Chapter 13- The Truth is Still Hidden
______Kyra's Pov________
Tears ran down my face and I sat on the ground contemplating my life and the messed up situation I was in. My best friend had just slapped me but maybe I did deserve it. I could not even recognise her. She was totally transformed and not in a good way. I was so self-absorbed. All I could think about was myself when Lisa told me that we needed to escape. I wanted to escape this castle when I first arrived at the castle, but now I wanted to live in the castle. Life was too perfect here.
I was beyond spoilt with all the riches I could ever ask for. Raymond, who I thought was a horrible person was actually really sweet and very romantic. I hated the fact that Lisa could be right. The fact that Raymond could have actually done that to her. Maybe he had not changed. Maybe he was just trying to brainwash me and turn me against my best friend.
I was brought out of my thoughts by a loud knocking on the door which caused my heart to beat rapidly.
"Kyra, are you okay?" he asked concerned and I immediately recognised Raymond's voice.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I answered, quickly wiping away my tears and clearing my throat so that there would be no evidence of me crying.
"Then why won't you open the door?" he asked with concern clear in his voice.
Normally, I would open the door within the first knock but today I was not in the mood to talk to anyone.
I heard the door handle rattle and it was clear that he was trying to open the door but he did not have the keys on him so I would have to open it for him.
"I don't know. I'm just...I'm not in my mood." I answered with tears streaming down my face.
"Please open the door Kyra. Then I'll know you're okay." he said soothingly.
I got up from the floor and walked to the door, wiping the tears from my face and took a deep breath before opening the door.
The smile he had on his face instantly disappeared when he saw my face.
"What happened? Did someone hit you?"he asked with concern, holding my face gently as he inspected the bruise.
"No. I ran into a wall." I said trying to get him to drop the topic.
I could not tell him the truth. I had to lie but he could see straight through my lie which made me get cold feet.
"Don't try that with me. I can tell if someone has slapped you. Please tell me who did this." he said with genuine concern and I cracked under the pressure.
"Fine but only under one condition.You tell me why you took me away from my home and nothing but the truth." I demanded, folding my arms across my chest and my face was totally serious.
I saw a wave of shock pass through his eyes and even some anger flashed through his eyes before he sighed and touched my shoulders gently.
"You need to sit down for this." he said sadly.
I nodded my head and walked to my bed where I sat and he followed suit.
"First of all, I am truly sorry for this but this was your parents' fault. Did you know that you are a princess? Heiress to the British throne?" he asked me and my eyes almost popped out of its socket.
"What? What are you talking about? I said the truth. Why are you making these things up? Royalty no longer exists. Monarchies are history now, stuck in the brains of historians." I responded, getting upset at the fact that Raymond would make up such a pathetic lie.
"Kyra. I am telling you the truth. Your mother, Princess Andrea, came from a rich and powerful royal family called the 'Worthingtons' who ruled over England. She was supposed to marry my father, Prince Derek of Canada. Arranged marriages to other royal families were key to the success of kingdoms. However, she was in love with Daniel, your father, who was a commoner. She got married to him despite my father's protests but my father promised that if she ever had a child and got divorced, her child would be taken away from her. It was a set deal and she knew the consequences." He said grimacing at the information he had just told me.
"So why didn't your father kidnap me?" I asked curiously.
"My father died a couple of years ago and left this castle to my brother and I." he said.
"What about Dr. Amara?" I asked curiously.
"What about her?" he asked.
"She's your step-sister, your fath-" Raymond interrupted me with his voice full of anger.
"She is in no way related to us so why don't you shut the-" I cut him off.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." I said a little scared seeing the rage on his face.
"It's okay." he said calming down a little.
He then looked me in the eye very seriously and asked me the dreaded question I had been trying to avoid.
"Now who slapped you?" he demanded.
"No one slapped me. I told you..." I paused trying to figure out what lie I would tell him and my eyes wondered quickly around the room before looking Raymond straight in the eye, "I ran into a wall."
"Kyra would you stop playing games and tell me who slapped you?" he asked annoyed and throwing his hands in the air in frustration.
I got scared and blurted out Lisa's name.
He nodded his head and immediately stormed out of my room, slamming the door behind him.
Oh no!
What have I done?
I should have never told him who slapped me. He was scaring me and in fear that he would hit me, I told him the truth. I cannot believe that I snitched on my best friend. Never in my life had I ever told on her. We would lie for each other just to protect our friendship and here I was betraying her when this was a life and death situation.
I should have believed Lisa from the start. Raymond was still a monster and he was trying to turn me against my best friend.
