Chapter 227: She Is Just A Child
Chapter 227: She Is Just A Child
Camilla
"Yesterday while you and your father were taking care of the funeral, we sent out a second mission of our most skilled men to a different location. One we kept disclosed from the general public."
My heart began to race slightly as she drew a key from her pocket, no doubt to unlock the silence behind the still closed room. I waited for her to open the door but she looked at me first. Even though I have known her for over a year now, this is the only time I have been around her for long enough to realize she had hints of freckles across her nose.
"I know the transition here was not easy for you but this will change everything. I know she will trust you, so you are our best shot at things running smoothly right now." She said right before slipping the key into the lock, twisting until it clicked right open.
It was dark enough that my eyes needed some time to adjust first but she beat me to it, turning on the light and leaving utterly horrified with what I saw. The room itself was just like every others who stayed at The Safe, white and unpersonalized but I thought I was going to throw up when I saw who was bounded in the chair beside the desk, blindfold around her too small wrists, ankles and mouth to keep her from screaming too loudly.
When I saw Harper Reed, the triplets little cousin sister, bound and terrified. It took everything in me to not run straight towards her. Marble was out of her fucking mind and for once, I took Jacob's advice in this moment. If I didn't fake something and fast, I feared what would happen to the poor child in front of me.
"What is this about?" I asked with a positively steady voice even though I think I might just kill the proud woman beside me with my own two bare hands. I was afraid that if I didn't get a better grip of myself, I would lose any chance at getting Harper out of here.
"Leverage, revenge, power…." She trailed off, staring at Harper as though she saw opportunity instead of what it really was.
They kidnapped a child and my heart ached because even once I get her out, this is going to haunt her for too long of a time. Jacob was right. They crossed the line and there would be punishment for that.
"And did my father know about this?" I asked, praying with every part of me that it wasn't true.
He would never do something like this, right? He couldn't do that to a child.
"Lucas?" She scoffed in a laugh, crossing her arms around her middle.
"Oh god no, this actually wasn't even my idea but when I found the child here as we got back from Kumon City, I knew our people hadn't disappointed us."
"Our people? Don't you know who did this?"
I managed to keep my tone calm and steady still but whatever anger had slipped through my words clearly wasn't picked up on. If Marble knew what I was really thinking about right now, she never would have let me into those rooms to begin with.
"Oh, I know who did it but that is not what matters."
Through my peripheral vision, I knew she was smiling with pride but all I could focus on was the tear tracks slipping the blindfold Harper's body not even struggling against the blindings. She couldn't hear that she wasn't alone because of the ear muffs and her lack of sight was because she must have been here for hours now.
Has she been fed? Is she hurt? My mind couldn't sort one question from the other but right now, I knew the first thing I needed to do. I needed to find a way to be here alone with her. Marble or not, I took a step towards where she sat, no way of mistaking the terrified sobs leaving her shaking body despite the gag in her mouth. If I thought I was broken before, seeing her like this broke another piece inside of me that I didn't know I had left after last night.
"What are you doing?" Marble asked with a hissed as I began to reach out for Harper with every intention of releasing her and holding her until she found a way to feel safe again. I would never come back, not after this.
"She is just a child." I said before remembering the importance of a mask in this game my stepmother thought she was playing. All of this needed to be carefully calculated otherwise, I could lose it all.
At the raise of her eyebrows, I knew I had to rephrase before everything backfired on me.
"All I mean is that this is no way to do earn a child's trust." I corrected myself, not moving any further towards Harper until I knew it was safe for both of us to do so.
"She is terrified but if we want to be able to use her to our advantage, it is in our best interest to get the best form of cooperation we can from her."
Any kind of hesitation that was once in her eyes faded away at my explanation, her curiosity and excitement returning with a blink of her fake cold water eyes. I had her attention and I almost let out a sigh of relief when my stepmother asked.
"What are your ideas?"
Forcing a cruel smile onto my face, I turned towards Harper and knew that if I looked at the monster behind me any longer, I would ruin any chance of saving her.
"She is young enough to be confused into thinking this is a safe place for her still." I began, making everything up on the spot.
Harper and I have met before and she liked me a lot. I am a familiar face, let's grab her some food. Something to color with and let me watch over her for the night."
I could see she was about to protest the last part but I didn't give her the chance to speak.
"I had assumed this is for a ransom of sorts, so we can tell her I am just watching her for a bit until her big brothers come to pick her up."
"She will still know that something is off." She said but it wasn't blatant disapproval in her statement, just calculative thoughts.
"True but cooperative hesitancy is better than screaming and crying, don't you think so?" I asked, turning my head towards her and knowing that I had to really push this over.
"Believe me when I see I know Domenico and he won't make a trade if they sees her hurt and scared. They will just try that much harder to kill us all but if she is taken care of, they are likely to be more reasonable and give us what we want."
I silently prayed that my proposition would be enough, that she would bite and believe I was on her side right now instead of plotting her murder. I felt sick as Harper's sobs began to quiet down a little out of nothing more than the feeling of defeat and I knew I needed to get her out tonight. I don't care what I have to sacrifice to achieve that.
"A colouring book and food?" She asked at last over the deafening silence of the room and I dropped into the crouch before Harper at her words.
She has given in and now everything else relied on me to fix.
The second Marble agreed to leave before Harper could realize she was here. I rushed over to her side, dropping to my knees but very carefully dropping my hands to her legs. Even with the gentle touch I tried to offer though, it startled her badly. The screaming started instantly and the fight Inside of her came back, her small body thrashing as I reached for her blindfold, tugging it down and pulling off the oversized head phones from her ears.
I wanted to cry at seeing her face in this state, knowing I couldn't help when the panic was riding her so hard she didn't even know it was me in front of her. I didn't even know if she would recognize me to begin with.
"Harper, Harper, hey." I cooed softly, trying to get her attention as undid the binds at her legs. It led to her feet kicking out hard, although before I could stop them, one directly slamming into my right arm.
I bite my lips hard enough to taste blood at the pain ricocheting through my body, the same place the bullet had hit me but my adrenaline forced me to focus on other things, on more important things.
"Harper, it is Camilla." I pleased gently but firmly holding onto her ankles just to grab her attention.
Her dark brown hair was cut to her shoulders now unlike the long lengths that it was the last time I saw her but it was a knotted mess now. I just wanted to hold the little girl in front of me and never let go at the sight of her terrified tears tracking down her face, not dripping from her nose but I didn't want to touch her if that was only going to make it worse.
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