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The day you left is a day I will never forget.
The shattered fragments of my heart lay with you always.
Until we meet again my rose.
“I want to make myself perfectly clear to you. It is my job to protect you now. You will never leave this house unattended. If you try to leave without my permission you will be brought back here, sedated, and locked in your room until I see fit you can come out.”
A sharp gasp comes out before I can stop it.
“You mean to much to me for me to lose you the way I did your mother. I can’t allow that to happen ever again.”
“You can’t keep me here. You can’t keep me against my will.”
“The last time I held your mother in her room after trying to escape was for six months. Six very long months without contact from anyone other than the maid that brought her meals to her room. She learnt the hard way that when you live under my roof you will live by my rules. Fail that and you will be punished. You will stay here with me until you are ready to do your duty as a Maloti as it was intended for your mother,” he warns sternly, “Now, no more questions. Your aunt will be leaving soon and I wish to say my goodbyes to my grandchildren before they leave for school.”
There was a time when I hated going to school, craving the safe space of my home. It was the only place I could escape Max and all his shit. Now my home is my prison and school is the only safe space I have left.
“Can I still go to school?” I ask jogging up to Ian.
Ian continues to walk on up the path. “Close the gate,” he orders harshly.
After locking the gate I jog up alongside him again.
When he doesn’t answer my question I ask another.
“Am I your prisoner here?”
“What makes you say that?”
“Maybe the twenty-foot wall built around the house with barbed wire and cameras everywhere. Not to mention the guards watching us right now. Anthony for instance.”
“Were you planning on leaving this morning?”
“Yes.” I answer honestly.
“Then what did you expect?” Turning to me he says, “you are not my prisoner. That wall was built to keep unwanted people from getting in not out but make no mistake our security from our enemies is peril. Which is why every time you leave the premises you will be accompanied by either Anthony, Lucas, or a security driver.
I rub my temple knowing it won’t make any difference as the tension headache looms over me like a dark cloud.
“Lucas?”
“Yes. I’m not the monster you think I am. I understand that being uprooted from the family you once knew can be a difficult transition and I want you to be happy here. Therefore I’m willing to offer you an olive branch. A gesture of my goodwill if you please.”
It’s not a goodwill gesture without a catch. It may be written in print so fine you can barely see, but it’s there. There’s always a catch.
“What gesture?”
“I have arranged for Lucas to transfer from Rockford high to go to school with you. You remain there until you graduate.”
My heart swells slightly. “You really mean that?”
I don’t care if there’s a catch anymore. I’ll take it. I will take anything for even a small sliver of normalcy.
“Disobey me once; I will have you locked in your room and home schooled. Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal,” I bite out. Because if that’s not a bloody prisoner then I don’t know what is. Small mercies though. I need to take this one day at a time.
“Next week then. I can go to school?”
