For My Aching Soul

Chapter 13

The drive with my father was tense to say the least. He didn't utter a word to me and I was too preoccupied with being a nervous wreck to speak to him.

It took us an hour and forty minutes before my new prison came into sight. I knew there was no point arguing with my dad because he had made up his mind and if I was to be honest...I thought this would be good for me. Maybe I needed some time away from people who knew me.

We got to the big black iron gates. A security guard dressed in two different yet equally ugly shades of brown approached our car.

"Good Morning. Visiting hours don't start until 12 pm but if you want you can go park and wait in the lobby," the guard gave my father a curt look, his lips pressed into a hardline. I could tell he hated his job.

"Actually, I'm checking in my daughter," my father looked at me for a second after he spoke. I saw how his face twitched the word 'daughter'.

I turned my face away immediately, not liking to be looked at by him. There was this glint in his eyes that reminded me how much he hated me.

"Oh, well in that case, I'm going to have to check your vehicle and bags before entry," he wasted no time between saying this and instructing my father to wind down all windows, unlock all doors and pop the trunk.

After my father did just that, the guard spent about 15 minutes checking every inch of Dad's Audi.

"All clear. Welcome to Burkley Manors, do enjoy your stay Miss," the first part of the statement was directed to my dad and the second to me but his sarcastic tone didn't subside one bit.

He opened the gate and my father drove us up the steep hill and up the the massive building. The place was very Victorian with a modern twist, made from red bricks, caste iron rails, grand mahogany doors, and clean cut glass windows (though there were bars covering these).

As I got out of the car I looked up at the place in awe and that's when it finally hit me. I'd be staying here for the next 6 months to a year. I tried to push the anxiety down but I truly felt as though I was about to vomit.

I got my suitcase out the back and before I knew it a man was coming out the front door to assist me. He dressed in all white so I figured he was a nurse or something of the sort.

"Good Morning Miss, welcome to Burkley Manors. May I please take your bag?" He asked with a smile but sounded extremely rehearsed.

I nodded and let him take my bag.

My father and I followed after him into the huge mahogany French doors. The outside was truly nothing compared to the inside. There was nothing rustic about it, just state of the art decor.

The lobby was beautiful. There was a large wooden front desk behind which a young red-haired woman sat with a practiced smile on her face.

The area was huge, white couches lined the walls with black cushions arranged neatly on each one and a large coffee table in the center. The walls were made of chrome tiles and each time I moved it was reflected.

My father had walked over to the front desk where he was more flirting with the woman than sorting out my stay.

After a while he called me over, "This is Nicole." He draped his arm over me and I couldn't help but flinch. My father rarely ever touched me. I knew he was just doing it to seem like a loving father to impress the red-head.

"She's a little jumpy," he began to assure the receptionist whose name, according to her name-tag, was Meryl.

"Aww, that's completely normal. Nicole, while your father checks you in properly, Alex will show you around the Manor," Meryl said, her red lips spreading into an even a larger smile.

"Okay," I muttered.

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