Unbreak Me

Chapter 28

Avery Adley

Oliver came to pick me up just as I was finishing my work and packing up.

"You ready?" His deep voice cut through the silence.

"Yes." I nodded my head and walked out with Oliver trailing after me. I noticed a flash in the sky and smiled to myself.

Another thunder storm.

"How was your day?" Oliver asked.

"The usual." I said. "How about yours?"

"The usua-" He stopped talking when he turned to me. His eyes widened slightly and he fished around for something in his pockets. "What happened to your nose?" He frowned and passed me a tissue.

"Must be the weather." I frowned holding the tissue up to my nose.

"Here." Oliver took a the tissue from my hands and pinched my nose. I blushed slightly. "Hold it like that."

I thanked him and did as he did.

We walked to the car and I slid in.

"Have you heard from any reporters?" Oliver asked.

"One rang today. I told the front desk to turn them away." I finally took the bloody tissue away from my face. It had thankfully stopped.

"Good." He said. "It really won't take them long to figure out who you are though." He sighed. "Please be prepared for it. It will be a storm. Hopefully they'll only figure it out after the engagement party. I doubt they'll be that slow."

I nodded my head and sighed.

"By the way I told Erica your measurements."
I turned my head and stared at him like he was an alien from another planet.

"What?" I was feeling officially creeped out. "How? How do you know my measurements?"

He chuckled while looking out at the road. "Alissa. I thought she would have told you about it."

I shook my head slightly.

We arrived at the house and said our goodbyes.

The house was quiet except for the low hum of a tv. I went to my room not wanting to bother with dinner. I feared I would bring it up.

When I opened the door and flicked the light on a gasp left me.

My room was a total wreck. My bedding was torn and fluff and feathers were everywhere.
My lamp had been smashed and everything was knocked to the floor.
Clothes had been ripped to shreds and scattered all over the room.
Magazine pages littered the room. I picked a page up.
It was myself and Oliver on the front cover. It was after the gala.
There was a hole where my face belonged. The edges looked singed and burnt. My face was burned out.

I gulped and dropped the page to the ground. I checked my closet and found I had very little clothes left.

"Avery, what's wrong?" Alissa asked.
She looked around the room and her mouth hung open.

I still stood in shock.
I remembered a box I had for safe keeping and scrambled to find it in the walk in closet.

Relief flooded my entire being.
The black box looked untouched. I opened to find old family photographs that was able to be saved. Some were in decent condition while others had either water damage or were burnt slightly.
I framed each photo to keep them protected.
My birth certificate was also there as well as my passport.
Most importantly an old locket of my mother's sat neatly inside.

"Is everything all okay?" Alissa asked peering over my shoulder.

I nodded my head and closed the box.
"Alissa, can you please keep this safe for me?" I asked her pleadingly.

"Of course." She smiled sadly. "At least you're only here for another week." She sighed. "Now go. I'll clear some of this."

"Thank you." I walked into the bathroom and took a shower.
I had no doubt who destroyed my room. Leah.

Alissa spent an hour just trying to clean up some of the mess. I told her not to worry about it.
I found a pillow that was untouched and a throw blanket. I curled up on the bed and listened to the storm that was moving closer from the distance.

My sleep was broken and interrupted.
Nightmares plagued my sleep.
If they weren't about Mr. Denner, they were about my family trying to kill me.

At 3am after waking up in a cold sweat, I didn't bother going back to sleep. I had a shower and sank to the floor. I cried for about half an hour before picking myself up.

I tiredly dried my hair and walked back to my bedroom. I opened my laptop and began doing work for the next 3 hours.

My alarm rang and brought me out of a daze. I was sure I was having a microsleep.

I stood from my bed and sifted through my clothes to find appropriate work wear. I picked up a pair of black pants, a cream blouse and a jacket. Somehow they were relatively unharmed. Just a little wrinkled.

I dressed, did my make up and tried not to focus on the dark circles under my eyes.
I walked downstairs and had a coffee. I didn't wait around. I didn't want to see Leah or mother.

I caught a cab and made it into work. I had the awful feeling of being watched, but when I looked there was no one watching me. It reminded me of the night at the club.

I'm probably just being paranoid.

I noticed a few reporters at the entrance of work.
Johnny opened the door for me and told the few people to step back.

Ignoring the stares and whispers I went to my office and started the day.

Mr. Adley was quiet through out the day. I received another call from Oliver saying he'd pick me up. I was too tired to argue.

I worked without a break. I knew if I stopped I'd think about those memories and nightmares.

At 8pm on the dot Oliver was at my office.

"Hey." He eyed me. "You ready to go?"

I nodded my head and stood up. I packed my things and shut down the computer.

"You okay?" He frowned.

I smiled tiredly. "I'm fine, just lack of sleep. That's all." He nodded and followed me out.

I began to feel dizzy. The motion of the elevator didn't help at all.

"Avery?" I vaguely heard Oliver's voice and felt his hand on my arm.

My vision blurred and I felt myself fall before everything went completely dark.