“Sorry,” she mumbled, not meaning it one bit. “It’s the only thing I saw to sterilize it, though.”
Adrien didn’t reply to her, just held onto his arm below his injured shoulder, mouth still twisted, eyes closed. As she waited for him to calm down, she reached for the bandages. She vaguely knew how to tie one, it wasn’t all that difficult. Just fit over the wound and wrap it around. It would be a little difficult with it being on his shoulder, but not too challenging.
Then, she got an idea.
Camila remembered that mouths and hands were very germ-laden, and she imagined hers were even more so since it had been a while since she last washed or brushed her teeth. She peeked at him to make sure he was still looking away, then brought her finger to her mouth. She licked it, made sure to get a lot of saliva onto it, and then rubbed it into the bandage while he wasn’t looking.
Before long, he had settled enough for her to attempt to put the bandage on him. He glared at her the entire time, as if to be sure she didn’t try anything else stupid. Carefully, she pressed the spot she’d just smeared with her spittle right onto the bullet wound, then carefully wrapped it.
If he got irritable, she couldn’t do a thing about it. But if he did get an infection, he’d at least be weaker, and maybe she could get the remote away from him easier then.
Chapter Twenty-One
After she was done fixing him up, Adrien got up and left Camila alone once more, taking the bag of supplies with him. She was a little regretful, she wanted to search if there was something sharp in the bag that would come in handy to her someday.
Whatever he’s busy with… should I explore around the house?
It might do her good to know the layout of the farmhouse. She wanted to go to the kitchen especially, to check if there was food for one, and water. She wasn’t feeling particularly hungry, though the bout of nausea from before hadn't come back, but she wanted to check because getting something into her stomach would mean increasing her energy for when it mattered. She was slightly okay for the moment, but she was still weak and would only continue to grow weaker like this. She also wanted to see if there was something there that she could use as a weapon.
It would be a bit risky, though. And besides, who knows how long I’ve been out for. He might have put everything away already.
Adrien was clearly prepared to be around the farmhouse for a long while, he would have thought of that much, and because it was obvious he didn’t trust her, even with the collar on.
Camila had to hurry up and gain his trust so he would relax more, and hopefully make mistakes.
For the moment, though, she didn’t dare go too far, crossing back to the couch and curling on top of it. Not because she was worried about Adrien, either. She was careful to position her eyes so she wouldn’t see, because from where she was, she had a clear view of the old woman’s body.
We can't possibly leave it there…
She felt sorry for the poor old woman, but if they didn’t move the body, it would start to really smell and decompose. Besides, it would only be fair to give her a proper burial, but Camila didn’t know anything about her. If she had family or people that knew her and cared about her, people that would miss her and wonder what happened. She didn’t know how Adrien even knew to come to this farm in particular. It hadn’t seemed as if he’d planned it beforehand.
Her blood curdled at the thought of seeing Tansy’s body lying on the floor, though. She was hoping Adrien would deal with it himself, but she was starting to think that he might not. He couldn’t possibly have forgotten it, right? He was moving around so freely, so he must have at least seen it in his peripheral vision.
Or… maybe he was bothered by what he’d done, and that was why he was ignoring it?
Not long after he’d disappeared, Adrien came back. He had a black t-shirt pulled on that was loose on him. In one of his hands, he held a bottle of what she thought was whiskey from the color of it. Half the bottle was already gone, and as he walked, she watched him raise the bottle and take another gulp.
“Do you want any?” he offered, waving the bottle her way.
Camila shook her head. She’d never been all that great with alcohol to begin with, especially not hard liquors. And really, the last thing she wanted was to be drunk around Adrien. He might try to take advantage of her, and she didn’t think she could hold her tongue well that way.
“Suit yourself,” he muttered, drinking some more as he walked around the living room.
He acted right at home in someone else’s house, moving all over, and she wondered if he was looking for something.
Eventually, he came back to the living room where she was, carrying a shovel in his other hand.
“Get up,” he said, tossing the shovel on the floor in front of her.
It made a loud sound as it crashed to the floor, making her flinch and gasp. Adrien wasn’t asking though, he was demanding. He was clearly drunk and in a bad mood, and she didn’t hesitate. She’d done all sorts of things, gone hiking in a lot of different places, but she’d never tried digging with a shovel before. She wasn’t sure she could handle it, but she didn’t want to know what he would do if she refused, either.
“Go out and dig a grave for the old woman,” he said. “You’ll have to do it out back so it’s not in the way. Not that anyone will be coming by here, but…”
“Where?” she asked quietly, hands clenching hard on the stick of the shovel.
“The way out back is through there,” he said, pointing. “Go. I’m right behind you. I’d do it myself, but…” he shrugged, only to wince when it jostled his still aching wound.
Crap.
Now Camila sort of regretted hurting him before. She wasn’t weak, but she’d never been good at hard labor, and she couldn’t remember the last time she even ate. Couldn’t Adrien have at least fed her first?
