Olive Branch

Chapter 6 - Maisie

 Maisie knew there was a reason Cecilia had asked for her to be sent back to the first bus stop they had gone to. When she got on and sat down, she was careful to watch for the twins' house. She knew the hint when it was given and she certainly wasn't going to put the rest of the group at a disadvantage by attempting anything other than what was expected of her. Cecilia had to have some sort of plan going. She was too clever not to. So she waited patiently to get off and try to find her way back. She didn't have any way to contact Cyrus, not to mention he was too far from where she was now to really get there before what she assumed to be her grace period was over so it was better to just do what she was assuming she was told to do.

Which was a lot harder than it looked. Maisie had only been with the twins a little over twenty-four hours ago and already, she was failing to remember how they got there. In her defense, she didn't think she would have to try to navigate the real world on her own but it made her realize how truly lost she was on her own. Pulling her knees up to her chest and leaning her head against the window, Maisie rested her chin on her knees and rubbed her wrist, wishing Cecilia was there to point out every small thing she didn't understand.

She got off at the wrong stop and after wandering for a while, she managed to find another bus and she was back to trying to find her way around town. In the end, it was dumb luck that Maisie managed to find Isadora the next morning.

"Maisie?" Isadora sized her up instantly, one hand on her shoulder to keep her still and another already fumbling for her phone. "What... How? Is... Cecilia, oh holy shit. How long have you been out here?"

"Just over the night," Maisie confirmed. "But I'm okay. Really, I'm okay. Cecilia told them to put me at the bus stop we started out at and I'm assuming that it's because I'm supposed to find you. She didn't say anything other than that. I don't... on my god, I can't do this." The adrenaline wore off and Maisie caved in on herself, wrapping her arms around her stomach and her wings following in suit. Isadora stepped closer to keep Maisie's wings from shutting her out completely before slipping her phone back into her pocket and dropping her bags on the ground.

"Yeah, Cecilia tends to do that if she can't do... it's okay. You're okay, Maisie. Do you want a hug?"

Maisie's only response was a slight nod and Isadora pulled her close instantly. Ever since she'd gotten in that car with Cecilia, Maisie felt like she'd been running. And finally, the race was over and she still felt like she'd gotten last place. She burst into tears, ones that Isadora soothed the best she could.

"Hey, you're okay. You're here with me. You're safe. You're okay. I know it was scary and stressful but you're okay. You're okay now."

Overall, Cecilia's subliminal messaging worked and Maisie found herself under the same roof as Evelyn and Isadora Bardot all over again. For the first few days, they didn't talk to each other. Maisie had spoken to Cyrus once but Evelyn stayed holed up in her room and Isadora seemed too far away to fully process Maisie being there.

The house was full of emotional wrecks so, after two weeks, Maisie moved in with Cyrus. Apparently, he'd been deemed safe by Mateus when he wasn't investigated by Ezekiel's men during that time frame so Maisie was safe enough to move in with him. Cyrus seemed to be a lot more level than the twins had been over the mess but when Maisie came down at midnight that night and found him staring out the window with a mug of hot chocolate in his hands, cold and untouched, she knew he was as torn up about this as she was.

Maisie knew she was being ridiculous. No, that wasn't right. She wasn't ridiculous for having the emotions she had. She just couldn't figure out why she was having them. She'd only known Cecilia Star for two days at most. It made no sense for her to be this torn up about losing her. She knew next to nothing about the Demon aside from a few details of her past and a surface level of her trauma. But Maisie missed Cecilia's little remarks whenever she found something amusing. She missed the way that Cecilia would ramble about things that she liked. For some reason, her wrist still felt heavy even after being out of handcuffs for two weeks. She didn't sleep much anymore. Just stared at the ceiling and tried to imagine what it would be like to see Cecilia again. If she would even get to see Cecilia again.