The Life of Anna, Part 4: Ensnared (2 page)

She tried to sleep, but couldn’t, and tossed
and turned until the artificial pain wore off many hours later, and
she closed her eyes in exhaustion.

It was the same room she’d seen before.
Long and narrow with a chair, a bed, and a bookcase. But there was
something different this time. A man stood at the window, looking
out into the morning. The sunlight glinted off his tangled golden
hair and scraggly beard. His shoulders were broad and he was very
tall. He looked like....

“Alex...?” she whispered.

The man turned as if he heard her. His
cobalt blue eyes widened in shock as he looked in her direction.
Could he see her? Their eyes locked on one another and they gazed
at each other for an eternity.

The man said something in a harsh
language that sounded like a question. Then he smiled hesitantly,
but with tender eyes.

“Is it really you?” he asked in English,
his deep, baritone voice reverberating in her heart and
memory.

“You’re dead. This isn’t real. No!” she
shouted.

Anna sat up straight in bed. Her room was
dark and her body ached.

No
! She didn’t want to dream about
Alex. That was one of the things the drugs kept at bay. Her dreams
of him. She had seen him before in her dreams. When Devin wouldn’t
let her take her drugs at the Spring Gathering, she dreamed of him.
He never saw her, but she stood and watched him look out the
window.

It was just a dream; Alex was dead. She shook
her head to clear it and reached for the remote to turn the TV on.
If she didn’t sleep too soundly she wouldn’t dream. She didn’t want
to remember him. She wanted to forget. The video she had seen today
must have put him back in the forefront of her memory.

Besides, he wasn’t the man she thought he
was. He was a monster that had tricked everyone into thinking he
was a good man. But he was really just like Jack and Devin and the
other men who liked to hurt girls.

She turned onto her side and watched some
lame sitcom until she fell asleep again.

Devin came with Maggie when she brought
breakfast the next morning.

“Are you ready to cooperate, Anna?” he asked
as she sat down to eat.

“Yes, Master,” she answered contritely.

“Good. Beginning today, Ian is going to take
you for walks around the property. You need to get moving again.
You will eat what is set before you. You will no longer be allowed
any sort of mind-altering substance.”

“Yes, Master.”

“When you are able to walk a sufficient
distance, you will start dancing again. The adult classes like you
used to take. I’ve spoken to Isaak and it is arranged.”

“Yes, Master.”

“When you are ready, Isaak will bring you
back up to the Company. Probably in the Corps until you prove
yourself ready for more. You will take care of yourself and make
yourself a presentable member of society again. I don’t care if
you’re a bitch to your friends, but if you ever act disrespectful
to me again....” He trailed off. “Yesterday will look like a walk
in the park. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Master.”

“When you’re at the point you are taking the
adult classes again, Ian will take you to find an apartment.
Presumably you’ll be worth fucking again, and I don't want to drive
all the way out here every time I want you.”

Anna looked up at him. “You want me to have
my own place?”

“I know you’ll behave yourself,” he said in a
warning tone.

“Yes, Master.”

Within a couple of weeks, Anna was strong
enough to go for long walks with Ian. Aside from the occasional
shakes, she suffered very little withdrawal symptoms; she supposed
it had something to do with the Immortal part of her. She gained
weight and looked much healthier by the end of the third week.

When she was ready to begin dancing again,
she and Ian went apartment hunting. They found a nice, one-bedroom
apartment near her old one. It was nothing spectacular, but it was
hers. Ian also told her that her car and other things were still at
her house. Wilhelm had held on to it in case she wanted to go back
to it.

“I don’t want anything to do with them,” she
told Ian. “Can I sell the car and get a different one?”

“Sure. What do you want?”

Anna shrugged. “I don’t know anything about
cars. Something basic. Not fancy.”

“I’ll take it a few places and see what I can
get you. How does that sound?”

Anna walked nervously into the ballet studio
on Monday night. She hadn’t been here since before Alex died and
the rush of memories was painful. She’d been sleeping with the TV
on every night and had so far succeeded in avoiding any more dreams
about Alex.

