Olivia refused to believe the 5 words displayed on the phone screen and decided to turn off the phone instead. She laid back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, nothing was making sense. Why would Eli come to her and ask her to believe in him. Then there was Loreley's actions, she couldn't figure out what she had been trying to communicate and it was frustrating that she couldn't piece the puzzle together.
The words 'not have a basement' was sticking out the most in her memories. In truth the house did have a basement but to get to it you had to open the door that was built into the floor that was hidden somewhere in the house. Honestly no one had bothered to look for it so no one used the basement, so what was Loreley trying to say.
It clicked, Olivia rushed out of the room, she stopped in the kitchen and plugged in the slow cooker. She quickly peeled some potatoes, carrots and diced onions and garlic. She tossed them into the slow cooker and grabbed the steaks from the fridge. She gave them a quick rinse under some cold water and rubbed them with some salt and pepper before placing them on top of the veggies.
She programed the slow cooker for 4 hours on low and then went on her hunt. She hadn't seen any cameras placed in the house and she wasn't sure about any listening bugs, so she made sure not to talk to herself just in case.
After an hour of searching she came up empty handed. There was only one place she hadn't looked and was reluctant to go in and search. She took a deep breath and made her way towards her father's study. She hoped with every fiber of her being that the door wasn't there, all she needed was for Agni to start renovating the room and she would find the room instantly ruining her backup plan.
She pushed opened the mahogany door and took a few steps in. She instantly started to tear up when she took a few steps inside. The room smelled like her father, she walked up to his desk and sat down on his chair. She gently moved her hands over the desk before putting her head down. "Daddy..." she said under her breath.
She knew she couldn't linger too long. Heaven only knew how long she had until Agni and her sisters came home. She peeled herself off of the desk and wiped her tears away. She looked under the carpet, behind the hanging pictures and started to pull books. She knew she was acting desperately but she couldn't pull herself from leaving the room just yet.
After checking every nook and cranny of her father's study Olivia had admitted defeat. With a heavy heart she started to walk towards the door and back into the kitchen. With a sigh she looked at the digital timer of the slow cooker and groaned internally when she saw there was only an hour left till the food was done.
She thought it best to distract herself then to indulge herself in self pity so she started to work on a Cesar salad then homemade flan. After putting the flan into the oven she heard the timer go off on the slow cooker. She reached into her apron pocket and pulled out the lace collar with the cat bell attached.
She swiftly tied the collar around her neck and made her way towards the window. She thought she would try to catch the headlights of the demoness's car coming up the driveway. That's all she needed was for that witch to go into another fit just because she wasn't waiting at the door. Olivia cringed as she heard the tiny jingle of the bell as she moved away from the window and sat on the counter.
The timer on the oven went off and still there was no sign of them. Olivia made her way to the oven, turned off the heat and pulled out the tray holding the flan. She opened the fridge door and started to put away the dessert. She then grabbed the frying pan, turned the stove burner on and poured some olive oil in. Once the oil was heated up she carefully grabbed one of the steaks from the slow cooker and quickly fried it.
Her mouth was watering as the delicious smell wafted into the air but she knew she couldn't steal a bite. Knowing Agni's personality she would happily accuse her of stealing their meal and worse probably force her to throw everything up. Olivia shivered at the thought and hoped that they would come back soon.
Suddenly Olivia heard a car coming closer towards the house, she ran to the window to just in time to catch the car park right in front of the house. She ran back to the stove and turned off the burner. She then ran with all her might to the foyer try to make it before her master and two sisters walked in.
Once she had the door insight she kept her eyes on the door knob. The moment she saw the door knob start to turn she dropped to her knees and slid the rest of the way stopping herself right before the door. She placed the tips of her finger onto the floor and bowed her head slightly, keeping watch from underneath her eyelashes.
Once the door was completely opened she cleared her throat and clearly enunciated every word. "Welcome back Master!" She allowed a few seconds to pass before she allowed herself to breathe again. Olivia heard Agni's pumps tapping against the floor as she made her way up to her. Olivia felt a hand land on the top of her head. "Good kitty cat. Is dinner ready?" she asked happily as she started to pet Olivia's head.
Olivia kept her eyes on the floor, she didn't dare to lift her gaze. "Yes Master! It is still hot and ready to be served." Olivia answered. Agni removed her hand from her head and started to walk away. Olivia took the chance to lift her head but felt instant regret when she did. Standing in the door way was Loreley, Eli and Laila, they were all staring at her pitifully. Olivia's eyes widened, her pupils dilated as she felt absolutely mortified.
Agni placed one foot on the stairs before she turned to face the three people standing in the doorway. "My sweet kitty you spent all that time cooking but we already had dinner with Eli. So please dispose of everything." She said coldly. Olivia wanted to protest but she knew it would mean that Agni's hand would be raised against her and it would be done in front of Eli. She bit her lip and allowed her shoulders to sag. "Yes Master." she answered with a shaky voice.
