Chereads / Labyrinths of Roses / Chapter 10 - The abandoned building

Chapter 10 - The abandoned building


As Lilith slowly opened her eyes, she realized she couldn't see. "A blindfold?" She thought. 

Staying relaxed she pretended to be asleep, just in case the person that kidnapped her was watching her. As she breathed she could smell dust and mold, and a kind of woody scent. "I must be in an abandoned building." She thought. 

The squeak of a door opening caught her attention, staying still she waited for the person to talk. "She's still asleep?" A man said. 

"Yeah, i've been watching her but she hasn't moved." Another replied. 

"So I really was being watched…" She thought. Staying still she listened in on their conversation but they were talking about lunch and what to do the with the money they were going to receive from kidnapping her and she lost interest. 

"Hey, go wake her up." The one that sounded like the boss said. 

"Okay." 

She stayed still, his footsteps getting closer sounded ominous. Water splashed on her head, she gasped at how cold it was. 

"Wake up princess." He said in a mocking tone. 

Her hands were tied behind her back, but they didn't tie her ankles together or on the chair legs, which was great since in most of her fighting she usually used her legs, but she needed them alive for now. 

Lilith moved around in the chair, it was wobbly and unstable. "Perfect, I can break it easily as soon as I get the chance.." she thought. 

The wind suddenly got blown out of her lungs, he had punched her for not responding. 

She breathed heavily. "I was not expecting that…" she thought. 

"I said wake up, our customer wants you alive, but they never said we couldn't have our way first." He said as she felt his hands on her breasts. She stayed quiet, she wanted to kill him but needed to wait for the right opportunity. 

His fingers started tracing around her nipples and her eyebrow twitched in anger. 
He stopped touching her but she wasn't relieved, she felt the air around her and she could feel that he went behind her. Feeling his hot breath in her ear gave her goosebumps, she felt disgusted. 

"You're a real quiet one, normally the ladies wake up screaming and begging for mercy." The guy whispered in her ear. 

"Perfect!" She thought, now she could find out what kind of weapons they had. 

"Oh? Well, if I don't stay quiet, what if you shoot me?" She asked. 

"Shoot you? No, we don't have anything to shoot you, I just have my trusty dagger here, which can spill your organs on the floor if you don't comply…." He said. 

She smirked, now knowing they didn't have a gun. "and here I thought we could have fun…" 

He looked at his partner, who looked estranged by her behavior, but he just shrugged, what could a delicate lady do if she was tied to the chair. 

The man behind laughed, "oh we will.." he said, she heard him sheath his dagger and she breathed in relief. His hands started rubbing her shoulders, goosebumps started forming on her skin and her hair stood on end. 

"You seem…tense, let me relax you.." he said. 

Suddenly her breasts were exposed in the open air, he had pulled down the dress to see her naked chest. She clenched her fists, "Not yet…" she thought. 

His hands grabbed her breasts and started massaging them, "they're so soft but firm." He said as he licked her neck from her collarbone to her ear. She almost gagged but instead pretended to shudder in pleasure. 

He smirked as he pinched and rolled her nipples, "Looks like someone is having fun on their own…" he said. 

"I want to kill you.." she thought. He kept touching her and licking her, she had to fight the urge to throw up. 

"Well…we could have fun together…."she said as she rubbed her thighs together seductively, and rubbing her cheek on his face affectionately. 

He chuckled in excitement. "Hey, you wouldn't mind giving us some privacy right?" He said to his partner, the other man groaned but stood. 

"Alright, just hurry up, our customer could get here any hour." He said and she heard him leave the building. 

She felt her dress being pulled up from behind her, he pulled her panties down with his other hand, "I need him in front of me…" she thought, since her hands were tied behind her it would be hard to move around. 

She felt his hand on her privates, he started rubbing slow and gradually speeding up. 
"This is disgusting….." she thought.

She fake moaned and rolled her hips onto his hand, "hey….can't you be in-front of me, don't you want to see everything….." she said in a flirty tone as she spread her legs wide open. 

He got excited and rushed over to her front, she took off her heels and when he knelt down she placed her feet on his shoulders. 

"Okay, now I know exactly where he is.." she thought. She smiled seductively, as soon as she felt a finger start to enter her she moved swiftly and used her legs and feet to snap his neck. 

She did it so fast he had no time to react, she waited for a few seconds to see if his partner heard the commotion but nobody came in. 

Taking a breath of relief she started rubbing the blindfold on her shoulder, which helped make it fall off. She finally was able to look around, the abandoned building looked like it used to be a restaurant or something of the sort. Some of the windows had cracks and there were vines growing everywhere, In the sun beams coming through the windows she could see the dust floating around. 

"Okay, his dagger is on his left side attached to the hip, once I break this chair I need to move fast, if my hands are still tied his little friend will he able to subdue me, and this body isn't ready for something like that yet." She thought, she started standing with the chair, she threw herself hard and the flimsy chair broke. 

