Behind Locked Doors

[QueenMischief]

Annabelle nodded and gently sat in the chair with her ankles crossed as her mother had taught her to do, her posture straight. Annabelle smiled to herself at what her mother used to say in French, "We may be paupers but I want all who see you to think you are a princess." She waited for this Ms. Olivia a bit curiously, her mouth quirked to the side cutely as Jacques mentioned she always did when she was thinking. "I hope she isn't too loud, I either shy away like a mouse or roar like a lion, Jacques always said." She chuckled softly and smiled as she looked around the room with her eyes.

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

"She's just a very lively person. Always has been. She is very sweet but don't be offended by anything she says. I believe she doesn't have a filter and just says what ever comes to mind." Isaac watch Annabelle smile and look around the room. It made him smile very briefly at her but he turned his eyes away from her. "This is the drawing room. Feel free to use it when ever. This is typically where I would meet my guests, now I just use it to read in."


Isaac tensed up as he heard the front door open and shut. Lord, she was here.


"So rude to keep me waiting. Where is Isaac? " Her voiced filled the house with an annoying whine to it. Within second the butler lead Ms.Olivia into the drawing room.


"Isaac!" Ms. Olivia screeched happily. She was like a bird. A really loud annoying bird.


"Ms. Olivia, its a pleasure." Isaac rose and took her hand, kissing it light before showing sitting back down. "Ms. Olivia, this i Annabelle. She will be staying with me now and she has some room she needs designing. Also I will need you to get her measurements so you can get her a few dresses till she makes her own.


Olivia walked over to Annabelle and pulled her up by her shoulders and spun her around, taking in everything about her,


"My Isaac, what a catch! She your new bride?" Part of her was excited and annoyed. "Why didn't you tell me!"


"No no no." He waved his hands in the air and smiled. "You have got it wrong. Annabelle will be saying with me for awhile. I agreed to take her in for work. I want to make sure she has everything she wants and needs."


Olivia nodded and turned back to Annabell.


"My, you are a pretty one. I bet all the boys fall in love with you." She laughed with a nasally sound.

 

[QueenMischief]

Annabelle smiled politely when she heard them talking. "Yes, he agreed to take me in." She muttered somewhat bitterly under her breath. She hated how it sounded as if he were doing her a favor. Of course he was just lying to her but it still was irksome. "A few boys did approach me in my teenage years but I was a wild thing and couldn't be tamed. I liked my um... freedom." The word tasted weird in her mouth as she said it but she shook it off. "You must do well yourself, you seem ah, bubbly." She said, always trying to see the good in people. "It's good to have that kinda of energy."

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

"Oh darling, if you stay like that..you'll never find a husband!" She laughed again and turned to Isaac. "Now what rooms do I need to work on?" Isaac pointed up.


"The second floor. Those three empty bedroom. Annabelle will take you to each one and tell you what she wants. Afterwards, come get me and I will give you the funds to get everything. Do exactly as Annabelle says. Its to be the way she wants it." Isaac leaned back into his chair and grabbed his book. This was something for women to do and he had no idea how to help. He also was starting to tire of Olivia already.


"Alright, come one then dear!" Olivia pulled Annabelle out of the room and up the stairs. "First lets get your measurement and then we can talk about decor!" She pulled Annabelle into Isaacs room and shut the door. The room was average sized with one simple long window. Everything was dressed in dark black bad purple colors and velvet. There was a large bed, two chairs in front of the fire place, a wardrobe, a desk and a book self. There was a side table as well that had a picture of Isaac and his wife on their marriage day. Both of them smiled happily in the photo and Isaac had life in his eyes, unlike now.

 

[QueenMischief]

After she got her measurements taken Annabelle looked around the room. "I want it to all be a light blue, the lightest you can find, like a summer sky... The crown molding will be white like the clouds and the furniture will be a sandy color just like gram cracker crumbs of the shore by the sea. Then I want a mural of the sea on this side right here. If it can't be done, I can do it myself." She said determinedly. Somehow, some way she was going to get her house by the ocean. "While you think about that, I'm going to give this to Issac, I don't want anything bad to happen to it." She said and picked up the picture with gentle hands. She walked down the stairs and gingerly set the picture down beside him on the nightstand. "I thought I'd bring you this, I didn't want anything to happen to it during the remodeling." Annabelle said compassionately.

