Page 85 of Deadmen's Captive

“I don’t understand… you wanted me to be Persephone? You never said anything…” my voice trailed away as I finally put the pieces together and my head began to spin. “Mum,” I whispered. “Did you apply for me to be Persephone?”

“Of course I did. You would never have had the guts.”

My stomach churned. “You filled in the application… you signed the contract?”

“No, you did, when we were sorting everything for your place at Blackvellyn.” I dimly remembered her putting a pile of papers in front of me, tuition, accommodation, doctor registrations, fanned out so there was only the line on which to sign. Bast had been right. I had signed the contract myself.

“Mum, they kidnapped me, they took me to the clubhouse and chained me up and they… did you know they would do that?” I could barely get the words out, I was shaking so hard.

“Of course I knew, I did it myself. It's tradition.”

“Mum, I had no idea what was going on, I didn’t want them to touch me… and you organised the whole thing?”

“Oh don’t be so dramatic, Paige. Women get used by men everyday. And you seem to have gotten over it.”

I scrambled out of bed and ran for the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before I threw up. I leaned against the side of the huge bath, shaking and cold, and raised the phone back to my ear.

“You set me up to be assaulted, mum. Maybe even raped. How could you do that to me?”

“You forget yourself, Paige. You belong to me. Your very existence ruined my life, along with other things, you owe me for that. I needed you in place as Persephone, and you would never have gone along with it if you’d known what you were signing up for. But according to that server, you certainly managed to embrace the role. I always knew you’d be a whore.”

My blood froze and the room spun around me. My own mother... I never could tell just how far she'd go, but now I knew. Despair washed over me, numbing every nerve, leaving only the sickening realisation that she had manipulated me right into this position.

“Why?” I choked out.

“It’s time you stopped playing with your paint and brushes. This is real life, and we live in a cruel world, where men rule over us. We have to take power when and where we can. You will be the Queen of the Underworld after your fifth trial, and that gives you power. And now you can help me."

"Help you?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

"Yes, help me. Those boys you’re fucking? Their fathers are the men who ruined our lives. The ones who forced me to marry your father and left me with nothing. My whole life wrecked for one night, for one scandal. I was used and cast aside, and then when I begged them for mercy, they destroyed me." Her voice was cold and calm, as if we were discussing a simple business deal. “It’s time I returned the favour. And you are going to help me.”

"But I...I don’t want…" I started. My mother cut me off with a harsh laugh.

"Don't want? Since when has what you wanted ever mattered?" Her words slithered around her like a snake around its prey.

"Mom..." My voice broke as despair flooded through me. I was no queen, I was just a scared little girl again, lost and alone.

"What's done is done, Paige," my mother declared ruthlessly, as if delivering a death sentence. "I expect you to do what is necessary. You owe me this much. You will help me make those bastards pay for what they did."

I took a deep breath. "What if I refuse?"

The silence that followed was deafening.

"Refuse? And throw away this golden opportunity? Lose everything I’ve worked for for the last seven years? You have no idea what I suffered, what I lowered myself to do to get you here, Paige.” A chilling laugh echoed through the line. “If you refuse, I'll have no use for you. I'll pull you out of that school faster than you can say 'Mummy please'. You'll come back home...where you belong, to the punishment that awaits you."

My heart pounded in terror at the thought of going home. To be under her control again...it was unthinkable.

"But...but I need to finish my degree..."

"Ah yes, your precious painting degree. How silly of me." Sarcasm dripped off her words. "Your education is no longer important Paige. Your only role now is to obey. Like you always have."

Her words hit me like a punch in the gut, but I struggled to fight one more time.

“I’m an adult, mother. I’ll just leave.”

“I wouldn’t advise that, Paige. Your father knows some very nasty people who are very good at finding those they want to punish. What those boys will do to you, is nothing compared to what will happen to you if you don’t obey me. But you won’t leave. You’re too weak, and you know it. Pathetic and useless. You wouldn’t last two minutes without me.”

Tears ran down my face at her words.

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