Caged

40

The click of the lock turning woke me up in the early hours of the next morning.

I lifted my head off the pillow, and my eyes zoned in on Caleb opening the door. He walked into the guest bedroom where I'd stayed for the night.

"You can come out now," he said quietly, avoiding my eyes as he stood by the threshold. If I wasn't so tired, I would've scoffed at the guilt lacing his words, but I didn't have the energy in me to do anything but close my eyes.

I heard him tread into the room and take a seat on the edge of my bed. He rested a hand on my arm and squeezed. "I'm sorry."

I ignored him, letting my eyes stay closed. Caleb let out a long breath in exasperation. "Izzy, they knew you wouldn't listen. I tried to convince them not to."

"That doesn't mean you guys had to lock me in here," I replied quietly, shrugging his hand off of me and turning over, so my back was facing him. "I didn't even do anything."

"I know," Caleb sighed and I stayed still as he grabbed my hand again, refusing to let go even though I tried shoving him away. "They didn't want you to see Sebastian in that state when they took him out."

I pulled the blanket higher up my shoulders. "You mean Elijah didn't want me to see what they did to Sebastian," I corrected.

Caleb stayed silent and I got my clarification.

"Just leave me alone," I mumbled, pressing the side of my face deeper into the pillow. Soft sunlight streamed in through the curtains and its warmth was comforting at the moment.

I'd stayed awake for most of the night, my mind jumping from topic to topic. I was exhausted, but I was also fed up with my family. Especially after what they'd pulled yesterday.

They'd locked me in the guest bedroom for the entire night.

I hadn't protested at the moment out of shock because it was something they'd never done before, but Ethan had shoved me inside and locked the door after telling me that they'd let me out in the morning.

After the frustration died down, I'd tried falling asleep, but it was a useless effort. All throughout the night, I'd heard cars pulling into the driveway of our house and deep voices coming from downstairs, and sometimes even outside of my door. I knew that Elijah had people coming and going, probably for his work, but I didn't know why it was in the middle of the night. 

I wasn't going to ask either because I had my focus on something else; how I was going to plan this trip.

"He's not dead."

Caleb's voice snapped me out of my thoughts and my eyes flew open again, but I kept my back to him.

"Sebastian," he clarified, mindlessly running a thumb over my knuckles. "But you won't see him again. Elijah sent him out of the country last night."

I stayed quiet. I had a gut feeling that he was going to be gone for good this time, so I wasn't that surprised.

"Say something," Caleb pressed. "Izzy."

I ignored him. I knew that it wasn't entirely his fault and he had no say in anything Elijah chose to do, but I didn't feel like talking to any of them. Not if it wasn't necessary after what I'd learned last night.