Escape

CHAPTER ONE has been rewritten. So be sure to go back and reread it before continuing with this chapter.

…

Angel jerked the ropes that bound Zerina's wrists. The movement was done on purpose as it struck more pain in Zerina's already stinging back. Zerina dropped to the floor. Angel faked a sniffled while she hung the whip back up on the wall. "This really does hurt me, Zerina. I wish I did not have to do it."

Zerina glared through her hair when Angel sighed dramatically and draped herself against the wall. "I have half a mind to cancel tonight. But then, that would be a punishment for me and your uncle more than it would be for you."

"Tonight?" Zerina couldn't help but question. She pulled her falling shirt back up over her shoulders.

"You are to dine with me and my family," Angel said. Zerina's eyes widened. She was never allowed to eat with Angel's family. Something wasn't right. "I even had a special dress brought in for you to wear."

A special dress? Something definitely wasn't right. Zerina pushed herself up into a sitting position. Angel sneered at her. "Get off the floor, child! It is unbefitting for a young woman!" Zerina had to force herself to stand up. Even the tiniest of moves shot pain through her back. Once on her feet, Angel demand her to follow. "Come!"

Zerina forced herself to move. She got more sympathetic glances from the staff she knew. Mari was now in the kitchen. Zerina sent her an 'I'm fine' smile before following Angel out of the room. Cold silence hovered between the two women as they made their way back to Zerina's room. Zerina paused in confusion when she saw an unfamiliar dress hanging on the front of her changing wall.

Zerina tilted her head at the white, form hugging dress with the flowing skirt that was split open in the front revealing then light green silky underskirt. The neck on the dress was high collared, obviously designed to make sure to hide the scar on Zerina's back.

"This is the dress you will be wearing tonight," Angel said with venom in her voice. She snapped her fingers and another unfamiliar maid entered the room. The maid was like all the others. Zerina was staring to have trouble telling them apart. They were like clones of each other. "Beatrice will be attending to you to make sure you are presentable for my family. I expect you to be dress and on time. No more tardiness from you or you will be punished again. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," Zerina replied.

"Then get back to your duties!" Angel snapped. She then excused herself from the room with Beatrice following. The maid closed the door, but that didn't stop the fake hysterical cries from Angel out of the room. "Oh, Galen! I'm so sorry! I had to punish her again!"

"There, there, my dear," Galen cooed. "I'm sure she deserved it. It wasn't your fault. It'll be all right."

Zerina sighed. She turned away from the dress. She pulled off her ripped shirt and tossed it in the trash can. A whimper left her lips as she reached back to hook her bra strap back in place. She whimpered again when the strap rubbed against her damaged skin. She was going to have to go without it for a while. She unhooked it then tossed it aside before grabbing herself a clean shirt from her closet.

A light tap on the door was heard before Mari slipped inside. The woman didn't speak at first. She only pulled a small green container with a white lid from her pocket. "Let me put some of this salve on your back. Lay down, honey."

Zerina nodded. She laid down on the bed. Mari sat down on the edge and pulled the lid off the container. Zerina whimpered when Mari began to spread the cool gel over her back. "Hn."

"Sorry," Mari apologized.

"Don't be," Zerina said with a light shake of her head. "It's not your fault."

"Don't worry, Zerina. It won't be long before you are out of this horrible place," Mari said.

Zerina chuckled. "Not all wishes come true, Mari."

"Of course they do," Mari insisted.

"No, they don't," Zerina said with a sigh. "If I were to wish for my mother to come back to me, it won't happen. The dead cannot be brought back to life."

"Okay, for that one you are correct. But you will get out of here soon. Just be patient a little bit longer. Just be stronger a little bit longer." Zerina turned to look at Mari. The woman held a soft, far off gaze in her eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Zerina asked. "You know full well that the gates to get off this island were hidden years ago. They've probably been destroyed."

"Perhaps." Mari shrugged. "But where there is a front door, there is always a back door."

"Did you hit your head or something?" Zerina asked.

"Don't worry about it right now," Mari said while recapping the container. She stood up from the bed. "Let's get back to work."

Zerina was going to question her farther, but didn't get the chance as Mari noticed the dress in the room. "What in the name of stars is that doing in here?"

"That is apparently mine to wear tonight."

"So that's-What?"

"Her majesty wants me to wear it tonight while dining with her family." Zerina was going to chuckle but the noise caught in her throat when she noticed an alarmed look flashing through Mari's eyes. "What's wrong, Mari? You look a bit pale."

