Trembling With the Strings

“My, my. If it isn’t little Miss Friendly,” someone muttered, stepping up to me. I recognized her: it was Yvette, that girl that had made the nice food.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I told her, picking up on the sarcasm but choosing to ignore it. “I meant to tell you thank you.” I smiled softly.

“For what?”

“For the breakfast. It was delicious. I just couldn’t talk to you because Darius dragged me off, so I’m really sorry. Oh, but I haven’t even told you my name yet. It’s—”

“Gracie! Shut up, I know your name,” she hissed, suddenly shoving me to the wall.

“What did I do?” Honestly, what could I have done to her to make her so edgy? I hadn’t spoken two words to her before five seconds ago!

“Aren’t you all cute and innocent?” she growled, her face twisting up. “Look at the little naïve girl that has Darius all over him. Honestly, you’re ugly, so why is he so interested in having you by his side all day?”

That kind of hurt my feelings just a little!

“Well, I don’t know. It’s because he’s a little boy who likes the toys Daddy buys him.” Okay, I could only stay polite for so long! She was really pushing it.

“And you’re just the favorite, shiny, new toy! I’ve been her for four fucking years and already he’s moved on! How would you like it if I whored around like you? Hmm?”

“Excuse me? I do not! I’m sorry, but you are being a terrible person.” I wasn’t really sorry, but oh well.

“You don’t, huh? Then what’s with the mini-skirts and showing off as much skin as you possibly can?”

“These are Marcy’s clothes! And that means you’re calling Marcy a slut. She’s my best friend, so I’d shut up if I were you. Besides, Darius is the one who picks out my clothes. Your uniform leaves you all covered up, so I guess he just loves seeing my skin,” I told her with a sneer, shoving her off of me.

“You think he cares about you? He doesn’t! He just wants sex, and then you’re out the door. And I hope it hits your ass on the way out.”

“Hmm? Because it really brought us closer. Maybe you were just really bad.” I smirked as she reached for words, stuttering like there was no tomorrow.

“You little bitch!” she shrieked, clawing at me. I cried out, trying to push her off. She just kept hacking away at my face, raking it with her nails. I screamed when she cut my cheek, and blood started dripping on the floor. She immediately stopped, making a huffy sound and backing away to join her little maid friends.

I was standing there in shock, bringing my hand to the cut. It stung, but I didn’t care about that. I couldn’t believe that she had actually gone crazy!

“Gracie, we need to...” His voice trailed off as he walked inside. Darius immediately stopped what he was doing, staring at me with his eyes narrowed. He sent a glance to his entire staff before darting to me, pulling me way too close. “What the fuck happened?” he mumbled, carefully tracing the edge of the cut.

I stumbled for words. Yeah, she had a horrid soul, but I wouldn’t incur the wrath of Darius upon anyone. I gave up, deciding to just bury my face in his chest and mumble incoherent sentences into his shirt. I could feel him tense, but he pulled me off of him and secured me at his side as I cried into my hands.

“I want an answer. One of you knows what happened to her. And I want to know. Please, satisfy my curiosity,” he begged sarcastically, his eyes hardening more and more. I knew that no one was going to step up.

I stopped crying and glanced up to see everyone standing there—all nineteen of them—as if they had suddenly been struck both mute and dumb. Darius didn’t seem to be getting any happier, so I wrapped my arms around him. Hey, I was staying on his good side. He smiled—sort of—before kissing me quickly. But then he returned his full attention to his various servants.

“Well? I’m waiting, and I’m being incredibly patient. You’re all lucky I’m in a relatively good mood, or I’d cut all of your throats in a second!” He paused, waiting for anyone to say something. “Honestly now, why won’t you tell me? It’ll save your skin, right?”

I understood then: they wouldn’t sell each other out. They stood with a defiant look in their eyes, none of them willing to put anyone on the chopping block. I guess it was a sympathy thing. After all, they all were there against their will—or so one could assume. Yvette probably got all of her encouragement from seeing Darius. I sighed inwardly.

“Darius, they tried to help me, they really did,” I whispered, resting my head on his shoulder.

“What do you mean?” he asked, sitting down at the counter and pulling me onto his lap. I cast a glance at Yvette. I was so tempted to sick Darius on her. She avoided my gaze.

“I was trying to put away a dish because I felt bad about making them do all the work, but I dropped it and it shattered. A piece of glass cut me... I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to break it.” His eyes softened a little as he sighed.

“It’s okay. We only need those dishes for guests anyway. But it’s their job to clean, not yours. Got it?”

I nodded, looking at the floor. If he looked in my eyes, he’d surely know that I was a filthy liar. I’m really going to Hell now, aren’t I?

“Well, I guess we better go make sure you don’t get an infection or something,” he mumbled, pushing me off of him so he could stand.

“Okay,” I mumbled, swallowing protests as he picked me up.

As he was carrying me away, I glanced over his shoulder. Yvette met my glance, but she looked like she was downright fuming.

Some people just don’t know how to say thank you!