She rushed over and grabbed the dagger, she could hear his partner asking if everything is okay, she cut through the rope enough to rip it. The partner walked in. 

"Hey!" He yelled and ran towards her, she held the knife with the edge pointing towards her outer arm, as soon as he got close she slashed at him. He avoided it, he took out his own dagger and held it pointing at her. She smirked and threw her dagger to the floor, "i'll just take his and kill him." She thought. 

He ran towards her and she grabbed his wrists, locking his arm with her legs and they fell to the floor. She took the weapon out of his hand and held him in place. 

"Who the hell are you!?" He asked as he tried to escape her. All he could think of was a snake holding him down, he started feeling scared and tried fighting against her. 

She laughed and sat on his back as she held his wrists, she had put the dagger next to them on the floor. She broke his arms and as he screamed in pain she leaned in to his ear. 

"Who paid you to capture me?" She said. He was crying in fear and snot was dripping onto the floor. "I don't know! They had a mask on!" He said. 

Her hands started bending his wrist, he grunted in pain as he started shaking. "Was it a woman, a man?" She asked. 

"It was a woman! And she had a servant with her! She wore a black cape with a large hood! And a mask! A mask …with..um…it had!" He started panicking. 
She bent it more. "What kind of mask?" She said aggressively. 

"It was a white mask! A plain white mask with two eye holes!" He yelled. 

"What color were the eyes?" She questioned. 

"I don't know! We met at night and I couldn't see the eyes!" He cried. 

She sighed in frustration, he couldn't move his arms so she let them go and plopped on the floor. 

Picking up the dagger she grabbed him by the hair and exposed his neck pressing the dagger on him. 

"No! Please! I won't say anything!" He said. 

"Of course you won't, dead men tell no tales." She said as she looked at him in disgust, the dagger pointed at his neck nicked him and a drop of blood fell on the floor. This man was about to let her get raped, and considering he said that ladies usually beg for mercy, she imagined they must have done this many times before. 

"Please have mercy!" He begged as cried. 

"Just how the other ladies begged mercy from you? I don't think so buddy, however, I shall make it quick." She said as she sliced his carotid. The sounds he made as he died made her shudder. 

She stood up looking at him with hate in her eyes and she heard horses neigh, she ran up the wooden stairs, hiding behind a barrel on the upper floor. The door banged open and two people in black hooded capes entered, both wearing a white mask to cover their faces. 

They gasped as soon as they saw the dead bodies. "Oh no! My lady we have to go quick! What if whoever did this still here! Run!" The maid shrieked. She had a distinguished nasally high pitched voice, a height about 5'4, and she seemed thin from the arms that were coming out of the cape. 

"They're somewhat smart, I can't see her skin color because of the sleeves and gloves." She thought as she watched them leave. 

As soon as she heard the horses and saw a carriage rush past by one of the windows she came back down. She saw her reflection in the puddle from the water they splashed on her and saw blood stains on her. She sighed, she grabbed the boots off on of the men and put them on, she didn't know how much she would have to walk so she didn't want to wear heels. She took a satchel they left by the doorway and she put her shoes in there. 

The first man she killed was wearing a nice hooded cape so she took that as well. "I don't know how long i've been in here or how far I am from the village so I need to hurry." She thought. 

When she stepped out into the sun she measured it for the time. "It's 12, I have 7 hours until sunset, if I don't want to be eaten by a wild animal I have to follow the road." She thought as she looked at the long road ahead. She heard a neigh and she turned quickly. "A horse!" She thought excitedly. 

It was tied to a pole as it fed on the grass, she approached it slowly to not startle it. Its ears bent back in her direction, which meant it knew she was there and it was watching her. She reached out her hand and it turned to look at her directly, it sniffed her and felt her hand softly with its nose. 

It didn't think of her as a threat so it went back to eating, she sighed in relief. 
She went to its side and climbed the saddle, as soon as she got comfortable she let the rope loose and clicked her tongue. 
The horse started moving and when she wasn't in-front of the abandoned building she saw a cliff, leading the horse over she saw the village. 

"Thank god…" she thought. If she followed the road back on horseback she should be there in 2 hours. She clicked tongue and whipped the reins to make it gallop. 

Vincent sat with his mother and Thalia, he didn't sleep the whole night looking for Lilith and now on the next day they still haven't gotten anything on her. 

Cyrus was leading a search party south of the village, his father the north, Richard the east, and Vincent the west. He had been searching all morning and he came back home to regroup and replan their search if nobody had seen her. 

The duchess was serious, she looked at her worried son and clicked her tongue. 

"How did this happen? Day after day things just keep happening to her, under our roof, what will her father say…" she said as she rubbed her temples. 

