Arcadia : The Hidden Child

Chapter 13

"Lights on." I shouted quickly commanding the lights on.
Tristan?
Tristan. 
Oh no! I wasn't wearing pants!  "Lights off!" I commanded just as quickly.  I fumbled around in the dark for a second to find my pants.  I literally just took them off, how could they be this hard to find? 
Got them! I quickly slipped them on.
"Lights low."  The lights grew a little brighter.
He was still sitting on the edge of my bed, his lips turned up at the corners.
"What are you doing here?" I cried.
"I told you that I needed to talk with you."
"And you make it a habit to just walk into people's rooms in the middle of the night?" I scolded.
"No, not typically. Where were you?"
"I was with Mars, you saw me."
"Yea, a while ago.  Have you been with him this whole time?"
My eye twitched, "Is that not ok?"
"Why were you with him so long?"
"Why are you asking so many questions?  I am sure you came here to talk about something else."
He stared at me for a moment and then sighed.  "It's about Mr. Thomas."
"What's wrong with Charlie? Is he here?"
He hesitated.
This isn't good.  My hands started to get sweaty.
"Come here," he stood up and grabbed my hand and led me over to the bed.  "I sent a team, right after you fell asleep in the pod.  I had them go to his house and gather him and his family."
No! I couldn't shake the images of him, Lisa and the kids dead on the floor.
"Don't go there."
I looked at him.
"Where your mind just went, it's not healthy."
How does he seem to know me so well?
"They weren't there, but it doesn't mean something is wrong."  He let go of my hands, "After waiting for a couple of hours, my team swept the house to see if they had left and found a few things askew upstairs." He must have seen my rubbing my hands because he grabbed them again, "That doesn't mean anything."
"But it doesn't mean nothing." I spat.  "You said to trust you and I did and now something bad has happened!" I moved his hands off my and stood up.
He stood up as well, "No," he said as if denying any wrongdoing, "There is no way Damian could've known that you would decide to come back with me and sent a crew there that fast.  If he did take Mr.Thomas, he did so before the party."
"Before the party?" My words were softer now.  He was probably right, and this wasn't his fault, but it didn't change the fact that now Damian had Charlie and his family.  He had gotten them before the party as assurance, he was toying with me and now I just gave him all the ammunition he needed to hurt them. I felt weak.
Tristan caught me as I was falling onto the bed.
"You didn't do anything wrong."
"The hell I didn't!" I shouted at him.
"Damian is sick and he has Charlie and his family and I made the choice to leave him and come back with you, so what do you think that means for them!?"
"Stop it!  We will get them."
"You said to trust you before."
He recoiled. 
"I'm sorry, that was unfair."
He nodded.
"I'm going to see if I can find anymore information for you before tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? Why not now?"
"You need to get some rest."
"Not going to happen, I need to find Charlie."
He grabbed me gently by both of my shoulders.  "This is not going to happen tonight.  You need to wash up and go to sleep, I've asked Franz to stop by and check on you tonight."
"I don't need to be told what to do and I sure as hell don't need a babysitter."
He cocked his head at me.  "He isn't a babysitter, I just know how you are.  Your mind will be mulling over all scenarios, keeping you up for the whole night.  I only asked him to come by to give you some tea to help calm you down."
"I"- he interrupted.
"You need to listen to me for just once," he pleaded.  "I will fix this for you Araleigh," his eyes were a fiery intense blue.  "Wash up and get to bed.  I promise I will have more information for you tomorrow morning at breakfast."
"Fine."
He let go of my shoulders and grabbed both of my hands and brought them to his lips.  "I promise Araleigh." He turned and walked out of the door.
I made my way to the bathroom and jumped in the shower.  It felt nice to stand and let the water hit me...Let the hot water wash away all of  Damian's house, my mother's palace, Charlie and Tristan.
I finished towel drying my hair and threw it up in a ponytail and went back into my room to find a cup of hot tea on the bedside table.  Franz.  I cracked a small smile and took a sip.  I let the warmth pass over my tongue and down my throat, soothing me.
I climbed into bed and seconds later the world was dark.