"N-Nothing," Mari stuttered. "We better get back to work. We don't want to get into trouble again, now do we?"

"Yeah." Zerina nodded. She eyed Mari, but didn't say anything more on the subject.

…

"Ace!"

"Hn!" Zerina grabbed her chest and fell forward.

"Hey! Are you all right, Zerina?" Mari asked. She grabbed Zerina's shoulders and helped her sit back up. Both were once again tending to the flower gardens. Angel's family had disappeared inside for some reason or other. So they were pretty much alone but for the other workers and the occasionally stay cat or dog that wondered by.

"Something's happening to Luffy," Zerina panted. "He's hurting."

"Got himself into another speck of trouble, eh?" Mari asked while she went back to ripping away at weeds. "What's he doing this time? Wrecking another government building like, uh, what was the last one?"

"No, this is something worse than that," Zerina said as her panting started to slow down. "His mind is so messed up. What happened? I still can't reach him."

"Don't worry about him right now. You need to focus on tonight." Mari ripped another weed out of the garden and tossed it onto the pile they had.

Zerina turned her eyes to Mari at that point. Something in the woman's voice wasn't right. "Mari, what's going on?"

"We're getting you out of here," Mari said with a smirk.

"What are you talking about?" Zerina blinked. "We've already been through this. No one can escape this island. The doors are lost."

"Just be patient. After tonight, you will no longer have to deal with this horrible place or that horrible woman and man who are supposed to be family," Mari said. "Just keep working like nothing is going on."

Zerina sighed again. She turned back to her weed pulling while calling for Luffy through their mind connection. "Luffy? Can you hear me? Please, answer me. I really need to talk to you."

Nothing, again.

With yet another sigh, Zerina turned her attention back to weed pulling. A few minutes later, Mari broke into her thoughts with her words and an elbow to her side. "You better get going now or you're going to be late. That new maid is probably already waiting for you."

"Shoot! I forgot!" Zerina jumped to her feet. She brushed the dirt off her as well as she could.

"Well, at least this will all be over soon," Mari said as she stood up. She plucked a piece of grass out of Zerina's hair then cupped the young teenager's face in her hand. Zerina paused and looked at the older woman. "Whatever happens, remember I am here for you. And I love you very much. You have always been a very important part of my life here, Zerina."

"Thanks, Mari." Zerina smiled with confusion. "You're a very important part of my life as well. I couldn't have made it all these years without you."

"You would have done fine. You are strong. Just like your parents," Mari said.

"I'm not strong at all," Zerina sighed. She looked down at the ground and kicked a dirt clump. "And I'm nothing like my parents. My mother had the guts to attempt to escape this place. And my father is a…"

"You are strong. And soon you will see how strong you really are." Zerina pulled her eyes back up to Mari's. Mari smiled and nodded with determination. "You will see that soon enough. Now get going. We both have a lot of preparing to do for tonight."

"Okay," Zerina said. She turned and head for the manor. Once at the door, she paused to look back at Mari. But Mari was no longer standing in the garden. She blinked in confusion and wondered where the woman had gone in such a hurry.

Zerina looked around once again for Mari. But the woman couldn't be found anywhere. She wondered what the older woman was talking about before. There was no escape from this island. There hasn't been for years.

Zerina tried to shake off the odd behavior of her dearest friend as she entered into the kitchen. The delicious smell of meats, soups and other foods and spices hammered her nose. Her stomach rumbled at the yummy smells. "It smells so good in here."

"Thank's Zerina!" The three cooks crowed.

"Here, have an appetizer." One of the cooks stepped over to Zerina with a freshly buttered roll in his hand.

Zerina quickly took off her apron and hung it up on one of the pegs near the door then took the roll. She bit into it and hummed. "So good!"

"Hurry up now. We don't want you to get into trouble again," The cook said.

"Right." Zerina nodded. She quickly polished off the roll while hurrying throughout the kitchen. She dashed down the halls, hoping not to see anyone, especially Angel. It was times like this she wished, silently, that she didn't live in this manor. It didn't make for easy escapes with such long halls and no where to hide. She turned and headed up the stairs then made her way to her small room down the hall of the west wing on the third floor.

Zerina never understood why such a large house was made. This manor had six floors. Each floor had twenty rooms on each with. All of the bedrooms had their own large bathrooms and large beds. Only the ground floor was absent of bedrooms. She didn't know one single family that could actually fill up all these rooms. Not even the combined families of hers and Angel's would fill up this place.

