The artificial light came in late near the top of the room, casting plain blue rectangles onto the wooden floorboards and the furniture. A barred opening was letting in the light, positioned exactly in the middle at the top of the north wall. Rosemary looked up at the makeshift window; it was obvious someone had added those bars by themselves. The bars were uneven and slightly bent and debris clung to them where they were jabbed into the stone. She could tell from here that a bit of tugging and brute strength could free them from their concrete prison. Unfortunately, they were too high up and out of reach for Rosemary to attack them.
Rosemary heard and saw nothing outside through the metal bars; there was only a deafening silence that had been stretching for hours without end and what seemed like an empty stoned corridor. Earlier, people were milling around outside, speaking in loud and comfortable voices, the shadows of their legs moving along the room as they passed by the little barred window. Rosemary recognized some of the voices, but she couldn't really place where or how.
They were practically killing her with their familiarity; earlier she tried to scream out at them, to call for help. But her voice wouldn't come out, only a strange warble.
Rosemary now sits on one of the beds, her back slouched against the headboard, her knees up, a look of defeat on her face. Her stomach rumbled, begging for food; Rosemary had to fight the urge and lay down and rock herself for comfort.
She would if she didn't feel that she was too old to do so.
She glanced around the room, looking for the thousandth time for a clue as to where she was. Like before, it was eerily quiet and neat considering her situation. The room was entirely symmetrical: two beds were opposite each other, facing each other.
On the other side of the room, wooden drawers stood on either side of the bed. There are pieces of folded paper on top of each drawer; the ones on Rosemary's sides contained random series of numbers and quotes. She assumed the ones on the other side are the same as well. The walls were bare and clean. On her side, the bed was in disarray and the drawers were knocked over. Balled up pieces of paper scattered around the floor near the bed, pillows and blankets were thrown haphazardly about, and on the walls were tiny streaks of fresh blood.
Earlier Rosemary was banging on the wall, and digging into it, thinking that maybe she could dig her way out of the room. The only results were bruised hands and bloodied fingers.
Rosemary blew a sigh and slid down to lay on the bed, the blankets crinkling beneath her, loud in her ears. She woke up like this this morning, lost and confused. And in shackles. Both of her legs are chained to the bed. Fortunately, they were long enough that she was able to walk to the window, albeit it was a few feet above her head. Her ankles were bruised black and blue where the shackles were; it was an ugly sight.
Where was she? Who was she? She kept repeating the questions in her head. It just doesn't make any sense. Yesterday... what happened yesterday? Rosemary can't remember anything. It made her heart tighten up, and her eyes danced around the ceiling, trying to imagine what her life was before this.
A loud bang snapped Rosemary out of her daze. Suddenly aware of her horrible situation, she climbed out of bed and hid behind it, her heartbeat racing, her breathing ragged and her hands clutching to the sheets like she was holding on to dear life.
A million thoughts flashed through her head. Her captor is here to end her. She'll be tortured endlessly for answers she doesn't have. They'll cut off her tongue, they'll drug her, they-
A woman in a maid's costume came into the room holding a tray of steaming food; at the sight of the mess and destruction Rosemary had created, she seemed to falter a bit, her eyes widening and her mouth slighting gaping. The woman had short auburn curls that stopped at her chin; some gray hairs were visible through the bonnet that she wore. She had an apologetic look on her face. She looked harmless, trustworthy even, with her easy green eyes and comfortable countenance. But Rosemary has her doubts; after all, she was the one tied to a wall. This woman could have chained her here.
Her eyes lingered on the stranger's face; they eventually went to land on the tray in her hands.
Rosemary shrank back despite her stomach calling out for the food. The maid was wearing an apologetic look as she set the tray of food down on the bed cautiously. "Oh dear, look at what you've done." She gave a Rosemary a small smile, "Good afternoon, Miss. Have you slept well?"
She sat down on the bed and began to make some tea for the girl cowering in fear. "I'm so very sorry, Miss. I'm sure you don't know anything. To be frank, neither do I. But master insists on keeping you here, and his orders are law." The woman gave a sad chuckled as she added some sugar in a cup of green tea. "Had to learn that the hard way. But enough of the past. You must be hungry. Chef made you some eggs and soup. It's not filling but it's enough. Here, eat up." The woman picked up the plate of scrambled eggs and offered it to Rosemary. When it was clear that the frightened girl had no intentions of touching the food or the plate, with a defeated sigh, the maid withdrew her arm and set the plate down again on the tray.
"Please, Miss. Master would be very angry if you starve yourself."
Why should I worry about him? Rosemary wanted to ask, but she can't seem to speak. She simply just shook her head no.
But her stomach betrayed her. In the awkward silence, a loud rumbled came from her stomach. Rosemary flinched and shrank further away from the strange woman and the delicious smelling food.
The woman gave Rosemary a lopsided grin. "I guess I should leave you now, Miss." The maid placed the cup of tea down, got up, and went to the door. "Sorry there are no utensils for you to use; Master fears you might use it to.." The woman's voice trailed off, and she blushed, quickly shaking her head and changing the subject. "My name's Seraphina, by the way. You'll be in my care until Master decrees someone else. Please eat, Miss, keep your health up. I'll see you again tonight."
When the door closed, the same loud bang resonated through the air.
I guess that was the lock, huh...
Faint footsteps could be heard as the woman walked away.
After a few minutes of silent torture, Rosemary finally got off of the floor and itched cautiously towards the tray of food. True to the lady's word there were no utensils, just a plate of scrambled eggs, a bowl of vegetable soup, two rolls of bread, and a cup of green tea. Even though they were plain, they smelled heavenly.
It was a risk, she knew, in eating the food; it could have been poisoned. But her stomach was aching so much.
Rosemary reached out and grabbed one of the rolls. If she was going to find answers to her many questions, if she was having any wish to escape, she's going to have to play along with the maid and her master. Filled with a sudden surge of determination, she took a gamble with the bread and bit into it.
Author's Note: This is just a little "project" I gave myself to occupy my free time. I wrote another TLC fanfic a long time ago on Wattpad; unfortunately, it's erased and gone. So I'm starting anew using Beauty and the Beast as my inspiration. I dunno when I'll be posting more chapters; I'm also thinking of salvaging my memories to write the older fic again. But that's a thought for later; thanks for reading :)