Thin Lines

You're coming with me

Xela

The rain must have washed off my cheap dollar store makeup I used to cover my bruised eye. I immediately covered my eye with the palm of my hand, "I ran into a table" I say, a bit too quickly. I can tell he doesn't believe it one bit. He grabs my arm and lowers it from my eye, "Who" is all he says. Just one word but it sends chills down my spine.

I shake my head, "I'm fine, I have to go." I say, turning and trying to get out of the car, "It was him wasn't it? Your step father?"

I freeze and look at him, "No it wasn't." I say, unsure of how convincing I sound. "I'm going to kill him" Ryder says, opening his car door and getting out. I quickly follow him, stopping him before he can get to the steps leading to the front door of my house.

"Ok look it was just one time and he was drunk it won't happen again please please please don't make things worse by going in there" I start blabbing and begging him to not go inside. He stops and looks at me, his anger turning into something else, worry.

"It wasn't one time" he says in a quiet voice, making me look to the floor. I'm expecting him to leave, maybe to be disgusted with me, but instead he pulls my arm back to his car. "You aren't staying here." Is all he says. I climb into his car, unsure of where he is going with this. "Ryder I'm fine." I say as he gets in and starts the car.

We drive in silence to a place I've never seen before. It's a nicer neighborhood with houses I could only dream of living in. After a while, we finally pulled up to a fancy black gate with two men standing by with... guns?!

Ryder didn't even blink at the guards as the gate opened and we went through. I sat up in my seat and turned to observe the two huge men even further. Holy shit.

When I sat back to normal, my eyes met a huge mansion with a glowing white exterior. We drove around a col de sac with a polished fountain in the middle spewing water up in intricate patterns. The grass surrounding was bright green, telling me they've never been short on water. The view only makes me more self conscious of where I lived. I can just imagine what Ryder was thinking when he walked into my house compared to this.

"Done drooling?" Ryder smirks, unbuckling his seatbelt and opening the door. I follow after him up a set of marble stairs, into a luxurious room. Looking up, the ceiling is far away with a golden chandelier hanging down.

"Xela?" A familiar voice enters the room, Denny. I give him a smile, "Hey" is all I can think to say. His eyes fix on Ryder, "What's this?" He questions, referring to us being together.

A woman moves through the room, looking to be in a maids outfit. She is about to leave when Ryder calls her over, "Please escort Xela to a guest room on the east wing." He says politely, smiling at the elderly woman. She nods and smiles to me, "Follow me, dear."

I look to Denny, then to Ryder. Denny looks confused and Ryder looks like he's telling me to just listen to him for once.

I follow the woman up a set of stairs and down a few hallways until we reach what seems like the far right end of the house. There are two doors in the hallway, the maid opens the one closest to me and reveals an extravagant bedroom. There is a king bed in the center with black accents everywhere. The walls are a dark color, making the marble floors appear to be glowing. The room is bigger than my entire house.