A/N: I apologize for the late update guys, but the exams kept getting in the way. And, thank you all again for the wonderful reviews :)
WARNING: This chapter contains torture so it is going to be a dark one. If you are uncomfortable with such themes, then please do not read.
CHAPTER SIX
Two months later:
Gil was in his room, reading an entomology book while enjoying his mid-morning tea. Then all of a sudden, his bedroom door burst open as a furious Betty entered before slamming the door shut behind her. Gil suddenly got to his feet and made his way towards her with a mixture of confusion and worrisome on his face.
"What's wrong, Mother?"
"My diamond necklace is stolen."
"What?" Gil was utterly shocked.
"Yes. As you know, I'm invited to a dinner party tonight and when I was preparing which jewels I would wear, and that's when I realized my Cartier necklace is missing." she said, anger dripping from her words.
"Who would steal your jewelry?" he asked in confusion.
"Who do you think?"
"If you are insinuating that one of the slaves did it, I don't think so. Neither one of them is stupid enough to steal something as valuable because they would know how severe the punishment that they're going to receive if we searched their rooms and found it there." he stated logically.
"Well, maybe one of them thought I would not notice." she said. Betty felt her son struggling to believe her reasoning so she pushed. "Come on, let's go search their bedrooms." she started to walk out when she noticed that Gil did not follow her. Then she turned to face her son again, and saw the worry on his face which made her more furious. "You know, I wouldn't even come to you in the first place if your father was not out of the state on a business trip. Your heart is too soft for your own good. I knew you wouldn't get me satisfied, but you are the only man here right now. You are supposed to be the man of the house while your father is away so act like it, and come help me find the thief who stole my $100,000 diamond necklace." she snapped.
So Gil reluctantly followed his mother out of his bedroom.
In the kitchen, Sara was washing the dishes while Vivian was cooking lunch. That's when Betty barged in with Gil in toe. Both Sara and Vivian stopped what they were doing and faced them, waiting for orders. Gil eyes were dropped to the floor as he stood quietly behind his mother when she announced about her missing necklace.
"I have a diamond necklace that happens to be missing, do either of you know where it is?" accused Betty.
"No Ma'am." Sara and Vivian answered in unison.
"So you wouldn't mind if I searched your rooms, would you?"
Both slaves agreed.
"Alright, then." said Betty as she got out of the kitchen after ordering all of them, including Gil, to follow her.
Once they reached upstairs and went towards the the slaves' hallway, Betty stopped in front of Vivian's bedroom door, wanting to search it first. She turned and faced the two slaves as she ordered them to stay out of the room while she searched it. Then she ordered Gil to follow her into the room and help her search her Cartier necklace, but he refused, telling her that he would wait outside the room as well as she searched through it. That earned him a deathly glare from his mother, causing him to shift slightly from foot to foot before she simply turned around and entered the room by herself.
A few minutes later, Betty got out, shaking her head.
"There's nothing there." she said, and without another word, she entered Sara's room as the others waited outside again.
A couple of minutes had past before a loud gasp was heard from inside the room, which caught Gil's attention instantly. He did not want to know what caused that reaction from his mother. His gut told him that it was definitely not good. For a moment there, he actually thought of fleeing the hallway and get out of the house. But before he could react, Betty got out of Sara's room with the expensive necklace in her hand. At first, Gil was so sure that his eyes were playing tricks on him because he could not believe them. He couldn't believe what he was seeing as he stared at the object in his mother's palm with his his jaw dropping to the floor. Suddenly his heart sank as he looked over at Sara who was looking as stunned as he was. Her eyes were wide with confusion and fear as she shook her head adamantly.
"You filthy, little thief. How dare you steal from us?" Betty shrieked at her with all her might as pure rage showed in her eyes, which caused Sara to tremble.
"No, I didn't steal anything. I don't know how it got there, I swear to God." fear evident in her trembling voice as her eyes filled with tears.
"Don't you dare lie to me, you whore. I found it in your sleep-ware drawer among your disgusting, torn sleep gowns. So if you did not steal it as you claim, then how the hell did it get in your room, more specifically in your sleep-ware drawer? Care to explain that, you little twit?" Betty continued to shriek at Sara.