He looked as if he were about to slap me when I asked about Dr.Amara being a part of his family. He had some serious anger issues and I refused to be the one to cure him of his problems. He needs a shrink and I need to be back in South Carolina with my mother and friends.
I need to get out of here.
After thinking for a couple of minutes of how I could escape this mess I had put both Lisa and I in, I remembered that I had slammed the door in her face not too long before Raymond came to my door.
She probably hid somewhere on the third floor as she would not have time to hide anywhere else. I exited my room and began my search for her. I hope she is unharmed. How could I have been so stupid? Trusting a total stranger over my best friend. I had really lost it.
"Lisa? Lisa!" I whispered for her as I walked the hallway, trying not to draw too much attention to myself in case Raymond was close by.
"Lisa, where are you? Come out, I think it's safe now." I said and after waiting two seconds, I heard the turn of a knob and Lisa came out of what appeared to be a supply closet.
"Oh Lisa!" I said embracing her in a hug, "I'm so sorry I did not believe you.We need to get out of here."
"It's okay Kyra. I'm just glad I have my best friend back." she said hugging me back tightly
"Where's doctor Amara?" I asked exasperated, "She might be our only ticket out of here."
"She's on the seventh floor." Lisa responded and we quickly but quietly ran to the seventh floor. It was a lot of stairs to climb but it was worth it.
A few minutes later, we arrived at the door where Amara was in.
"We just need to get Amara, take one of Raymond's cars and drive out of the castle. Simple as that." I said nervously as I tried to reassure myself that we could actually escape Raymond.
As Lisa was about to turn the knob of the door, I suddenly felt that someone else was watching us.
I turned behind in fear but was my tension eased when I saw a young maid who looked fragile and innocent.
"What are you doing? I beg of you to please listen to Raymond. He has been violent to us. He is hurting us severely." she said in a hushed tone and pleading eyes.
"I'm sorry but we're leaving." I said determined, "And nothing is going to stop us."
"Then take me with you. I need to get out of this castle before I end up dead." she begged.
I looked at Lisa for confirmation on whether or not we could trust this girl. She could be setting us up but Lisa seemed willing to allow her to come with us. I nodded at her and Lisa opened the door.
Dr.Amara was sleeping on a bed. She looked terrible with bruises all over her pale body.
We woke her up and helped her out of bed.
She was still drowsy so we carried her out of the room, all the way to the ground floor.
"There's an underground garage in the castle. Do you know how to locate it?" I asked the maid and she nodded her head, taking the lead as she guided us to it. She opened a door and switched on the lights. The walls were of a beautiful cream colour and there were spiral wooden stairs leading to the underground garage. We walked carefully as Lisa's arms were slung over my shoulders as well as Lisa's.
When we finished descending the stairs, my jaw dropped at the sight before me and I almost threw Amara down in the process. Amara was not exaggerating when she told me Raymond owned many vehicles. Wow. I was speechless and as I stared at the garage in shock, Lisa brought me back to reality.
"Kyra, snap out of it. We need to get out of here before Raymond catches us. Pick a vehicle and let's get out of here!" she said desperately.
"Let's take this car!" I said pointing to a black Mercedes which was tinted extremely dark so that the security guards would not stop us at the gate. I got in the driver's seat after helping Lisa get in the backseat with Amara who was still unconscious.
The maid also got in the backseat as we did not want the guards to see more than one person if they happened to see through the tinted windshield.
I started the vehicle and began driving through the road which led to the ground level.
"Stay low guys. We don't want to capture too much attention." I said to them and they ducked their heads down.
As I drove down the driveway which led to the main exit gates, I got nervous and began thinking of all the horrible things Raymond would do to us if we were caught.
I had to make the guards believe it was Raymond driving this car. It was tinted really dark and this car was one which Raymond used quite often. The guards would only be expecting Raymond to be driving this car. No one else so maybe we had a chance of getting our freedom.
But what if the guards stopped me and try to call Raymond to see if I had permission to leave the castle? I would be caught red handed and who knows what Raymond would do to me.
As the vehicle pulled up to the gates, the guards opened it immediately and I did not even have to stop the car. I simply blew the horn and continued driving at a good pace. When I was completely off the property of the castle I began driving at full speed despite the bumpy ride.
We were in for a long ride but it would be worth it in the end.
I was driving really fast in order to get away from that place and I felt quite confident in getting back home.
It had been two hours since I was driving and I was beginning to get tired.
I had been looking through my rear view mirror throughout the drive to ensure that we were not being followed.
Lisa and the maid were asleep in the backseat and I felt a bit at ease, knowing that we actually managed to escape the castle without much resistance.
