"There are secret passages all around you if you know where to look for them."
- Steven J. Carroll
A busty maid was busy straightening the white bed sheet, her smaller bed from years ago was gone, replaced with an elegant king size bed. Clara bet that it was the newest and the most expensive one. She couldn't resist the soft and comfortable pillows, whispering to buried her face in their fluffiness.
"That's all, miss. Do you need anything else?" The maid asked Clara while standing near the door, ready to depart.
"Clara. You can call me Clara." She offered a little smile. "And thank you…"
"I'm Gemma, miss Clara." She smiled back at her. "If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave. Sleep well." She said and closed the door.
Her long exhale was not finished, when Xander walked in without as much as a knock. He catched her leaning on her side, buried in the pillows, her dark brown hair scattered around the white sheet. Looking at the sight made him burned with desire.
Clara abruptly sat up in the bed, grabbing one of the pillow in front of her chest. "Xander! I thought I got to spend this night alone. Our agreement start tomorrow, remember?"
"Yes, I just want to make sure the room is to your taste." His eyes wandering around the room.
It was not that large compared to his, the interior design was feminine. Most of the furniture with white or nude colors, he had redesigned this room picturing how Clara would occupy it before he brought her here. Seems that his choice was perfect.
"Oh.. It's the most beautiful room I've ever seen. Thank you, Xander." She tried to pull her most grateful smile.
Satisfied with his examination, he sat beside her on the bed. Clara's heart was jumping wildly. She scrunched up her eyes, as if it could make the monster disappear from her sight.
Xander chuckled deeply, "Where's my seductive little mouse, eh? I guess she was all talk when she wanted something."
She opened one eye, while the other remained close. "I just.. I'm not prepared enough, you see. Please give me some time this night."
With her hand squezzing the pillow tightly, Xander let her be and got up from bed.
Then he said before closing the door, "See you tomorrow, Clara Anastasia."
Click.
The bastard!
He made sure to lock the door, she was a prisoner here as much as when she was in the little room. Even if his treatment was somehow gentler than before, she refused to be a doormat.
Her pride had suffered greatly after her pretense to seduce him. She had learned how to tame a man and how to get what she wished for, thanks to her colleagues. When she couldn't hear his footsteps anymore, Clara quickly threw her pillow on the bed and set to executed her mission.
Her hand was moving and searching the wall, careful not to make many sound and sighed with relief when she found the door still intact behind the dresser. She was afraid that Xander had found and closed it permanently, but looks like he didn't.
She waited until midnight and peered through her bedroom window, there were man still guarding the ground.
Damn! Not that she would pass them, though.
Mr. Davis had installed a secret passage, it connected her room, the master's bedroom, and the library. They all would led to the backyard that faced the forest. If she could get out of the secret passage intactly, she still had to journeyed the forest.
One at a time, Clara.
She tried to focus on the present, the secret door behind her shutted close with barely a sound, then a second later, the white light flickered alive. She tried to take small steps down the stairway. One, two, three, she counted.
Then she dashed and ran along the narrow passages, her heart thundered with fear. Fear of what would be waiting at the end of this path, fear of what her fate would be.
***
Clara was peeping through the little holes, both of her feet standing on the ladder stairs that reached the steel door above. She tried to open the door as gentle as possible, but it still made a loud clang. Didn't want to think too much, she sprinted the wide backyard toward the forest.
She forced her leg to ran faster and faster, the summer night wind blowing her hair, she didn't look back even after she reached the forest. Still running blindly, she searched for river. River would let her to town.
Her heavy breaths sound harsh on the dead silent night, she was afraid someone could hear it. The dark forest only added terror to her panic.
Suddenly, someone tackled her from behind, Clara went down with a yelp. A large body pinned hers facedown, sat atop her small body so she couldn't turn around, chest to the ground.
"Uumph, uumph!" She tried to scream, but the hand kept pressing her head down to the dirty soil, suffocating her.
Clara tasted the bitter soil whenever she opened her mouth to scream, when she didn't have any strength to fight anymore, she laid still. When he sensed that her movement ceased, she was flipped to her back. His face appeared menacingly above her.
Her kidnapper's face.
"Hello, my cunning manipulative little mouse." He growled.
Clara gulped nervously, "If you want to kill me please make it swift and hurtless." She closed her eyes, giving in to the fate.
"Open your eyes. Look at me." He ordered.
Trembling beneath him, she stared that beautiful green eyes, eyes full of hate. Clara was aware of his hot body on top of hers, unconsciously wriggling her hips under the discomfort, and he groaned.
"Did you have a good exercise? Because I'm not sweating a bit for chasing you, so perhaps we could continue another exercise in this position?"
"No! I don't want it." She whispered with cold dread.
*** End of Chapter 6 ***