Chapter 1 The Cellar & The Contract

 I am turning twenty-six in five days. My magic was supposed to flare when I turned eighteen but never came. I saw several doctors but no one as able to figure out why. My family is in high society but holding on by a thread. Their power has been decreasing for generations but they have managed to hold their wealth. I am the shame of the family, and they have never let me forget it.

I have worked my whole life trying to earn my place in the family. My parents have never helped me or given me anything. My mother is especially harsh with me. She hits me and locks me away on a whim. She has hospitalized me more than a dozen times but always has a reason for why it has happened.

I have been working since I was twelve. I have never been allowed to eat with my family, so I have always eaten their scraps, but when that wasn’t enough, I worked for more money to buy more but most of the time the money I earned was taken from me. My siblings received it as an allowance on top of the money they were already receiving. I have asked for help before, but no one has ever agreed, they are too afraid of my parents. Their money is their power.

I am a semester away from finishing college as a healer. I might not have powers, but I have worked my whole life trying to help and serve others. I have worked hard and have managed to receive top marks in all my classes, higher even than those with powers. My mother has summoned me home, without even giving me a reason. In the past when I have been summoned home there was always some kind of trouble, so I am mentally trying to prepare.

I make it home and as soon as I walk in the door my mother slaps me across the face.

Genevieve Reed: “What the hell is the matter with you? You think you can just embarrass your brother and sister with such high grades? You need to remember that you are a no one. You have no power and bring nothing to this family but shame! You will remember your place. I have already informed the school that you will not be returning.”

Isabella Reed: “Mom, please, don’t do that. I never meant to embarrass anyone; I was just trying to do my best to make you proud. I want to earn my place and show you that you can be proud of me too.”

Genevieve Reed: “I guess you are stupider than I thought you were. I will never be proud of a loser like you. You are worth nothing! Try all you want. It means nothing.”

William Reed: “Now honey, that isn’t completely true.”

My father, while not as bad as my mother, is cruel in other ways. He has never cared about anything that I have endured and has even made excuses about the things that have happened to me. I looked at him confused.

William Reed: “We called you home for a purpose girl. You will be marrying Weston Stone in three days.”

Isabella Reed: “What are you talking about? Weston is in love Sage. He has never wanted me. I will not marry him. You cannot make me.”

William Reed: “It’s cure that you think you have a say in any of this. We have already signed a contract with the Stone family. You will be detained here until the ceremony is to take place.”

Isabella Reed: “You cannot do this to me, dad. I am your daughter. I have worked my whole life to be successful and make you proud and now you are pulling me from school and selling me off?”

William Reed: “You have never given anything to raise our family status. You made it even worse by possessing absolutely no power. You have no choice in this and should just be grateful that this off has come.”

Genevieve Reed: “Don’t make this hard you little bitch. Let’s go.”

Before I knew what was happening, she grabbed my arm and was dragging me to the cellar. This was not an unfamiliar place for me. A small four by four room, a bucket in the corner for me to do my business, and chains connected to the wall to keep me in. She placed the familiar chains on my wrists and started laughing.

Genevieve Reed: “Remember girl, you will marry the Stone boy. Act right and you might get food tonight, forget your damn place.”

She left me there. Just like she always did.

My brother, Beckett, and sister, Sage, always hated me too. I have spent my life trying to figure it out. They all seemed to know something that I didn’t. I never fit into the family. The family photo hanging above the mantle doesn’t even have me in it. The four of them look like the perfect family. When I asked what happened, they laughed and said since I’m not part of the family, why would I be in the photo.

I sat in the dark trying to figure out how I ended up with this. Family hates me, chained in a cellar, forced to marry a man in love with someone else. Powerless.