I found out that it is in fact 3:56am with the alarm on my nightstand I didn't even know I had.
After a lot of debating, I decide I will go downstairs. When Elijah took me too my room after dinner, I made sure to count my lefts, rights and straights.
I quietly open the door and look both ways to make sure nobody's there.
No one is.
Alright, 4 rights, 3 lefts and a straight. This should be easy, right?
Where the fuck am I?
Right now, I'm standing in front of a door.
A tall door.
And I'm pretty scared to open it.
I took a watch I found on a table on the way here, and it's 4:23.
I close my eyes and cross my fingers before stepping forward.
I open them and stare down at the golden knob.
I grasp it, and am slightly surprised by how cold the gold is in my hand.
I twist it, quickly open the door, take a big step back and quietly yelp.
I gasp seeing it.
A piano?
I'm not in the position to judge right now but I would've never guessed that they had a piano hidden behind a dusty door.
It just stays there, in the center of the room.
Dust covers it, but it doesn't matter.
It's been such a long time since I've played.
Suddenly, anticipation fills me and I run to it in excitement.
I close my eyes and drift into the peaceful melody.
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I finish playing then jump at the sudden sound of clapping from behind me.
I turn around and see Aidan smiling down at me, clapping.
"You're really good, when did you learn to play?"
"I don't really remember, I think I learnt it when I was younger." I say, trying to recall when I learnt.
"Oh, maybe one of our brothers taught you before you.. anyway, I heard someone playing and saw it was you. Mum used to play." He explains, frowning at the mention of 'mum'.
"Where is mum and dad anyway?" I ask.
"Well.. mum got kidnapped along with you and dad died looking for you and her." He briefly says, seemingly wanting to stop talking about it. Something tells me there's more to it, but I don't press.
I wouldn't have played if I'd known these walls weren't soundproof..
"Oh.. I- I'm sorry for bringing it up." I apologize.
"It's fine, let's just go."
I nod and follow him, but also allow myself to get lost in my thoughts.
Damn, my own dad died because of me.
"Giovanni got you a phone by the way," He smiles, handing me a box.
"Thanks." I say, showing my gratitude.
I unbox it to find a phone. I've never had one but I know what they look like and what they do, maybe they'll cure the constant boredom I face while I'm here.
Not that I'm complaining, I'm really grateful they took me in.
"The others are in the gaming room, wanna join them?" Aidan asks.
"Sure," I respond, accepting mainly cause I have nothing to do.
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He opens the doors with force, making all their heads turn.
Giovanni wasn't there, just us five.
"Hey azzy!" Elliot says, grinning.
I smile lightly and wave.
I take a seat near Elliot and watch the intense chess game they were playing.
"Do you play chess?" Elliot questions, probably seeing how much I was staring.
"Yeah, pretty often." I reply, to which he nods and continues the game he was playing on his phone.
I used to play chess a lot in my room to distract myself from the pain of wounds and cuts Stefano used to leave on me or crashing bottles and arguments that were going on downstairs. I got it from Thomas after my 3rd arrest (When I was 13) cause I ' didn't have enough to do, so I just street-raced and graffitied as the medicine to my boredom.' What he said, not me, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't true, most parts of it was.
Oh yeah, did I forget to mention I do graffiti?
The game was between Elijah and Nicholas, and right now Nicholas was winning.
Elijah was good, but Nicholas' techniques were too much for him I guess.
This makes me want to play against him, a good player v a good player.
I mean, I'd consider myself good, considering I've been playing for 3 years now.
In the end, as expected, Nicholas won.
"Nicholas, can we play against each other?" I ask, loud enough for him to hear me.
Suddenly, Elliot and Aidan crack up into fits of laughter.
"Y-you think you can b-beat him? No one has EVER beat Nicholas in anything, he's like- a god at everything he does!" He manages out, sobering up.
"I'll prove you guys wrong," I mutter, huffing and stepping forward.
"Good luck Lea," Aidan sarcastically says, making 'lijah send him a scolding look.
I rolled my eyes at him and rolled my sleeves up.
I sit on the stool, then clean up from the last match.
"White or black?" I ask Nicholas.
"Black," He replies.
I take my first move.
He makes his first move.
Silences surrounds us.
Everyone watches as the chess pieces clatter against the wooden board.
(I have close to no idea how to actually play chess so just imagine it)
________________________________________________________________________________
And.. And..
"YES!" I shout in victory.
"HOW THE FUCK DID SHE BEAT THE NICHOLAS LAURIER??"
"OH MY GOD!"
"AZALEA YOU'RE AMAZING!"
I glance at Nicholas and he looked.. relaxed.
Calm.
Too calm.
Abruptly, he gets up and punches a wall.
Not expecting that, I flinch hard, but quickly mask it up with a shocked look, mentally praying no one saw.
Then, he starts coming towards me.
Instinctively, I shield myself with my arms.
When nothing happens, I look up and see everyone looking at me with concern, except Nich, who has an expressionless facade planted on his face, though if you were to look in his eyes, you'd be able to see the hint of sadness that glimmer in his eyes.
"Oh- uh, let's play a.. different game," I suggest, desperately trying to get the attention off me.
"Yeah, let's play a different game." Elijah agrees, sending me a 'you better explain later' look with a raised eyebrow. I love you so much right now 'lijah, but I ain't explaining shit.
________________________________________________________________________________
A few hours pass, and we're called down by Giovanni for dinner. Damn, we missed breakfast and lunch?
I follow everyone else since I don't know where the dining room is.
The cooks come and place our food down and I thank them, per usual.
I watch as everyone else lifts their lids and I do mine last.
The food was alfredo pasta. A really large portion of it too.
I take a few bites before slightly pushing the plate away.
I look over to my left and see Elliot eyeing my food.
I nod, smiling at his antics before he starts devouring it, leaving Aidan looking disappointed.
I wait till everyone is done before excusing myself to my room, and this time, I do actually know where it is. It's pretty easy to find the hallway, especially since they're gold pillars near it specifically.
I lay on my bed, thinking about what has happened today.
I found out I can play piano, and I beat a 'God' at chess in chess.
Maybe I'm not so useless after all.
I spend about 4 hours thinking about Mary and Stefano, that leading me into a nightmare-full sleep.
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Longest chapter yet!
Sorry I took so many days to update, school and all holding me up, but its done now!
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Bye byee!