Chapter 56
We were quiet the whole drive. He didn't ask anything and I didn't open my mouth. It was comfortable, unlike how it was with Savannah. I looked over at Iyaz, seeing him with an angry expression.
"Can you please not look so angry?" I asked him. His eyes widened before he looked at me for a second. He turned towards the road again and half-smiled.
"None of it is directed at you, you know that right?" he said softly. I kept quiet, because I couldn't make out when it was and when it wasn't. I was still waiting for some sort of punishment.
"I could never get mad at you. Don't ever think that when I am angry it is your fault" he said. I nodded, not saying anything else. We stayed quiet again after that. I felt like he wanted to say something the whole time but he didn't.
"We are here. We are at my house. Don't freak out when we go in and if you feel like you can't handle it, just tell me and I will get you out" he said, getting out of the car. I nodded, walking next to him towards a house that he was guiding us to. We stopped in front of it. It was very small but looked nice. He took steps forward and I followed him. The door opened before he could even do anything and there were a few faces looking at us. There were four girls standing in front of the door, eyeing me up and down. I took a step so I was hiding behind Iyaz. I took in his smell, calming down immediately.
"Guys, can you stop looking at her like she has grown a second head?" I heard Iyaz say. They all started talking at the same time and it was so loud that I put my hand on the back of Iyaz, being completely terrified with what was happening.
"Stop! You are scaring her" Iyaz yelled at them. It was quiet after that.
"Sorry, we were just too excited. She is gorgeous!" one of them said in a very high, soft voice. I smiled a little, not being so scared anymore.
"Just promise me you won't be your usual crazy self when I take her in, she isn't used to this" Iyaz said to them. They all yelled 'okay' making Iyaz go even angrier. He then turned around, looking me in the eyes with a smile.
"Don't be scared. They can be a bit too excited but they mean no harm. I am here and no one can hurt you" I nodded and he stepped aside, making me visible for them. They looked at me and smiled, not saying anything. Stepping aside, they let us in. The smell of the house hit me immediately. It felt.. warm, like it was nice to stay here. The walls were a broken white color, making everything look cozy. Iyaz took his shoes off and I copied him, not being used to it but I just followed him. He smiled at me before he started walking towards a door. The girls were walking behind me which was a bit scary, but I neared to Iyaz so I didn't have to be scared anymore. We walked into a room and there were two people sitting. When they saw us, they stood up and the woman had her hand on her mouth.
"Mum, dad, this is Beau" he said. Their eyes widened and the woman stormed towards me. I took a step back, wanting to escape but she was faster. She grabbed me and wrapped her arms around me. I froze, not knowing what to do. I wanted to get out of there, knowing that they were going to punish us. I looked at Iyaz, silently begging him for help. I didn't want to risk him being hurt but this was something I knew only he could solve. Iyaz walked over to us and grabbed the arms of the woman, letting her release me.
"Mum, please, you are scaring her" he said. Her eyes found mind and she took a step back.
"I am so sorry, I am just so excited you are here now. I am Rukiyya, but you can call me auntie" she said smiling at me. I didn't say anything and took slow steps towards Iyaz, needing his comfort for the foreign things that I was experiencing. The man behind her took a step forward.
"I am Iyaz's father. You can call me uncle. It is nice to have you here" he said, giving me a smile. I just looked at Iyaz, wanting to get out of there. He pushed me softly towards the door and we started walking away from there. He brought me to the kitchen and we sat down at the table. He looked at me for a second before he started talking.
"I know this is all new to you, but my family is very happy that you are here. They are more than okay with taking care of you" he said. I smiled, not knowing what to say.
"Are you hungry? Do you want something to drink?" he asked me but I shook my head.
"I am not hungry, but can I have water?" I asked him. He shot up right away and poured me a glass of water.
"Who were the girls that opened the door?" I asked him.
"Those were my sisters. Do you remember me telling about them?" he asked me. I nodded, remembering vaguely what he said.
"They can be a bit loud and too excited, but they are nice. You will get used to it after a while" he said, making me nod. We were quiet for a very long time.
"Thank you" I said, without realizing. He looked at me with wide eyes before he smiled.
"I promised, didn't I? Come on, I will show you where you can sleep. You look tired" he said and stood up. I followed him and we went upstairs. It was smaller there and there weren't a lot of rooms. He took me to one that was painted in yellow. Flowerprints were everywhere. It looked very welcoming.
"You will be sharing a room with my sister, is that okay? I know it will be hard fo you but she won't bother you. We just don't have enough rooms to give you your own. If you feel like you can't do it, just tell me" he said, scratching the back of his head.
"It is fine. I will tell you when it becomes too much" I said and he nodded. I went into the room and sat down on the bed.
"I am just at the room beside this one. Sleep well and don't shy away from asking things" he said, before closing the door. I looked around. Pictures with people smiling were hang around the room. They contained mainly Iyaz. I walked over to them, smiling when I saw his smile. When I was looking around, someone entered the room. I took a step back.
"Hey" she said and smiled at me. She didn't take a step forward so that kind of calmed me.
"I am Tuana, Iyaz's sister. I am the third one and the owner of this amazingly hippy room" she said. I smiled at her, not knowing what to say. She walked over to the drawer and took clothes from there. She then took a step forward towards me, making me take a step back.
"Alright, you can put these pajamas on. I will just be out the room so you can change, okay?" she asked me. I nodded and she went out. I immediately grabbed the clothes and put them on, not wanting them to come and punish me when I had nothing on. It felt weird to have her clothes on but in a way, it was kind of reassuring. I didn't have too much cloth to cover when I was back in the hole, so I liked to wear long things. I sat down on the bed and after a while she came back with a long thing.
"You can sleep in my bed. I will just sleep on this mattress" she said. I nodded, getting into the bed. She prepared the 'mattress' as she called it and lied down on it. She turned towards me and smiled at me.
"Know that we will never hurt you. You can use whatever you want in this room and in this house. If you need anything, just tell me" she said, before turning around. Sh stood up and turned the light off. My mind screamed and begged for her to open it but I was way too scared to ask. I didn't know what punishment she could give me since I didn't know it all here. I felt my body shaking and my hands started to sweat. I just hated darkness. I didn't like the light being switched off at night because it reminded me of the hole. I felt like I was back there again. The suffocating air that I had a hard time breathing in came back. The dirty floor, which the coldness numbed my body every night. The door that I was so scared it would open. Everything came back. Tears started to stream down and I bit my lip to prevent sobbing. I couldn't go through the punishments again. I wanted to get out of there. Iyaz promised me, but why am I still stuck here. I jus-
"Hey, is everything alright?" I heard when the light was being switched on again. I looked around me, not understanding where I was. This wasn't the hole. This didn't smell like the hole. I looked at her but she turned around and went out. Seconds later, Iyaz came in and neared towards me. He kneeled down in front of me.
"What happened?" he asked with a soft voice. Seeing him made me calm down, but my body was still shaking.
"I just.. I thought I was back there. The lights- I can't. I need the light" I said, being mad at myself for shaking so much. Iyaz turned towards his sister before he turned towards me.
"The lights will stay on. I am sorry, I should've known. But you need to remind yourself that you are not there anymore. Forget about it. You are here, safe, with me" he said, before he stood up. I didn't want him to go but I was scared to ask for him to stay.