Agni watched Olivia's pathetic form and she relished the moment. "Olivia... I don't want to find out that you were sneaking bites from the trash either.... You can have the day old bread that's in the pantry. Now Loreley let Laila and Eli have some time alone so that they can say their proper good-byes." Agni said in a rather bored tone and turned to climb the stairs.
Loreley curtsied towards Laila and Eli before following her mother without saying a word. Olivia started to get up from the floor when she heard a sickeningly, sweet voice yell at her from up above. "My precious pet you will not move from that spot until Laila properly says good night to her fiance. Once they complete their task you may go and throw out the food... so go on Laila kiss your sweet Eli good night and let Olivia be on her way."
Laila looked at Olivia with dead eyes and then moved her gaze to Eli. She placed her arms around his neck and moved inwards with her dark pink lips partially parted. While Eli wrapped his arms around her waist and slid his hands over buttocks as he started to lean in towards her face.
The moment theirs lips touched Olivia's heart broke, her world shattered around her but she still held onto hope in her moment of despair. She chose to believe in Eli and grabbed the fabric that laid over top her heart. She watched as the kissed one another, she watched as their mouths opened wider, she watched as their tongues started to intertwine with each other's and she watched as Eli fondled Laila's buttocks like a brand new play thing.
She was finding it hard to breathe and the darkness engulfing her world was slowly extinguishing the light, her hope that she desperately tried to hold on too.
Olivia couldn't get the image out of her head. It looked like each person was devouring one another. She couldn't remember how it ended or how she made it back to her room but for the sake of her sanity she tried forcing herself to forget what she saw. As she sat on the bed with Eli's phone in hand she couldn't stop the tears from running down her face.
She needed to distract herself but her hand wouldn't stop trembling. She wanted to check Eli's email but couldn't find the courage to do so. Instead she wiped the tears from her face, took a deep breath and opened up the web browser. She needed answers but wasn't going to risk writing an email from Eli's account. If Agni had her clutches on him then she definitely was watching his every move.
She quickly created a b-mail account and thought about how to word her email. She knew she needed to be careful just in case Agni had her friends and family's accounts hacked. With a deep breath she started typing a mass email.
'I send My condolences Out to Kindred souls. Honour to Our fallen Until we Sincerely find Enough courage And become Reassured that Right measures Ensure civilians Security. Know That tomorrow Signifies that Another day Finds us Ever more Open minded. Living more Interesting, more Valiant, more Interconnected lives As we acknowledge ourselves as proper human beings. I ask that we raise our hearts and extend our hands to our brethren as now is the time to seek justice for the fallen!'
She hoped it looked like spam and that who ever read it carefully would see her message. She typed everyone's emails and hit send. She knew it was a long shot and could probably do it one more time before Agni's goons caught on to her.
She turned off the phone and placed it under her pillow. It was dark out and she hadn't eaten dinner yet. She looked down at her abdomen and gently rubbed it. She felt her tears starting to well up again but blinked them angrily away. She had to have faith in Laila and Eli, they wouldn't betray her like that! She needed to keep her spirits up and feed her baby.
She pulled herself off the bed and walked to the door. She cracked the door open and looked into the kitchen. It was dark, she closed the door and thought of how to accomplish her goal. An idea hit her and she rushed to take her uniform off, she kept the collar on and wrapped herself up in a towel before she grabbed her basin.
She then grabbed the phone and wrapped a smaller towel around it. Then she walked over to the window, opened it and tossed the small bundle out side. She gave herself a small nod and closed the window before she left the room.
She tip toed into the kitchen but with the jingling of the cat bell made her actions pointless. "Are you looking for something to eat my little kitty?" a voice called out from the dark. Olivia screamed and dropped the small basin onto the floor.
The light switch was flicked and soon enough the room was lit. Agni was leaning against the wall with a wicked smile on her face, eyeing Olivia from afar. Olivia quickly bowed "Master good evening do you need something from me?" she said in a cracked voice.
"No my sweet pet. I thought you would try to eat the garbage like most animals do but it seems I was wrong.... it looks like you wanted to bathe yourself instead?" Olivia lifted her head and saw that Agni was not amused. "No Master I have no appetite... something had upset me greatly and I have no will to take even a small bite." Olivia announced pitifully.
Agni's smile returned and she took a few steps forward. She grabbed Olivia by the chin and inspected her face. "My sweet kitty! Your eyes are so red and puffy! No wonder you want to bathe! Very well... but I can't have my kitty starve especially when you have a kitten inside you." she said with an endearing tone. She let go of Olivia's face and grabbed her wrist.
She dragged her towards the counter and made her sit on the floor. She grabbed a pet bowl from under the sink and tossed it on to the floor in front of her. Olivia looked at the bowl then Agni completely confused. "Oh silly me it's empty! My poor kitty cat is wondering where the food is."
Agni went into the pantry and pulled out a can. She opened up and instantly Olivia started to gag. "Look it's your favorite dinner! Tuna for the little pussy cat! You better it all up since I don't want my pet to think I forgot about her dinner." she said in a deadly tone that made Olivia's blood run cold.