Unable to hold her tears any longer, Sara whispered faintly. "I don't know." she turned and looked at Gil, her teary eyes pleading for him to believe her. "I never even saw that necklace before. I swear."
Gil just kept staring at her. His body too numb with shock to say anything.
"Whether you keep denying or not, you are going to receive your punishment. You are going to be taught a lesson. A lesson that you will never forget. So before you steal again next time, you'll think twice." said Betty before yelling for the two house boys. "Billy? George?"
In a few seconds, both house boys ascended the stairs and stood a few feet from them. They were two tall, masculine men. Once they arrived, betty ordered them to drag Sara to the 'Punishing Chamber'. Without hesitation, each man took a strong hold of one of Sara's arms and dragged her forcefully.
Sara started to beg and scream as she was being pulled. "No, please. I didn't do it. Please believe me. I didn't do anything." she begged as she looked at Gil's doubtful eyes.
Gil just stood there, frozen in his tracks from the utter shock that gripped at his heart tightly.
Betty just smiled as she saw the scene in front of her. Her satisfaction was beyond what she anticipated. The doubt in her son's eyes towards Sara spoke volumes, and that was exactly what she wanted. Her plan was working incredibly. Her son would soon distrust his slave if he had not already. She couldn't keep the smile from her lips as she followed the house boys to the 'Punishing Chamber', where they were dragging Sara to.
Betty suddenly stopped as she passed Gil and took in his distressed features. She stroked his bearded face gently to comfort him. "Come on, Son. Watch her get hurt just like she hurt you. I'll break her for you, my dear boy, exactly like she broke your heart. Your fragile heart." she said in a quiet, soft motherly voice. She held his hand and started to lead him to the 'Punishing Chamber' before he had a chance to respond.
Later that evening, Gil was lying on his bed on top of the covers. He just stared blankly at nothing in particular as his brain tried to wrap itself around the events of that morning. But no matter how hard he tried, his brain simply couldn't fathom what had transpired. Something felt off in spite of the evidence that was found in Sara's room. Deep down his heart, Gil did not think that Sara stole the Cartier diamonds. Don't get fooled Gil, people lie but the evidence never does. He reminded himself. Unless it was tampered with to frame someone. Gil shook his head as he quickly pushed that thought away from his mind. He couldn't think of anyone would be low enough to do that to Sara. To frame such an innocent young girl like that. Gil sighed as he vividly remembered the sight of Sara being punished as though he could see it replaying in front of his very eyes. So he just closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he relived the horrible ordeal she had went through just a few hours ago.
Sara's wrists were bound by the chains that hung from the ceiling of the 'Punishing Chamber' as her face was covered with the uncontrollable tears. Her body was raking with heart breaking sobs. Her eyes pleading with her to believe her, but all that she saw were cold ones staring back at her. At that moment, she lost all hope and her eyes carried such anguish he had never seen before as she suddenly stopped struggling. Yet, he could do nothing as he kept staring at her red rimmed eyes.
"What kind of punishment would you prefer, Ma'am?" asked George.
Betty made towards a table consists of various torturing items that was placed in the corner of the chamber. It took her a moment as she carefully chose the perfect item to use on Sara. With a wide smile, Betty picked a long bull whip and spread it open. Without warning, she struck the long thick whip to the concrete ground as hard as she could, causing Gil to jump slightly from the sudden loud thud. Then, she walked to George and handed him the whip.
"Strike her as hard as you can." she ordered him.
"Yes, Ma'am. How many stikes?" George inquired.
"As many as I want to. Do not stop until I say so." she smiled as she walked back to stand beside her son, whose face showed no emotion whatsoever.
With one final plea from Sara's eyes that was met with coldness, she knew for sure that she was on her own. So she just braced herself against the inevitable pain, which she knew was going to be unbearable. Sara gripped at the chains that bound her wrists as she stiffened her body with all her might. Her eyes closed shut tightly while waiting for the long leather string to cut through the flesh on her back.
The first strike connected with her back, making her scream as loud as her lungs allowed her. She had felt such intense pain she never experienced before. It felt as if her skin was being ripped off her body as the whip leather cut through the fabric of her dress on its way to the flesh of her back. She kept screaming and sobbing as the strikes continued over and over. Pain increased with each new strike until she could not take it anymore. She looked at Gil, desperately begging him to stop the pain but he did not move a muscle nor did he spoke a word. Although her anguished screams and desperate silent pleas her eyes showed was killing him inside, he couldn't do anything to stop it. He felt completely paralyzed at that moment.
