Blind Love

Chapter 20

18 months.

It has been 18 months since she had last seen Mikhail. Everyone thought she died the night of the attack. Her heart ached as she thought about her friends. They faked her death, even gave her a funeral. For her friends, Sofia Olivarez was dead. She did not even know if they were alright. They sent her away, to a country where it was always cold. She was in a luxurious cottage hidden in the mountains but there was no connection to the world. No internet. No phone service. No TV. Nothing.

At least she had Flora and the kids with her. She hated that they had to send her so far away to protect her from Emilio. She longed for Mikhail, for his warmth. She laid awake in bed. She barely slept here. She did not know if Mikhail was still alive. If any of her friends was fine. Sarah, Paul, Aline and Erica. A single tear ran down her cheek and she quickly wiped it. She checked the time on the clock next to the door. It was five in the morning. Everyone was probably sound asleep.

She forced her body up, shivering as the cold bit her skin despite the several layers of clothes on her. She hated it here. It was so different from her home town where it was warm most of the time. She brushed her teeth, gazing at her reflection in the mirror. Her skin had turned dry and pale with her hair looking as dull as dry as the rest. She removed her clothes and stepped into a warm shower. She welcomed the hot water that glided down her body. Her body had completely healed from Greg's attack; with only a few small scars. Nothing in her physical appearance showed brutality that she had been through. Her mind was a completely different matter though. She tried to use her knowledge of the human mind to stop the pain but it was all in vain. She felt alone, despite being behind closed door 24/7 with Flora and the kids. She resented Mikhail because he had sent her away when she needed him the most. He had done it for her own good but her mind...her heart didn't feel that way.

She got dressed, combed her hair and made her way into the corridor. The cottage was very spacious, enough for ten people to live at ease. It made the loneliness more present. The only visitors that had were Gunther, a man in his mid-forties and his wife, Pamela. Gunther was a friend of Mikhail and he came to check on them every month and to bring groceries. Pamela was the midwife who helped Flora to give birth to her daughter. And she came along with her husband to check on Francesca, Flora's daughter and the boys. Gunther was also the quiet and brooding man while his wife was this bubbly and funny person. From what they had told her, Mikhail had saved Gunther's life years ago.

But again, they only came once a month. She quietly opened the boys' room door and peeked inside. They were sound asleep. The kids had kept her sane and alive for the past 18 months. Their joy and innocence pushed the darkness away whenever they were in the same room as her. Manny and Juan did not seem to care about the isolation. They were homeschooled. They played and laughed a lot. Their room was filled with toys. Mikhail had arranged for everything. They even had their own bedrooms but Juan and Manny didn't like to be separated. She kissed them both gently on their foreheads and closed the door after her. Flora's room was the next. Every morning, Sofia had to check on everyone. She had this ever present anxiety that someone could attack them at any moment. She needed to know that everyone was safe. Terror, shame and anguish gnawed and tore her inside.

Flora was snoring gently and the brunette pulled up the covers around her. Her friend was gorgeous, the golden hue of her hair laying against the white silk of her pillow. Something had changed between them. She knew her friend blamed herself for everything that she had been through. She had seen the guilt in her eyes. It was one of the reasons Sofia could not tell her how she felt. If her friend knew the dark thoughts that went through her mind every day, if she knew of the night terrors that woke her up every night, she would blame herself even more. And Sofia did not want them. She did not blame Flora. She only blamed herself for trusting Gregorio. She had not noticed the red flags... Or had she? Had she chosen to ignore them? She should have known. She heard soft cooing noises coming from the baby pink crib next to the bed.