Her Heroes

Chapter Thirty-Four

The familiar sense of déjà vu erupted in my mind as I watched the clouds skim past. Panic ebbed at the edges of my brain but I held it at bay. The last time I was aboard a plane, I revealed half of my soul, which was more than enough. Nobody needed to know the other half, nobody besides me that is.

Swinging my legs over the side of the small bed, I stood up. My socked feet were unsteady at first but once I was walking it was natural as ever. My heart pounded as I rested my hand on the doorknob. It was now or never.

Voices loomed from beyond the hall and it took all of my energy to not sit back in the bed but to continue and face the music. 

My eyes were hidden behind my curls as I shuffled into the sitting room where everyone had gathered. I took in the three empty seats before sinking into the space next to Hercule.

"There are still six hours to go. How are you feeling?" I brought my knees to my chest and readjusted my position so I was comfortably curled into the corner of the seat. My shoulders rose and fell but his eyes didn't move off the computer screen he loved so much.

"That much, huh?" My eyes met Remy's and he smirked as I took in his position. His ankle was on his knee and he was leaning back, a crystal cup of whiskey swirling steadily in his right hand. "You have to be feeling something. It isn't every day your abusers get arrested and you're freed from them." He was right; I was feeling something. I was overjoyed that they were being arrested and that I would never see them again. Deep down though, something told me that this wasn't the end of them yet, that they would still come back to haunt me.

Hercule finally peeled his eyes away from his computer to look at me. "I contacted Mrs. Hark after we took off." There was no way any conversation with that retched lady could be good. I couldn't believe that once upon a time I thought she was different. It was so obvious now: all of the hints that I was just too naïve to see and pay attention to.

"This should be good." Remy set his glass down on the table next to him and leaned forward, perching his elbows on his knees.

"Well? What did she say?" Valentin's entrance startled me less than it should've. It seemed that I was getting used to their ghost-like abilities. How was it I hadn't learned how to teleport and read their minds yet, though? 

The three of us looked at Hercule but he barely even blinked. He was enjoying this - there was no way he wasn't not enjoying it. "We talked about Nadia's mutism," he nodded his head towards me. "And we decided it would be best for her to see a therapist." I sucked in a small breath and brought my hand to my mouth. There was no way he would actually do this to me, right? 
"She said that since Nadia is a selective mute we need to get her a therapist to help her talk and cope when she can't - or doesn't feel comfortable - coming to us." I sucked in a louder breath and stood up. He couldn't be serious about this. There was absolutely no way in hell I was going to be sitting in a room with a therapist because my mentally unstable social worker thought it would help with my "selective mutism". If I were a selective mute, there was no way I would be silent anymore..., especially around Remy and Valentin.

My feet were silent as I left the sitting area and returned to the bedroom. 

As soon as the door was firmly shut and locked behind me, I faceplanted onto the bed and screamed into my pillow. I wouldn't sit with a social worker, especially not now when it was in a couple of days. 

***

At some point, I must've fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes gone were the clouds, replaced by the black ceiling of one of my brother's cars.

"You were crying." My eyes snapped to Armel's before I turned my body away from him and towards the window. He was right. I must've unknowingly started to cry at some point because my eyes were bloodshot and puffy. "He just wants to help you, belle, we all do." I watched his reflection in the car window.