Tasting Insanity

41

Two hours it had been since Emilia placed the phone in the meeting room. The men had yet to leave said room which meant, whatever they were talking about had to be important. I hoped my phone was fine and hasn't been discovered by Christian Hale or the others. I did, however, wondered what would happen if they somehow noticed the phone and took it. Would Emilia be killed? Tortured, perhaps? Whatever would happen to her would happen to me, too, considering it was my phone. Goddess above, I was starting to regret taking such a risk.

I went downstairs wanting to see for myself whether the meeting had finally come to an end when John appeared in front of me with a grin on his face as usual. "Snooping around, are we?"

I raised a questioning eyebrow at his accusation. "Im making myself at home. I do recall you saying something along the lines of 'make yourself at home' and that is exactly what I am doing." If there was anything that I learnt in those few weeks that I had stayed here is that John, here, was all bark and no bite. He would do nothing without his master, Christian Hale's, permission.

His eyes roamed around my body for some seconds, making me slightly uncomfortable that I shifted on my feet. The action didn't go unnoticed by him. He smiled at him, bowing his head dramatically. "Alright then. Just avoid eavesdropping. I have heard girls are rather... curious."

My fists curled to their sides but before I could give him a reply, the door of the meeting room bursted open and several men, all dressed in black suits, walked out, not sparing me a second glance. Rude they were, I thought. Christian Hale caught my stare and smirked. An evil glint was visible in his eyes as he kept looking at me. Then, his hand went inside his pockets and he removed something. Fear enveloped me when he removed my phone from his pocket, waving it.

With a gesture of his finger, he ordered John to bring me over to him. I would have ran away but It would have been useless considering I had nowhere to go and this house was his. "Tsk, tsk." He sat in his chair at the head of the table, twisting my phone in his hands. "Lost something?"

"Yes." I breathed out a sigh of relief. "I hadn't been able to remember where I left my phone. You found it." I smiled, trying to hide my nervousness. "Thank you for finding it."

"When you lost your phone..." he paused, looking at me carefully. "Was it on recording?"

Shit. "I don't know. I just know that I misplaced it."

I knew he could see through my lies. I knew he wasn't convinced. I was in so much trouble. "Excuse me. I stole the poor girl's phone." The familiar voice of Emilia boomed from the door. My head snapped in her direction, eyes widening as I shook my head, pleading her not to do this. She was taking all the blame and that'd mean she would be killed if Christian Hale would show mercy. This couldn't have been happening. "I stole her phone and placed it in your meeting room just before the meeting started because I wanted to know what kind of conversations were taking place." She repeated, "That is all, Boss, I swear."

John groaned, "She's a spy." Emilia successfully managed to get Christian's attention away from him and on herself. "Im no spy, boy." She glared at him. "It was just out of pure curiosity and I regret deeply that I let my curiosity get the best of me. This incident shall never repeat itself. I will accept whatever punishment you deem fit for me."

Christian Hale appeared more relaxed and calm than I'd hoped he would in such a situation. "It's Amaryllis's phone and she is the one who will receive whatever punishment."

"No no." Emilia shook her head, "I was the one who stole her phone. She had no idea." She looked at me with a frown. "Punish me. Not her."

Christian Hale's eyes were filled with fury when he turned to me and said. "Get on your knees." Fear crept in quicker than I liked and when he asked John to close the door with Emilia inside to make her watch, I almost threw the contents of my stomach on the floor. The sound of him unbuckling his belts filled my eyes as tears started running down Emilia's face. She mouthed 'Im sorry' to me and I couldn't say anything other than give her a curt nod, making her aware that I understood and I was okay with what he was about to do. Belt me.

I felt it before I heard it. The belt connected my back hardly, like Christian Hale was a man with no feelings. Even John flinched while I stayed like nothing was happening. They didn't know I was already used to that with my father. Then I felt it again, and again and again. He kept on belting me on my back, expecting me to cry but I only winced. Each time he was hitting me harder and harder.

"Please.... Stop." Emilia sobbed. "She's innocent. It was all my idea." Seeing Emilia crying for me was heartbreaking. That pained me. Not what Christian Hale was doing to me. Then it stopped. He stopped. "Get her out of here. That'll teach her to go behind my back." He glanced at Emilia and smiled. "You tend to her wounds. Out you go."

Emilia rushed to my side and took my head, leading me out of the room. We went to my room and she locked the door before turning to me. "Im so sorry."

I shook my head, waving her off. "It's not your fault. We knew the risks. We are both equally guilty."

"No, no. I should have hidden the phone better." Emilia placed her hands on her head, walking around the room. "Take off your shirt. Let me see how bad it is so I can tend to your wounds."

"No, Im fine." I refused, not wanting for her to see the rest of my scars given by my father. My back was already scarred, Christian Hale only scarred it further. I did not want to explain to Emilia that my father used to hurt me like this. But she wasn't having any of it. "Take off your shirt. This is my fault and I will help you."

"No, I assure you. I am fine." I gave her a smile that didn't quite reach my eyes. My back stung, It was burning and I knew it would only get worse the second I get in the shower which I was going to take. "He didn't hit me that hard."

"Let me see." Emilia pressed. "I want to help."

"I know you want to help." I walked towards the shower, "But I am fine. I promise." That seemed to calm her nerves down. I smiled at her when she shook her head and unlocked the door. "I'll go get you something to eat." With that, she left the room. I breathed out of a sigh of relief when I stepped under the hot water coming from the tap naked. I hissed in pain when my back started burning yet again.

If Christian Hale could do this to me then I had no doubt about how much of a monster he was. He was exactly like my father and men like him needed to be put down.