A Wild Rose

23 - Escaping reality

Chapter 23
Escaping reality

Amie knew, and our fate was in her hands.

"Amie, please." George whispered, the fear overpowering every single other emotion he was feeling. It was fear of death. Because if she told, and if Alexander tracked us before we could get away, he would die. There was no questioning that.

I was sure that George would have said more, but a quick look from Amie told him to be quiet. She was the one in power now, and we had to do everything she required of us. So when she slowly approached, flicking her hand to one side, George obeyed, making her path clear. To let her come a kneel right before me.

I looked up, knowing that was what she wanted. There was pleading in my eyes, and a desperation of sorts. A flicker of hope that she was the friend I had come to know her to be. A flicker of hope that she was another person in this world that we could trust. The look she had returned to me was blank. I didn't know what to make of it.

"Do you love Alexander?" she asked. That was one question I could easily answer. I could answer it firmly, and strongly.

"No."

"Do you love Lau- do you love George?"

Another question I could answer easily. Though I had to gulp back some of the tears as I thought of the way we'd behaved. And she'd seen it. Still, my answer sounded as confident as my first. "Yes."

She turned to George. "Do you love, Ada? Truly?"

George's answer came faster than mine, and with more added onto the end of it. "Yes. Why did you have to put 'truly' on the end? Do you question my love for her?" Amie was rising up. From the way she did so, I knew she was not going to look pleased any time soon. But that shouldn't happen. This was the first time I had ever seen George angry. I believed it would go on for longer than any normal flare of tempestuous emotion.

As she took her steps to face him, she walked slowly, her head held high. All you could hear were three breaths, at first oddly splayed, but slowly synchronising, until it all sounded as one roaring breath would. We all tried to remove ourselves from the pattern as we noticed, but it didn't work. We were united in our fear. If only we could be united in everything else as well.

"I said truly, because I ain't no fool, like you must take me for, and I heard the way you were shouting at her. Let me tell you, I have never heard such horrid sounds in my life before."

"Amie -" I moaned, but I was cut off.

"Just because I was the one shouting, it doesn't mean I was the main one at fault." He was trying to talk calmly again, but that only meant he was bottling up his anger, ready to explode once more when the bottle was full. It would be a lot worse than if he just let it out in the first place.

"George -"

"I don't care who was the main one at fault, you don't shout like that. I'm ashamed of you! I thought you were better than that. I expected a bit of uproar from her, but you? You were always so sweet!"

"Please -"

"Maybe that was for a reason!" George's voice was raising again. "Maybe I have just been trying so hard not to get angry that I can't help it when she finally takes it too far. Do you know what would happen if they found us? I would die, and Ada would practically become Alexander's slave! And don't you dare say giving in to Alexander might be the better option!"

"Who said I was going to say that?! I'll have you know that I wouldn't have cared if you'd just come out at the start. I hate that bloody rascal so much that I would have been more than happy to house you anyway!"