…

Beatrice was already inside when Zerina finally made it to her room. The look on the woman's face told Zerina she should have already been there even thought it was two and a half hours until dinner was going to be served. Plenty of time to get bathed and dressed.

Beatrice frowned. "If the mistress knew of your tardiness, she would not be pleased. You should have been here long ago."

"I'm sorry," Zerina apologized with fake sweetness. She batted her eyelashes. "I am after all ill. I do not know any better."

"I have half a mind telling her of this." Beatrice frowned with a low growl.

"Please do not do that!" Zerina begged. "I promise it won't happen again. I am here now."

Beatrice quietly took Zerina in. She spoke after sighing. "Very well. I will let this slide just this once. Hurry up and get bathed."

Zerina only nodded in response. She wasn't sure if the woman was really going to keep quiet about her tardiness or not. She shook her head. There was no point in worrying about it now. She didn't have to do anything to receive Angel's fury.

Zerina dashed into the bathroom to find her tub had already been filled with steaming water. She disrobed and slid in. Gritting her teeth as the hot water stung her back. She made this bath an extremely quick one. Soaking her wound for long wasn't good for it.

Once cleaned, Zerina pulled herself out of the tub and pulled on her robe. She stepped back into her room to find Beatrice already waiting the dress out. Zerina stepped over to the woman. Beatrice only nodded and the two stepped behind the changing wall. Zerina removed the robe from her body then allow this strange woman to help her into the fancy dress.

Zerina gritted her teeth when Beatrice jerked on the lace on the back of the dress. She believed the woman was purposefully doing that to hurt her injury. Probably under Angel's orders too. A little while later, Zerina was finally and completely dressed. Next Beatrice motioned Zerina to sit down on the cushioned stood at the vanity to apply the make up and do her hair.

Beatrice stood back and examined her work. Zerina's face now dusted lightly with make up and her hair was pulled back into a braided bun with a few wild strands, that refused to do anything-no matter how much hairspray Beatrice used-but remain free flowing, framing her face. "Beautiful. The mistress will be pleased that you are, for once, presentable. You should be grateful to the mistress to allow you to wear such a beautiful dress. She might even over look your hideous hair."

Zerina rolled her eyes. There was no way she was going to be grateful to wear this dress no matter how pretty it was. She didn't like the way it felt. She felt like her entire body couldn't breath or move properly. The makeup on her face didn't help the situation either. This was the first time she ever worn the stuff all over her face. Usually it was just used to cover up a scar or bruise. She felt like her entire face was being deprived of oxygen.

Just then there was a tapped on the door. Beatrice opened it. Jon, one of the butlers, eyes widened when he saw her. Zerina suddenly felt self-conscious. None of the workers, including herself, has ever seen her in such a beautiful dress.

"You look beautiful, Zerina," Jon said with an approving smile. "Your mother would be proud of the beautiful young woman you have grown into."

"Thanks." Zerina shifted nervously.

"Ahem!" Beatrice cleared her throat in annoyance. "Was there something you wanted?"

"Oh, yes, of course." He cleared his own throat. "Dinner is served."

"Get going!" Zerina was pulled out of her thoughts of self-consciousness when Beatrice hissed at her.

Zerina sighed but nodded before leaving her room. She turned to ask the butler a question but found he was missing. "Do you know where Mari…What the heck? Where did he go?"

Zerina turned and looked back down the hall. No one could be seen. An eerie chill fell over the hall. It sent a shiver up her spine. "This is just too weird."

With a dismissive shake of her head, Zerina started back down the hall. She tried not to think about how strange Mari had been earlier that day or how strange Jon was acting now. Chatter of familiar voices soon filtered into her ears. When they all stopped talking at once, she finally looked up from her thoughts. Angel's family was staring at her. Some held disapproving glares, such as Michel's mother and father. While others were obviously surprised at the dress she was wearing.

Zerina suddenly felt bad settling over her. All of her instincts were screaming at her to run. Something was not right about tonight. "Oh, Luffy, I seriously need to talk to you. Answer me!"

The sounds of her uncle clearing his throat brought Zerina back to reality. He was standing beside her. Dress in his fine black suit, clean shaven and a blank expression on his face. When did he get there? And why did he have his arm around her shoulders? "It is good of you to finally join us, Zerina. You look very beautiful tonight."

