You Belong to Me (Sequel to Controlled)

Chapter 6- Sophie

Chapter 6

Sophie:

I woke up to bright sunshine flooding in from the windows. Naomi shifted on top of my feet on the other end of the couch. I sat up, but winced when I felt a sharp pain in my left arm. Remembering the events from last night, I shivered and threw the blanket off of me. Naomi got up after me and followed me upstairs.

I needed a shower desperately, so I turned on the shower on full blast, stripped out of my clothes, and got in. Feeling the hot, steaming water run down my back, I watched it disappear down the drain, rinsing off all of the blood and tension from last night. When I stepped out of the shower, I gazed at Naomi and realized she needed a bath, too. Her muzzle had dried blood on it and her fur was matted and messy.

I whistled to her. "Come, Naomi."

She got up and padded over to me. I motioned for her to get into the tub and she jumped in. I turned on the hot water and watched it fill up. I got dressed in sweats and a tank top, thanking God that I didn't have classes today. I went back into the bathroom and turned off the water once it was half-filled. I covered her back with soap and lathered her up, scrubbing off all of the rainwater and mud, and scrubbed all of the blood off of her muzzle. Once she was clean, I towel dried her, then let her air dry. I grabbed the brush and brushed through her fur, getting all of the tangles out of it. Once she was all dry and brushed, she jumped onto my bed and laid down. I grabbed the phone off of my dresser and dialed my mom's house number. She needed to know... Darius needed to know. After a few rings, my mom picked up.

"Sophie, honey! How are you?" she said in her cheerful voice.

"Mom," I whispered. The tears began to make their way down my cheeks again.

"Sophie? What's wrong?" she went from happy to concerned.

"He's back Mom," I said. "Ricky's alive."

I thought I heard her drop the phone. "Mom?"

I heard her take a deep breath. "I'm here. Let me get Darius."

I heard her call for Darius, and a few moments later I heard his voice on the phone. "Sophie? What's wrong? Why is your mother crying?"

"He's back, Darius," I whispered. "Ricky is alive."

I heard Darius take a deep breath. "You need to come home, Sophie. You can't be alone."

As much as I wanted to, I knew I couldn't go home. It was likely he would just follow me and put them in danger. I had to think of an excuse, and fast.

"I... I can't. I have classes and work." When I heard his sigh, I interrupted him before he could begin to argue. "I'll be fine."

"Sophie, do you remember what he did? To Naomi? To me? To you? You need to be surrounded by people, not alone in your house."

"I'm not alone, I have Naomi. Besides, I-"

"Wait, how is he alive?" he interrupted me.

I sighed, not sure how to answer him. "I don't know."

"Sophie, come home now."

"No, I can't."

"Why the hell not?" he sounded frustrated.

"Because," I began. "I'm going to visit Justin in England."

He didn't say anything for a few minutes. "We'll send you some money," he finally said.

"No, I'm fine-" I objected.

"Sophie," he said sternly. "We're sending you money. No ifs, ands, or buts."

I smiled into the phone. "Thanks, Darius."

"Of course, Sophie. Here's your mom."

I waited for a second and then heard my mom's muffled sobs on the phone. "Are you okay, Sophie?"

"Yeah, no serious damage," I lied. I knew that she knew I was lying. But I tried to make it sound as convincing as possible. She was pregnant, and I didn't need her worrying about me.

"Well, like Darius said. We're sending you money so you won't have to worry about that." I heard her pause and take a few breaths. "I love you, Sophie."

"I love you, too, Mom," I replied softly.

"Call me tomorrow to check-in, okay?"

"Okay, Mom. Bye."

"Bye, Soph," I heard her struggle with the last few words. She hung up and I put the phone on my lap. A few minutes later I picked it up again and dialed Sam's number. A few rings later he picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sam, it's Sophie," I said, trying to figure out how I was going to ask him. He didn't know about Ricky, and I wanted to keep it that way.

"Hey, Sophie, what's up?"

"Um..." I said, trying to grasp the words I wanted to tell him. "I'm going to need a few days off from work."

"And why is that?" he asked, suspicion in his voice.

"Well, I'm going to England," I said. "Family issues," I added.

I heard him take a deep breath. I knew he wasn't too happy about this, but I had to make some sacrifices. "How many days are we talking?" I finally heard him ask.

"A week," I said. "Maybe a little longer."

He sighed, and I knew he was frustrated. "Alright, fine."

I sighed with relief. "Thank you so much, Sam. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"You better," he said, half-joking. "I hope everything goes okay for you in England."

"Thanks, Sam. Bye," I said.

"Bye, Sophie." I heard the click and lowered the phone from my ear. I sighed and looked at Naomi, who looked back at me.

"Well, guess what Naomi," I said. She pricked her ears excitedly at me. "We're going to England."