Would You Bargain With Hell?

Grace was waiting in the foyer when I got home. She took note of my wardrobe first, then my sour face.

“Nice outfit! You guys are in love?”

“No.”

“What happened Rayder?”

“You never told them I was adopted?”

Grace was taken aback, her eyes moved around the room. “It wasn’t an important piece of information. Don’t talk to me with that snide attitude! Are you and Patrick still going out?”

I swallowed, trying to compose myself. “I don’t know.”

I saw the rage build in Graces face. Her skin flushing red and her nose crinkling up. I saw her draw her small hand back and only noticed too late that she swung it across my face.

I gasped and fell over to the floor. A small ringlet of blood scrolled down my cheek from a cut made by Grace’s fingernail. My cheek stung and tears flew down from my eyes.

“You selfish good-for-nothing ninny! I tell you one thing keep the goddamn English boy, and you can’t even do that goddamn right! I have half a mind to kick you out of this house!” She growled and thrust her hand violently in the air. She looked down on me like a recently injured dog. I wrapped my arms around myself in fear.

“You bitch!” She brought the toe of her shoe into my ribs, pain shooting throughout my body as she proceeded to continue kicking me.

“Stop! Please! Stop!”

She dropped her foot below her. “Good-for-nothing.” She screamed at the air and stomped off.

I whined crying desperately in pain as I maintained a fetal position in the foyer. Everything was sore, my side felt broken. I sobbed helplessly finding no solace. I tried to stand up, but I ended up furled back into a ball.

I stayed like that for a good two hours before one of the maids noticed.

“Miss Rayder!” She skipped over to me kneeling in front of me, her hazel eyes filled with worry.

“What happened? Are you okay?”

I shook my head, unable to form words.

“Should I call an ambulance?” The maid ran her careful eyes close over me.

“No. Please help me get up.”

The maid nodded uncertain and wrapped her arms under mine, using all of her strength to lift me up. MY ribs felt like they were collapsed on top of one another. I screamed out, leaning against the dainty maid.

“I really think I should call for help, it looks like you’ve gotten into a fight. Who did this to you?” I could tell by the thread in her voice she knew far too well who did this to me; I looked at her with knowing eyes. She dropped her head.

“Just help me to my room please.” My voice was hoarse my face stained with tears and red, my ribs I’m sure were bruised and my self esteem gone. I whimpered with every step, until finally the maid helped me down onto the mattress in my room. She rolled me to the side that was uninjured.

She kneeled in front of me. “Miss Rayder, do you want me to call the police?”
“What good would that do?”

She nodded, knowingly and sat up. “Intercom my room for help please, I’ll do whatever I can.”

She stood.

“What’s your name?”

“Noelle.”

“Noelle, Why now?”

“Why now what Miss Rayder?”

“You maids have known the whole time how I was treated here, and you didn’t do anything. Why are you offering now?”

“The same reason you haven’t left Miss Rayder, we’re scared. And none of us knew she was so violent. I apologize. Take rest please, I’ll be here in the morning to dress your injuries.”

I nodded and closed my eyes.

~~

I jolted up in bed squealing and grabbing at my ribs, jolting pains shooting through me. I cried. I looked around for the clock my mind in a haze. It was half past midnight. I wanted to meet Mason. I shivered and propped myself on one of the shelves using all the strength in my thin arms to push myself up.

Somehow in the night I had managed to wriggle out of the tank top, so I stood in my bra and a pair of jeans. It wasn’t worth the pain to put a shirt on. I struggled through the piles of clothes, seeming a familiar sweater jacket. The men’s sweater jacket Mason had given me the night we meant. I shrugged it on and used the walls to balance my broken body as I walked across the hall.

The pain proposed new challenges, climbing over the snooker table was a taunting task. I crawled over it, the shooting pain causing me to whine, but I knew if I stopped I wouldn’t make it so I pressed on.

The one story drop proved even a harder task. I found myself praying though I didn’t believe in god.

I dropped, doubling over in pain, biting hard into my lip trying not to scream. Tears flew down my face. I pressed against the side of the house and got myself walking. I grunted as with each step I felt more and more increasing pain.

Every so often I fell and had to muster all my strength to get back up. After a while I saw the bridge in the distance and before long I was leaning on the rail. That didn’t prove helpful and I fell with a resounding thud onto the steel.

I wept, and heard footsteps stomping towards me.

In the moonlight I saw Mason, kneeling in front of me. “Rayder? Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

I jerked and whined. He noticed then I was holding my side. He pulled the jacket off me, revealing my pink bra. He of course wasn’t interested in that. He eyed the large bruise, than looked me in the eyes. He was blurry through tears.

He threw the jacket back on my and wrapped his arms around me, lifting me into his arms. I felt safe. With each fast step he took I felt a new shooting pain. I whined into his thin shirt. I closed my eyes and heard him kick open a door, the he set me down onto something soft. Lights flickered on and I was somewhere new. A red and brown clad room, decorated sparsely.

I bit my lip. He leaned over me, removing the jacket again. He looked closely over the bruise and stood straight, realizing it wasn’t the only mark. He tilted my face to the right and shook his head, his terrified eyes widening.

“I’ll get you something for the pain.” His words were lost in my mind.

I felt his hand over my mouth, and four pills dropping in. Then water sloshed them down. I felt a blanket come over me.

Everything went dark.