Our Last Hope

We Have a Plan

***TW: s****l ABUSE***

The party went by faster than I thought it would. Maybe because I was desperately looking for a quick getaway the whole night. My mother hadn't left my side the entire night. 

"So he cursed it?"

I shrugged my shoulders and made a polite smile to a stranger across the room. 

"Why else would it magically bind itself to my finger? It was his mother's ring. There's a whole story about it."

Mother bugged her eyes out, "Okay, well lets head upstairs. You look exhausted." She winked at me signally a false excuse. I nodded my head quickly and we turned for the hallway. William was standing just on the other side of the door and grabbed onto my elbow as we walked by. My mother had an expression of shock when he suddenly stopped me. 

"Where do you think you're going?" His voice sounded sinister. He then looked over to mama. "I can take her up to bed Mrs. Harrington. It's no bother." 

I felt my mother tense beside me, she was not going to let me go without a fight. 

"That's so kind of you William, but I got it. We need to start discussing wedding details anyways." She gave him a fake smile and pulled me closer to her. 

William gritted his teeth and reluctantly let go of my arm.

"If you insist, but I will be up in a few minutes." There was a warning to his tone, why was this man the one that I chose? I should have seen the signs. 

My father came around the corner and convinced William to another private conversation in his office. It occurred to me that mama sent for daddy's help. 

Daddy must know what's going on, I could tell that there was something off about him as well. He was more protective now than he was earlier. 

Mama and I hurried up the stairs and headed straight for my bedroom. She locked the door the second we got inside of the room. I flipped on the tv so no one could hear what we were talking about. 

"We only have a couple minutes. Tell me everything."

I unloaded every detail, I spared nothing to the imagination. I was crying the whole time, which made it even harder. I told her about our first encounter with Gregor, William's sudden mood swings, our ceremony night and all that followed. 

I told her about William's mother and I could see her eyes go dark, darker than I have ever seen. 

"I knew that Mrs. Bright died un-expectantly but I had no idea that it was at the hand's of her husband." Mother shook her  head rapidly. "If I would have known, I never would have approved that contract. I'm so sorry Winnie, I feel terrible." 

Mama started to shake uncontrollably, like she was going to break apart into a million little pieces. I grabbed tight of her hands. "It's not your fault mama. He fooled us all."

She shook her head as tears continued to flow down her cheeks. "But now you are the one that has to live this life." She was sobbing uncontrollably. I tried desperately to quiet her, someone could walk in at any moment. 

"Mama, you have to calm down. We can not afford to lose face right now." 

She started to wipe her tears and compose herself. A switch flipped in her brain and she was suddenly back to normal. She signified for me to turn around so she could unzip my dress. 

"I don't think that it's wise for you to go home just yet. With your fainting spells, I want to make sure that you and the babies are well taken care of." There was mischief to what she said. This was her way of acquiring more time to figure things out. I knew that this plan of hers would give her some added piece of mind as well. "Lord knows that there will be plenty of details regarding the merger and the wedding." 

Mama helped me finish getting ready for bed and stayed with me until William returned. Daddy must have had a long list of excuses to keep him preoccupied. Mama curled me up into bed and laid down next to me. We were watching Will and Grace re-runs and cuddling like we used to. She stroked my hair and the bridge of my nose, willing for sleep to come take me.

I woke up to a dark room with the tv playing on silent. Now that I was awake, my body decided that I needed to pee. I sat up slowly and shimmied out of bed, I was very slow moving for some reason but I finally made it to the bathroom door. 

On my way back to bed, I noticed that my room was still empty, William was no where to be found. I secretly hoped that his body was burning in a pyre some where. I imagined his head flying off into the distance and his body falling limp to the floor. I felt a sudden burning on my left hand and I desperately tried to get the ring off. The pain became unbearable and I felt my knees crumble beneath me, causing me to fall to the floor. 

"f**k!" It hurt so bad. I screamed as loud as I could. I looked down at the metal band, it was red hot and was turning white. I wanted to cut my finger off so badly but I didn't have anything sharp enough. I heard thundering footsteps down the hallway until mama burst through the door. 

"Oh my god, Winnie!" She slid over to me, like a baseball player sliding into home. "What is going on!" 

I was in so much pain that it was hard to form sentences. I pointed down at my ring frantically. "My ring! My ring! Its burning my finger!"

Mama followed my gesture and looked puzzled. "Honey there's nothing wrong with your ring. What do you mean?"

I started to shake my head rapidly. I was beyond frustrated and I was starting to lose my mind from the pain. 

Suddenly I felt the pain begin to dull until it didn't hurt anymore. The ring started to cool and I could actually focus again. 

William strolled into the room, like he owned it. He showed no alarm to seeing me on the floor, wrapped in my mother's arms. 

