Chosen

Chapter 8 - Blair's POV

After Jay left, I decided that distracting myself with cleaning was the best option I had at the moment. Cleaning always soothed me. I put away all the dishes from breakfast and went to work finishing the dishes from lunch. I got into a routine and quickly had the dishes washed, dried, and in the cabinets.

The cleaning closet had a rather limited supply. There was a broom, a very old school mop, disinfectant, a duster, floor cleaner, and an odd amount of bleach. I made a mental note to ask Tyler about that later. I grabbed everything and started in the kitchen, and before I knew it, it was 4:00 and I had cleaned the entire house.

I put away the cleaning supplies and decided to do a little exploring around the house. Lou shouldn't be inside for at least another hour, so I had a little bit of time to search. I decided to start in the small living room and but came up short relatively quickly. There wasn't much beyond one small filing cabinet that was locked. I tried picking the lock to no avail, and decided to move upstairs to Tyler's room. I refused to regard the room as my own. Just as I was halfway up the stairs, I heard a very loud noise coming from outside. I rushed back down the stairs and noticed the clock in the kitchen read 5:00. The noise happened again and it was a very distinct high pitched screech.

I heard the noise once more and chills fluttered through my body. I decided not to speculate too much, and sat down at the table to relax until Lou came in to help with dinner. I laid my head down on the table and closed my eyes. I thought of my mom and dad, and how they would feel once they realized I was gone. I thought about how angry they would be that I didn't listen to them about these woods.

Tears started to form in my eyes, but I quickly dried them and sat up as I heard jingling outside of the door. The lock turned and Lou walked in with more blood on her apron and what looked like some type of meat wrapped in wax paper. She did a quick glance around and smiled at me.

"It looks like you did a great job cleaning today dear. I brought some fresh meat in for dinner tonight and the next few days. Let me go change and we can get started. How about you get started on a nice side dish, okay dear?"

"Yes ma'am." It scared me how different she was compared to a few short hours ago.

I remembered I had seen potatoes in the pantry earlier, and decided to do some quick mashed potatoes. I set to work peeling and boiling potatoes and waited for her to come back down stairs. She had set the meat on the counter, so I knew she would be back down quickly.

As soon as the water for my potatoes started to boil, she came down the stairs in a long cotton skirt and an old tattered peasant blouse. Her hair was sticking out all around her face and her cheeks were blushed from the days work.

She immediately went to the package of meat and cut a several portions of it. She put some in the freezer and got to work with the rest seasoning it.

"Lou? Can I ask you something?" I hesitated at my spot in front of the stove, nervous to anger her.

"Yes dear, what is it?"

I swallowed heavily and salted my boiling water. "Before you came inside, I heard this...loud screeching noise. Is there some sort of machine that Tyler and Jay use?"

She oiled a cast iron skillet and set it on the stove top, letting it heat. "How do you like your steak dear?"

"Oh, medium-well, please." That relieved me tremendously. I don't know why I was so suspicious of the meat, but now I knew it was just beef.

She laid all 4 steaks into the skillet and let them begin to sear on one side before she turned and smiled at me again. "That was just the animals dear. We had to slaughter one today to feed the family. That doesn't bother you, does it?"

Lou squinted her eyes and stared at me intently. I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly and drained the water out of the potatoes so I could begin to mash them. I added a little milk, lots of salt, pepper, garlic, and a nice sprinkle of cheese and mashed quickly as I spoke.

"As I said before, I really don't mind helping with animals. Growing up, my grandparents did the same thing. Raised their own livestock and fed the family with it. My grandpa taught me how to care for them to raise them big and strong so that we would never go hungry. Not that hunger was ever a problem for my family, I think my grandfather just preferred a more simplistic lifestyle."

Lou grinned and showed her nasty yellow teeth. "That's great dear. Maybe one day soon I can show you how we fatten our animals up for slaughter."

I returned the smile and set the perfectly whipped potatoes on the kitchen table. "I would like that."

I had to play nice if I ever wanted access to the outside. I needed them to trust me so I could make a quick and successful escape. I washed up the few dishes from our meal preparation as she finished searing the steaks. At 6:05 Jay and Tyler came through the door and both went upstairs to wash their hands without a word spoken to us.

We finished setting the table together and sat in our respective seats as the boys clamored down the stairs. Tyler sat next to me and kissed my forehead again. It took everything in me not to wipe his kiss away, but I managed to sprout a fake grin as he watched my reaction. Jay kissed Lou on the cheek and then turned his gaze in my direction.

"Well girl, have you learned your lesson yet?" His squinting eyes dared me to defy him, and every part of me desperately wanted too.

"Yes sir." Tyler winked at me, seemingly pleased with my response. It must have satisfied Jay as well, because he sat down and bowed his head with a grunt to begin blessing the food.

As we all said 'amen', I noticed that the mood in the room was a lot less tense than it had been earlier in the day.

Tyler, Jay, and Lou all ripped into their steaks, which were all cooked rare, like it was their last meal. Not one word was spoken until the steaks were gone. As they moved on to the mashed potatoes, Lou opened the conversation with talk of the animals.

"I slaughtered that big white heifer today. I really fattened her up nicely since you brought her last year. The meat should last us a good week, and the good news is that I have a nice bull ready for slaughter when we are finished."

Tyler and Jay beamed. This was good news for them. They sure seemed to enjoy their cows. Tyler appeared lost in thought as he scooped the last bit of potatoes into his mouth.

"So that means we only have, what, 3 bulls and 5 heifers?"

Lou nodded. "You know I like to have a full house. 5 bulls. 5 heifers. Looks like y'all will need to go out and get me a few more bulls."

Jay had finished his plate as well and stood up from the table. "Tyler and I will leave in four days. Son, you think you can have her really behaving for us to be gone for a few days?"

I swallowed hard and began clearing the plates from the table. Lou retreated upstairs while Tyler and Jay watched me clean up the table.

"Yeah. I'll have her ready dad. She's gonna be the perfect wife. I just know it."

Chills ran down my spine but I ignored the men as they continued discussing what a great wife I would be for Tyler. I quickly cleaned and put the dishes up, and wiped the counter down one last time. As I turned around, I noticed Jay had gone up to bed and Tyler was sitting at the table watching me.

"Ready for bed, Blair-bear?"

I nodded and let him take my hand and lead me to his bedroom. He gave me a shirt to change into and locked his door behind us. I got underneath the comforter and warily watched as he stripped down to his boxers.

"Blair, it's time that I explained some things to you. You need to know who I am and why you're here. I know you. I mean, I really know you. You know me. I'm your brother."

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That's it! This will be the last chapter before Christmas, and then I'll be back with a few surprises!