Tormented Mistress ( Book One )

Chapter 33

"Someone did what?" Luna sharply asked before Amber could.

"Yeah, it appears that someone gave Amber a specific drug made especially to cause one to black out or go unconscious."

Amber's eyes grew wide and she felt her face flush as she thought of Hailey. It was her, it had to be.

"Do you know anyone who would have done this?" Joel spoke up.

"No..." She fibbed to her own friend.

"You don't recall anything or anyone suspicious?" Luna asked her as she finally released hold of her arm.

Amber silently shook her head.

She thought her signs of fibs were obvious, but all seemed to believe her words. Amber was not quite sure what her reason was for lying. She figured there would have been a bigger deal made out of nothing, and Amber was honestly ready to move on. She didn't know why Hailey would do that to her, but she had called this house her second home. Amber would find her here eventually, and she would consider telling Luna after talking to Hailey.

"Alright, well, you just need to take a dose of this medicine for today and tomorrow," Gabriela told her as she reached in her pocket and pulled out a bottle of lime green liquid.

Amber wondered when that had shown up in her pocket, but this girl seemed powerful and trustworthy, so Amber reached out her hand to take the bottle.

Luna's arm bumped Amber's out of the way, though, as she grabbed the bottle first.

Amber gaped at Luna angrily. Her mistress was really pissing her off.

Luna gave Amber an innocent look as she raised an eyebrow at her. "What? I don't trust you."

Gabriela cleared her throat awkwardly as the two of them glared at each other. "I suppose my work here is done. Drink lots of blood and get rest, Amber. And feel better!" The nurse chirped before disappearing in thin air.

Amber gasped lightly and waved a hand in the spot that Gabriela had been standing just milliseconds ago.

Luna smirked. "You heard the nurse. Go on upstairs and get some rest."

Amber made a face at Luna. The last thing she wanted to do was sleep. She wanted to go and find Hailey and drown her in questions.

"Come on, now," Luna was saying as she tugged on her hand.

Amber stood her ground and bit on her lip, silently refusing to move.

Joel did his usual chuckle as he walked closer to them. "Maybe she wants some fresh air instead?"

Luna hesitated before roughly letting go of Amber's hand. "Fine. But you," she set a fingertip on Amber's nose, "will listen to Gabriela and get sleep later."

Amber quickly nodded her head in understanding and watched as Luna walked off, glancing back suspiciously at them both before heading out of view.

Joel grinned and led her to the front door.

"Are you any worried about who did this to you?" He asked as he held the door open for her.

"Well, yes. I am," she told him after they both stepped outside.

Amber slapped her hands on top of her bare arms as she shivered. It looked to be mid-day and the air was cool. "It's only July, why is it so chilly?"

Joel gave a careless shrug as he leaned against a brick wall.

Amber scoffed at him before returning her gaze to her surroundings. The large masses of trees that surrounded the house were turning a beige already.

"What am I going to do, Joel?" Amber quietly asked aloud.

"Huh?"

Amber sighed and went to join him to stand against the wall of the house. "I'm just going to sit around here for a year until my father comes?"

She was interested in how Joel was going to respond, but unfortunately did not get to, as Eva stepped out of the front door.

"Miss Luna told me you would be out here," she spoke quietly to Amber.

Amber's heart stopped and she did not know what to say. She didn't know if Eva knew of what had happened to her at the party, and did not want to make anything awkward, so instead, she stood there staring blindly at her.

Joel cleared his throat before standing on his own. "I'm going to go back inside, it's too cold out here."

Amber knew this was an excuse because of how he hadn't complained about the weather with Amber before when they first stepped out.

"I'll see you later, Amber," he said as he gently brushed past her. He shook his bangs around as he looked down at Eva. "Meet me in my room in twenty minutes- I have some things to discuss with you."

"Of course, master," Eva said with a curtsy.

Joel glanced back at Amber and winked before heading back inside.

"I suppose you're feeling better?" Eva slowly questioned her as she rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet.

Amber smirked. "I could ask you the same question," she said with a small smile.

She watched as Eva's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Those crackers must have been bad."

"Or the cheese," Amber suggested.

"Yeah..." Eva stared at Amber with her large eyes. "Or the strawberries."

Amber swore her heart skipped a beat. She did not know if Eva knew the truth and was testing her to see if she'd lie, or if she was being serious.

Amber chose to stick with shrugging so she could not be accused for lying since she had said nothing at all.

"Oh! Amber!" Called out a voice from...above her?

Amber and Eva both lifted their heads and Amber successfully spotted Luna sticking her head out a window a story higher than where the girls stood.

"Come on," Luna said as she motioned for Amber to get inside. "You need to nap, remember?"

"I said I would later," Amber muttered under her breath as she returned her eyes to Eva.

Eva lowered her head back to face Amber and offered her a smile. "Feel better."

Amber chuckled and patted Eva on the shoulder as she walked past her and back to the front door.

Once inside and immediately warm again, Amber felt relieved to get away from that conversation. She knew her and Eva both felt the tension just floating in the air, and Amber was happy Luna had called her in to get out of that situation, even though she wasn't much too tired.

Maybe evil stepmothers weren't completely evil sometimes.