In the most monotone, fake concerned voice he said, "Are you alright Winnie? What happened?" 

He came over and knelt down on the other side of me. Rage was radiating off of me. Mama felt it too and placed her hand on my shoulder willing me to keep my composure. 

"Let's get you back into bed dear. You need your sleep." She looked over at William. "Will you help me please?" William nodded his head and they stood in unison. I shuffled over to bed, the sudden change in altitude made me get a head rush. Once I was safely in tucked in, mama kissed my forehead. 

Link me if you need anything.

I smiled up at her. "Thank you mama."

She gave William a tight smile and then turned to leave. 

William stripped down and climbed in next to me. He pulled me into his chest, I knew not to fight it. I didn't want to get hurt. He nuzzled his nose into my curls and whispered into my ear. 

"Wasn't that a neat little trick?" 

I felt so defeated. I closed my eyes letting silent tears fall down onto my pillow. 

*****

When I woke the next morning, William was gone. I was alone in my bedroom and felt relieved. I rolled onto my back and stared up at the ceiling. I let my gaze focus on the constant movement of the fan blades above my head. Why did this have to happen to me? I am a good person, I know that I don't deserve this. 

There was a small knock on the door and mama popped her head in. 

"How are you feeling?"

I didn't know how to answer her, I was so overwhelmed that I just started to bawl. She hurried over to my bed and scooped me up into her arms. 

"Shh, it's okay baby. We will figure this out. I need you to keep your wits. I talked to your father last night. We have a plan." 

I calmed a bit but the tears kept coming. She pulled me closer to her chest and kissed my curls. 

"Come on, let's get you in a hot bath and then I'll bring you something to eat."

I nodded my head and mama helped me into the bathroom. 

I felt utterly broken as she helped wash my hair. I felt like a child as she dotted on me. I brought my knees up to my chest and let my mind go. 

After a while she whispered to me. "Are you ready to get out darling?" 

I silently nodded my head and mama shifted her position to help me stand in the tub. 

I dressed in overly fuzzy pajamas and crawled back into bed. I don't remember saying much that day, I was in such a dark place and there was no way out. 

Mama had sent for one of the housekeepers to bring me blood. She mixed it up into a strawberry banana smoothie. 

Mama didn't leave my side all day. It was a shitty, rainy day. Perfect for binge watching the rest of Will and Grace. 

I sucked down my smoothie and felt my energy slowly coming back. Physically, I felt like I could destroy a tank but mentally, I was toast. 

We spent the rest of the day in bed. I'm used to running 10 miles a day, but there was no way that I could make it out of the house. 

I was losing my wits and I felt my body breaking down. I had officially lost my fight and control. My only hope was for someone to save me, I prayed that mama and daddy's plan would actually work, there is no way that I can do this for the rest of eternity. I knew William would be diabolical to say the least. 

I felt the aura shift around 3 o'clock that afternoon. Mama sat up straighter when she sensed that I was on edge. William walked in the door and stopped when he took in the sight of us. 

"Movie day in your jammies I see?" There was some humor to his voice before it turned annoyed. "Have you not been outside at all today?"

Mother looked at him disappointedly, "You know as well as I do that she needs her rest. She's growing your babies after all. Show some compassion to your mate."

William did not like mama's tone. His posture turned rigid and he was desperately trying to hide his anger. He smiled through gritted teeth. "I just think that some fresh air would do her some good."

Mama turned to me for my approval, as much as I wanted to stay in bed, I knew that we weren't going to win this battle. I nodded my head and mama stood to make way for me to get out of bed. 

*****

The rain had stopped but there was a light mist that covered the air. It had that fresh rain smell and it was intoxicating. The three of us sat in the covered back patio and looked out at the lake behind the house. The wind was playing tricks on the top of the water and I got lost as I watched them lightly crash against the sand. Mama and I were curled up in one blanket while William was in the side chair. I rested my head on mama's chest with her arms wrapped around my shoulders. I felt safe and protected, a feeling that I had once shared with William, now I was scared of him to touch me. 

Daddy popped his head out into the lanai and asked for William's help on something. 

"There are a couple more signatures that the lawyer needs, if you don't mind?"

William was apprehensive to leave, he didn't want to give me too much freedom. He pushed himself up and left the room without a word. 

We're going to kill him.

 I shot my head up off of mama's chest to look at her, she was perfectly calm. Without skipping a beat mama pulled my head back down to her chest.

Stay illusive. We will handle it. Take care of yourself and those babies, they didn't ask for any of this either. You won't need to lift a finger.

Mama was calm, cool, and collected. She had a plan, I just had to keep quiet and go through the motions, that shouldn't be too hard. 

*****

I was in a trance with mama on the lanai. We were both startled when we heard booming laughter coming from inside the house. Their footsteps were getting closer to us. 