I heard a yawn and Amara was finally waking up. She would be happy that we were out of the hellhole and she could actually have a life outside of the castle. When we got somewhere safe, I could go to a police station and report Raymond and have him arrested and locked up for life for kidnapping me and torturing my best friend.
"Where are we?" Dr.Amara asked still sounding drowsy.
"Getting out of this life of torture." I responded as I continued speeding down the highway.
Instead of Amara looking relieved, her face showed panic and dread.
"Did you take one of his cars?" she asked sounding scared.
I looked into her eyes through the rear-view mirror and felt fearful for my life.
Oh no! What was I thinking? It was obvious that Raymond had tracking devices installed on all his vehicles. How could I have been so stupid. He is probably following us now and can see exactly where we are.
Amara looked around and then gave a solution to our worries.
"There's a mall up ahead. Pull over and take another car. We can't let Raymond find us." she said trembling.
I did as I was told and parked the Mercedes in an empty parking lot and we exited the vehicle. We got out and began looking for another vehicle which could blend in easily on the road.
The maid spotted a white Hyundai Sonata and Lisa used her skills to break into the the vehicle. We all got in with Amara in the front seat as she could guide us out of Canada and I hot-wired the car then drove off at full speed.
"We never got your name?" I said trying to make conversation with the maid who had begged to come with us.
"I'm Heather. I've been in the castle my entire life. My mother was a maid in the castle as well and I never met my father. Twenty-three years of my life stuck in a castle. My mother always told me that as soon as I got the perfect opportunity to escape, do it. She sadly passed away five years ago. Thank you for helping me escape." she said sounding at peace with herself.
Amara remained awfully quiet at the front. She bowed her head in shame and remorse was clearly shown in her eyes. It was not her fault and I honestly felt sorry for her. She was only following Raymond's instructions in fear that he would hurt or kill her.
Half an hour later, we were driving comfortably with no signs of danger and I relaxed, feeling at peace knowing we were far away from danger. Suddenly, a black SUV swerved into the road on our side and stopped in front of us.
I braked immediately, causing the vehicle to shut off.
"Oh no! That's Raymond's goons." Amara screamed in horror.
I tried to start the vehicle but to no avail. The system had failed on me.
"C'mon Kyra! Start the vehicle!" Lisa shouted in panic from the backseat.
Another SUV came screeching behind us.
We were trapped.
Heather was crying and Lisa was shouting at me to start the vehicle but it was useless. My life flashed before my eyes and everything was happening so quickly.
Four huge men came out of the SUV which blocked the road in front of us and they pointed guns towards the vehicle.
"Get out the vehicle now!" one of the men shouted. They were all dressed in black suits with shades covering their eyes.
They were very intimidating and I opened the door, getting out slowly with my hands where they could see them and not making any sudden movements. The other girls followed suit and we were all trembling in fear.
A black BMW sedan came speeding in our direction and I felt my soul leave my body when a very angry Raymond exited the car.
He was all in black just like his men, except that he had no shades on. I wish he had shades on because the anger in his eyes scared me. So much for escaping without ever being caught. I was caught red handed and now Raymond would never let me out of his sight.
He walked towards me menacingly and tears threatened to spill from my eyes. I was too frightened to even blink my eyes.
"How could you, my dear sweet-heart, just leave?After all we've been through, you still want to abandon me? Unknown to you, I have my spies everywhere so you can never leave me." he said smirking but it was not a friendly smirk. It was a devious one which made me fear for what was to come.
He then turned his focus to his step-sister.
"I'm ashamed to call you a part of my family. My sister, you will never be forgiven now." he said and gave her a kiss on her forehead." she shuddered in fear at this gesture.
He then looked to the maid who was frozen in position. He gave her a malevolent look and removed an object from his pocket.
All I heard was a loud boom and saw her lifeless body fall onto the ground with her blood making a pool around her body.
I gulped in fear as I was too petrified to scream and closed my eyes as tears rolled down my face.
Was I next? Was he going to kill all of us right here, right now? Was this the end? We were so close to freedom. I could have tasted the freedom from Raymond but it was too good to be true.
My legs trembled and I was beyond traumatised.
The highway was completely isolated without a soul in sight. No one was going to witness our murders. This was it.
I then heard Raymond order the men to take us to the castle.
We were not going to die? He actually had a heart? He was going to keep us alive, but for how long?
I was too emotionally distraught to realise I was being drugged by the men. I felt the muscles in my arms weakening and then I could not feel the rest of my body.
I began to sway side to side and felt my body plummeting to the ground as everything went black.
______END OF CHAPTER_________
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