Crown of York

by Charlotte Byrd

  Lying in his arms, I thought that everything was going to be okay.

  But what about now?

  Abbott is back and my dream of a happily ever after is shattered.

  What if I make a run for it?

  I could take off right now. I could just go, but where?

  To escape from an island, I need things.

  I need a plan.

  I could hide out in the cave that Easton took me to, but for how long? I would need supplies there as well.

  I don’t know anything about this island.

  I don’t know how to drive a boat.

  I don’t know where I should even go if I had a boat.

  No, to escape this place, I need help.

  No, if I’m going to make a run from this place, everything has to be thought out. And hopefully, Easton would be part of it as well.

  “Are you okay?” Teal asks, coming out of the theater room.

  I nod.

  My heart beat has slowed down and my breaths are calm.

  “It’s going to be okay, Everly,” she says.

  “Yeah, I know,” I say with a nod. “I just got a bit freaked out.”

  “He’s not going to do anything to hurt you. I mean, it’s all televised. Everyone is watching.”

  I take a deep breath. She’s right.

  One of the things that I hated the most about the place, the surveillance, is now going to be the one thing to keep me safe.

  “Yeah, you’re right,” I say. “It’s all going to be fine.”

  Mirabelle comes out into the hallway.

  When Teal tells her that I’m just a little rattled by the whole idea of going on a date with Abbott, she says that it can’t be helped.

  “The King is making some changes to the competition. I’m not exactly sure what’s going to happen. This date isn’t exactly a planned event.”

  Changes to the competition?

  Easton told me about this, but he didn’t mention Abbott.

  Why does it have to involve going on a date with him?

  “I’ll be right back,” I say and start to walk away.

  “Where are you going?” Teal asks.

  “I have to find Easton.”

  “You can’t,” Mirabelle says.

  I stop dead in my tracks. What? Why?

  “But my date with him isn’t for a while, right?” I ask politely.

  My head starts to pound so loudly that I can barely think. All I can hear is blood rushing through my arteries.

  “You’re next,” Mirabelle says.

  I stare at her, dumbfounded. I hear the words that she is saying, but they don’t make any sense.

  A door slams shut and Catalina emerges. She has a big smile on her face and a glow around her whole body.

  “What are you doing here?” Teal asks.

  “It’s your turn,” Catalina whispers and glides past us as if on a cloud.

  “I don’t understand,” I turn to Mirabelle.

  “These aren’t long dates like you had with Easton. They’re just meet and greets.”

  I stand staring at her.

  She takes me by my shoulders and turns me toward the doors leading to the dining room where he is waiting for me. With a strong nudge, she pushes me through them.

  Whenever there’s anything you dread, it will inevitably come sooner than you think it will. My date with Abbott comes within a blink of an eye.

  As Mirabelle pushes me toward the double doors, I raise my hands up to block them from hitting me in the face.

  I hold my breath.

  I don’t want this to happen.

  But it’s too late to turn around.

  It’s too late to run.

  It’s going to be okay, I say to myself. Everyone is watching.

  He’s not going to do anything to hurt you. Not yet, anyway.

  When I open my eyes, I see Abbott. Dressed in a casual t-shirt and jeans, he is eagerly waiting on the other side.

  “Welcome! Welcome!” He says in an uncharacteristically exuberant manner. “I’ve been expecting you!”

  Chapter 34 - Everly

  When I go on a date…

  I take a deep breath and step into the dining room. Abbott leans on the wall and looks me up and down. He is nowhere near me, but his gaze feels as strong as his touch. As he runs his eyes over my body, I feel myself cowering away from him. My body contorts and bends to create a protective cocoon around itself.

  No, I say to myself, and straighten out my back, largely against my will. I stand up tall and raise my chin even higher.

  “Come, sit, sit,” he says, showing me to the dining room table.

  I take a seat across from him without saying a word.

  It’s time to make a decision.

  How will I react to him?

  Should I go along and pretend like nothing has happened?

  Should I play a role?

  Should I confront him?

  Fight him with words?

  Abbott looks me up and down again. His gaze focuses on my breasts. I clench my jaw. When he licks his lips, it takes all of my will power not to grab the glass next to me and smash it over his head.

  I’m not a violent person at all. I’ve never been in a fight. Yet, there’s something about Abbott that makes it difficult for to me keep myself contained.

  “Aren’t you going to ask me how I am?” Abbott asks.

  A question.

  I didn’t expect that.

  I shrug and look away.

  I don’t cast my eyes away in fear, however. Instead, I look away as if I don’t care.

  “Well, let me tell you anyway,” he says, leaning back in his chair.

  I wonder if he has been practicing this.

  “Hamilton was no joke.”

  I don’t know what he’s talking about, so he elaborates.

  “My father sent me there after our little…interaction.”

  Nice choice of words, I want to say. But I keep my mouth shut and just listen. Not because he intimidates me, but because I don’t want to speak to him. Ever.

