Castle | ✔️

Chapter Nine

I stared at the tracker on his anklet, which was identical to the one I was wearing.

"Why are you wearing that? I thought you said only staff wear it."

"I'm an exception, I guess?" He said, looking at the closed door again. "I have a rebellious streak."

Of course. Rebellious must be Theo's middle name.

"I got into trouble because I tried to bring the Montgomery's secrets out and ended up being imprisoned by my own family," Theo explained. "The only difference is that if I tried to escape, I won't end up dead. As for the staff, I can't say the same thing. I also get to go to school and do my thing."

"That means whoever tries to get out of here dies?"

"You didn't hear that from me." He laughed.

"I heard nothing."

"Think of this as a chess game. Devin, Dayana, and Castle are the key players. The rest of us are pawns. There are things I can't talk to you about, things that Castle can't remember because of his accident, so I would suggest you to not get involved in this mess. The lesser you know, the safer you will be, trust me."

"You just admitted to people dying in his house because they want to get out! How am I supposed to trust anybody after that?" I whispered, "Why should I trust you?"

"Well, I'm not asking you to, but I won't bullshit you, Millicent. I'm not Devin. You've been through enough and the least I could do is give you a heads up." He said simply, picking up his gadget. "My family is craaaayyyy."

"This is kidnapping!" I threw the blanket off my body and tried to climb out of bed when a jolt of unbearable pain stopped me.

"Yeah, the Montgomerys could have a rap sheet if the cops around here weren't so fucking corrupt and actually did their job."

"Wait, the cops know about this?"

Theo gave me a slow smile. His honey-golden eyes were strikingly similar to Castle's. Castle had a serious look most of the time, while Theo's entire demeanor was mischievous.

"The cops know everything, but they choose to look the other way. They don't want to lose their jobs and they also get paid a lot for keeping their mouth shut. We are the most powerful family in the country for nothing." He concluded without taking his eyes off the game he was playing, aggressively punching the gadget.

"So, what do you want me to do? Stay here under captivity and do nothing?" I was fuming. All I wanted was to get away from the mess that was my uncle and get a good job, and start over.

This turned out to be a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire.

"That would keep you alive, at least. I mean, that's something, right?"

"Yeah, sure. Staying alive with a leg that you can't move is the best." I said sarcastically.

"It could have been worse." He reminded me.

"Castle doesn't wear one of these anklets." I pointed out.

"That's because he wouldn't let them. Castle might remember nothing from his past, but he still has that 'dosen't-take-shit-from-anybody' attitude, and if I'm being honest, Devin is a little intimidated by him. Listen, I gotta go, okay? It was nice to chat with you and all." He climbed to his feet, and that's when something fell from his pocket and landed onto the carpeted floor.

"Hey, Theo, you dropped this," I picked up the piece of paper until I realized it wasn't.

"It's Theodore."

It was an origami flower.

I inspected it. The flower was quite similar to the origami rabbit I'd received before.

"It was you. You left that origami for me to find, telling me it was Dayana who hurt Castle."

You could tell from his expressions that he had been the one leaving those notes, not Castle, as I initially believed.

"I have to go," Theo said and stormed out of the door before I could call out to him again.

* * *

I spent another week trying to get my legs to work, and by the end of two weeks, I could walk properly even though there was a slight limp, and the doctor told me I'd be fine in a few more days. While they confined me to my room, the maids had taken good care of me and given me proper food, which was something. At least I wouldn't die here out of starvation.

If I could just get this tracker out of my leg, then the only problem would be to find a way to escape this property, but that was next to impossible, so I devised a plan. I was going to do what Theo had told me and try my best to stay on Devin's good side. Take one day at a time, build some trust, and find a way out of here, eventually.

During the days that I'd been recovering from the injury, I noticed how Castle would come to my room at odd hours of the night, and he would stand outside the door for a long time before leaving me alone. My heart would drum against my chest, not that I was terrified of him, but I couldn't get any sleep either, as I would pretend to be asleep instead of confronting him.

The family was leaving tonight for some party and they weren't taking Castle with them, so I was going to be home alone with him. It's after dinner that I lost sight of him and I searched through all the rooms that I thought I would find him in. I heard the thunder rumbling even though all the windows were closed. It would be a problem if Castle wandered out of the mansion. Devin would kill me and feed me to Trixie.

There was no way I could check every room of this Colonial mansion. I'd have to spend the entire night searching for him, and yet, here I was, opening door after door and calling him out. By the time I moved to the fourth floor, I'd almost ran out of energy. I bet babysitting for a ten-year-old would be easier. I halted in front of a room where I heard the sounds of whispering coming from inside. The door was partly open and I know eavesdropping wasn't good, but I couldn't help myself taking a little peek.

An old man was sitting in a wheelchair, and Castle was kneeling right beside him.

That must be the grandfather, Hugh Montgomery. I'd seen his black and white pictures of when he was young, that it had taken me a while to recover.

Hugh coughed and then said, "Has he been giving you trouble again?"

"Not really, sir," Castle answered softly. "If he's troubling you, you come to me, boy." The old man said in his authoritative voice.

"I would." This was the fastest that I'd seen Castle respond to anyone. Usually, he took his time to respond, but with his grandfather; he seemed to answer with enthusiasm, which was a first.

"Chris, you tell that wife of yours that she's not welcome in this house, you understand me?"

"I understand."

Chris? Why was his grandpa calling Castle, Chris, and since when did Castle get married? Or did Devin hide that detail from me, too?

The thought of Castle having a wife that he didn't remember made me ill.

I thought grandma Hugh had fallen completely off the rocker and talking nonsense like some old people would. But what Castle said next shocked me more. "I promise you, gramps. Lorna isn't coming back to this house."

* * *

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