Inside A Box

Far in the forest was a carriage that rushed into the depth of the woods. The horses galloped in a rush as if it was chased by an unknown hoards of ghost armies but much to one's surprise inside the fancy carriage was a group of bandits, singing a boorish song while cursing in harsh words. Some of them yelled the stories of their past achievements such as the women they have killed, and the men they have cut to pieces.

The sound of ruckus sounds far from her ears and approached her until a loud BAM had forced her golden eyes to snap wide. Estelle stared at the dark small space in confusion. She tried to move her mouth only to taste blood on her own tongue that was cut by the rough fabric between her lips.

Where was she? What happened?!

Elle pushed aside the sound of her loud heartbeat, convincing herself to calm down so she could assess the situation. It was a difficult thing to do, especially when she was captured in a dark space that prevented her to know her location or the people who had took her away, regardless she tried her best, coaxing her own self to stay calm.

The last memory she had was of her entering her carriage… a hand had pulled her behind and suddenly she lost her consciousness.

Was she kidnapped?

She had went through many incidents upon living in the slums, but kidnapped was the first time!

Trying to check her surrounding, she moved her feet only to wince as a nail she didn't notice scraped her ankle.

"Someone is awake," said a voice that made her to bite her lips. She shut her eyes closed again while the lid covering her box was opened.

The man with the striking red hair pushed the lid open, his eyes that were bright in the color of brown seemed to filled with so much amusement upon finding Elle who he had stuffed inside the wooden box.

"Miss Estelle?" Kyle called with a friendly voice even though his smile was twisted in a sadistic nature. "I know you are awake, I can see your eyes rolling underneath your eyelids."

Elle tried to not move her eyes, wanting the man to think that it was his hallucination. What she didn't expect was the man to pull her pink hair and dragged her body upward.

Her scalp burn from the pain and her eyes snapped angrily to meet Kyle's brown ones.

Kyle's gaze seemed to widen upon meeting her golden eyes and for a moment he stared into her eye, finding that her angry gaze was struck something in him.

Elle furrowed her eyebrows, angrily shrugging her shoulders so the man would released her hair. From the surprise, Kyle released her hair, letting her to fall again inside the box. Elle winced again as she could feel the wound on her ankle was scraped even worse from the fall.

This damn man! She cursed by her eyes, glaring at Kyle with no fear.

Kyle's cheeks twitched at her bravery and a sudden grin appeared from one of his ear to the other, "You must be questioning why this happened to you, am I wrong?"

Elle didn't reply but stare at the man hatefully.

"Oh my apologies you can't speak with your mouth bound," saying so, Kyle grabbed the white cloth around her lips and roughly snatched it away.

Elle closed her eyes, hearing the sound of something that ripped, not only the cloth but also the sides of her ears.

"Barbarians," she cursed and Kyle smiled at the word.

"You should keep your pristine mouth clean milady. Don't you know? Barbarians like us hate it when someone called us out," Kyle whispered in a menacing smile.

Elle tried to adjust her gaze. Upon looking upward, she found five other men squeezed so tightly inside the carriage. Most of them were wearing clothes covered in animal skins and on their hands were either a sword, a bow, and alcohol.

They were a noisy bunch but when Kyle spoke, the group quiet down, meaning the man who had pulled her by her hair was none other than their leader.

"Do you know why you are here, milady?" Kyle asked with a mocking tone.

The way he had called her "lady" seemed as if he was condescending her for being a naive rich young lady, a tone she knows too well from the slums.

"Money?" Elle inquired to the man, her hand clenching behind her back.

"Close but not too close. You see, someone had ordered us to kill you," Kyle said with a wider smile. He enjoyed telling the person he was about to kill their future. He loved it especially when the victims stare at him with fear and tears of plea.

Elle's golden eyes were no exception to show shock. She was scared but she refused to show it to the bandits. She could tell they were a bunch of people who not only enjoy money but the pleasure of killings.

"Who ordered you to kill me?" Elle tried to squeeze the question while looking at her surroundings. There was only one door in the carriage. The coachman worked under her father but if the bandits are all inside the carriage, she could only guess that the poor man had been killed previously.

Escaping straight out of the carriage door would be impossible as long as the bandits are surrounding the door!

Her means of escapes seemed to be low but she didn't want to give up— she didn't want to die here!

"You don't know who might have hold a grudge against you?" Kyle responded her with another question.

Did he think she was one of those nobles ladies with many who hate her? Unlike the others, she didn't have that much enemies, specially those who would have enough money to hire others to kill her.

In a vex, Elle could only came up with one answer, "I can only guess one person."

"Go on. If you guess it right, I might give you the answer as a gift before you die," Kyle spoke as if he was a saint giving mercy to the sinful.

Elle didn't want to believe it and she hoped she was wrong but she could only come up with one answer, "Lady Gladys… Vernon?"

Kyle who heard the correct name widened his smile. He looked at her with more interest, "So you are not dumb! Clearly, you are right. That is the name of the woman who wants to kill you. I wonder what you did to inquire her anger? She paid me five hundred gold to kill you as soon as possible."

"I did nothing," Elle whispered in bitterness as she hung her head down. As she thought… there would be no way Lady Gladys would be happy of her presence in the Vernon's House. "I only became her step daughter."