Take the 24 hours

I opened my mouth to answer. Part of me thought I should just bite the bullet and say I'd go with this Gavin guy. He doesn't seem that bad, at least from what this... witch has said. But the larger, more Luke part of me couldn't accept that. What if that idea was implanted by these psychos? You could be playing right into their hands by giving in that quickly. "I... I think I need the time to think. To wrap my head around all of this."

Mrs. Warren smiled, and it was a cruel smile. The look on her face was like she expected you to say that. "Very well, Ms. Williams. You may leave, and I will see you by..." She glanced at a clock on the wall. "7 PM tomorrow evening."

Nodding, I stood and was escorted out by a couple of large guards. They loaded me into a car and drove me back to the new house, then right to the door. They knocked, and my daddy answered. His eyes shoot wide open as he saw me. "Luke?"

"Lucy, now..." I said, barely able to keep the bitterness out of my voice. I was sure these guys would report back to Warren, and I didn't know what would be enough for her to **** me into a marriage with some old man...

I shuddered at the thought.

Daddy stepped out of the way, letting me in, and the men left.

"I didn't expect... this is incredible."

"Incredible?!" I asked, staring at him. I could already feel tears stinging my eyes, and that made this worse. "What is incredible about this? You turned me over to some crazy cult that runs this town and they turned me into a girl? They want to marry me off!"

"Luke... Lucy..." daddy said, looking conflicted. "I tried everything to get you on the same page, to get you to straighten out. You resisted or outright went in the wrong direction on purpose. The ****, drinking, expulsions... what else was I supposed to do?"

"Not have my body mutilated!" I said. "This is... I'm not even me. They messed with my head so they can mess with me, and-" Tears started spilling forth, which just made me more angry.

"Please, calm down." As my daddy said that, I felt my emotions dulling. A chill ran down my spine as I remembered what Mrs. Warren had said. I was compelled to obey men now...

I wiped the tears from my eyes, taking a few breaths as I did, and then struggled with what to do with my hands. I settled for crossing my arms and gripping my arms with my hands, fingernails digging in. "I... I think I need to take a walk. To try to clear my head. I..." I struggled for any more words, and glanced toward my daddy, hoping he wouldn't tell me to stay.

He didn't. I opened the door and left, heading down the street. Like earlier, I had no destination in mind. I just... needed to get away. Try to forget all of this for a bit. Not that it was easy. Each swish of my dress, the way my heels hit the ground, the bounce of my chest... It all hit home what I was now.

After a bit of walking, I heard a voice call out, saying "Hey there."