The Prisoner Project

THIRTY ONE

Aria.

There had been a foreign feeling within him when she had said those words. It had been harrowing, and damaging — but now, he closed his eyes against swollen eyelids and whispered once more. "I did the right thing."

For the first time, however, as the words left his bruised lips, it was a fact that Nicholas didn't believe himself.

____

I LEANED MY HEAD back against the cool sheets of Franks bed. He had insisted that I spent the night at his place because I was no longer safe at mine. The thought seemed bizarre to me, and I was finding the whole thing hard to digest. But I was so tired, physically and emotionally, that when he had pitched the offer, I had been a little too quick to accept.

His flat was much bigger than mine. Very beautiful, but a little clinical. It had different rooms, and despite the thick walls, I could hear him in his study. He was on the phone, and he was yelling. My hands reached for my phone in my pocket and I turned it on.

12 missed calls from Diana.

1 missed call from Mirabel.

I switched it right back off and got off the comforter. Despite my obvious fatigue, I was too uncomfortable to sleep. I wrapped my arms around myself and went over to the window sill to peer out the window. The night was peaceful, and the moon was boasting in its full element. No stars dotted the sky, but there was something comforting about the fact that the moon too was all alone, like me.

A sudden chill coursed through me and I felt grateful for the sweatshirt Frank had lent me.

I heard footsteps and spun around to find Frank standing in the doorway. His face was in a scowl, and his eyes were serious. He didn't look upset at me, just generally disturbed.

"Did something else happen?" My voice betrayed my cool demeanour. It still carried all the despair that I had been feeling all day.

Frank shook his head, and I noticed his jaw was ticking.

"Then what's wrong?"

"You." He said in a heartbeat. My words had not even settled in the air before his answer had come. It had shocked me into silence, and he heaved a sigh at my obvious dismay. "Not you. I mean you...being here. You need to go."

I blinked. "Go?"

He nodded.

"You're the one who asked me to stay here to—"

He cut me off with a dismissive wave of his hand and a step forward. "Not here. I mean SSCD."

The silence in between his words were palpable. "I don't understand why you hadn't left the second you realised something was wrong." His hands shook as they passed through his hair. "I know I was supposed to reassure you that you'll be alright here but you didn't even trust me."

I had been silent as he spoke. I hadn't even been looking at him anymore, but through him. Because for a moment, I had forgotten that I had been granted the option to leave.

"I hadn't remembered that I could." I whispered.

Frank looked appalled at himself. "Fuck. That's my fault. I was supposed to be looking out for you. That was my job." He crossed the room and stood before me. "But I'm telling you now. Go."

I should have been jumping at the thought of leaving but I couldn't even think of the possibility of feeling happiness. I didn't want to go. Not yet. Besides, who would I be going home to? Certainly not Diana's And was it really that easy to leave? Ultimately, it didn't make sense to me to leave and not know why I was even here in the first place.