Read Online The Nutcracker Bleeds by Lani Lenore - Free Book Online Page A

clock’s chime was what awoke her, for it was so loud to her
ears that she would swear she was inside the workings of the mechanism itself.
She was cold. It was dark, and her headache remained. Slowly, she pulled
herself off the floor, standing up and trying to remember what had happened
before she’d given up consciousness.
    She’d
heard a noise upstairs–had been looking for Olivia.
    Anne
peered through the dark, but her eyes were too stubborn to let her focus on
anything around her. She couldn’t even tell which room she was in now, nor
could she remember where she had fallen. She was so very cold…
    She
rubbed her arms briefly, trying to generate heat, but stopped soon afterward.
Her fingers had detected skin where sleeves should have been. Her stomach was
bare. She could feel the warmth of her thighs touching together.
    What?
    She was
sure that she hadn’t been naked when she’d fainted, but her own touch had
revealed the situation. A wave of panic rushed across her as she tried to
recall what had happened, but only managed to hug her own body tighter, perhaps
trying to shield herself from her own confusion.
    Four
walls surrounded her, and she cautiously reached out to run her hand across
one, the rough texture surprising her fingertips. These walls were thin, dark .
Looking up, she could see that the walls weren’t very high, and also, they had
no roof. Up above the walls–far above–she could see a ceiling. The view seemed
distorted to Anne. Staring upward made her completely dizzy, but there was a
flicker of firelight beyond the top of the walls, and that meant that if Anne
could get a look, she would be able to better understand her situation.
    Anne
was not fanciful, but many outlandish thoughts began to fill her head against
her will. Perhaps she had been abducted? Cautiously, she moved toward one of
the room’s corners, hoping to pull herself up from there, but she’d only taken
a few steps before tripping over something that was bunched on the floor.
    Struggling
against the darkness, she managed to see what she’d found.
    Clothes–terribly–made
ones. A small dress that she would guess was a grey–green–near celadon–and was
decorated with tiny, simple twists of ivy. There were lace ridges sewn around
the collar, sleeves, and hem with the largest thread Anne had ever seen.
    She
noticed that the dress was much too short for a proper lady to wear, seeing
that it ran from the neck with long sleeves to stop just above the knees. Anne
was surprised, but she was not a shy girl, and supposed that she couldn’t be
very picky at the present time. Wearing this dress was better than being naked.
She hastily pulled it on. The coarse material scratched her skin and it was
somewhat snug, but she would accept it for now.
    The
clothing made her feel somewhat better about her present situation, and she
headed once again to the corner.
    Now
to get out of here.
    It
took quite a bit of effort, but Anne managed to pull herself over the wall,
using her feet to push against the corner. When she’d reached the top, she
hardly got the chance to peer out before she registered that she was falling.
The wall was collapsing beneath her weight, and once she’d jumped off, safely
back inside, she realized that the entire room was tilting.
    Anne
fell over onto the wall that was slowly becoming the floor, wincing when she
hit. What on earth? She was still a few moments, unhurt but cautious,
after everything was still and she was certain that she was on firm ground, she
crawled out slowly, observing the vessel of her captivity
    A
box, she thought, somehow decently calm. It was like a huge box .
    She
found herself out on a ledge. The ground was level and made of wood, and below
that cliff she saw something that stole her breath away, putting her situation
into perspective, but it made no sense at all.
    Peering
over the edge but not daring to stand up, Anne looked over a strange valley.
The valley looked exactly like Olivia’s