Torn:Dark Legacy Duet, Book 2
By: Natasha Knight“I don’t want to be one. I don’t want to be a ghost.”
And before I can even say goodbye, before I can squeeze her one more time, she’s gone. Vanished. And the sudden noise is loud and makes my head throb.
I try to open my eyes, but they feel like they’re glued shut.
“Get up,” a woman says.
She must be kicking my bed because I’m jolted.
I don’t want to be one. I don’t want to be a ghost.
“Ethan, get her up.”
It’s Lucinda. I recognize her voice.
And a moment later, an instant before I can peel my eyes open, a splash of icy water drenches me, steals my breath and has me gasping for air.
I open my eyes, rubbing my face. My head throbs and I feel like I want to puke.
When I sit up, a wave of nausea almost has me falling over.
I’m on a bed, more like a cot, in the middle of a room or what was once a room, the smell that of damp and mold, like a place closed up for too long. A place damaged by water, old and forgotten.
I count the constant drops of water as my eyes adjust to the dim light and two figures come into focus.
Lucinda stands across the room. She’s wearing a long black dress, covered from neck almost to ankle.
Closer to me, holding the now empty bucket, stands Ethan. I’m grateful the light is dim because I don’t want to see the look in his eyes.
“Not laughing now, are you?” he asks, and I forget what Sebastian said about the accident that damaged him because right now, Ethan Scafoni scares the crap out of me.
“Where am I?” I ask, looking around.
Along one of the four walls there’s a boarded-up window and it’s either nighttime or we’re underground because there isn’t a break in it. Not a single crack that lets in the dimmest light. On another, there’s a huge, heavy wooden door.
I know we must be in some sort of basement from the smell. Dark and dank, the scent overwhelming.
“What did you do to me?” My head is throbbing and when I reach up to touch it, I realize I’m naked. “Where’s Sebastian?”
“You still want him after what he did to you? How he lied to you?”
“Where is he?”
“What a stupid girl.”
“Where am I, Lucinda?”
I hug my arms to myself, trying not to show my panic, shivering. It is so cold here, so opposite the heat of the sun on the island.
“You’re not far from the island, don’t worry. We’ll see how long it takes my stepson to find you.”
“You set me up. You lied to me.”
“I told you I was helping myself.”
“What do you want with me?”
“Not what I want. I made a deal with Sebastian. But I don’t like his terms so I’m adjusting them.”
“What do you mean? What deal?”
“Ethan, go get me my cane,” she says, keeping her eyes on me.
His grin is wicked as he sets the bucket down and leaves the room, the heavy door creaking behind him.
Lucinda steps toward me.
“Sebastian claims to want to protect his brother, but he chooses you over him, so I’m going to make sure my son gets what he’s owed before I comply with Sebastian’s terms.”
“What are you talking about? What terms?”
“I’m taking Ethan away, like he wants.”
“What?”
“But he’ll have his turn first. You won’t beat me, Willow Girl.”
Ethan returns. He hands the cane to Lucinda.
“Do you know this is one of the canes I used to discipline Sebastian?”
I don’t answer but watch her as she walks a circle around the cot.
“It was easier when he was younger, but as he got older, he grew more and more defiant. His father allowed it, though, and if he wouldn’t submit to me, Joshua would make him.”
“You’re going to get it, Willow Girl,” Ethan chimes in from behind her.
I shift my eyes to him only momentarily, still following Lucinda as she runs the length of the cane through the palm of her hand.
“It wasn’t until his father had died that he attacked me.”
“Attacked you? You beat him.”
She stops, leans in toward me. “Disciplined, girl. Disciplined. Like I did your aunt.”
“You’re disgusting.”