She didn’t complain out loud, though, following his instruction. She tried her best, but she still caught sight of Tansy’s body in her peripheral before she quickly looked away. They passed through the kitchen, and she hesitated, thinking to look for food, but Adrien was right behind her so she didn’t dare linger. The door opened with the slightest push, and she stepped onto the back porch.
When she looked around, she realized again just how big the area really was. A bit of a distance away, there was a barn, and further out in the fields, she could see corn stalks swaying in the wind. The sun shone brightly, and if she wasn’t in such a dire situation, she would have enjoyed the view. If she’d had a camera, she would have taken a few pictures.
“Don’t go too far away,” Adrien said, making her jump, because she’d forgotten he was right behind her. “Try and make the hole as deep as possible, and it should be long and wide enough for you to fit your body in. we’re in a bit of a hurry, too, so get to it.”
Camila shivered at his words. Long and wide enough for her to fit her body in? He wasn’t making her dig her own grave, was he?
She stepped off the porch, then walked a bit away from the building. She stopped to look behind her. Adrien had sat down on the edge of the porch with his bottle of whiskey nearby. He waved a hand at her, telling her to move further out, and she did.
“That’s perfect,” he called. “Start digging!”
Camila turned her back to him so he wouldn’t see the resentment on her face. She hated that he could tell her what to do, and she had no option but to do it.
How do I even do this? she thought helplessly.
Holding onto the shovel, she pressed the blade’s end against the ground and tried to push. She used as much effort as she could, but nothing was happening. With a frown, she pulled the shovel back and hit at the ground with it, then kicked with her hand to dig the blade into the ground. It moved maybe an inch, and she pushed the handle back, pulling out dirt. Feeling a bit of accomplishment, she repeated the process.
Seriously, though, this ground wasn’t soft at all. She was wondering if she could dig in an inch all around the size this h
ole was supposed to be. She dug out another small clump of dirt and sighed, wondering how long it would even take
Is the ground frozen?
It would totally work against her if it was. Even if she didn’t want to, they had to bury that body. Leaving it like it was, even if they wrapped it and put it somewhere, would leave them open to diseases as the body started to decompose, and the air around it would be dangerous. She wanted to tell Adrien it was impossible, but he was already drunk, so he’d be even more irrational than normal.
Camila let out a grunt as she tried to push the shovel further into the ground, but she could never make it past that one inch, no matter how much she pushed and kicked. Just pulling out the dirt took more effort, too.
The sun was still shining above her, and she didn’t realize just how much effort it was taking her, until she stopped to wipe the sweat pouring into her eyes. Then she grimaced as she realized she was starting to feel a little sick from using up all this effort, the nausea in her stomach starting up again and making her double over.
“Hey!” Adrien called from behind her. “What’s going on over there! Is that hole ready yet!”
She looked over her shoulder, pressing one hand hard to her stomach, the other holding onto the shovel. With its other end pointed at the ground, she was using it more as support than holding onto it.
“Not yet,” she called back, panting slightly. “It’s… a little hard.”
“Can't you do it a bit faster?” he complained, sounding frustrated. “It’s been more than thirty minutes and you barely look like you’ve done anything!”
Camila turned her back, grumbling to herself. So what if half an hour had passed? Though it did surprise her that it had been so long already. Looking down, she’d only managed to pull out several clumps of dirt. It really did look like she’d barely done anything, but she was putting in all her effort!
If you wanna complain, why don’t you come and do this yourself, she complained to herself, but didn’t dare say it out loud in case he took out his frustrations on her. Just sit over there and do nothing. Also, shut up!
Only, it wasn’t even a few minutes when he yelled out at her again.
“Do it faster!”
His words slurred a little, so he must have drunk a lot. She didn’t look back this time though, just continued trying, once again planting the shovel into the ground and trying to push it in with her foot.
“I’m… doing… the best I—”
Adrien cut off her panted reply, a rough sound escaping her throat as she felt sharp electricity go through her body again. Adrien must have been feeling frustrated to shock her out of nowhere.
She lost her grip on the shovel, her body collapsing onto the ground, twitching. The nausea in her stomach attacked her again, her stomach heaving and making her body flop around on the ground as the urge to vomit rose up in her mouth. Her body wasn’t listening to her, though. She couldn’t even roll over, and the bile that spilled into her mouth washed back down her throat, making her wheeze and grimace as it burned down her throat. She almost choked on it, too, only managing to roll over and let spit slip out the side of her mouth onto the ground.
Seeing her slump to the ground, Adrien relented, releasing his hold on the button and rising up as he put the remote back into his pocket.
“Forget it,” she heard him call out. “Just lay there for a bit and come in. I found a basement so I’ll just drag the body down there instead.”
If you could have done that to begin with, why did you have to make me dig, she thought with resentment.
Putting the body in the basement only helped partially. As long as neither of them went down there, they shouldn’t worry too much about the air being tainted by the body. They’d probably still catch the stink, though, in a few days.
Her body was released from the electric current, but for a while afterward, her body still wouldn’t move as she wanted it, too. Her eyes were filled with tears and snot was pouring down her nose. With another lurch of her stomach, she managed to roll and get her forearms on the ground below her, holding herself up as she let the fluids coming out of her body onto the ground.
