Chase's pov:
I also needed to find out who did this to her. I will get to the bottom of this..
Leo, Adrien and I stand in silence for the next few seconds. The tension in our minds are growing by the minute. Adrien then suddenly walks upstairs probably towards Vincent's room. Leo then exits the room too, probably heading to his lab.
This leaves me alone in the kitchen. Just great. I take myself to the gaming room and begin to play Call of Duty. It's a good way to distract my mind from all my thoughts. My thoughts about Nat that is.
Time Passes:
By the time I know it, it's already 07:20 am. I switch off the Playstation 5 and make my way to the breakfast bar. When I get there I see Vincent, Adrien, Leo and Xavier there. Xavier was in his uniform. Where was Xander and most importantly, where was Nat? I remind myself that she is probably coming down soon. I sit down in one of the barstools beside Xavier and Adrien.
I start scrolling through my phone trying to check my work emails, but all my thoughts are about Nat.
I'm assuming that Adrien has told Vincent about today's event and he will probably have a chit chat with Nat sooner rather than later. A few minutes go by and Nat walks in. She has her shoulder lifted up with a phone sandwiched in between her ear. She was talking to someone in a cheery voice, I'm guessing one of her old friends.
She started laughing and smiling.
Words can't describe the amount of jealousy that was floating around in the room. Everyone's eyes were full of envy, especially Adrien's eyes. He is the closest to Nat currently, I could tell how badly he wanted it to be him. We all wanted to make her laugh like that. We all wanted to make her smile like that.
We all want to make her happy.
She started to scan the fridge for some ingredients. We all watch her in awe, even though she didn't acknowledge us, she still had an affect on us. So adorable.
She then says "Seb, did you even pack all my clothes? I would be naked if you didn't haha!" she joked. I hope it was a joke. It better be a joke, or he'll have hell to pay. She continues to make what seems like grilled cheese sandwiches? I'm pretty sure it's a thing from the UK.
We all look at each other until our eyes fall on her body. Adrien's eyes were red. Her bruises were darker in colour.
She then pauses and lets out a small giggle. She had the biggest smile I had ever seen plastered all over her face. She then says "What do you mean you wouldn't mind?" she laughs. We all share each other a 'what did she say?' glance. Finally Vincent speaks up saying "Nat, turn off the phone now." This grabs her attention and she murmurs a small "goodbye" to her friend on the phone. She then shove her phone in her sweatpants.
Now all of her attention is finally on us. Finally.
She then says "What do you want?" in a snappy attitude. This then in turn makes Vincent ask "Who were you talking with?" She then replies with "Just Seb." She shrugs her shoulders.
She then shoves a plate of six sandwiches on the counter. She then mentions "Eat up or the food will get cold." she then begins to retreat back to her room. Why did she make us food?
I couldn't let my thoughts only roam in my mind so I voiced it out loud. "Nat, why did you make us food?"
She then says "Why wouldn't I? Mother said I should always prepare breakfast or I'd get punished."
She then begins to walk away again when this time Leo grabs her arm. She winces at his action which makes him immediately let it go. He then jogs a little to get in front of her as she walks away and grabs her by the waist and flings her over his body. This makes her begin to punch his back.
She was so adorable when she was mad.
Leo then drops her to her feet and she then fixes her messed up hair. She then asks "What do you all want?" she asks in an annoyed tone. This time it's Xavier to point out "What the fuck happened to your body?"
Natasha's pov:
"What the fuck happened to your body?" Xavier asks me. I didn't know what he was talking about until I looked down and took a good look at my body. There were bruises everywhere. I knew this earlier but they seem to have gotten worse. I try to come up with the quickest answer which was "I tripped in uh.. football." I was usually a good liar but this question took me by surprise.
"I've already read your file, you didn't do football." spoke Vincent quickly.
I was stunned. Now I was caught out and all eyes were on me. I was taking steps backwards until I stumbled on someone's hard body. I fall into their arms and then they say "Watch where you're going whore."
I automatically knew it was Xander. Who else could it be?
I turn around and my presumptions are correct. I truly think that he is the devil in disguise. I go on my tippy-toes and lean in to whisper something in his ear "Call me that again and you'll have another bruise, but this time in your face." His face then goes pale and he walks over towards the breakfast bar. I give him a 'don't mess with me look' while he walks over there.
I'm 99% sure the others could sense the tension between us in the room.
Vincent then gestures me to answer his question before. I didn't want to talk to any of them so I just make my way to my room. I could hear them all shouting my name to come back, well all apart from Xander. I hope that lad learned his lesson one way or another. I could even hear them scolding Xander, but he ignored them too.
I really wasn't in the mood to talk to these strangers so I began to finish some boring filing work.
I was anticipating Flynn's arrival and that all I could think about was meeting him. I spent a good hour or so, completing some over-due paper work. Work was boring as usual but it felt good knowing that I had completed all the unfinished work. I was almost finished signing a few documents for a shipment when someone knocked on my door.
I wonder who it is? I didn't even want to talk to them anyways.
I begin to fix my terrible posture and close my old laptop. I hide away my physical documents under my bed and yell a "come in!" The door knob twists and in comes Vincent. Why was he here? What did he want? He proceeds to walk towards me but halts when I say "Stop there." sternly. He looks at me confused at first and then dismisses it shortly after. He then demands me to follow him to which I do hesitantly. I hate when people order for me to do things when I have little to zero respect for them.
