Muddled voices flooded my ears and I groaned. Nobody seemed to notice though, as the conversation continued to flow above my head.
"She should be awake any minute now."
"What do we tell her when she wakes up?"
"Nothing; the less she knows, the better."
Words were voiced in approval before I groaned again. It felt like someone had crashed a plane into my head three times over. The conversation came to an end quickly, but one thought remained in my head. What didn't they want me to know?
Adding it to the ever-growing list of questions I had, I forced myself from my drug-induced thoughts.
It took another moment for me to collect myself completely. Once I did however, my body shot upright. Their proximity was too close, my fingers tapped and dug into my thighs.
A set of hands took my shoulders and guided them back to the surface I was laying on.
"Easy there belle, the drugs are still wearing off." My tongue scraped across my mouth, searching for any liquid to help the desert called my throat. He needed to let go of me. I didn't want his hands touching me ever again. They were all liars, dirty, nasty liars.
Forcing my eyes open, I stared into the darkness that I recognized as my bedroom. "How do you feel? Any itching, swelling, burning?" Armel's voice reached my ears before I felt a hand press against my forehead. Hissing at the contact, I pushed myself to a sitting position, before moving as far away as I could from everyone.
The guys were all either sitting on my bed or leaning against the walls. My eyes raced between them all. What had they done to me while I was drugged? Why did they drug me? Who were they? The second one I knew the answer to, they drugged me so that I wouldn't run, so that they would have the calm before the storm.
Well now boys, the storm has awoken and is ready to rage.
Hercule seemed to understand my apprehension and smiled. "We'll be back in the morning mon étoile, try to get some sleep." He smiled gently at me before turning to the boys. "Out, all of you, now."
"Comment allons-nous la surveiller si nous partons tous ?"
(How are we going to watch her if we all leave?)
I hated their French conversations. Like, if you have something to say, say it to my face. Well, scratch that, maybe don't say it to my face. My heart and head could only take so much. My eyes didn't leave my brothers as Valentin and Matthieu left with Armel.
On the other hand, Léon hadn't moved off the wall yet. Hercule turned to face his baby brother and smiled slyly. "Une fois endormie, l'un de nous reviendra la surveiller."
(Once she is asleep, one of us will come back to watch her)
Léon grinned in response and left the room, followed quickly by Gabriel and Alexandre.
When it was only me and Hercule in the room together, he turned back to me. His dark eyes bored into mine as he searched for something. Sighing, he stalked towards the door. His hand was on the doorknob when he spoke again, his muscular back to me. "One day, I hope you can trust us again. But until then, we will wait." It was an odd thing to see Hercule vulnerable like this. His shoulders trembled as he drew in a breath, forcing himself to don his mask again. "Get some sleep, Nadia." And with that, he left the room, leaving me in the dark.
The last thing I wanted to do right now was sleep in a house full of people I couldn't trust; but he was right, I needed sleep. Shutting my eyes, I tried to hide from the demons, and fall into a thoughtless rest.
***
Howling rain woke me from my sleep.
Sucking in a breath I scanned the room. Thunder struck somewhere close by and I jumped. Storms were my least favorite weather, the loud noises scared every part of my body, fingers included.
Lighting crackled close by, sending a white light into my room, and highlighting the form of a burly man at the foot of my bed.
He seemed to feel my gaze, and raised his bald head, revealing a Cheshire grin. "You'll be mine soon enough Dove."
Thunder cracked and another flash of lightning hit but he was gone. The only sign that someone had even been in my room was the open window. My curtains billowed in the winds as the storm raged on.
Glancing around the room again to be sure he was truly gone, my eyes landed on a slumped figure. Squinting my eyes at the figure, I realized it was none other than Alexandre. How is it that he would sleep in here, yet somebody could still sneak into my room? Or passed the shadows with guns that surrounded the house at night?
Sighing, I slid out of bed and crossed to the window, preparing to close it.
My hands were on the top of it, ready to pull the glass pain down when a small shape caught my eye. Lighting struck again and I shrieked. There, on the sill, was none other than a dead dove with an arrow through its heart. My hands clamped over my mouth to prevent another scream as I stumbled away from the window.
My legs felt like lead as I forced myself to my closet.
Pulling my old backpack out of a drawer, I grabbed a sweatshirt and slipped it on. The sweats went on next, replacing the dress that I had been wearing when I had been drugged. Shoes followed and I sighed. I really wanted to be safe and happy but I couldn't do this anymore.
Walking back into my room, I gently placed Fleur into my bag along with the glass ballerina and a small amount of money.
