Mia
A fantasy book? I scoffed. Wasn’t that how I felt all those years after coming across the triplets? My life had never been normal since I had met them. I hadn’t lived a normal life after meeting them.
What sort of a normal girl had repeated nightmares of wolves growling at her? What sort of a normal girl had three brothers making passes at her at different intervals? What sort of a normal girl had werewolves as brothers? What sort of a normal girl had brothers she hated and yet felt oddly secure with them in a way that she couldn’t explain?
I ran my hand through my hair and blew out a breath. I wasn’t normal at all. I hadn’t been for a long time. It wasn’t surprising that things that happened to me wouldn’t be normal as well and I would meet strange people.
How would I explain that I had been chased by a bee till I found a hidden cave where a strange woman with an unbelievable tale was locked away?
Her tale was indeed unbelievable. It wasn’t easy for me to accept that Albert was a chameleon and not what he pretended to be to the world. He was one of the sweetest people I knew and I felt like I would be a traitor if I believed immediately that he was someone to lock his family up without a good excuse.
She had said that he wanted to break away from the control of her family. As nice as that sounded, I did not see why she had to be imprisoned for that. He could have easily broken off from the clutches of her family without throwing her into a dungeon to prove a point, except she was part of the problems he was dealing with alongside that of her family.
The boys had always spoken fondly of their mother and never once had they mentioned that their parents had a troubled marriage.
It would have been easy for me to believe that the boys were the ones with the fake personalities – pretending to be nice while they lived with horribly dark hearts in their chests.
I couldn’t wrap my head around Albert as someone like that. She was painting him to be an ungrateful evil mastermind who had used her as a pawn to rise to power and wealth but I felt like there was more to the story. I felt like there was something she wasn’t telling me.
“You have to believe me, dear.” She cried and moved forward to the door of the cage.
I cringed at the sight of her. She looked more horrible than I had thought she did.
“Why would I lie? Think of this well and you will realize that I am telling the truth.” She added, making a desperate attempt to persuade me that she was telling the truth.
“If Albert is truly the good man that you think he is, would you have met me here?” She asked, her eyes wide as she spoke. “An unknown woman locked in the house of a good man,” she laughed. “Doesn’t her presence make him shady already? Why do you find it hard to believe me?”
I gulped. I had no response to what she said.
“I have been locked up here for twenty years.” She explained. “Isn’t that too cruel for anyone to do? And you still want to believe that he is a good man.”
I sighed. She had my head in knots, wrapped around the truth I knew and that which was being poured down my throat.
A smile began to curve around her face like she knew the turmoil in my heart, as if she could sense the struggle I was going through. I really needed to go for some acting lessons and learn how to keep my thoughts away from my face.
What was it about this woman who made me an open book? I had always believed that I could keep my emotions off my face, after all, nobody had been able to guess that I hated the triplets even though we all ate together. They had only thought that I wasn’t comfortable with them because they were boys.
The triplets especially Quinn was able to catch my emotions quickly despite how hard I tried to hide it. I didn’t think anyone was going to be able to do so again until I met this woman. She seemed to read me easily as if she had a glass with which she peered into my soul.
I winced at the title that I had given her. This woman. That felt rude.
“What is your name?” I asked her, thinking that I could use that to confirm if her story was true.
The boys hadn’t told me about their mother’s name but I wondered if my mum would know it. I would ask her if Albert had ever talked of his ex with her and mentioned her name. If the name she gave me was that my mum mentioned, I could use that to check if she was telling the truth and know what to believe.
I smiled, wondering why I hadn’t thought of that earlier. I scowled at myself moments later, feeling stupid. A name wasn’t enough to know if she was lying. What if she told me the name of Albert’s ex-wife and yet was still lying?
She paused and didn’t reply for a while. She arched her eyebrows at me when she answered. “Is that important right now?”
I had to agree with her. “No, it isn’t.” I said, shaking my head.
She seemed pleased with my response. “Are you not going to help me?”
“How may I help you?” I asked.
She ran her tongue over her lips, licking them as she moved closer to the cage. She seemed suddenly full of life and energy and even though I was scared at her odd behavior, I could understand her. Getting a taste of freedom could do that to anyone. That reminded me of when I was free of the triplets after their father sent them away when he learnt of their past behavior to me. I felt like I got reborn into a life of comfort after years of struggles and frustration.
That could be what the woman was feeling but I knew it would be more than I felt or could ever imagine feeling. I couldn’t bear the thought of being locked away for twenty years. That was a hard thing to think of and I knew I would be giddy with excitement like she was if I saw a chance to be free.
“It’s simple. You only have to…”
“I can tell Albert that I found you.” I interrupted her. “What if I persuaded him to let you go?”
She hissed at me and I wondered if it was because I interrupted her or she found my suggestion stupid. My pride couldn’t accept that I had said something stupid and I decided to agree for my sake that she had hissed because I had interrupted her.
She scoffed. “Do you honestly believe that he would let me go with what I have told you? You seem to want to desperately believe that he is an angel.”
I blushed. I wasn’t gullible, I just trusted Albert. She had to stop making me feel like I was a fool for trusting him.
“Tear off the talisman around my cage.” She said.
Is that simple? I frowned. She had said it was simple but I didn’t know it was going to be as simple as that. Her hands could reach the talismans but I sensed that she couldn’t touch them with her hands. There had to be power in them and I reminded myself to be careful.
She sensed my hesitation. “Please tear them off. That is the only way that you can help me.” She begged.
Her words were filled with temptation, and I moved forward. Without realizing that I was too close, my hand unconsciously touched the talisman.
At that moment, she widened her eyes, and I found that as strange. It felt as if power had surged through her with the way my skin made contact with the talisman.
I blinked, thinking very well of what I was about to do. It would be stupid of me to release a woman I didn’t know and regret what I had done.
The last thing I needed was causing harm to Albert and my mum or making him get disappointed in me.
I withdrew my hand. “I can’t release you right now as I need time to verify some things. I have to ask from Albert what his own side of the story is.” I explained to her.
Her eyes narrowed at me and I could sense that she was getting angry. Who wouldn’t? It was my fault for making her believe I was going to set her free. I had given her a taste of freedom before thinking things through.
“I would return tomorrow to check on you.” I promised, quickly adding that so I could pacify her.
She went berserk when she heard my intention to leave. A long, extended hand grabbed my arm just as I was about to pull back, and I cried out in pain and alarm.
Her nails dug into my skin, and no matter how much I struggled, I couldn’t break free. I stared at her in surprise, my mouth falling wide open in disbelief. She didn’t appear as weak as she seemed on the outside and the unexpected strength she possessed shocked me.
She laughed in a manic manner, revealing her true sinister nature. She screamed, her tone ringing with vengeance. “Since you won’t help me, I’ll tear your body apart, foolish human.”