The True Alpha: Invictus // jjk

20: The Three Sisters

“Magnolias”  Tachee sneered, a set of uncountable teeth peeking, lighted up the fireplace that burned, ever so slightly. “They are believed to announce the arrival of Spring, the first blossoming of flowers, the first chirp of the birds. A strange flower, you see... It is often associated with endurance and perseverance, since, despite its fondness of spring, it can grown and blossom in any weather. Your mother liked them, did she not?”

           Her mother... Hani kept on thinking about her, about the brown curls of her hair, how they cascaded down her back. Her figure slightly waving side to side, like the leaves on a summer day, while she cooked in the kitchen. How she wished she still could remember everything of nice and sweet that she loved about her? Why had only the memories of that awful day stayed? After Tachee had left, Hani spent the following hours, cupping very lightly her own face; closing her eyes so desperately, trying to reach out the long lost feeling of her mother’s hands. Were they soft? Or were they callous? Were her fingers like her, slim and small, or more big? Were magnolias really her mother’s favourite like the Tachee had told her? Often, her mother would read alongside her the book Hani loved so much; helping the girl later identify the plants in their backyard. She could not remember ever her mother telling her that those were her favourite. And a sister? How could she never mention she had had a sister? There was always the possibility that Tachee could be lying, but for what purpose?

           The girl’s brain was tangled with ideas, jumbling and fumbling, crashing against one another, only to cause more confusion. In the dark room that she was stuck in, there was no sense of time, no sense of the world outside. She could not keep count on her head of how many days had passed since she had been taken. The only thing, the last remaining trace, that life still continued outside was the growing heartbeat in her stomach. It raced faster, slower as Hani took deep breaths, while trying to shove away the endless questions and thoughts that ran in her head. It seemed, funnily enough or not, that the baby was playing with her, in the only way it could; matching its heartbeat with hers, trying and playing around with the different rhythms the hearts could march on. Playing with the emotions, Hani hoped it would never learn to know. Fear.

           The door slightly opened, a fresh beam of light slid inside her room. Her eyes wavered, staring concentrated at the floor, anxiously wondering what set of shoes would walk inside – hopefully, not red ones. It was black shoes, dress shoes in fact. Brightly polished, well cleaned, without a single stain in them. A whistle, echoed in the room. A melodic whistle, with notes that fell and rose, danced and twirled, ever so threateningly. Immediately, the girl’s body lunged backwards, hitting harshly on the wall behind her. Distance – she needed distance from him.

           “My, my, my”

Chuckling, Lucca waltzed inside the room; hands behind his back, and a childish smile on his lips. With his head high, he scanned the room with his eyes. Behind him the door was wide open, and now too, Hani quickly looked around her. It was an empty grey room. Only the fireplace and the bed furnished it. Other than that, there was nothing. However had done the room, hadn’t bothered to actually paint the walls; they had just cemented it and called it a day.

“He didn’t even bother to make this more...” With his face twisted in disgust, he slid his finger through the wall. “Cozy?”

Lucca let out a loud exasperated sigh and proceed to close the doors. Hani’s heart shook in her chest with the thud of the door. Fear stroke her even harder this time and instinctively, she pressed her legs against her chest. The images of Fai’s last moments were still fresh in her mind; she still remembered how could he felt... how... how... how she wanted to keep him warm. And now, the baby. There was no way she could let him find out about it. She could not allow it. With piercing eyes, the girl studied him, trying to decipher Lucca’s next moves. Her mind fumbled with ways to protect herself, the scenarios being as quickly constructed as they were destroyed. Lucca, on the other hand, still walked back and forth in the room, thinking very deeply about something.