Behind These Refuge Walls

"Ace."

Madeline and I looked at Abby strangely. The little girl shrugged, deciding that mimicking me was nothing out of the ordinary. We returned to the game of cards. Madeline anxiously rubbed her knee through the pair of jeans that she had put on.

I pretended not to notice the change of outfit, but I was truly delighted. Vallin had left them a bag with things that he thought they would need and in it, I noticed a pair of jeans and a simple purple t-shirt which I assumed were Madeline. The father's desire to change something in the teenager's...attire.

Within four hours of spending time with her, she had lost the overly precious skirt and sparkle, changing them for a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and her hair let loose over her shoulders. Though not entirely gone, the make up had diminished.

I felt so proud of myself, I was close to exploding.

Beside me, little Abby rushed out of my arms and jumped on the couch, as her favorite cartoons began. We had taken on a side room of the large apartment in Massey. As the sound of cartoons drowned our presence, I turned to Madeline.

"So...what about your mother?"

She suddenly looked up from her cards and hesitated. I saw an abrupt defensive wall go up and wished I could take back that question. However, just before she withdrew and rushed back in that fake sparkly shell, she let out a troubled sigh.

"She...passed away when she gave birth to Abigail."

My mouth formed a large "O" and I inhaled regret. "I'm, I'm, I mean, I'm sorry," I mumbled.

We were silent as she placed the cards around the table. Aside from Abby's characters on screen, nothing else could be heard.

"It's been six years, but...it still feels like yesterday, you know." The girl looked at the cards as if she could see her mother.

I hadn't known anything about Vallin's family until then. More so, I hadn't thought Madeline would decide to open up to me so soon, after she had welcomed me with a bitter face, but she went on.

"When it happened...dad was devastated. He...well, I don't remember that much, because I didn't really get it at the time, but I felt him pull back somehow. We started spending more time at Massey, because..."

"She was somehow still there," I continued. My voice made the girl finally look at me and she nodded, surprised.

"But Stone was there for dad, I think." A little ball of fire jumped in the pit of my stomach. "Dad had known him for years up until that point, before I was even born. I don't know how they came to work together, but at the beginning, dad wouldn't let me around him..."

"Why?" I interrupted.

"He just seemed...too angry and...I think dad was afraid of him somehow. Anyway, then it happened and...I don't know, he changed something with dad and since then, he was the go-to guy if we needed something and dad wasn't around."

I nodded, apparently polite, but inside, I boiled with curiosity.

"And...Denise?"

She frowned. "I don't know, she's always around Stone, so..."

"I see."

Madeline gave me a double look as I stared at the cards and got lost in thought.

"You have that same air, you know." I focused back on her, confused. "Like the first time Stone met us. I don't mean the angry, destructive feeling, but that powerful, safe one."

I puffed without intention. "Safe? With him? I'd feel safer in a warehouse of drunk murderers." Which was exactly the kind of people who came to see the street fights.

The look on Madeline's face was strange. She then frowned. "You don't...really get him at first. He just doesn't like people to be around him. But he needs them. Right, Abby?"

The little girl in question jumped in my arms and grinned widely.

"Yes!" she squeaked. "Cain need friend." And then followed another grin.

I stared in awe, shock and utter stupidity at the girls.

"He's a demon, you know," Madeline told me. "Really powerful one. Really old. That's all I got from dad." I opened my mouth, only to be cut off by the change of topic. "What about you?"

"What about me?" I drew back, growing defensive. Which was stupid. Really.

"When did you pop out? What school do you go to? What's your family like?"

"Do sound less enthusiastic, please," I laughed.

Playing with Abby's little hands, I considered my answer. "Well...I moved with my brother here about two months ago. He's your age, by the way."

"Cool, so we're both the older sisters."

I smiled, somehow amused. "Yeah, pretty much."

"So what? You live both here? Alone?" I nodded. "Oh my God, why? How did your parents agree to let you?"

"Well, obviously they check in on us every day," I calmed her down, "but...my brother really wanted to go to this good school here in Orlando and...well, because our entire family moving out here would have been difficult, I decided that I wished to go to some..university nearby. That's how that came round."

She fell silent and studied my face. "That's really nice. Must be pretty wicked to eat all the snacks that you want!"

"Uhm, no, actually, I...I mean, we do indulge in them every once in a while, but I like to keep it healthy. I'm kinda do sports and all that..."

"Are you a dancer?" Abby, who had gotten bored of us and had run to her dolls, began twirling in clumsy pirouettes as she heard the word "dancer". "Because you're not tall or buff enough for basketball or anything else..."

"No, I practice martial arts."

I expected her to be shocked in the bad way, but instead, she seemed to like the idea. I only hoped I wasn't going to influence her to take up martial arts, as well.

"Marshall?"

We laughed at Abby's failed attempt to catch all of our conversation.

"So what do you want to become when you grow up, Maddy?"

"Artist." She smiled longingly. "I want to have my own art shows and talk to people about what I paint..."

"I want to be a ballerina!" exclaimed an over-enthusiastic Abby.

"What about you, Charlie?"

The long pause made my audience look at me expectantly.

"Something to do with the movies, maybe...Doesn't matter, either way," I ended and hoped to close the subject.

But she pressed on. "Why not?"

"Because things change...It...Unexpected changed lead to a completely different approach on life." I stood up and walked over to Abby, where the bubbly girl was spinning and dancing to a show tune. Now that I thought about it, she had been dancing all day.

