Seven (Completed)

CHAPTER 9 ~ The escape

CHAPTER 9

The escape

 

The alarm went off, waking him up from a beautiful dream. For a few torturing minutes his mind was jumping in and out of reality and his body refused to abandon the warmth of his bed. He hid his head underneath his pillow and wished he could freeze time but a second beeping alarm clock forced his to pull himself together and head for the bathroom.

He ran his fingers carelessly through his messy blonde hair. 'You need a haircut,' he thought to himself before yawning. Pierre grabbed the end of his t-shirt and pulled it quickly off, over his head. He removed his pyjama-bottoms as well and stepped into the shower. The cold tiles made the hairs behind his neck rise up, causing him to shiver.

At first, Pierre just let the water pour all over his head and body and he just stood there, vacantly starring at the white wall in front of him. He rested his hands against the wall and lifted his head up, allowing the water to drop inside his mouth while travelling down his nose, to finally drip from his chin.

And as he stood there, with his eyes closed, the thoughts he had been desperately trying to block out were now pouring back inside his mind, each one of them making his head feel heavier. Pierre knew he was having doubts about them leaving the dome but he had just then started to realise he did not believe in himself.

And as his pulse beat faster and faster, Pierre closed the tap and just stood there still facing the wall. His eyes were wet but he knew there were tears mixed with the dripping water. He closed his eyes and tried to buy some time until they had to go. And then it hit him. He remembered. It was their last day.

His eyes turned grey and the pupils widened as if the few hints of colour had been washed out of his face at that realisation. He felt his stomach turn inside out and his left arm twitching nervously. Pierre breathed in and out a couple of times before he could regain his focus. He was running out of time. All of them were. And he knew there was nothing left to do other than wait for the night to come.

He stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around his waist and hoped he could be strong enough.

***

Anne turned her head only to find Carlos swallowing huge mouthfuls of scrambled eggs. She could not resist laughing.

'Wha?' he asked still chewing huge chunks of egg and toast. 'Is good as long as you add mo' salt n' pepper.'

'Right,' she answered still giggling.

'Wait. You're not gonna eat yours?' he asked after gulping.

'No, you can have it since you like it that much,' she answered and was ready to hand him her plate when Lucas' voice stopped her.

'No. Anne, I understand it's hard to eat now that your stomach's tied into a knot but, trust me, you should eat as much as you can today,' he said and his voice was warm and friendly so Anne grabbed the salt in one hand and her fork in the other and started eating the slightly cold eggs unwillingly.

When Carlos finally stopped attacking his plate with his fork, he wiped his face and scanned the room for a trace of Sonia. He found her sitting between Felicity and Cynthia and last nights' events came back to his mind.

'Hello girls, sister!' he greeted as he arrived close to the table, lightly touching Sonia's neck from above her. 'Are we doing ... good?' he asked and Sonia smiled but Cynthia's face cringed.

 'We're doing just fine. We were kind of in the middle of a discussion here,' she said arrogantly.

'Okay ... In that case, I'll leave you at your precious gossiping,' he replied sarcastically and left their side obviously annoyed.