~Brielle
A few days passed. Nothing changed.
Everyone was solemn with Charlie missing. The entire sect of servants had naturally figured out she was missing by the next day, and as the week went by, they assumed she had snuck away at night for the mainland. None of us spoke about our night escapade to anyone else. So the secret of what might be Charlie’s fate is between us only.
Over the week, as she failed to come to her bed every night, the weight on my shoulders increased. Lila has hardly spoken all week and Esme has avoided us all. Mabel is already plotting to back into the basement to find her.
The rest of us couldn’t agree on that.
Strangely enough, Ren has disappeared all week also. We had been informed he had business on the mainland, but the four of us knew better. He hardly ever leaves, the island, which has left Mabel’s wild imagination to assume he’s still in the manor, hiding out in the basement with Charlie as is his prisoner. I don’t know what I believe.
Ren will be back tonight, we have been told. I’m not sure whether I’m relieved or scared. After what I witnessed that night, I can’t decide how I feel about Ren. He frightens and intimidates me, I know that…
But does the feel the way that strange girl said he did?
Now that I know what she looks like, I see her around. She keeps to herself, concealing her secret, speaking to no one. I’ve been watching her and she’s been watching me. I’ve decided I need to talk to her. Find out what she knows about his feelings. It has taken me a few days to build up the courage and decide how I’m going to approach this.
Kind, slow and methodical. Ren just declared he has no interest in her which I can’t imagine will be easy. I bet she blames me for it.
Her name is Sky. That’s all I know about her.
I decide to approach her right after she finished her daily jobs. She’s a cleaner, so I waited near the equipment closet for her to approach. When she comes down the hallway, she spots me, and immediately turns on her heel, walking in the opposite direction. I rush to catch up with her, calling her name.
“Sky, can I talk to you?” I yell after her, my voice finally bringing her to a stop. She whirls around, holding a few folded towels she must have collected from the laundry unit.
“What do you want?” she asks bitterly.
I wasn’t expecting her to be so upfront with her feelings right away, so I’m taken aback for a moment. She glares at me, waiting impatiently to say what I need to say. As far as she is aware, I don’t know about Ren’s feelings toward - if they are true - so I’m not sure why she is being so rude.
“Sorry to interrupt you, I just wanted to ask you a few questions,” I say lightly, trying to seem friendly, but she clearly isn’t having it. She sticks around, though. My position of work is more superior than hers, so she has no other choice but to listen.
“Whatever,” she says dismissively, waiting for me to hurry along.
I swallow uncomfortably, rubbing the back of my neck. “So ah, I was just wondering what you know about Ren. I heard from some people that you’re quite close with him...I was just wondering because I haven’t been working as an assistant for long, so I would like to learn more about my boss.”
My excuse isn’t the best, but it was all I could come up with that wouldn’t pin me in that room that night.
She sighs deeply. “You should be calling him Alpha, not Ren.”
I blink a few times, but nod numbly. As right as she is, I wasn’t expecting her to correct me with such a bite in her tone. She truly is spiteful, but I don’t blame her. She’s clearly assessing me as much as I am her to see whether I am with Ren now or not. She doesn’t have to worry about that.
“Right, sorry,” I say, a blush finding my cheeks. “As I was saying, I would like to know a bit more about him. He seems so kind...during the day.”
I was quick to add the latter, watching her reaction. She just blinks wordlessly, not seeming fazed at all. Maybe I’m wrong about my theory, but regardless, Ren isn’t the man I thought he was, and I’m not about to advocate his romantic feelings toward me with all the secrets he seems to be hiding.
“I’m glad you don’t know anything about him. He’s not the man you think he is. It means you two don’t stand a chance with each other,” she says pointedly.
She turns away, walking back down the hallway. I follow after her, refusing to let her walk away like that without telling me any information. I’m not sure how much more she is going to admit to me considering how much she hates me.
“What do you mean by that?” I ask, walking quickly by her side. I decide I need to press more. “How many mistresses has he had?”
Sky halts, turns around, and slaps me.
The hit stung, and without apologising, Sky walked briskly away before disappearing around the corner. Holding my burning cheek, I lean against the wall, catching my breath. I’ve dug too far and have hit a block. She knows a lot. Too much and she’s clearly not open to telling me.
Curiosity burns within me. So much so it’s irritating. How I wish I could brush all this off and not worry. Just earn the money I need to get out of here.
It dwells in the back of my head that I could know what I want to. I could look at his diary. I’ve hidden it in a secret compartment in the bedroom when all the girls left. No one will ever look in there.
But I could.
If Ren keeps up to date with his journal, I should be able to get into his head and access his secrets. I can find out how many mistresses he keeps, maybe even how he feels about me. Do I even want to know? What if he is attracted to me? Of course I highly doubt it, and it’s just a thought that has manifested beyond belief.
No. That’s not even an option. That’s his personal thoughts and I have no right to look through them. As tempting as it is…
I head back to the main sleeping quarters, hoping my cheek won’t bruise. Lila and Mabel will be suspicious if they found I questioned Sky. It doesn’t matter. She didn’t reveal anything about Charlie or Ren. Either she doesn’t know either, or she is purposefully hiding it from me.
Later that night, the diary plagued my mind. Just one peek and maybe I could find out what might have happened to Charlie. What he is capable on.
On those grounds, I decided to go for it.
I didn’t have to be too sneaky in retrieving it considering everyone is dead asleep and it’s early in the morning. Quickly, I grabbed it and brought it back to my bed, sneaking it under my covers.
It took me a moment to open at first. It feels wrong to look through his personal thoughts, but for my sake and Charlies, I’m going to risk a look. One look. Just the first page and that will be all. And then I will put it away and we will all figure out a way to get it back to Ren without him knowing we took it in the first place.
Running my fingers across the leather cover, I gently pull it back, hoping the light from the one lamp at the other end of the room would be enough. Luckily, it is full of writing on the first page but with no date, so keeping to my promise I decide to read it.
He must read these entries.
I don’t care anymore about what people say. He’s not me. He’s a part of me but he’s not me. He’s Chase and he wants out as much as I do. But not knowing what he does at night scares me. What if he hurts someone? I wouldn’t put it past him.
A lot more people have been questioning recently why I don’t come off my estate often and head to the mainland. It’s just frankly too dangerous with Chase. Who knows what he would do and where he would take us.
He is the reason I’m stuck here. He is the reason I am forced to hide.
The diary entry strangely ends there.
Pulling back, I quickly close the diary. My heart beats despite nothing being revealed. Who is Chase? He must be Ren’s brother or relative...Either way I shouldn’t snoop in his business anymore.
Just as I was about to get up and put it away, a noise alerted me from the entrance of the room. I look up, wondering if someone had caught me looking through the diary.
Instead, I see Charlie standing there, covered in blood.