Deception

Chapter 48 - Prison Break

So I wait.

Day after day, sitting there in the corner of my bed. Too afraid to move. Too afraid to breathe.

I never joined the rest of the girls for lunch, or nail painting, or the Friday circle where everyone talked about their feelings. This place wasn't for me to stay in, so why would I settle?

I never believed in fairytales.

My entire life I'd waited at my window, within the walls my Papa built to hold me and never once did I dream of Charming to rescue me. I dreamt of pulling myself out but it never happened. I never had the chance to save myself. I don't have one now either, and it makes me feel helpless.

But hope and helplessness go hand in hand.

And I know, he will come to rescue me.

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~Silas POV~

"I...I said we can't find her anywhere."

Rio's lip trembles at the end of his words. Even more as time goes on, as my silence starts to unsettle him.

His eyes follow my gun as I set it down on the  meeting table, an echo of it against the glass circling the pale, empty room. My hands clasp calmly, but I think I'm on the verge of destroying something.

"She's one woman." My words come out as a grumble.

Rio lowers his eyes before standing, turning to the small side table at the edge of the meeting room and picking up the telephone from its stand. In a desperate move, he hands it out. "You can even phone my superior for proof. We did everything you asked. Searched surveillance from every corner in the city, scanned credit cards in case she changed her identity, checked nearby cities. It's like she's disappeared into thin air-"

My jaw clenches at his words and I shove the phone away before standing, heading towards the sky to ceiling window and staring out at the New York sunset.

I can see every fucking inch of my city, it's not hard to find a woman who doesn't wear a Goddamn jacket. If she was down there, I would have found her already.

Rubbing my neck, I get the terrifying feeling that she left for Colombia, or anywhere else in the world. And what's terrifying isn't that she's far...its what I'd do to bring her back.

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~Catalina POV~

Six months later...

The bathroom door swings open with a loud, unnerving creak. I don't look at the black shoes heading towards me, or at the sympathising face that stares me down. The ground is all I've known these past months.

"You didn't come to lunch." Nadia starts. She waits for a reply, but I only drop the torn flower petals in my hand.

We were allowed out today. I didn't even realise how fast summer had come, I mean it was beautiful. The green grass, the daisies...and then, the barbed wire. The armed guards watching our every move, stealing our few moments in nature.