INIZIO

XV| FIFTEEN

Rachel's hair was radiant again.

Not that it surprised Jayden, she was never one to love having bad hair, bad nails, or bad anything in general. It was a strange obsession of hers, to always look fabulous.

"Do you know where Giselle keeps her makeup?" Rachel asked him, as she pulled on a small curl by her face.

Jayden blinked. "I uh," he trailed off. As a matter of a fact, he had never seen Giselle wear any sort of makeup, besides, she didn't seem like the kind of girl to do her makeup. "I don't even think she has makeup." He admitted.

The noise of a struggle being held was heard, which startled them both. Jayden stood immediately and as he was turning, Giselle and Vadim sauntered into the living room with a misshapen Yvette dangling from their arms, just in time to interrupt Rachel's overdramatic gasp. There was a funny-smelling smoke coming from where they had come from, which made Jayden a bit dizzy.

"What's going on?" he asked, as he walked toward them hurriedly, with a few cotton balls dipped in a bit of alcohol to fix up the scratched on her face.

"Diane happened, that's all," Giselle said, as she helped Yvette onto the small sofa and took the cotton balls gratefully from Jayden. Jayden raised his brow at her and she offered a tight-lipped smile.

"Vadim, go to the attic and set up everything you see there. I want everything to be ready to launch in thirty minutes." Yvette said, her right eye was becoming purple, and her lower lip was becoming inflamed.

Giselle gave her a bewildered look. "You mustn't be serious, Yvette," she said in a distressed tone.

Yvette glared at her harshly, "I said do not say." She snatched the cotton balls from her and continued cleansing her wounds by herself.

"Why don't you go help your brother?" she hissed, trying to stand up. Giselle opened her mouth to protest, but Vadim pulled her, shaking his head.

Feeling uneasy, Jayden stood and handed the first aid kit to Yvette. "Allow me to help." he chimed in. "Jayden," Rachel said, an appalled glint shining in eyes that mirrored his own. "Can she come with?" He asked dubious, glancing at both Giselle and Yvette.

"Will you be fine?" Giselle whispered.

Yvette shot her one last look before Giselle sealed her lips and spun around, swiftly disappearing into the kitchen: in her eyes, there had been a doleful look.

Based on how everything was going, Jayden felt it was safe to think that Yvette was mad at both. Well, he couldn't blame her. She nearly could have died in the hands of the monster, and she would've likely been filled with anguish on seeing that Giselle and Vadim weren't there.

For some reason, thinking of all this reminded Jayden of his mother. Inexplicably, he felt a sudden rage toward her that he hadn't ever felt before. Shaking his head to attempt to clear it from his thoughts, he pulled his attention towards Vadim, who was now speaking to him and his sister.

"Come on guys, let's go," Vadim said. He led the way to a hidden compartment in the ceiling of the kitchen, the ladders were already dangling; the shadow of Giselle bounced off the walls.

Jayden watched how Vadim climbed the wooden stairs swiftly and silently, before disappearing into the attic. As he stepped foot on the first ladder, Rachel stopped him. "Wait, -" she allowed herself to trail off.

He turned to look at her. "What?" he asked.

"Jayden I- I don't think I can make it. My ankle," Rachel started, Jayden glanced at her, then at her foot.