Chapter 08

Chapter 08

"Witch!" I heard someone yell. "She's nothing but a fucking witch. She's killed the poor girl. Can you even imagine? And this is only her first night here."

I opened my eyes and saw a crowd of faces — mean, hard-looking faces — staring down at me. I felt a sharp pain at the back of my head and my muscles were even sorer than they had been before. I tried to breathe and it hurt, like there were a thousand tiny needles in my lungs that prickled every time I drew breath in. I started to whimper, begging for death under my breath.

"Aww, won't you look at the poor girl," one of the ladies, the most mean-looking one amongst them mocked. "She's crying."

A strong hand pulled me up to my feet, and the way my legs wobbled, it felt like I wouldn't be standing for very long. When I shook my head and blinked several times to reorient myself, I saw that it was Yvette standing in front of me. There was a look of disapproval on her face, as if she believed that I really was responsible for the girl's death.

"Amara, tell me, what happened?" She said. "What happened to Janice?"

"Who...?" I said weakly. "Who is Janice?"

"Janice, the girl on the bed above yours," she explained, a vehemence in her tone that indicated impatience. "Master Lucien's girl; the one who's now dead. What happened to her? What do you know about it? And you better tell the truth!"

I shook my head as I felt my knees buckling. There was something thick in the air. The crowd around were waiting to hear what I had to say, and I tried to vindicate myself.

"I swear, Yvette, I know nothing about it," I begged. "She was groaning with pain in her sleep, and it woke me up. I wanted to give her some water and she let out a scream. I don't know what happened."

"That's a bloody fucking lie!" The mean-looking woman yelled, and the crowd erupted in a noise. They were all accusing me, saying that I had Janice's blood on my hands, demanding that I be punished immediately. "She's a witch. She put some kind of poison in that cup and gave it to our poor Janice, and now the girl is dead."

"Silence!" Yvette said, her voice heavy with authority. "Not another word."

The crowd went silent. It occurred to me that these women could kill me if they wanted to, and there'd be nothing I can do about it. Only Yvette could protect me, but she did not seem very convinced with my story. After the crowd had gone silent, she held me by the arm, her eyes piercing my face as if to pry the truth out; I stared back, begging with sorry eyes.

"You understand why we don't believe you, Amara, don't you," Yvette said. "I mean, we found you over her dying body. That is almost a clear sign of sorcery."

"But why would I do such a heinous thing, Yvette?" I said, crying. "Why? I don't have anything to gain by killing her. I swear, I'm completely innocent. I would never do that. I'm not a witch. I've never practiced witchcraft before, and I have no intention of doing so."

"You lie!" Someone shouted. "Girl, you're a dirty fucking liar. When you came into the hostel that time with Master Elias, I saw a glow in your eyes. I knew right then and there that you're nothing but a witch, a sorceress who derives pleasure from causing other people harm."

"I said enough!" Yvette said. "Ladies, please, let me handle this. I can't do that with all this yelling, all these interruptions. In fact, go to bed. Get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow. I'll find a way to take Janice's body away, then we can do anything else tomorrow."

Grudgingly, the women walked back to their beds, shuffling their feet. A few of them hung around, deliberating on what to do.

"What are we to do when Master Lucien demands for her, Yvette?" One of them asked, her voice soft. She had not said a word all night. "If he finds out his pet is dead, he'll have our heads. What are we going to do?"

"I don't know," Yvette said,m fearfully. "I don't know. But let's do what we can. Let's take this body outside."

Completely ignoring me, they lifted Janice's body from the bed and took it outside. I stood there, motionless, paralyzed by the whole situation and apprehensive of the fact that the women could rise and attack me. But they didn't. After what seemed like forever, Yvette and the other women came back, and without saying a word, they went to their beds. I sat on mine, my eyes wide open, thinking. Janice had seemed weak and even malnourished. There was no telling what she had suffered in the hands of Master Lucien. I had gotten a glimpse of that from Elias earlier and had hated every bit of it.

As it got closer to day, I became drowsy and gave in to sleep. I had not been responsible for Janice's death and I told myself that there was no need to bother myself over it. In fact, by the time I closed my eyes, it was with resignation. My life, I concluded, could not get any much worse and I was going to take each day as it comes.

I woke up to a fierce black eyes and knew that it was a vampire. It was one of the guards who worked for Elias.

"On your feet!" He said and I rose slowly. "Master Elias would like to have you in his chambers now. Prepare yourself and go there as soon as possible!"

I blinked. I couldn't believe that Elias needed my attention so soon. It had not even been twelve hours since I had come from his chambers.