Within The Bonds

48: Face The Consequences

I wake up only to find myself lying on the sofa, a warm quilt protecting me from the once freezing night and now pleasant morning. Habitually rubbing my eyes, I stretch my limbs.

Against the indolent side of my brain, I push myself away from my make-shift bed. Dragging myself back to my room, I dive headfirst back into bed. 'It's still early! Five more minutes won't hurt,' I convince myself and doze back to sleep.

"Astoria, Astoria, wake up! This is the last time I'm trying this the civil way." An annoying yet firm voice reprimands.

"What?" I mumble poking my head out from under my pillow. With my eyes still firmly shut with no intentions of opening them anytime soon, I wait for the intruder—Jason—to respond.

"Wake up," he retorts pointing out the obvious.

"Five more minutes please," I whine drifting off to sleep as I do so.

"I don't think so," he declares, rudely trying to snatch my blanket from me. 'Trying' being the operative word. The more he pulls the blanket, the tighter my grip gets.

After a brief match of tug of war between us, I find myself on the losing end with the sound of my defeat resonating through the room as I tumble on the ground. "You're the most inhuman person I know!" I tell him, stealing my beloved blanket back from him and curling on the carpeted floor of my room I go back to sleep.

"I'm not going to tell you again. Wake up or I'm going with plan B," he warns in a 'deadly serious' tone yet I pay no heed to his words and drift off into peaceful slumber.

I a few seconds later my sense go on high alert, with my eyes still closed shut, I keenly pay attention to my surroundings. Waiting for some more time, I finally come out of my half-conscience state, only to realize how late it is.

Quickly jumping to my feet, I make a run towards the bathroom. Shuffling in my closet for my jersey and shoes, I swiftly slip them on and start working on my unusually messy hair.

Giving myself a quick once over in the mirror, I head downstairs. Just as I reach for my room door, my hand stops at the doorknob. All of yesterdays even replay in my mind and I start to question my decision on going down.

'Jason acted normal, maybe the others will too,' with this reassurance and a long deep breath, I twist the knob and exit my room.

"Good morning Miss Santos," Victor wishes startling me and resulting in me elbowing him in the abdomen while twisting his arm. But him being the highly trained guard he is, he manages to block my attack and restrain me to the wall.

"You good?" He asks me while his hands prevented mine from striking him. I nod in response to his question and he immediately releases me from his grip.

Away from his resistance, I waste no time in delivering a swift yet powerful punch to his arm. "Don't sneak up on like that!" I admonish.

"My bad," he mumbles sleepily with a light chuckle while rubbing the back of his neck.

I roll my eyes while chortling myself. "So where are the other musketeers?" I inquire as we descend the stairs referring to my other guards.

"They will be here in a while," he responds ambiguously which piques my curiosity.

Glancing at the time I realize that I indeed have no time for breakfast and decide to skip it. Heading for the front door, I'm stopped by Jason's voice. "Aren't you forgetting something?" He asks in a stern tone.

"No?" I offer, turning to face him.

"You sure about that? Because I don't recall seeing you at the breakfast table today," he counters.