Dangerous Love (girl x girl)

Chapter 46

Arielle

"Ari...please...you need to eat something."

I stared blankly ahead, my mind in a state of semi-consciousness. I could hear my sister calling me, yet it didn't fully register in my mind. Everytime I closed my eyes, I would recall piercing screams - my own.

I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. Everytime I slept, I would wake up screaming. If the guards reported to Tristan Vincenzo, there were consequences. I couldn't eat because I felt sick to my stomach. Eventually I would temporarily pass out from exhaustion with Clara watching over me. She wasn't locked down here with me, but she spent hours in my "cell" taking care of me.

I knew Clara was worried. It had been a week since that day. Francis had come for me a second time since. She made the mistake of trying to fight him off. That lasted all of a minute before Tristan pulled her away and whispered something in her ear that made her freeze.

I almost wished that Tristan had just killed me, on the condition that he would leave my family alone. However, I didn't, because I still had to get us out of here somehow. I had spent a decade longing for my sister. I couldn't leave her with these monsters.

I understood why he kept me alive though. It was probably like a big "f*ck you" to the Versailles family, taking yet another that they cared about. I had to stay alive for Isabelle too. Especially knowing her mother's fate, I couldn't subject her to go through the same pain again.

Isabelle.

I stifled a sob at that thought and Clara quickly looked at me in concern. I wondered how she was. I knew that I would feel so helpless were our roles reversed. But then again, Isabelle probably wouldn't be in this situation. I was so stupid. Why hadn't I listened to her and stayed put? I was impatient to finally find my sister, but it had only gotten me here. Now neither of us could leave.

Chase had been right too. I hadn't been prepared to face the consequences of having my cover blown. Not only were both Clara and I stuck here with no way to communicate with the others, but Rex was dead.

It was only when I felt my sister dabbing at my cheek that I realized that I was crying again. I hated being weak like this. I hated it so much. Clara took me into her embrace and held me firmly. For the first time in many years, I felt like it was the same as when we were children - my big sister protecting me from everything and anything.

Clara's arms around me allowed me to fall into a light stage of sleep. I could still hear sounds around me, but my body was resting as much as it could. The tiniest sound would still make me jump, and I was harshly aroused from my slumber when I heard the basement door slam.

I could hear footsteps descending the stairs, but they didn't sound like Tristan's. I rubbed at my eyes tiredly until I heard Clara shifting her position in front of me. "No...not you..."

"Stay out of this, b*tch." Francis' gruff voice cut through the silence. I froze and my blood ran cold. Not this again. I couldn't. I wouldn't.

To my shock, Clara stood up in front of me as the cell door was unlocked and yanked open. "No. Leave her alone." She said loudly.

Francis laughed cruelly. "I didn't think you had it in you, Kate. Tristan asked me to take the girl in for questioning again. Is this you disobeying a direct order from him?"

I stiffened. I couldn't imagine what Clara had been through in the past decade based on what I had gone through in just the last few weeks. I couldn't let him hurt her. Clara was standing her ground in front of me, but I wasn't going to watch this.

"I'll go with you." I said in a surprisingly stable tone. "Don't tell him. He doesn't need to get involved."

I could practically hear his obnoxious smirk as he stepped forwards and shoved my sister aside roughly before grabbing onto my underarms and hoisting me over his shoulders in one swift movement like a potato sack. I felt numb as he started to walk away, but the one thing that sent pangs straight through my heart was the look on Clara's face as we walked away.

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Clara

Hopeless. Devastation. That was what I felt in this moment. I hadn't really felt anything for so long, not really at least. Arielle's appearance had reawakened things inside of me that I had long buried. She was the last person I had expected to see after all these years. My parents, maybe, but surely even they had given up hope by now.

Ari had always been rather outspoken, but she was also naïve about the world, like most children at her age at the time. She liked princesses, singing, and her world was full of rainbows and smiles. In our family, she had always been spoiled and loved as the youngest. She hadn't seen any of the darker sides of life, and I had tried to shield her from them, even after I became involved with my ex. I tried to distance myself from her, which I knew hurt her because she didn't understand why.

I knew what I was doing wasn't right, but at the time, I had latched into Flynn in a toxic dependence. I needed him. He needed me. I knew he was no good for me, but it didn't matter.

Arielle had changed, but then again, so had I. I barely recognized my little sister after all these years. She was not the same child that begged me to read her bedtime stories and dance around the living room. Even though she was an adult now, there was a seriousness in her eyes that was beyond her years. I knew that my disappearance was likely a direct contributor to that.

I was sure that she was shocked to see me, as I, her, but even so, she didn't speak much. Perhaps I had expected countless questions, but there were none. She was just determined to get us home. Leaving Tristan's side hadn't passed my mind in a long time. I had spent the majority of the past decade following him wherever he went.

I felt extremely guilty with how my sister was suffering, but she wouldn't understand why I turned to him. Flynn had left me here over a decade ago, and I didn't even know why. The hopelessness that I felt back then was parallel to what I felt now. I had lost my family, possibly forever, and I wasn't completely innocent.

Tristan was there for me in a time where I had nobody else. He treated me with kindness, or at the very least, like a human being. His father was ruthless, as was the men under his command. I wasn't allowed to go home, so Tristan's company was the next best thing. I knew that he had anger issues, but he took care of me. I wouldn't leave his side now.

Despite my love for him, I couldn't watch this continue to happen to my little sister. I wasn't going to leave Tristan, but I had to get Arielle out of here. Francis had made up some lame excuse about questioning her, but I could see it in her eyes that she wasn't going to talk and he knew it too. The thought of what he would do to "make her" disgusted me. Arielle was stubborn though. That was one thing about her that hadn't changed one bit.

I had spent the last several weeks begging Tristan to let her go, but nothing I said would change a thing, not when he had the girlfriend of Dominic Versailles' precious daughter in his hands. Arielle hadn't said a word to me about her relationship, but it didn't matter even if she was conspiring with the Sapphire Blood, because she was still my sister. I had to get her out of here.

Having my mind made up, I hurried to the stairs and made my way to the basement door. I glanced around the corner to make sure Francis was gone before making my way down the hall. Luckily, I was free to roam certain areas of the house if I didn't upset Tristan, since the section we were in was behind a concealed, protected door anyways, so he knew I couldn't let Arielle out. He had told me that he would be out for a few hours this afternoon. I knew what I was looking for was in his office.

I made my way there as quickly as I could without looking like I was running or doing anything wrong. Once I was inside, I pulled open every drawer until I had located what I was looking for.

Arielle's cellphone.

I didn't know the password to access her contacts, so I did the only thing that I could. I turned on her GPS location and slid it back into the drawer in the same exact position before hurrying out.

They would find her.

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*edited*

Hi everyone!

Clara rebels! Hopefully now Isabelle will know what to do.

Lots of love,
-Cindy