Vincent sighed, he felt like a failure since he was with her when she got dragged away. It just happened so fast, he was surprised she even managed to keep her composure when she got dragged, not even for a second he saw fear in her eyes. "Who is she…she isn't like anybody else I know…." He thought as he looked at Thalia, who couldn't even eat. 

She was staring at the food sadly, "I hope she's okay…"she said. 

The duchess leaned back on the chair. "I think she'll be okay, poor thing must be scared out of her mind though…" the duchess said. 

"I'm going to keep searching." Vincent stood up and went to look for his horse, he climbed on with ease and made it gallop as fast as it could go. 
The guards on his search party followed. 

"Please, let me find her…" he thought. 

Lilith was now on familiar grounds, the road that led straight to the mansion. She was excited that she would finally be able to eat, that was the only thing on her mind the last 2 hours. She was considering stopping at the village but with how disheveled and dirty her dress was from the dirt and blood she didn't want to cause a commotion in the village. 

As she got closer she started seeing a small figure of a horse and the rider from afar. As she got closer she realized it was Vincent, 
"Vincent! Hi!" She yelled as she waved excitedly. 

"What the hell?" He thought. When he saw her at first he thought she was someone else, but as he got closer and saw her smiling like a child and waving he stopped his horse and the men behind him followed. She stopped next to him pulling on the reins and smiled, "I'm heading home, i'm starving!" She said and hurried away. 

He watched as she galloped away, "was that blood?" He asked out loud. 

"It looked like blood…sir, maybe she's injured.." a guard said. 

They followed her and he felt relief. "She's okay…"

As she jumped off the horse Natalie and the girls hugged her tightly. When she collected herself she held them, "i'm home." She said. 

Vincent caught up and ran over. "Are you okay? There was blood on you." He said worried. 

"It's not my blood." She said as they let go of her. 

"Okay…" he said still confused, "if it's not her blood…who's is it? What happened?" He thought. 

After Natalie fed her and helped her bathe, she sat down in the conference room with the duke,Cyrus,and Vincent. The air was tense after she told them all the details of what happened in the abandoned building. 

"Two people walked in after that, one seemed like woman, a height 5'4, thin arms, and a high pitch nasally voice. The other was quiet, but the servant or maid was calling them 'my lady' so im assuming it must be a lady of high rank, as well as she went through thorough measures to cover face with a plain white mask with two eyeholes cut in, however I was too far to see the persons eye color." She said. 

The dukes face darkened. "Lady Grimrose, you are telling me you killed two grown men on your own?" He asked. 

She sighed. "Yes my lord, I did, I was afraid of what they were gonna do to me." She said, and it was true, even though in the moment she was mostly angry as soon as she had a chance to relax when she bathed, the fear and disgust kicked in. 

Vincent looked disgusted as well. "If she hadn't killed them, I would have." He thought. 

She was looking down at her hands, she hadn't killed anyone like that ever since she was in the army. "I had forgotten the feeling.." she thought. 

"You may go, we got the information we needed." The duke said, suspicion in his eyes. 

As she got up Vincent followed, "you know, the ball is in a week now, I would love to take you to a boutique, but…this time i'll have them come here." He said. 

She looked at him strangely. "Yeah…that would be nice…." She said. 

The next day a tall skinny woman came to the mansion, she seemed like a true professional. "Beautiful! With the color of your eyes I recommend a soft yellow dress with a rose pink underskirt, layered, with maybe some gold thread embroidery and ribbons!" She said as soon as she saw Lilith. 

The duchess smiled when she saw Lilith flustered. "After all she's been through she still smiles…" she thought. 

Thalia got excited. "That sounds like it would be a beautiful dress! Maybe I can get one similar." She said in a dreamy tone clasping her hands together. 

Lilith side eyed her, smiling softly she turned to the woman. "I think she should have it, it would go well with her skin and hair." Lilith said smiling. 

Thalia blushed, the duchess looked at Lilith worried. "Then what about you dear?" She asked. 

"I actually…made a design…" she said shyly. 

"Oh, why don't show me?" The woman said. 

Lilith brought over a sketch she made, it had off the shoulder sleeves that connected in the middle of her chest, the bodice tight around her waist like a corset and the skirt of the dress long and layered with some of the underskirt a mahogany red and the rest black. 

"I don't want it to be too puffy, I like soft dresses." Lilith said. 

"This is a beautiful dress, I will be happy to make it for you." She said, Thalia saw the design book on the coffee table. 

"What about the duchess? We should pick a dress for her as well!" Thalia said excited. 

The duchess smiled. "I would love your opinions on a dress." She said. 

"Monica dear would you mind if we look at the dresses?" The duchess asked. 

"Oh, yes my lady, here you go." Monica said handing them the design book. 

