Chapter 6: The Decree

ELARA'S POV

I was still sitting on the floor like an idiot my butt hurting from the fall. I looked up at him standing there all tall and perfect in his expensive suit looking down at me like I was some kind of interesting pet he just bought.

No. No way. I'm not doing this.

I pushed myself up from the floor my legs shaking a little. I stood up and immediately started backing away from him. My back hit the wall and I pressed against it trying to put as much distance between us as possible.

"Let me go," I said and my voice came out all shaky but I tried to sound strong. "I don't know you. I won't report to the police I swear. Just let me go home please."

He didn't move. He just stood there watching me with those cold blue eyes. His face was calm. Too calm.

"Let you go?" he repeated slowly like he was thinking about it. Then he smiled a little. "No I don't think so."

"Please," I said again and I hated how desperate I sounded. "I won't tell anyone what you did. I'll just go back to my life and pretend this never happened. I promise."

"Your old life," he said walking closer to me slowly. I pressed harder against the wall. "That life is over Elara. You need to understand that."

"What do you mean over?" I asked my heart beating so fast I thought it might explode. "You can't just say my life is over."

"It is now," he said so simply like he was telling me the weather. "You belong to me now. This is your home."

"I don't need a provider or a protector!" I shouted at him. "I need to go home! I have a job! I have rent to pay! I have a best friend who's going to worry about me!"

"All taken care of," he said waving his hand like it was nothing. "Your landlord has been paid for the next six months.

"That's not your decision to make!" I was screaming now I couldn't help it. "You don't get to decide what I need! You don't get to pay my rent! You don't get to control my life!"

"I'm afraid I already have," he said calmly. "And there's more."

"More?" I repeated.

He walked over to the chair and sat down getting comfortable. "You will be my wife," he said.

For a second I thought I heard him wrong. The room was spinning again.

"What?" I whispered.

"My wife," he repeated clearly. "We will be married. Soon."

I stared at him. Then I started laughing. I couldn't help it. It was crazy. This whole thing was so insane that I just started laughing like a crazy person.

"Wait wait wait," I said between laughs. "Marry you? Are you kidding me?"

He didn't laugh. His face stayed serious.

"You can't just marry someone you don't know!" I shouted when I realized he wasn't joking. "That's not how marriage works! You need like consent and love and... and you have to actually DATE first!"

"I can and I will," he said simply.

"No!" I looked around for something anything. I saw the breakfast tray on the table. I grabbed it and threw it at him. The plates and food went flying everywhere. Orange juice splashed on his perfect suit. Toast landed on the floor.

He didn't even flinch. He just looked down at the orange juice on his jacket then back up at me.

"Feel better?" he asked calmly.

"No I don't feel better!" I screamed. "You're insane! You're a psycho! You can't just force someone to marry you!"

"Elara," he said standing up slowly. "You need to calm down."

"Calm down? CALM DOWN?" I was hysteric now. "You kidnapped me! You're talking about forcing me to marry you! How am I supposed to calm down?"

He started walking toward me again and I had nowhere to go. My back was already against the wall.

"Stop," I said holding my hands up. "Don't come closer."

He didn't stop. He kept walking until he was right in front of me. So close I could smell his cologne.

"I understand you're upset," he said quietly. "But you will adjust."

"I won't adjust! I'll never adjust to this!"

"The fire in you," he said and his voice got quieter. "It's beautiful. I saw it the first time I watched you yell at that rude customer at the diner. The way you stood up for yourself."

"So what?" I spat at him. "You liked that I have a backbone so you decided to kidnap me?"

"You have spirit. Strength. Here with me you can be who you're meant to be."

"I was already who I'm meant to be!" I yelled. "I was happy!"

"Were you though?" he asked tilting his head. "Were you really happy serving food to people who treated you like garbage? Walking home alone at night scared?"

"That's LIFE!" I shouted. "That's what normal people do! Just because I wasn't rich doesn't mean I needed to be saved by some creepy stalker!"

His jaw tightened. First sign I'd actually gotten to him.

"I'm not a stalker."

"Yes you are! You literally just admitted you've been watching me!"

He didn't get angry. That's what scared me the most. He just stood there calm watching me like I was the most interesting thing in the world.

"The fire in you is beautiful," he said again reaching up toward my face. I tried to move away but there was nowhere to go. "I will never let it go out. But you will learn to direct it... toward me."

"Never," I whispered.

He smiled. "We'll see."

He was still standing so close to me I could barely breathe. Then he did something that made my whole body freeze.

He reached out and slid his hand through my hair. Slowly. Like he had all the time in the world.

"What are you doing," I whispered but it came out more like a breath than words.

His fingers moved from my hair down to my cheek. Then his thumb brushed across my lips.

I seized my breath and stopped breathing completely. My whole body went stiff almost immediately.

"If you need anything," he said quietly his voice low and smooth. "Do not hesitate to let the maid know."

Then just like that he stepped back. turned and walked toward the door he opened it and walked out.

I stood there frozen against the wall for I don't know how long. My hand came up and touched my lips where his thumb had been. I felt sick.

Oh god. Oh god oh god oh god.

This was real. This was actually happening. He really was going to keep me here.

I slid down the wall until I was sitting on the floor again. My whole body was shaking.

How do I escape from here? I thought looking around the big room.

I need a plan.

But what kind of plan? I don’t know where i am. I don’t have a phone. I don’t have money or anything.

Think Elara think.

There had to be a way. In movies people escaped all the time right? But this wasn't a movie. This was real life. My real life.

I looked at the mess I'd made with the breakfast tray. Food all over the floor. Orange juice soaking into the expensive carpet.

Good. I hoped it stained.

Wife. The word made me want to throw up again.

Am not going to be anyone's wife especially not his. I don’t care how long he'd been watching me or how much money he had.

My life was is mine. And am going to get it back. Somehow.

I took a deep breath and wiped my face. I could do this. I had to do this.

Because there was no way in hell I am marrying that psycho.

No matter how long it take I was getting out of here.

I just have to survive until then.

I could do that right?

I had to.