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

Isaac looked up from his book and saw the picture of his wife. He nodded to her a thank you. "We are going to have the movers move my stuff to a very back room, so this will go along with it. Ill keep it in here till everything is complete." She picked the black and white photo up for a second and sighed. After a moment, he sat it back down and looked up to Annabelle. "Is she giving you everything you need? Make sure she listens. She will try to sneak stuff in with out you realizing. Be stern with her and remind her that she is getting a very large sum of money to do as you say." Isaac sat his book down and took out his pocket watch. Lunch would be ready soon and he knew Olivia would be very hungry.

 

[QueenMischief]

"I haven't really given her a chance to tell me no yet. But rest assured, I am as Jacques says, a lioness." She said confidently and left the room with a sway in her step. She walked back upstairs to see Ms. Olivia. "Did you write down my instructions? I can repeat myself if it would help." She said kindly.

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

Olivia was sitting down in one of Isaacs chairs, writing in a little leather bound note book and muttering to herself. "So far I think so. Some items will take a few weeks to arrive but some I can get from the towns around here." Standing up and closing her book, Olivia gave Annabelle gave a big kiss on the cheek and whispered to her. "Try and maybe get him to go outside some more. And maybe be a bit happier. He never explained why you were living here but that is enough to maybe snap him out of what ever ails him. Be patient." She gave her another kiss and turned to go into the hall way and down the stairs. "Isaac! I have the list and now I need my mmmmooonnnneeeeyyyy." Isaac met her at the end of the stairs and handed her a bank note. "Come back if you need more. For now, that should be more then enough." Olivia snatched the note and walked straight to the kitchen. She could smell the food cooking. Isaac shook his head at her and the looked up the stairs to Annabelle. "Join us. And please do eat this time. My butler went through a lot of trouble to make this nice." He smiled up at her and turned to follow Olivia into the dinning room.

 

[QueenMischief]

"Actually, I'm not feeling well. Tell your kind butler that I am so sorry and not to make me dinner either, I probably won't feel up to it." She did truly feel nauseous. She was lying to herself, in her mind all this morning she had tried to make herself believe that everything would be alright. But it wouldn't it just wouldn't. "Excuse me, I'm going to go to my room." She said then swiftly left. Annabelle thought about what Olivia had said and it only made her more sick. She didn't want to take care of him, her captor the man who put her in this cage she never belonged in, this prison of his depression, a place stuck in the past when her heart always longed to move forward. And now she was to take care of a man who hurt her, who took her away from her family?! Her head was spinning faster and she felt herself grow more and more sick, she ran to the bathroom and threw up water, practically nothing, but the heaving hurt her stomach. The stress was making her ill, and she was having a hard time coping. She tried to keep her hair out of her face as tears ran down her cheeks and she threw up what little there was in her stomach.

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

Isaac understood why she didn't want to join them for dinner. She putting on a fine act with the smiles and going along with everything. At the table, Olivia just about ate everything in sight. She was a health and slim girl but she loved her food. Between each mouthful, she would tell him some sort of gossip going on in the outside world. He would nod at her in certain parts but mostly everything went in one ear and out the other. He only are slowly and watched the candle on the table eat away the wax.


"Isaac? Did you hear me?" Olivia asked.


"Hmm?" He looked back up to Olivia and saw that her face was serious.


"What is going on about that girl? Why is she here? I swear there were moments up there I thought she was going to burst into tears."


Isaac's stomach soured at her questions and tried to think of the best way to answer.


"She is a friend of the family. They sent her here to work but she couldn't afford living. My parents wrote me and asked me to take care of her." He lied. Olivia knew what he use to do for a living, in fact she was one herself. She was the one who would tell him where to go. He didn't want to admit that he was forcing the girl to stay and keeping her silent but Olivia had a big mouth and Isaac couldn't take a chance.


"Don't lie to me Isaac. I know you better then that. Look...I don't know what is going on but you can't keep this up forever. Sooner or later you will have to let her go." At first Isaac thought he was talking about Annabelle but by the look on her face, she meant his wife.


