Stranded Ch. 11

"Can't I stay with your mother?"

"You'd be safer at Dales; Eliza is too unpredictable and I'm not about to lose a second wife. Dale may not be happy with the conclave's decision, few are, but he will follow them."

Like his sons did? Like Earl? I choked down my replies and the sobs that threatened to break free with them. Nothing I said or did was going to change it, and the last thing I wanted was to piss him off enough to let Arioch back out. I seemed to do that so easily that I began to wonder who the alpha personality was.

"How long will you be gone?" I asked instead, picking up my silver fork and taking a bite of my omelet. I did my best to take slow, small bites, not wanting to overeat in my zealousness.

"Usually 5 days, but I doubt I'll get much sleep until I get back, so maybe less."

"Where will I sleep?"

"With Zeke. Now before you get worried, Zeke won't touch you...well he might cut off some of your hair, even if I order him not to, I don't think there is any getting out of it. But he won't touch you otherwise. If you listen and don't try to run, he'll be nothing more than a giant teddy bear." My hand absently went to my hair, it had grown a little since my arrival; constantly keeping it tied up made it hard to notice.

"I don't need a doll." Sam gave me a wary look.

"That doesn't always matter with Zeke. Making dolls is a compulsion, he can't always help himself."

"How much will he need?"

"Roughly a foot, I'll tell him no shorter than your chin or I'll whoop him. I think you'll look good with short hair." I'd never had my hair shorter than my shoulders, even as a little girl I had learned if I wanted to keep my hair long, I had to learn to take care of it. My father tried to braid, but they always ended up crooked. I simply waited until I was out of his sight before taking them out, I never had the heart to tell him how terrible he was at it.

"None of the other wives have short hair."

"It'll grow back, besides, they're not my wife. I do things differently."

"They said you're not supposed to anymore." I replied softly, keeping my eyes on my plate.

"No, they said I cannot skip traditions, they never said I had to conform completely." How did he know that? Arioch had mentioned he had a way of communicating with Sam, but I hadn't figured it out yet.

"I believe that was their intent behind it."

"Who are you to assume what they meant? And why are you so concerned with what my family says anyways?"

"Maybe if you didn't slip away into your head like a coward, you would know." I spat angrily. We had nearly scraped by unscathed and Sam was treating it like it was nothing. He stopped in the middle of dishing himself a bite, set his fork down carefully and folded his hands in front of him.

"I don't think I appreciate your tone." A warning, I should have heeded it. I didn't want the conclave to ever have a reason to return, but like a stubborn idiot I continued.

"You keep promising me I'll be safe, but not once have you lived up to it. Once you're gone, when you go to wherever it is that you go, I'm left here, alone, with Him. I don't give a damn if you like my tone. Stop telling me everything is going to be alright when we both know that's not true."

"You'd rather I tell you the truth? That I have no idea what's going to happen to you while I'm away, because there are only two people in that house I trust, one of them's Gifted and the other is a goddamn woman. Neither of which could do much of anything if Dale or any of his boys got the urge to break the rules. I am doing everything I can, but my hands are tied. Remember, it was your lack of faith that got us in this situation in the first place." He was goading me, but I refused to take the bait. I swallowed past the knot in my throat.

"If they don't follow the rules? What then?"

"Don't fight them, remember everything you can, and I'll take care of it when I get home." His voice went cold and for a moment I was concerned I had already invoked his darker half. But it was still Sam's clear blues that were staring back at me.

"I meant every word I said to you, wife. I will do everything in my power to protect you, and where I fail, I will seek justice. That is the best I can do. Zeke will keep you safe, he loves me too much to let anything happen to you."

We finished the rest of our breakfast in silence, my thoughts drifting back to his cousins. Justice, is that how he slept at night? I searched my heart for guilt but found none. Was I slipping away already? Had there been any at all? I quickly cleaned up before he dragged me outside with him. At first, I thought he was going to stick me back in the cage, but instead he let me stand just inside as he checked them over. Baldur greeted me with a few licks to my hand but was called away by the sound of kibble.

