Chapter Ninety-Six
I panted on my knees as I watched the maid disappear from my vision. That girl could become a professional sprinter without training. How can someone so frail run that fast? It was honestly insulting to my healthy and lean physique.
Imagine the horrors the Astors must have put that poor girl through for her to run for her life like a frightened gazelle.
Defeated, I decided to return to the great hall. Later, I would have to find another way to interrogate the maid.
Halfway through the corridor, I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. There was a strange familiarity in the pressure of the touch. My heart raced, thinking it could be Desmond. He was not someone who would quit so easily.
I turned around, preparing myself to command him to leave before he could question the thoughts in my mind centering on him.
“Leave me alone. I am healing!” I shouted mindlessly, only to find the person who wanted my attention was again not Desmond but the maid. Was the frail girl even human? Or was she the melancholic ghost of someone slaughtered by her employers? “Not only are you a fast runner, but you are also extremely light on your feet. I didn’t hear any footfalls approaching me. Are you a ghost, by any chance?” I said.
Her thin, dry lips stretched into an apologetic smile. “Forgive me for soundlessly approaching you. I am not a ghost, but it has become a habit of mine to exist like one in this mansion. My name is Lily Collins.”
The servants were just as mysterious as the owners. At least Lily was talking now. I had to watch my mouth to not scare her again. “And I am_” I extended a friendly hand.
“I am familiar with who you are. You’re Cassidy Black,” Lily Collins replied.
My forehead creased in confusion. “I just arrived. How do you know my name? And why do you need to exist like a ghost in this castle?”
The maid looked away rapidly, blinking her gigantic round eyes. “I am not at liberty to say.”
My impatience wanted to grab her by the arms and force all the answers out of her. She had all the dirt on my cunning aunt and uncle.
“Listen,” I began calmly. “You can tell me if they are hurting you or keeping you here as a captive. I can get the police here fast. You can escape out of this hellhole.”
“Sh!” Lily’s hand roughly landed on my mouth. “Don’t talk!” she whispered as her fear-filled eyes quickly scanned the area. “It won’t be good for us if someone hears this.”
I pushed her hand away. “There is no one here. Who are you referring to? Are there demon slaves spread around the entire property?”
Lily’s eyes almost popped out of her sockets at my last sentence. “You must never repeat that. This property doesn’t contain any supernatural forces. I am only nervous because my employers are strict. My life is not in danger,” she said as loudly as possible. She wanted someone to hear it.
The Astors must have had their demon slaves terrorize the servants. It was the perfect way to keep them silent. I was in several similar situations myself, and the fright of the hideously terrifying creatures was too much for the human brain. Desmond was one of them, too. I needed more time to accept what I had seen fully.
My one wrong move could make the maid run away again. I had to think of a way to reach her without being caught by the devils she feared.
Lily seized my hand, forcing me to open my palm. I was reluctant until she took a pen from her pocket, hinting that she wanted to write something there.
I gave her access to my palm, where she wrote something hastily. The maid ran away as soon as she was finished, leaving me with an unread message in microscopic writing.
The message said:
Meet me on the second floor when you can. We are being watched.
Looking around, I quickly closed my hand. Maybe the maid was unaware, but demons can do a lot more than read. My mind was unprotected. Someone could have learned our secret in my thoughts if not directly from the words written on my palm. How would I survive without getting caught?
Unclear about my next move, I returned to the great hall with folded arms. It would be fun hiding a traitorous message from Benedict Astor’s hawk eyes. I had to exercise constant caution.
“It took you quite a while in the toilet,” remarked Mr. Astor when I joined them.
“Sorry to make you all wait,” I said, my eyes glued to the floor.
“You shouldn’t apologize for having regular human needs. It’s not like you were wandering elsewhere behind our backs,” he said.
Oh my God! Mr. Astor could see right through me. Was he suspicious of his maid as well? Or had their demon servant already reported our small interaction in the corridor to him?
“Do you punish people to admire the beauty of your home by themselves? If so, I am guilty of glimpsing a little more than what I had excused myself for.” I gave a clever response but instantly regretted it.
Mr. Astor’s face stiffened. “Well, of course I do. I will now punish you with a treat of a five-course meal after a brief home tour,” he finished with a chortle.
His wife shared his amusement as usual, and I managed to pass a grin their way, too.
“Finish your tea so we can begin the house tour. I have some interesting pictures from my childhood to share with you all. I bet your father must have kept you three in the dark about many things,” said Aunt Jane.
“What could he be hiding? You’re the only mystery in our lives,” I responded.
“Then let’s dig into the past and solve it together,” said Jane with a tight-lipped smile.
The Astors weren’t beasts who attacked others in the open. My enemies’ biggest weapon was hiding behind kindness. I didn’t know what was waiting for us in the depths of their mansion or what they were planning to do to us. All I knew was that a war had already begun where whoever strikes first shall win.