"There is nothing to let go of. She dead." He snapped at her. 'I can see you are finished so I advise to go shopping for some dresses. Make sure to get only ones with pockets in them?


"Pockets? Olivia raised an eyebrow.


"Yes, pockets. She enjoys them so bring them to her. Also make sure to bring all the things she needs to create a sewing room. Understand?" He gave her a deadly look and she nodded quickly.


Olivia left soon after a few more drinks and headed straight into town. She would most likely be back early tomorrow morning to surprise Annabelle with all the things she got her.


"Maybe it will do some good for the hell I am creating...." His whispered to himself.

 

[QueenMischief]

Annabelle sat on the floor for a good ten minutes, her face blanched and glistening with sweat. She wiped her forehead gently and picked herself up once she had caught her breath. She looked at herself in the mirror and stared. She looked positively unwell. Shakily, she splashed a bit of water on her face, then washed her mouth out with a bit of soap to get rid of the awful taste of bile on her tongue.


When she came back out she did not look to be well but she forced a tiny smile on her face. She was determined to make the best of this. Or... perhaps she was lying to herself again, what did it matter really? She only looked up to notice that Olivia was gone then she sat down on the sofa and stared into the fireplace, nearly lifeless, yet her eyes had a glow in them that showed she hadn't given up. Her mind was reeling of ways to escape.

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

Weeks have passed and the rooms were finally ready and decorated. Olivia did her best to make sure everything was perfect for Annabelle and Isaac did his bets to give her space.


Isaac was sitting in the drawing room, reading on one of his favorites. It was midday but the room was dark thanks to the shades being shut. There was a bad winter storm coming in soon and everything would be colder soon. Most the rooms with fireplaces, were lit and stocked so it could be warm. Isaac made sure that Annabelle's rooms were always warm and that new book were given to her for reading.


He had started to grow fond of Annabelle being around, even if he believed she hated him.


Maybe it was time to tell her the truth. Maybe it was time she got the full story of why all this was here. But at the same time, maybe it still wasn't wise he tel her anything. It didn't matter at the moment. Olivia was on her way to drop off a gift and specially ordered for her.


By the hours, Olivia had arrived and given him the box.


He went to Annabelles room and knocked softly. He then left the box on the ground with a note saying "For your beautiful ocean. P.S Olivia is here to visit you. Please meet her down in the drawing room." It was a box of the finest paints and pain brushes. It was full with every color imaginable.


After setting it down, he quickly retreated to his room and shut the door,

 

[QueenMischief]

During the weeks that had past she had only had one near successful escape attempt. Ever since then she started to accept her fate. She did smile a bit when she received the box however. She went down to the drawing room to meet Olivia with a polite smile. "Hello Ms. Olivia, I hope you are doing well."

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

"Hello darling!" Olivia set down her cup of tea and motioned for her to sit down. "I came by to drop something off. Something that came straight from Paris! He made was very strict about where I got them from. I hope you enjoy them, they were very hard to get." Olivia poured a cup of tea for Annabelle. "Now, I personally asked you to come down here because of something I am planning for Isaac but first....how well do you know Isaac's past? Has he told you anything?" Olivia knew that he had not gone into anything about his past since Annabelle started to live there but Olivia wanted to know how observant Annabelle was.

 

[QueenMischief]

Annabelle looked wary of her now, she wasn't sure if Issac had already trusted her with his past or not and being a loyal woman she wasn't about to tell her anything just in case. "I know enough." She said a bit stiffly and glanced around the room for him with her eyes. Where was he?

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

"I can see things are tense between you too." Olivia took another sip of tea and sat it down. "When Isaac was younger, he fell in love with a poor mans daughter. Which you can imagine for someone at his status, it very bad. He wanted to marry her but both the families didn't allow it. So, with the little money he had, he took her away to the stop of this hill and married her. He wanted everything for her but sadly everything comes at a price." Olivia sat back in her chair, her face serious as she stared at Annabelle. "He lost his family so that meant his right to family money. After the marriage and the buy her the house, he ran out of money. He was a young boy and didn't spend very well. I believe he was only 18. So...one day a stranger offered him work. He knew it was not the good kind of work but it was enough to live on. His wife had no clue about this and thought he was working as a laborer or a craftsmen. In honestly, he was working as a hitman. He was paid a grad amount of money to kill people the day before a dual, that way the other would win by default. Its more common then you think. He also got into the act to looting and stealing. He made a lot of money." Olivia was silent for a second and tried to listen for Isaac, to see if he was close by and listening in. She assumed he wasn't. "His wife became pregnant with child but it made her very ill. The doctors said that they didn't know if she could make it through child birth but she wanted the child. Costs for the doctors were high so he had to do more work. When she got closer and closer to her due date, she got sicker. The one day...."


