Black 21: (Golden Hills Legacy of Black 21 Book 1) (9 page)

Jack’s voice
broke her peace. “That’ll be it. Clean her up,” he instructed a maiden who
appeared out of nowhere. She took Daisy by the hands and led her through a
door. As she passed Christian, Daisy reached her hand out to touch his wet face
and smiled. She then followed the girl who closed the door behind her.

The maiden
placed Daisy face down on a cot, and with gentle hands stroked her wounds with
swabs and ointment. She looked like she was straight out of the 1800s.

She closed her
eyes and tried to hear any words on the other side of the wall, something to
tell her what was happening, but only silence answered.

The girl spoke
then for the first time in a brogue. “I don’t believe this...where are they?
They were just here!”

Daisy turned to
look at her. “Excuse me, what was just here?”

“I was just
cleaning them, I swear. I don’t get it,” the girl said, backing away.

“What’re you
talking about?” Daisy asked, frustrated now.

“Your lashes
are gone! Completely gone! It’s as if they were never..." The girl ran to
the door and rushed through it, saying something in another language.

Daisy sat up
and tried to feel her back. The girl was right, it was smooth. Her wounds had
healed again. She jumped off the cot and tugged her dress back on.

Christian ran
through the open door to her and pulled her to him. “Thank God you’re all
right, Daisy! I prayed you could heal yourself and you did. You scared the crap
out of Elizabeth,” he said with a chuckle.

She pressed her
face to his chest and held him. “I never felt a thing. I was protected,
Christian.”

“I know, honey.
And now we need to get outside...fast.”

“Why?”

“Dane.”

Daisy watched in
horror as they hanged Dane from an old Oak tree over a bonfire, his feet stable
on a wooden stool, in the center of devil worshipers enjoying the view.
Something told her that tree lynched many people in its time.

His begging
cries speared her soul. She ran to the front of everyone cheering. Christian
grabbed her to hold her back. “You lied to me!” she screamed at Jack. “You said
no one would die!”

“No, I believe
it was you who said that if I whipped you. I never said a thing. And I see
you’re feeling fine after that?" He sauntered over to her, caressing her
arm, smiling.

She yanked her
arm from his touch, feeling like poison touched her skin. She gritted her
teeth. “You never responded, so I thought it was an unspoken agreement, you
monster!”

The cries from
her aunt in the crowd broke her heart. “Daisy, please help my boy! I know what
he did was not right, but don’t allow this. He already took away my Delores.
Please!” Aunt Betty cried into her hands.

“Delores?” she
asked Jack, sick at the sight of him smiling.

“Their daughter
they gave up to me to get the son they always wanted. Well, here he is. I’m
sure they’re so proud of him,” he said in a sing-song voice. “Delores was my
pet, my toy. I enjoyed her immensely,” he said, staring off as if lost in
memory. “But then I got bored and killed her,” he said, shrugging his
shoulders.

She could see
Uncle Joe with his arm around his wife’s shoulder. His other hand balled in a
fist to his side.

“You’re
disgusting,” she said, looking him in the eye.

“You didn’t
mind when I was powdering you with that puff in your bathroom, now did you?” he
mocked.

“I knew
it." She could see Christian’s worried look, wondering what he referred
to.

Jack waved his
arm at Dane. “Well, I’m done here. Say goodbye to your cousin, Daisy. You can’t
save him. God can’t even save him.”

The first of
twelve church bells tolled.

“No!" She
turned to watch as Dane was lowered into the pit of fire, could hear his
tortured screams. Christian ran up to her to shield her eyes and ears.

The tolls
continued. The screams from Dane continued. The look of horror on everyone’s
face, frozen as they watched. Aunt Betty’s face, Uncle Joe’s face, Eric’s face,
her father’s and Gloria’s face, William’s face, Lydia’s face, Charlotte’s face,
Christian’s face, and finally Jack’s smiling face on the last one.

Silence at the
twelfth toll witnessed by the starless sky. A wolf howled. An owl hooted.

Christian
wouldn’t let her look when she tried to turn. “No. It’s better you don’t see,
Daze." Christian said into her hair, wiping away her tears.