My covered feet made soft noises as I left my room and walked slowly down the stairs, towards the kitchen.
If I was going to do this, I was going to need food.
Ransacking the cabinets, I found granola and some peanut butter to eat and a couple of bottles of water to drink. Adding them into my backpack, making sure that the ballerina was safe, I searched the drawers for a piece of paper.
Pulling out a small pad, I scrawled my note quickly.
Dear everyone,
Thank you for taking me in and giving me a glimpse of a life I could only imagine, but I had to leave. Don't bother searching for me, I won't come back.
It was simple, to the point. Setting it on the island, I walked out of the kitchen and down the hall to the front door.
***
Thunder clapped and lightning struck as I took one last look at the place I had wanted to call home, before turning my back and running.
I didn't know where I was going to go, all I knew was that I had to get away from these people.
Slipping through a gap between the iron rods of the front gate, I looked around.
I was free now, but where would I go? I hadn't been in France for too long, and most of the time I had spent at the mansion with the boys.
Setting off down the road, I hiked my bag up on my back and smiled. For once in my life, I had done something for myself. Nobody was here now to tell me to go back, to remind me that all actions have consequences. All that mattered now was that I found somewhere to stay and that I figured out where to go next before they found me.
Deep down, I knew that they would search for me, whether or not I wanted them to. They would always search for me, they didn't know how to give up. It was something that I admired about my brothers. No, I couldn't go down this path now, I was leaving them because they weren't good for me. They didn't deserve to take over my thoughts.
***
The sun was beginning to rise when I finally made it into a town. The boys had to have realized by now that I had left the house and was on the run.
Clearing my head, I searched for somewhere I could find a car to take me far from this place. It was inconvenient that Hercule still had my phone, it would've been really helpful now in figuring out where to go. I didn't need it though, I wouldn't rely on something that they had given me. I mean, in all honesty, it probably had a tracker or something in it.
My legs were sore as I walked further into the town, before finding an old pub. Smiling to myself, I walked into it and found a seat at the bar top.
"Que puis-je obtenir pour toi ?"
(What can I get for you?)
Looking up, I spotted a girl from school. "Hey! I know you right? You go to my school?" Her thick accent coated all of her words. I bobbed my head at her enthusiasm. "So what brings you to my corner of the world then?" She rose her arms and motioned to the dark pub around us. Shaking my head, I pointed to my mouth and she coughed. "Oh, right, sorry about that, here you go." The girl handed me the pad of paper, that was in her hand, before leaning against the counter in front of me.
I need a ride to somewhere far from here.
Handing her back the pad, she looked at it, then at me.
"So you're running from home then, hmm?" Yeah, I guess you could say that.
Shrugging my shoulder at her, she grinned. "Come on then, I think I can help." She pulled the counter next to her up and stepped through the opening, before taking my hand in hers. "The girls at school were saying that you beat up Juliette Thomas, I wish I had the balls to do that. That girl has had her crown for too long, it's good to see it knocked off for once." Bringing my hand up to my lips, I covered the snort that escaped. I had never heard anyone talk badly of the queen bee before, I guess it just surprised me that there were more opposers than I realized.
The girl led me out of the pub and into the ally next to it where a row of cars was neatly parked in the small space.
Her pace picked up as she approached a beat-up car. "Well, here we are! Hop in!" My face must've revealed my confusion because she smiled, excitement clear on her face. "I never pass up a chance for an adventure, and an adventure you are on my dear. Now, in in, we have places to be and people to run from!" She pointed her finger at the sky before ushering me into the passenger side of the car.
***
Music blared as the car soared down the highway. I had no idea where we were going, but I was here for it.
The open windows caused a nice breeze to flow through the car. This was something that I never thought I would be doing, running from my family. Yeah, the last time I tried something like this, it didn't end well. That's why this time I would be more careful, and make sure to keep my new friend out of the middle of it for as long as I could.
"So are we planning on going back tomorrow morning or like the afternoon? I mean I still have classes to attend, not that I care about them anyway." Shrugging my shoulders at her question, I leaned my head back and watched the scenery pass. "I like it! We are truly on an adventure friend!" Bobbing my head, my eyes began to close. Sleep was something that I needed more of lately. It seemed like whenever I closed my eyes though, something bad was bound to happen. No, I was free from everything and everyone. I would just have her drop me off somewhere near a city, and I officially would be on my own.
My mind finally drifted off with the thought that I would finally be free from my past. Nothing could hurt me now. The storm had been let loose and there was no taming it now.