Personally, respect is earned not demanded. He didn't have any yet.
I reluctantly continue to follow him up to his study. He opens the door and I follow after him. It was beautiful. The walls were a dark grey with white panelling. It had gold accents along the rims and furniture. There were two huge bookshelves with old, brown, dusty-looking books filled within at the back. In the middle there was a sturdy, dark wooden desk. There was a laptop hooked up to multiple monitors on the desk. Alongside the desk is a thick leather chair.
It was gorgeous, I was in awe.
It had renaissance themed carvings in the edges with gold. The furniture matched this theme. It was black leather with gold accents. He makes his way to the main chair behind the desk and he gestures me to sit down in one of the chairs opposite him.
I sit down slowly and as I lean back into the chair, I feel the cold leather on my bruises and wince. It was so damn sore. That fucker was going to get it.
I immediately fix my posture so my back was upright, not making contact with the backrest of the chair. He then says "Nat, I will be discussing the rules with you now as we didn't have time to do it yesterday." I nod to his idea unwillingly. He then explains the rules to me.
"There are six rules in this house, and since you are a household member you will be following them accordingly. If I have found out that you have broken one of these rules there will be consequences. Understood?"
I nod my head again, not wanted to initiate conversation.
"Rule one and this is the most important, use your words. I don't want to see you nodding or looking down when someone is speaking with you. Am I clear?"
I murmur a small "crystal" and then he continues.
"Rule number two, you must always and I mean ALWAYS tell one of us before you go out somewhere. This is purely for your safety and so we know where you are at all times. We have added a tracker to you new phone that is in your desk, please don't hesitate to set it up. If you need one of us to help you, don't be afraid to ask. You should be using your new phone within the week or so. If you even think about sneaking out, there will be serious consequences. Do you understand?"
"yes" I murmur again. I would just use my burner phone. I bet that haven't thought about that.
"Oh and don't you even think about using another phone young lady." He cleared up.
Spoke too soon.
"Rule number three, you MUST sit for at least two full meals with all the family. You will be in school for lunch so we will make an exception for that but, you WILL be present for breakfast and dinner. This is mandatory family bonding time so we could chat with each other. On the topic of eating, why didn't you eat that much yesterday or this morning?"
I didn't know what to say but "Uh... I have a small appetite."
He then nods to himself and says "In that case, we will be organising a nutritionist to visit you in the next few days. I don't want to be rude, but you are unreasonably skinny and we want the best for your health."
"Alright" I reply in an unhappy tone. I didn't want to rebel until something I actually valued came up. As long as there weren't random tubes going in and out of me, then I'm grand.
"Moving on rule number four, this one is quiet obvious but I will NOT tolerate any use of illegal substances. If I, or another member of this household catch you, there will be extreme consequences."
"But that's not fair, why can't I smoke of you can? What a hypocritical thing to do, no?" I phrase out my thoughts.
"I am an adult and you're not, simple as.." He states. I hated this man more by the second. He pauses for a minute before speaking again. I hope he would shut up soon.
"Alright then. Rule number five, absolutely NO BOYFRIENDS. Once I have decided that you are mature enough then and only then I will let you have a boyfriend. Along with this rule is no inappropriate dressing. I've only had to have this talk with you because you are my only sister. Which you are also a female. I expect you to NOT disrespect our family name by dressing as such."
"So you can decide who I love and who I don't? Why don't I get a say in who I actually love? You have no fucking idea of how mature I am. I can dress how I want, you have no right to tell me how to dress." I spat back. He wasn't going to gain full control over me in one fucking day.
"As long as I'm your legal guardian, you will do as I say, how I say, and when I say. I don't want to limit your freedom so please comply with these rules. Be grateful that I haven't talked about your verbal language yet." He orders.
Nah, I'm gonna do my own thing. "Whatever.." I murmur. I hope he heard that.
"On to my last and final rule, you will treat your elders with up most respect. We will not tolerate your vulgar remarks and your snappy attitude in the near future. We don't tolerate any disrespectfulness towards any staff member or guards too. Do you understand and comply?" He said
"yes.." I murmur again. I have lost track of how many times that I have said that.
"Alongside these rules, you must attend daily self defence training lessons with Chase. After school you will change and come straight to the gym and train for one hour. These protocols are purely for your safety and for our peace of minds." He states.
"Let's get this straight, you don't even know my gym schedule, you don't even know my actual qualifications from that the stupid file you have on me and you don't even know me personally." I remark
"So you're saying that you have had experience in self defence?" He questions.
"You could say something like that" I say with a small grin.
"Back to the topic of school, you will be starting next Monday on the 23rd of January. You will be attending BlueCrest High with the twins because they still attend high school. You are a sophomore, whilst they are juniors. They should help you fit into the school and make you feel more at home. Don't worry about your girly outfits, there is a uniform that is mandatory for you to follow. On the topic of clothes, you will be able to go shopping soon for more clothes, as I imagine that the temperature difference would be high. Do you have any more questions?" He asks.
"Actually.. I have to tell you something.." I begin.
Author's pov:
Yay! The book is finally coming to more exciting areas! I have many scenarios to use so stay tuned! :)
Thoughts on Vincent and Chase this chapter?
Word count: 2400