Eli: Hey everyone!! Thanks for all the reviews!!! Not a lot of laughter in
this one, but bear with me... Enjoy!
This wasn't good.
Eli was sitting in one of the great big chairs in the library, not saying a word since she had promised Ian cross her heart that she would be quiet while he worked. She scooted as far back in the chair as she could. She didn't like how her feet couldn't touch the floor in this thing. Nor did she like the color of it.
She didn't really like anything in this room.
It was too cold, too quiet. There was a big fireplace that looked scary because the insides seem to be completely black and she thought it was starting to spread inside the room. She put her knees up to her chest as she tried hard not to look at it.
She glanced over at Ian and bit her lip. He was VERY upset. It seemed as if he had made a million phone calls since he had lead her here. She couldn't hear much, but she knew he was looking for Iron man and couldn't find him. She looked away and put her head down on her knees.
This definitely wasn't good.
Meanwhile, Ian had actually only gone through a dozen numbers, each one a failed attempt in trying to locate Irons. The search was beginning to get frustrating, and his thoughts were going by a mile a minute as to what had been happening with Mr. Irons and Mr. Carver.
He flipped through the small phone book which listed all of Irons' personal numbers. Some he knew, some he had not until now. He had no clue from where Irons had been calling from. Neither did his cell phone for that matter, since when he checked, the number simply read as 'private' (Thankfully, he knew that quite a few of Kenny's phone had been tweaked and that they put out the same thing as this). So, he had to turn to this. The last number he had tried led straight to an disconnected phone line. He hung up the phone, avoiding the urge to throw the damn thing into the wall before he had to try the next number.
An hour went by like this. He was fast approaching the end of the book, and he didn't know what he could do if none of the numbers turned out to be correct. Wistfully, he dialed in the next number and got ready to hang it up again if it turned out to be another number that was now disconnected.
"Hello?"
"Sir."
"Ian? Why have I not been able to contact you? Why did Eliza pick up your phone? Who was the other little girl present? Who else is in my mansion? What is going on?" He ranted out breathlessly. Ian's mind thought fast before he answered.
"I apologize, Sir, for not answering. I was not where she thought I was and did not learn of your call until much later. She found the phone in my jacket pocket as she was going through my things, which she was told not to do. There was and has not been any other little girl present here, though that Bowman boy did come by to drop off a few weapons that were previously ordered. But everything is as it should be." He lied quickly, one lie mixing with another, hopefully said well enough to fool him.
Silence on the other end briefly. "Well, at least something has been going on as it should." Irons said quietly, a bit annoyed.
"If I may ask a few questions, Sir.....?"
"Yes?"
"Where are you?"
"Currently flying over the Atlantic Ocean." He answered.
"Is Mr. Carver present?"
"No, he is not."
His eyes narrowed. He wanted very much to see this man who would hurt his own child so brutally, as well as to answer some of the questions the little girl had unintentionally brought up. "Then where is he?" He asked quietly, trying to calm down.
Another long silence. "Mr. Carver is.... No longer a part of this world."
Ian came close to dropping the phone. Had he heard right? "Excuse me, sir?" He croaked out.
"The man is deceased." He stated coldly. "I am limited for time, Nottingham. If you have anymore questions, ask them now." Irons told him, now very annoyed.
There were too many to ask at once. He looked around and saw Eli, fast asleep where she sat. "What do you want done with the girl?" He asked quietly as he watched her shift onto her side a bit.
"She will be staying at the mansion for now." He answered. Ian let go of the breath he didn't know he was keeping. "Listen, a woman will be arriving at the mansion in less than an hour. Her name is Katherine Sidle. She is a doctor and has orders to run tests on young miss Carver. When she comes, take her to the medical lab below. She knows what her job is. As for the girl, do not yet inform her of her father's departure. I should be back at the mansion before the day is through, and the new hired staff will be there with me. I trust you understand what to do?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good." And he hung up.
Ian placed the phone down lightly as he walked over and looked down at the little figure. She had shifted enough to be hanging half over the arm. He shook his head sadly. 'Six years old, and all this...' His thoughts trailed off as Eli kicked in her sleep and pushed herself up enough to start tumbling over the arm of the chair.
Like lightning, he caught her before she hit the ground and very gently placed her back on the couch. Despite his carefulness, Eli opened her eyes and yawned. She looked up at Ian and half smiled. "Hi. Did you talk to Iron man?" She asked him curiously.
"Yes, I did."
"What did he say? Is my Daddy with him? Lily too?" She asked anxiously.
He tried not to wince as he had to lie once again. "Mr. Irons is returning, but your father and step mother had other things to do before they come to get you. But, they did arrange for a doctor to come and make sure you are okay. The doctor is going to come in a short while to visit you today." He informed her, all the information nice and clean.
