Vulnerable

Flashbacks

Ophelia sat on the soft bed with her eyes closed, trying to control her breathing as she took several deep breaths. Her heart was starting to beat faster, and there was a knot developing in the pit of her stomach. She had felt this way many times before. She also knew it never ended well. 

In her head, his words kept ringing again and again. How could she have been so stupid? She had foolishly allowed the fantasy of the grand mansion, the kind helpful maid, and all the pretty dresses stray her away from reality. 

She clenched her hands on the bedding and felt the tears stream down her face, ruining the makeup that had taken hours to perfect.

Upper class, sophisticated, and elite... I'm not any of that, she whispered to herself.

Eyes still closed, she found herself suddenly in a dark corner of a tiny bedroom. Yelling and screaming got louder as she heard footsteps coming towards the door, as she sat frozen and shivering, the door flew open and a barely clad woman rushed in towards her. Grabbing her by the arm, squeezing painfully as she looked down at her with wide, sunken eyes. She was screaming at her, but she couldn't quite make out the words. 

Just then, from behind her, a dark figure appeared. Large and looming; Ophelia felt her mouth go dry and her stomach started to turn.

It's not her fault she's prettier than you, and younger, and so sweet... aren't you Ophelia?

 His voice was low and deep, and his words so cold that they made her go numb. The woman holding her stopped shaking her now, and her eyes seemed to widen even further. Why wasn't she blinking, Ophelia thought. She wanted to scream at her, ask her why she wasn't saying anything. 

A large, hairy hand came from behind her and pushed her aside, and in the woman's place, now stood a man. He drew closer by the second, his face inches from Ophelia's, causing the hair on her arms to rise. He began to sneer as he lifted his hand and brought it up towards her face, closer, and closer...

Mommy!

Sweat covered her face as Ophelia's eyes snapped open and she found herself lying in the large bed, surrounded by the soft light coming from the chandelier. She turned to her side and brought her knees up to her chest, rocking back and forth. 

Every part of her was shaking. She had never felt more alone or more scared than she did this very second. It had been a while since she had had a flashback quite so vivid. 

At that exact moment there was nothing she wanted more than her sister's arms wrapped around her, her soft voice comforting her out of the fear that crippled her entire body. But Juliet was gone, and Ophelia had nobody. 

Alone, scared, and lost... that's all I'll ever be, she whispered. 

......................................................................................................................................

Dante watched the room grow louder by the second, as several bodies swarmed from one corner of the banquet to the next. Glasses of wine were poured and hors d'oeuvres handed out as women showed off their jewels and men argued over their political views. 

In a room that didn't seem to stop moving, he stood absolutely still. His hand was clenched so tight that he was afraid the glass in it would shatter into a million pieces. But he couldn't calm himself down, no matter how hard he tried to. 

He was angry at himself. But he wasn't sure what was bothering him more. 

Was it the fact that he hadn't been able to control himself, seeing her in all her glory. So damn beautiful; yet it was all a farce, he reminded himself. He had planned on playing his cards right. First, he was going to manipulate her, play with her emotions, before he would go and teach her the lesson he'd been aching for all these years.