Alarms were now shrieking in her head. Her uncle hardly ever looked at her. She often doubted he even looked at her once since she's lived here. Zerina didn't have much time to debate anything that was going on. One second she was standing with her uncle, then next she was sitting beside Angel's nephew, Taru.

Taru was a tall young man, early twenties, with broad shoulders and a square chin. His hair was parted on the right side with each hair laying right where it should be. His icy eyes were wondering over the dress she was wearing or her body, she wasn't sure which he was actually looking at. She never saw him much, but she knew he was a smooth talker. He always had a different girlfriend every week. The way his eyes lingered on her made her sick. She felt like he was undressing her with his eyes.

Luckily for her, butlers soon moved into the dining hall carrying silver trays in their hands. They placed the trays down on the table before removing the lids from them. The meat dish exploded over the room. Normally, Zerina would loved the smells that came from the dished that the cooks of the manor made. But right now, all the smells were making her sick. She didn't want to eat. All she wanted to do was run back up to her room, remove this dress and lounge around in her pajamas and speak to Luffy until the early morning hours. No. What she really wanted was to run away from here. And run back to Luffy.

Zerina knew she had to eat something or risk being scolded or even punished again. So she picked up her fork and started to pick at the meat on her plate, forcing the first bit into her mouth. No one spoke to her. For that she was grateful. She didn't know what she would say to anyone even if they did speak to her.

"I would like to thank you all for coming to help us celebrate this joyous union," Galen said when he stood up some time later. Zerina had no idea how much time had passed. Time seemed to slip away from her.

Union? Zerina thought. She looked around at Angel's family. Who's getting married?

Galen continued to speak. "Let us raise our glasses in a toast! Here's to the blessed union of Angel's nephew, Taru, to my niece, Zerina."

Zerina felt her world shatter at that point. Everything and everyone faded from the room. Her stomach spun wildly inside of her. Her lungs hitched in her chest. She couldn't breath. She had to get out of there. But when she stood up, she found an arm around her waist. She barely register someone say, "Look at that. She's so excited she's speechless."

"As she should be," Another voice said with fake cheeriness. "Taru will make a fine husband for her."

Speechless wasn't right. There was plenty she could say, but knew she'd get punished if she did. Slowly things started coming back into focus. She saw everyone smugly smiling at her. They were more murmurs of fake happiness for her and Taru's engagement.

Taru leaned down to her ear. "Speechlessness is such a lovely quality in a wife, especially one with such a bloodline as yourself. But do not worry, my new love. The blood of your horrid father will thin out. Our descendants will be blessed with my blood."

"Ace!"

Zerina's vision blurred as pain slammed her chest. She fell forward against the table, clanking the dishes together.

Taru laughed. "She's so excited she must feel faint. I am quiet the handsome one after all. I do not blame her."

Everyone laughed, but agreed with him.

"The poor dear must be over come with joy," Angel said with a smug look on her face. "She should get some fresh air. Taru, why don't you escort her around the gardens? It is such a lovely night. You two could get to know each other better."

Zerina shivered at the way Angel said the word 'better'. She had no time to protest, no time to think as Taru pulled her from the dining hall with striking speed and force. Next thing Zerina knew, they were out in the gardens. And he had her pinned to a tree by her hips. He leaned down close to her face. That's when she noticed the leering, lustful look in his eyes. She tried to push him away, but he was far too strong.

"I never noticed how truly beautiful you are. I guess I never noticed because you were always wearing such plain clothes." He leaned down and pressed his lips to her neck.

"Stop it!" Zerina hissed.

"Just relax. You are really going to enjoy this. I will treat you so well," Taru said while trailing kisses along her neck and up to her lips.

"No stop it," Zerina begged. She cried out in her mind for Luffy to answer her. "Luffy!"

"Don't worry. I won't be too rough on you. I know you don't have any experience with men," Taru said while leaning down to her lips. Zerina felt tears swelling up in her eyes. Her heart pounded so hard in her chest it felt like it was also pounding in her head. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening.

Zerina pressed her hands to his chest and tried to push him away. She couldn't do it. She wasn't strong enough. He easily grabbed her wrists and pinned her arms back against the tree.

"Excuse me, young sir." A huge wave of relief washed through Zerina when she heard Jon's voice and felt Taru pulled away from her.

"What is it?" Taru growled.

"I was asked to bring this out to you both," Jon replied. He held up a tray with a bottle and two wine glasses. "Milady thought you both could use a drink."

