A few months later, Arya got used to her new lifestyle. She'd wake up at 5, did her morning routine, ate breakfast, spent 12 hours playing with The Pretender, ate dinner, and went to sleep. Today was different. When Elizabeth was ready to go back to training, she asked Arya to go with her. She takes Arya downstairs and walks through a steel door. She grabs a pair of headphones and a gun and hands them to Arya. "One minute." Elizabeth goes off and grabs a pair of gloves. "Put all that on." Elizabeth demands, and they both put on their headphones and gloves, but move one headphone off one ear. "Try to aim for the center." Elizabeth instructs. Arya aims for the center and gets close to it. "Good job. Now, try to hit the same spot." Arya tries and hits her previous spot. She hits the same spot 50 times before Elizabeth says something else. "Okay, now that we have your precision, we'll work on accuracy more tomorrow. Let's try ballet. Have you ever taken ballet?" Elizabeth asks, taking off Arya's headphones and taking the gun from her. "I took it ballet when I was 2 up until my mom...sold me." Arya responds. "So, you've heard the phase 'Muscle Memory'?" Elizabeth asks. "Yeah, my teacher made me repeat my dance routine until I memorized it...step by step... until it became muscle memory." Arya explains. "Do you remember the dance?" Elizabeth asks. "Mhm. The Dark Swan... but why is that relevant?" Arya looks at her sister confused. "I want you to dance The Dark Swan." Elizabeth states and leads her into a dance studio. "Okay..." Arya puts on some pointe shoes and tights and begins dancing. She dances flawlessly through the dance, and then she finishes. "Beautiful." Elizabeth walks to her and gently places her hands on the upper part of her arms. "I believe that you will be a great asset to the C.A.A and our family. It's just...meant to be." Elizabeth once again kisses her temple and Arya leans into her touch. "I love you, Elizabeth." Arya hugs Elizabeth and Elizabeth is shocked at first, but hugs her back. "I love you too, Arya."
8 years later
Arya and The Pretender are sitting in the living room, on the floor, playing with Odette and Odessa, while Elizabeth is sewing an outfit together. The doorbell rings and all 3 girls jump. "Arya, grab my gun from under the console and take The Pretender to her room." Elizabeth orders and Arya does as she is told. Elizabeth loads the gun and gets prepared to shoot. "So, you went from calling me every week to coming to my house. You really are desperate." Elizabeth points the gun at the door. "You tracked down a girl for 2 years just to get her here, and you want to talk about desperate." The person says. "What do you want?" Elizabeth asks. "You know what I want." The person answers. Elizabeth looks towards Odette and Odessa that Arya and The Pretender left on the floor. "That's not going to happen." Elizabeth turns back to the door. "Then, give me the girl. The only reason I let you train her is because you promised to give me the doll." The person says and Elizabeth laughs. "Have you never met me? If you make a deal with me, you better believe that I'm getting more than what you bargain for." Elizabeth laughs again. "I didn't raise you to be like this." The person says. Elizabeth gets angry and steps outside. "You didn't raise me at all. You MADE me, you TAUGHT me, and then ABANDONED me. At least, they treat me like I'm family. Do You Know What Happened To Me After You Left?! Do You Even Care?! Admit It! You Never Protected Me!" Elizabeth belts. "I tried." The person responds, quietly. "Not in any way that would've put you on their bad side." Elizabeth whispers. "You had your chance with Arya and you blew it and I am not going to blow it because I was made to her sister...you do not...care about me...you don't care about Arya or The Pretender. Mom doesn't love me." Elizabeth gets next to their ear. "She doesn't love you." Elizabeth returns to her original spot. "Despite your behavior and your actions, you're still my little girl. So, please, stop this nonsense about being unloved and assuming that I don't care about you. I wouldn't have come here if I didn't care about you. You're MY blood." The person says. "...I hate you...and I love you...I don't know why, but I do." Elizabeth says with tears building up. "...Elizabeth, I'm not here to take Odette." The person says. "Then, why are you here?" Elizabeth questions. "I'm here because there's something that you don't know...about Odette." The person looks behind her at the doll that is still on the floor. He closes the door and guides Elizabeth to their car. "...Odette. Our mom isn't the only one after her...They are too." The person says. "Why couldn't you tell me at the door?" Elizabeth asks. "Because, this news might scare her and I don't want to do scare her unnecessarily. Elizabeth, I'm asking, begging, for you to leave this forsaken house and move back in with me along with Arya, The Pretender, Odessa, and Odette." The person places their hands on her arms. Elizabeth looks down at their hands and back at them. "If you don't remove your hands from my arms, then I will remove them for you and trust me, you will not like it." Elizabeth goes back to the house. "Seriously, Eliza, this house is on C.A.A's radar. We need to leave." The person states. "How do I know that you aren't lying to me? You know, like that time when you said you'd never leave me. You lied about that. How am I supposed to believe anything you say?" Elizabeth asks. "I guess you can't, but I promise, if you can find it in your heart to trust me one more time, I promise that I will protect the 5 of you until I'm not here anymore." The person vows. "Sorry, but I know how well you keep promises." And with that, Elizabeth walks back into her house and shuts the door. "Eliza, will you play with us?" Odette, now a small girl, asks. Next to her, is Odessa, an even smaller girl."Odette, I would love to. Just give me a minute, okay?" Odette nods and starts swinging her legs. Elizabeth goes into The Pretender's room and lets her sisters know that it is okay to come out now. For the next few hours, the 5 of them play together, but little did they know that someone's watching them.
YOU ARE READING
Family Comes First: Wonderland
FantasiaTW:Child Trafficking and Child Neglect Family always comes first... right? Arya is a girl who was sold to a mother at birth. She was a lovely lady, but not a lovely parent. Soon after they were on their way to Romania, Arya was sold once again, only...
