Diamonds in the Dark

𝓓.𝓲.𝓽.𝓓 ▰Chapter 9▰

▰SALLY'S POV▰

I'm not just in military detention. I'm in total isolation. I pace four walls, and I look at the pile of paper books my dad left me. Yep. Fucking. Asshole. He didn't tell anyone I was here, and I knew he was a fucking psycho but – now he had officially gone too far with his control.

"Daddy Dale, is fucking crazy," I tell Ariel this, she's just busted me out – using her nails to unhinge every device keeping me detained, "I always suspected it."

"Well, think of it like this. Megalomaniacs are obsessive about power, if they lose power, they lose control and everything else becomes an obstacle to them. I agree, Dale is too sensitive, I didn't even know he was this sensitive. Fuck him," Ariel sits with me in Sparky – my car that... yes, Dale made for me. Another toy I had to steal back, almost every time.

"Fuck them all, honestly," I shake my head, "So, you wanted to tell me something, Ari?"

"Have you ever been in love?" Ariel blushes as she asks me, and she sits carefully forward, pretending to look at her clasped hands, fiddling with her fingers before she glances back up at me, "Seriously, Sally."

"Yes," I answer honestly, but I don't know if I want to elaborate on it, "Why are you asking, Ariel?"

"...did you think you were going insane... that you'd give so much of yourself, your will, your soul, your mind; to another?" Ariel furrows her brow at her own question, "Sorry, that sounded really weird."

"That is really fucking weird, and no way... I think when you love someone you trust them and sometimes hate them, but, overall, you appreciate who they are, they complement you, they are attracted to you, you're attracted to them. Really. Simple. Stuff. It's not what you just said," I try not to laugh, "Are you sure you are okay, Ariel?"

"Yeah," she nods, but she won't look me in the eye, "So, um, I have something else to tell you."

"Yes?" I wait, realising she sounds... hollow and numb, almost. I wonder if the miscarriage is affecting her, as this is the first time we had spoken since. Just another fucked up thing about Dale locking me away to keep me out of ARMY's sight.

"So, Blue's birthday party last night was stormed, and..." Ariel trails off. We're parked on the curb outside the military hospital, and one tall man in ripped military cargo pants, and a black tank top, strolls by. He turns to the car very briefly.

Ariel is frozen, as the handsome stranger with messed up black hair, seemingly stares at her for a second. And then he is gone.

"That was odd," Ariel blurts, far too quickly, turning back to me, "Um, maybe call Alyssa – because there was an emergency last night. And –"

"...who the fuck was that?" I ask.

"A f- a um, just nobody, uh," Ariel scrambles for the door and I reach over to grab her elbow, seeing the glazed look in her eye.

"Sis, look at me," I snap and Ariel jerks out of my grip, violently.

"Don't touch me," Ariel swings open the door, hauls her ass up and slams the door back shut. I watch her walk off down the street and I decide she must be dating someone... or whatever.

And then I sit back, turn on the radio – and my whole world is promptly flipped upside down.

What Ariel didn't finish telling me, was that FC was attacked last night.

I sit back in my chair, in shock.

I hear it all in the span of ten minutes. Every detail. Every attack. The soldiers responsible were four, descriptions weren't too accurate. Security footage was mostly wiped from the city systems, prompting fears of hacking.