By the thirteenth strike, Sara began to lose consciousness from the intense agony. And by the fifteenth, her body went completely limp. The only things that kept her from meeting the floor were the chains that bound her wrists. That's when Betty ordered George to stop the torturous session. By that time, Sara's back was a bloody mess. Betty smiled in satisfaction as she saw the damage she caused to the young slave. Unlike his mother, Gil couldn't bring himself to look at it. Just then, he caught sight of Sara's blood dripping from the whip, causing his heart to tighten in fear. And before anyone could react, he fled the basement and made his way to his room, locking the door behind him after he heard his mother's voice as she ordered George and Billy to carry Sara to her own room.
Once inside his room, his sanctuary, Gil felt safe enough to pour his emotions out of his body. He reached his bed just in time to collapse on top of it while his body wracked with audible sobs. He buried his face in his pillow in order to muffle the sounds of his anguish. He kept sobbing until he fell asleep from exhaustion.
By the time Gil reached the end of the painful memory, he heard the front door of the house open then shut. He pulled himself to a sitting position as he turned to his bedside clock, which read 6:00 pm, and knew that that was his mother leaving for the dinner party that was going to start at 6:30 pm.
Just then, Gil heard a soft knock on his door so he unlocked it and was surprised to see Belle standing there because she rarely visited him in his room.
"Gil, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked her older brother.
He nodded and ushered her in his room in spite of the concern his face expressed. With that, he closed the door behind them. He sat on his bed while Belle chose the sofa across from him. Belle looked at the floor as she didn't know how to approach the subject.
"What is it, Belle? Are you okay? You're scaring me." he asked sincerely.
"Yes, and it's not about me." Belle was choosing her words carefully. "As you know, I was out of the house all day, which means I didn't know about what happened to Sara until a few minutes ago when Vivian notified me as soon as I reached here."
Gil did not know where his little sister was going with that as he gave her a "So?" look.
"So I came to you as soon as I found out."
"Honey, where are you going with this?" confusion written all over his handsome face.
"Sara did not..." Belle stopped suddenly, hesitant to whether inform her brother.
Gil's face was on high alert at that moment. "Sara did not what, Belle?" he pushed.
Belle remained quiet.
"Belle please, if you know anything about what happened to Sara, then you've got to tell me. I need to know, sweetheart." he urged his sister to speak. "If there's a hidden truth behind that, you got to let me know, honey. Please."
"Gil, if mom knew I'm telling you this, she'll ground me for the rest of my life, she'll even hate me." she stated fearfully.
"I won't tell her anything, I promise you, Belle."
"Sara did not steal mom's necklace." she said surely.
"Wh-what are you saying? How do you know that?" his heart suddenly sank in his chest at that revelation.
"Before I left for college this morning, I went to search for Sara to help me with my hair so when I stepped into her room, I didn't find her but found mom instead with the diamond necklace tucked in her palm while she was standing beside Sara's drawer chest. When I asked her what was she doing in Sara's room, she told me in a hushed tone that she had this annoying habit which she would check the slaves' bedrooms every once in a while to make sure they did not steal anything from us. And I bought it, Gil. All of it." she shook her head in disappointment. "I never knew what her intentions were until it was too late. I swear, Gil. I didn't know."
Gil's eyes filled with tears as he whispered. "I believe you, sweetie. Thank you for telling me the truth." he tried to smile at her through his watery eyes.
Belle nodded. "But you can't tell mom about any of this. You promised. She would know that I'm the one who told you because I was the only person who saw her in Sara's room." she explained with fear.
"Don't worry, darling. I won't mention any of this to her." he reassured her.
