(Blood Bound)Eternal Winter

Chapter 4

~Arabella P.O.V.

I waited two hours for Greyson to come back for me. I knew I was being naive, I knew he was gone. I opened my eyes, peering out from my hiding place beneath the tree. They surely would have given up by now, wouldn't they? I quietly crawled out from beneath the tree, making as little noise as possible. I needed to get home. I would be safe there.

I hugged myself as I began to walk swiftly in the direction I hoped would lead me home. It was dark, my phone was missing, and I was alone.

"It's perfectly safe they said.. It'll be fine they said.." I grumbled. My dad was going to be furious.

"Where the hell have you been?!" My dad roared at me as I walked through the front door. I looked at my shoes.

"I was hiding.." I mumbled, hoping he wouldn't hear me.

I heard him scoff, my eyes meeting his without my approval. "You were hiding. Hiding. Have you learned nothing, Arabella?" He asked in poorly concealed disappointment.

"She was doing what I told her to do." I turned, looking to the only woman who would ever defend me.

My dad looked to Emery, annoyance in his cold gray eyes. "Why would you tell her to hide, Emery?"

Emery straightened, her eyes meeting his. She raised her eyebrow, challenging him. "Would you have prefered her dead, father?"

They stared at each other, gray eyes boring into her blue ones. She wouldn't drop her gaze. I glanced to our father, watching his eyes narrow.

I swallowed my fear, stepping between them and looking into my father's eyes. "Dad?" I asked, proud that my voice sounded stronger than I felt. His gaze turned to me, an eyebrow raising in expectation. "Emery told me to run. I did as she told me to do. We had no way of knowing who was in the woods, or how many there were. It would have been suicide to face them." I explained, my eyes pleading with his emotionless ones.

He stared at me for a moment longer as I stood in silence. Without another word, he turned on his heel, walking away from me.

I closed my eyes, feeling the tears in them. Emery put her hand on my shoulder, pulling me into her arms as I sobbed. I wish my father would go back to acting like the man who raised me. The man I felt safe around. This man.. This man was not the man I grew up with. He's not the man that took me dress shopping. He definitely isn't the man that used to read me bedtime stories and watch movies with me. Emery rubbed my back comfortingly. I took a deep breath as she released me. She couldn't do this all night. She needed to save Greyson.

~Greyson P.O.V

I woke up in darkness, the room completely void of illumination of any kind. I sat up on the bed I was laying on, reaching to feel the gash on the back of my head. As I rubbed my head, I recalled what happened. Arabella. The tree. Running. I stood up quickly, feeling the room spin. I closed my eyes, waiting for the dizziness to pass. I needed to get out of here. I opened my eyes, looking around the room. Whether I could see or not, I felt better with my eyes open.
I walked around the room cautiously, my arms stretched in front of me. The room was small, the walls concrete. The door was, unsurprisingly, locked. The only furniture in the room was the single bed placed in the corner. I sat down on the edge, waiting for my captors to make an appearance. I was at their mercy now.

I stared into the darkness for hours. The silence was unnerving. I felt as though I had been robbed of my senses, unable to hear anything other than my own movements. I almost brushed it off when I heard footsteps, telling myself it was in my head.

When the door opened, light pouring in, I realized it wasn't a hallucination. I sat up straight, looking into the eyes of a young dark haired man.