~One Week Later~
Cress-
There comes a point where you're too tired, too numb from the shock to focus on the present. Do you ever get that feeling? They say it's called getting the mean reds. Not the blues, like when it's been raining too long, because that's just being sad. No, it's the ugly reds-and they're downright horrible. Some people are lucky enough that they never have to feel that. They never reach the point where you realize you are incapable of contributing anything to the world. All you seem to be able to do is sit, with eyes wide open, as your mind floods with memories.
She was tied to the plush velvet seat, cozied up in their own special, premier first class compartment as the train barreled and hissed its way along the tracks. The Le Courtiers were just behind her, watching to window in the door. She was out of view from a single passenger. At that moment she ceased to exist.
The last few days had been just as empty, just as unfeeling. In the beginning, the first night away from Thorne, she had cried so hard they were forced to gag her to make the hotel manager stop knocking on their door. His kiss burned through her, along with his betrayal. It was still impossible to understand. Cress feverishly ran through their weeks together, desperately trying to figure out if her captors were lying. They had to be, it was a habit for them now. But...if that was true, and it had all been to hurt her...why hadn't Her Thorne fought for her? Why hadn't he cried out and comforted her, telling her like he had moments before that everything was going to be okay? Why hadn't he acted the way he had when she thought they actually had a chance together?
But he wasn't hers, was he. He was just a boy who'd bought her a train ticket.
He was just a boy who'd lied.
Just a boy who'd pretended to care.
A boy who'd stolen her first, and second, and third kiss.
Her heart began to physically convulse around 11 at night. It had been so painful she lost control of everything else in an attempt to end it. She'd thrashed and flailed until her wound tore so badly, Mr. Le Courtier had to call in the family doctor and bribe him to keep quiet as he stitched up the wound. Cress had hoped for a moment it was out of concern, but deep down she knew better. They couldn't be seen with someone as brutally damaged as her. That was why they were together in the first place. So she waited until the doctor showed up before panic arrived again.
Cress hadn't known agony before the alcohol hit her ripped stomach. Everything from that night was nothing but a blur, needles and blood and the doctor's sweat. They made sure she was alright by forcing her to stand, which is when they found out about the crushed ankle. The doctor was so appalled he didn't accept the payment for the operation. Apparently the ankle bone itself was nothing but bone fragments, and healing would take years, if ever. She had been tempted to tell him the truth; it didn't matter if she could walk, because she wouldn't have a need to breathe soon enough. Cress didn't feel like confusing him any more than he already was, so she kept quiet. Eventually her body gave up. She didn't wake up for two days.
When she finally did wake up around noon on Thursday, still somehow exhausted and about ten pounds thinner, Cress found herself dressed in a tight mahogany gown, a thick bandage around her middle and chest to hide the fact that she was really nothing but a skeleton now. Her constantly freezing feet were wrapped in pointed, shiny boots. They made her want to gag. Images of the newsies, starving with nothing but rags and cotton to keep them from dying. Children who were happy and grateful for anything they could get their hands on. Her family.
And here she was, the girl with the prettiest handcuffs. That's really all these accessories were.
Her hair had been washed and combed, (by an assistant of course) and hidden under a heavy wig of straight brown locks that hung down her back. A lipstick and rouge had been applied, along with a foundation that covered the scratches and made her cheeks look rosy instead of hollow.
She'd never looked more beautiful, and had never felt more empty.
The train jolted, sending a tingle down her spine. She blinked several times, every movement sluggish and awfully slow. The view whizzed by, one person's hometown after the next becoming nothing but a meaningless blur.
Cress felt like she was the train, in several small ways. She was hurtling down a path she wasn't ready for, at a speed so unbelievable she couldn't focus on just one second at a time. She was leaving everything she'd ever cared about behind. She was losing it all, and with every minute a few more miles separated her from the only chance at freedom she'd ever known.
It was a little difficult to find hope in the situation. It was a little difficult to make sense of anything, really.
Cress blinked again, memories colliding with reality and making it hard to determine real from fake.
He was much younger than she'd initially thought. Probably only twenty six or so. The dark hair she'd been wary of actually had streaks of blonde running through its waves. His eyes glimmered, with mischief or mayhem, she didn't know. It made her nervous, but somewhere deep down, the brave part of her was intrigued.
She'd been an idiot. Never again would that blasted Carswell Thorne, or anyone else, hurt her.
"Alright, you win lady. We are headed to the superb and glamorous streets of Brooklyn!" He spread his arms wide, like an announcer at a circus. She blinked.
"Brooklyn? But isn't it a little...unsafe?"
"That's the whole point. Your parents wouldn't think that we'd stop in a place so close to home, and such a dirty place at that. Besides, my friends own a bed and breakfast over there, and I haven't seen them in years."
"Why?" She asked, noting how his eyes dropped suddenly.
"You have secrets, and I'll keep mine, we clear Cress?" He said, so quietly that she gaped at him.
Cress let her eyes fall, shutting out the world as his face echoed in her head.
Who was she kidding? She didn't have the strength to be stubborn. He'd already stolen her heart; there was no way she was getting it back. And as for never getting hurt; that seemed to be the only thing coming in the future. She might as well brace herself while she had the chance.
She was going to die. She was going to die.
Cress was about to die.
But you know what? She wasn't scared any more.
He flashed her a triumphant smile, his mask slipping back into place, "You'd be absolutely lost without me, darling."
If only he'd known.
Thorne-
"Cinder? You there?"
