Monster In Your Bed
Chapter 3: Blue in Roses
-Jaselynn-
His visits became sporadic and more than once or twice a day sometimes. Other times I wouldn’t see him for days on end, only for him to be more violent and cruel than usual when he did darken my door way. Estelle came every day, three times a day to give me food and water, but she didn’t say much either. Mostly I just lay in the bed I was permitted to lay in, watching the sunlight come and fade through the glossy curtain. It was a dull, lifeless existence. My whole life had collapsed though, I was lucky I still had an existence at all. The beatings stopped when I figured out that as long as I was good and still he didn’t get angry at me. And that was enough.
I was lying on my side watching the light fade from the window one night when the door swung open and he walked in. I rolled onto my back and closed my eyes, waiting for the pain to engulf me and pull me someplace new. Instead, a silky fabric dropped onto my bare body. “Get up,” he grunted darkly and pinched my breast. “Now. Do not make me hurt you.”
I yelped and jumped up, grabbing the deep blue dress. It was a short thing with a tightly stitched bodice and a lacey skirt under a fitted blue slip. There were no straps on the dress; it didn’t even look like it would fit me. I looked up at him, confused, there was truly no reason for me to have a dress, I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the whole idea of him dressing me up. Did he want to kill me dressed as a doll? “Sir?” I asked hesitantly.
“Get dressed.” He snapped and strode out of the room, nearly barreling into Estelle who was coming into the room with a black box in her hands. “Es, you have an hour.” He said shortly and slammed the door shut behind him.
“What’s going on?” I asked as Estelle took the dress from my hands and unzipped the back of it.
“Step in,” was her reply.
I did so and she sat me down on the bed, pulled the latch on the little black box, and reveled to me a world of make-up. Estelle glanced at my briefly before pulling my hair away from my face in a tight, awkwardly twisted bun. I watched as she pulled out a little jar of pale concealer and applied it to my face, shoulders, and neck. Then came charcoal eyeliner in thick layers that took her a few minutes to apply. I’d never been one for getting my make-up down by anyone but myself so having to sit still long enough for her too was driving me insane. She applied sparkly blue eye shadow and dark mascara to my eyes too and outlined my lips in dark red lip liner, coating the inside with blood red lip paint. And then we spent nearly forty minutes curling my hair and pinning it up in a fountain ponytail. Estelle even curled my bangs and let them frame my face. And then she gave me a pair of strappy heels with sparkles on them to put on. The beautiful blue dress hugged my thin body and gave me shape, and as I looked in the little mirror I found myself staring at another form of the familiar stranger who’d been peaking at me in the bathroom on my first bath. The skin was still stretched way too far across my cheek bones and the bags under my eyes were still noticeable but at least the concealer didn’t make me look half dead.
“What’s going on?” I asked Estelle again, frustrated, putting the silver framed mirror down on the bed. The idea of being randomly dressed up was really starting to bother me.
“Mr. Gaskarth is having some colleagues over for dinner and it was requested that he show his lady of the house at said dinner.” Estelle fixed my bangs and stepped back as if to assess her work. “You look nice,” she said finally, breezily. And then she turned, expecting me to follow, and walked to the door. “I assume you’ve eaten a formal dinner before,” she said curtly, turning to peer at me.
“I have,” I said with a quick sigh. “My mother’s wedding had been very ritzy and I’d been forced to take classes on etiquette.” I explained to her shocked expression.
“Good,” she said as she turned back to the metal door. “I was hoping we weren’t going to have to go through a crash course on how not to be an embarrassment.” I locked my jaw, a little more stung than I should have been. I guess she had no humanity after all.
I tried to look over her shoulder when she put the combination in the key pad but she raised her shoulder and obscured my view. When the door swung open she grabbed my hand and strode out of the room, pulling me with her. We walked down the hall as I watched the dark landscape, until we came to a set of beautifully tiled steps that led down to the grand foyer of the pale white estate. Alexander was waiting by the steps, checking his watch. He wore a dark tailored suit and his hair was sticking up in its usual array. At least he’d shaven.
“Mr. Gaskarth,” Estelle cleared him of his thoughts as we went down the steps. He looked up and nodded at us, putting his arm around my waist when Estelle let go of my hand. “I’ll be waiting in my suite when you’re done with her, sir.” Estelle bowed her head and went back up the stairs, leaving the two of us to look at each other.
“You look lovely,” Alexander said softly as he guided me down the hall to the patio doors. The estate, as I was beginning to find from my quick trips around the perimeter, was set up weirdly and was long with only two floors instead of compact with more than two floors. The two large ornately framed (the frames being white with little twig patterns forming across the pane of glass) doors swung open by two hand servants into a gorgeous garden of red and white roses and a long table set up in the middle of the stone center, the table being set with fine black and white patterned china (swirled patterns) with crystal goblets and the entire garden being lit by burning torches. To the back of the clearing a beautiful fountain of an angel with her wings spread out babbled away, and above us the night sky twinkled in the light of a thousand stars. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath of fresh air, my first real breath of fresh air in a very long time. The warm, welcoming smell of freshly cut summer grass filled my sinuses and sweet roses puffed after its clipped bloom. I smiled in spite of myself and resisted the urge to twirl around.