  “Anyway, it was some sort of punishment, you know how my father is. Always trying to teach lessons. Even to adults.”

  Just because you’re an adult in years doesn’t mean you’re an adult in maturity, I say to myself. I’m sure you could stand to learn a lesson or two.

  “But anyway, this isn’t a sappy story about all that time I had to do hard labor, don’t worry,” Abbott says. “This is about something else.”

  There’s a glint in his eyes. I wait for him to continue.

  But he doesn’t. I don’t say anything.

  If he wants to have this conversation with me, he can have it all on his own. It’s not that I’m not curious.

  It’s a power thing. Not speaking to him is the only power I have at this moment, and I’m going to exercise it. It’s my resistance.

  After a few moments, he takes the bait. The expression on his face tells me that he can’t hold back. The news is just too good.

  “I saw Jamie,” Abbott finally says. “Remember Jamie? Oh yeah, I can tell that you do!”

  There’s a pause.

  I don’t know what to say, so I just wait.

  The silence is killing me, but the alternative is even more scary.

  But why is he there?

  “Yeah, apparently, my father, in all of his wisdom, decided to send him there. Or maybe it was the decision of one of his many advisors,” Abbott says, as if he’s able to read my mind.

  “He and I had a little chat about you. Apparently, you made quite an impression.”

  My lips grow chapped, but I don’t dare lick them. I just sit there. Motionless. Not so much unwilling to move, but more like unable to.

  “Do you have nothing to say?” Abbott suddenly roars at me.

  There it is.

  There’s the other version of him.

  The scary version.

  The impatient, weary, frightening one.

  I lift up my head and mee
t his eyes.

  I keep my lips closed.

  Pursed.

  “So, what are you just not going to talk to me now?” he asks.

  I don’t respond.

  “Oh I see, you don’t think I have enough of a reason to be mad at you. You want me to be even angrier?”

  I don’t want anything, but for you to leave me alone. Just leave me alone.

  I should say this out loud, yet I remain silent.

  Abbott jumps out of his seat.

  In a few steps, he’s right next to me. I can feel his breath on my neck. I turn my nose from his minty fresh smell. He had just swished his mouth with mouthwash, but it’s not enough to cut through his stench of cigarettes and liquor.

  He’s leaning over me.

  His face is nearly touching mine.

  I remain motionless.

  On the outside, I’m unfazed.

  Calm.

  Collected.

  On the inside, I’m trembling.

  “Jamie said he really wanted to fuck you,” Abbott whispers into my ear. “He said that’s one of his biggest regrets about being here. That he didn’t get the chance to fuck you. Hard.”

  Shivers run down my spine, but the expression on my face doesn’t change.

  “I promised him something,” he continues. “I promised him that I would do it for both of us.”

  Whether it’s a threat or a promise, I’m not sure. But it’s enough.

  I turn my head toward him and say, “Fuck you.”

  “That’s the spirit!” Abbott exclaims at the top of his lungs and steps away from me.

  I look down at my hand. Balled up into a fist, it’s ready for combat.

  I’ve never punched someone before, but whenever I come in contact with him, it’s like my body gets ready before my mind does.

  “I knew I could get some words out of you, Everly,” Abbott paces in front of me with an exuberant look on his face.

  Chapter 35 - Everly

  When he plays a game…

  I’m angry with myself for letting him get the best of me.

  “So, what do you think?” Abbott asks. “Do you think we’ll have a good time?”

  I stare at him and again say nothing.

  He got one rise out of me, and that’s enough.

  I cannot control what he says, but I can control how I respond.

  He can’t make me do anything I don’t want to do.

  Not now, anyway.

  “Okay, okay,” Abbott says in his mocking voice. “Don’t look at me like that. I know you have your hopes up, but you and I both know that we can’t exactly do anything like that right now.”

  I shake my head.

  Does he really think I’m sorry about that?

  Is he that delusional?

  No, he’s just mocking me.

  “Hey, do you know the story of the whipping boy?” Abbott says.

  His eyes light up in glee. I don’t respond, but I wonder where he’s going with this.

  “Well, back in the day, whenever a prince or some high ranking member of the royal family did something wrong, he’d have to get whipped. That was the way you learned your lessons back then. But the problem was that the teacher or the adult who was to bestow the punishment on him was a lower rank than the kid. So, what did they do? Well, they would bring in this other kid, the whipping boy, who would take the punishment for him.”

  The expression on my face doesn’t change, but my whole body is thrown into a cold sweat.

  I had no idea that anything like this existed, but just the thought of an innocent boy taking someone else’s punishment makes my heart break.

  “So, where am I going with this?” Abbott asks. “Well, that’s the thing. Just because I can’t have fun with you right now, doesn’t mean that I can’t show what I’m going to do you later.”

  My heart jumps into my throat and I can’t breathe. My hands turn to ice and my whole body begins to shake.

  “Don’t worry, don’t worry. It’s not going to hurt, yet,” Abbott says and laughs out loud. His laugh is loud and thunderous, echoing around the dining room.

