CATALINA
At exactly midnighton the dot, I pushed away the blanket that had covered my body since eight o’clock and climbed out of bed.
It was as Roberto had said.
After dinner was finished, I heard my father yell for Roberto to get the car ready.
It wasn’t long after that the front door shut behind them and the entire house was bathed in silence.
Still, I stayed in bed and feigned sleep, especially since an hour after my father had left, Rosie came into my room to “check up” on me for my father. She didn’t say anything to me, and she didn’t do more than stand there watching me silently for a few moments while I pretended to be asleep. Then she left.
Now it was midnight, and my heart felt like it was going to lurch out of my throat any given moment.
I walked around in the dark with an air of surrealism.
No one was around, and this huge house was encased in darkness.
I wasn’t alone. The servants were in this house. Some had rooms connected to the main house, while others had rooms in the servants’ quarters just a small distance away, still on the property.
All my father’s things, perfectly aligned and completely under his thumb.
I moved toward a corner and leaned my back against the wall as I waited. I didn’t know how long I waited, but the longer I stood here with the duffel bag in my hand, the more terrifying I became.
What if Roberto wasn’t coming?
What if he’d gotten caught?
A small part of me hoped he wasn’t coming, because despite this monster house, it was familiar to me. It was all I had ever known, and in some sick, twisted way, that familiarity felt … safe.
I shook my head at myself.
I was never truly safe in this house.
The beating I had gotten earlier was nothing compared to the ones I had gotten before. Things had gotten much worse for me since Mom died.
And one beating in particular stayed with me.
The one I had gotten after a visit to Dr. Russo on my eighteenth birthday.
Useless bitch!
I shuddered at the voice in my head.
A shuffling noise by the stairs had me frozen on the spot. I held my breath and waited.
Then, “Miss?”
I almost let out a small cry in relief at the sound of Roberto’s voice and I quickly moved to him, grabbing hold of his forearms with my one free hand.
He patted my hand. “It’s okay. Just hold onto me and I’ll lead you out of here, okay?”
I nodded even if he couldn’t see me, and together we walked down the stairs. My grip on the strap of the duffle bag tightened, and when we reached the bottom, I quickly hooked the strap diagonally across my body. Roberto moved us toward the kitchen. I frowned when instead of moving out to the back door, he led me to the pantry.
There was a click, and then a flash of light came on, and then Roberto was holding out the small flashlight to me.
I grabbed it and he spoke softly. “Point the light on the floor, Miss.”
I did as he asked while he moved some of the boxes of dry food around. My eyes widened in surprise when I caught sight of a small door on the floor.