"Yeah. Ise is hea. Whadda want."
"My, aren't you friendly."
"I'm not in the mood for youse's games, Thorne. My head is still hoitin from youse shoving it inta da wall. Ise needs ta sleep if youse don'ts have anythin worthwhile ta say."
"Wait- please don't go."
"M'kay."
"I-i mean we--." Sigh. "We really messed up, didn't we?"
"Yeah. Yeah wes did. But when it comes ta stupidity I think youse won. Youse lost da one goil who'd neva double cross ya. Ise could sees it, she coulda followed you anywheres."
"No need to rub it in. I'm fully aware. And hey, it's not like you didn't lose something special too."
"How dare youse joke abouts Peony?! H-HOW DARE YO--"
"NO. No I wasn't talking about her. Cinder, I swear. I...I didn't even know about her. I was talking about that gentlemen fellow, with the fancy hair."
"Oh. Well, if he's supposed ta be da best da woild's got ta offa, den whys he so eaga to leave me? Whys won't he listen? Ya know, I bet he saw Peony die. I bet he watched her fall. And den he went an' spit---"
Sob. Another sob.
"Please don't cry. Please."
"That's really sweet to be so concerned,Thorne. Thanks." Sniffle.
"No no, I mean seriously don't cry because I have no idea how to deal with crying women. It's a very rational fear of mine. Seriously. Stop."
Silence.
"Thanks."
"Why da ya think Loife hates us so much? I means are wes really that terrible of people?"
"I don't think Life cares what kind of people we are. It just thinks about how it can beat us down before it builds us back up." Pause. "Not that it tends to build us up often."
"Dat's probably de most profound thing Ise eva hoid. Wow, Thorne."
"Eh. It comes with the job."
"An' what'd that'd be exactly? Cause I don't think I eva hoid that part of da story."
"Well, that's part of the reason I hurt Cress so much. I was getting paid to take her away. I didn't think they were gonna set me up too though. I got beaten at my own game." Laugh.
Silence again, this time much longer.
"I messed up pretty badly too ya know. Not da same way, but...I did whateva Ise could ta keep Peony and I safe. Even if dat meant someone else got in danga. When Peony and mes foist joined da newsies, wese were lucky ta even sell a few papes. Den I saved her and a few of da boys in a gang fight, and all of a sudden Ise was d'ere leada. What da heck do Ise know about bein a leada? All I know is a dead dad and a sis who is dependent on mes. Ise neva had nothin, and all of a sudden I got a family. A family, Thorne. Dat means no one eva gets left behind. Theyse were da best things ta eva happen ta me. An' now, all cause of some lousy guy, I don't know if I'll eva see dem again. And as fa Peony--she's all Ise got Thorne. I gots nothin now. My sis was da sweetest thin' I've eva seen and now it's ova cause of me."
"I don't know what to say. And from me, that's kind of a bloody big deal."
"Even now, you still have an ego."
"It's a habit. Sort of like a protection. It helps when you'd rather not let people know what you're feeling. It sort of became a necessity a few years back."
Laughter.
"Wese is insane. Aren't wese?"
"Yes. Yes we are."
Scarlet-
It felt strange to be baking in her kitchen again. The smells and boiling pots were familiar and yet foreign at the same time. Memories of starting the inn flooded back. Those were simpler times. Ze'ev was out serving customers, and Ben was curled up under the counter, powdered sugar still coating his lips and fingers. She'd been testing out her grandmother's beignet recipe, and clearly it was a success. It should have been the coziest setting, not to mention the roaring fire and warm clothing.
But it was as imperfect as could be.
She hadn't heard from any of their friends for days. Cress and Thorne were absent, and they'd had to clean out the room so more guests could move in. Their clothes and belongings were neatly folded in Scarlet's room, a reminder everyday that she didn't know what had happened to them.
But after Ben had moved in, so did a few of the others, which was right on time. Levana had made plans to shut down the Lodging house permanently after publicly announcing all of Cinder's crimes. She claimed the newsie lifestyle had enforced her behavior, shutting it down and sending the boys to the orphanages. They had nowhere to go, the whole lot of them. There were enough that Ze'ev was planning on buying the closed down house next to them to make room for an orphanage. It was crazy, and probably very stupid, but the bank knew they could trust the investment. Scarlet was so run down with cooking, cleaning, folding, washing, and caring for kids that she had to remind herself sometimes she had a life at all.
But it was hard to think of a time when she'd been happier. They'd hired one more server, and after the strikes, more and more newsies were spending their dinners there, so the income was up.
She'd become religious too. After the miscarriage, Scarlet stopped praying. They had sold their scriptures to fund the ride to New York. They'd moved on. But now, with Ben sleeping in her arms and Ze'ev beside her, she'd close her eyes in the dark and pray until she slept. It was sometimes just jumbled thoughts, but for the most it was thanks for giving her something warm and real and safe to hold onto.
A bang from the door kicked her out of her memories.
"Miss Scarlet, Ise got word for youse from da Jail."
She whirled around, her eyes narrowing.
"Vat are you talking about?"
"It's Cinda! Theyse still got Cinda! Youse just gotta come, please come Scarlet!"
She wiped the flour from her apron and woke up Ben.
"Whadisit?" He muttered, rubbing powder in his eyes by accident.
"I need your 'elp. Ve are going to save Cinder." He beamed at her before kissing her cheek.
"I love youse, Mum."
Scarlet smiled the biggest smile she had in a long, long time.