Infinity Lost Read Online Free PDF

Mariele’s arms.
    I’m slammed onto the table and I cry out in pain. “MARIELE!”
    I struggle to get free, but they’re far too strong.
    “We just want to see,” whispers a gravelly voice.
    A cloth napkin is forced into my mouth and I’m flipped onto my stomach.
    I scream muffled wails into the napkin as the men roughly tug at my underwear. Tears overflow from my eyes. I bite into the napkin and pray that it doesn’t hurt when they finally kill me.
    “Gentlemen, gentlemen. That’s quite enough for today.”
    I never thought I’d be so happy to hear Nanny Theresa’s voice. The men release me from their grip; I roll off the table, bolt through their legs, out of their circle of claws and grins, and scoot across the rug and out the open door.
    I run as fast as my legs will take me back down the hallway, their cruel laughter echoing after me down the cavernous passages. Past the east-wing kitchen and through the gift-wrapping room I run. Past the billiards room, the smoking room, the blue drawing room, and the trophy room. The walls and doors blend into a blur as I flee. I don’t stop to catch my breath until I’m safely in the marble foyer by the front doors.
    I crouch behind the banister, heaving, staring back the way I came. No one is following. I’m terrified and confused, sitting all alone, trembling at the bottom of the stairs. What remains of my hope for a wonderful day with my father is in tatters, just like my beautiful dress. Why did they do that to me? Why would Nanny Theresa let them? Why wasn’t Father here to stop them? Why isn’t he ever here at all?
    I have no answers. As usual, the bitter taste of disappointment stings at the back of my throat.
    I pull the ribbons from my hair and drop them on the cold marble floor. My eyes well with tears, and as I reach the top of the staircase they trickle down my cheeks like droplets creeping from between the cracks in a broken vase.
    “Finn?”
    My heart leaps and I spin toward the voice. “Father?” I squeak feebly.
    Through my tears, I see the blurry shape of a man climbing the stairs, arms outstretched. He reaches the top and picks me up into a warm embrace. It’s not my father.
    “I’m so sorry, Finn,” Jonah whispers, wiping the tears from my face.
    I stare into his big, kind, brown eyes.
    “Can you be my real father, please, Jonah?” I peep out between sobs.
    He smiles sadly. “No, Finn, but I love you like you are my daughter. No matter what happens, never, ever forget that.”
    I swear to myself that I never will. He puts me down and studies the rip down the back of my dress. “I’ll have the tailor sew that up for you. It will be just like new, I promise.”
    “Why did those men try to hurt me, Jonah?” I sob.
    Jonah sighs deeply. “I’m afraid that those men are too used to doing whatever they like. People like that sometimes get very carried away. Sometimes they forget the difference between right and wrong.” He takes off his suit jacket and drapes it over my shoulders. It envelops me all the way to the floor like Superman’s cape.
    Jonah kneels down and gently wipes my cheek with his thumb. “Your Nanny Theresa should never have invited them. They’re not very nice at all. Someone really ought to teach them a lesson,” Jonah says with a soft tap on my forehead.
    With my bottom lip trembling beneath my sniffling nose, I nod in agreement.
    “I have to go, sweetheart. I’ll send Mariele to keep you company. I’ll be back later to say good night. I promise.”
    Jonah turns and makes his way back down the stairs. “OK, Jonah,” I mumble, and slowly drag my feet down the hall toward my room.
    I’m almost there when something small and metal falls from Jonah’s jacket and clacks onto the floorboards by the edge of the long carpet. I bend down and pick it up. It’s a little brass key. I know exactly what lock it opens, and suddenly I get an idea.
    The best idea ever.
    There’s something about revenge that makes me buoyantly