"What does this mean for us then?" I asked as calmly as I could manage, we were weaving our way through the crowds of all-too-familiar faces, some Dragons grimaced, some winked, some spat at us and some grabbed for us... they were an inclusive bunch of people.
Meghan hissed out a breath and swerved to avoid the grimy hands of some random man, he slurred a drunken curse at her and flipped her off as he stumbled away. I saw here fist tighten at her side, but she kept it together - rather impressively given her quick temper. Parker strolled along on the opposite side of me, keeping his expression stony and distant.
It was almost frightening how quickly these people can slip into a facade.
"Well considering his hand was hovering over the back-up plan button as soon as we left... it probably means trouble-" Meghan cringed, "-Jodie told you about Kat right?" I looked at her carefully, her face was always a picture of stone-cold indifference, but this time there was something else running through it.
Anxiety. Fear. Anticipation. Nerves.
"Yes. She did." I said quietly, I was uncomfortable in the company of Dragons when I was most certainly not one - the was clear to anyone who saw me. At least Meghan and Parker had the alias' of Abby and Matthew. As long as they were going by those names, they were accepted as Dragons. I was not. Under any name.
Parker groaned, "Thing is, he can't keep a cool head when it comes to you." he glanced down at me briefly, "Unfortunately for us, neither can Kat. If shit got nasty... at least one of us will come out of this in a hearse." he wasn't joking either.
"Kat is a good girl, but she loses the plot - she sees the bodies in front of her, not the life beneath them." Meghan inputted, "Trust me. She's nearly killed Joe and Harrison on consecutive occasions. That was training too." Meghan allowed herself to smirk but played it off as if she was directing it at one of the Dragons, "Although I'm almost certain the follow-up incidents were on purpose - she hates Joe."
"Why?" Kat was someone who piqued my interests, she was someone worth knowing about for leisure and for your own safety.
Parker let out a long whistle and shook his head, chuckling to himself, "Joe and Kat dated for like, four months or so-" Meghan snorted, "-Joe called it off in an argument, heat of the moment thing, they did it a lot, but he called her crazy. You don't call Kat crazy." he looked down at me and caught my eyes, for a moment he stopped talking and gazed at me. Parker then cleared his throat and continued, "She didn't appreciate it, lost her cool and swore she'd kill him. She never will, but 'accidentally' putting him in harm's way on numerous occasions is good enough for her." I looked down at my feet, my cheeks burning.
Parker. What you just did was weird.
"Yeah. Ok, well enough of that. Harrison's "hooker" Jewel gave us our room numbers, our first duty as qualified Dragons is to escort you to yours and ensure you don't leave it until Isaac permits. So follow us." Meghan said stiffly, leading me up a spiral steel staircase that was bitterly cold to the touch.
At the top of the staircase was a single white iron door, a small window in the centre of it, with bars covering the outside, "This is a jail cell." Parker mumbled and I couldn't agree more.
Meghan opened it up and waited for me to go inside, she grabbed my arm before I walked in and bent down close to my ear to whisper to me, "Once I shut this door, I've been told it'll lock, the only person who can open it again is Isaac - we can't stop him, from... from doing anything. I don't like you very much Aria, but I wanted you to know that us not doing anything doesn't mean we don't-" she pursed her lips, "-It doesn't mean we don't care, okay?" I looked at her carefully and nodded slowly.
"Thank you, Abby."
Parker swore softly under his breath and turned his back to the door, crossing his arms in front of him and squaring his shoulders. Meghan pushed me into the room and slammed the door behind her. She then did exactly the same thing as Parker, from what I could see through the window.
Them turning their backs to me - even though I knew they had to, it still made me feel bad inside. I clutched at the hems of my jacket and bit my lip, turning around to examine the room.
It was homely enough despite being underground and made of concrete. It felt oddly familiar, the colours, the way the furniture was positioned... the furniture itself was exactly the same as-
I gasped, covering my open mouth with a shaking hand.
Exactly the same design as my old bedroom. When we dated, this is exactly what my room looked like, down to the photo frame with my dad's photo in it on the "windowsill" he'd had mounted on the wall, with a window-sized photo of my old view.
The flimsy wooden bed I'd insisted on my dad buying me purely for the fact that I can connect my "princess canopy" to the top of it was situated under the windowsill. The canopy was made of lilac tulle with small pieces of glitter spread throughout and it hung around the head of the bed. I don't know why, but it felt like a shield for the top half of my body that was exposed to monsters. Immediate protection.
My mouth quivered as I took in all the other details of my old room, the room that my mom and dad worked together to get ready for me, painted the walls with intimate-precision, made sure everything they DIY'd was made to measure and wouldn't take up too much room.
My cheeks became wet, I brushed them away with my hands and took a deep breath.
"Throwback, right?" I jumped at the sound of Isaac's voice and let out a small shriek. In my own little world, I hadn't heard the door opening behind me.
"It's... It's a striking resemblance." I forced a laugh. Isaac seemed impressed with my reaction and beamed, pacing the room and pointing everything out.
He reached the bed and looked up to me slowly, "I think your bed is the only place we couldn't make a memory, am I wrong?" I should be creeped out, I should be panicking, but I wasn't. He didn't look at me with the venom of a man about to take advantage of someone, he looked at me with a lovelorn expression.
It struck me. He wasn't a good guy to me or anyone, but he was unwaveringly loyal. When I lost my dad, Isaac and his family were there for me and my mother - Isaac was my friend before he was anything else, it was good then. It was when I became something more to him that the primitive patriarchal instincts kicked in. He didn't want to lose me, but in his eyes, he couldn't afford to love me - openly anyway. That's not what his father did. That's not what he will do.
"You aren't wrong. However, I would much rather focus on what we did experience together." I wracked my brain and dug deep to reach any of the repressed memories of our short-lived time as a couple I had still hanging in there.
I walked over to the wardrobe that had the exact same wonky door hanging off it, "Like the time I-" I laughed, genuinely, to myself, "the time I was showing you my winter formal dress, remember the bl-"
Isaac interjected, "The blue dress with the white snowflakes that you'd sewn on yourself. You were very, very proud of that dress." he smiled sadly to himself. The very same night, he'd gotten angry with me for hugging one of my male friend's goodbye and had pushed me into the car in so much of a hurry that the material snagged on the side of the car door and completely tore an irreparable hole in the silk fabric.
He remembers that too.
"Yeah-" I proceeded quickly, "-and I did a spin for you, tripped on my own two feet and went flying into the wooden doorframe. That was the most impressive black eye I've had and the best repair job I've ever undertaken." I played with the door, swinging it from side to side.
I noticed something out of the corner of my eye, hanging up in the wardrobe. My mouth fell open when I looked closer.
"My-my winter formal dress."
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Hey guys,
First of all, thank you for the birthday messages!
Secondly, I had intentions of updating sooner, but unfortunately, something happened that prevented me from being able to do so. I won't go into detail, but I am totally up and running again now!
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I am thoroughly enjoying playing with Isaac's character now!
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