The Five Dimensions Part 1: Shadow World

Chapter 45

"Why are you always defending her? She is just a human; therefore, she has no worth whatsoever." It was a female's voice but not Mrs. Ravensdale's; it was Aribelle. Hailey hadn't seen the girl since that first dinner. A nasty feeling started growing in her stomach. She was sure the girl was talking about her. Aribelle's shrill voice suddenly reminded her of Julia. The feeling in her stomach became even worse.

"The way you behave towards her has to stop. You can't stop her from staying here and we can't have her run away again. I'm not supposed to tell you this but there have been more frequent sightings of the Dark King's minions in the Third Dimension and if one of those gets her, we'll be lost. She's run off before, we can't have your behavior pushing her to do it again. Do you understand?" Ash said angrily. His voice was harsh and reproachful but still respectful because he was talking to his sister.

Hailey closed her eyes. She didn't want to hear but she couldn't push them out. It felt like a knife was slowly being pushed into her gut. What Aribelle said about her was painful, but it was Ash's words that really hurt. She felt paralyzing fear at the realization that the men who had tried her at the Smith's house were still out there and getting closer. She had allowed herself into feeling a false sense of safety in the big mansion, but it was only an illusion. But it was more than that. The way that Ash talked about her running away hurt the worst of all. He was talking about her as if she was a weak, fragile, little girl that was set off at the slightest provocation. Hailey thought that Ash had understood why she had run before. That he had understood her fear and pain, even if she didn't explain anything to him about her nightmare. Apparently, she was wrong. She was starting to think she was wrong about a lot of things concerning Ash.

Hailey could feel Ash's horrified eyes focused on her, but she couldn't look up to meet them. She didn't think someone had ever made her feel so small.

"If you do not want me to look at her, all you have to do is get her out of my sight. She should not be eating with us, anyway. And if you worry about her fleeing, then you must keep a better watch―" The words were flying through the open door like arrows shot from a bow, each of them finding their way into Hailey. She was pinned to her chair, paralyzed. Across from her Alex didn't move a muscle either.

"You know very well we keep her under non-stop surveillance. Your behavior is unnecessary and jeopardizes―"

"My problem is the way you look at her, and the way you defend her. I can see it in your eyes. You care about her, much more than you should be―"

"Aribelle!" Ash shouted louder and more aggressively than Hailey had ever heard him.

"―and it disgusts me," Aribelle finished defiantly. The girl let out a deep breath, loud enough for Hailey to hear. There was a ringing silence that lasted longer than a dozen eternities. No one moved, no one said anything, they only breathed.

"You're wrong," Ash hissed, just loud enough for it to reach Hailey. Then there was silence.

Hailey blinked, not able to comprehend all the emotions going through her. She caught Alex studying her, and she was completely sure that he saw right through her weak attempt at a mask. He seemed to recognize her feelings better than she did.

Alex suddenly pushed his chair backward with a force that Hailey had quite forgotten that he had. She was shocked by the sound of it. Even if he wasn't a fighter, he was still a Soul Hunter and that came with a dose of supernatural strength.

He marched to the door and slammed it shut so hard that the whole mansion must've heard the bang. Alex stood there for a moment, leaning against the mahogany door. Then he turned back around to Hailey, but she wasn't there anymore. He looked around frantically to see her running towards a secret passageway he had taught her about.

Hailey looked back to see Alex's eyes, which were even more watery than hers. There was banging on the door then, Ash's voice again. She turned back around, running as fast as she could. Alex was fast but he wasn't a Runner, if he stayed in shock just long enough Hailey would be able to make it back to her room.

When she reached the second floor, she heard more than one pair of footsteps. It wasn't only Alex following her now, but he was the closest and the only one straight behind her.

Hailey passed the staircase and saw Ash coming up towards her. Aribelle was further away, even though she was supposed to be able to run much faster than her brother because she was a Runner. The girl would've been the only one to reach Hailey in time if she had put the smallest amount of effort in it.

The bedroom door slammed shut behind Hailey before anyone could stop her. The sound was very soft compared to the bang of the library door, but it was expressive enough. There was no lock on the door ― of course there wasn't, who knew what she might do if she could lock her door, jump out of the window, maybe ― so she rammed the chair underneath the doorknob. It couldn't stop a Soul Hunter, not if they really tried, but they didn't try.

They did bang on the door for a long time, attempting to reason with Hailey but it was all in vain. She would not voluntarily open the door and she told them that. Eventually they stopped banging.

"I'm not leaving," Ash said.

"Me neither," Alex added. Then another voice also spoke. Not Aribelle's; she hadn't said anything. Hailey wasn't sure the girl had come as far as her door.

"Yes, you are," the new voice said. It was a lower voice, one filled with authority. Leo. Hailey thought about how she was hearing three different but very much alike voices without seeing their faces but knowing exactly who each voice belonged to. The three voices were now so familiar to her that she was sure she would always recognize them. And yet, even though she was so close to them, she felt further away from them than ever.

They resisted at first, but they could not go against Leo's orders. Even if he hadn't been their older brother, it was almost impossible to fight Leo if he used the definitive tone of a true Leader. Hailey was thankful for the power that it held because it allowed her to be alone.

She listened to the several pairs of footsteps fade away. She heard how they changed when they went down the stairs and eventually they were gone.

Hailey realized only when it was completely silent, how much she wanted to scream and cry at the same time but most of all she wanted to fall into her dad's arms so that he could take the pain away. But her dad wasn't here, and he wouldn't ever be. He was at home, patiently waiting for her to return, oblivious to everything she was going through.

Hailey missed the presence of a parent, and for the first time since she could remember, she wished for having a mother.