Chapter Thirty-Three — Dumbfounded Desha

At The Basement

In The Sinclaires' Mansion

· JEMIMA'S POV

Blinking my weary eyes to adjust to the darkness in the basement, a very strict voice was heard. It brought me into reality when I realized that I was abducted and was in a dark underground store. Blurry images of an effervescent teenage girl wearing a white frock and as well playing a mottled flute and people cheering me up, oh, and that was me. The plan that my clique and I were supposed to achieve but we were ambushed right before the accomplishment. That mysterious personality that knocked me out, I didn't see his or her face at all and it made me more wary about the unfamiliar environment. The drama about Ximena honked in my brain and that was when my weary eyes flew open, my breathing became steady and my mind cleared. I suddenly regained myself but the environment was so unfamiliar and it baffled me.

Wavering silhouette of a sixteen-year-old girl that had long bluish-ombré hair that had curls formed despite the strong dimness in the basement. Her hazel eyes shone like the Aztec Sun and she looked very different. She dressed to kill this time around. This time I now knew everything, Desha abducted me because of the grand Impeccable Contest in Skye Evander High School and her privilege to join the contest was seized by Mr. Jensen, the vice principal.

Normally, Desha would let her hair fall freely and she wore plain black shirt with bottle green fancy miniskirt coupled with plush ankle boots. But this time around, she wore a ritzy white shirt with 'SWISH DESHA' emblazoned on it with gilt cursive calligraphy; a wine-red pleated miniskirt with belt that had gold clasps. She wore her outfit with plush sneakers and glitzy fleecy cardigan. Her makeup was weirdly lovely and anytime she smirked, she looked like the devil's first daughter and not a Croesus' daughter because of the outrageous braids at the side and the deadly curls at the ends.

Desha laughed again and her laughter echoed in the basement. It terrified me though but my friends were the ones who were more terrified.

"Finally! After the cat and rat chase, you ended up in my basement with your hands tied back like a slave and your fanny saddled on my chair like a criminal." Desha snarled. There was a smirk on her plump lips and I saw Desha as someone really disgusting. I've always despised her since my first encounter with her at the hallway on the first day of school but the undying and hateful passion I grew towards her was stronger than that of the first encounter.

"You have no idea how you look like when you put on that makeup? You look so pitiful not beautiful. Just go have an in-depth look at yourself in the mirror and you'll understand how you look like." I tried to upset her and of course it worked. I tried pushing my luck some more but I overdid it.

"You look way older than my great great grandmamma." I said finally and she moved. I could feel elation rush up to me when she stamped to the shattered glass mirror behind her. She saw that she was pretty after all. She glared at me and smirked again. Man, I've lost count of how many times she had smiled evilly.

"See Jemima! I don't have time for your inane games. On the other hand, I still look far prettier than your 'great great grandmamma', so try something else…" She snickered again and I pouted my lips to show displeasure.

I was not a good talker like my kid sis so I decided to keep shut. I was nowhere a good bootlicker or irksome schmoozer like my kid sis, Mildred. For the first time in more than a decade, I regretted setting apart myself from my family ever since I turned two years old.

Taking down my head, I saw that jet-black walkie-talkie lying casually on the slippery floor. It belonged to Shelbie. Oh no, did the girls accomplish the plan without me? Were they successful or…were they also abducted like me?

I scanned the entire basement with my feisty eyes and I saw three girls lying sloppily on the slick floor, one was pale skinned, the other a brunette and the last was Khloé.

I felt an irrepressible surge of intense anger in my body system and I could not resist it. The last time I felt this, things didn't end well at all because properties were burnt to ashes when I flared up. It was back then in Neruize when I was still in Hamill Dayle High School and my BFFs riled me up.

I tried suppressing the surge of anger but it only augmented. The ropes binding my hands wilted away like chaffs and the steel chair too. My purple eyes shone brighter but then again my expression was darkened. I could not control my body after all and it moved all on its own, almost equivalent to involuntary actions.

Desha who was standing there was mesmerized by all that. If not for her underlings that functioned as shield for her, she would stand there with her eyes popped out and her mouth wide ajar, possibly for a thousand and ten years. One of her underlings, Kyra, came running to her with paper reports in her feeble hands. One outstanding feature that made her different from the others was her ankle length hair which she braided. Others had shoulder, waist or short length hair.

"Ma'am, here are the reports which you requested for. It is about the strange teenager you brought here few hours ago." She said firmly, her voice like a matured adult and her composure also like that of a matured adult but she was just nineteen at most. She glimpsed at me and then at Desha who still stood there.

Desha grabbed the paper reports quickly, dismissed her and carefully scanned the contents. She was holding a cup of chilled juice but it fell and made shattering noises. All eyes rotated to see her but she was thunderstruck and astonished. She squinted at me carefully and glanced back at the papers. Auspiciously, her able-bodied underlings apprehended me and bound my hands, neck and legs in strong chains which I knew would take me time to destroy.