Mary

I etch out another notch into the side of the bedpost. According to the notches, it's been five days since Ash marked me as his and four days since I felt my bond with Nikolai slip away. In my heart, I knew that Nikolai was okay, but I could wash away the sense of dread I was feeling.

During the day, Ash lets me wander the halls of the mansion. The house is always empty; the only residents here are Ash, myself, and a couple of servants. I've tried to win the servants over to my side, but they ignore me; they continue with their chores and act like nothing is amiss. But perhaps to them, nothing has changed. When I first came here, there was another younger female who'd been taken. She was long gone now, but what if Ash made a habit of kidnapping women, and the servants were desensitized from the matter.

On the first day, Ash let me wander the halls; I tried to make a break for it. The moment my foot crossed the front door threshold, I was met with unbearable pain as an electrical curr