95 - Northern Lights

"'You see,' she said,' your first love isn't the first person you give your heart to - it's the first one who breaks it."

- Lang Leav

. . .

"Art is the only constant of the world," he said as we admired the northern lights, our cheeks and nose red in the cold but our eyes filled with wonder. "This is the purest form of it - as if the world itself is teaching us what lasts."

"Art is what lasts," I whispered.

"Yes," he said. "Art of every type. No one is going to forget Romeo and Juliet, like no one is going to forget the Mona Lisa or the Starry Night. I doubt anyone is going to remember what iPhone ten looked like."

I giggled. "Even I don't remember it."

He chuckled. "Technology develops. Nations change. People change. The world itself changes - but some things are immortal."

"The color we do and the things we write," I said. "The thoughts we speak and the northern lights." I smiled. "You love this so much."

He hummed, looking up. "There is beauty everywhere around us. Northern lights are seen only during the darkest nights. What does that tell us?"

"That we got lucky today?"

He chuckled, shaking his head. "It tells us that the people with the darkness lives are sometimes the purest, the ones with the most beauty. They might be

surrounded by darkness, but they hold the brighter colors in their heart, shown to only those who look close enough."

I smiled. "They must be cool people to know."

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "The darkness invites everyone, only some dare to jump in it. Can you jump?"

I nodded instantly. "Yes, dad." I knew I could.

. . .

I woke up gasping for breath, the memory still burning in my head. My ribs throbbed as I sat up.

Giovanni, who looked a little beaten, rushed to my side. "Your bandage is done by a doctor. Your Creeds are on their way here now. I've got water." He gave me a glass of water, putting pillows behind my back and I relaxed back into them. I took in huge gulps of water.

"I feel a little...woozy."

"Painkillers," he muttered, taking the glass from my hand and putting my glasses on my nose. I looked around. I was back at the mansion.

"...dad?" I whispered.

Giovanni looked hesitant but answered. "Basement, along with Alisa, Alexi and Adrik."

Adrik.

I stumbled at the sound of his name. Giovanni noticed and sighed, taking my hand in his. "He can't hurt you."

I snuffled, feeling the skin on my ribs burn with pain. "He already did." I wiped my tears away, feeling the panic return.

"Look at me." I did.

"No one can hurt you. I'm here, your Creeds are going to be here in mere minutes. Fabiano and Dante are down in the living room. Everyone is here, everyone is going to keep you safe."

I closed my eyes, tears tumbling down. "Are they okay? Are the Creeds okay?"

The door opened and entered Ashton, followed by Xerxes and Zavier. I watched as relief flooded their eyes as they fell on me.

"They are now," Giovanni said, gave me a small smile, and walked out of the room, nodding at his friends.

I tucked the blanket to my chest, looking up at them as they approached me.

"Kitten." Zavier cupped the side of my face, his thumb grazing my cheekbone. They had blood on them, a few cuts on their faces.

Ashton and Xerxes sat on either side of me as Zavier sat in front of me. They just touched me. Xerxes took my hand in his, threading our fingers together. Ashton took my other hand, putting it on the side of his face. They just looked at me, touching me as of making sure I was okay.

I was not okay.

My father had taken me there. My best friend had betrayed me. The men I loved were liars.

The men I loved had saved me. The heart was a stupid thing.

"Alisa didn't do anything," I whispered. "Igor tortured her." They hummed.

"Is Igor dead?"

Xerxes looked me in the eye. "His body is in the same room he kept you in."

His body. That answered my question.

"Adrik did this." I looked down at the bandage around me. I was in nothing but my bra and shorts which I did not recognize. "He said he was going to touch me. That he was going to try not to be rough" Tears filled my eyes.

I felt myself being picked up and then sat on Xerxes' lap. I curled into a ball, crying into his shoulder as he shushed me. I couldn't stop sobbing - the fear taking over my mind. It was as if I could still feel the coldness of the cold cell, as if I could still feel that monster carve into my skin, as of I could still feel his hand on my body.

I cried for my father - who he had been before everything. I cried for my friendship with Georgia - which dissolved into nothing as soon as her real identity was out. I cried for the Creeds - for the stupid love I had for them. I cried because I was helpless. I had not been able to do anything.

I cried because everything hurt. My head, my heart, my body. "Tell me why?" I whispered. "Tell me everything."

And they did.

. . .

This is really short ik