The cold floor stings my feet, making me realize that my heels are long lost. I don't know where my feet are headed to, when and where this dark gloomy corridor will come to an end. Tears keep rolling down my face, making a few strands of hair stick to it. My leg muscles beg me to stop but my mind is focused on getting very far away from him. Deep inside I know that there's no way I will escape this house today, there's no way they will let me be alone for some time but if I could stay away from them for just two minutes then it's fine. Maybe I won't feel helpless, feeble, and humiliated.

I trip on the icy chilled floor, making a sharp pain shoot from my left elbow to shoulder. Pulling my knees to the chest like a baby, I let more fresh tears to spill. The cold breeze blankets my warm body, making me chilled to the bone. His unexpected harsh kiss and Andrew's pity-filled eyes run in front of my closed ones. My once simple life has now turned into a tragic one. I can't even predict my future. The very future of mine, where I dreamed of wearing a white coat and carrying the only necklace I wished for in my life, a stethoscope. I don't know if I'll still be able to fulfill it. Everything is unsure except that I will escape this house, this prison, their captivity.

************************************

I squeeze my eyes and open them slowly while adjusting to the bright light. Blinking my eyes several times, I look at the unfamiliar room. Realizations hit me like a lightning bolt and tears fill my eyes. With blurry vision, I look at the wound on my leg which is covered with gauze. I try to move my leg but it hurts awfully.

"Don't move. That will only open your stitches." A deep voice brings my attention to him. Anger flares in me along with fear.

"You don't have a say in this. It's your doing after all." I mumble while looking at my feet. I try to move my leg to get off the bed but pain shoots my leg making me fall on the bed on my back. My body dips in the comfy plush mattress while he strides inside the room. I try getting off but fall back as my legs aren't supporting me a bit.

"Want help?" He says holding out his hand. I look into his icy blue eyes which aren't cold but actually soft. I try one more time only to fall back once again.

"Come on, Ella. I promise my touch won't burn you." He chuckles and I hesitantly take his hand and observe him as he helps me sit up. I wonder why these stone-hearted people have such a soft bed in their house. Anxiety level steps up in my body as he sits beside me, making the bed sink more.

"I'm not here to hurt you." He says with a very small smile. A smile that can go unnoticed if you aren't completely focused on him. The rare yet pleasing smile on his stern face makes me want to trust him. But this time I won't, trusting people too easily has turned out to be my biggest mistake. If only I had believed Melissa at the right time then none of this would have happened.

"Then why are you here?" I ask him, looking in his bewitching eyes. I don't know from where this boldness in me has decided to show up. As long as it keeps me sane in their captivity it's fine.

"To check on you. You were sleeping for one whole day."

I look at him in disbelief as I never sleep for more than ten hours. He gets up and walks to the cabinet which is beside the rose gold metallic dressing table. My eyes involuntarily gaze around the room, admiring its interiors. The white fur carpet sits on the white marble floor beside the bed. The blush pink tufted couches on my right side are perpendicular to each other near the bay window which is half-obscured with chiffon white curtains. There's a main door painted white along with two other doors in the same color, one probably leads to the bathroom and the other I don't know. Everything in this room is white and rose gold as if it was designed for a girl. Is there a girl also in this house along with these psychos?

"Let's change your dressing." I squint my eyes as my mind processes the word dressing. Is he talking about changing the gauze or...about my dress? My heart thumps in my chest loudly as I notice the dress I'm wearing. It's a white oversized t-shirt and black cotton shorts.

"You were asleep and your dress was covered with blood so I had no choice but to do it." He vindicates his actions while walking towards me along with a white box in his hand. I gape at his words and try to scoot away from him as he sits beside me. He holds my wounded leg, making a shiver run down my spine.

