I couldn't sleep. It wasn't comforting. Everett's arms tightly wound around my body. I waited for my chance for him to loosen up when he was more deeply in sleep. I snuck out of his arms and put on my nightgown and went downstairs. I just sat on the couch and cried to myself. Is this how Everett wants to see me as? Does he want to see me as weak and obedient? I knew he was terrible guy but I didn't know he would take it to this level. I feel like since Everett now knows about my secret my brothers will probably know. I'm going a more complicated and twisted path.
It's a good thing I hid my mother's bible inside the couch. There's no one to help me but there is one person. God. If I can find help and faith in God then He can come. He can come to save me from this torture. "I know I'm just talking to open air but if you can hear me." I looked up in the air with my eyes full of hope. "If you can hear me and see what's going on down here. It's not what you think. It's not like how you wanted it to be. There's tons of terror and bad things going on. Children being taken away from their mothers and innocents being beaten and killed and for no reason at all. But if you can please look into my eyes and see the horror I've faced maybe you would get a clear understanding. But there's this boy I love but my brothers probably already found out and I know they're going to do everything it takes to separate me from the boy I really love. They're forcing me to marry another boy in which I have no idea who he is and in which I really despise. I've done all I can and I can try more but I'm gonna need a bit more help."
As soon as I put my bible back in the couch I got back up to my room before Everett woke up and found out that I was gone.
Josephine's POV:
As soon as I was told that the Delanceys had Everett take care of Scarlet I quickly came to realize that I made a humongous mistake. They promised me that they wouldn't hurt Scarlet and they kept that up but that doesn't mean they hire someone to give Scarlet all the pain. "We had an agreement!" I yelled. "And our end of the deal has been kept like we've always had." said Oscar. "Just because you're forcing her to marry some guy she really doesn't know and like and getting him to watch over her and letting him beat her up doesn't mean you're the one's doing it."
"Can't we just get rid of this girl I really want to soak someone right now." I've been getting on Morris's nerve ever since I've met him and it's always been Oscar calming him down. "Do you want to be with the rest of your family or not?" he asked. "More than anything. I came here to New York hoping to find work to support my family but I feel like I'll be supporting them more if I'm back home." I cowered my head and fell to silence as I let Oscar yell at me. I deserve it anyway for what I'm doing. I still can't believe I'm betraying Scarlet. She's never done anything to me but I guess human nature and greed got the best of me.
"And besides we already have your ticket to California already. You'll be back home in Los Angeles in no time." I know it's bad of me to feel happy but finally all of my spying work has paid off. I feel like going away now seems like a good option I know for a fact once I tell Scarlet the truth she won't look at me as a friend anymore and I don't blame her for that for all the hurt I caused her and if I go away then I won't cause her anymore pain. But I'm not finished yet I still have to find out what happened to Scarlet's parents. My grandmother's still finding out from her records. She just have to find out soon before I leave.
"We appreciate your services and we'll make sure Scarlet is taken under our personal care." As I took the ticket I ran to my grandmother's I just kept telling myself and hoping that by the time I got to the house she would have the answers and I could leave New York with one mission completed in my mind. But when I got there I got the most grave news ever. "They died?" My grandmother got the answers after going through so much trouble and all this to find out that they're dead. "I'm afraid so. You see her father was accused of cheating in a game of cards and so he was threatened that if he didn't give up his children especially his daughter they would kill the entire family." I guess that's why Scarlet's parents abandoned her and both her brothers at young age.
My grandmother showed me the newspaper of their deaths. They were found in an apartment dead. They were killed by the men who accused Scarlet's father of cheating they were arrested quickly so they never had the chance to go after the children. This is gonna be so hard to tell scarlet but I feel like she's gonna have to read this one and face it by herself if I'm there with her I'll just make things harder for her.
Scarlet's POV:
I was glad to see Everett leave the house through my window but my fear started to quicken and I started to pace around the room when I saw my brothers enter the house. "We need to have a talk." said Oscar. A talk with Oscar can only mean one thing. A soaking. But this one's different he took this calm and he didn't let Morris soak me like he always does. "How was your night with Everett?" he asked. "If you're trying soften me up it's not working. I told you this before and I'll say it again. I don't want to marry out of being told what to do. I don't want to marry out of duty. If I want to marry then I want it to be out of love and besides you may already know this but I love Romeo and he's the one I love. If you don't like it then I can just move out of the house and live on my own. I have friends."
This is the second time I stood up to my brothers. I swear I'm gaining courage the more I go into my relationship with Romeo. "I didn't want it to be this way but you leave me no choice." I'm too smart to believe in Oscar's threats. "What are you gonna do lock me in my room until I come to my senses?" I taunted. Morris came over and threw me on the floor. I was shocked at this sudden aggression but he took it too far. Morris held a knife up my throat and I could see his gleeful scary smile. "We didn't want to do this but we have to go to this limit to get you to listen. Yes we know from our little mouse that you have been falling in love with a newsie not only that did you stand up to him but you slept with him that one night you didn't come back."
I'm really scared. My brothers have done things to hurt me but they never took it this far. "The next time we hear you running off with that newsie again then." Oscar motioned his hands towards Morris. Morris started to make a tiny cut on my throat. "You wouldn't kill your own sister. You know you'll get arrested for that. You'll be caught." I said. "We can make it look like an accident besides no one in this city will believe we killed you. You're just too weak and stupid for anyone to believe that. Now do we have an agreement?" I sadly nodded my head yes and Morris slowly lifted the knife away from me but before he walked away he delivered a kick to my chest. I turned to my side panting and breathing listening to my brothers walk away laughing leaving me wounded.
As spring makes way for autumn the weather will change to warmth to brisk cold. I just hope my relationship won't turn cold with these changing seasons. Even if my life has been threatened by death I won't cower away I'll still love Romeo. I'll find a way to get away from my brothers. I always do.