The movies made a very good impression on what it felt like to drug someone. For her, it was a zoom in on so many emotions amalgamated with the various possibilities of how much her plan could go wrong. Time seemed to fly like the wind. As soon as he dropped to the ground, she staggered back …steps halting and looking back to see whether everything was alright, and then finally running up to Gideon's room.
He was sitting on his bed with a little bag already packed. Seeing his mother stop at the door, he quickly jumped and rushed to her side.
"Let's go." She smiled and kissed his worried face, and they both rushed out of the staircase, passing four men unconscious on their guarding posts. The door was unlocked, and with great fortune, they both embraced the cold morning breeze.
Odette had her license. She lost it when she was taken to the Constantine mansion; however, nothing in this world halted her today. What she devised and calculated must be done today. They both hurriedly got into the nearest vehicle, which happened to be a super salon old model. With a heavy pounding heart and burning guilt…they set off to find their way back to Gideon's home.
She remembered bits of how they were taken from that night during the party. With a few wrong stops and asking around from some people about the infamous Constantine mansion, she was able to finally drive into the roads that led straight to hell…in other words, the home of the notorious Constantine family.
"Mama." Gideon, sitting beside Odette, tilted his head. "When you asked for home…why are the people looking at us like that?" he was very well used to her driving, but what muddled him was,
"They looked at us like we were crazy, no?" Odette did not take her eyes off the road, her heart still has not stopped with the pounding.
Gideon chuckled lightly and nodded.
"They must be wondering why we are going towards Caius and not away…" she joined in, and the silence in between them staggered with a nervous laugh.
She could not help but feel worried, "Please promise me you will do what we talked about before, okay?"
Waiting for Gideon's response, this time she looked at his adorable face. He only went silent and slowly nodded with a low hum. "Be safe, mama."
The road to the mansion was dry and dusty. She knew driving in could grab negative attention, so they parked a few distances away from the gate and walked.
She has never taken a proper look at the mansion from the outside. It looked huge. With a palette of dull and bright gray-white walls in fusion with some buildings made from marble. It stood in the middle of that land, desolate and assertive. Its entirety screamed for any person to turn back before they regret.
How many generations must have lived behind those gates, how many generations stained those walls and floors with the blood of innocent people, how many families lived off the money forcefully taken by commoners? No one knew the disturbing stories that were embedded in the children who were born into this family; no one knew what type of screeches and murders happened on a single night. This place, now beautifully sitting and swaying with the breeze, seemed all the more alarming the more she looked at it.
The gate was unlocked and unguarded. It seemed like Nathaniel's men actually put all that would threaten them inside the basement and did not have to guard and be on alert.
She could feel Gideon's hold become firm and his eyes waver from the huge mansion walls to the pathway ahead. When they passed the gate, it was time to be mindful. The first place she wanted to visit was the library. But before that, there was something that she had to do.
Passing various buildings and entering a vast field once used for golf and horse riding, they walked onto a path covered by thick trees, their crisp leaves dancing in the silent, fear-filled wind. They followed the leafy road until the gentle clucking of chickens reached their ears. She walked up to the chicken coop and opened the wooden door at the back. Inside were chicken feed and a huge pile of hay. With one glance, Odette could tell this would be a safe place for her son.
She kept the bag filled with water bottles and food enough for a few hours and gently hugged Gideon. He had tears in his eyes, almost popping out, but with tightened lips, he nodded and clung to his mother for one last time until they met again.
She was breaking inside…
"There is a small taser inside Gideon." Her hands brought him close to her heart. "Don't ever use it to hurt yourself or anyone innocent." Soft hands placed on his head swam through his hair in wary.
"Use it if anyone comes here to hurt you, and straight away run to mommy in the library."
"Mommy…I'm a little scared." Gideon sniveled. Odette hugged him tightly, kissing his head a few times before pushing a smile.
"It's just going to be a few hours, and I promise I will come back for you, okay?" Her eyes shone with tears pooling and dripping down her face. With that, she left her son. She tightly locked the doors and checked outside for any threats before leaving.
This walk back to the mansion was the hardest thing she had ever done. It tormented her and filled her with terror. She feared intensely that something would happen to Gideon. Her feet begged her to run back, to hug him, and to flee from this place. But when she closed her eyes, all she could ever think of was how kind these people had been to her, despite how their master treated her.
She wanted to repay all the days of them cooking, cleaning her laundry, and making her feel at ease by setting them free. Saving their master was their job, but she, of course, had a part to play.
Back at the mansion, Odette faced the next biggest hurdle.
"Where would they be locked away?"
She never knew the place that served as the entrance to the cellars. In the desolate land, where only empty buildings stood lifeless…slow footsteps began to roam. Careful and measuring every single breath she took. She passed the kitchen and the usual pathway to the library, then she passed the ballroom that was left with a floor stained and reeking of alcohol and blood. The screams of pain and the panic seemed to echo in that place. Such a beautiful moment was destroyed in seconds.
Contemplating eyes looked around, and everything began to stop when she felt like those echoes were actually not her mind haunting her, but some people screaming for help. Passing the ballroom, she entered the house where Caius once said his mother lived. Inside that building was a staircase that led upwards, and behind that staircase was a steel door covered with heavy curtains, and from there came subtle screams.
