1.5
1480 Words
Elizabeth sat on the windowsill in her bedroom looking out at the forest.
She hadn’t done much else for days.
It was difficult to accept that Sawyer was really gone, and she was still numb to the thought that this was just going to be her life from now on.
She couldn’t see as far as the forest very clearly without her glasses, and every time she saw a wolf emerging from the forest she would watch closely until she was absolutely sure it wasn’t him.
She hated Francesca for what she had done. Sawyer had loved her, and trusted her, and given her as much power as he possibly could. But she had wanted more than that, and as far as Elizabeth was concerned she had probably been planning this since before their father even died.
The only company she had was Lily. The cat had been Sawyer’s only companion for years, and now she was the only living thing in the house that Elizabeth could bring herself to talk to.
Jonas was the only person who even tried.
She hadn’t come out of her room for two days, and so he turned up with food.
She didn’t acknowledge him, so he left it on her table.
She let the meal go cold, and then picked it up and left it defiantly untouched outside her bedroom door.
They were treating her like a prisoner, and the show of sympathy Jonas had given her by bringing the food was unnecessary and unwelcome. She didn’t want him to be able to feel as if he was treating her well. She wanted him to feel guilty.
The next day it was not Jonas who brought her food.
Francesca set the meal down on the table and then sat herself down on the couch.
She stared at Elizabeth without saying a word. She didn’t need to say anything. Everything she did made it clear what she expected from people, and that there would be consequences if her wishes were not followed.
Elizabeth remained sat at the windowsill, with the cat curled up in the sun beside her.
“I know that you aren’t going to kill me.”
Elizabeth stroked Lily calmly to reassure herself. She did not want Francesca to know that she was intimidated.
“You sound very sure of that.”
“You’re sat here because you expect me to eat this. You don’t want me to make myself ill; you wouldn’t give a f**k about that if you planned on killing me, so don’t act as if this is just a game. I know you wouldn’t waste your time; you wouldn’t care if I died hungry if that is what your plan was, but for some reason, you care that I might get sick and become useless to you.”
“And what reason might that be?”
Francesca was staring at Elizabeth, and it made her heart ache to look at the older woman. She was attractive, but she was androgynous enough that she looked too much like her brother for Elizabeth to bear. Looking into her eyes was like looking into his.
“Off the top of my head? You could be keeping me alive in case people want evidence you didn’t just kill both of us to take over, or because he has been gone for less than a week and you are waiting until you are sure I’m not pregnant. There’s also the fact I still have ties to the human world and there is a chance people will show up here with the things I left in the hotel while I was away, or question why they can’t contact me if they want me to do any kind of interview when the show I was working on comes out. Perhaps it’s all of those things; whatever reason you have for keeping me alive, it is ultimately for your own self-preservation. I am potentially useful alive, and healthy. I could cause you problems if I got sick or died. As soon as that changes, you will not be sat on my couch trying to intimidate me into eating.”
“Nobody cares whether you are alive or dead; it’s normal to get rid of the mate of the former Alpha when they lose control. You aren’t pregnant, you are on your period and I think you know that I am aware of that. And no one has come looking for you for over a month - you cut yourself off from the people you were friends with in that world, and the people from that show do not care enough to bother looking for you. Your mother is dead, and you are not expected to produce another book any time soon. There are no humans left who will even notice you are gone.”
“Then why are you keeping me alive?”
“Why would I tell you that? You need something to think about while you are in here all day.”
“Because unless you tell me, I am not going to eat that meal.”
“Suit yourself.”
Francesca stood up to leave. Unlike Jonas, she took the food with her when she left and Elizabeth was left to think about the interaction. She began to worry that she may have been wrong. Perhaps she wasn’t any use to Francesca.
A few minutes after Francesca had gone, somebody knocked on the door.
She didn’t answer. She didn’t really have the energy to waste on standing up and walking across the room.
The door opened anyway, and Jonas came back into the room with the food that Francesca had taken away.
“Is this your idea of good cop/ bad cop?”
“No. I just thought it was wrong of her not to give you a chance to eat in dignity and peace without being watched over.”
He put the plate back down on the table, sat down where Francesca had been, and gestured for Elizabeth to sit at the table.
She remained sat on the windowsill.
“Dignity? I’m stuck here as your prisoner for however long she keeps me alive before she’s bored of me. Don’t even think about mentioning dignity again.”
“Elizabeth, you don’t understand.”
“There is nothing to understand. She murdered the man I love because she is a psychopath, just like her father.”
“Everything she is doing is for a reason.”
“What reason?”
It was supposed to be reassuring. He knew more than Elizabeth did, but he couldn’t tell her that Sawyer was still alive.
“I don’t know. But I trust that she knows what she is doing and that she feels it is the right thing.”
“How can you possibly trust Francesca after what she did?”
“Because I love her. And when I am alone with her, I see a side to her that you never will. I know that she may seem cruel, but she would not have done any of this if there was any other way. She does whatever she feels is necessary, but she is not some evil cartoon villain who is sat rubbing her hands together and laughing that her master plan has finally come to fruition. I know that you are somewhat blinded by your love for him, but Francesca saw that her brother was unstable and that it was putting everyone in danger. When she tried to give him a chance he attacked her. Was she supposed to let him kill her?”
Elizabeth finally stood up. She walked over to the table and pushed the plate slowly towards Jonas.
“He did not have to die. And now he is gone, I don’t have any reason to live.”
Jonas ignored her gesture. It was supposed to be a defiant act showing him she was in control, but he just saw it as childish.
“I’m disappointed. I thought you were stronger than this.”
“I’m not strong. I’m just some naive human girl who let myself get caught up in this world because I fell in love. But my mother was right about this family, and I wish I had listened to her. Instead, I insisted on playing with fire, and in the end, I got burnt. Just like you will if you continue to trust that woman.”
- Writer
