The Blanket Baby

Chapter 19 - Athena

I'm warning you... 💦💦
^There. I warned you

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The steady thrum and heavy patters of tiny feet dancing across the roof and on her window did nothing to soothe the restlessness that has consumed the thoughts of her mind. Revelations and sadness followed her to her room as she recalled the confrontation that happened earlier tonight. Running a mile a minute, forcing her to think of every moment in her life where it could have been her last. Her learned toughness - thanks to Tilly - has helped her consistently out of sticky situations, cloaking her in a thick protective layer during times of serious desperation but her empathy - inherited from her mother - never strayed far behind, forcing her to feel things at inopportune times. She turned to look out of the window; such perfect weather going to waste. She revelled in the sound of rain; there's just a calm about the phenomenon that is unmatched, and tonight she couldn't even enjoy it.

So that's why she hasn't seen her sister in so long. She got mixed up in the crowd she was protecting her from all these years. Not once has Athena thought that her sister was dead - she was too tough for that - but she always bore the brunt of things especially when it concerned her wellbeing. Now adding Adelia into the mix, it's like watching her childhood all over again. The only difference? Adelia's not there to see the evil, and smell the fear and desperation that comes with the sight. And to top it all off, someone finds her so irresistibly perfect that there's no telling what he or she is doing, now that she's 'off the grid'. Athena sighed; the dark thoughts are clouding her mind, and it's not good.

Silently leaving her room, she wandered the halls making sure to check on Ali's sleeping form until she came to a door she'd subconsciously steered clear of until tonight. Ever since she came to and frantically explored the house desperate to find her bearings until Adelia told her, something felt "off-limits" about that one door - like if she wasn't worthy to know the contents behind it - but she's too far gone to care anymore. Curling her fingers over the knob, the twist and click of the gears affirmed that the door was unlocked and she walked right in.

With his back turned to her, she subconsciously marveled at the hard planes and bunched muscles flexing at a steady pace as he did a succession of pull ups over an overhanging metal rod. The strength housed in every tissue and fibre spoke of the power he held; the security he could make her feel. Her eyes would have lit up at the sight if she wasn't feeling so dead inside. The soft thump of the wooden floor brought her out of her haze and started to process Derrick's approach towards her.

"Thee, what's the matter?"

Really.... What was the matter? Everything? Nothing? She's gone numb to the debacle of the movie plot her life seem to have written. She said nothing.

"Do you need something?"

Need something? Maybe she does...

She looked down to the buttons of her night shirt and quickly brought her fingers up to the dainty pearl buttons that held the pieces of fabric securely to her body. She fumbled a bit before managing to unclasp the tiny hook around the shining pearl exposing the bit of chest that it covered. Moving on the second, she was about halfway done when Derrick grabbed on to her forearms forcing her to stop. She just looked up him, her grey irises the shade of concrete. She internalized him sighing before tucking her into his frame, resting his chin on top of her head.

"Is it because of what we spoke about earlier..."

Well, that's part of it.

A shaking breath left her body as the onslaught of information shared to her came rushing back. She didn't want this; she never wanted this. Everything was supposed to be normal and peaceful just like how she's always dreamed of and now parasites are having a field day eating away at everything good in her life. Derrick palmed her cheeks and forced her to look up at him taking in her tear-stained face as she clutched tightly on his wrists. He kissed one eye and then the other before a feather light touch of warmth pressed against her lips.