Thalia looked through the pages and found a dress she really liked, it was a long puffy dress with short butterfly sleeves, it looked very juvenile, mostly pastel blue and pink. The duchess smiled awkwardly, it was lovely dress but it didn't seem appropriate for someone her age to wear, although Thalia could pull it off well but the duchess wanted something a bit more mature. "It is a lovely dress Thalia, however I would prefer something to look well according to my age." The duchess said. 

Lilith skimmed through and one dress caught her attention. "What about this one?" Lilith asked pointing at a victorian style dress with long sleeves, a silver outer skirt and a turquoise underskirt, the sweetheart neckline would compliment her collarbones and the outer layer had what looked like embroidered roses using a turquoise thread. 

"This dress will go well with your honey brown eyes, and your black/brown hair." Lilith suggested. The duchess examined it closely. "I like it, thank you girls for helping me." She said happily. 

Thalia looked disappointed that the duchess didn't pick hers, but tried to smile anyway. 

When she went back to her room the girls walked in excited and started to talk about what hairstyle and what kind of make up she would wear to the ball. 

"Lady Lilith, I heard a Pharaoh is gonna be there is it true!" Betty asked excited her eyes gleaming. 

"Well…I suppose, I don't know who is on the guest list.." Lilith said. Melinda giggled. "I heard there was going to be an Arabian prince!" Melinda said. 

"Well, maybe?" Lilith said unknowingly. 

The next day a shoe seller came and Lilith got called over again, and then a make up and perfume seller the day after that. 

"We meet again." Lilith said. This was the man she sold her stuff to before she went to the bank. 

"Yes my lady, may I interest you in these new oil perfumes? They are thick like honey and last even 2 days on your skin!" He said excitedly. 

She scratched her head. "Okay…"

After that, she heard the whole family was going to have a sit down for jewelry. 

"Wait…isn't that the chapter…where Cyrus and Vincent buy all the jewelry for Thalia and leave nothing for Lilith…the original Lilith stole the jewelry and threw it away out of jealousy, she got punished and wasn't allowed to leave her room." She thought, along with getting more hatred from Vincent but she didn't care about that since she wasn't the original Lilith. 

As she sat with all the jewelry in-front of her, one set caught her eye fast. A necklace made of black pearls and a red ruby as the center. It came with matching earrings and she thought it would match her dress well. 

As she reached over Thalia grabbed them before she did and said she loved it, Vincent and Cyrus thought it was strange Thalia would go for that kind of jewelry since nothing she had would match it. 

Lilith smiled and continued looking around, she saw a thin black necklace with a small fire opal, it was very simple but it was still eye catching. She didn't make any movements to get it since Thalia was watching her like a hawk as if she was trying to see what she would reach for next. 

Cyrus and the duke were getting almost all the jewelry and she decided not to get involved, she really wanted the black pearl necklace but decided to just relax, maybe she could find something better somewhere else. The jeweler was looking at her with pity and she shrugged, she was used to being pushed away like this from this family. 

She felt someone touching her neck and she looked back to see Vincent placing the black pearl necklace around her neck. "This will look good on you…" he said. 

The jeweler turned around and started bringing out a few more jewelry pieces. She was given a mirror and as she looked at her reflection she smiled softly. 

"It is very lovely…" she said. When she turned around Vincent was already paying the seller and she quickly turned to look at Thalia, who looked upset. 

The duchess smiled when she saw her son treat Lilith gently, having high hopes that they would start getting along better. 

Cyrus watched a little confused, never in his life did he think Vincent would take something Thalia wanted and give it to another woman. 

"Thank you Vincent, it's beautiful." Lilith said. 

"You're welcome.." he said a little embarrassed. 

The duke bought his wife a couple matching sets as well, and even though Cyrus was buying everything else for Thalia she kept looking at Lilith. 

The day finally ended and Lilith laid in bed staring at the ceiling. She couldn't stop thinking of her family, her dad always cooked big meals for her, enough to feed her for a week at a time. 

Her mother would send her selfies she would take with celebrities when she was at her fashion shows. Yuki, always came to visit her randomly, she even had the code for Estellas apartment. 

Lilith smiled, Yuki was a special kind of friend, someone who Estella trusts deeply. "No matter how long i'm stuck in this world…i'll never forget you Yuki, mom, dad….it's always hard to forget someone who gave you so much to remember…" she thought, when Miyano appeared in her mind she blushed a little. "Miyano…it's pathetic really….how much I still hope it's you and me in the end…" 

As she fell asleep, she felt tear streaming down her face and onto her pillows, and she drifted off into a sweet dream. 

Count Grimrose sat at his desk with his family and Vanessa. "I heard that things have been happening to Lilith over and over in the Allard mansion, I suppose it's time to send her…some back up." He said as a sinister smile appeared on his face. 

Vanessa smirked. "Don't worry master, I will take very good care of her." She said as the count finished writing a letter to the Allard mansion. 

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