���� �If it was broken, there is no way I could turn it...� Kristen thought as she slowly rotated it the other way.
���� She quickly looked down at her ankle, realizing that it too didn�t hurt half as bad as it did when she first went to sleep.� She blinked once when she saw that somehow the bandages were changed.� The old off-white strips of cloth were replaced with thick black wrappings that prevented any type of movement.� Even more confused, she ran her fingers through her messy hair and down the side of her face.� She froze as her fingers touched something. She slowly slid her fingers up the strange object covering her cut.� Her curiosity got the best of her and she slowly slid out of her bed.� Grasping onto the wall for support, she made her way to her broken mirror.� She gazed into the mirror and promptly screamed.� Strange brown strings held her cut together and scared her to death.� Panicking, her tried to rip the unusual objects from her body and successfully ripped some away, but promptly stopped as the blinding pain from the ripped skin shot through her body.� She crumpled to the floor in a heap, crying and confused, where she remained for hours.� She cried until she couldn�t cry anymore.� She didn�t bother to get up off the floor.� She just lay there, wide-eyed and wondering how and why all these �medical miracles� happened to her.
���� She remained on the floor for another hour, and began wondering why her brother hadn�t brought her anything to eat.� Now that she thought about it, she hadn�t heard a sound at all.� Sometimes she heard the maids of butlers talking as they walked past her door, but she had yet to hear anything.� She gingerly sat up and immediately had a headache from the sudden change of positions.� She leaned against her wall, stretching her legs out in front of her, crossed her arms across her chest, waiting for someone to come to her room.� Another hour passed and Kristen�s stomach began to growl at her.� She glanced at the door at least once every minute, waiting for someone to relive her of her hunger, or to hear a sound outside of her room.� At nine in the evening, Kristen could no longer stand the hunger pains.� With a shaking hand, she turned her doorknob and opened the door.� She didn�t open the door further than an inch.� Holding her breath, she peeked out into the hallway.� Darkness was the only greeting for her eyes, save for the light from the sunset that flowed in from the hallway windows.� She didn�t see or hear anyone. Gulping nervously, she opened the door further, waiting to be caught.� She stood in her doorway on her one good leg for a minute, debating whether to venture into the hallway or not.� Her aching stomach quickly decided for her.
���� As quietly as she could, she hobbled out into the hallway, her eyes and ears alert for any signs of life.� She approached the floor�s staircase and as carefully as she could, descended the stairs while holding the banister in a death grip.� As she approached the last few steps, she felt that someone was watching her.� She froze in midstep.
���� �Oh god...� She thought as her fear reached its peak.� In the light of the sunset, she couldn�t see anyone, but felt something rub against her leg.� She somehow managed to suppress her scream and quickly looked down. Her body relaxed and her heartbeat slowed as a relived smile spread across her face.� The yellow eyes of her brother�s large gray cat stared up at her.� She bent down as far as she could without experiencing pain and lightly stroked the cat�s soft fur.� The cat purred quietly and again rubbed itself against her leg.� Feeling a bit more confidant, she continued her journey to the kitchen.� As she reached the room, she was a bit shocked to find it empty, but at the same time relived that no one was there to catch her out of her room.� She slowly made her way to the counter, thinking what was the fastest thing she could eat.� A sudden slam of a door behind her snapped her out of her thoughts. Kristen spun around; tears of fear rushing to her eyes, praying that whoever it was would understand why she left her room.� A portly maid caring many travel bags under her arms stepped out of the shadows.� The look on Kristen�s face caused the maid to smile.
���� "I... I was hungry..." Kristen stammered.
���� The maid set her bags down on the floor and quickly made her way to the refrigerator.� Kristen watched as the maid bustled about the kitchen, removing various food items from the refrigerator and shelves.� As the maid began to place the food on a white ceramic plate, Kristen got up enough courage to speak.
���� "Where... is... everyone?" Kristen said just above a whisper.
���� "They�ve all left and I have a flight to catch." The maid said as she placed a plate full of fruit and meat in front of Kristen.
���� "What do you mean?" Kristen asked.
���� "Ma�am, your brother passed away last night, and good riddance.� I say that you let him rot in that bed of his" And with that, the maid picked up her bags and left Kristen to fend for herself.
���� Kristen stood there, not sure if she heard what the maid said correctly.
���� �I... I have to get out...� Kristen thought.
���� She grabbed the plate of food and limped to the mansion�s front door.� For the first time in many years, Kristen stepped through the front door.� The cat followed her outside.� Kristen closed the door behind her and suddenly wanted to put as much distance between her and the house where her dead brother lay.� She spied a large fountain displayed in the middle of the front lawn.� She slowly made her way to it, deciding that she should at least try to eat as much as she could before doing anything.� She sat down slowly, as if she was in a trance, on the thick stone fountain barrier and set the plate beside her.� She looked at the house in front of her, then down at the plate of food and promptly lost her appetite.� She sat there, fighting back tears of confusion.� How long she sat there, she didn�t know.� The cat, which was also hungry, was losing his patience with her.� He jumped up on the barrier with her, not at all afraid of the gushing water, and sat down beside the plate, looking at her.� When Kristen finally looked at the cat, her fear was momentarily forgotten and a giggle escaped from her throat when she saw the look on the cat�s face.� Kristen plucked a large piece of chicken from her meal and placed it at the cat�s paws.� She wasn�t sure if the cat had even chewed the piece before it disappeared.� Kristen couldn�t keep the small laugh as the cat looked back at her, clearly wanting more.� She tore off smaller pieces for the animal, fearing that it would choke.� She placed a piece in her own mouth and chewed slowly, not really tasting the food. It was funny though. Just a few minutes ago, she would have eaten just about anything, but now she felt sick if she ate anything at all. She noticed that her hands were shaking as she reached toward the tray.� She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down enough to think clearly.� She opened her eyes and stared at the house�s front door, waiting for her brother to come running out, and tell her that this was all a trick and that she was in for it now.� But after a few minutes, she still wasn�t sure that she was alone.
���� Kristen jumped and screamed as she suddenly lost her sight in one of her eyes.� She fell off of her seat and crashed to the ground, screaming and scratching at her eye.� Her screaming quieted as she discovered that it wasn�t an object blocking her vision, but a liquid.� She wiped the strange fluid away with the back of her hand. She looked at the blood that covered her hand when she had most of her vision back.� She weakly pulled herself up into a kneeling position, holding onto the stone barrier for support and looked at her reflection in the clear water. Her hair was a mess and sticking out every which way.� Her skin was a slight shade of gray.� Her blue eyes were dull and lifeless as a result of her abusive life.� A single tear fell from her eye and rolled down her cheek.� The tear caught a bit of her blood and fell into the water.� She watched as the tiny bit of blood spread out in every direction, as if it was happy to be free from its confinements of the tear.� Kristen sat down next to the fountain and took a breath before her fear clouded over her.� Her whole body shook with her sobs.� She was so confused. She didn�t know what to do.� She couldn�t go anywhere since she didn�t know her way around the land. She couldn�t use the telephone because it was in the house with her brother and besides, who could she call?
���� Kristen ended up curled into a ball, exhausted from her crying and the night�s activities. She had, once again in her life, cried herself to sleep.� The cat, which was confused by the girl�s actions, decided to stay with her.� He jumped down from the barrier after the Kristen had fell asleep and curled himself up against the bend in Kristen�s legs.
���� Little did Kristen know that her guess earlier was right.� She wasn�t alone...
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����� Copyright 1999 by Lady Serria
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