Page 53 of Tainted Serenity

I make my way through the multiple people standing to the side of the dance floor until I reach one corner of the large room. My eyes search the crowd, finding relief in the fact that I cannot see Arthur or Irene anywhere.

“Come here!”

A voice startles me out of my reverie as a man approaches me, clad in a dark suit that screams masculinity and power. I look up to find Daxton staring down at me, a mixture of anger and desperation swirling in his ocean-blue eyes. Without waiting for my permission, he grabs my hand harshly before dragging me over to the dance floor.

“What are you doing? Let me go.”

I try to wrench myself out of his grip, but it’s impossible as it is too strong. We eventually reach the dance floor, and he starts dancing along with the other people, swaying me to the beat of the slowed song. We swirl in a circle, and my eyes catch sight of Esther as she dances with the same man as before. Sweat clings to her forehead, her frame looking exhausted from all the dancing, but they do not stop. It’s as if they are stuck in a time capsule, dancing until their feet no longer can carry them, moving until they die.

Daxton firmly clasps my hip as he guides the dance, letting me follow his lead. It isn’t until now, when I’m in here a second time, that I truly absorb the macabre songs amplified by speakers across the ballroom. It’s then I notice the strange way everyone automatically dances. Daxton swirls me again, and I observe the surreal way in which they move, akin to puppets on strings, moving in tune with each other, their faces devoid of any emotions.

Puppets who follow their puppeteer.

Dolls who do not have their own voice and are only allowed to follow the master’s commands.

A striking realization sends my stomach plummeting. This is no different than Grimhill Manor. Frankly, it’s even worse.

“Arthur and Irene were looking for you when they didn’t see us on the dance floor,” Daxton hisses in my ear, his voice barely audible over the music.

I only stare at him as he moves us back and forth, making sure I follow his steps closely so none of us makes any mistakes. It feels weird being like this, having my first dance without Grey, while his cum trickles down my legs, claiming me in ways he can’t do at this moment.

“I told them you went to the bathroom,” he cast a glance over my shoulder before looking back at me. “Where were you?”

His words are draped with accusation, making annoyance take root inside my heart.

“It’s none of your business.”

His grip around my hip tightens, nails almost carving into my skin despite the layer of dress preventing him. I wrench his hands away, slowing down the dance as I take a step back.

“I got the right to know the moment I lied for your sake,” he seethes through his teeth, and this is so unlike the Daxton I know.

Perhaps I never knew him at all.

“You didn’t have to!”

His eyes narrow down on me as he scrutinizes my appearance, noticing the messy curls of my navy blue ends, their disarray subtly hinting at the intimate encounter I shared with Grey. Daxton fixes an intense gaze on me, his eyes revealing a deep-seated suspicion, as though he could somehow read my thoughts.

“God, you’re fucking infuriating!” he shouts at me. “It’s that man, isn’t it? I lied for your sake all because you got fucked by a stranger.”

Rage shimmers at my surface, wanting to claw its way free. “He’s not a stranger,” I find myself saying, immediately regretting my words when he looks at me with an open mouth, confusion etched across his face until it morphs into a kind of suspicious understanding.

There’s a glint of something I do not recognize in his eyes, radiating an air of anger at the mention of the stranger. I can’t help but feel as if Daxton knows who the so-called stranger is, despite trying to conceal it.

My nails start scratching my wrist, a well-familiar action that makes me able to control myself better as I meet his eyes with an empty gaze.

“Fuck you!” I spit at him, turning away without uttering another syllable.

I leave the ballroom, not giving a damn about the consequences that will follow this act of defiance toward Arthur when he notices I’m no longer here.

And as I exit, I swear I see Esther staring at me, an evil smirk plastered on her lips.

Chapter 21

Unknown

They never should havebrought him here to this desiccated and isolated castle in the middle of nowhere, with haunted hallways that make your mind lose its sanity and all morals are lost. This place is meant for the wicked, mentally ill, and those easily manipulated to become the dolls in the dollhouse’s collection.

It never occurred to me that he was the man I heard so often referred to in people’s words, the sound chilling me to my very core.

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