Lovely Hues | Fillie AU

Chapter Twenty Four

"James did this?" Millie asked, walking back into the bathroom with a fresh change of clothes for her friend that was still sniffling back tears, sitting on the edge of her clawfoot bathtub. She had asked her brother to watch the twins downstairs, Louisa still refusing to leave her room after hearing that Finn would no longer be a part of their lives. Something that Millie, herself was stewing over endlessly before her best friend came to her with a much more urgent need for her attention.

"He was so. . .so different than he's been in the past. So much more angry." Sadie explained stuffily, wiping her nose on her sweater, not caring what happened to it anymore.

"What caused it, do you think?" Millie asked, wetting a towel and handing it over to her.

"I don't know," she answered sadly, "the last bit of sanity. . or consciousness that was keeping him from becoming a full-fledged sociopath must have died. His eyes looked so unfeeling. It was like his anger had possessed him. . . like a demon."

Millie listened as attentively as she could as she helped Sadie clean up the few scrapes she had and fixed her hair. She undid the braid that had all but fallen apart and combed out the debris that was clinging to the hair then re-braided her red locks.

"I don't know what he was planning on doing, Millie." she said then took a breath to keep from crying again, "He made me feel less than human. Like I was nothing more than something for him to take advantage of." she shivered and Millie laid a blanket across her shoulders. She thanked her then looked down. "He could've killed me."

Millie's eyebrows drooped over her eyes. She rubbed Sadie's back comfortingly, not really knowing how to best aid her. She wanted to help her into the new clothes but Sadie didn't exactly look up to a wardrobe change at the moment.

A silence swept the room. Only breaths could be heard and the hum of the heater under the window. At least James wasn't roaming free anymore. Millie had her own experiences with him that caused her to question his morality and decency, but this was far worse than anything she thought he would actually do.

"How did you get away?" she asked.

"I was cornered, he kept blocking my pathway out and when I tried to get to a window or find a door to lock behind me, he made it impossible. He started throwing things around, breaking things. . .I was so scared. . ." her voice was shrinking and shaking as she spoke, "I was trying to check-in this family when he got there. I think they were why he went off the handle. He couldn't take any more different, ya know? Any more change."

"What was so different about them?" Millie asked.

"They were refugees from the war. They just got here. Landed in New York after a boat ride and then took the train here. Their sponsor here in America had met them and was helping them get them checked in then left as I was getting their bags into their room. They didn't have many. But then I was heading back to the front office with them to give them their paperwork and James walked up, clearly drunk, and asked where my boyfriend was."

Sadie paused and Millie held her hand. She looked at her then back to her feet, "I told him I didn't know what he was talking about and then he asked the family if they'd seen . . if they'd seen. . ."She was trying hard to hold back tears, "I don't want to say what he said. . ." she bit her lip, "I can't. I won't."

"You don't have to." Millie told her, "What happened next?"

Sadie's face crumpled, "The father said something in Ukrainian, and James yelled something about not even being able to understand his own people anymore. Like all white people should be American and speak English. Like the world should cater to him. Like, what world does he live in, ya know?" she sniffled.