“Sir,” a colored man had approached us while I was taking in my surroundings and offered a silver tray with two glasses of dark red wine on it to us. “Your guests should be arriving shortly.”
“Thank you Collin,” Alexander replied, taking both glasses off the tray and offering one to me. “Follow me Jace.” He said in a clipped manner and led me to the table, pulling the seat out to the left of what I guessed to be the head of the table. “Is Jace short for something?” He asked as he waited for me to sit down.
I smoothed my skirt against my thighs and sat down, nearly gasping in surprise when he pushed my seat in.
“Jaselynn,” I answered softly, looking up at him.
He nodded thoughtfully and sat down beside me, holding the glass of wine out for me. I shook my head to decline it and looked around awkwardly, coughing into my elbow pathetically. For the first time since I’d gotten to the estate I wanted nothing more than to be back in the safe confines of my room and cry. But, I sat in the fresh air, watching the firelight dance off the roses in the distance and begging I wouldn’t have to talk. Because what could you say to the friends of the man who kidnapped you?
“Miss Jaselynn, you are truly a delight!” Mr. Delante boomed out in a deep-whiskey forced laugh as I continued to stroke the keys of the grand piano in the front foyer of the estate, the place we’d all retired after dinner. After some drunken propositioning from the man I’d spoken out on being able to play the instrument. Now Alexander and his guests were all surrounding the piano, listening to me play. “A true delight!” He leaned over his wife to Alex and clapped his hand on my captor’s shoulder, nodding. “You did a fine job son, your father would be proud.”
I saw something in his eyes that made me pause in mid stroke, curious. Guilt. It seeped into his gaze, filled every rambling crevice of his being, and slowly but surely made me numb. For the first time since I’d been abducted, I saw a new, rare side of my captor. A side of humanity.
His visits became sporadic and more than once or twice a day sometimes. Other times I wouldn’t see him for days on end, only for him to be more violent and cruel than usual when he did darken my door way. Estelle came every day, three times a day to give me food and water, but she didn’t say much either. Mostly I just lay in the bed I was permitted to lay in, watching the sunlight come and fade through the glossy curtain. It was a dull, lifeless existence. My whole life had collapsed though, I was lucky I still had an existence at all. The beatings stopped when I figured out that as long as I was good and still he didn’t get angry at me. And that was enough.
I was lying on my side watching the light fade from the window one night when the door swung open and he walked in. I rolled onto my back and closed my eyes, waiting for the pain to engulf me and pull me someplace new. Instead, a silky fabric dropped onto my bare body. “Get up,” he grunted darkly and pinched my breast. “Now. Do not make me hurt you.”
I yelped and jumped up, grabbing the deep blue dress. It was a short thing with a tightly stitched bodice and a lacey skirt under a fitted blue slip. There were no straps on the dress; it didn’t even look like it would fit me. I looked up at him, confused, there was truly no reason for me to have a dress, I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the whole idea of him dressing me up. Did he want to kill me dressed as a doll? “Sir?” I asked hesitantly.
“Get dressed.” He snapped and strode out of the room, nearly barreling into Estelle who was coming into the room with a black box in her hands. “Es, you have an hour.” He said shortly and slammed the door shut behind him.
“What’s going on?” I asked as Estelle took the dress from my hands and unzipped the back of it.
“Step in,” was her reply.
I did so and she sat me down on the bed, pulled the latch on the little black box, and reveled to me a world of make-up. Estelle glanced at my briefly before pulling my hair away from my face in a tight, awkwardly twisted bun. I watched as she pulled out a little jar of pale concealer and applied it to my face, shoulders, and neck. Then came charcoal eyeliner in thick layers that took her a few minutes to apply. I’d never been one for getting my make-up down by anyone but myself so having to sit still long enough for her too was driving me insane. She applied sparkly blue eye shadow and dark mascara to my eyes too and outlined my lips in dark red lip liner, coating the inside with blood red lip paint. And then we spent nearly forty minutes curling my hair and pinning it up in a fountain ponytail. Estelle even curled my bangs and let them frame my face. And then she gave me a pair of strappy heels with sparkles on them to put on. The beautiful blue dress hugged my thin body and gave me shape, and as I looked in the little mirror I found myself staring at another form of the familiar stranger who’d been peaking at me in the bathroom on my first bath. The skin was still stretched way too far across my cheek bones and the bags under my eyes were still noticeable but at least the concealer didn’t make me look half dead.
