Little Game

Chapter 60

Isabella took a shuddering breath. The silence in the room was almost palpable that she could barely breathe. The intensity that stayed with them crushed her whole being that she almost felt like fainting. Her heart was loud enough that she thought that everyone in the room could hear.

She couldn't— she doesn't want to believe. Isabella knew that they don't just kill 'innocent' people. Nobody's innocent. Not when those people worked for her family. But they killed those who they promised not to touch, not to kill.

Not to hurt.

And they probably hurt and maybe even killed,  without any remorse whatsoever, so many who were actually innocent. Families or close friends who were related to the people who worked for her family.

Isabella looked at them, feeling... Well, she doesn't know what to feel. Angry? Betrayed? Hurt? She knew they were bad people from the start. She knew. She lived with them and she knew. They knew that she knew. But to hear somebody say they're bad people, to actually have somebody slap that cold, hard truth in her face— she feels disgusting, not only to them but to herself.

She could have done something.

Isabella knew and she could have done anything to prevent them from doing what they should not have been doing from the start. She could have done something. Maybe she could have made a difference if she did. Isabella felt selfish and felt that she turned a blind eye to all the things they've done.

Selfish, bratty little Bella.

Isabella's body suddenly felt tired. Her legs felt weak to the point where Nicolai had to support her. Her hands were clammy and she was sweating profusely.

"It's over." Ezri said, his voice held pain. It held stories of his heartache and his time of great tribulation. It held so many years of pain. His eyes were filled with the fires of agony and choked desolation.

"I'm sorry, Izzy." Nicolai whispered softly, his voice shaking. "They took my little cousin. S-She was only twelve—I had to do something. I had to. They promised not to take her and now I don't even know if she's alive. And this was the only way..."  He muttered as tears fell down Isabella's eyes.

Why should he apologize for something that was her family's fault in the first place? She's part of that family. The Torres family. He didn't need to apologize because Isabella knew that he was not sorry. Why should he be?

She looked at her family and they had no remorse in their eyes. Their gazes hardened and it became colder than ice.

Isabella couldn't breathe.

"Nicolai..." Isabella's voice was shaking like a leaf, a pathetic, useless leaf, as her eyes suddenly blurred with hot, angry tears. She was so frustrated. So tired. It was supposed to be her birthday today. Things weren't supposed to be like this.

She was supposed to have fun with Ezri, with Dmitri and with Rafael.

"Did you use me? Was all... Was it a lie?" She muttered, suddenly feeling like she was under water, drowning and unable to swim up and take some oxygen. She felt as though chains were wrapped around her, keeping her drowned.

Nicolai was her first friend. She remembered him crying when they met.

Isabella remembered cookies with Nicolai, playing or reading books or even scaring each other in the woods. Isabella remembered him bringing her to school. Having fun and him being him and her loving him.

Nicolai said nothing but pushed her towards the bottom of the stairs. He didn't answer her but his silence was enough. His silence spoke louder than actions.