Today
is the day my whole life hangs in balance. If my plan fails I will be slave to
Claudette for an ever and a day. I have never explored the corners of my
haunting, but I know she can and she will. To calm my uneasiness I recited the
lines of my goodbye letter to father:

Dear
father,

My first of my last words to
you are this, I know. I know everything, the return of your gambling habits are
no secret me anymore. Please keep in mind that I discovered this when I was
fifteen. For the last two years that mother was alive I never spoke of it.
Because I loved her and she loved you I didn’t tell her. I knew it would have
destroyed her to depths I cannot imagine. And my last of my last words to you
are I am sorry. The life you have chosen for yourself is one I can’t be a part
of. Don’t try and reach out to me, I’m already gone. Goodbye.

  Thank you for keeping her happy,

  Rhea.

Right
now the letter was waiting for him on the desk in his study. He will find it
after I am gone. I made my way to my room. The hallways seem dark and my vision
is getting distorted. I stumbled into my room and found my bag containing
necessary supplies for staying alive on your own. I sat in the chair with it
closest to the door, awaiting the blackout, and it came.

This
time my awakening was different. I had some sense about me, a faint essence
that my body was there. I had never felt this before, my thoughts were quiet
and still. My mind felt stationary but my body was moving and breathing in a
way that felt unnatural and not my own. What was I doing?

Then I
felt it rush back to me in what felt like a swift draft of wind. I felt myself
as a whole. Body and mind. Someone spoke and there was a tremendous pounding in
my ears. I became aware of something I was holding in my hands. The weight of a
strong hand clutching my shoulder appeared and I screeched. My grasp loosened
on what I was holding. I stretched out, reaching for it as they fell away from
me. A pain in my head developed, the scene dissolved in front my eyes and I saw
darkness.

I felt
uncomfortable. All four limbs played out at painful angles. My head hurt and I
couldn’t remember what I was doing. Had someone ordered me to do something? Was
I waking up from a blackout? Oh gosh. The slippers. What happened at the bell
tower? I had to stop asking questions. No one would answer them for me here.
Wait, where was here? I couldn’t handle it. I had no idea what happened to me
in the last few hours. Except for that window of time where everything was just
a blur. I didn’t want to deal with this. I might even be dying but all I wanted
to do was sleep away all the complications in my life. I closed my eyes and
willed everything away.

Someone
slapped me in the face.

My
first instinct was to fight back. Swinging my aching arms wildly but not
pinpointing my attacker. Strong hands pinned me down and a man quietly but
gruffly spoke over me.

“I need
you to stay awake but keep quiet and don’t move. If you value the way you spend
the rest of your life you have to trust me.”

I was
afraid. What was in the world was happening? I didn’t really have a choice I guess,
if I chose not to trust him what would he do? Of course I couldn’t say, I had
no idea who this man was or what the current circumstances were. So I just went
with it and gave him a small nod affirming my choice.

When I raised
my head the slightest inch it scraped against what I presumed was a brick wall.
Great, I could barely remember what had happened to me in the last couple of
hours, I had just agreed to trust a man I had never seen or met before, and I was
lying down in a dark alley. This man, whoever he was, pushed my head back down
and I got the idea that he didn’t want us to be seen.

“Tell
me what’s going on.” I spoke these words as an order. It felt good not to be on
the receiving end of it for once.

“Shut
up will you, I’ll tell you when we aren’t in danger of going to jail.”

  “Well aren’t you Prince Charming!”

“I’ve
never met anyone so ignorant.”

“Technically
we haven’t met yet.”

“We are
situated in alley across the street from the bell tower where Carson’s most
priceless artifact has just been stolen. The police are swarming the building
looking for the culprit who just happens to be you. And if we are caught I
might not get the chance to properly introduce myself.”

“Thank you
Charming” I finished, satisfied with my answer. I stayed quiet even though I
had more questions.