THE CAGED BIRD

CHAPTER 10

The next morning, I again, walked on eggshells around Edric. Fortunately, he did not bother me last night. But I had barely slept. My fears kept me awake. Just when I had managed to sleep, I was woken up by him, the evil man that is my husband.

Quickly I made my way to the kitchen to get his breakfast, making sure his coffee was ready when he entered the room.

Once again, I had hardly touched my food. Stress did not let me eat. I barely dared to even move. Afraid that with one movement I could make him set off.

We ate in silence as there was not a need to make conversation with such a vicious man until Edric himself spoke up.

‘We are going out tonight. So, no need in making dinner.’ With that, he left the house.

When I heard the front door closing, I could breathe again. I sighed. I did not know when he would come home, but I knew I had some hours to myself, free from him. How ironically. All my life I wished for a friend, for company and now I wished for nothing more than to be alone.

Even though I missed my brother greatly, I did not wish to see him. I felt ashamed, dirty, and not worthy anymore. I did not want my brother to see me like this.

Some tears had escaped. As I tried to wipe them away, I winced. I had forgotten about the bruise on my jaw and cheek. Right then, the three women I got to know yesterday, walked in.

‘Good morning Ava.’ All of them said. I greeted them back in a low voice.

Suddenly, I felt a presence next to me, it was Linda. She held her hand on my cheek, again I winced and pulled away from her.

‘Sorry, but that looks like it needs some care. Stella, get the first aid kit.’

Stella handed her the asked for object and opened it. Stella gasped.

‘What happened?’

Debra smacked Stella’s head, not too hard, but to warn her, I guess.

‘What happened is not our business Stella. Stop being so nosy. Remember last time when you were too curious.’ Stella nodded her head. ‘Good, then you know what the consequences are, and please show us that you learned your lesson from last time.’ Stella again nodded her head, guilty.

Meanwhile, Linda put some ointment on the bruise. It hurt, but when she was done it felt a bit better. ‘Thank you.’

‘You are Welcome, Ava. You look tired why don’t you take a quick nap. If you want, I can wake you up if you like.’

Sleep did sound good and it was still early. I accepted her offer and went upstairs. I fell asleep in an instant. Only to be faced by one of my greatest fears, Edric. I was stuck in my nightmare until Linda woke me up.

‘It’s alright, Ava. You’re safe.’

I sat up. ‘It’s alright,’ Linda repeated. ‘I’ll let you wake up, if you are hungry, I have made some lunch for you.’

I said a quiet. ‘Thank You.’ and with that, she left. I felt absolutely horrible. The nightmare had me relive the unfortunate night again and again. I had taken a quick shower to wash off all the cold sweat on my body.

When I felt refreshed again, I made my way downstairs. I had entered the kitchen and indeed lunch was served at the kitchen table.

After I finished my lunch, I went to the library to finish my task of organizing the books. I was glad I had such a time - consuming job to do. Well, it was not really a job, but to me it was. I had to do this, or I would lose my mind in here.

When I was halfway done, I heard someone nearing me. I turned around and saw Edric. Immediately I looked down, fear pumping through my veins. ‘What are you doing?’ He asked in a low voice. His dark Aura spread in the room. It almost felt colder in the library.

‘I’m rearranging the books.’

‘Hmmm, follow me.’ Not to anger him, I did as he asked,

We entered the bedroom and walked into the closet. ‘I see you have already showered, that’s good. He stood in front of my clothes, facing a section of dresses I had never worn nor seen. I guessed he had arranged them here. He took out a dark red dress with spaghetti straps. The fabric felt expensive and had very subtle glitters in it.

The fabric was beautiful, but the design of the dress was a bit too much. I heard the etiquette teacher in the back of my mind saying that was not a dress for a proper lady. And because it was not proper, I had never worn something like this. So, if I had to wear something like this, I would feel extremely uncomfortable.

‘Wear this,’ Edric commanded me.

‘I rather wear something different.’

‘Do I look like I gave you a choice…? No I don’t think so. Wear this.’ He growled lowly. I wanted to decline again but did not get the chance.

Edric put his hand around my neck and pushed me, until my back hit the wall. He tightened his grip and said, ‘You know I only accepted this marriage because you looked like you knew how to listen, how to do what you’re being told.’ He again tightened his grip. I tried to speak but failed. I put my hands on his wrist, in the Hope he would let me go.

He continued, ‘Also, your looks weren’t too bad, but right now, little Bird, you’re getting on my nerves. Wear this.’ He hissed out the last part and finally let me go. I gasped for air. My throat and neck hurt.

