A MAZE OF GREED

Mrs Payne was waiting for Ruth. The clock showed past ten in the night. Ruth was expected to come back by now.

Mrs Payne's instincts were showing red signs. She regretted permitting Ruth to go that late. At least she had to accompany her, but the pain in her ankles was not letting her stand on her feet long, let alone walk far.

Twenty minutes later, worry gripped her. Inside the house, the tension choked her. To get fresh air and with the hope that she might see Ruth walking back home, Mrs Payne went into the balcony.

But the night air did not soothe her worry. She was contemplating what to do when she saw Ida coming from a distance.

With hope, her eyes searched for Ruth but did not find her. More nervous than before, Mrs Payne rushed inside the house then hurried down to meet Ida. She was in such a hurry that she forgot to even lock the door. For her, Ruth was her first priority.

"Ida... Ida..." Mrs Payne called her name in urgency.

Ida was confused. She ran the distance between them and held Mrs Payne before she lost her foot.

"Mrs Payne. Careful! What happened? Why are you running like this?"

Ida was busy all day with Elsie. Elsie decided to practice some fighting techniques as she felt the need to productively channelising her wolf's energy.

Her wolf was getting stronger and bounced with energy after she got marked by Lester. Ida was there to help her, and that way, she also could tame her wolf.

"Ida... where is Ruth?" Mrs Payne asked through her panting breaths.

"Ruth? I do not know Mrs Payne. Is she not home yet?" Ida asked in puzzlement.

"What? But she said she will ask you to go with her." Mrs Payne was now trembling in worry.

Ida shook her head with closed eyes. Opening her eyes, she said. "Mrs Payne please calm down and tell me what happened. I did not meet Ruth since afternoon. Ruth was supposed to be at home early today. What is going on exactly?"

Mrs Payne recited the whole day since she went into 'the great manor'. Ida listened to everything with wide eyes and her mouth agape.

Oh, Moon Goddess, what had happened!

"And now I do not know where to find her Ida. Where she could go?" Mrs Payne asked through tears.

Ida's head spun, hearing everything. But she needed to act fast and smart before anything happened to Ruth, Or Edwin would kill everyone without a second thought.

"Mrs Payne please. First let me take you home."

"No Ida! I can not wait more. I need to find Ruth. What if she is in danger?" A memory of the night when Ruth escaped from Harold's office and the four goons chased her made Mrs Payne worried sick.

Ida held her firmly. "Mrs Payne I promise I will do everything in my power to find Ruth. But first you need to calm down. You do not look well. We are only wasting time this way."

Mrs Payne paused, processing Ida's words. Her last sentence made sense to her.

She let Ida take her home. Ida made sure that she was fine, and then after telling her again that Ruth would be home soon, Ida ran to Elsie.

"Lady Elsie... Lady Elsie...La-"

She stopped when she saw an unexpected person in Elsie's chamber.

"Lady Eloise?"

"Ida? What are you doing here? Are not you tired after a day's practice?" Elsie asked, looking up from the game she and Eloise were playing, with small round stones.

Ida could not help but give a hostile glare to Eloise.

"Sister Eloise suggested we play our favourite childhood game and spend some time together," Elsie explained the reason for Eloise's presence in her chamber.

Ida did not know what to say to that, so she only nodded.

"Pardon that I disturbed you. I will take your leave now."

Ida did not wait for more and turned on her feet. Now she needed to find Ruth by herself.

The minutes were passing fast, and Ida could not decide what to do. So she thought of searching for Ruth by herself. She left 'the great manor' and began walking the market's way. She could not ask any coachman to take her as she did not want the news to spread and reach Lady Theodora's ears.

After what Mrs Payne told her, she was not ready to trust anyone.

*

*

*

*More than an hour before*

Ruth's heart lurched to her throat and a ringing scream echoed in the silence of the night. The world turned upside down, literally as she dangled from a rope about eight to nine feet in the air.

Her one leg was free, while the other one was shackled by the thick rope. The more she struggled, the more that knot tightened around her ankle.