She nodded. "Okay. I'm hungry. Can I have a peanut butter sandwich, please?"
"Yes, you may." She smiled cheerfully and they started for the kitchen. He walked behind her as she skipped the whole way there, humming some high pitched song. The little girl was oblivious to all that was going on around her. He just shook his head again, trying to get his thoughts back in order as he tried to figure out what was going on and how best to deal with it.
-Later-
Catherine Sidle was a young, thin woman with grey eyes behind thin glasses and auburn hair. Her face was long and serious, and when she came to the door, Ian had to ignore the instinct to kick her out. Eli was staring up at her fearfully as she tried to keep her distance, not wanting to know what could be in the black bag the woman carried.
The walk to the lower levels of the basement was silent. The little girl tried to keep her eyes in front of her so that they wouldn't wander to all the dark corners or spider webs or Lord knows what else was down here. It felt like they had been walking forever until they reached a metal door at the base of one of the stair cases. Ian punched in a code and it opened up for them.
The room was, like the rest of the basement, dark and creepy. Catherine directed Eli to get up onto one of the tables lined up against the wall. She glanced at Ian, trying to see if she could get out of it. No such luck. He motioned for her to go. She took her time walking up to the large table, flinching back when she caught sight of a machine that had too many sharp objects connected to it. She climbed up onto the table and sat down with her legs hanging over it.
That's when Catherine turned to Ian. "Mr. Irons said to direct you to leave during her examination." She said coldly. Eli whimpered from where she sat as she shook her head. 'No, don't leave me alone with her!' She thought to herself.
"Why?" He asked her inquiringly as his eyes narrowed. Her eyes narrowed back, she was not a woman to try and intimidate.
"Does it matter? He ordered it." She said simply.
He tried not to glare at her as he turned to go into an adjoining room until it was over. He glanced at the little girl one last time, heart breaking over how scared she seemed. When he was far enough away, Catherine pulled out a curtain around her work area.
For two hours, Ian had nothing better to do than to wait for Dr. Sidle to finish. He heard slight chatter and the moving of something on wheels, but that was it. It had felt like two millenniums before Catherine opened the door and beckoned him to come back in.
The curtain was still around the area Eli was, and the doctor showed no signs of opening it any time soon. She faced him, looking even more stern and cold than she had hours ago. "What has happened to this little girl?" She asked him sharply.
"What do you mean?" He asked back.
Catherine seemed to boil as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Why does a six year old have lash marks on her back, bruises on her shoulders, evidence of numerous past injuries, a broken hymen, and has marks of previous vaginal tearing?" She hissed at him accusingly. He was rendered speechless as it took a minute to process all of the information.
His eyes went wide and he shook his head. "No, it has to be a mistake."
She laughed bitterly. "Oh, really?" She went over and picked up her clipboard and handed it to him. "See for yourself."
He stared at the pictures in horror. His fists clenched and his mouth flattened out to a thin line. He was so angry he could barely see straight. He shoved the clip board back into Catherine's hands as he temporarily left the room, slamming the door hard behind him.
-Minutes Later-
His return was much quieter than his exit. Catherine looked up from her chair as he went over to the curtain and peeked inside. He turned to her.
"Why is she asleep?" He asked, left over anger and anxiety just tracing his voice.
Catherine pushed her glasses up. "She needed alot of medical attention. Some of which I know would be frightening to see or feel. She'll only be out for a few hours." She told him softly.
He glanced at her again before he moved and stood by the wall. There was a brief silence before the doctor finally spoke up.
"Since you are obviously not the one who has done this to her, perhaps you can tell me who did, if you know." She said quietly.
"I have an idea." He answered. He didn't like this subject, but knew it would be the topic of conversation for a while.
"I asked her about it. She remembers how she got the scars on her back, but she doesn't remember how things got... Rearranged in her girlie parts." She said lightly. He was still too much on edge to bother. "It's a possibility that she could have been drugged during the experience, making her unable to remember."
He didn't reply to any of her comments. Catherine stopped talking and their was silence once again.
"She screams in her sleep." He said, not looking at her, but staring at the curtain in front of him. "I thought it was the beatings." Pause. "She is frightened of men, too. At least until she gets used to them."
"That's a sign of-" He cut her off.
"I know." Pause. "Do you have anymore business here?"
Catherine shook her head. "I'm done." She picked up her bag and handed him an envelope. "This is for Mr. Irons." She told him. He nodded and put it in his pocket.
"I'll lead you out in a moment." He told her as he went and pushed back the curtain. She watched as he came up to the small girl and looked her over, still not quite trusting the doctor. He then very carefully lifted her up and carried her over to the door as he and Catherine went back upstairs.