"That is enough Olivia!" Isaac stepped into the room, making Olivia jump from her seat.


"I-Isaac!?" Olivia stammered. "I didn't hear you coming."


"I want you to leave Olivia. It is not your place to talk about such things!" Isaac's face was calm but his eyes held fire.


"But..."


"Leave. I will call on you if I need your assistance."


Olivia nodded and rose from her chair. Before walking out, she grabbed Annabelles hands and smiled at her.


"Olivia! Now."


"Alright, alright, I'm going but..." She stopped in front of him and poked him hard in the chest. "But you finish! She has a right to know if she is staying in this house as a captive!"


"Olivia..." He growled.


"Fine, Im gone." She turned out the door and stomped out of the house.


Isaac watched her slam the door shut before going to take his seat in his normal chair.


"I'll make it quick, the reasons he died was because of me. She learned of what I was doing and didn't approve. It made her loose hope so when the child was born...she didn't try and live....She died because she didn't want to be with a monster like me. So now you know."

 

[QueenMischief]

Annabelle looked thoughtful for a few moments. "Do you find it hard to forgive yourself because she never forgave you?" She asked this gently as if her very words might break him. Her big brown eyes looked up into his with a glimmer of compassion.

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

Isaac sat thoughtful for a second but then rose from his chair. "Yes and no..." He walked over to Annabelle and leaned over, so that his hands held him up and he his face was only inches from her. "I don't forgive myself because I don't deserve forgiveness. You know that as well as I do. If I deserved forgiveness..." He reached his hand up and cupped her chin gently to make her look up at him. His eyes were sad as he looked into hers. "You wouldn't have to be here...." After a short moment, he moved back up and away from her.


"Come with me, I have a gift for you." He held out his hand for her to take.

 

[QueenMischief]

Annabelle wasn't prepared to feel the spark zip through her body when he was so close to her. She didn't know what came over her but her cheeks were flushed and her heart was racing even though he was no longer so close to her. "I think that if a man is willing to change his ways and his heart is pure then he deserves forgiveness." She decided and gently held his hand to support him as she let him lead her.

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

Isaac chuckled at her comment and shook his head. "What an innocent thing to say, I wish thing were that easy. Come." He lead her out of the Drawing room and towards the back door. "As they were preparing your room, I had someone come in and create something for you." He took out his skeleton key and unlocked the door. Beyond the door was a large and beautiful garden. A stone trail ran through it to the base that had a canopy, benches and a small soft swing. The garden was had only winter flowers that grew and survives. "When spring comes, I will be putting roses and other flowers in." He lead her out into the Garden and placed his overcoat over her shoulders to keep her warm. There was light snow on the ground but there was a soft sprinkle of snow in the air. It gave everything a magical feel to it. "What do you think?"

 

[QueenMischief]

"It makes living here a little bit easier that is for certain." She gently squeezed his hand then looked up into his eyes. "I appreciate the gesture Issac, truly." She leaned a bit closer to him and sighed, her warm breath creating a cloud in the cold air. "I know you think it's your fault for what happened to your wife and child, but I think it is just as sad that she didn't fight to stay, that she didn't forgive you. Because... I think that's what love is, if you love a person and they're trying to change, then you ought to at least try to be there for them. And, you're not a bad person really." She said gently, then left his side to kneel down beside a flower and gently touch its petals.

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

Isaac said nothing to her reply. He only watched her. She shinned like the sun in the snow, warming everything she was around. He had caused her so much pain in the last few weeks and yet she was still kind to him. He didn't deserve that.


"Lets go inside and warm you up. This door will be open for you, so you may visit the garden whenever you like. I have some arrangements to be made so lets eat and settle in for the day." He didn't lock the door after escorting her inside and he never through what that would mean. She would have a was to escape but he had something else on his mind and didn't think to lock it.