"Don't worry, I'll change your dressing and go." He says softly and places the box on the bed, pulling out an antiseptic solution and the cotton. He unwraps the bandage and I look at the stitches in horror. He holds the cotton with forceps and dips it in the solution before making circles around my wound. It stings, making me jump in pain and my hand clutches his. I squeeze my eyes in burning pain but slowly open them to look at his lips turned into an O with slight movements of his cheek as air enters and leaves it to fall on my burning skin. He keeps blowing for some time then looks me in the eye, making me break my stare.

My eyes land on my hand that is clutching onto his hand. I pull it away instantly and look at him, trying to understand his oddly good behavior. He picks up the fresh gauze and starts wrapping it over my thighs. Our eyes meet once again and I look away as shivers run down my spine whenever his fingers brush my bare skin.

"Tell me about yourself." His voice brings me out of my thoughts and I stare at him blankly.

"Why?" Mustering the courage, I ask him.

"Because our only plan was to bring Melissa here. We know everything about her but nothing about you." His words fall like sprinkles of salt on my emotional wounds. They have no idea about me yet they brought me here.

"Why did you want to bring Melissa here?" Out of all the questions, I ask the most important one looking at the purple wall in front of me to avoid his eyes.

"Because my brother loves her." My head snaps in his direction in shock. He loves her so he brought her. That's not a reasonable answer. It's like I love the moon so I'll have it for myself. Is this even possible?

"Is this the only reason for bringing her h-here?" My voice cracks at the end as I try to swallow the reality.

"Yes." He says taking my hand in his. The warmth of his hands isn't like the cold gaze he carries every time. He is difficult to understand, his words, his actions, everything is contradicting. He shot me yesterday without any remorse and now he seems like the most caring person I have ever met after my parents' death.

A tear slips my eye as I think about them. We were a small happy family living the best of our lives. But the news of their accident on my seventeenth birthday became the worst night of my life. His touch on my cheek brings my attention back to him. He wipes off the escaped tear and looks at me with something which I longed for, the thing which I forgot the meaning of at the age of seventeen, Care.

"What happened?" He asks in a soft voice as he caresses the back of my hand, drawing soft circles with his thumb.

I want to hug him and tell him how badly I'm missing my parents. But I don't like to burden people with my problems and grief. That's the reason why I've never discussed my family with Melissa. I always made excuses telling her that I'll miss them and cry if I talk about them. I didn't want her to look at me with pity eyes whenever the parents' topic showed up. I left Scotland for this reason. I just wanted to live a normal life but the special treatment of my neighbors and my old friends never let me move on.

"You can share. I won't tell anyone." He assures me as he moves closer.

For some reason, I want to tell him and burst into tears. I don't even understand why I feel like crying when I didn't even cry in front of my greedy uncle and aunt, the only relative left of mine. They never met with me when my parents were alive but once they left me alone in this world, my uncle and aunt came to see me, or should I say came to see the rich heir of 'The Wellness Hospital.' My parents devoted their life to patients and I have sworn to walk in their steps. They died because the head surgeon was not in the hospital and by the time he arrived they were no more. It was never my dream to be a doctor but now I want to become one and prevent such a situation for others.

On my eighteenth birthday, I became the legal heir of the hospital but I resigned from the post and handed it to my dad's most trustworthy person, Uncle Callum. On my way to London, I made a promise to myself that I will never come back to Scotland.

The silence breaks as he asks, "Where are you from?"

"Scotland," I answer him and look at my thighs with tears brimming my eyes. I'll break if he sees me like this and that's the last thing I want to do in front of him.

"I'm sorry but you won't be able to go back soon." He says and I clench my fist as a drop of tear falls on my thigh. It's not like I was ever planning to go back. But now hearing his words makes my stomach flip. I choose to stay silent as a lump forms in my throat.

"I know you want to go back and live with your parents. You can cry, maybe it will help you feel good." Tears start to roll down my cheek and he gently pulls me into a hug.

"It's okay we can talk later. Rest for some time. Everything will be alright." He says while stroking my hair gently.

