Hi Guys!
I have been having trouble writing this. I kept starting, scrapping it, then starting again! I am not 100% happy with it but trying to tie it all up is harder than you'd think...!
The Epilogue has gotten away from me a bit and turned into a mini-story all of its own! I probably shouldn't even be calling it an epilogue as it really is just a continuation of the story I suppose... anyway... I will be posting it up in at least 2 or 3 separate "chapters" and it isnt finished yet so no promises on when it will be completed and I haven't even decided on the ending yet, but planning in the next couple of weeks to have it all done as I want to wrap this story up soon :)
This should be a detailed "epilogue" that answers all of those burning questions - stick with it, I think you will like it (at least, I hope you will!).
Enjoy!
Epilogue - Part 1
Alice felt like she had been walking for years.
The soles of her shoes were nearly completely worn away from the harsh desert landscape she had spent much of the last month – or was it two months? Three? More? – crossing. The sand had worn the already thin leather away and her feet were now beginning to blister and crack. The skin had started to harden and was beginning to resemble leather itself at this point.
The landscape had started changing gradually. A few brave, woody trees had appeared on the horizon several days ago. Then sparse patches of brown-green grass had appeared. Alice had hoped that it was a sign that water was nearby but so far she had been disappointed.
She was severely dehydrated.
Her chapped, dry lips were sore and swollen. She had the faint taste of salt and the coppery tang of blood whenever she ran her equally dry tongue over her lips. Her head pounded constantly, varying between a dull ache and a stabbing pain at her temples. She couldn't remember the last time she ate, her stomach had at least given up hurting at this point though. Her supply of water had finally run out nearly two days ago.
Things were looking bad. Alice was under no delusions on that fact.
As she trudged on, she considered her current predicament and the injustice leading her here.
Alice had been exiled from the city of New York for a crime she did not commit. She had been unceremoniously marched out of the city and escorted beyond the safe lands surrounding it with nothing more than the clothes on her back, a small supply of food and a canteen of water that she had immediately started rationing. All because of a lifetime of bad luck and tragic coincidence.
Alice had the misfortune of being a low-born infertile who thought she had hit the jackpot when she gained employment in the grand house of one of the senior Alliance board members. That soon changed.
When she was fourteen years old her master had started abusing her.
It had begun unexpectedly. As a member of the large household staff, Alice shared a sleeping area with the other young female staff, probably fifteen or more girls shared the dark, musty room in the eaves of the old house. The walls were lined with small, narrow cots where the girls slept. Each had a small bedside table where they could store their few personal belongings.
The first time he had come to her bed Alice had been deeply asleep. Her mother had always joked that Alice slept like the dead, as a child at least. That changed after the first night, she would never sleep well again, her nightmares haunted her nightly now and would until the day she died.
On that night she had been woken suddenly by a large, clammy hand clasping over her mouth firmly. Her eyes had snapped open immediately and in dark room, lit only by the silvery moonlight shining through the one small roof light, she could make out the silhouette of her master looming over her. Her initial panic had dimmed slightly, assuming that her master required some task of her and had come to summon her himself, given the late hour, and was merely being considerate of the other girls sleeping in the room in keeping her from crying out. Unfortunately, her assumption was soon proven incorrect when her master flung the light sheet off her body, exposing her to the chilly night air, the thin, tattered nightdress offering little warmth.
She felt more than saw as he mounted the bed, his left hand never leaving her mouth as his right hand pulled and tore at the ties holding her nightdress closed. With much effort he managed to get the nightdress open and ripped it down her body, exposing her breasts.
Her mind shut off the memory at that point. Alice could never get past that point when remembering that first night. There were just flashes of his leering, sweaty face leaning over her, his grunting as he violated her and the pain she felt for days afterwards. He came to her regularly from that night, at least once a week, usually several times, and now that her sleep was never more than a light doze, she became aware of his visits to the other girls within the room on nights when he didn't come to her bed. She always felt guilty when the relief flooded her when he went to another girls bed and not her own. She knew it was natural to feel that way, but it didn't stop her hating herself for it.
