OPHELIA: Chapter 37
Blurb
Elizabeth Lockwick wants one thing… to ensure Ophelia remains dead.
For years she’s weaved a life seen through rose-coloured glasses in idyllic Vermont with her husband Sebastian Lockwick, an alluring man with a broken moral compass, whose intent lies in protecting his wife. However, apart from her unorthodox understanding of Sebastian’s dark and gritty hidden nature, she finds herself slipping away from her sanity in maintaining this picturesque life.
After receiving a gruesome gift from an unknown sender threatening to expose her, she finds herself haunted and possibly hunted by her buried past.
In order to make things right for herself and ensure that her secret is hidden, she reluctantly travels back to her sleepy small hometown in Wisconsin. A town where young girls seem to be mysteriously disappearing. There, she reunites with the dysfunctional Pierre-Louis’, a French-American family who sheltered her in their manor in her time of need.
With time slipping away, she struggles with her guilt and a dangerous affair and realizes that perhaps Ophelia wasn’t dead after all these years.
Elizabeth suddenly finds herself caught in a game of cat and mouse, unsure of which she really is this time and who she can trust.
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Chapter 37
A sudden knock on the door startled Vivian to attention. One of the few maids stood at the entrance of the door meekly with her head shyly down and spoke in a fine, soft voice. “Pardon me, Madam,” the girl swallowed.
“Yes Eva, what’s wrong?” Vivian frowned.
“There’s,” she paused a little and then continued, “There’s a man at the door, Officer Russel.” The girl seemed nervous. “He wishes to speak to you.”
“What’s Charlie doing here?” Ophelia mumbled in question to herself.
“Send him in,” Vivian instructed the girl, “And carry Miss Lucien downstairs for some fresh air in the garden.”
“Alright Madam.”
Ophelia walked alongside the young girl. This town hadn’t aged she thought. Even in her younger years they oppressed its people into thinking them lesser. The women always struggled the most. Leaving here felt like going into a new world, a new age.
“Are you alright, Madam?” The girl suddenly asked.
Ophelia hadn’t realized how terribly hot she began to feel. The air felt like it was thinning, and her blood was irritating her within the walls of this house. They both walked out of the house through the back door that led to this large yet neatly trimmed garden decorated with tall rose scrubs and a honey nectar scent drizzling through the soft air.
“I’ll bring you something to drink.” The girl politely smiled and left.
Beads of sweat began to evaporate from her forehead as she walked along the little stone track in the garden. It felt like a dream within a dream. A sweet dream twisted into a nightmare.
Behind the large scrub, sat a man on a bench with a frowned look plagued upon his face. A face she knew all too well. She could almost taste the coldness in his tone.
“Now what has my sister been filling your head with?”
Sebastian sighed as he tilted his head back to look at the sky above.
For the first time, Ophelia felt lost for words yet her thoughts a million at once. She thought he had left. Why was he still here?
“You look weary,” he continued, keeping his gaze upon the clouds. “Come sit with me.”
“Sebastian,” she breathed, “Why are you here?”
He chuckled, “Well I should be asking you the same, love. However, I might guess you’ve already gotten yourself acquainted with my darling sister.” His eyes remained stapled upon the sky until he carefully placed them upon Ophelia’s. “You’re afraid.” He soaked in her features. A subtle smile hinted at the edge of his lips, “Don’t be.” Sebastian lingered upon a second and continued, “You know I won’t hurt you.”
“Do I?”
“I’m simply asking you to trust me.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s dangerous.” He paused and then continued, “I admit that there are things of our past we have not exchanged, but I have never given you a reason to not trust me. If I had wanted to harm you, I would have and could have done so so very long ago.”
He stood causing her to take a step back. “You wound me,” he said with a sad subtle smile. He continued after taking in her silence, “Don’t get caught up in her game, Elizabeth. She’s losing and she’s desperate.”
Somehow Ophelia felt a sense of truth to his words. Yet, her mind was a blur. He walked past her and brushed his arm against hers. The scent of his spicy cologne trickled through her pores, leaving her in goosebumps.
Her knees felt weak after he left. Her breaths were fast and shallow and she felt her anxiety spike. “Miss?” The young girl returned with a jar of freshly squeezed orange juice and muffins that seemed still hot to the touch, “Are you alright?”
“Yes, uh, I-”
“Was someone here?”
“No, no,” Ophelia stated, and took a deep breath. She looked at the young girl with a sense of solemn. “You can join me if you wish.” She tried to smile, “I’d like a little company.”
With the girl sitting besides her, Ophelia frowned, “What’s your name?”
“Mary Steele,” she answered quite nervously. Perhaps she’d never had such company while at work.
Ophelia tried to ease the tension, “How long have you been working for this family?”
“I think a year?” She wondered to herself while nibbling into the muffin. Mary looked at her with her bright blue eyes, “You’re not from here are you, Madam?”
“Oh please,” Ophelia smiled, “You can call me Ophelia. And to answer your question, not anymore.”
“You’re quite lucky.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I wish I could have the opportunity to leave this place too one day.”
“And why can’t you?” Ophelia frowned.
“Financially my family and I can’t. The sheriff imposed new taxes on the middle- and lower-class citizens five years ago, so it’s been a struggle for any of us to leave. I’m supposed to be in law school by now but I have to help the rest of my family pay the bills which is why I’m here.”
Ophelia didn’t like the sound of it. Once again, the sheriff’s name had been called into something distasteful. “What’s the family like here?” She asked, trying to change the topic as she noticed the girl getting quite emotional.
“The Lockwicks?”
“Yes.”
“Odd,” she answered. “I don’t mean to sound like I’m speaking ill, I’m truly not. It’s just, leaving this family and going back home to mine makes me feel quite blessed for my own regardless of how little we have.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” Mary shifted uncomfortably, perhaps concerned to be speaking about her employers in such a manner, yet, she continued, “Madam Lockwick has her disabilities and yet she functions as if she has not one.” This somehow reminded her of Elaine. “The youngest of the daughters is the queerest. She’s rarely ever at home and, between you and I, does not act like a little girl at all. As for Miss Vivian, she-”
The sound of a woman calling out to Mary suddenly broke her sentence in half.
“That must be Madam Lockwick,” she stood in an alarm. “I should check upon her.”
“Yes, yes, I’ll be fine here,” Ophelia smiled, “Go on.” Before Mary left, Ophelia stopped her, “And Mary, you’ll get out of this town, I promise you.”
“Oh I hope so, Miss. Just this morning it was reported to have yet another missing girl case. It’s a concern for all of us, especially having three little sisters myself.”
Mary left with those words swirling into Ophelia’s mind. Another little girl gone missing. Surely the townsfolk weren’t so stupid to think these little girls were just running away. Anger flared within her blood. This town was sending her mad.
**
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