It had been two years since she’d danced
last. She didn’t know why Devin thought she’d be able to get back
into the Company. She was almost twenty-three years old. A little
old to start over as a dancer.

But she would obey her Master. She didn’t
want to anger Devin and worked hard to keep that from
happening.

“Anna.”

She looked up to see Isaak standing by the
stairs with a sad smile on his face. He looked somehow grayer since
Alex’s funeral. Older, and...sadder.

“Hello, Isaak,” she said stiffly.

He walked up to her and hugged her tightly.
“We didn’t know what to think when you disappeared from
the...service,” he said. “I kept hoping you’d come back.”

“I’m only here because Devin wants me dancing
again.” She lifted her chin in defiance of the emotions threatening
to bubble up inside her.

Isaak looked at her sympathetically. “I’ll
take you any way I can get you. Come. Let me introduce you to
Julie.”

She assumed Julie was the instructor for the
class.

“Julie,” Isaak said when she walked into the
small studio. “This is Anna. Anna, this is Julie.”

Julie gave her a warm smile, but Anna greeted
her new instructor stiffly. She wasn’t here to make friends. She
was here because Devin thought she needed to dance again.

“You can stand wherever you’d be most
comfortable.”

Anna went to stand in the corner. She
recognized many of the dancers from when she was in these classes
before. A few of them tried to engage her in conversation, but Anna
ignored them. She wanted nothing to do with them. Or anyone for
that matter.

Class began. She was stiff, but soon limbered
up and felt at home again. By the end of class, she remembered why
she loved dancing so much.

She took the bus home—it was public transport
until Ian finished trading off her car—took a shower, turned on the
TV and went to bed.

The next afternoon Ian came to see her and
handed her a black plastic square with buttons on it. “For your new
car.”

Anna followed him out to the parking garage
and showed her a little blue car. “A Prius?”

Ian nodded. “It’s a hybrid and really popular
right now. Brand new too. I put the extra money into your
account.”

Anna grinned. It was cute. “Thanks Ian. I
like it.” She glanced at him. “Do you need a ride back to the
Manor?”

“Nah. I had this delivered here. My car’s
outside.”

“Oh. Okay.”

He hugged her. “I need to get back. The
Manor’s a lot lonelier without you there.”

She gave him a smile. “You can come visit
anytime.”

“I might do that. Oh, Devin said you need to
get a cell phone.” He handed her a piece of paper. “Mine and his
phone numbers. Call him when you get it.”

“I guess I know what I’m doing this
afternoon.”

Ian left a few minutes later and Anna went
back to her apartment to get her purse.

She looked in her wallet. Her credit cards
were still valid, but the idea of using them made her
uncomfortable. She had some money in her old account now. She could
live on that.

She stared at her driver’s license.
Anna Lee Kunze Herzogin von
Hesse
.
She’d
forgotten she had a new name. Ian had signed all the paperwork for
her apartment because Devin was paying for it.

She and Alex hadn’t even been married three
months before he died. She’d received the news on their three month
anniversary. Should she change her name back to Perkins? Was that
even possible?

Anna sighed and put her cards away. She
didn’t want to think about it right now. Right now she had to find
a cell phone.

Anna had dance class Monday through Thursday
because that’s when the studio offered the adult classes. Most
students didn’t go every day, but Devin wanted her to. So she
did.

After a few weeks, her life settled into a
routine. A rather boring routine, but Anna was fine with it. Isaak
offered her tickets to see Swan Lake, but Anna didn’t want to go.
He also offered her the phone numbers from some of her old friends,
including Aaron, Jenna and Travis, but she didn’t want to see any
of them.

One Friday morning there was a knock at the
door of her apartment. She knew it was Friday because she’d had her
fourth class of the week the previous night. She couldn’t imagine
who would be knocking on her door. Only two people knew where she
lived, Ian and Devin. Neither of them came over on Fridays because
they needed to get things ready for the Gathering.

