A MAZE OF GREED

"Ruth."

Mrs Payne did not get any response to her call.

"ruth, I am talking to you." She said sternly this time.

"I am listening." Ruth mumbled absent-mindedly.

She was behaving this way since Thea and Rees's wedding. Mrs Payne did not understand what went wrong with her. She thought of asking about it to Thea or Rees, but they were out of town on a vacation after their marriage. They were on their honeymoon.

Having enough of her rudeness, Mrs Payne held her elbow and turned her around. Her face was set in an unimpressive frown.

"Enough Ruth! Stop acting like a child and tell me what happened. I know that you are keeping something inside you and I want you to let it out."

Angry Ruth pulled her hand from hers with force.

"Why do you care?"

Mrs Payne was taken aback by her reaction. This was not her Ruth. This was not her sweet daughter.

"Why do I care?! How could you ask such thing to me Ruth? huh? I care because i love you! I care because you are my family!"

Ruth burst into a dry and taunting laugh. But her eyes were filled with angry tears.

"You know what Mrs Payne? I do not want to waste my time anymore asking things that you are not willing to answer!"

With that said, Ruth left for work. Mrs Payne slumped down in a chair as a tear rolled down her eye. All these years, all those efforts she and her husband had taken seemed like going in vein.

Was it all not worth Ruth's trust?

*

*

*

Darius was relieved to get back to Kinsville. Ambrose had planned to go on making more alliances and reconsider the terms of the existing alliances. But Darius managed to convince him that they should wait for some days.

The real reason was he could not suppress his thirst for long, unlike his parents and even Marcus. He was always presented with a chance of quenching his bloodthirst. And another reason was he was missing Lisa-his sweet, small pet.

"Liiiissaaaa..." Darius whistled as if he was calling a puppy, stepping into the darkroom.

Through his kindness, he kept her out of the dungeons and in one of the numerous rooms of the Garfield mansion.

"Liiisaaaa... where are you my little kitten?" He searched for her in the room, but she was not there.

Her scent was still fresh in the room- as if she was right in there.

Darius suddenly turned around with the speed of light. He caught Lisa' hands that held a thick and heavy vase. Her eyes were cold, her face stoic without a trace of fear or regret.

She never failed to amuse him.

"Is this your way of welcoming me, my Lisa?" Darius asked with a cocked brow.

"No. This is my first step of preparation of killing you." She answered nonchalantly.

Darius chuckled in disbelief. "ouch! That hurts!"

He pulled her towards him, pressing her back against his chest. Taking the vase from her hand, he threw it on the wall to let it crash into small pieces.

Lisa exhaled an angry breath but did not struggle to get free. Because she knew her every effort in that direction was futile.

"You knew that you were going to fail, did not you?" Darius whispered in her ear.

"Yes. And that was why I needed to try. I will fail again... then also the next time. I will fail aggain and again and again till I get that one successful shot, Darius."

She craned her neck to see him in his eyes. She wanted him to know that she was serious and she was not scared of him anymore.

"You might live in loneliness Darius, but trust me. I will be there... I will be there when you will die. I will stand there, smiling at you. And if you ask me to hold your hand then I rpomise I will."

All the amusement washed away from Darius's features. He tightened his arm around Lisa's neck till her face turned red and her eyes teared up with the excessive pressure.

Looking at him strangely, Lisa raised her head till her lips brushed against his jawline. Licking it then biting it, she smiled.

"You will always have me, Darius. I have promised myself that I will not leave you till I see you dying with my own eyes. I am the only one you have got by your side, Darius."

If only Darius had a heart in his chest, then he would have realised what the power of vengeance could make a person do.

Darius was angry by her words. Perhaps that was because he knew how genuine they were.

With his other free hand, he moved her away to expose her neck and dug his fangs in her skin. Lisa neither screamed nor felt any pain.

She had been through this hundred of times since she was abducted by this psychopath vampire. And now, after going through the unspeakable, she had turned numb.

Her words kept replaying in Darius's mind, aggravating his monster. He sucked and sucked more. Her blood was sweet in his mouth. Its every drop filled the hollowness in his pit. He drank from her uncontrollably even after he felt her body going limp in his hands.

And when he broke from her, he saw a human without any weapons. Yet she had cut him deeper with only her words.

With closed eyes, she looked a lot more like her- Grace.

Darius slumped down on the floor with Lisa still in his hands. The memories of Grace rushed by to torture him. A loud cry- a mix of agony, pain, regret and anger- shook the surroundings of the Garfield mansion.

*

*

*

That night, Ruth came home late - intentionally- to avoid Mrs Payne. She was not expecting her to be awake.

Wordlessly, she took her dress and went to change her uniform in the inner room. Ten minutes later, when she came out, she found Mrs Payne still sitting on the bed. Though, she noticed something else.

The black box and those four books were by her side.

"Come here."

Even her voice sounded annoying to Ruth's ears now.

"I am tired. I want to sleep." She said indifferently and began making her bed.

"I said come and sit here, Ruth! It is an order!"

Ruth paused at that authoritative tone she had never heard before from Mrs Payne. Not having another choice, Ruth went and sat with some distance between them.

Her eyes shifted to the box and the books, yet she maintained a calm face.

"I know that you have already read this book." Mrs Payne picked the book titled- 'Witches and their secret powers.'

Ruth's eyes widened with shock. How did she know?

"I may be old ruth, but know that I always had eyes on you, on everything you did and do."

Ruth's senses were on alarm. She could feel that this conversation was not like any other that she had shared with Mrs Payne before.

"How?" She asked.

"You have many whats, whys, hows and whens in your bag. I have tried avoiding them till now. But with the recent incidents, I think it is the right time to tell you the truth."

Finally!

Finally, after all that relentless pondering, frustration and waiting, her answers were about to be presented.

"But-"

Ruth's excitement halted.

"Before I present you the truth, I want to know what is going on with you these past days."

"Mrs Payne-" Ruth began arguing.

"I have the truth Ruth. It is your time to chose between your stubbornness and the truth."

The determination on Mrs Payne's face left no room for more arguments. Ruth bit her cheek. She had this one chance of fitting all the pieces of the puzzle together. But that would also mean that she needed to tell everything- without any filters.

Was she ready for that?

"I promise I will not judge you my dear. Whatever it is... I am with you like all this time. I think I deserve your trust."

Ruth felt bad that Mrs Payne had to say that. Her anger and insecurities had hurt the old lady so much. And Ruth never wanted that.

"You... you will not judge me?" Ruth's facade of toughness weakened by the warmth that radiated by Mrs Payne's eyes.

"Have I ever done that before?"

Ruth shook her head with a lump in her throat.

"But the things I am going to tell you... I have not done them before too." She told.

Mrs Payne observed Ruth for a couple of moments. Then placing her hand on Ruth's, she said,

"You have done many things in your life Ruth- knowingly or unknowingly. But we, me and your uncle Payne have never judged you for your actions. Because we know the truth... and we understand you.

Maybe not as much as Bertha did. But we have seen enough of you to know that anything you did and do must have a reason.. And I am ready to listen and understand your reasons."