3
617words
"Don't let her go! The ruby ring you gave me is still on her hand!"
At Maxwell's signal, his bodyguards seized me, their hands grabbing for the ring without a shred of gentleness.
But the ring had been custom-fitted to my finger. They pulled and twisted, but it wouldn't budge.
"Cassandra," I said, a mocking tone in my voice, "if this ring is yours, why does it fit my finger so perfectly?"
My taunt only enraged her further. She shook Maxwell's arm.
"She's fatter than me, obviously! She must have forced it on, and now it's stuck!"
"Then use a power drill!"
My face paled. This was bad. I hadn't brought my own security today.
Maxwell's bodyguards were big, and there were too many of them. I fought back, but they quickly found an opening and pinned me to the ground.
Cassandra crouched in front of me, her eyes alight with manic glee. Her blood-red nails dug into my chin.
"Not so tough now, are you?"
She slapped me with all her might. The grit from the garden path scraped against my skin, drawing blood.
Maxwell stared down at me for a moment, a cold smile playing on his lips.
"Cassie, did you hurt your hand? Want to see something more fun?"
Her eyes lit up.
"Tie her to the boat in the middle of the pond!"
My eyes widened in horror. I looked at Maxwell's face, which was twisted with a strange excitement. Did he know something?
"No! You'll regret this!" I screamed.
Cassandra's voice was a cocktail of disdain and thrill.
"Regret? That word isn't in my vocabulary. But you? You're about to regret ever touching what's mine."
The guards dragged me to the ornamental pond in the center of the garden and threw me into a rickety old boat, tying me down with coarse rope.
Before I could even open my eyes, they flipped me onto my stomach.
A high-pitched whirring sound filled the air as a power saw descended toward my hand.
A searing pain shot up my arm, and I screamed.
Blood splattered onto the pigeon's blood ruby, making it gleam with a sinister light.
"Oh dear, looks like another one's about to learn a lesson the hard way."
"Such a pretty girl, too. Had to be stubborn. Now Mr. Thorpe won't let her off.
She'll lose a finger, at least."
"It's too brutal. I can't watch."
The maids and servants chattered on the edge of the pond, but their voices were a distant buzz.
The pain made me thrash wildly.
The old, dilapidated boat rocked violently, slapping against the water.
The scene was horribly reminiscent of the night my parents died at sea.
A deep-seated terror clawed its way out from the recesses of my mind.
My face turned ashen. My hands, acting on their own, flew up to clutch my head as fresh blood from my finger trickled down my cheek.
"No! Please! Let me off this boat!"
But Cassandra and Maxwell just stood on the shore, watching the spectacle as if it were a play.
He even kicked the boat, sending it drifting toward the center of the pond.
I forced my eyes open and saw Cassandra clutching the ring, her face a mask of triumph.
Maxwell had his arm around her, whispering, "That ring is tainted with her filthy blood now. Throw it away. I'll buy you a new one."
And then, as I screamed, they casually tossed my parents' ring into the murky water.
"Maxwell Thorpe! Aren't you afraid of what my grandfather will do to you?!"