Her uncle
carried her aunt out after fainting at the sight of her son’s death.

Jack’s voice
boomed in the night. “My people, bow down to your new rulers. In just less than
two months, they officially rule this town.”

The crowd
pulled down their hoods and bowed in accordance, chanting in hushed tones.

“Christian, get
me out of here,” Daisy whispered in his ear. “I can’t take it anymore,” she
said, shaking.

“Leaving so
soon? But the party just got started,” Jack said. He snapped his fingers at
Lydia who stood by the burning ashes of Dane.

She dropped her
dress, swaying to rock music blasting out of speakers disguised as rocks. The
moon glistened on her body, emphasizing her curves.

Daisy looked up
to find Christian in some sort of a trance, watching her dance. “Christian?”

Jack walked to
Lydia and gave her a deep kiss, her blonde hair hanging down her back as he
pulled it down, sticking his long black tongue down her throat. He waved
Christian to join him.

“Christian!” Daisy
grabbed his face to force him to look at her. She slapped him but nothing.

He pulled away
from her and met Jack who guided him to continue his kiss.

Daisy turned
and ran back to the parking lot. She couldn’t watch him kiss her. There was no
lot, no cars. Only trees and bushes. She ran through them, scratching herself.
Her dress tore on a branch. A bench appeared and she sat, wondering what to do.
A howl in the distance made her jump. She pulled her knees up to her face and
rocked.

“Daisy?” a
man’s voice yelled out.

“Christian?"
She heard rustling through branches and held her breath. The thought of seeing
him now gave her chills.

“It’s me, Eric.
Christian asked me to take you home. Are you okay?" He held his hand out
for her.

“He’s with her,
isn’t he?” she asked, knowing the answer.

“It’s not like
that, Daisy. Here, let me get you back to Stone Manor and out of that
dress." He caught her wide eyes at that last part. “I mean for you to get
pajamas on...sorry.”

They finally
got to the parking lot and found his black Camaro. Christian’s car was still
there. The memory of him kissing her inside it brought tears.

Eric opened her
door and then got in on his side. “Look, I know this looks bad, but you have to
trust Christian." He pulled out of the near empty lot and drove down King
Road. Her heart ached.

He wiped his
glasses off with his shirt and turned to her. “He didn’t kiss Lydia out there
like you think, Daisy. He stopped and told Jack no.”

“So where is he
then?”

“He just had
some business to handle with his father and Jack for his big day...
your
big day,” he corrected himself.

“So Lydia just
put her clothes back on and walked away is what you’re telling me?" She
lifted her eyebrow.

“No, Jack got
angry with Christian for not obeying. He had sex with her in his true form,
Daisy.”

“What?”

Eric began to
cry. He pulled over to a side street and sobbed for his childhood friend.

Daisy unclicked
her seat belt and hugged him. She allowed unfinished tears to fall with his.
“Oh, my God. Eric...”

“I’m sorry,
Daisy. I feel like a fool." He wiped at his nose and cleared his throat.

“No, Eric. You
just lost your friend. This place really is hell…”

“But you must
know how Christian feels about you. He never went against Jack before, ever. He
used to...”

She touched his
face. “Finish...he used to what?”

“He used to
enjoy being with the girls, sometimes more than one at a time. He really loves
you, Daisy.”

She sat back in
her seat. She tried to picture him doing those things like Eric said. Women
kissing and loving on her Christian, him loving on them. Those thoughts needed
to go. Tears blurred her vision. She liked Lydia. “How can Christian do
business with Jack after what he did tonight?”

“He had no
choice, Daisy. He knows Jack will kill you if he doesn’t go along with what he wants
with the plans. He proved it by killing Lydia. It was a message." He wiped
his glasses again from the tear streaks.

“Are you sure
you’re okay to drive, Eric? I can if you need me,” she offered, rubbing his
shoulder.

“Christian’s a
lucky man, Daisy." He looked at her with a sad smile. “I need to go to
Chicago to find a girl like you,” he added, chuckling.

“Well, that
girl would be lucky to have you!”

He wiped his
eyes and started the engine.

The streets looked
the same as they did a few nights ago. No life. Thoughts scattered through her
mind of tonight’s events.

