1-1: Evil Out of Reach

"Once you're done over here, go do the rest of the laundry from the East Wing."

The old bigger callously pushed the mono glass from his left eyes in place and stared at the paper board in front of him as he demanded his task towards Jane.

Jane didn't feel small with the obvious condescending attitude, instead she nodded, "But Sir Orleans-''

"What?" The butler's tone hit her with its curt note.

"I have worked here for more than three weeks now but I have yet received the paycheck for the laundry I have done the past weeks since I've started."

Jane Wright lifted her head. Her brown hair was sleekly combed to the back into a puffy bun and her green eyes shine through despite her humble beginnings.

She had hesitated telling butler Orleans about her paycheck, knowing that every employee despise being hurried in their payments. But what could she do? She needed the money, desperately too. 

Sure enough, Butler Orleans clicked his tongue. He raised his two fingers and immediately tapped her forehead, pushing her backward with each flick, "You just worked here and you want the money already? Paid by the week? Who cares! You're not going to get paid unless all the laundry in this room is finished." 

Her forehead burns in pain, the humiliation as Butler Orleans has mocked her in front of all the other servants burned even more severely. But she didn't back down. Holding to herself, she lifted her head and slowly became more encouraged, "If I finish the entire laundry today... I can get my paycheck?" 

"Hah!" Butler Orleans was fuming at the daringness. He nodded, feeling the need to teach Jane a lesson. "Then make sure you finish every. Every. Single. Laundry in this room before midnight. Only then will I pay you but if you don't. I'll fire you instead." 

Jane clenched her fists. Looking down at the ground, she knew this was a daring choice, but her aunt and uncle was running out of food. Being an extra mouth to feed, she didn't want to be a burden and hope she could lift their burden. 

So she raised her head and firmly nodded her head. 

"I promise."

"Tsk!" Butler Orleans was even more annoyed at his failed approach of scaring her. Moving away, he bumped her shoulders as he slammed the door close. 

She could hear the whispers raining down from all around her as the other maids looked at her with side eyes, commenting on why she would even try to fame the fire on Butler Orleans as they were going to suffer his wrath too. 

She knew she had been hated from the start but she managed to gather herself and told her head to endure.

The entire morning to midnight, Jane scrubbed every single cloth in the room against the wooden washboard. She pulled her hand when she felt a sharp tinge of pain that ached. When she looked down, she saw how her hand had been cut and her for a moment her face broke down in pain. 

She held her hands together, burying her face over her arms as she slowly gathered her breathing in order. 

This is nothing. This is nothing Jane. You have gone through worse.

Embarrassment? Shame? She wasn't privileged enough to have them. She need to work, to get money, and only money could buy her the bread that will fill her stomach. 

Her head turned to the left, finding the last mountain of clothes that needed to be washed and then at the clock that was far at the corner of the laundry room, the only one that was old and discarded there due to how it was often late a whole twenty minute than it's supposed to. 

But she navigated her time with it, knowing well she has less than an hour to finish the rest of the laundry. 

So without stopping did Jane washed the clothes until midnight struck and she rushed to Butler Orleans who met her with bitter expression. 

"You're fired."

"What?" Jane's hands were still bleeding when she received this news. Tears started to well up on her eyes despite her trying not to cry. She might not have shame but she doesn't want to cry in front of him. 

"I said you're fired!" Butler Orleans yelled. "You're late with the laundry."

"No, I made sure to make it in time," her eyes moved to the clock and a confused look appeared on her face. Somehow the clock said it was past midnight. 

There's no way... the clock in the laundry room said that she still have time...

Giggle. Giggle. 

Jane slowly turned her head. The door to the Butler's office wasn't closed and maids don't sleep even until it was dusk. From the corner of her eyes she could see the way those maids looked at her triumphant as if they had won a trophy for ruining her one and only work. 

It's only now could Jane piece the puzzles together, realizing that the clock in the laundry room had been sabotaged by them. 

Unfairness and anger hit her like a tidal wave. She wanted to cry, wanted to argue. But she knew better than that. Butler Orleans wasn't going to retract his order and she could only look at the severance payment placed on the table, taking the white envelope to her hands before stepping out of the room.

They expected her to cry but that was the only one thing Jane didn't want to show. 

She raised her chin, holding back herself as she left the manor and only once she was far enough could she finally let tears dripped down from her eyes, crying out as injustice stir in her heart. 