____


When evening came the the night got darker and colder, Isaac sat in his chair in his room. He had another book the butler had brought him and it was a newer book.


Olivia came into his room unannounced and landed against the door frame.


"Your going to run out of money again at this rate." She said.


"So, and this is your business how?" He didn't even bother to look up at her. He did however wonder why she was here.


"Its not...it just I could get your some work."


"No." He snapped.


"Just a few times. They are willing to pay good money."


"You know I don't do that anymore." He snapped his book shut and glared at her for even bringing it up.


"Oh get over yourself." Olivia turned and left him, slamming the door behind him.


Isaac sighed and started to get ready for bed.


Olivia walked down the hall and knocked onto Annabelle's room.


"You master is asleep and he left the doors unlocked. If you want freedom, I have a carriage ready in the village for you. Leave now." She then left the house into her own carriage to wait for Annabelle at the village.

 

[QueenMischief]

Annabelle didn't know what to think or say. Her common sense told her to flee, yet in her heart... she was afraid for him. She was worried what would become of him if she left. "I... I can't. He'll be all alone..." She said with concern.

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

Olivia sat waiting and wondering if the girl would take the chance or not. In full honestly, she didn't know what she hoped. She knew Isaac very well and knew he was in need of a companion but she also know what he was doing was just as wrong compared to his past. It was like he was digging a hole and instead of climbing out, he was digging deeper since that was all he knew how to do. She was also concerned by the fact that she didn't know how much money he had. Was he purposely trying to spend it all or did he have a lot more then she realized.


But in the end, she hoped he would let the girl go. Olivia had gotten word that a man who hated Isaac for what he did was searching for him. Sooner or later he would find him, and if Annabelle was still there...it would be their demise. She could not warn Isaac because of the threat it would put her life in. She cared for him but she cared more about herself and living. He was wasting away while she did everything in her power to make her own life flourish.


____


After the little dispute with Olivia, Isaac couldn't concentrate on his book. The fire in his room was blazing and warm but he still felt cold. He lived every day with the feeling of coolness in his heart. The room was bright but each corner harbored shadows that dance and mocked him of his past. Maybe he should just go back into the game like Olivia wanted. His soul was damned already, so what did it matter if he continued.


Isaac closed his eyes and remembered the day his wife learned of his job. The look in her eyes of shame and disgust shook him to the core that day and he left her alone. That was the same day she died. He gave up after loosing the child and allowed death to take her soul away. Even now, he could still feel her haunting eyes burn into his flesh. What he did was wrong and her anger would haunt him...and he would allow it.


Slowly, as if his body was filled with sand, he made his way to the bed. He didn't bother putting the fire and laid on top of his sheets. His mind wondered to Annabelle. She looked beautiful today but he could still see the sadness in her eyes. Would she look the same if he told her the truth. He was destroying another life, and for what? His own safety? For this haunted house of memories. He tired his hardest to push away those through and get to sleep. In his minds eyes, the memory of Annabelle smiling in the snow brought a small to his face. Slowly he feel asleep with her in his mind.

 

[QueenMischief]

Annabelle was extremely conflicted. Finally she nodded and followed Olivia down the steps and put the front door. She carefully stepped inside the carriage and watched the house as it went further and further away from her. Annabelle could feel something deep within her, the kindness that her father had always praised. She saw the light go out in his room and she felt a knot in her stomach. Something inside her told her that he was her last hope. And she was leaving. "Stop the carriage!" She demanded, and as soon as it slowed, she jumped out and sprinted back up the hill by herself. She was nearly a mile away from the home and it was hard to walk through the dense snow in her heeled shoes. "Issac!!!" She yelled as she ran faster towards the house. Suddenly she heard the growl of a wolf then a howl and she froze, her heart beating faster.


She looked left and right and saw a pack of glowing eyes stalking her. In a panic, she grabbed a large stick and pointed it at them. She was too far from the carriage to go back, and too far from the house to move forward. "Get back!" She demanded, but the wolves only growled more. Then suddenly one lunged at her and bit at her heel, bringing her to the ground. She screamed in terror as she swung the stick around and hit the wolves as best as she could. But despite all of her efforts she was sure she would die.