After Eric
drove through the gates of Stone Manor and into the driveway, he turned to her.
“Are you sure you can let yourself in okay? I don’t mind walking you to the
door.”

She smiled at
him and kissed his cheek. “I’ll be fine, Eric. You’re such a gentleman for
taking care of me. Christian would be proud.”

“I don’t feel
like a gentleman, Daisy. What I want to do is run off with you and never come
back. Do you always have that effect on guys?”

“Not that I’m
aware." She kissed him on the lips this time, something she felt he
needed. It wasn’t a deep kiss, just a soft, human touch. Something to remind
them that there is good in the world. No matter what they experienced tonight,
there was still good out there.

When she pulled
away, he thanked her. “I needed that.”

“I know,” she
whispered. She got out, walked slowly up the marble steps, the heaviness of the
night on her back, and turned back to him once more and mouthed thank you.

He smiled and
nodded.

James let her
in and she walked up the stairway to her room. She threw her dress off and
looked in the mirror. The new scratches she obtained were gone. Perfect smooth
skin.

The pouch still
lay in its place on the vanity table. She opened it and took the cross out.
After kissing it, she clasped it around her neck for the night.

She slipped on
her silky nightgown and collapsed into bed, tugging the blankets up to hide
under. The ticking of the clock kept her awake. Just as she was about to fall
asleep, a knock at the door startled her.

“Daisy, it’s
me. Can I talk to you?”

She
contemplated letting him in. Was it really the loving Christian she knew or
some demonic carbon copy?

“Please,
Daisy.”

And then she remembered
what he’d been through tonight as well, what he saw. “Hang on." She
grabbed her matching robe and opened the door.

“I’m so sorry,
honey." He tried pulling her to him, but she didn’t know what to believe,
what to trust. He looked defeated. The smell of alcohol wafted from him, but
that couldn’t be.

“Come in,
Christian. I need to hear it from you what happened.”

They sat in the
two chairs in the sitting area near the window. He told her exactly what Eric
had said. His shirt was partially opened and looked disheveled. She wanted to
run to him and rain kisses on his face, cradle his head to her breasts. But
something bugged her. “Were you drinking, Christian?”

“A little,
why?”

“I thought you
stopped after your mother?”

“I don’t at
parties. This was no party.”

She wondered if
she could believe him. She didn’t know what to believe anymore.

“Are you sure
you’re okay, Daisy? I’m so sorry about Dane. Come here, baby. Let me hold you,”
he begged. He held his arms out for her.

Daisy bit her
lip and then couldn’t contain herself. She got up and flew into his arms. “It’s
been such a horrible night, what happened to Dane, watching you almost kiss
another woman, and then her dying for you not kissing her." She allowed
him to kiss her then, tasting the vodka.

“God help me,
but I want you so much, Daisy!" He picked her up and carried her to the
bed.

“Christian, no!
What’re you doing? He’ll have us both killed!”

He pushed her
against the pillows and crushed his mouth to her breasts. “I’d die for you,” he
groaned against her skin.

After she
wrestled him off her, he calmed down and pulled her to him. “Please forgive me,
Daisy. I couldn’t help it, but you’re right. I’m not letting anything else
happen to you.”

They lay in
each other’s arms for a while before she sent him to his room.

Morbid thoughts
trampled her mind. Dane again as a little boy. His eyes pleading with her. The
look on Aunt Betty’s face as he died. Her little boy. Her only child left. Jack
had taken both of her children now. He was good at that. She stained the pillow
with her tears. Was Christian just as sad in his room? Did he shed tears for
his best friend? For Lydia?

Her life before
coming here seemed so far away. Like it never happened.

Being a
kindergarten teacher was all she ever wanted. The thought of giving all that up
put a hole in her heart. To teach little kids brought joy, something this town
needed. That sweet girl who gave her daisies had to be in a school, right? She
never really noticed the kids here before, but now she began to think.

Maybe she could
bring her joy of teaching here? Joy in itself was needed here.

After thinking
about it more, she allowed sleep to come. And dreamed of little girls with
black wilted flowers. They said in a dead voice the words, “You can’t save us,
Daisy,” over and over.