chapter four

[ IN WHICH SHE PLOTS HER ESCAPE ]

I have heard stories of famous personalities being held at gunpoint. About how they’ve been robbed, and even how they’ve gotten kidnapped for ransom. While telling these traumatic stories, they associated the situations with feelings of fear and panic. However, I can’t describe what I’m feeling. I don’t know if I’m scared or if I’m panicked.

Because I feel something else.

I feel calm— I feel at home.

This world isn't my world. It is different from the luxurious world I live in. While in the Gala dinner event, it was evening, and the day was only going to get darker, but right now, the sky's as bright as ever, like we had teleported through time into the next morning. And this lets me know that I have indeed crossed a barrier that separates worlds. In this world, there are no moving vehicles, no tarred roads or even streetlights anywhere. There is no electricity. Nothing modern about the place I have been brought into. It is like time has been reversed to the medieval ages— horses, wagons, weird fashion with long hats and fire torches. Yet, I feel at home.

A few minutes ago, the vehicle/wagon came to a stop, and I got escorted through a field of short green grass. At the end of the field, was an elaborate mansion. For some reason, the environment felt familiar. I could recognize the old mansion that looked like a Castle from the medieval ages, when horses were the only means of transportation.

The building was like golden stone in golden light.

Now, I’m locked in a room inside of the mansion. And every corner of the room holds various memories, both painful ones and pleasurable ones— memories I can’t recall.

I stare out the window of the elaborate mansion, and gaze at the sky. It’s cloudy. The sun is nowhere in sight as thick grey and white clouds fill the atmosphere. For a split second, an image of myself and a man dancing under the sky flashes in my mind.

I glance at the room once again.

It feels like I’ve been here before.

That freaks me out, considering the fact that I’ve never been here before.

I need to get out of this place. I doubt anything good will come from staying here.

If I want to escape, I need to scrutinize the environment as much as I can. Whoever owns this place must be rich. And luckily for me, I know how to manipulate rich people, because I’m one.

Suddenly, the door behind me opens, and the floorboards creak as someone walks in.

With my heart in my throat, I reach for the first item on my left, which is a candlestick. I slam my back against the window in an attempt to be further away from the man by the door. I wield the candlestick in my hands, ready to attack if he tries anything funny.

I watch his every movement with hawk eyes.

“Do not be startled. I come in peace—” The lanky, tall man with brown hair proceeds to step in, but I stop him.

“Stay back!” I jerk the stick towards him, taking control of the situation.

The man’s blue eyes widen at my scream. His back is crouched as he slowly enters the room. His thin and timid aura lets me know that he’s not the owner of the mansion I’ve been locked in. And there’s a low chance he is the King I’ve been brought to see.

But that doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous! They’ve kidnapped me. Everyone in this Mansion is considered dangerous. An enemy, in fact!

I glare at him. “Don’t come closer. I know how to use this.” I grip the candlestick tighter.

He looks amused. “Oh, you’re different this time.”

My eyebrows furrow. What does that mean?

Flashing me a kind smile, he pulls a cloth hanger through the doors. Then two other hangers follow, holding different kinds and colors of dresses.

“The King is ready to see you.”

I lower the candlestick.

“He wants you to get dressed in any of these gowns in which you feel the most comfortable in, and then join him for Supper.” With that, he bows and turns to leave.

“Wait,” I say.

He stops and turns, with his hands behind him.

“This…” I trail, eyeing the cloth hangers. “This King. Who is he?”

“I’m sorry that I can’t provide you the answer you want. The King has commanded everyone to stay quiet until he sees you for himself.”

The lanky man bows, and turns to leave again. But I can’t see the King without having any information about this place and the people in it. How then will I escape?

I stop the man from leaving.

“My name’s November, what’s your name?” I’m desperate for any information.

The man stands there for a second, eyes wide. Then slowly, his lips cracks into a smile. “November?” He questions.

I mentally roll my eyes, then I audibly sigh. “Yes, I know. My name’s a month in the calendar year. Nothing interesting. Now, I asked you your name.”

He nods at me, the edges of his lips curved upwards. He swiftly spins around and exits, shutting the door behind him

I stare in disbelief as my lips curl up. “You fucking bastard! If you’re holding me captive, you might as well tell me what you want from me!” I scream but sadly, the door doesn’t open back up.

Angrily, I puff out air.

I turn my head to the cloth hangers. “I’ll have to go with Plan B.”

