Hayden's POV
-
I couldn't sleep for the entire night. It consisted of constant turning and tossing for hours until the golden ray of the sun peaked through the blinds.
My mind kept imagining different ways of meeting the unfortunate soul that married Immanuel.
I was so zoned out that I didn't even notice when Alexis came in, I turned over and saw that she was awake.
"Couldn't sleep either huh?" I asked.
"Nope, what if its way worse than we expected?" She sighed.
"It can't be that bad, we'll just make it our own like what we did here" I said
"You really think so?" She looked at me.
"Nope, we're definitely goners" I chuckled
The sun was up but it was still early, most of the students were still asleep when Alexis and I decided to take separate showers.
I sat there on the couch, my eyes landed on the metal knob and the small ticking sounds of the clock filled me nerves. With each passing second, the more nervous I grew.
Somewhere deep down, I hoped it was just a joke. There's no way he could actually ship us off to the other side of the Academy right?
Yeah he's just pulling a joke on us. Then again, the man has a terrible sense of humor.
A knock from the door caused me to flinch. The moment we've dreaded was finally here.
I slowly made my way over to the door, taking as much time as I could before I opened it.
My eyes were immediately met with Immanuel, Cameron, Jade and Abeke with their suitcases. Yep, it's not a joke. I repeat, it's not a joke.
We slowly followed behind them, leaving the shitty academy behind. My fingers grazed against the dark walls, I noticed Alexis's eyes landed on a familiar door.
We reached to the gate of the academy, three security guards stood by the black iron gate, never did I imagine leaving this place only to be placed into a worse institution.
We made our way into the Black SUV, basic I know, turns out Immanuel has a lot of things we didn't know about. When we were all seated, his neck snapped around from the front seat
"Its going to take two nights to get there, so well be stopping at Inns, oh and if you think you can escape I know everyone at these Inns so don't make this hard for us capiche?" He said as we nod our heads.
On the bright side this is the second time we have been outside since we were forced to come here, I guess we'll have to enjoy it while it lasts, I thought. We were on the road for a while when I noticed that the vehicle was slowing down until it finally came to a stop.
"I'm going in to use the washroom, you guys will come sit down inside and don't talk to anyone, don't even talk to each other" He said sternly.
The man stepped out of the car and we followed behind, my eyes glanced around in search for maybe somewhere to escape, but guards were all around. Unfortunately they were the strict ones we never talked to.
Immanuel headed into the restroom and we took seat at a vacant table of the diner. Immediately, my eyes caught a waitress. She smiled sweetly as she walked past us
"That's it, I have to do something" Camren mumbled
"Like what? Yell for help in the middle of a diner with guards next to us?!" Jade hissed
"It's better than doing nothing. What the heck is gonna happen?" Cameron said, I sighed and locked eyes with her
"Please don't" I whispered, her eyes softened. My hands reached out towards her, Cameron's soft hands intertwined with mine across the table
"Hey! None of that here!" A guard yelled from behind, causing me to flinch and retract my hand. I could physically feel the anger in Cameron's eyes.
"I'm sorry but I have to do something"
She stood to her feet and gripped the apron of the waitress passing by. I mentally cringed when I saw Immanuel approaching us
"Ma'am, you've got to help us. Please-"
"Cameron, you know that those kind of pranks aren't funny. I told you this, leave this poor lady alone, Sorry Miss Magoffin" He said, his hands crept up her shoulder as he gripped it very tight with a fake smile.
"Its no problem Immanuel" She chuckled leaving.
Our mouths dropped when we heard this, he really does know everyone.
"Off we go now children, back to the car" Immanuel said in such a low voice. He smiled and waved at the few customers nearby before pushing us out the diner
One by one, we piled into the back seat of the car. The second I sat down, I heard his voice again
"I warned you all didn't I?!" He spat
I glanced in his direction and saw Immanuel punch Cameron in the stomach, a sharp pain ran through her stomach. With that impact, it took her breathe away for a couple of seconds, I felt it even though it wasn't me.
I ran gay into him, well I was more stupid than I thought since he held me in a choke hold cutting of my air to breathe, my throat felt tight, my lungs burned as my man's muscles squeezed my neck tighter. Abeke and Jade were too shocked to move.
"Let go of her!" Alexis yelled, I guess it was too late because.
Everything went black.
-----------------
Alexis's POV
-
Our screams filled the parking lot of the diner. Immanuel refused to let her go as he kept on squeezing tighter and tighter. The guards held back the door, we were too afraid of being attacked ourselves if we even attempted to come out the car. The anger rushed through me like lava, it burned it's way up when Hayden slowly lost consciousness and he finally let her go, she fell to ground.
My feet kicked at the door, pushing the guards away that blocked our path. The adrenaline coursed through my veins as my jaw locked. My feet pounded against the car door until it burst open.
I ran towards Hayden's unconscious body that rested on the cold gravel road. My fingers pressed against her neck, her heart was beating thank god.
"You FUCKING bitch!" I hissed
"Yes that's me" He smiled
"You could have killed her!"
"And so?"
"Oh I'm pretty fucking sure the death of a teenager like Hayden would spread and your fucked up Academy would be burnt to crisps!"
Immanuel's face softened, his arms crossed against his chest as he narrowed those beedy little eyes towards me.
"Get her in the car, let's go" he spat before hopping into the front seat
I scoffed and returned my attention to my best friend, my eyes looked at her marks of strangulation on her neck, her knuckles were red from hitting the ground.
I know it might seem like I'm the tough one but she's been tough since I met her, she always sticks up for the people she loves no matter the outcome, the countless she did for me.
Why would these things to happen to her, why would these things happen to any of us we are just trying to be ourselves, I know that I chose to be here but they didn't and I couldn't let her be here alone, With every con there's a pro, like a con would be us getting carried away to his wife's side but the pro of that is that we are going together. I looked at Cameron who's holding Hayden's feet and she looks really worried, and guilty.
"Hey, stop beating yourself up over it" I whispered to her.
"But I'm responsible for it" She muttered
"It's okay, calm down, she's going to be fine" I said assuring her.
"Yeah but this would have never happened if I had just kept my mouth shut and listened" I looked down.
"An amazing woman once said 'Don't focus on the past, or you'll miss the future'" I said.
"You didn't just use a line from the Fairy God Mother from Descendants?" She chuckled.
"Of course I did she is very wise, she is the Fairy God Mother for a reason, and all you need to do is stop thinking about the what ifs and focus on being here for her right now" I said.
"Yeah you're right, also when did you become so wise?" She chuckled.
"I was changed person after watching Descendants, Mal changed me" We laughed silently not trying to let Immanuel hear us.
I returned my gaze to Hayden, she seemed so peaceful, her lips were slightly parted as she took soft breaths. I almost smiled at how calm she looked, but I furrowed my brows instead because-
Her eyes started to twitch.