I took the dress from the ground and changed. When I came back into the bedroom, Edric was adjusting his tie. ‘Make yourself presentable, you know hair, make - up.’ He stalked over to me.

‘Every time we go out you need to make yourself presentable, understand?’

‘I nodded my head. ‘Understood.’

‘Good Girl, was it that hard to listen to me, Little Bird?’ I shook my head but could not give a verbal answer. Luckily, he did not ask for any.

He left and shortly after Linda came in. I was surprised he had not sent them away when he came back. By the surprised look on my face, Linda spoke up. ‘Master has sent me to help you, something about covering up.’

I looked into the mirror in the bedroom and saw my body. On my neck, upper arms, wrists were bruises scattered around. Until now I had always worn dresses that covered everything up, except for my legs. Seeing me like this, made me want to cry all over again.

‘Come, let’s get to the bathroom.’ Linda carefully took my hand in hers and helped me.

When we were done, I made my way to the front door were Edric was waiting for me, with a pair of heels in his hands? It looked quite comical, only it was Edric we were talking about, so it was not.

He sat them in front of me, giving me a silent command to wear them. They were too high, but the pain in my neck reminded me to listen to him.

We headed to a car and went away from the gigantic mansion. I wanted to ask where we were going but stopped myself. I remained silent during the ride. I did not mind, as I looked curiously out of the window of the sports car. When we were heading for the wedding, I did not pay attention to the outside world as my head was then filled with worries.

But now, I had time to watch, observe, and look. It was fascinating. The closer we got to the city, the bigger the buildings got. It almost felt surreal to see them in real life. I had only seen them from a screen. I had this great urge to touch them as well. Just to check if they were real.

We stopped in front of one of the skyscrapers. I could not help but to smile. I was going to see a skyscraper from up close.

I exited the car before the employer could open the door for me. I wobbled on my feet because of the heels. I was going to fall, I knew for sure, only a strong arm held me up. It was Edric. This was the first time he was acting like a gentleman.

‘Link your arm with mine, you’re embarrassing me.’ Never mind, he was certainly not a gentleman.

We walked inside and my excitement grew. If my arm was not linked with Edric’s I would have touched the walls. The interior was absolutely beautiful, everything was coloured in gold, black, brown or silver. It looked very chic.

I could not belief I was here.

We stepped into an elevator. First, it looked like a normal one, but then as we had passed the first couple of floors, we had a view of the outside world. You could see how we climbed higher and higher. Again, it looked surreal to me. As a smiling child, I stood in front of the window of the elevator, observing my view.

‘Behave yourself, you look like a fucking Retard,’ Edric whispered in my ear. My excitement crumbled down. I turned around so I could not see the view and linked my arm with Edric again.

‘I mean it, we are going to see some of my friends, introducing you. So, do not embarrass me.’

I nodded my head, afraid he would hurt me if I did otherwise.

We left the elevator on the top floor. Edric guided me through the booths. You could see that only high - end, rich people sat here. All were either dining or drinking. We walked to one side of the spacious room, which covered almost the whole floor. We sat in a corner booth, which gave us a full view of the outside.

Arriving at the table there were already people present. ‘Edric!’ The three men cheered. The Four of them all had the same features, they were all tall, muscular, and had black hair. You could almost say there were blood - related.

‘Good to see you guys, meet my wife Ava.’

One of them whistled. ‘Damn, you really did it. You married the Angelo girl. I really thought it was a rumour the Angelo Don having a daughter.

‘Well, she was locked up safe in his mansion. Nobody had seen her, so I thought it was a rumour as well until I saw her of course.’ It felt degrading how they were talking to each other like I was not here.

‘Well guys I’m starving, let’s eat,’ Edric suggested. We all sat down and ordered our food, For a long time, they chatted amongst themselves. By now I had learned their names, Alex, Leo and Mario.

When dessert was served, I was brought up again. ‘Hey Edric, how committed are you to this marriage?’ Leo asked him while looking at me.

‘Not so much, why?’ He answered casually. Even though there was no love involved in this marriage, it still hurt me.

‘Can I have a night with her?’ I looked up at him, and my eyes widened. When Edric did not answer immediately I looked frantically at him. He chuckled. ‘I’m sorry, but that I cannot allow. Firstly, she is not that pretty, you could do better. Secondly, if word got out our names would be smudged. Although sending her with you would benefit me, she is quite inexperienced.’

Again, it hurt. I had never worried about my looks, never had I questioned my appearance.

Was I really not pretty….?