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My jaw clenches. I wrap a hand around her neck.
“Don’t play stupid with me, Vivian or I swear I’ll snap your little neck with my bare hands. You threatened Ellis. Norman saw it. He was going to tell her, so you pushed him down the stairs. Isn’t that right?”
Vivian doesn’t answer.
My grip tightens. “Tell me I’m right, Vivian Beaumont.”
Vivian grabs my wrist and tries to free herself from my hold. “If you snap my neck, you won’t… find where Ellis is.”
I let go of her neck. So she does know where Ellis is, which means she’s behind her disappearance. She’s been planning to get rid of Ellis all along.
I grab her arm and twist it. Vivian yelps.
“I can still break your arm unless you tell me where my fiancee is.”
She purses her lips.
I twist harder. “I’ll do it, Vivian. I don’t care if you’re an old widow and my fiancee’s aunt. You tried to hurt her. Now, tell me where she is before it’s too late or I swear I’ll kill you.”
Vivian swallows. Her lips tremble.
“Fine. I’ll tell you.”
Chapter 27 ~ Turning Point
Ellis
I wrap my arms as tightly as I can around myself and tuck my hands inside my elbows. Even then, I still shiver from the cold. My lips feel numb. I can feel my breathing slowing down, each breath turning into an icy mist that fogs my glasses.
I snuggle further into the tree hollow I’ve found. There’s not much left of the tree to shelter me, though, and the snow keeps falling. It’s getting dark, too. Once night falls, I’ll probably freeze to death.
What the hell was I thinking?
Right. I was trying to get away from my aunt who happened to be a murderer. Only in doing so, I’ve just about committed suicide.
I thought at first that I’d survive. The horse was doing fine. It was going at a steady pace. After about an hour, though, it slipped. I fell with it. The horse broke its leg. I was lucky I didn’t break anything. The snow broke my fall.
I decided then to make my way back to the house, but I got lost. Now, here I am, still lost and probably in the second stage of hypothermia.
If no one finds me soon, Aunt Vivian is going to get her wish. I’m going to die here in this tree hollow somewhere on the vast grounds of Northup Manor.
I bury my face in my arms. If I could cry, I would, but it’s too cold even for that. All I can do is despair in silence.
I never should have come to Northup Manor. Why couldn’t I content myself with just my parents who love me? If I hadn’t come here, my life wouldn’t have been in danger. I wouldn’t have discovered that my aunt was a murderer and had to flee for my life only to lose it. I would have gone on to become a full-fledged doctor and saved more lives, maybe changed the face of medicine somewhere along the way. I would have gotten married and had kids.
I touch my stomach. I don’t even know for sure if I’m pregnant, but if I am, poor kid. It will never get to see the light of day. At least my mother was able to have me. She must have had a hard time, but she was still able to deliver me. But my baby will die with me and Rainier will never know he or she existed.
Rainier.
As I think of him, a smile forms on my lips. I wish I could have seen him one last time, even if just to apologize for all the things I said to him before. I wish I could have had just one more kiss.
A gust of wind blows. Again, I shiver. I try to wrap my arms around myself even tighter, and as I do, the object inside my coat pokes my ribs. I take out the picture of my mother and run my half-frozen fingers over it.
I guess I’ll see you soon.
I hold it against my heart and close my eyes. Another wind blows. This one carries the smell of pine with it.
The smell of Christmas.
Christmas.
The thought of not having one more makes my chest painfully tight, but I force myself to calm down and breathe. I open my trembling lips and sing softly.
“Silent… night… holy… night…”
I only manage the first line before I feel myself drift somewhere far away.
Somewhere warmer.
~
Warm. So warm.
At first, I think I’m next to a fire, but as I open my eyes, I realize I’m not. I’m just in a bed under a thick blanket. A bright light shines above me.
Wait. I’m alive?
“Ellis.” I hear Rainier’s voice.
I turn my head and see him sitting by my bed. His lips curve into a smile.
“Rainier?” I say his name weakly.