“What’s going on?” I asked Estelle again, frustrated, putting the silver framed mirror down on the bed. The idea of being randomly dressed up was really starting to bother me.
“Mr. Gaskarth is having some colleagues over for dinner and it was requested that he show his lady of the house at said dinner.” Estelle fixed my bangs and stepped back as if to assess her work. “You look nice,” she said finally, breezily. And then she turned, expecting me to follow, and walked to the door. “I assume you’ve eaten a formal dinner before,” she said curtly, turning to peer at me.
“I have,” I said with a quick sigh. “My mother’s wedding had been very ritzy and I’d been forced to take classes on etiquette.” I explained to her shocked expression.
“Good,” she said as she turned back to the metal door. “I was hoping we weren’t going to have to go through a crash course on how not to be an embarrassment.” I locked my jaw, a little more stung than I should have been. I guess she had no humanity after all.
I tried to look over her shoulder when she put the combination in the key pad but she raised her shoulder and obscured my view. When the door swung open she grabbed my hand and strode out of the room, pulling me with her. We walked down the hall as I watched the dark landscape, until we came to a set of beautifully tiled steps that led down to the grand foyer of the pale white estate. Alexander was waiting by the steps, checking his watch. He wore a dark tailored suit and his hair was sticking up in its usual array. At least he’d shaven.
“Mr. Gaskarth,” Estelle cleared him of his thoughts as we went down the steps. He looked up and nodded at us, putting his arm around my waist when Estelle let go of my hand. “I’ll be waiting in my suite when you’re done with her, sir.” Estelle bowed her head and went back up the stairs, leaving the two of us to look at each other.
“You look lovely,” Alexander said softly as he guided me down the hall to the patio doors. The estate, as I was beginning to find from my quick trips around the perimeter, was set up weirdly and was long with only two floors instead of compact with more than two floors. The two large ornately framed (the frames being white with little twig patterns forming across the pane of glass) doors swung open by two hand servants into a gorgeous garden of red and white roses and a long table set up in the middle of the stone center, the table being set with fine black and white patterned china (swirled patterns) with crystal goblets and the entire garden being lit by burning torches. To the back of the clearing a beautiful fountain of an angel with her wings spread out babbled away, and above us the night sky twinkled in the light of a thousand stars. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath of fresh air, my first real breath of fresh air in a very long time. The warm, welcoming smell of freshly cut summer grass filled my sinuses and sweet roses puffed after its clipped bloom. I smiled in spite of myself and resisted the urge to twirl around.
“Sir,” a colored man had approached us while I was taking in my surroundings and offered a silver tray with two glasses of dark red wine on it to us. “Your guests should be arriving shortly.”
“Thank you Collin,” Alexander replied, taking both glasses off the tray and offering one to me. “Follow me Jace.” He said in a clipped manner and led me to the table, pulling the seat out to the left of what I guessed to be the head of the table. “Is Jace short for something?” He asked as he waited for me to sit down.
I smoothed my skirt against my thighs and sat down, nearly gasping in surprise when he pushed my seat in.
“Jaselynn,” I answered softly, looking up at him.
He nodded thoughtfully and sat down beside me, holding the glass of wine out for me. I shook my head to decline it and looked around awkwardly, coughing into my elbow pathetically. For the first time since I’d gotten to the estate I wanted nothing more than to be back in the safe confines of my room and cry. But, I sat in the fresh air, watching the firelight dance off the roses in the distance and begging I wouldn’t have to talk. Because what could you say to the friends of the man who kidnapped you?
“Miss Jaselynn, you are truly a delight!” Mr. Delante boomed out in a deep-whiskey forced laugh as I continued to stroke the keys of the grand piano in the front foyer of the estate, the place we’d all retired after dinner. After some drunken propositioning from the man I’d spoken out on being able to play the instrument. Now Alexander and his guests were all surrounding the piano, listening to me play. “A true delight!” He leaned over his wife to Alex and clapped his hand on my captor’s shoulder, nodding. “You did a fine job son, your father would be proud.”
I saw something in his eyes that made me pause in mid stroke, curious. Guilt. It seeped into his gaze, filled every rambling crevice of his being, and slowly but surely made me numb. For the first time since I’d been abducted, I saw a new, rare side of my captor. A side of humanity.
Notes
Soooo. I kinda am starting to figure out more and more about the story as i go along, and i think i can like Alex's character. Lol.-xoxo DR
So I just stumbled across this and decided to check it out. It is definitely intense, but there's something I like about it... perhaps it's Alex coming around in the last few chapters you wrote, idk. But it's definitely a unique plot line as well.
If you ever choose to pick up with this again, I will definitely be here to read it. You're an amazing writer, and I think this story deserves an ending if you can ever see yourself giving it one.
If not, I really enjoyed what you had of it. Just wanted to leave a comment showing you people are still stumbling across it. I'm not sure if you'll ever even see this or not, but I hope you do.
12/31/16