"Well, my aunt is a very smart lady," Taru chuckled. He took the glasses from the tray. Zerina just stared at the glass when he held it out to her. "Go ahead. If my aunt says it's all right then it's all right. Besides, it will loosen you up."

Zerina looked at the glass then at Taru then over to Jon. Jon sent her a light nod. She raised her eyebrow at him in question. "It is all right, Zerina. You may have a drink. It is a special wine blend created by Mari."

Zerina's eyebrows raised in realization that something was up and Mari was involved. She nodded and took the glass from Taru. Taru clanked his glass against Zerina's. "Here's to us and to many, many, many joyous nights ahead."

Zerina didn't respond. She just brought the glass up to her lips. When she tilted the glass back, a small clear marble rolled down the glass and bumped into her lips. She lowered the glass to send Jon a questioning look, but stopped when she heard a thud. She looked to find Taru was on the ground, fast asleep. "What the heck? What's going on?"

"He's out! Hurry up!" Jon said. He waved to someone behind Zerina, but she didn't notice. Two other butlers rushed over. They picked up Taru and headed for the manor. Jon took the glass from her hand. He pulled out the marble and pocketed it. He then grabbed Zerina's wrist and pulled her along with him. "Come on, Zerina. We're getting you out of here."

"What?" Zerina asked. "What's going on?"

"We're not going to let you suffer from anymore abuse at Angel's hands. And we're certainly not going to let you suffer at the hands of Taru. He is far worse than his aunt," Jon explained as he led Zerina into the kitchen.

"What? You're not making any sense," Zerina said. Jon didn't reply as he led them up to the fireplace in the kitchen. He placed his free hand on it and fed it some of his magic. Much to Zerina's surprise, the entire fireplace began to glow and slid sideways to reveal a staircase. Strange glowing balls were attacked to the walls. They lit up the cool darkness that was now surrounding them. Jon once again began to led her. This time down the hidden stone stairs. Zerina jumped when the fireplace slid back into place on its won. "Moving on their own fireplaces, this day just keeps getting better and better."

"Taru has been married before," Jon said suddenly. "To another young woman much like yourself. He killed her."

"What?!" Zerina's blood ran cold. A single sweat drop slid down her forehead. "I was supposed to…He was going to…"

"Don't worry. We're not going to let that happen." Zerina didn't notice anything after that. While her mind was in shock, blocking out everything around her, her body continued to instinctually follow after Jon.

"Zerina!"

"Mari?" Zerina finally came back to her senses when she heard the familiar, and comforting voice of Mari. She looked up and saw her, but didn't say anything as her eyes locked onto a strange glowing bluish purple pond behind Mari and Jon.

"Snap out of it, Zerina!" Mari said. The woman grabbed Zerina's arm and pulled her towards the pond.

"Wha…What is that? It feels familiar," Zerina said.

"It's a door. You're going back to Luffy right now," Mari said. Zerina snapped her eyes to the woman. "There's no time to explain everything. You just get back to Luffy. Everything will work out just fine."

"But-" Before Zerina could utter another word, both Mari and Jon each grabbed one of her wrists. Zerina then found herself hurling towards the pond. Her arms shot up to protect her face, from what she wasn't sure. When her body hit the pond, she didn't feel anything. She lowered her arms back down to find herself surrounded by the bluish purple color. She brushed her hand through the air. She felt a smooth brush of invisible silk brush over her skin. It was the exact same feeling when she first went through one of the gates so many years ago. "But this isn't possible. All of the gates disappeared. Where did this one come from? And why were Jon and Mari acting so strange? What am I supposed to do now?"

"Ace!"

"Ah!" Zerina grabbed her head. Luffy's pain was stronger now. She gasp for air. With a light shake of her head, she looked back up. "I have to get to Luffy. I can worry about everything else later. Gate of Circinus! Open the door and let me go to Luffy!"

A bright light began to appear in front of Zerina's eyes. When the glow got to bright for her eyes, she closed them. She envisioned herself and Luffy. If this really was a gate back to the real world then she should be able to pass through it without any problems. As the light began to fade from her closed eye lids, she slowly opened her eyes. A huge wave of relief washed over her when she saw the ocean below her through the faint glow of the shield that was now around her body due to passing through the gate. "It worked!"

She released a laugh. It felt good to her. She couldn't remember the last time she had such a good feeling laugh. With a deep breath, she stopped laughing. It was time to get to Luffy. She looked around and quickly felt him on an island that was close by. She pivoted her body in the air and headed for the island. "All right little gate glow around me. Just keep me up in the air until I get to that island."