The Grace of a Thousand Stars (PREQUEL)

Chapter 9- A Newfound Hope

--Ines POV--

When I heard the cellar door creaking open, and hesitant steps slowly approaching me, I knew that it wasn't Malachi. That man's footsteps were strong and firm without a hint of hesitance, he always had a place to be and knew where to go, this wasn't that.

When the footsteps stopped near my tired body which was covered by a single white blanket, my hair sprawled around me, strands disturbing my vision when I opened my eyes, so I didn't move, I kept my eyes closed, and the rest of my body lay still, too fatigued to move.

"Ines." It was Maxwell, his nervous voice confirmed.

"Are you alive?" I hated Maxwell, but my hatred for him wasn't as bad as the hatred I had for his older brother. This voice he was using to speak to me was different from the mocking one that I had grown used to hearing, this voice was laced with worry. So much so that I had to question myself on whether this was truly him or someone else.

"I'm alive." My hoarse voice found itself replying to him nonetheless, but I still didn't move an inch as he released a relieved breath of air.

"What- What did he do to you?" Finally, I peeked my eyes open, looking through strands of my hair as he stood there, rigid, eyes scanning over the room bathed in fat white pearls and shiny mermaid scales, this room looking to belong to a millionaire that had so much wealth that this was nothing to him. But unlike Malachi whose greed found worth in my scales and pearls, those things were so normal to me that they meant nothing. It still amuses me, that things I had once thought were worthless ended up being of so much value in this world.

"I don't think you want to know." I whispered, not being able to speak at full volume. With all the screaming that I'd done, my voice had lost itself, and now it'll take the rest of the day, if it was even still daytime outside, to heal.

"I heard screaming... The cellar's supposed to be soundproof, but I heard such gruesome screams, I couldn't move... And you... You look like a corpse right now." I rolled my eyes, closing my eyes once again as a tired breath escaped my lips.

"If you've not got anything nice to say then please leave. I've been tortured enough today, and I can't handle any more of it from any of you brothers," The bed dipped, signalling that he sat himself down on the very edge of it, but I didn't move.

"You aren't the only one that fears my older brother."

"No, but the fear I have for him is nothing compared to anyone else's, including yours. He's never chained you to a wall and plucked your body parts off as if they were flowers. He's never mocked you with a smile as he hurt you in those unimaginable ways, and he's never forced you to sleep with him and then laughed at you when your body betrayed you by enjoying it... He's never done any of that to you or any other human living on this land. It's just me that's fallen victim to his evil advances... Just me."

Wrapped in the ball that I was lying in, I pulled the silken sheets closer to my cold body, the thoughts of what I had just been through causing the tingles to spark back up on my body, especially of where he had plucked the scales from. The pain was gone, and as long as I listened to him from now on, then it wouldn't come back, but the fear had grown tenfold.

"I know, Ines. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that, but-"

"-If I heard my screams coming from someone else then my fear wouldn't be enough to hold me back. I would, at the very least, try to stop those bloodcurdling screams." I whispered, feeling the prickling of fearful tears creeping back along my waterlines, but I held them back, squeezing my eyes shut as I gulped back the lump in my throat.

"But then again, the natural kindness of my being is another curse that I'm living with. Humans like you would never understand." Silence followed my statement with him being unable to reply to it for some time, knowing that it was the truth.