Chapter 3. Easily Tricked
Louise's POV
When the Master left us, I turned to Anthony and Gerald.
"So, I'd like to hear more about this interesting organization… please," I said. Anthony (or was it Gerald? They looked so similar) chuckled bitterly and said:
"You don't need to listen to all those instructions. You haven't really joined the Hand, after all."
"But I'm going to join it!"
"No, never. The Master saw that you lost your memory. So he added you to the lists of his followers only to trick and kill you."
"What?" I cried, shocked.
"That," the man said sarcastically. "You're not an Everafter. You're a human."
"A human? But… b-but… the Test Light…"
"Indicated just that," he finished for me. "The Master understood that you're a human, moreover, you have the blood of the Grimms in your veins. The Grimms are the most hated enemies of ours. The Master wants to kill you. We don't know how he'll do it, and it's none of our concern. No, no, don't run away. Now you can't leave the castle. Nottingham put a barrier that prevents only you from leaving."
"Oh, no!" I cried in despair and cursed the moment when I came to this horrible place. "You heartless beasts!"
"We won't imprison you, because our enemies check our prisons on a regular basis. They might rescue you. You'll be a slave - till your death. You'll work for the Hand. Where should we put her, Gerald?"
"I think we should put her to repair the Crimson Tower. Charming's army bombed it ten days ago," Gerald said slowly.
"Excellent idea!" Anthony grinned.
"Have some mercy!.." I pleaded, but they ignored me. Gerald brought a pair of hancuffs and my hands were bound again. Anthony led me towards the ruins of a sandstone reddish tower. Dozens of people with hancuffed hands were restoring it: they carried the stones back to the place where the tower had once stood, prepared the cement mortar, examining the plans of the building.
"Go over there!" Anthony ordered. "Find the sandstones that were blown away after the collapse. Carry them over here," he pointed in another direction.
I burst into tears, but I had to obey. I went to work. There were lots of sandstones lying on the ground, so I took one in each of my hands and carried them to the place where the tower itself was being rebuilt.
A young slave took the stones.
"You're new, right?" he asked. "What did you do?"
"I have no memory of my past," I explained. "I woke up two hours ago in the forest with no memory. I found out my name. Louise. Then I was forced to go here, and I joined the Hand - or at least I thought so. They told me that I was human, and I was related to the Grimms, and they sent me to work."
"Oh, I see," the slave said. "And my name's Toby. I'm Ms. Muffet's son. I have been too impolite with the Master, so... well, I'm here as well."
"Don't stop working!" Anthony shouted. I noticed a whip in his hand. "Go back to work now!"
I felt tears on my face again. What had I done? It wasn't my fault that I was a human. I was genuinely eager to join the Scarlet Hand... Also, I lacked any memory. Why did they treat me in such a way?
"Go to work, it's better," Toby advised. "Anthony's whip can hurt a lot. When Gerald is on duty, we can relax. Gerald is quite soft."
So I continued carrying sandstones from all over the garden. Thankfully, I turned out to be rather strong, so I had never stopped until Anthony blew a whistle and yelled:
"Dinner's brought! You have a break!"
The dinner consisted of bread, vegetables, a loaf of raw beef and a cup of water. Only when I sat on the ground to eat all this, I realized that I was exhausted.
Another slave noticed it and whispered to me:
"We have an hour and a half of working after dinner. We work from sunrise to sunset. It's September now, our working hours are shorter. Winter's coming, and winter is the easiest of all."
"Oh, the length of time doesn't matter to me now," I said quietly.
When most of us hadn't even finished eating, Anthony ordered:
"Enough resting! Go to work."
The last hour and a half passed slowly. During the sunset, I was silently begging the sun:
"Please, disappear under the horizon... It's time... We need to rest..."
Finally, the glow of the sun faded. It was dusk now. Anthony led us to a row of small wooden cabins, each had a dozen of sleeping bags inside. I crawled into a free sleeping bag, cried and cried, and wished to wake up from this brutal, terrifying nightmare.
Unfortunately, I didn't wake up from it. I mean, I woke up, but I was awakened by Gerald's shouts:
"Slaves! Eat your meal and work!"
I groaned:
"If I have to suffer this until the Master somehow kills me, I wish he does it soon..."
I got out of the sleeping bag and exited the cabin.
So, was the chapter a shock? The next chapter will have a surprising twist of the plot too...
Review please!