"I cannot believe that! That's hilarious." I couldn't tell if daddy's laughter was genuine or not, maybe he was just trying to appease William's joke. Mama shot him a look while William was facing the other direction. Daddy caught a glimpse of her and smiled before quickly shaking his head. I saw her nostrils flair as she stifled a laugh. See, that's what I wanted. I thought I had it there for a minute but it quickly dissolved into nothing. 

The four of us pretended to be civil, well the three of them talked while I kept silent. I just wanted to disappear, I almost contemplated ending my own life, but that wouldn't be fair to the babies, or my parents.

Around 6 o'clock, I was ready for bed. Even though I laid low the whole day, I felt like I could sleep for a couple days. Vampires generally don't sleep anyway and if we do, we only need about 4 hours to be fully functional. I felt demolished and I didn't care about anything anymore. 

Mama, please take me to bed.

She nodded her head and we stood. The men were still chatting about something when they stopped to see what was happening. 

"I'm going to take Winnie up to bed, she doesn't feel well."

Which wasn't completely false, I had some waves of nausea throughout the day and knew that it was from the babies. 

Mama didn't give the room time for a rebuttal before she turned us on her heel. William called after us as we cleared the dining room. 

"I'll be up in a minute my love."

Suddenly, another wave of nausea hit me as we reached the stairs. 

*****

Mama was reluctant to leave me, but I reminded her that she needed her rest too. After about 10 minutes, I could feel William drawing closer. I closed my eyes and prepared myself. I could read his thoughts and I knew what he was going to try and get out of me. Tears started to prick my eyes, why was this happening? I closed my eyes tight and pretended to be sleeping, he saw right through it. 

William strutted into the room and went straight to the foot of the bed. He whipped the blanket off to the side and grabbed my ankles. A gasp escaped me as he dragged me to him. My first instinct was to grab at the bedframe but it all happened so fast. I tried to kick my ankles free, but he was holding on too tight. I tried to reach up and scratch him, claw him, or hit him, nothing worked. 

"If you don't want to get hurt, I suggest you stop." 

As much as my brain was telling me to stop, I couldn't. I had to keep fighting, until I couldn't anymore. William was getting annoyed. He pulled his hand back and slapped me as hard as he could. My vision went blurry and tears spilled out of my eyes. 

William grabbed my ankles and flipped me onto my stomach. I continued to thrash under him, I was begging him not to do this. I was crying and screaming at him. He buried my face in the comforter to muffle me. I heard his zipper and knew what was coming. 

He didn't give me a warning, he slammed into me. I was in shock, my brain shut off and I couldn't think. William curled his fingers into my hair and pulled my face up off the pillow. 

"If you scream, I will kill you. Any cunt can give me a baby. You mean nothing to me. Now shut the f**k up." 

I sucked in my lips and prayed for death. 

*****

I had more bruises than I thought. They were already yellow, which meant that they were healing, but they were still visible. I had a busted lip, a black eye and a sprained wrist. William forbid me to leave the room until my injuries were healed. 

"We don't need any rumors starting."

I linked for my mother to bring me some more blood, I knew that it would help with my healing. 

Be warned, I've had the s**t kicked out of me. Please don't tell daddy.

Mama stormed into the room with three bags in hand. She dropped them on the carpet when she registered my body. She stumbled and scooped up the bags and set them on the side table. I had to stop her before she turned towards the door. She was ready to kill him now. I pleaded with her to calm down. 

"Mama, stop! It is a small price to pay. It will end soon."

She had a look about her, it wouldn't be soon after all. There was something about her face that I didn't like. She started to cry and I knew that something was wrong. 

I walked her over to my bed and we sat down. 

"We can't do it yet. The timeline has to line up perfectly." She tried to look me in the eyes but she saw my face and started to bawl again. "Oh God! I can't ask you to put up with this for another year!"

"Another year! You have got to be f*****g kidding me."

She shook her head, "I'm not. It's the only way. We need to keep everything as kosher as possible. It has something to do with the contract. We have to protect you first. There are several small details that we have to work out. If it doesn't work perfectly, you will die. I cannot have that happen."

She grabbed my hands and squeezed them tight. "I promise you, this will end. But I have to protect you and keep you alive."

I took a sharp inhale and nodded my head. Mama pulled me to her chest and kissed my curls. 

"I know that it is a lot to ask, and I wish that I could take over your pain."

I cut mama off, "It is what needs to be done. I just have to keep my head down and I'll be just fine. I can do this mama, I am stronger than you think."

She shook her head. "I've known how strong you are from the day you were born. You have continually proven me right over and over again. You are strong willed and determined. You are a fighter, I need you to remember that, no matter what."

I nodded my head and she kissed my temple. This was going to be a very long year.