"Your medicines are in the cabinet. Have them once you have your food. I'll ask someone to bring food for you." He says breaking the hug and walking towards the door.

"Where is Melissa?" I wipe off my tears and ask him in anticipation.

"I was going to check on her." He says before closing the door.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

We never interacted with such innocent girls. It was always the whores or the business-related women. We were never allowed to show our human side. We've always taken something, be it their emotions, their life, or someone's loved one. We never gave anything to anyone except pain and hatred. I walk upstairs while thinking about how to face her, how to apologize. Her watery eyes have been lingering on my mind since yesterday. I don't understand why Blake did that. He was never going to force himself on her. I take a deep breath and open the door. I sigh in relief as she is still asleep.

I walk in quietly and sit at the edge of the bed. She looks like a baby, beautiful and innocent. Blake has been looking for her for the past five years. And now when he found her, he will never let her go. She has to accept her fate, there's no escape unless he lets her go willingly. She squirms and I walk to her side. I stroke her hair gently as I sit beside her. Her eyes flutter open and she looks at me with wide eyes. I get up from the bed as she pulls the duvet to her chest and scoots away.

"What are you doing here?" She asks assertively but her eyes tell otherwise. Tears well up in her eyes, aching my heart as I know they aren't tears of fear but are of embarrassment. Everything happened in front of my eyes but I did not stop him. It's not like I didn't want to but if I had stopped him he would have done more worse to her than he was already doing.

"Sorry for yesterday." I look at her and she frowns.

"Yesterday?" She asks in confusion as she squints her eyes but within a fraction of seconds her eyes grow wide as realization hits her.

Blake went after her as she ran into the corridors leading to the basement. I followed and watched him as he never left her alone. He was standing all the time behind the wall and watching her. The time she tripped and fell, he was going to pick her but I stopped him since it had already been very embarrassing and tormenting for her and his presence would have only made it worse. I remember how he clenched his jaw when her loud sobs ringed in our ears.

We stood there until she fell asleep. He carried her to the room and had the doctor checked up on Ella and her. He looks cold and ruthless but deep down I know my brother, he is very warm just like other humans. He isn't the monster that people think of and once she realizes that, she will become the luckiest girl in the world. He can go to any lengths for her. I have seen him going crazy over her when he met her five years ago.

"Andrew?" Her voice brings me back to the moment.

"Yes, you have been sleeping for a day," I say to her and cautiously sit beside her.

"Get out of here. I don't want to see any of you." She says angrily and looks the other way.

"Listen Melissa. I'm sorry. I don't know why he did it. But trust me, once you know him you will-"

"I already saw what kind of a person he is yesterday. So please stop defending him." She tries to get off the bed through the other side. I stride to her as we gave her sedatives and its effect would not have worn out yet. As I assumed, she stumbles and I hold her arms. She tries her best to stop her tears but they fall. I leave her arm and take a step back.

"You both are assholes. I hate both of you." She bangs her fist on my chest while crying. I know how frustrated she is, how shocking this is for her. But sooner she realizes her fate it will be better. I hold her in my arms and hug her, letting her cry all she wants.

"What are you doing?" The voice growls, making her jump. We both turn our heads towards the door.

"Blake, it's not what you are thinking." I try to clear the misunderstanding as he looks at us in anger.

"I know, brother. Give us some space now, will you?" He stomps inside and grabs her arm angrily.

"What next? Yanking my hair?" She scoffs, making him glare at her.

"Get the hell out of this room, Andrew" He yells and I walk towards the door.

"You need to learn a lesson, babygirl."

This is the last thing I heard before closing the door.

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A/N:

What do you think of Ella's and Andrew's point of view?

Who do you think is the real Blake? Is he really warm and humane like Andrew described?

If you like my work then please,
Vote, Comment & Share!

Seventh chapter coming on:
2nd September, 2021.
Or
Maybe sooner than that.

THANK YOU!