Chapter 6

HAZEL

FOUR WEEKS AGO

“What do you even know how to do properly, you lazy girl?” my taskmaster yells at me, his eyes narrowing in distaste as he fixes his penetrating gaze on me. “You're a failure and a disgrace. It's no wonder your parents left you to languish on your own.”

His gaze is still on me as he makes mention of my parents and he narrows his eyes more, expecting me to give him a reaction, but I don't. I won't give in to what he wants. I won't give him the satisfaction of that.

No matter what he says to me today or any other day for that matter, I won't say anything negative or revolt against him for once. He should keep saying what he wants. He will leave me alone soon enough just as he always does.

I stay quiet as always as he keeps spewing more and more hateful words at me. Even though the words affect me, I always try my best not to give off any reaction. I never allow anyone to see how much their words affect me. I don't want to give them that satisfaction. My expression is always neutral in the face of any adversity I come across.

“You're incapable, which is why you are in this position,” he adds. “Your life purpose is to serve others, yet you can't even do that properly. What a waste.” He spits disgustingly.

Well, I had been doomed right from the day my parents died and left me alone in this cruel world, so that's why I'm in this position where I serve others, and it's not because I'm incapable, because I am. I know that I am capable, and no one can tell me otherwise.

But I don't say all of this. I just simply look towards the floor which is squeaky clean and open my mouth to apologize.

“Sorry, taskmaster,” I say quietly.

“Don't apologize to me, you filthy thing. Instead, you have to clean the floors all over again. And in addition to that, you have to wash the dishes that were used during breakfast and clean all the toilets on the first floor,” he orders.

“Yes, taskmaster,” I say.

“You have to do all these before 2 PM or else, you will be punished severely. Do you understand?”

“Yes, taskmaster.” My head is still bowed to the floor as I reply.

As soon as he is satisfied with my meek reply because he doesn't like any sort of disobedience or recalcitrant behavior, he leaves.

I look down at the floor around me once more, and I'm unable to detect even a speck of dirt there. Earlier this morning, I cleaned the entirety of the flooring of the first floor of the pack house to the best of my ability, and that means I cleaned it until it was really clean.

And the taskmaster had the nerve to tell me that I didn't do it properly. Just like everyone in this pack, he hates me and never misses an opportunity to take the hatred out on me whenever he can.

I know the floor is as clean as it can be, but just to avoid the taskmaster's punishment, I know that I need to clean it again. So I do that as fast as possible.

I fetch a bucket and mop from the storage room that houses cleaning supplies, getting to work immediately.

I clean the floors twice as hard as I did before even though it had been clean enough then. I'm a very fast worker and since I have already cleaned these floors before, I'm done with it in less than twenty minutes.

I quickly move to the kitchen which thankfully, is deserted by this time of the day. I'm grateful for that because if anyone was here, they wouldn't have passed on the opportunity to pick on me and make my life a living hell as they usually do, especially if it's one of the heads of the maids or the cooks.

I know that I need to hurry up and wash the dishes as fast as possible before the cooks and maids come in to get started on lunch. I surely don't want them to meet me here. So I move closer to the sink and begin to tackle the mountain of dishes and pans in front of me.

When I'm done with the dishes, I go back to the storage room for cleaning supplies so that I can get some for the toilets. There are a total of seven toilets on the first floor and I need to get all of them cleaned properly before 2 PM, or else, the taskmaster will have my neck.

I don't even want to think about all the sorts of punishments he has lined up for me, seeing as he is such a sadistic bastard.

***

I'm able to get all of the work done before 2 PM and I'm thankful for that. I have escaped the taskmaster's wrath, at least for the moment. No sooner have I thought about that than I hear a set of footsteps behind me. I quickly turn around only to see the taskmaster himself staring at me hotly.

“What are you standing there for, girl?” he bellows at me. “There is still a lot of work for you to do. There is always more work for people like you to do.”

He continues. “What are you still standing there for? Come closer!” he orders and immediately, I do as he says.

“Yes, taskmaster,” I reply.

“Go into the quarters of all the taskmasters one by one, starting from mine, and pick up all the clothes in the laundry baskets. You need to wash all of them before the sun sets.”

“Okay, taskmaster,” is the only thing that comes out of my mouth because I know that I cannot argue with him. I simply have to do anything he says.

“Now, run along and get started. And remember that you have to complete everything before the sun sets,” he adds.

“Yes, taskmaster,” I answer just before I hurry in the direction of the taskmaster's quarters.

This is always how my day goes by as I go along doing chore after chore that I'm assigned with until nightfall comes. And even then, I don't get a chance to rest until the taskmaster decides that I can. And that's when I finally get a chance to have my first and only meal of the day which is nothing but leftovers.

I know that I'm only a maid, but another thing I know is that I deserve to be treated better than this. There are a lot of maids who work in the pack house, and all of them are certainly treated better than I am. I don't know why I'm always treated differently. Maybe it's because everyone here hates me. And even then, I still don't know why they hate me.

***

I'm now in the laundry room of the pack washing the clothes I was asked to wash and as I do that, I can't stop my mind from straying to different thoughts.

I can't help but wonder about how my life would be if my parents were still alive. What will my status in this pack be if they are here and we are living as a happy family? I think.

No matter what happens, I know for sure that if they are alive, my life will certainly be better. There is no way it won't be when I have two loving parents by my side. They would…

Just then, my train of thought is interrupted when a barrage of ice cold water is suddenly dumped on my head, and immediately, I recoil from the cold feeling it gives me.

I quickly turn around to see that it's the taskmaster again. He is standing while holding a pitcher which he no doubt poured the water on me out of, and glaring at me hotly. If looks could kill, I do not doubt that I would be dead by now.

I wonder what I have done wrong again and I really hope he doesn't think it's worth a punishment. He can yell at me all he wants, but I just don't want to be punished. I would do anything to avoid that. I still don't say anything as I wait for him to speak.

“Is there anything you can even do right?” he asks, and I don't say anything in reply because I know that it's a rhetorical question and it doesn't need an answer.

“If you couldn't pick out all the dirty clothes from the laundry basket in my quarters, then how are you expected to wash them clean? Which day will you learn how to do anything properly?”

“I will go and bring them all out right now,” I say hurriedly. At this point, I'm desperate to avoid any sort of punishment.

“You better do,” he says, fuming before he goes out of the laundry room.

I quickly rinse the soap suds from my hand and dash out of the laundry room which is on the grounds outside the pack house, going into the pack house itself to get the clothes.

At least, I haven't been punished even once since the day began, and I'm grateful for that.

***

When I'm done with washing all the clothes and I have spread them out to dry, I step out of the laundry room. As usual, I only managed to complete the task just before the deadline. It's still something, though.

I face the horizon, looking towards the sun which is just about to start setting, and just as I look towards the direction of the path that leads to the pack house, I see the taskmaster standing right in front of me, and I hold a hand to my heart in shock.