This wasn't good.
Eli was sitting in one of the great big chairs in the library, not saying a word since she had promised Ian cross her heart that she would be quiet while he worked. She scooted as far back in the chair as she could. She didn't like how her feet couldn't touch the floor in this thing. Nor did she like the color of it.
She didn't really like anything in this room.
It was too cold, too quiet. There was a big fireplace that looked scary because the insides seem to be completely black and she thought it was starting to spread inside the room. She put her knees up to her chest as she tried hard not to look at it.
She glanced over at Ian and bit her lip. He was VERY upset. It seemed as if he had made a million phone calls since he had lead her here. She couldn't hear much, but she knew he was looking for Iron man and couldn't find him. She looked away and put her head down on her knees.
This definitely wasn't good.
Meanwhile, Ian had actually only gone through a dozen numbers, each one a failed attempt in trying to locate Irons. The search was beginning to get frustrating, and his thoughts were going by a mile a minute as to what had been happening with Mr. Irons and Mr. Carver.
He flipped through the small phone book which listed all of Irons' personal numbers. Some he knew, some he had not until now. He had no clue from where Irons had been calling from. Neither did his cell phone for that matter, since when he checked, the number simply read as 'private' (Thankfully, he knew that quite a few of Kenny's phone had been tweaked and that they put out the same thing as this). So, he had to turn to this. The last number he had tried led straight to an disconnected phone line. He hung up the phone, avoiding the urge to throw the damn thing into the wall before he had to try the next number.
An hour went by like this. He was fast approaching the end of the book, and he didn't know what he could do if none of the numbers turned out to be correct. Wistfully, he dialed in the next number and got ready to hang it up again if it turned out to be another number that was now disconnected.
"Hello?"
"Sir."
"Ian? Why have I not been able to contact you? Why did Eliza pick up your phone? Who was the other little girl present? Who else is in my mansion? What is going on?" He ranted out breathlessly. Ian's mind thought fast before he answered.
"I apologize, Sir, for not answering. I was not where she thought I was and did not learn of your call until much later. She found the phone in my jacket pocket as she was going through my things, which she was told not to do. There was and has not been any other little girl present here, though that Bowman boy did come by to drop off a few weapons that were previously ordered. But everything is as it should be." He lied quickly, one lie mixing with another, hopefully said well enough to fool him.
Silence on the other end briefly. "Well, at least something has been going on as it should." Irons said quietly, a bit annoyed.
"If I may ask a few questions, Sir.....?"
"Yes?"
"Where are you?"
"Currently flying over the Atlantic Ocean." He answered.
"Is Mr. Carver present?"
"No, he is not."
His eyes narrowed. He wanted very much to see this man who would hurt his own child so brutally, as well as to answer some of the questions the little girl had unintentionally brought up. "Then where is he?" He asked quietly, trying to calm down.
Another long silence. "Mr. Carver is.... No longer a part of this world."
Ian came close to dropping the phone. Had he heard right? "Excuse me, sir?" He croaked out.
"The man is deceased." He stated coldly. "I am limited for time, Nottingham. If you have anymore questions, ask them now." Irons told him, now very annoyed.
There were too many to ask at once. He looked around and saw Eli, fast asleep where she sat. "What do you want done with the girl?" He asked quietly as he watched her shift onto her side a bit.
"She will be staying at the mansion for now." He answered. Ian let go of the breath he didn't know he was keeping. "Listen, a woman will be arriving at the mansion in less than an hour. Her name is Katherine Sidle. She is a doctor and has orders to run tests on young miss Carver. When she comes, take her to the medical lab below. She knows what her job is. As for the girl, do not yet inform her of her father's departure. I should be back at the mansion before the day is through, and the new hired staff will be there with me. I trust you understand what to do?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good." And he hung up.
Ian placed the phone down lightly as he walked over and looked down at the little figure. She had shifted enough to be hanging half over the arm. He shook his head sadly. 'Six years old, and all this...' His thoughts trailed off as Eli kicked in her sleep and pushed herself up enough to start tumbling over the arm of the chair.
Like lightning, he caught her before she hit the ground and very gently placed her back on the couch. Despite his carefulness, Eli opened her eyes and yawned. She looked up at Ian and half smiled. "Hi. Did you talk to Iron man?" She asked him curiously.
"Yes, I did."
"What did he say? Is my Daddy with him? Lily too?" She asked anxiously.
He tried not to wince as he had to lie once again. "Mr. Irons is returning, but your father and step mother had other things to do before they come to get you. But, they did arrange for a doctor to come and make sure you are okay. The doctor is going to come in a short while to visit you today." He informed her, all the information nice and clean.