The sudden blood rush to her brain made her feel dizzy at first. It took her a couple of minutes to comprehend what happened and, to absorb the shock.

As she swayed slightly in the air, she could see the torch on the ground. It fell when Ruth stepped into the trap. Her bag was not very far away from her.

Who the hell would plant a trap like this in the woods? And why?

Ruth was scared. The world was a scary place and, looking at it upside down scared her even more.

"Hello? Is there anyone? Please help me!" She called for help at the top of her lungs.

However, a part of her knew that her efforts were supposed to go in vain. After the six murders, people had avoided roaming in the woods. Her only hope was some fool like her would be wandering this late in the woods and accidentally heard her voice.

She hoped against hope for that fool person to listen to her pleas.

Ruth tried pushing up her upper body and getting to her feet. But the extreme pressure she felt in her abdomen made her attempts unsuccessful.

Tears gathered in her eyes. She heard owls hooting in the distance. The light from the torch would extinguish soon, and the scary darkness was the last thing Ruth wanted as an accomplice.

"Please somebody help me..." Ruth broke down in tears.

Mrs Payne's worried face twisted her heart in pain. She had promised to go back home soon. She had no help and, God only knew what would happen in this place.

Was this trap set by the killer?

Ruth's blood ran cold at that thought. Her teary eyes drifted around her cautiously. She strained her ears when they caught on some sound.

She held her breath, straining her eyes in the direction of the sound. She saw two blur figures stepping out from behind the trees.

She wanted to smile, but she was yet to know if they were a threat or help. Ruth blinked a couple of times to clear her vision. And when it did, she was speechless.

She saw inverted images of smirking Eloise and Fannie standing not far from her.

"F-Fannie? Lady Eloise?" The words came out of her mouth in a whisper.

"Ruth? Oh God, Ruth! How did this happen?" The urgency in Eloise's voice made Ruth believe that they were helpful and not a threat.

"Lady Eloise, please help me. I do not know how I stepped on this trap. But please Lady Eloise, help me get down. Please!" Ruth pleaded through her tears.

"Of course Ruth. I will help you get down. Do not worry!" Eloise turned her head towards Fannie, who stood a couple of steps behind her.

"Fannie! What are you doing there? Come fast. We need to help Ruth." Eloise said.

Ruth finally released a breath of a sigh. Some more minutes and then she would feel the land below her feet.

The smile that appeared naturally on her face, faltered when the taunting laughter fell on her ears. She saw Eloise and Fannie chortling, throwing their heads back, their shoulders shaking up and down.

Ruth was confused. She did not understand what was going on.

When Eloise turned around to face her, Ruth saw the cruel coldness on her face that again startled her.

"L-Lady Eloise?"

Eloise walked her way with a menacing look in her eyes. Stopping a step away from Ruth, she raised her hand up and pulled Ruth's dangling hair forcefully. She then sprinkled some solution on her, which neither Fannie nor Ruth questioned.

It was a solution used by the werewolves to mask their scents. The one that Douglas used, every time he spend time with Theodora.

"Aaaaaggghhh" Ruth's eyes shut at the impact.

"You think I am here to help you bitch?" Eloise laughed again maniacally. "Why would I help you when I am the one who put you in this situation?!"

Ruth shivered in fear. What was running in this woman's head?

"But why? Please get me down! Mrs Payne must be waiting for me." Ruth cried.

Eloise twisted Ruth's toffee brown hairs around her fingers and tugged them again.

"Aaaaahhhh", Ruth sobbed as white pain shot in her head.

The dizziness made her feel like puking.

"Do you think I have forgotten how you faught with me in front of Lester, Elsie and Rees? I do not know what black magic you did on me, but I had never experienced a fear like that. Tell me what you did to me??"

Eloise asked with angry eyes.

Ruth's ankle was bruised badly. It began turning cold as the rope constricted the blood flow to it.

"I... I do not know what you are saying." Ruth said.

But she could feel that lady Eloise would not give up that easily.