All she wanted to do was work... for a living. For some reason one of the girls had taken a dislike to her and all she could guess was because she had talked to one of the male servants the girl had liked. Since then the treatment in the manor had gotten worse which Jane could have endured. But this wasn't the first time the maids of a household had hated her. She had moved from one manor to another as a laundry girl but it had never stayed longer than three months. 

Her unluckiness caused for people to dislike her almost immediately and for her to be fired due to unfeasible rumors. 

The idea of never being acceptable makes her hate herself even more, finding herself as unfit for any society and the loneliness as well injustice only grew wider in her heart. 

Regardless, Jane pulled through. Rubbing her face until her lashes fell on her palms, she refused to sit still for long. 

At least... Butler Orleans still paid her. 

She remembered how the last manor refused to pay her a single dime for working for a month. Though she could tell she wasn't paid as she was supposed to, this was better than nothing. 

She settled with it and dragged every single sad bones in her body back home where it took her two hours to arrive. Once she had arrived, she opened the door carefully, making sure that the door wouldn't creak again. Its old age made the door prone to creaking and breaking, so she could only pray it wouldn't be too loud or else it would have woken up her aunt or uncle. 

"Jane, Jane dear, do you know what time this is?" The voice startled her and the light followed, coming from the candlelight that her aunt, Mrs May was holding. 

Mrs May looked at her with a faint frown between her eyebrows. "Haven't I told you to come home early? Tomorrow I have an important appointment that I can't miss and I need your help."

"Of course, aunty," she said with a smile, "I'm sorry, the laundries took a lot more than I thought it would." 

"But why are your eyes red. Did you cry? No way," her aunt stopped as she inspect her face, "You got fired again?" 

"I'm sorry," Jane whispered, trying to hold back her sobbing back. 

"Oh my," Mrs May sighed with an exhaustion note in her throat. "I had even begged that work to Mrs Lane."

"I'm sorry," she apologized again. 

"I know, I know darling it's not your fault but this have happened too many times. If this continues, no work will ever want you anymore in this town."

Jane could only purse her lips without a response as her aunt was true. She had gone to every possible household and at this point there wasn't going to be anymore house that would let her work. She could work as a normal laundry girl here and there that got paid daily but it wouldn't be enough for anything. 

"I know it isn't your fault but still," Mrs May sighed, "I don't know why everyone could work yet you couldn't." 

The words stung but Jane knew her aunt didn't mean bad by it. She could only lower her head in dismay. 

"Fine, let's forget this matter today first," Mrs May gently placed her hand on Jane's shoulders. "Tomorrow we need to wake up early. Go get washed and quickly sleep."

Feeling guilty, Jane could only nod her head in silence as she saw Mrs May, her aunt walking away while holding a hand on her cheek, sighing as she lamented at the loss of work. 

Seeing that, Jane could only purse her lips, biting the flesh inside her cheeks. All she could do was apologize and find another work to do. She couldn't continue getting fired, she need to find another work. But how? 

Dragging her body that had reached the point of exhaustion, Jane placed her entire body down the hard bed, closing her eyes as sleep swayed her. 

Meanwhile, Mrs May had entered back to her room, looking at her husband before shaking her head. 

Mr. May looked at the portrait of Jane and his sister. Rubbing it gently as he sat on his old wooden chair, he finally whispered, "We have no choice."

"But, husband," whispered Mrs May. 

"Evil," said Mr May. "There's only a few thing us human could deal against evil, dear. But this one... it's out of our reach." 

******

That morning, Jane woke up sluggish. The idea of being fired haunted her, keeping her awake the entire day which was why she didn't wake up fresh, instead looking no different than a corpse that had just got out of the soil.

She rubbed her face in front of the mirror, then quickly tying her hair into a bun before walking down the staircase to find her aunt and uncle whispering.

"Good morning," she said and immediately she could see her aunt whose body seemed to flinch from the ground, jumping like a cat who had just been startled. It's as if they were startled by her presence, as if she shouldn't have heard what was shared between them.

"Good morning Jane," her aunt quickly greeted.

"About yesterday..."

"Right let's not mention about it anymore. I know you're remorseful," her aunt quickly said, "Today I think I would have to ask you to go first, Jane. To Mrs. Miller's house right around the corner of the town. It's quite far but you know the way there don't you?"

"Yes, I do, it's near the forest, isn't it?"

Her aunt nodded, "I need you to bring those boxes to her house," she pointed out her finger to the corner of the table where there was neatly placed two small box. They looked rather dull and almost dusty.

"But I thought I'll be going with you," Jane commented as she pulled the box, not seeing her aunt's face as she forced a smile.