She nodded. "Okay. I'm hungry. Can I have a peanut butter sandwich, please?"
"Yes, you may." She smiled cheerfully and they started for the kitchen. He walked behind her as she skipped the whole way there, humming some high pitched song. The little girl was oblivious to all that was going on around her. He just shook his head again, trying to get his thoughts back in order as he tried to figure out what was going on and how best to deal with it.
-Later-
Catherine Sidle was a young, thin woman with grey eyes behind thin glasses and auburn hair. Her face was long and serious, and when she came to the door, Ian had to ignore the instinct to kick her out. Eli was staring up at her fearfully as she tried to keep her distance, not wanting to know what could be in the black bag the woman carried.
The walk to the lower levels of the basement was silent. The little girl tried to keep her eyes in front of her so that they wouldn't wander to all the dark corners or spider webs or Lord knows what else was down here. It felt like they had been walking forever until they reached a metal door at the base of one of the stair cases. Ian punched in a code and it opened up for them.
The room was, like the rest of the basement, dark and creepy. Catherine directed Eli to get up onto one of the tables lined up against the wall. She glanced at Ian, trying to see if she could get out of it. No such luck. He motioned for her to go. She took her time walking up to the large table, flinching back when she caught sight of a machine that had too many sharp objects connected to it. She climbed up onto the table and sat down with her legs hanging over it.
That's when Catherine turned to Ian. "Mr. Irons said to direct you to leave during her examination." She said coldly. Eli whimpered from where she sat as she shook her head. 'No, don't leave me alone with her!' She thought to herself.
"Why?" He asked her inquiringly as his eyes narrowed. Her eyes narrowed back, she was not a woman to try and intimidate.
"Does it matter? He ordered it." She said simply.
He tried not to glare at her as he turned to go into an adjoining room until it was over. He glanced at the little girl one last time, heart breaking over how scared she seemed. When he was far enough away, Catherine pulled out a curtain around her work area.
For two hours, Ian had nothing better to do than to wait for Dr. Sidle to finish. He heard slight chatter and the moving of something on wheels, but that was it. It had felt like two millenniums before Catherine opened the door and beckoned him to come back in.
The curtain was still around the area Eli was, and the doctor showed no signs of opening it any time soon. She faced him, looking even more stern and cold than she had hours ago. "What has happened to this little girl?" She asked him sharply.
"What do you mean?" He asked back.
Catherine seemed to boil as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Why does a six year old have lash marks on her back, bruises on her shoulders, evidence of numerous past injuries, a broken hymen, and has marks of previous vaginal tearing?" She hissed at him accusingly. He was rendered speechless as it took a minute to process all of the information.
His eyes went wide and he shook his head. "No, it has to be a mistake."
She laughed bitterly. "Oh, really?" She went over and picked up her clipboard and handed it to him. "See for yourself."
He stared at the pictures in horror. His fists clenched and his mouth flattened out to a thin line. He was so angry he could barely see straight. He shoved the clip board back into Catherine's hands as he temporarily left the room, slamming the door hard behind him.
-Minutes Later-
His return was much quieter than his exit. Catherine looked up from her chair as he went over to the curtain and peeked inside. He turned to her.
"Why is she asleep?" He asked, left over anger and anxiety just tracing his voice.
Catherine pushed her glasses up. "She needed alot of medical attention. Some of which I know would be frightening to see or feel. She'll only be out for a few hours." She told him softly.
He glanced at her again before he moved and stood by the wall. There was a brief silence before the doctor finally spoke up.
"Since you are obviously not the one who has done this to her, perhaps you can tell me who did, if you know." She said quietly.
"I have an idea." He answered. He didn't like this subject, but knew it would be the topic of conversation for a while.
"I asked her about it. She remembers how she got the scars on her back, but she doesn't remember how things got... Rearranged in her girlie parts." She said lightly. He was still too much on edge to bother. "It's a possibility that she could have been drugged during the experience, making her unable to remember."
He didn't reply to any of her comments. Catherine stopped talking and their was silence once again.
"She screams in her sleep." He said, not looking at her, but staring at the curtain in front of him. "I thought it was the beatings." Pause. "She is frightened of men, too. At least until she gets used to them."
"That's a sign of-" He cut her off.
"I know." Pause. "Do you have anymore business here?"
Catherine shook her head. "I'm done." She picked up her bag and handed him an envelope. "This is for Mr. Irons." She told him. He nodded and put it in his pocket.
"I'll lead you out in a moment." He told her as he went and pushed back the curtain. She watched as he came up to the small girl and looked her over, still not quite trusting the doctor. He then very carefully lifted her up and carried her over to the door as he and Catherine went back upstairs.