Rue's POV
ALEX, KAYLEE, DIEGO, NADINE, AND I are running through the halls, trying to find a way out.
My arm is draped over Nadine's shoulder, while Kaylee and Alex help Diego.
The news about Aniyah was shocking. Out of all of us, I never would have thought, that she would be the first to go. Diego doesn't seem to be doing too bad so far. I think he's in shock. He hasn't said a word since Nadine shared the news.
We stop and find some coats simply hanging on a rack. There's also blankets, we grab them so we don't have to walk in this unforgiving weather bare.
Nadine and me, get a head of everyone and find a door at the end of a hallway. The glowing words "Exit" are clearly directing us towards it. Nadine looks down at me, waiting for my approval? I nod my head yes, and without another second, the door is opened and we're met with the cold Russian weather.
I sigh in relief and breath in the fresh air.
I feel child go down my bare legs, but I don't care. This I what I've been waiting for since we've been in that god awful place.
Nadine leaves for a split second, helping Kaylee and Alex with Diego. They carefully walk over to the exit and stare. We're in the middle of nowhere. Trees surround us. Trees are all we can see.
But then a man. A man stumbles out from- I don't even know where, but he appears to be bruised and bloodied. It seems as though Nadine recognizes him, because when I look towards him, Nadine is hauling towards the man.
"Nadine!" I call out to him, but he's too far to hear. I stumble a bit as I search for something to hold on to. I grab onto the door frame and stand there. Waiting.
Nadine's POV
I run towards the man I recognize.
He's one of Ivan's men.
The short, stubby, awfully pale man. Struggling to get on his feet. His brown hair sticking to his forehead. Sweat I presume.
"Roan?" I ask. The man turn his head and fear immediately corses it's way through his body.
His eyes widen in a mixture fear and surprise
He stumbles back a little and tries to get on his feet.
"Uh- I- King Nadine-" he slurs.
"What are you doing here."
"I- I was captured, th-the famille française they somehow got ahold of us." He says. He's looking around frantically, but then his eyes fal back on me, "what are you doing here?" He asks. Confusion taking over his widened eyes.
I sigh of annoyance, "they got us too." I say, turning my head and scoffing, "how many of your people were taken?"
"6 men. They're all dead."
Dead. They've all died? How is he alive. The scrawniest out of the rest.
"How did you escape." I demand. His eyes- fear retakes them.
"They- They saved me." He says, looking down with a sad expression.
"Do you know this area? Does Ivan know you're alive, yet alone we're taken?" I ask.
He looks up at me and wipes a stranded tear that fell.
"Yes, I do know this area... and Ivan knows I was captured... because he payed them to capture us."
What.
The.
Fuck.
I look back at Rue, she's staring at me, worry painted on her face. Kaylee and Alex are talking, while Diego is longingly staring out into nothingness.
I look back at the man. He's staring up at me, his pleading eyes boring into mine.
"Are you gonna kill me?" He asks in a soft squeaky voice.
"Not yet. If you can lead me back to my house, safely, I might let you live." I say.
He stares for a moment, deciding whether or not he should make the deal. He finally gives in and shakes his frantically. I yank him off he ground and motion for the others to 'get the fuck over here'.
Kaylee and Alex help Diego, while Rue has to manage by herself. She holds onto whatever she can, as she makes her way over here.
When Rue finally gets to us, I break the news.
"This is all Ivan's doing. He paid the famille française to kidnap us, to torture us. To kill Aniyah." I say the last part looking at Diego.
He just stares sorrowfully at the ground,
"And this little guy," I say motioning to Roan,
"He's gonna lead us all the way home."
Everyone turns their attention to him and glare daggers at him.
"If he's one of Ivan's guys, why the fuck is he here and offering to help us." Diego spits in anger.
"That doesn't matter right now, all I want to do is get home." I say, "so lead the way." I push Roan away from me , seeing as he can somehow walk perfectly now.
I go over to Rue and watch as she limps towards me a little, "Are you okay?" I ask.
She nods her head, but I can see her body shaking. Once we get back to the house, we're packing up and leaving, but not before I talk to Ivan.
-
We make it to the road where me and Rue had ventured into the woods, and when we returned, had found the bloody car.
"How much longer." I answer in demand.
"I need to know where your house is to continue going." He says out of breath. I give him a long stare, not knowing if he's lying or telling the truth. He looks up at me and scoffs,
"I'm not gonna try anything, plus even if I did, there's more of you than there is me."