  The side door suddenly swings open and a girl I don’t recognize is brought in. She looks terrified. She is dressed in nothing but a tank top and a pair of white underwear. Her bare feet dragging on the parquet floor, makes her look even more naked and vulnerable. Two guards hold her by each arm so that she can’t get away.

  “What are you doing?” I jump out of my seat.

  “Oh, there you go! I knew I could get something out of you.”

  I walk over to the girl to try to help her, but the guards pull her away.

  Abbott jumps over to us and gets in between me and the girl.

  “Get out of my way,” I say.

  “Fine,” he says, taking a step back.

  He raises his hands up to his shoulders so I can see his palms.

  He’s pretending to give up and surrender.

  “What are you going to do now?” he challenges me.

  I’m not entirely sure.

  It takes me a moment to find my voice, but when I do, I walk right over to the guards and tell them to let her go. They do by dropping her, face first, to the floor.

  “Are you okay?” I whisper, kneeling down next to her.

  She starts to say something in another language, one that I do not recognize.

  “C’mon, let’s go,” I say, helping her up and allowing her to lean on me.

  I lead her out of the dining room, toward the other exit. But before we get to the door, Abbott intercedes.

  “You see,” he says, putting his arm on my shoulder. “This isn’t how the story of the whipping boy, or in this case, the whipping girl, goes.”

  I clench my jaw and try to walk around him.

  This time, instead of simply blocking me, he grab’s the girl’s arm and pulls her away. Tired and spent, she falls to the floor.

  “Now, go over there and sit,” he says. “And watch.”

  I shake my head no.

  “You do what I say, bitch,” he says, pushing me to the ground.

  I get up, dust myself off, and stand before him.

  Again, I shake my head.

  This time, he grabs me by my arms and physically drags me over to the chair. He sits me down, by pressing really hard on my shoulders.

  I wince in pain and try to get up again.

  He raises his hand to me and slaps me right across the face. My cheek burns, as if something boiling hot was sprayed against it.

  “You sit still and watch, or next time that will be a punch,” he threatens.

  Somewhere out of the corner of my eyes, I see him wave to the guards.

  My vision is still blurry from how hard he has slapped me, so I don’t see them well until they are right next to me.

  I try to move, but I can’t.

  Their hands are firmly planted on my shoulders, keeping me in place.

  Then the girl begins to scream.

  Her voice is so loud and piercing that it sends shivers down my whole body.

  The spots in my vision start to disappear and I shut my eyes to not see what he’s doing to her.

  Her screams turn into pleads of mercy.

  I hear her trying to fight him.

  I hear her begging for him to stop.

  I hear him laughing.

  But all throughout this, I keep my eyes shut.

  I can’t bear to watch.

  I can’t bear to see.

  I tried to help her, but I failed.

  She wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for me.

  Tears stream down my face as this reality dawns on me.

  How many other people are where they are because of me?

  Every woman who was eliminated, whom I beat out, is now probably facing this same fate.

  And yet, here I am.

  Unscathed.

  I drown out her screams with my thoughts.

  I’ve become an expert at escape.

  It takes me a few mo
ments to remember just how to use my mind to get away from here, but then I just disappear.

  The guards are no longer holding me.

  The girl is no longer getting hurt.

  I’m no longer in this room listening to the pain.

  And best of all?

  In this other world, Abbott doesn’t exist at all.

  Chapter 36 - Everly

  When it all goes to black…

  Some people are capable of uncountable evil. If a person kills one person, he will get a life sentence.

  If he kills a few he will get the death penalty.

  If he kills more than ten, he will probably be sent away to a hospital and put into a padded room to be studied by doctors.

  But if he kills a thousand? Or a hundred thousand or a million? What about those dictators who kill many millions? What becomes of them?

  I don’t know for sure if Abbott has killed anyone, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that he has.

  There’s a darkness in him, the depths of which I haven’t seen before.

  He doesn’t just go through the motions.

  He enjoys this.

  He enjoys inflicting pain and suffering.

  After a while, the girl stops protesting. She stops fighting and she stops screaming. She just lets it happen.

  But Abbott continues.

  Does he think he won? I wonder.

  I continue to keep my eyes closed. When her cries die down, it becomes easier for me to take my mind elsewhere.

  “Oh c’mon, Everly!” He yells my name, breaking me out of my trance. “You have to watch. We’re having so much fun here.”

  A sharp pain shoots up my spine as the guards’ thick sausage fingers dig further into my shoulders. I winch as I turn my face further away from the scene.

  And then…suddenly….Abbott stops.

  The guards’ let go of me.

  When I hear the sound of shuffling feet and a pair of loud heels stomping toward me, I open my eyes.

  Mirabelle is standing in the doorway, surrounded by five guards.

  “What is going on here?” she asks.

  Abbott lifts himself off the girl and pulls up his pants.

  When he looks up at her again, his eyes are big like sand dollars.