Gregory had to have been playing mind games with me. A couple more days passed since our encounter on the vendor street, and yet he still had no intention of talking to my father? It wasn't as if I wanted him to, it was merely making me anxious; at any moment he could tear my life to shreds.
I took a peek at the calendar my mom had hanging on the wall by our red, front door. The calendar is a handcrafted, square, dark wooden plank with the numbers 1 through 31 written on it. Each day has a prong that supports a red square which is moved for each day that passes. The calendar also has a holder at the very top for a wooden tag to name the month, and another a bit lower to name the days of the week. It's one of the coolest things my father has made, if I'm being honest. I'm typically awful at remembering the days.
It was August 15th, which meant I only had to wait 5 more days until Oliver returned home. I had no clue as to whether or not he was alive; it wasn't like he couldn't write letters home, but he wouldn't be able to write one for me.
I could only hope he would walk through the northern gate once more; and on the day he's set to return, I'll be there waiting for him.
"Mother!" I called out playfully from the frame of the front door, "I'm heading to Edith's!"
My mother was in in her room laying down for a nap, though my call immediately made her roll out of bed and shuffle out of the door. "Wait!" She called out as I began to close the front door behind me. I looked back inside to see her coming directly for me, so I opened the door back up. She was nearly stomping towards me, and as much as she tried to appear mean, she just didn't have it in her.
Her short blonde hair hugged her cheeks lovingly, and her brown eyes were full of love as well. She was a short woman, same height as I, 5'3, but she was pleasantly plump.
"What's wrong?" I asked, hoping I hadn't somehow let word slip to my family in regards to their future grandchild.
"Your father received a letter today, letting him know that a man by the name of Gregory Tucker was going to make a visit today." She stopped short of the door, hoping no one would see her still in her pajamas at midday. "I was hoping you would've stayed around so it could've been a surprise when he arrived. He planned dinner at his home the letter said."
I felt like crying, but I held out, "it's a surprise no matter what, honestly." I began to close the door between us, "I'll be back before dinner, mother, I promise. Just be sure you're ready yourself."
When I heard the door click, I took off in an almost power-walk as I headed towards Edith's house. I was supposed to be there a bit sooner so she was already outside her gate, leaning against it as she waited. We were going to go to the vendors again to try and find seeds.
Though, as I was halfway there, I began to get woozy, and the world went mute before making way for just ringing inside my ears. I stopped walking as I started to sway, appearing drunk to others, but Edith knew better.
I saw her dart towards me the moment she saw me sway, and her mouth moved but I couldn't hear anything.
Then I fell hard onto my back. It hadn't rained in a couple days, so the ground was dry and hard, knocking the wind out of my lungs as I hit the dirt. I was frozen, paralyzed, but I could feel everything that was going on around me.
I was scared, and then, as Edith kneeled down frantically besides me, I felt a warm liquid come from my vagina.
How embarrassing, the fall made me pee myself.
As I lay on my back, the sun beating down on me as I laid helpless with only Edith at my side to help, I was clueless as to what to do. I couldn't even speak.
Then I saw Edith look up at someone, before I saw Gregory, in his armor, come to my aid.
Why was he here already? He wasn't supposed to be here until dinner.
Surprisingly, he was actually getting tearful. He was quick to kneel down before scooping me up into a princess hold and beginning to run me back to my house, as he simultaneously tried to support my limp limbs.
Edith opened the door for us, as she called something out, and my mom came running out from her room in full force. My father still wasn't home.
Edith knocked everything off the table, allowing Gregory to lay me upon it; my mother was adjusting my limbs to be comfortable.
I couldn't hear a thing; I was deaf.
I felt like I was in a prison of my own body.
Then I felt more liquid coming from my legs, and my hearing finally came back, only to be greeted by my mother's death-curdling screams.
"What's happening?" I asked, but no one heard me, and I still couldn't move; but I began to feel an excruciating pain begin to creep up on me.
It felt like a knife being dragged horizontally across my lower abdomen over and over again. "Stop stabbing me!" I finally screamed out.
"No one's stabbing you, Adeline," Gregory's soft voice tried to tell me, but the pain was too much, and I began to sweat.
I begged them to stop hurting me.
Gregory couldn't take my cries anymore, and he took the front of my dress, dug his fingers into it, before ripping it off from my collar and down until just below my vagina. I was completely naked on the kitchen table, and clueless to what was happening. Edith immediately rushed to the end of my feet, disappearing from my current field of vision.
Whatever Gregory had seen after he cut my dress off, caused him to leave immediately, dashing out the front door just as my father walked in. I watched as my father dropped the meat he had just gotten, shocked by what was before him.
My eyes darted to my mother. My mother's eyes got big as she looked down. She grabbed my hand, looking into my eyes as tears began to fall from her eyes; my father rushed to her side, attempting to comfort her and me at the same time.
"What's wrong?" I asked again, the pain beginning to subside, but my mother still couldn't say anything.
Slowly I felt myself begin to regain control of my body, and as I sat up, my mother helped support my back.
When I was finally able to process what was going on; I wanted to scream. I couldn't believe what was in front of me; there was absolutely no way it was true.