Chapter 29

I was wrong.
The plane didn't land in The Netherlands but took us to France. I had no idea what there would be for us in France.
As we got off the plane, Christina was waiting for us, her arms spread wide.
"Kyra! It's so lovely to finally meet you!" She exclaimed as she led the way outside.
Still no one was explaining anything to us, we were just treated like we were long lost family members.
To her you are. Will commented.
We were taken to a large villa and immediately brought to the living room.

"So have you and Amanda been getting along?" Christina asked.
I wasn't going to play along with this game, I wanted answers and she was going to give them to me.
"Why are we here?"
"What do you mean why are you here? I have been looking for you for over 20 years, I wanted my family complete. And now we are."
"We were forced to come."
"Did they hurt you?" She looked me over.
"No."
"Well then, no harm done." Christina sat down and expectantly looked at me. "Tell me about yourself."
I'm getting a bad vibe from her, play along.
I trusted him but I wasn't going to give up yet.
"Where are my parents?"
"Your parents?" Christina raised a brow to me. "Surely you know that Anna is dead."
"I'm not talking about Anna. I'm talking about my parents, Amanda said they would be..."
"No she didn't." She cut through me, sharply. "Amanda said your father would be here and you just assumed that those people you call parents would be here. They are not."
"So you didn't get to them?" I began to feel a small fraction of hope.
"Of course we got to them. After Amanda informed me that she had met you, we paid them a visit. I wasn't pleased with them, they have kept you from me."
Her voice was so cold that the little hope I felt vanished right away.
"What did you do? Where are they now?"
Christina indifferently shrugged her shoulders.
"Does it matter? They are no longer a problem."
My fear for my family caused me to demand an answer.
Linda... Will's warning didn't register.
"It matters. Where are they?"
"Fine then, if you insist." She looked me straight in the eye. "They kept my family apart so they had to be punished. I killed them."
The shock rippled through my body. One of my hands went up to my chest while the other gripped Will tight.
She could be lying.
But I had a feeling that she wasn't.

"You seem upset by this news?" She seemed genuinely surprised by my reaction.
"You killed my family!"
"They are not your family." Christina's voice became ice cold this time.
Okay, you have to stop defying her.
Will's alarm joined my own grief in my body.
"I, however, am your family. You need to go clean yourself up, there are clean clothes in your room, I expect you back here in an hour."

With a wave of her hand she dismissed me. I went for the door, Will following me.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"You just told me to go freshen up." I reminded her.
"Yes, I told you. I didn't give him permission to leave. He's not to be anywhere near your room."
I looked at her incredulously.
"What do you mean?"
"You won't be sharing a room under my roof as long as you're not married."
"We've been sharing a room for months already."
Don't make a fight about this Linda.
I won't.

"I'm surprised Karla Benedict agreed to that, I was told she is quite strong in enforcing her principles. Doesn't matter," She said to herself. "I will hold to those principles. You will not share a room until you're married. Of course we can easily fix that, we could go to city hall as soon as possible if you'd like. I would love to welcome a Benedict into our family." She smiled the exact annoyingly sweet smile Amanda gave me all the time.
Without a hesitation I answered her.
"That would be great."
Her eyes widened a bit in shock but she quickly recovered and smiled approvingly.
"Alright then, we will do it on Friday." She gestured at me again. "Now go."

Amanda brought me to my room, stating the men weren't allowed in this part of the house at all. I waited until I couldn't hear her walking anymore before I slumped down on the ground, a moan escaping my lips. With my head held in my hands I cried and cried.
I'm so sorry sweetheart.
I didn't ignore him but I just couldn't respond to him, I was too lost in the overwhelming pain. My parents were dead and I still didn't know anything about my brothers. Did she kill them as well? The thought alone was too much to think about.
Then don't think about it now.
Will's sympathy for me poured into my body. I desperately wanted him to hold me now, but I knew he couldn't. I couldn't show any weakness in front of Christina and she wouldn't let me be alone with him.
They sent me to my room as well.
As we were both showering and changing clothes we kept communicating telepathically. Just the sound of his voice in my head was helping me to become and stay calm. I was worried he would disagree about the getting married situation, but he assured me I shouldn't be worried about anything.
I'm only disappointed we have to wait until Friday, that's four days from now.
The thought alone was enough to make me have to sit back down on the bed. Four days. That meant four nights alone. I couldn't imagine not going crazy.
I'll be here the entire time.
His telepathic embrace comforted me.
Ready to go back in?

We returned to a busy living room. Christina was giving people orders and excitedly walked over to me, holding a woman's arm.
"Take her measurements, Louise!"
She looked me over, assessing my body.
"A bit skinny, but it'll do."
Christina turned to Will and took him to the other side of the room, where a man was waiting to take his measurements.
"Busy, busy!" She exclaimed, "So much to do before Friday."
I was being pulled at from different sides at once. One woman took my chin to turn it to her, holding different colors next to my face. Another was putting my hair up and down again. A third looked disapprovingly at my nails, a fourth tried different shoes on me, making me balance on one foot several times and a fifth was holding up different kinds of jewelry, Christina deciding with her which would be the best.
Abruptly she turned to me.
"You're still a virgin right?"
The room quieted for a second, but that second was enough to make me extremely uncomfortable.
"Yes, I am." I whispered with red cheeks.
She looked satisfied.
"I'll just believe you on that." She turned back to the woman who took my measurements, "White it is, then."

It lasted for two hours, then all the details about our appearance were already decided for us. I didn't mind not having a say in it, I just didn't care. Even under these circumstances, all I cared about was that I got to marry Will. Not just because of being able to be with him the entire time, but because I had realized I really wanted to marry him.
Everything seemed to have been fast forwarded. The time frame was fast, but I didn't care. Like him, I knew that there wasn't any other possible outcome, we were going to marry anyway. It just happened so much sooner than we both expected.
I almost giggled out loud at the thought of Karla's face when she found out, Will didn't see the humor in it.

All the preparations kept my mind occupied, and at dinner Christina questioned me. She wanted to know everything about my life, probing for the smallest details. Like what little accidents I had had as a child or what color my schoolbag had been. Will providing sweet little comments in my head to the things I said made it more than bearable to talk about my past.
Amanda was quiet the entire time, not joining in.