Year 6 (First Draft) #Wattys2016

-Chapter 5-

  I take a bite of my slightly overcooked chicken, savoring it nonetheless. It has been a long time since I have had chicken.

  Amelia lays quietly in her box, her blankets wrapped around her. She hasn’t made a fuss since we got here.

  “Pass the salt,” Felix says, nudging my arm.

  I grab the small salt shaker that is to my left and hand it to Felix. He just nods, sprinkling some on his chicken breast.

  “You could have said thank you,” Kane says from the head of the table. “She did what you asked. She gave you the salt.”

  “It was just salt Kane, I wasn’t all that grateful for it,” Felix says, shoving a large piece of chicken in his mouth.

  Kane doesn’t say anything else, and I am thankful for it. I would hazard to guess that these guys wouldn’t think twice before starting a tussle. I wouldn’t want that to happen my first night here. How would that help them to trust me?

  I take a small bite of chicken, trying to busy myself. I need to come up with a plan of how to get to the Government. How will I get all these men to trust me? So far, nobody here has been very accommodating, and my guess is that nobody will be trusting me anytime soon either.

  Amelia whimpers, and I glance down to where she is laying, in the box near my feet.

  “Does that thing have an off button?” Felix groans.

  I start to say something, but then Amelia breaks out into a full out sob causing everyone to begin complaining. Felix pushes away from the table, kicking at the box by my feet. I pull the box away from him, worried that he’ll hurt her.

  Kane pushes his chair away from the table and comes over to Felix. I can see the slight fear that passes through Felix’s eyes. He knows what Kane is capable of, even if I don’t.

  “Do you have an off button?” He asks, shoving Felix’s shoulder.

  Kane reaches toward the box, grabbing Amelia, carefully bringing her out of it. I reach towards her, but Kane turns away. I am worried. What will he do to her? Suddenly Amelia stops crying, happy to be in someone’s arms again. The complaints that invaded the room diminish, everyone looking at Kane.

  Kane looks so natural holding her, I almost don’t want to take her back for fear of her crying again. He smiles at her, and for a moment I wonder how someone like him could be wanted by the Government. Whatever the reason is, he is my ticket back home.

  “She’s probably tired,” Kane says, setting the baby back in my arms. “She’s had a long day.”

  I nod, looking down at Amelia’s pleased expression. If only she could understand. Her life has been ruined all because her mother did something, most likely stole something, and was killed. My heart aches for her.

  “Thank you,” I blurt out, although Kane is half way back to his seat.

  “It was my pleasure,” He says, taking a seat, back at the head of the table.

  “My pleasure too, that thing doesn’t know how to stay quiet,” Felix mumbles. Kane sends him a glare, but doesn’t say anything. I just stand there awkwardly, holding Amelia in my arms.

  I decide that sleep is my best option, so I set Amelia back down in her box, wrapping two blankets over and around her. I pick the box up, looking back towards the hallway where my room is. I can’t remember which room it is…

  “Third room on the right,” Kane says, practically reading my mind. I nod, adjusting the box in my arms, heading to the hallway. I follow Kane’s directions, easily finding the room again. I open the door, having to push to get it open, the bottom of the door sticking on a rug.

  When I finally get the door open, I set Amelia’s box beside my bed. She coos, waving her fist in the air. I sit on the bed, running my hands through my hair. How am I going to do this? How long do I wait before I alert the Government of Kane’s whereabouts? My thoughts race with questions and what-ifs. The only thing I am sure of is that I will turn Kane Porter in, and it will be as soon as possible.

  I strip down to my tank top and a pair of shorts I wear under my torn jeans. It’ll have to do. My guess is that they don’t have any women’s clothing just lying around. I slip my socks off, the summer night making it too hot to wear them. I take off one of Amelia’s blankets, hoping she won’t get too hot. I slip under the sheets of the foreign bed, adjusting the pillow under my head.

  I know sleeping will be hard tonight. There are so many things going through my brain that I don’t know if my mind can slow down enough for sleep to take over. Within ten minutes I hear Amelia’s breathing even out and I know she was lucky enough to fall asleep.

  If sleep comes, I don’t notice it. If I dream, I am dreaming of being awake. If Amelia is crying, I don’t hear her.

  I hear voices outside my door, thumps, people going into their rooms, some exiting. I try hard to sleep. I want to sleep. I need to sleep. Images of Amelia’s mother flash in my mind, leaving me with an ache in my chest. I sit up, head in my hands. I owe it to that woman to take care of her daughter, but I’m scared. I’ve never taken care of a baby before. I don’t know what to do.

  I sigh, trying to hold back unshed tears. There’s nothing I can do about the past. The only thing I can do is turn in Kane Porter and get my life back. Amelia and I need to live in the City. We can start over, forget our pasts. Maybe she doesn’t even need to know about what happened. I could take her to an adoption center. They could give her a nice home with a loving family.

  My thoughts aren’t straight due to lack of sleep, so I lay back down, pressing my eyes together tightly, hoping sleep will guide me away from my problems.

A/N Sorry it has been so long! I hope you are enjoying my story! Thoughts on Kane so far? <3 Keep reading, voting, and commenting!