"Seems you made a friend." I gave Sam a half smile and shrugged. I didn't want him to think I was getting close to anything and use that against me too. Once the hounds were taken care of, I was dragged along with him into his garage. My car was nowhere to be found and I wondered if it had joined the others in the Yard. How many of those cars belonged to wives? Which one was Megan's? Was Mariam's in there somewhere too? There was an old ford truck, already up on stands, and it looked as though the oil had finally finished draining.

"Sit." He nodded at the lawn chair, and I sighed as I got comfortable and he zip tied me to the frame. He set to work, whistling along to the country songs while I was forced to sit and watch. He was peaceful working beneath the car, his fingers filthy from grease, and despite the fact I never saw him touch his face, he still managed streak his cheeks and forehead with it. The rest of the day passed quickly; dinner was reheated leftovers. It was while I was washing dishes, I was able to steal more seeds. Despite all the coffee that had been consumed, it was almost half full, so I had a little more time to find a new home for them. It had been days since the last time I had sex, but I knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't at least try to prevent getting knocked up. I slept in the basement that night, he hadn't touched me since the incident with Earl. This time he at least left me with Hank. Who was more than happy to play fetch with a rolled-up sock, chasing it across the basement floor before dutifully bringing it back, tail wagging mercilessly. When the light turned off, I took the hint and covered up Hank as he curled up beside me, forcing myself to sleep.

~~~~~~

My hand gripped the bar above my door as Sam took a sharp turn down Dale's driveway. To ensure I didn't try and jump out of the car, he'd handcuffed my wrist to the small handle above my door. The driveway was long and a bit windy, ending at two large barn style type houses. Beyond them I could see more buildings, nearly looked like its own little town. I recognized some of the children I saw playing at the ceremony, many rushing up to greet us as he parked in front of the first house. The outside was painted white, the trim a light blue, several swings hung from several trees and Sam had to wade his way through a group of small children to get to my side of the truck. He greeted them all with a smile, many curious eyes aimed in my direction but none of them were asking questions.

When he unlocked my wrist, he helped me out of the truck and with his hand tangled in mine, led me straight up to the house. My head was spinning with the number of children, some of which were running literal circles around us. When we stepped into the foyer of the house the first thing that caught my eye was the size of the ceiling, it was high with giant windows that let in the sunlight and while there was two stories to the house, they were separated by a spiral staircase. We turned right and walked through the swinging door into the kitchen. Over a dozen women were gathered, all of which fell silent as we stepped into the room. A few of the wives dropped their tasks and rushed to hug Sam, fussing over how much he'd grown, how he needed a haircut, more sleep, more food. I must have looked confused because it was Emily that spoke to me first.

"Some of the older boys are old enough for wives of their own." I felt sick to my stomach, but I merely nodded in their direction. He excused us, and we continued down the first-floor east wing hallway until we came to a room at the very end. He knocked five times then twice, and after a few minutes the door opened, a silver chain the only thing keeping it secured, and Ezekiel's gaze peeked through. His eyes lit up and it was only a few seconds before he threw open the door and wrapped his giant arms around Sam in a tight hug that left him gasping.

"Little brother! Papa said you were coming; said you get to help with deliveries." Sam nodded, resting his hand on the other man's shoulders.

"I got a real important task for you, Zeke." He looked over Sam's shoulder, directly at me, and an uncomfortable itch settled between my shoulder blades.

"You have to leave her here, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. And I need you to take care of her while I'm gone. Can you do that for me?" Zeke nodded, but his gaze never left my face.

"Will she try to leave?" Sam glanced back at me, studying me for a minute before returning to face his brother.

"She might," he admitted. Zeke scowled and looked back to Sam.

"I won't let her, I promise." His words filled my stomach with lead, cementing exactly where my place was in their world.

