Chapter 8

Thalia felt her heart leap into her mouth as Jennifer continued to stare her down. The lessons she had been taught as a pup came back to her like a reflex. All pups were taught from an early age to be careful not to expose who they were truly to humans. Of course there were some who knew of the supernatural species that existed but there was an agreement as old as time to keep the humans in the dark as much as possible to protect them from the dangers that came with the supernatural world.

"Relax," Jennifer broke the silence first, letting out a humourless laugh. "Mr Connaught tells me everything."

"Oh Jesus…" Svetlana rolled her eyes. "Your delusions are getting worse by the day. He told all of us."

"But he told me first!" Jennifer argued, long slender fingers coming to play with her ice cream blonde hair before flicking it over her shoulder. “We talk all the time.”

"Wait, so you all know that I am not human and that most of the people here are…" Thalia trailed off, unsure what exactly Mr Connaught was or what his staff were but knew they sure as hell didn't fall into the human category.

"Don't worry. We aren't going to like, ask you to show us or whatever." Miriam finally spoke, her eyes glittering like gems. "Unless you want to that is. It's totally your choice."

"Well I for one am curious." Jennifer cut in again. "Do you only shift on a full moon? Do you know how to walk to heel?"

"Jennifer!" Laila gasped.

"Oh relax, I'm just joking." Jennifer smiled but Thalia could see the malice in her eyes as clear as day. Jennifer was jealous. Why?

"It's okay." Thalia spoke up, leaning forward to make herself a cup of coffee. "Actually I do need to shift regularly otherwise I could turn feral and crave the blood of humans. Sadly It happens a lot actually to werewolves.

“You know the story of Jack the Ripper, right? Well that was actually a werewolf who had gone mad. Story goes, he had been in prison for ten years unable to shift for fear he would be killed by the other inmates or guards. However ten years was too long and when they finally released him, the damage was already done.

On the next full moon his beast took complete control and he turned into a hideous half man half wolf like creature. He hunted the streets for easy kills, devouring the blood and flesh of his victims until the madness made him jump into the Thames River never to be seen or heard from again."

As Thalia spoke, Jennifer's face began to pale, her blue eyes widening. Even Svetlana, the one who seemed the least likely to be fazed by anything, shifted uncomfortably in her seat. The silence that followed reeked of the humans' unease. Their hearts fluttered rabidly like the wings of birds, giving away their fear easily. For a moment Thalia felt bad for pulling such a prank but if there was one thing Thalia had learnt in all her years on this earth was if you gave bullies an inch, they'd take a mile and Jennifer was a bully. Thalia knew she had to nip any bitchiness in the bud.

Thalia couldn't keep up her serious façade for long and after a few seconds, a giggle escaped her at the sight of Jennifer's now ashen face. It took a few moments for the five girls to realise Thalia had been teasing them before Svetlana, Miriam and Laila burst into fits of giggles as well. Even Priyanka cracked an amused yet shy smile. Only Jennifer didn't see the funny side of Thalia's little game, her cheeks colouring red in anger.

"How barbaric!" She muttered and stood. "I'm not staying here to be made a fool of!"

"Oh Jennifer don't be silly!" Miriam called to the girl as she stormed away. "Jennifer!"

"Jennifer. No. Please come back." Svetlana spoke flatly, clearly not meaning a word of it. "Oh no. She's gone. Oh well."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset her." Thalia murmured. Sure, she had wanted to subtly tell Jennifer to back off but it hadn't been her intention to upset the poor girl. "Perhaps I should go after her and apologise."

"No, leave her." Laila sighed. "She's just upset because Mr Connaught has a new toy and she thinks she should be his number one priority."

"I don't understand…" Thalia looked at each of the girls. "Did Mr Connaught not buy all of you?"

"He did." Laila nodded, smiling sadly. "I was taken from my family six years ago. I had been forced to work in an illegal mine and then a sweatshop since then. There was a rumor that the authorities were going to raid the factory so the men rounded us up to kill us but at the last second Mr Connaught appeared and bought us. I'm not sure what happened to the other girls but I was brought here."

"I was in prison." Svetlana sighed. "I had been shoplifting to support my family but the authorities managed to pin me for drug dealing so I was going to be spending the rest of my life in jail. I was attacked on my third day there by a guard. He left me with this reminder after I kicked him in the nuts when he tried to rape me." Svetlana pointed to her throat. "Next thing I know, they released me saying there was technicality. I woke up here amazingly alive and under Mr Connaught's care."

