The Demon's Ballerina

Ch 11 - Zane

I knew something was wrong with her, but I wasn't sure what.

Let me find out. I felt him testing the boundaries, trying to find a weak spot he could exploit to gain control. I'd hear too much, things I wasn't meant to. I aimed to try and give my family their privacy; I was sure Jason would commend me if he knew I tried to make that small effort when I was around them.

Not in front of my family. I don't want them seeing us like that. Let's just enjoy this time with her.

You mean near her. We've hardly been with her at all thanks to this conniving viper you shackled us to.

He had me there, damn it. But there was something else that called to him, about Olivia. He hated her, but at one point in my past I'd believed myself in love with her. That's why I knew what vile kind of man her father was. He'd held every single picture that contained her mother, all the letters from her to Olivia that she'd written over the last year of her life, the money she'd inherited from her grandparents and countless other things, using it all as leverage to make her comply with his strict rules. If she didn't, he would never give her those things.

Stop thinking about Olivia.

Shut up.

That night when we tried her window, it was locked from the inside.

He's keeping her from us.

I know.

Break in. I want to fall asleep beside her.

No. We have to respect certain boundaries. And if Jason ever caught us...

Fine. I do not want to have to kill your brother. I like him. For how long?

I don't know.

I spent the entirety of January working day and night on fixing the house. It was cold as shit, but the snow held off, so I continued working. Dad came out to help a handful of times, mostly I'm sure to see what the hell I'd gotten up to and to bring whatever meal Mom had cooked. I returned to Link's only to check on Olivia and fall into bed for a couple hours before starting over the next day. Dad texted me every week when they had dinner with Jason and Liz on Friday, inviting me to join them. I made it my mission to get in Liz's good graces, so Olivia didn't make an appearance at these dinners. I couldn't stand to see the look on Charlie's face. It was evident that Jason, Charlotte nor my father had shared with Liz the true nature of my relationship with her daughter. If they had, I doubt she'd try and pull me into every conversation, and always take my side when Jason tried prying about what I'd been up to. She was always a buffer between us, trying to ensure the peace. She was good for my brother, and despite how I felt about Charlotte, I was glad my brother had a family. His son was due in a few months, and Liz glowed with pregnancy.

Olivia had figured out early on that Charlotte was the fiancée. One Sunday after dinner, we'd returned to Link's. On the drive over, she'd mentioned how peculiar my behavior was with Charlotte. And mentioning it aloud made her realize, and she laughed at the irony that Jason's stepdaughter was the person I'd fallen in love with. As if love could describe how I felt about Charlie, the way I craved her scent on my pillow, her presence in the same house I was in. I'd kept a close watch on her goings and comings of Jason's house, curtesy of the tracker Link had provided for me.

Olivia had asked questions, offered to help me with my relationship.

"After all, this woman is going to be the mother of this kid so you two need to work it out. Have you told her the truth yet?" That the kid wasn't mine, but now it was? That deep down somewhere, I did mildly care about Olivia because of our history, and I couldn't allow her to lose against her father? No, I hadn't said a damn word.