Chapter 10

We are all prisoners of something…..

Intrigue washes over me as I stare at the last phrase on the paper.It's words continue to play in my head.

"We can still be friends....."

Friends?

I scoff at that word.

That word is nothing but a lie.There is no such thing as a friend and I know that first hand.It's every man for himself and that's that.

Scrunch up the paper and throw it somewhere across the room.

Evidently there's only one person that could have written this.

Ashanti……

What could she possibly want from me?…..

Now the real question is what do I have that she wants from me?

No one would randomly just want to be my friend

No one……

A teardrop falls from my eye as I recall my early age of pure childish stupidity of ever wanting to be accepted.It all ended the same way.

Pain….

A knock on the door makes me conscious of surroundings as I wipe my tears but refuse to open the door.

"What do you want?"I ask in a hoarse voice still not getting up from the spot I'm sitting

"Madam Ada and the new maid are going out to go buy you new clothes so she asked me to ask you if you wanted to come along"he says we with his monotone voice

"No"I reply curtly already near my bed ready to drown myself in my anguish

"Madam Ada wishes to buy you clothes and asks for your company aren't you at least excited?

Excitement….I don't remember the last time I felt that

"Or is there something else you would like to do today all by yourself….or maybe with Jasmine perhaps?"

He states with suspicion lingering in his voice

I gasp lowly in hopes that he doesn't hear me

He's on to us

Never the less I feign ignorance

"What are you getting at?"I ask now going close to my door.I hesitate a little bit before opening the door a few centimeters revealing only one of my eyes

"Nothing"he says now backing away from the door but in a slow manner as if saying that he has me cornered.He smirks a little as he eyes glint with anticipation before walking away slowly in his usual mechanically perfect gait

"I'll just tell madam that you're not interested then,but then again it is a surprisingly sunny day….maybe you can take a stroll around the mansion.The garden also seems like a good place to relax isn't it?"

He states as he continues to walk before finally leaving the hallway.Leaving me squinting my eyes at his back in wonder

He is definitely on to us...but how?

I can't help but welcome the feeling of being watched by the walls as fear and self consciousness creeps up on me

I close my door then slowly look up at the ceiling checking if I can find any hidden cameras,searching every nook and cranny of my room but I fail to find any.

I have to warn Jasmine.

I rush over to her room immediately but I'm instantly welcomed by the emptiness of her room.

The room is large with nothing much in it other than an equally large bed with messy sheets similar to mine.There are clothes littered here and there but other than that the room seems clean although this is less than I expected especially from the daughter of Ada.I guess i expected too much from the creepy girl.Although, even with the sight what catches my eye first is the gigantic shattered window.

Out of curiosity my legs moves to the window as I move closer I notice pieces of glass on the floor.The size of the shattered portion is enough evidence that this wasn't done by mistake.My attention shifts as I spot a few markings made on the wall.They are quite small and can be easily unnoticeable, however these markings seems to be clustered in a portion of the wall very close the window.I squat carefully examining them,some are a little old while some still seem fresh.However the cluster are way more than I anticipated for as I find other traces behind her vanity.

My new found curiosity surpasses the real reason I'm here as my eyes linger on the vanity.I push it away from it's spot with very little strength needed.I pause as I look at the odd number markings on the wall.

…..????.....

I might have not gone very far during my early age in terms of education but I do know what they are and what they are used for.

But what is she numbering?

Days

Dead bodies

Her life span

But what for?

As different questions race through my mind I begin to hear footsteps from the hall way.Footsteps are so easy to hear in this mansion because the mansion is so wide and the walls so thick that it bounces echoing sounds across the house.

I quickly drag the vanity back to the wall and stand near it waiting for Jasmine to come.In what seems like years Jasmine finally walks into the room but jumps a little when she sees me.She composes herself in a flash exhaling.

"What are you doing here?"she asks closing the door

"I have to talk to you"I say walking past her making sure to avoid her gaze.I peek through the door scanning the hallway for any sign of Onyx.However he is nowhere in sight so I quickly shut it.

I swiftly turn to Jasmine standing a few meters from her so she can't see my face clearly wasting no time.

"Jasmine I need to talk to you"I say with much seriousness

"Isn't that why I said we should meet at the garden?"she counters

"Forget the garden,it's useless"I say waving her off

"Onyx.He is on to us.He knows that we're trying to plan something.He knows our every move"

As I say this it all seems to make sense to me.How then did he know I was trying to escape earlier on,and even if he didn't why would the doors be shut?

"What do you mean?That's not pos….sible"says Jasmine slowly at the last part like as if something just hit her.

"It all makes sense...maybe that's why Onyx always knows I'm trying to escape before I can even try"She says almost in a whisper with her eyes wide

"Wait you've tried to esca…"I trail off looking at her broken window.

Oh...

"Yes multiple times…..my parents are bad people.You have to run save yourself"she says clamping her hands on to my shoulders startling me a bit

"Wait so you've been trying to escape for so long yet the question of how you always got caught never hit you?"I ask removing her hands from my shoulders

"It's not my fault I just thought it was because of the chip"she says still in a loud whisper

"What?".

She raises her …..and shows me a tiny dot on her finger

"It's a tracking chip"she says

"You're so stupid of course they'd find out,there must be a camera in it too"I say slapping her hand down

"They must be watching us right now"

Just then I hear the gates opening and I rush to her window.

They're back.

Now what do we do?

"I have to leave,I don't want them getting all suspicious that I'm hanging around with you"I say leaving.

Jasmine does not protest.She lets me leave.Theres nothing she can do anyway, she's as useless as I am.

As soon as I step out of Jasmine's room and into the hallway I feel like someone is watching me,their eyes boring holes into the side of my head.I turn my head swiftly and lock eyes with Onyx.His face unchanged from earlier on,eyes still glinting with anticipation with a smirk dancing on his lips.He stands tall with his usual posture with his hands behind his back.

As I stare back at him with a mix of fright and wonder in the pit of my belly.Its only after a can no longer handle the intense staring contest that I walk into my room and slamming my door.I exhale all the breath I've been holding in as my beating chest calms down slowly.Now i know for a fact that I am more than afraid.But one thing is for sure his smirk proved that he had accomplished something.He knew what he was doing all along and I fell for the trap.Now for sure he really has us conered.

Could Ashanti be in on it too?

Is that what she wanted?

However its only after all these questions in my head have finally died down that another one pops right up

Why does Jasmine want to escape?

And from who?