“I was forced into sex work.” Miriam spoke up, her green eyes staring off into the distance as she seemed to remember something. “When I was allegedly too old for the clientele that brothel drew in, I was shipped off to be sold. That’s when Mr Connaught rescued me.”

Thalia felt a heaviness in her heart as she heard each girl tell their story. Her eyes found Priyanka who was holding her cup and saucer carefully. She was as timid as a mouse and one glance into those frightened eyes told Thalia that whatever she had endured before coming here was no better than what the rest of them had been through. All of them had suffered in different ways and yet they all had one thing in common; Dante Connaught had bought them and was treating them like princesses rather than like possessions.

“Do you know what Mr Connaught wants from us?” Thalia finally asks, hoping one of the others had some clue.

“Unfortunately not.” Miriam sighed. “But I did overhear Ms Thorton and Doctor McKinley talking the other day and whatever it is, we’re going to find out soon. Ms Thorton kept telling the Doctor that now that we’re all here, Mr Connaught wants to move forward with his plans right away.”

“He’s probably just getting ready to sell us again.” Svetlana grumbled. “Pigs pay good money for girls who look healthy so Mr Connaught will fatten us up and get a good return.”

“You don’t know that.” Laila sighed and yet fear flashed through her dark eyes.

“Of course I do. Rich men are all the same. Hell, all men are the same. They don’t need to be rich to be pigs!” Svetlana declared. “You just wait and see.”

“He said he would let us go after we helped him.” Priyanka finally spoke up, her voice so tiny Thalia thought she had imagined it. “That doesn’t sound like he wants to sell us.”

“I think Priyanka is right.” Laila nodded.

Silence fell over the group of girls as they mulled over why they were in fact here being treated like queens. Even as they busied themselves with hot drinks and the little sandwiches or cakes in front of them, none of them were really paying attention to what was before them but rather, lost in their own thoughts.

“Has anyone else noticed how weird this place is?” Thalia finally asked.

“Weird, how?” Miriam frowned in confusion.

“Well for one, none of the rooms seem to match the others.” Thalia began. “And the other night, Mr Connaught was able to escort me to my room without going up any stairs even though earlier that evening Ms Thorton had led me down the main staircase.”

“That happened to me but I just thought it was the wine.” Miriam shrugged. “I am a bit of a lightweight.”

“There are a lot of different hallways and ways around this place,” Laila added. “It’s so easy to get lost.”

“Maybe you’re right…” Thalia murmured and yet she couldn’t help but shake the feeling there was more going on than the other girls were willing to admit. She decided then that she had to find out exactly what this place was and who Dante Connaught really was.

“Ladies,” Ms Thorton’s voice broke up the small talk, Priyanka flinching at the sudden intrusion. “I hope you have all had a good time. However, I must ask you to follow me back to your rooms to get ready for dinner.”

“Well this has been fun, it was nice to meet you Thalia.” Laila smiled as they all stood. “Will we be seeing you at dinner?”

“I…” Thalia admitted she wasn’t sure and glanced towards Ms Thorton almost as if requesting her permission. The stern blonde nodded sharply at this and Thalia turned back to Laila, smiling. “I will be there.”

“Great!” Laila grinned before waving goodbye and heading back into the large castle like house.

“Miss Khatri, Mr Connaught has requested your presence this evening.” Ms Thorton spoke up as the girls began to leave, her sharp blue eyes landing on Priyanka who had been trailing behind.

Thalia couldn’t explain it but something about this seemingly innocent request had the hairs on the nape of her neck standing on end. Her eyes moved from Ms Thorton to Priyanka who was frozen to the spot, her big black eyes wide. She was the very epitome of a deer caught in the headlights and while it was invisible to the human eye, Thalia could see the young girl trembling.

“This way please, Miss Khatri,” Ms Thorton all but barked, making the tiny girl jump and scurry to her like a frightened kitten. “Miss Georgiou, if there is nothing I can assist you with please return to your room. Now.”

Every fibre in the she-wolf’s body was screaming at her not to leave Priyanka alone with Ms Thorton or with Dante and yet she had learnt on day one she was in no fit state to take on Ms Thorton, let alone Dante and his security guards. Instead, all she could do was nod and head back inside, hoping that her intuition about the whole thing was wrong.