She sighed and stood, turning down the TV
with the remote. She liked it loud because it kept her
concentrating on it rather than other, more depressing subjects.
She made her way slowly to the door. Maybe whoever it was would be
gone by the time she got there.

She took a deep breath and opened the door,
then gasped when she saw who it was.

“Wilhelm?” She stared at him for a long time.
“What are you doing here?”

The last time he’d come to visit, she ignored
him. Well, she did that most of the time when he came. Either she
was too high, or it was too painful to look at him.

“Hello,
Liebling
,” he said with an
affectionate smile. “I came to wish you happy birthday.”

“Birthday?” Anna frowned. What day was it?
She didn’t pay any attention past the actual days of the week so
that she knew if she needed to be at the studio or not. What was
worth celebrating about her birthday anyways? The day Devin claimed
her for his own, setting her on a path of misery?

“
Ja.
Your birthday is Sunday,
correct?”

Anna shrugged. “If you say so.”

Wilhelm looked sad. “Anna, what has happened
to you?”

She jutted out her chin. “You really need to
ask that question?”

He sighed. “May I come in?”

Anna looked past him and saw it was raining
and windy. She stepped back and allowed him to enter. “How’d you
find me?”

Wilhelm gave a tiny smile as she closed the
door. “Your new car. I received notification that the Mercedes had
been sold and got your new address through the title of your new
car. A Prius, correct?”

“I didn’t want to keep the Mercedes,” she
mumbled, looking at the floor.

“That is fine, Anna. I just want you to be
happy.”

She shrugged. “It’s a car. Ian found it for
me.”

Wilhelm looked around her sparsely furnished
apartment. She had a couch, a coffee table, a TV and a stand for
the TV. The room was bare of any personal touches. But it was
clean. Devin made sure she kept it clean.

Her bowl of cereal was still on the table,
half eaten. She never seemed to be able to finish a bowl of cereal.
But she tried, because if she didn’t try, Devin would be upset.

“You can sit if you want,” she said,
motioning to the couch. It wasn’t pretty; it was an odd shade of
teal, but it was comfortable. She had managed to not use the credit
cards from either Devin or Wilhelm so far.

Wilhelm removed his coat and looked around
for a place to put it. Anna took it from him and hung it in the
closet. He looked so out of place standing there. He belonged in
fancy hotels and huge castle-like houses, not her crappy little
apartment.

“You know, Anna, the house is still yours.
You are welcome to live there.”

Anna shook her head. “I don’t want to go
anywhere near that place,” she said without thinking.

“Why?” he asked gently.

“I don’t want to be reminded of...him.” She
didn’t like to say his name aloud.

“Anna, you two were very happy together. Why
do you want to forget him?”

So many reasons. “I just don’t want to think
about him. And....” Anna hesitated. “...he’s not the man I thought
he was.”

Wilhelm truly looked shocked. “What are you
talking about, Anna? He never pretended to be anything other than
who he was.”

Anna told him about the video Devin had shown
her. Wilhelm’s face paled as she spoke.

He put his hand on hers. “Anna, I know my
son. And I know Devin. I am certain that what you saw was not the
truth. Alex would never do such a thing.”

“How do you know? People don’t imagine that
Jack would do the things he does. People lead double lives all the
time.”

“True natures are revealed in time. And there
are always signs. I do not believe that Alex would hurt little
girls like that. It is not possible.”

Anna sighed. She didn’t want to argue; it
took too much energy. She knew what she saw, but if Wilhelm didn’t
want to believe it, then that wasn’t her problem.

There was an awkward silence. Maybe he would
realize how fruitless it was to visit and leave quickly.

“Kurt came with me. He would like to see
you.”

“Oh?” She stared at her cereal bowl,
resolutely ignoring the leap of her heart in her chest.

“He is back at the hotel. I thought it might
go better if it was just me surprising you, instead of both of us.”
He looked at her half eaten bowl of cereal. “Would you like to go
to lunch?”