I nod my head in understandment, "I think you can leave the rest to us." I say with a smile. I snap my fingers, motioning for Alex to tie him.
Alex takes his black tie he wore to the ball, and wraps it around Ronan's eyes. Roan struggles against his grip, but gives up, "That's better." I say with a smile.
-
After 30 minutes of walking, we finally arrive to the house. I had to carry Rue most of the way, because it looked like she was nearly about to faint.
The limo from the other night, is still parked in the driveway, but it's cleaned up. Not an ounce of blood covers the doorstep or the snow.
My men must have cleaned it up. But why weren't they looking for me?
Rude.
"Put him in the basement." I command, motioning to Roan. Alex nods his head and walks Roan inside.
"You can put me down now. I feel better." Rue mumbles. Her face was snuggled in the crook of my neck, her breath warm against my cold skin. The snow is starting to melt a little.
I place Rue in her feet, and shes able to walk.
That's good.
We go inside and see everyone scattered on the couch. I look to Alex and see him cuddled up with Kaylee, "You tie him up?" I ask, referring to Roan.
"Yea." He simply says.
Diego's foot seems better, because he is now going upstairs and slamming the door.
I sigh I'm frustration. Why can't things go the way they intend to?
"Go pack, we're gonna be leaving this fucked up country. I just have to do some things first." I say. I walk up to my bedroom, but hear soft footsteps behind me.
I slowly turn around to see Rue, as soon as she meets my gaze, her cheeks burn with a soft pink. She looks at the floor, avoiding my eyes and fiddling with her fingers.
"Are you ok?" I ask. When I had found her, it looked like she was nearly dead. Cuts were scattered across her pale body. They didn't look deep, but they looked like they hurt. I had also noticed scars on her thighs. Burn marks, to be exact.
Rue looks up at me through her eyelashes, she scoots a little closer to me so that she's only a foot away.
I take in every feature she has. Her soft freckles. They way they're scattered, making it look like it could be different patterns. Her red hair. The way her hair bounces when she walks, her soft curls that frame her face. Her chocolate brown eyes that could pass off as hazel in the sun. The eyes she stares up at me with. The way she fiddles with her hands when she's nervous, or scared. Everything about her.
It's mesmerizing.
"I don't want to think about it." She says, still looking at me, "I just don't want to be away from you. Ever again."She says the last part a little quiet. So quiet I could barely hear it.
"That's ok." I whisper, she tries to look down, but gently grab her cheeks so that's she looking up at me, "don't be scared, I will never hurt you, okay. I promise." I say truthfully. I will never purposely hurt her. I will do everything in my power I can do, to make sure she survives.
A few tears fall from her eyes, but I swiftly wipe them away. I look down at her lips. Her perfect pink lips. I can't tear my gaze away. It's too late.
A piece of hair falls in front of her face. I place it between my fingers, playing with it. Her hair is a dark red, but I'm some parts of her hair, it looks like she has streaks of black or dark brown.
"I'm gonna go take a shower. Okay? I'll be out in a few minutes." I say, as I'm about to walk to my room, she catches my hand, causing me to slim back around and face her.
"I-" it's as though she's lost her words. That she had nothing to say, "can I stay in your room? I don't want to be by myself." She says shyly, looking down to cover her rosy cheeks.
"Of course." I say as if it's obvious. She looks back up and a smile forms in her lips. She terries to hid it by looking away, but I turn her chin back to me. "I love your smile."
We walk into the room, the smell of flowers filling my senses. Rue looks around the room as if she's examining it. Her finger glazes over a few books I have laying around. My room is surprisingly clean. Before or if, the maids had died, they cleaned my room up nicely.
Rue sits on my bed awkwardly as if she doesn't know what to do. Her legs are still bare and bloody, except now the blood is dry and is a brownish red.
I go to the bathroom and grab a washcloth from under the sink. I get rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide from the medicine cabinet.
Rue is waiting patiently, her hands fiddling and her knee bouncing up and down.
I go over and crouch down in front of her.
Now I'm the one looking up at her, into her brown eyes.
I pour a little of the rubbing alcohol on the towel, and wait for it to soak in. I look up at Rue, waiting to see if she's ready. She nods her head yes, I slowly rub the cloth over the cut on her cheek. She winces in pain and suddenly she grabs my hand. She looks at me embarrassed, but I just smile in return.
God I have fallen so hard and she doesn't even realize it.
-Brooke ♥️ 11/10/2021 Wednesday