In no time, I pick a dress and drape it on. I’m very familiar with clothing, courtesy of my profession. And this isn’t like anything I’ve seen. I’m dressed in a long-sleeved, royal blue dress that reaches the floor, with a low cut neck, exposing a bit of cleavage, but that isn’t unusual, is it? It’s the colorful, luxe fabric and rich embroidery that makes the dress stand out. There’s a belt around the waist, and I fasten it to give myself a pronounced curve. Once I’m done straightening the dress, I move to the desk by the king-sized bed. I pick up a brush, and whilst looking at my tired reflection in the mirror, I brush through my curls.

With bated breaths, I inch closer to the door.

Straightening my posture, and holding my head high, I push the door open.

My plan B is to bolt out of the door, down the hallways and find the exit. But I stop in my tracks when I notice the two abductors from earlier standing by the door.

Clearing my throat, I try not to raise any suspicions, so I say, “I’m ready to see the King.”

… [i was so good at lying. i had no intention of seeing the king. i was prepared to run off when no one was looking.] …

Atlas gives me a toothy smile. “You look beautiful, my Queen.”

The space between my eyebrows furrow at his words. They remind me of Luca Zhang’s last statement before I walked into the massacre. He had called me his queen. I still don’t know what that means. Annoyed that I’ve been reminded of such disheartening moment, I growl at the two.

“Keep the fucking compliments to yourself. I am not interested.” I eye him.

Jacqueline keeps a straight face unlike her partner's eyes that bulge in shock after what I had said to him. “The King has requested for you to be escorted to the throne room.”

King. King. King. King. No one says anything other than that.

… [at that point, i was starting to get repulsed by the word, ‘King’, who was he? what kind of King was he? what was his Kingdom? everything frustrated me. and i also wasn't interested, i was most interested in finding an escape] …

In silence, I follow behind the two as they lead the way to the so called King.

Atlas pulls out a cigarette, and then a lighter afterwards. I raise an eyebrow as I watch him light it up only to get a smack from Jacqueline. The girl with white hair grits her teeth at him.

“Are you being serious, Atlas?”

“What? I have had a really long day, Jacqueline. And you know this. I need a smoke to stay woke.”

She smacks him on the arm again. “Would you get rid of that? Sin would be furious if he finds out you took that from the human world.”

My ears perk up. I quickly note that there’s someone named Sin and whoever he is, they seem to be very terrified of him.

Atlas takes a long drag of his cigarette, ignoring Jacqueline.

“Atlas!” She slaps his arm, causing the poor boy to wince. “We’re close to the throne room. He can smell it! Get rid of it now!”

“Geez, polar bear. Fine.” He hauls himself to a corner, stands on his tiptoes and nudges a small window open. “I've gotten rid of it. Now, I will really appreciate it if you don’t bite my fucking head off.” He gives her a glare.

The two are too busy shooting each other death glares to notice the smile on my face.

Atlas forgot to shut the window. That, right there, is my escape.

A few steps away from the window, we stop in front of a huge door.

“This is it. Push the door open.” Jacqueline whispers. And for the first time in hours, I see her countenance change, almost like she’s afraid of whoever’s on the other side of the door.

With that, the two of them turn to leave.

“Wait, you both aren’t coming in with me?”

Atlas pulls on a comedic look. “Us?” He laughs. “Hell nah. Talking to the King makes my blood pressure rise.”

“You’re dead, you do not have a blood pressure.” Jacqueline remarks, walking away.

Her statement makes my bones chill. I really need to get the hell out of this place.

“You know what, Jacqueline? I hope someone rips your throat out one of these days. But yay, me! that might never happen in a thousand years,” Atlas says, sarcastically, giving the girl a petty smile, but she ignores him.

“Push the door open when we’re out of sight.” Jacqueline tells me just before they disappear into a corner.

I sway on my feet for a few second. Once I am sure they have gone far, I let my sneaky side show. A smile creeps up my face, and I feel like letting out a devilish cackle as my eyes narrow in on the window.

“Push the door open my ass.”

Smiling triumphantly, I run from the door and towards the corner Atlas was once in. There’s a stool with a flower vase on it. I carefully take off the vase, and push the small stool right under the window. Picking my puffy dress up, I climb the stool. My smile grows wider. I place my hand on the railings, and lift myself up until my knees are crouched on the window.

My heart jumps when I see how far the ground is.

Fuck. I don’t think I can make this jump.

I look back into the mansion, having second thoughts. Then my eyes turn into slits at the sight of the door that leads to the King. I bet on the life of my dead puppy that jumping out of the building isn't as worse as what's waiting behind those doors.

With that thought in mind, I slap my palm over my mouth, and jump.