"Keep her safe. I'll be back in less than a week." Sam dropped off the duffel bag he'd packed for me, filled with the most plain of all the dresses, but I was honestly just grateful for clothes again. The elements had not been kind to me. I noticed immediately there was only one bed in the room, and I tried to remind myself of what Sam said. If I followed the rules, he wouldn't touch me. Because Sam has just been so honest this entire time. He kissed my forehead goodbye and left, the door closing behind him.

My heart was racing as I turned to face Zeke. He was dressed in coveralls, his name tag on his right breast.

"Do you work on cars?" I asked softly.

"No."

"I just thought, with those coveralls, Sam wears them when he's working on cars." So small talk wasn't my sharpest skill, didn't seem like his either.

"This is my work outfit! Papa lets me clean his office for him. Today is Tuesday. I work on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Except this Thursday. This Thursday I have you. Papa says I can't work if I'm babysitting." I grit my teeth against the comment, babysitting. I smoothed my dress, doing my best to keep my hands from balling into fists.

"I am sorry you have to miss work, but I am grateful I won't be alone." I gave him a small smile and his face lit up like a kid in a candy store. We stood there in awkward silence as I looked around. His workstation consisted of a desk with a bunch of plastic drawers stacked neatly around it. Each drawer was properly labeled with which doll part it contained.

There was a half-finished doll sprawled on the desk, it looked as though he had been in the middle of it when Sam knocked. I noticed there were nearly 2 dozen dolls sitting on shelves around the room, each one a little different from the last. Some were painted differently, some had different hair, and others had different eyes, and no two dresses were the same. He really was talented.

"Did you really make all these?" I asked in awe.

"Yes. Do you like them?" Zeke asked eagerly, I turned and found him inches away from me and nearly jumped out of my skin. Boundaries did not seem to be something he was familiar with.

"They're gorgeous, you are very talented Ezekiel."

"Big brother." He corrected, so softly it was almost a whisper.

"Excuse me?"

"You will call me big brother. You are little brothers' wife, that makes you my little sister now." It wasn't a request, and I nodded in understanding.

"My apologies, big brother." As an only child I had often begged for siblings, my parents had always insisted that one child was enough. Zeke's face lit up again, it was very clear he liked his title as big brother. I felt him pull my hair tie free and froze as he began to run his hands through my hair, combing it out with his fingers. He wrapped a strand around his finger, admiring the way light reflected off my sunset red strands.

"Ember."

"Huh?"

"Ember, that is your doll's name." He announced. I wanted to protest, but Sam had warned me against refusing. I still had to stay there for the next week, did I really want to offend and anger the one person who was supposed to keep me safe?

"That's a beautiful name," I replied. I wasn't happy with the idea, but who did I have to look pretty for anyways? Maybe if I was lucky it'd make me ugly and perhaps then Sam would leave me alone. It's only hair, it will grow back.

"If it was only a few inches longer, I'd have enough for two," he sighed.

"Please, take a seat little sister." He pushed me towards his desk chair and even though my stomach felt as though it was turning inside out, I sat down. He reached over the desk and pulled the giant pair of scissors from the clay cup. I closed my eyes, doing my best to remember to breathe. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. He grabbed a handful of my hair, pulling it taught and I felt the cold metal back of one of the scissor blades slide across the middle of my neck, then the distinguished SNIP as he began hacking away. I held myself still and straight, last thing I needed was to jerk away and get cut or stabbed with them. He had wasted no time getting to my hair, and in less than a minute he was done.

I opened my eyes and found a pile of it sitting on the desk before me, lamp light glowing against my fiery strands. I folded my hands in my lap to prevent myself from reaching up to feel the damage. Was it crooked? How short was it now? I felt stupid and vain for caring in the first place, it was only hair and it certainly wasn't the worst that had been taken from me. And yet I couldn't stop the tears that broke free.

"Did I hurt you?" He crouched so that he was squatting on the ground beside me, looking up. I looked down at him and got a first glimpse of my hair. It was near my chin now, the shortest I'd had it since I was a little girl.

"No."

"If you're not hurt, then you should stop it. I don't like crybabies." He shoved a folded handkerchief into my hand and turned his back to me as he delicately collected the hair on his desk, dropping it into a large Ziploc bag; he was careful not to forget a single strand, then tucked it away into one of the drawers of his desk. He turned back to look at me with some contemplation before reaching into another drawer and pulling out a roll of ribbon, he measured a long piece out and cut it free. Without uttering a single word, he looped it over my head, bringing it up to tie a bow on top, resembling many of the dolls around the room.