In fear. In utter desperation and a sliver of hope, she approached , drawing the curtains apart, and her heart ripped into pieces of anxiety. Indeed, there were some muffled people locked inside; she could hear women scream.
"How can I even go in?"
This thought clouded her, but the next minute every hair on her body stood on end when a hand slithered onto her shoulder, and she riveted back with a fist ready to attack.
"It's me!" Mister Kingsley…the librarian.
Odette almost clocked the old man in his weary face that carried lesions and a gash on his nose and lips. She stopped at once before any punch landed on him and took a step back to watch in shock.
Usually, Kingsley was as neat as a new pin. She remembered every time she returned a book, he would speak so ceremoniously and keep everything around him tidy . looking at him now,…
"Your…" she found herself tearing up and wondering what Nathaniel's men did to the maids and servants in here. "What happened mister Kingsley?"
Shushing her , he dragged her to a corner and started to sniffle. There was fear written in his face. He was still wearing the same outfit he wore to the gathering, but nothing in him was well-kept; he was disheveled. He was beaten up. One side of his face was purple and seemed to have taken a couple of battering. The cut on his nose had clotted blood now dried, matching the slit on his lips that bled bright red, and seemed to be fresh. His shirt was tattered, and his coat was nowhere to be seen. He was missing one shoe, and his fingers looked like he had crawled out of the mud after a heavy rain.
"We thought they took you forever, young miss." He sized her up and felt relieved. "We wanted to come get you, but our master he…" His body visibly shook because of starvation, fatigue, and blood loss. He could only muffle out his words and lean against the wall. "he is nearing his end soon, young miss."
Kingsley held a gaze of melancholy.
"His wounds are festering so much you can hear him wheeze."
Odette felt a strong pounding in her heart as she held Kingsley by his shoulders. "Were you able to sneak in to see him?"
The librarian nodded weakly. "I know a secret way to get in."
Hope, but is it also fear? She has been given a way to see Caius, but does she really want to see him? Does she really want to do what she wanted to do here so that no one will ever die an unjust death? Still holding him by his shoulders and helping him to stay steady, Odette sighed and looked up at the staircase, slithering towards a place she couldn't see from where she was. She had to do it. Or else she will carry the guilt of this entire mansion being burned to a crisp till the day she dies.
Looking back at Kingsley , she asked, "Are you able to show me where he is locked away?" Gaze resolute yet hiding so many uncertainties, Kingsley took a moment to search those mousy eyes and nodded.
As she walked the gloomy, bare mansion…Kingsley accompanied her to show the way. The road he took led to the laundry room. According to him, the main entrance of the cellars was near the old master's office. Other than that entrance, there were two more leading to the underground basement used by the butlers and the lieutenants. This was also the road that was used to bring dead people out of the cellars.
Upon entering the laundry room, he gestured for her to hurry as they walked past many baskets of heaping clothes. Odette caught a strong scent of cinnamon detergent. Fresh memories of Diana dragging her into this place to save her from Caius resurfaced, and she felt coarse. The responsibility of repaying that kindness now began to drown her heart little by little. She was slowly drawn to a dead end where there was no choice left but to face Caius as well.
Speaking of dead ends…both Kingsley and Odette actually stopped walking as they came into a dead end. A thick wall made out of strong marble rock. Confused, she looked at the librarian, who, with a satisfied nod, began to hit the wooden floor subtly with his right foot. He was detecting something.
"You're very sure this is the secret passage way, Mr. Kingsley?" Odette blinked and watched
Kingsley nodded without sparing her a glance. "We have to find the entrance. Give me a moment, young miss, I can find it."
It was as he said, after a few minutes of feeling out the wooden floor with his foot, he hit on the area that created the corner of the wall. The entrance door was a big square-shaped wooden door. Seeing this, a slight grin fell upon the man and traveled to the lips of the woman as well. Together, they lifted the wooden lid away, revealing a ladder, dark and murky. It was eaten up by strong rust…the smell of blood and sweat echoed with the low abiding winds, wild and chaotic inside. Odette could not see what was at the core clearly, but she could hear the echo of the wind.
Taking a deep breathe she turned back to face the elder and smiled. Bowing her head. "Thank you for helping me find a way to save him." Her eyes held no ulterior motives, and Kingsley knew that she could be trusted. This was why he did not want to risk hurting her.
"I'll come with you, Miss."
"No…" Odette shook her head. She placed her hand on his shoulder and tried to speak as gently as she could. She put weight upon every word she said. "I want you to go and hide away near the main entrance." She smiled with eyes filled with tears. This is the last time she will be seeing anyone from the mansion. "Your master will come there."
"You don't intend on coming back with us." Kingsley cut her off sternly. "I know that you want to return home…" he sighed, melancholic eyes staring at her gentle face. "Your actual home is far away, I know."
Odette took a deep breath. For a moment, there was silence, and she didn't want to waste her energy speaking. This mutual understanding brought peace to her mind, and that led to a beam of relief in her face. She nodded slowly and fought back tears.
"I miss my home, Kingsley." They swelled up atop the rim of her eyes. "My son has to live a life that is not sealed with a bloodied family."
…
"Let me come down with you, miss." Kingsley tightened his courage. "I will help you take master away, and we will part ways there."