The "attacks" continued for several years, until finally when Alice was seventeen the unimaginable occurred – she found herself pregnant. She had been deemed infertile by the doctors at The Facility the year before and, as far as she was aware, they had never made such a mistake before but Alice was sure of it, especially after several months of her monthlies not visiting her and finally the small, hard but defined bump between her hips… There was no denying it!
Unsure of what to do, she confided in the only person who she considered a friend in the house, Jessica the head maid in the household who had taken Alice under her wing and looked after her when she first came to work in the grand house. What Alice didn't realise was that Jessica had been the masters mistress for many years and was endlessly loyal and viciously jealous. The master had lost his wife birthing a stillborn child just two years previous, and due to his age he was no longer eligible for another wife (it would be his third should such a thing occur, after the scandal with wife number one!) and so Jessica had managed to manipulate her way into the position of replacing his wife in all but name, a situation which the pair had managed to keep secret from society, and most of their own staff due to the scandal it would cause. The master's reputation certainly could not withstand a second!
Whilst placating the distraught Alice with kind words of support and comfort, she was plotting her downfall. She ran immediately to the master after dismissing Alice back to her bed and spun him a tale of lies and deceit. She him that Alice had confided in her that she would be leaving the following day for the Alliance to tell all of the board members of the abuse suffered in his household, as well as political secrets and allegiances that Master had formed, and bought, privately to further his position at the Alliance, guarded secrets that would ruin him should people find out that he had bought his way into Position after his father's death shortly after the scandal of his first wife nearly ruined the family name. There were plenty of skeletons in his closet, and the odd body or two in his basement – metaphorically at least – and news of someone spilling all of his secrets sent the master into a rage and panic that made him incapable of thinking logically enough to realise that the only person in possession of those secrets was Jessica herself!
Furious at the supposed betrayal and fuelled by the copious amounts of alcohol he had consumed throughout the day since hearing of the wicked plot, his visit to Alice that night was much different to all of the others previously. He beat Alice badly, kicking and punching at her whilst threatening her death should she speak her evil secrets. She cried and promised not to say a word but he was relentless, beating her until she was finally struck unconscious. He unknowingly killed his own child.
The following day the master was found dead in his bed, a single stab wound to his chest.
There was no investigation. No trial. Alice was immediately accused by Jessica who announced to all who would listen that Alice had been blackmailing the Master and he had retaliated by beating her as was acceptable in society when keeping staff in line – although not to the extent Alice had suffered, Jessica conveniently left that detail out – which she claimed Alice had confessed to her was the reason she had murdered him.
No mention was made of the child and Alice, as the only person considered to have a motive, within twenty four hours of the accusation had been named as murderer and sentenced to immediate exile beyond the city walls, all because of one woman's lies.
Beaten and bloody, she had stumbled across the farmland, dragged by the security guards and chased out for about a mile until she found a safe area of hedging to rest and lick her wounds. After only a few days the security found her on their patrols and chased her on further. The following night they released dogs to chase her away for good. She had no choice but to keep moving. With hopes of finding somewhere, anywhere, to shelter she had forced her feet to continue carrying her onwards.
That now seemed like a lifetime ago and her will to survive was slowly leaving her. She was dimly aware that the woody, barren trees now appeared to have leaves on them. The sparse brown-green grass was now a lush, vivid green stretching out before her. For all she knew, it may just be a figment of her imagination. Alice was pretty sure that people hallucinated when they were near death. How long had it been since she saw the first trees, days? Weeks? Her feet had been propelling her forward of their own accord for what felt like forever, all concept of time had left her.
Finally, overwhelmed by exhaustion and heat, Alice felt her legs buckle from underneath her. She half-heartedly put a hand out to break her fall and faintly registered the shooting pain up her arm before she drifted into blissful blackness.