Phantom Island-"Origins"-4

Kelly had awakened the next morning to the sound of the barred door opening and someone entering the room. She turned over expecting to see her father but was disappointed when it was just the young girl who worked in the kitchen. She had brought breakfast.

The girl was alone. She closed the barred door behind her and cautiously made her way to the night table next to Kelly. She sat the breakfast tray on the table and brought the chair from the other side of the room.

This was the first of many days that Kelly would experience this disappointment. Her father never returned and neither her mother nor her brother ever came at all.

After a couple of weeks, which she measured by mealtimes, a stranger came in. The first in a long line of strangers her parents would hire to try to fix her.

None of it would work. Most of the “treatments” were used to torture prisoners for information, though it was used in moderation in her case. The treatments that weren’t painful and terrifying were just plain ridiculous. Kelly had become fearful of what they would do when they found out there was no “cure”.

She began plotting an escape. She hadn’t up until now because she was sure her parents would come around and let her out again. But that day never came and as time went by Kelly realized that it wouldn’t matter if they did. Nothing could ever be like it was. They would always be afraid of her and after all they had done, she was unsure of her ability to forgive them.

She had spent the last few days remembering the events that got her here. She had told her brother things and then they happened. It seemed insane but she had to give it a shot. She’d have no choice but to use the only person that she saw regularly for help.

She had never spoken to the kitchen girl before but the gag had always been removed so the girl could feed her. As far as she could tell, only the girl would come down here and she didn’t have a choice.

Kelly thought the poor girl was going to have a heart attack the first time she spoke to her. She had very softly and politely asked for a drink of water. The little girl had fallen from the chair and into the floor, scurried across the floor to the door, and grasped at her chest.

Kelly couldn’t help it, she laughed. It was just too absurd not to. Though the girls response made her want to cry, she was laughing. The girl stood up and straightened her dress, she was afraid but Kelly could tell she wanted to laugh too.

The whole episode made Kelly sad for them both. What a terrible world they lived in where this was something that happened. Two young girls alone in a prison cell. One in shackles accused of being a witch while the other, a terrified servant, feeds her.

While the girl poured the water, Kelly tried again. She told her she wouldn’t hurt her and asked her name. The girl came over and nervously held the glass to Kelly’s lips to let her drink. She whispered that her name was Abigail.

Over the next three weeks, the girls talked quietly to one another at each meal. Abigail was no longer afraid of her and Kelly was ashamed of herself for not starting a friendship with the girl before all this happened.

One day, Abigail came in looking frantic. She closed the door and rushed over to whisper to Kelly that she had overheard Kelly’s father talking to another man about a priest who was to come and cleanse her.

When she removed the gag, Kelly asked what that meant exactly but Abigail only gave her a chilling look. This was going to be bad. Abigail went on to explain that the priest her father had mentioned was reputed to be severe in his punishments. He was particularly harsh to those accused of witchcraft. At all of the cleansings he performed, the “witch” ended up dead.

Kelly was now afraid for her life. Clearly, Abigail was too. She had two weeks to get out before that priest arrived. She couldn’t believe her family would do this to her. Even after everything. This man was said to always burn witches. Alive! It was insanity!

She came up with several plans over the next couple of days but only one that may work while leaving her and Abigail unharmed.

She told Abigail to sneak the key at night after everyone went to bed. The entrance to this place wasn’t guarded and this had gone on long enough to allow people to be comfortable in the routine, which meant that no one would think to lock up the key at the end of the day.

She had been right. The plan had worked. Abigail had sneaked down while everyone slept and set her free. She had told Abigail, in her convincing voice as Abigail called it, to go back to bed and forget her part in the escape.

Kelly had then made her way to her brother’s room. She used her voice to make him compliant while she bound and gagged him. Then she had him follow her into their mother’s room where she repeated the process. Next was their father.

He would comply without the use of her voice because she had his precious son captive.

Once she had them all bound and gagged she had them to sit on the couch in her father’s room. She had given them all a piece of her mind and watched them cry about it, not once feeling even a bit sorry for them. She told them this would be her last night here. She was leaving and they would never see her again.

She told them not to dare to look for her or she would make them regret it. Before she left she told them that whatever she was, it wasn’t a witch. She had shamed them all, left and never gone back.

Kelly jumped down from the mailbox she had been sitting on and started walking back toward her apartment. She didn’t stop to remember her past often but tonight she had let her mind drift that way while she waited for him to catch up.

She didn’t know why but she liked having this particular cop follow her around. She always just whispered to the others and they’d left her alone. This one seemed different somehow; aside from the fact that he was gorgeous.

She saw him turn the corner and see her on the mailbox on the curb. He had not very stealthily hidden himself behind the building he had come around and she had begun her walk home. He would follow, she knew, until she got there.

She had begun the habit of changing in front of her bedroom window just for him. She would only show her back, of course. There was at least some part of her that was still a lady.

He would watch until she turned off her light and went to bed. Then he would go to his home and toss and turn all night. She knew because she had snuck out and followed him a few times. His routine was on point. He did the exact same things at the exact same times every day. It was incredibly boring.

She often thought of how she could improve his boring life. She had even considered breaking in and crawling into his bed with him once. He had been watching her for months, always with lust in his eyes.

But she figured it would startle him and she didn’t want to have to defend herself; that never ended well. Besides, if he weren’t a cop, she might actually like this boring man. He was incredibly attractive and his eyes held mystery, unlike all the others. She would bet there was a damn good reason he was so meticulous.

Tonight, she had gone out just so he could follow her. It was about as close to a date as she was willing to get right now, especially with a cop.

She fell asleep knowing she could have him if she wanted. She needed only to speak it and he would be hers. She smiled to herself as she drifted into dreams of that very thing.

The next morning she awoke smiling at the memory of her dream. She got up and dressed and was trying to decide where she would go for breakfast this morning.

She opened her front door and ran right into him. Before she could stop herself she muttered the word “mine”. And he smiled.

END of Story 1-"Kelly"-Part 4

Thank You for reading!

Follow me at authorjennifertreece.com