Page 22

Arabella

“ Bonjour , ma belle .”

The voice was a low rasp, with just the faintest accent. But what had me clutching the covers hard was how I knew it came from beyond the shadows. My instincts told me it was so, but I just wasn’t sure how it was possible.

“W-Where are you?” I demanded in a voice that shook more than I wanted to. “Are y-you Aurélien Sauvage?”

More silence passed, and unable to bear it any longer, I swung my legs off the bed and jumped down to the floor. It was rather embarrassing I had to do so, but with the bed more than four feet off the ground, it wasn’t like I had a choice.

Sliding my feet back into my beaten pair of flats, I gathered all my courage to venture into the shadowy corners of the room, one at a time. “Show yourself!” I poked the air about me, feeling silly and foolish all the while, but I couldn’t help it.

He was here! He was! Even without him saying a word, I could feel his watchful and possessive gaze on my body, caressing my skin, chaining me, and branding me like a master would his slave.

How could a mere gaze feel this intense , I wondered in a mixture of confusion and anxiety. And how was it that his eyes felt as gentle as they were daunting? It made no sense!

I looked around me again, squinting hard, trying to find even the smallest clue to his presence. The glow from the fireplace was blazingly bright, but it simply wasn’t enough for the sheer size of the room.

“Why won’t you show yourself?” When the voice still refused to answer, I ran my fingers on the walls, groping for a light switch. There was a chandelier for heaven’s sake, so its switch must be here somewhere. Right?

“What you’re doing is pointless.”

I almost jumped at the sudden interruption but managed to catch myself in time. “Is it?” I quickly moved to the next side of the wall, telling myself he could only be lying. What kind of house in this century wouldn’t have any kind of electrical lighting?

There had to be a switch, and when I did find it, he wouldn’t be able to hide himself from me anymore.

“The chandelier doesn’t work.”

I stiffened. “But there’s electricity—-”

“I didn’t say there wasn’t. It’s only the chandelier that’s disconnected. None of the lights in this house—-”

“No.” I started shaking my head even before he finished speaking. “I don’t believe you.”

“Suit yourself,” the voice murmured.

And suddenly, the voice was too close, almost like he was standing right behind me.

“But don’t say I didn’t try to stop you from wasting your time.”

The hairs behind my neck rose, and this time, I did jump. I whirled around, hoping to finally catch a glimpse of him, but at the same time dreading it if I did.

And yet...there was nothing.

Nothing except another shadow that blurred past me in great speed, larger than life, and too fast to be human.

Frustration seethed inside of me, and I clung to it desperately. To be mad was to forget that I was scared, and I wanted that. I needed that.

Spinning wildly, I challenged, “Stop playing games with me and show yourself!”

“I am not playing any games with you.”

“Then show yourself!” Stalking to the fireplace, I grabbed one of the books stacked on the mantel top and began throwing it at the shadows, one after another. “Show yourself!” But the books struck nothing but air, and my trepidation grew as I watched the books fall soundlessly to the carpeted floor.

Where was he?

Where?

As if sensing that I was about to break down any moment, the voice started speaking again, this time in a soothing tone. “Calm down, ma belle .”

Unfortunately the words did anything but, and a desolate laugh escaped me. “Are you insane? You expect me to calm down when I’m talking to my would-be killer—-”

The voice from the shadows cut me off, saying levelly, “I didn’t have you brought to my island to kill you.”

“Then what am I here for?” I cried out.

But again, all I got was silence.

Silence that was made worse by the vastness of my gilded cage, the darkness that seemed to spread throughout the room like a plague—-

But what I despised above all was the way the silence waltzed tauntingly with the shadows around me. Even knowing it was just my mind playing tricks, I couldn’t help hating and fearing those shadows, with the way they seemed to enjoy mocking me—-

You’re already insane. You’re a coward. You’re already dead. You’re a ghost.

I squeezed my eyes shut as I shoved the insidious thoughts out of my mind.

No! No! No!

And then suddenly—-

The faintest words, a whisper that was barely there, touching my ear.

Words that answered my question: what am I here for?

My eyes flew open and my hand reached up, my fingers touching my burning ear just as I felt the lightest breeze brush against my body and a shadow blur past me.

And then nothing.

He was gone.

This time, he really was gone, and I knew because the loss of his presence cut me deep. Why it was so, I couldn’t explain. Nothing about this place – nothing about him – made sense. All I could be certain of was what he made me feel. It was like being burned alive one moment and then drowning in a fathomless sea of emptiness –

Could it be so because of his words?

Those unbelievable, impossible words?

My arms dropped limply to my sides.

Surely I must have imagined those words.

Surely – surely he couldn’t have said that he had me brought to his island... to love him?