Page 7 of Cruel Love
Willow
Rough hands shook me, waking me from a deep sleep.
“Up, Willow. Get up now,”Ms. Milligan hissed.
Dazed, my eyelids fluttered open to find an angry Ms. Milliganhovering over me, her lips twisted into her usual snarl. Panic instantly consumed me.
Had I slept through my alarm?
If I had, it was certain punishment for sure. At the thought, the scarson my back inflicted from the last time I’d overslept seemed to start burning. They’d only just healed.
I bolted out of bed, blinking the sleep out of my eyes, andstanding to full attention, ready for my orders. It was only when I was fully awake that I realized my tiny room was bathed in darkness, aside from the dim glow of the lamp on the bedside table.
I glanced at the clock sitting next to the lamp.
12:01 am.
My eighteenth birthday.
Not that anyone would be celebrating it, and I’d eat my ownnightdress if anyone so much as wished me a happy birthday.
“What’s going on?”I asked in my confused state, internally cringingwhen Ms. Milligan’s scowl deepened.
I knew better than to ask questions.
“You’re graduating,”she snapped before shoving a pile of clothes inmy hands.I was suddenly wide awake, unsure if I was more surprised that she’d answered or at her telling me I was graduating. “Don’t just stand there, Willow. Go and get dressed. You’ve got two minutes or you’ll be going to your new home dressed as you are.”
She raked her disapproving gaze over my nightdress which wasalmost as old as me and covered in stains.
Dumbly, I stayed standing where I was, staring down at the pile of clothes, confusion coursing through me.“I don’t understand.”
“You wouldn’t, you stupid girl,”Ms. Milligan barked.“Besides, it’sbetter if you don’t understand.”
Her words added to the trepidation building inside me. Graduatingwouldn’t lead to anything good.
Ms. Milligan began opening the only set of drawers I was permitted tohave in my room, pulling out the contents, and dumping them into a bag. When my journals were unceremoniously tossed in, I headed to my little ensuite to get changed, knowing I wouldn’t get any more answers from her.
My hands shook as I discarded my nightdress, my headracing with a myriad of thoughts, each one worse than the last.
I’d been on edge in recent weeks with my eighteenth birthdaylooming. Despite Director Welch’s previous promise that I’d never graduate, I couldn’t help but worry that his promise was empty. Especially as over the last two weeks, he’d avoided being anywhere near me, something which was unusual. I couldn’t remember a time when he’d gone longer than a few days without requesting to see me.
Pulling on the customary black pants and long-sleeved, high-neck,black top I was always required to wear around the house, I headed back into my room where Ms. Milligan was checking her watch, a deep frown creasing her brow.
“About time. Let’s go.”Shoving my bag into my hands, she spun andstormed out.
Knowing it would be pointless not to follow, I trudged behind her, aball of anxiety knotting tighter in my stomach with every step I took.
The halls of Peartree House were silent, the one hundred girls whoresided there knew better than to roam the corridors at night. A strange feeling of sadness descended through me as we made our way toward the main entrance.
Was I really leaving the house?
I hated it there, but in the past eight years, it had become my home. Ididn’t have any friends, I wasn’t even allowed to talk to the girls unless it was to pass on orders, but I found comfort knowing they were always there. Comfort I doubted I would find in the place I was going.By the time we reached the main staircase, a tremor had taken over my entire body, and I wanted to vomit from how frightened I was. Upon seeing four burly men waiting by the front door, my feet decided to stop walking.
Each man was huge, and each wore a black suit. From the bulgesstrategically placed around their bodies, it wasn’t hard to tell they were armed. A sense of foreboding seeped into the marrow of my bones, and as Istared at the men, I couldn’t help but feel as if I was being handed over to Death himself.
“Move, Willow,”Ms. Milligan hissed, noting I’d stopped.
For the first time in a long time, I met her gaze.“I’m scared,”Iwhispered, hoping that the woman, whose assistant I’d been since the day I arrived here, would show me kindness and help me out of the situation.