"I have to deliver another box in your uncle's place. He hurt his ankle the other day."

"You did? Are you alright uncle?" She immediately frown, concern written on her face but at once, her uncle waved her hands in dismissal.

"It's nothing," her uncle instead looked at her aunt, "It's getting cold, I think you need to put a scarf around Jane."

"Scarf, right.. scarf," her aunt looked somewhat in a hurry and listless which Jane made a mental note on. She had been burdening them for far too long and had just been fired again. She didn't know when she would get work to help the family financial situation anymore so she know she should do her best in helping every small task they gave to her, no matter how difficult it was.

"This red scarf is new," her aunt said as she came closer, wrapping the scarf around her neck. "I think this would be good for you, so I made sure to buy them last week."

Jane saw the soft crimson scarf that felt too soft for someone like her. It touched her heart immediately to see how her aunt and uncle who were both struggling still tries to buy something so luxury for her own comfort.

"Thank you, aunty."

She saw how her aunt seemed to hesitate tying a ribbon, perhaps because it's been a while since she made a ribbon with the scarf.

"Thank you too, Jane."

"It's nothing, I'm only delivering a few boxes after all," Jane said as the scarf was tucked tightly behind her neck. "I'll be back soon, uncle, aunty."

"Be careful..." her aunt whispered as she hurried to take the boxes on her arms and went toward the words. Her stride was light as she tried to move on from all the thoughts of once again being fired from the laundry maid work.

As she was far enough, the view of her uncle and aunt seemed to disappear. The door that shut behind her immediately erased every single presence of her two family members that she had left in the world.

Jane didn't think anything about it. With her chin lifted, she marched to the path that was somewhat sticky and muddy from the rain last night. Her boots tackled the difficult terrain with ease while she wondered if she could find herbs to help her uncle with his ankle.

He had been saying how his ankles had been hurting again, from an old wound that he had suffered before as a hunter.

There must be an herb that help, she thought in her head. If only she could read, she would have been able to help them.

As she thought so, she marched into the forest, finding the house of near the entrance of the forest which had a red painted ceiling on top of it, the house that belong to Mrs Miller.

Her eyes were studying the house that felt a little too quiet while her own body was being inspected from between the darkness of the forest as a couple of men who stood behind the tree began to mutter to each other.

"That's the red scarf."

"So it must be her."

"When she open the door, go after her."

Jane who was knocking at the fence of the house, found the silence a little eerie. But this was a little too early for anyone to be awake, so she considered crossing the fence and knocking louder on the door of the house.

She decided to do so, pushing the old fence open and then knocking on the door. Tok tok. The sound echoed but silence greeted her.

How odd, she thought. She looked around and saw that the flowers on the flowerpot was dying. Wasn't Mrs Miller known to take care of these flowers well?

By the look of it, it seemed months have passed since the flowers were left to rot.

"What a shame," she whispered before looking again at the door where the shadow from behind her seemed to have grown.

She turned her head, wondering if the sun had just fallen only to see a large man standing behind her with both hands raised and a white cloth held tightly around his two fists.

He seemed to be as startled as her, their eyes staring at each other and a sharp yell came from behind them, urging, "Do it! Cover her mouth!"

Jane couldn't do a single thing as the hands went down on her.

Immediately the white cloth covered her mouth, tied tightly to the point she could feel the corners of her lips torn.

As if that wasn't enough another cloth flung before her eyes and her field immediately darkened.

She tried to struggle, kicking something only for her body to be pushed into the hard door, causing for her knees to scrape raw from the rough surface of the splinters on the door.

"Fuck. Stop resisting girl."

She wanted to ask what they were doing, wanted to cry for help and demand explanation. But everything had happened too quickly that even the pain on her shoulder and knees came belatedly to her head.

"If you have anyone you want to blame. Blame your family. To sell you for just thirty silver... they must have despised you."

And Jane's eyes widened from behind the white cloth covering her eyes.

Her heart race from both fear and realization that poured over her like the cold downpour that seemed to suddenly fall over the land.

Blame your family...

Sold for thirty silver...

"Let's go from here," another man whispered. "We don't have time if we want to bring her to the auction house."

The thunder suddenly rang and Jane's body trembled. She didn't know if she had trembled because of her fear for thunders anymore... or that she had trembled at the realization that she had been sold... by her own family members.

Her aunt and uncle's faces drifted in her head but all she could feel was a sharp pang of pain that she had been casted aside.

For thirty silver.