Oh God. She was punished for something she didn't do. She tried to explain to me that she was innocent, but I didn't bother to do anything about it. I was too much of a coward to stand by her side and protect her while she was being tortured. I turned my back on her when she needed me the most. I let them hurt her mercilessly. I let them rip out her flesh. She was screaming in agony. She looked at me and desperately begged me to stop her pain while I just stood there. I was just as heartless as her torturers. Gil was deep in thought that he did not notice that Belle had left his to give him some privacy with his emotions. He felt great happiness and great sorrow all at the same time. He was happy to know that his Sara did not betray his trust for her. As he was sad to know that she endured such heart breaking torture for something she never did. He couldn't stop the flow of tears that ran down his cheeks while he struggled to catch his breath. Pain and guilt filled his heart so deep that he thought it would explode in his chest.
Gil suddenly found himself standing outside Sara's room. Without knocking, he pushed the door open and entered. He found her lying on her stomach on her mattress. She was holding her Shakespeare book tightly in her arm while silent tears fell down from her cheeks and dropped on the book cover. He knew that she was in great pain from the beating she received a few hours back, which was the cause of most of her tears. Gil could tell that she had been crying for a while based on the redness of her eyes. She kept staring at nothing in particular and he, for a moment, thought that she did not notice him standing in her room until she spoke softly.
"I didn't do it. I swear on my brother's life that I did not take that necklace." she sniffled.
"I believe you. I know." his heart went out for her when he heard the desperation in her voice as she tried to prove her innocence after all she went through.
"How?" she asked, confusion evident in her voice.
"You were framed."
Sara did not need to ask by whom. There's only one person in that house who hated her. She wondered why Betty hated her enough to put her through such hell. Without a word, Gil moved to the mattress and sat beside her lying form, caressing her hair.
"I'm so sorry, Sara. Please forgive me." he choked.
"For what? You didn't hurt me." came her reply.
Gil couldn't hold his tears any longer so he gave up and let them moist his cheeks. After all I had done to her. After all the hurt I allowed them to inflict on her, she still thinks that I didn't do anything wrong. Her love and tenderness for him were more than he could bear.
"I didn't stop them from hurting you either." he whispered.
"You didn't know. You didn't have any reason to believe I was framed. Besides, it doesn't hurt as much. Vivan cleaned the wounds for me before dressing them." she tried to make him feel better.
"Did anyone ever tell you how much of a terrible liar you are?" he tried to lighten the mood a bit.
She smiled at him, causing his heart to glee for a moment.
He didn't want to see or know how much damage his mother imprinted on Sara's back, bur he knew he needed to.
"Can I see your wounds." he asked gently.
When she nodded, he carefully pulled down the covers she was tucked in to her calves before lifting her cotton dress, which Vivian helped her wear after cleaning her injuries. Her back was covered with a large piece of gauze that was at least half soaked with Sara's blood due to her deep cuts. Abruptly, Gil let out a loud gasp after carefully removing the gauze with trembling hands.
What he saw shocked him to the core. The damage that was inflicted on her back was far worse than he anticipated. Just the sight of the raw deep cuts those were scattered all over her back, made his whole body tremble visibly. Once again, tears found his eyes and fell to his cheeks as he leaned forward, tracing each long cut with feather kisses before gently placing the gauze back on her back and pulling the covers up over her body again. After that, he brought his teary eyes to meet her pained ones, and before he could say anything, he felt her gentle palm on his cheeks as she wiped away his tears.
"So sorry, please forgive me." he begged through his own pain.
"I do. I really do, but please don't cry. I can't bear to see your tears." she continued to wipe his tears.
Gil did not waste another second as he slipped beside her on the mattress and held her tightly to him, mindful of her injuries while they lay together. Gil saw the book she held protectively in her arm, knowing that like him, she sought comfort from Shakespeare's words so he recited his work for her until she relaxed in his arms and fell asleep almost immediately after that.
As Gil lay beside her sleeping form, he allowed his anger towards his mother to resurface. How could she be so cruel and cold-hearted to frame such a weak, innocent girl to such crime and demand even a greater torture on her frail body? He just couldn't fathom how his own mother could be that evil. He so wished he could confront her and yell at her that he knew about her heartless acts towards his Sara, but two main reasons stopped him from doing so. One, he didn't want to put Belle in trouble with his mother. Two, he didn't want to show his mother his feelings towards Sara, not that she didn't already know but still, showing her his love for Sara would only cause her to seek more revenge from the slave. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and tried to control his emotions as best as he could. One month. One last month before getting my Sara away from all the pain and agony in this place. Until then, I would keep a close eye on her.