Just as Madeline set off on a deeper inquiry, my phone beeped with a message.

Can't wait to see you tonight. Should I wear a black t-shirt to match? - Ryan

But he looked good in any t-shirt you put on him. Even so, he wanted to match? The idea made me smile dumbly.

"Oh, you so have a boyfriend! What's his name? Does he, like, go to the same school as you? Dark hair, dark eyes, brooding--"

"Girls?"

And that was how I escaped the Spanish Inquisition. If there's one thing about teenage girls, it's that they're dying to find out juicy information from an older teen, even though to the latter the subject may not seem that interesting.

I stood up, smiling at Vallin and eyes landing straight on the man beside him, who was in the process of unbuttoning the jacket from his suit.

"Hi, dad."

Five seconds from their arrival and the two men were found staring dumbly at Madeline. Though absolutely stunned at the difference in his daughter, it was not Vallin who caught my eye, but the dark haired man in a business suit, giving me a stare that I wished I could decipher.

Vallin coughed in an attempt to gather words. I just shook my head at him so to say that he didn't have to say anything about her appearance.

"Thank you, Charlotte, for staying, I am sorry for holding you from your own matters."

"No, it's fine, I..." Abby giggled as her father picked her up. "We really had fun." As if to prove my statement, Madeline high-fived me.

Stone looked mildly amused at the sudden change.

"Come on, dad, let Charlie go, she has a date to attend."

Two things happened at once: I jumped defensively and the air in the room swirled. He stiffened in the middle of the entrance. A wall seemed to pop up and an air of tension and misguided anger came off in waves from that one spot that he stood in. I was aware of him again. Stone made no move from his position.

I tensed up. My back went like a statue's. I felt the burning feeling at the back of my neck again.

"Cain." Air rushed in. Vallin knew something I didn't - though trained on Stone almost fatherly, his eyes betrayed it. Then, in a low voice, added, "We talked about this."

It was hard to believe that a man of Stone's posture and maturity could take orders from someone else, but Vallin's words seemed to have an impact on him and he at least crossed his arms, restraining himself.

I took it as my cue to leave.

"Okay, then, bye, girls." I gave Madeline a look of warning and hugged Abby tightly, the little bubble of energy giggling continuously. Then to Vallin, I said a polite good-bye and tried to make it seem like I was extending the words to Stone, too.

He stood inches from me, but I didn't look at him and scraped my back against the side of the door as I rushed outside.

Outside, where I could run from him, run to my car, avoid ever looking at him again, except...

"I forgot my phone."

I turned around and he was there. The empty hallway was not a proper place for us to be alone. He was everywhere again. He did that thing of his, like he wanted to suffocate me, like he wanted me to die.

"Don't go."

My eyes shot up. His only held mine. I froze and breathed an uncharacteristically faint "What?". But his arm was extended, holding my phone (how had he even gotten my phone from the table so fast?), so I instinctively took it, thanked and ran.

I was not a coward. Only calculated.

But not even my car seemed like a place safe enough for me to calm down. So I began driving aimlessly in the hope that I wouldn't get home in a state that would alarm Nathaniel.

Think about it, Nikoli said, he is clearly against the idea of you going to this party. I mean, he isn't the expert in discretion and today was no exception. Let him think you're still attending. He cares. Otherwise he wouldn't look at you.

Another message from Ryan. I parked my car and got out, replying that something had come up and I couldn't make it. Somehow it broke my heart, but I wasn't one to make the same mistake twice and although my heart tugged at me to go see Ryan, I didn't want other people around me. Just Nathan.

My phone dropped from my hand.

"You're a hard kid to find."

He stood tall, a lanky man with just enough muscle to show he was a fighter and with thin lips that made me expect a snake's tongue to pop up. His sleeveless shirt revealed tons of tattoos on his arms, rather unimpressive, but perhaps with a meaning to him. I would have been certain it was Cobra himself, had it not been for the odd glimmer in his eyes. His almond-shaped eyes weren't the usual hazel colour. They sparkled yellow. Inhumanely yellow.

It was in a blink of an eye that I acted. And took off towards my car, still aware that I could possibly lead him to my brother inside.

But I only set a foot to my right when he hit. In an alley between two blocks of buildings, I was thrown flat against the wall. I couldn't even humph or make some sound to show that I was alive.

He started attacking with a frightening impulse. He got my shoulder badly. Then maybe it was my cheek. His arms shot out, I ducked and started crawling away, but he got me. He got my neck and started holding tight. I felt my insides churn. My body trembled and I wanted to scream, but he was stopping me

This was fear. This horrible feeling of not being able to do anything, knowing that he had me stuck and I was inches away from a horrible outcome. I gasped for air, but it wouldn't come.

He then let go and grabbed my shoulders. I didn't have enough time to breathe or hit before I was raised against the wall. My feet were far above the ground. I felt empty, eyes wide in horror.

He held my face inches from his and a set of yellow eyes bore into mine. The iris was like a thick black line. And I knew.

"Wh-what d-did they do t-to you?"

"We know you're working with him. Stay out of it."

"I don't--Ah!"

I couldn't grab anything to hold on to as my body twisted and got thrown. I landed between trash cans, which made a horrible noise. I froze there, between metal and garbage and waited.

His next blow never came. My phone beeped a few inches from me on the ground. As a lanky silhouette went further and further away, I only moved my index and pressed a random dial.