Chapter 11

Idaho, United States

August 14, 2004

"Are you crying, Layla?"

Layla raised her face which for 10 minutes she had been hiding between her knees. A boy with milky white skin, with dark brown hair and almost black eyes looked at her gently.

She couldn't hide her sadness, even though she couldn't show that she was happy that someone had found her in this place, she chose to keep hiding it.

"Lucien? What are you doing here? You're following me again?"

"I wasn't following you, but I could smell you around here. You weren't at school today, so I was worried."

"You can smell me? Are you a dog? You freak!"

"My sense of smell is very sensitive, so-"

"Never mind, don't talk anymore! You're annoying!"

"I'm sorry, Layla!" The boy smiled sadly, his guilt making Layla feel a strange pleasure.

She had lived in this village for three years and she found nothing good here apart from a strange silence and difficulty in finding friends to play with. Lucien was the only one who wanted to play with her.

"Hey Lucien!"

"What?"

"Do you think I'll stay here forever? Do you think my parents won't come to pick me up?"

"Your mom and dad will definitely come, when their business is finished, they will definitely come to pick you up."

"But my mom and dad always fight, I think they will divorce soon, that's why they left me to live with my mom's relatives in this village."

"I think your parents need time to solve their problems, be patient!"

"Don't go around telling me to be patient! You don't know how difficult my position is, do you? You don't know what it's like to be me. You don't have parents who scold you every day just because you're lazy about going to school. You don't have a mother who is nagging and likes to pick your ears, you also don't have a father who yells at you if your test scores drop. You're lucky because you don't have parents like them." She said. The boy just kept quiet and listened to her complaints calmly.

"My dad and my mom are annoying, but I want them to pick me up immediately. I miss my bedroom, my house and my friends at my old school." Layla started to sob. She couldn't remember the last time she got a call from her parents.

"Layla, please don't cry!" The boy gently stroked her head when he realized that Layla's face was wet with tears.

"You must be making fun of me, right? You must think I'm annoying so my parents threw me away in this middle of nowhere!"

"No, I don't think like that at all. I think you're a very sweet girl and-" he immediately stopped his words after realizing that he had unknowingly complimented the girl nearby.

His face turned red and he immediately turned his head away so that Layla wouldn't see that he felt embarrassed and awkward.

"What are you saying? You think I'm cute?"

"T-that's not it, I thought you-"

"Oh, so you think I'm ugly?"

"No...! I think you're so cute and sweet, so-"

"What? What did you say? Wow, Lucien, you're trying to seduce me, aren't you? We're still in middle school, don't think dirty!"

"I-I wasn't thinking dirty at all, I just wanted to say what I thought. That's all!" He said feeling uneasy. They both fell silent and the atmosphere became very awkward now.

"Lucien!"

"Yes, Layla?"

"If my parents really won't come to pick me up, what about me?"

"They will definitely come!"

"If they don't come?"

The sadness on Layla's face made the boy lose his words.

"If your parents don't come, you can stay here with me. I will never leave you."

"I will never leave you."

Layla opened her eyes, the sentence still sounded clear in her ears. The ceiling of the dungeon made her realize that she had just been dreaming. Dreaming about her sad childhood as an outcast girl that no one wanted.

"Cold-" her body shivered. This dungeon was colder than she expected.

"Are you awake, Miss?" Kerry asked. She still sat calmly in her place. Layla lifted her head from the pillow which was not soft enough and made her feel a little sore in her neck.

"The blanket is too thin, they should provide a thicker blanket."

"The dungeon is a place of punishment, there won't be any luxury items in a place like this."

"You're right, but how long are they going to keep us here?"

"I think you should apologize and beg to be released when the guards come in a moment."

"What do you mean?"

"Soon a guard will come to bring food. You can give him a message for Mr. Lucien."

"I won't beg a man like him. If I do that, he will become even more arrogant and act arbitrarily. I don't want to."

"But if you don't want to do it, you will remain locked up here for a long time. They will only give you one meal every day in the morning, namely a bowl of pumpkin soup and dry bread. After that you will have to endure hunger all day."

"Is it true?"

"Kerry is right, Miss. That's why you should just give up and apologize. Because you won't be able to survive here."

"So what about all of you? I can't let you stay locked up here while I'm freed."

"You don't need to mind us, we're used to it and we'll be fine."

"But-" Layla hesitated a little. She didn't expect that a selfish woman like herself could have sympathy for the servants whom she always looked down on after becoming John Weisz's wife. In just one day, she felt a strange change in herself.

"Okay, I hope you are okay. I will try to persuade Lucien to forgive the three of you."

***