"There! You're pretty now. Feel better?!?" He sounded angry and I winced as I wiped my face clean.

"Thank you."

"Thank you, what?"

"Thank you, big brother." He smiled and it was like sunlight finally breaking through the clouds. His mood shifted swiftly as he took out a small paint brush and began brushing stray strands of hair away.

"You are very pretty, little sister."

"Thank you, big brother." A loud pounding at the door caused us both to jump.

"We heard you have a guest, EZ." Zeke paled the moment they spoke, he grabbed my bicep and without waiting for me to comply he dragged me to the closet, opened the door and quickly shoved me inside, sending me into a shelf of dolls. I looked around, there were dozens of them. The closet was filled with floor-to-ceiling shelves of more dolls. It was creepy to have millions of little eyes on me; watching my every move.

"It's Noah and Saul. Stay here, no matter what. Here you are safe." Then he shut the door and locked me in, sliding the key underneath. There was no way for me to unlock it from my side, so I was confused about what the key was for, but it quickly became apparent when I heard Zeke open his bedroom door. There was the sound of wood cracking, telling me the chain had probably broke.

"You guys ain't allowed in my room!"

"Where is she?" one of them demanded instead.

"Where is who?"

"Who do you think, ya big dummy?! Sammy's new wife! We saw him leave, so we know she's here somewhere."

"She ain't!" I heard a grunt followed by the sound of a scuffle. I immediately dropped myself to the floor, the sliver of light illuminating the closet and providing just enough space for me to see if I leaned my head sideways.

"Get out or I'm telling." Ezekiel warned.

"You're not telling anyone anything." I counted 2 pairs of feet, and Zeke on his butt, holding a hand to his face, fingers coming back stained red.

"You're not allowed in my room!"

"Where are you hiding her, dummy!? Is she under the bed?" I watched as the foot of the bed was lifted, revealing nothing but dust bunnies and a few bundles of different fabrics. I listened as they shuffled some other furniture around, Zeke never leaving the floor. I watched Noah's boots as he approached the closet door and my heart skipped a few beats as the doorknob slowly turned, only to stop halfway.

"I found you," he sang.

"You ain't allowed to touch her!" Noah turned, took a few steps closer to punch him, Zeke tried to push him away, only to have Noah sweep his arms aside and punch him again.

"Where's the key, stupid?" Zeke swung, catching Noah's temple hard enough he stumbled back a few feet, nearly falling over.

"GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" Ezekiel shouted. I watched the man with the boots kick him a few times and Zeke immediately curled into the fetal position, protecting his head. This wasn't the first time he'd gotten beat up.

"Is that filthy slit really worth getting your ass beat?!"

"Watch your mouth!" Ezekiel growled, only to receive another kick.

"Where's the goddamn key!?" Noah leaned down and began searching Ezekiel's pockets, slapping him over and over as he did. He was searching for the key, the same key that was sitting in my hand. He'll keep you safe. Yah, but at what cost? What had Sam been thinking?

"I don't have it!" Zeke cried. But that didn't slow Noah down, when he found Zeke's pockets empty, he abandoned it and began pulling drawers out, scattering Zeke's doll parts across the bedroom floor. I could see Zeke's face turning red, his hand clenched into fists; everything was spiraling out of control so fast. Noah walked back to the closet door, pressing his face against the door frame.

"Come out and play," he taunted. I could hear his fingers running along the door, searching for any sign of vulnerability.

"Papa's gonna whoop you." Zeke warned.

"No, he won't, you're not gonna tell him jack. Saul, fetch me the crowbar." That statement alone told me all I needed to hear; they weren't supposed to be there. Which meant they would get in trouble if they were caught. So, I did the only thing I could do, I began to scream. I screamed as loud and as high pitched as my vocal cords were capable of, hoping to be heard by anyone who would summon help. I closed my eyes, squeezing the sounds out with every muscle in my body until I started to feel dizzy. I leaned my head against the floor, sweat trickling down the back of my neck and forehead. My throat felt raw, but as I opened my mouth to let another free, I heard him speak.

"This isn't finished," Noah muttered menacingly, then there was nothing but their hurried footsteps as they took off. A few minutes later Dale burst through the door, breathing heavily as though he'd ran the whole way.