cry . My arms already ache and I fear for what's going to come next.