Chapter 4

Later that day, the house was quiet. The wedding guests, if there had been any beyond a few of Chloe' s family, were gone.

I was still locked in the room.

I heard a commotion from the hallway, a shriek from Chloe.

"Oh, my goodness! Liam, help!"

I pressed my ear to the door again.

Chloe was sobbing. "My stomach... Savannah... I think she... she pushed me."

I heard Liam' s panicked voice. "Chloe! Are you okay? What happened?"

The door to my room burst open. Liam stood there, his face a mask of fury. Chloe was clinging to him, clutching her abdomen, her face pale.

There was a dark stain on the pristine white of her dress, near her waist. Stage blood. She'd planned this.

"Savannah, I know you're upset," Chloe whimpered, looking at me with wide, tear-filled eyes. "But please, don't hurt my baby! It's all I'll have left after Liam and I part ways..."

Her baby? After they parted ways? She was laying it on thick.

Liam stared at the "blood," then at me, his expression horrified.

"Savannah, you've gone too far!" he roared. "Security! Take her to the old root cellar. She'll stay there until she comes to her senses and apologizes to Chloe!"

The root cellar.

Terror, cold and absolute, gripped me. Not again. I couldn't go back there.

"I didn't touch her!" I pleaded, my voice shaking. "She's faking it, Liam! Can't you see? There is no baby!"

He wouldn't meet my eyes. "I see what's right in front of me," he said, his voice like ice. "You need to reflect on what you've done."

Two security guards appeared, the same ones who had brought me here.

They grabbed my arms.

I struggled, thrashed, screamed. "No! Liam, please! Don't do this!"

He just turned his back. Chloe gave me a fleeting, venomous glance over his shoulder.

They dragged me out of the luxurious room, down service stairs, through a dark, musty corridor.

Then, the heavy wooden door. The smell of damp earth and decay.

They shoved me inside, and the door slammed shut, the bolt thudding into place.

Darkness. Cold. The suffocating silence.

I sank to the dirt floor, tremors racking my body.

For two days, I endured. The memories were relentless, the phantom pains of my lost children, Liam's cruel words, the endless, hopeless nights.

My blood-bound token pulsed, stronger and stronger, a desperate call echoing in the spiritual fabric of my community.

I could feel them. Drawing nearer.

The pain of the token was intense now, a fire in my chest, but it was also a beacon of hope.

On the third day, I knew they were close.

I had to get out of the cellar before they arrived. I didn't want them to see me like this, to find me in this place of ultimate degradation.

I banged on the door. "Liam! Please! I'm sorry!"

It took a long time. Finally, the bolt scraped back.

Liam stood there, his expression wary. "Are you ready to apologize to Chloe?"

"Yes," I said, my voice hoarse. "I'm sorry. I was upset. I didn't mean to frighten her."

It was a hollow apology, but it was what he wanted to hear.

He seemed satisfied, a flicker of relief in his eyes. "Good. I knew you'd come around."