“Camila!”
She grimaced, then moved her head to look over at him. The front of his shirt had spots of blood on it that she hadn't noticed before. Her stomach lurched again, but there wasn’t anything for her to puke out.
“It’s done. Now get back in here! The floor needs to be scrubbed.”
Ignoring the rolling of her stomach, Camila struggled to get to her feet. Her legs felt like jelly, and when she tried to take a step, she stumbled and fell. But Adrien just stood there impatiently. Clearly, he wanted her to clean up the blood before he let her rest.
“I found the cleaning supplies already,” he said, annoyed. “I’ve already done half the work for you. You can crawl if you want, but hurry. It’s starting to stink up the place. If you get it done like the good girl I know you are, I have a surprise for you.” He gave her a smirk that made her think he was not quite as drunk as she thought.
Camila tried several times before she could walk to the house without tripping over her own feet. Adrien had retreated to the living room, and he sat watching her.
“Get on your knees,” he directed, his eyes hooded. “I wanna see your ass as you scrub that floor.”
Camila shuddered, but did as he asked. The cleaning supplies had been left on the floor anyway, and she crawled over to pick them up. She felt another bout of nausea again at seeing the blood, but even as her stomach turned and rolled, nothing happened. She picked up the scrub brush and sprayed the cleaning product on the mess.
“That’s it, scrub harder, shake that ass, Camila,” he commented.
Camila was glad he was focused on her rear, because she rolled her eyes. She couldn’t wait to be finished with this task. The cleaning products were making her even more light headed than the shock collar had.
“Mmmm, just like that,” he murmured, sounding closer than she’d thought he was.
She looked over her shoulder to see him standing at the entrance to the kitchen. She grabbed a rag and wiped down the floor. Finished, she leaned back on her heels.
“Did I tell you, you were finished?”
Camila looked up at him and caught his smirk. She kept her mouth shut though, not wanting to piss him off.
“I guess that’s good enough. Why don’t you head into the bathroom and get cleaned up? You’re looking a bit… unworthy of me and we can’t have that, can we?”
Camila pressed her lips together, biting her tongue.
“Good girl, you’re learning, aren’t you?” he smirked. “Go. You have five minutes.”
Panicked, Camila started to raise up to her feet, but he stopped her.
“Ah, no, no, no… on your knees.” It wasn’t a suggestion.
Camila sent him a glare, but did as he asked and crawled from the room. As soon as she was out of his sight, she stood up and moved into the bathroom. Stripping, she thought, I can't do this. She stared into the mirror, not even recognizing herself. If he keeps doing this, I don’t know how long I’ll last. Somehow… I have to send word to Samuel. There should be a phone at this farmhouse right?
An old woman couldn’t possibly live on a farm this big alone without any vehicle nearby. She probably made calls for people to come sometimes, right? To clear her crops, or bring her supplies or something.
“I don’t hear the water, Camila, do I need to join you?”
Camila’s eyes widened and she quickly turned on the faucet. “I can do it, Adrien…”
“Good girl, there’s a present for you on the bed. I expect to see you in it when I return.”
She washed her face and body quickly, her hands shaking the entire time. Seeing a brush on the counter, she ran it through her hair, bringing it into some semblance of order. She had less than two minutes left before he’d return. Opening the door, her eyes landed on the red lace nighty on the bed.
No way!
Samuel
Samuel walked out of his home for the first time in a little over a week. Brianna was doing okay, and Morganna had promised to look after her. The men he’d hired and had trained by the ex-military men were now stationed around the grounds just in case anything happened.
He’d assigned the ex-military men on more productive tasks, like tracking down all of Adrien’s holdings and staking out the various homes he’d managed to acquire without his knowledge. Several of them had been purchased while their parents were still living and he’d still had access to his trust. When his parents had died, he’d found out that Adrien had practically drained the trust to nothing, so he’d put him on an allowance. He’d figured controlling the money would control Adrien. Apparently, Adrien had other sources of income though and he’d been hard pressed to figure out what they were.
He wouldn’t be leaving now, but had a meeting to get to.
The car was brought around for him by Michael, his personal mechanic, and he got in and drove out of the grounds.
This would be the first time he’d been out in public since Camila was kidnapped. He was dressed simply so as not to attract too much attention. He could only hope no one recognized him and got in his way. The whole thing that went down with his family had, luckily, not made it into the news yet. That would have been too annoying to deal with in the current situation. It must have caused a disturbance, though, so it was impossible that no one had noticed it.
Before someone leaked this out to the public, they had to have Camila found and Adrien caught. He wasn’t worried about his brother, or really even about protecting his family’s reputation. However, after this whole issue with Adrien was taken care of, he wanted to leave the option for his sister to continue trying to come out of her shell without the stigma of her brothers having bad reputations.
Because of Adrien, he knew his own reputation wasn’t good, there was plenty of noise about him being a bastard online, but that could be easily taken care of when the time came to clean things up.
Tangled Obsession: Book 2 of the Obsession Trilogy Page 14
