The Queen Of Spades

Chapter 8: Happily ever after?

It was almost a month before Noah came to school after the kidnapping, and another month until Olivia came back. She looked like a shell of herself in the gray hoodie and sweatpants. Worse, she looked like me last year. Seeing her was like a gut punch, but it didn't even come close to what I felt when Hannah saw me watching them from my corner by the vending machines. My pulse raced as Hannah stormed up to me, practically trampling all the poor students just trying to get to their classes.
"You monster!" She shouted at me, "How dare you show your face here after what you did!"
I looked at the floor and bit my tongue until I tasted the all too familiar copper tang. "Hello, Mrs. Hudson." I mumbled, not sure what else to say.
"Don't you "Hello Mrs. Hudson" me, you psycho. Because of you, my children check over their shoulder everywhere they go!"
I wished she would keep her voice down. "Ní drochbheartas a bheith ann." (Not a bad policy to have.) I mumbled.
"What was that? More of your German lies that you told Noah that first day? Don't you be going around spreading lies and rumors about my family. We welcomed you into our home and this is how you repay us?"
"I'm sorry," I said, tears brimming my eyes, "I'm so, so, so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen." A small crowd had gathered around us because of how loud Hannah was and not a few whispers started at my apologies. "Please, I didn't know about Caleb, honest. I'm so, so sorry. You have no idea how-" My voice stopped working mid-sentence and my eyes closed. It was like I couldn't control my own body. "What the Hell is wrong with you Hannah Hudson? Blaming Madelyn for the actions of a terrorist group?" Bex asked, opening her eyes and locking her gaze onto Hannah's. "Let's not forget that she didn't ask to live with you. It's not her fault that the people she trusted most abandoned her to a family of strangers. It's not her fault that fifteen months ago, she was ripped from her family and any sort of normalcy because the United States government thought it was smart to train children to be mercenaries and spies. And it is most certainly not her fault that your daughter and son were kidnapped—right along with her, in fact. But you know what is her fault? The fact that your children are still alive. She did that. No one else. Not her deadbeat "aunt" and "uncle" and not the bloody government that was supposed to protect her. She had the chance to escape and leave the both of them to die, and she didn't. She broke the number one rule of "do not negotiate with terrorists" and protected your children. She should have left them to die, she deserved to save herself for once but no, she saved them instead. If she hadn't done what she had, they would both be dead and their bodies so disgustingly mutilated that you would have to cremate them!" Bex' voice rose to a scream and then came back down as she finished speaking. "I know, because that's what they had to do for hers. So the next time that you speak to Madelyn Everhart, remember what she's done for you and not what they did to you. Because if you think what you've gone through is bad, imagine that, magnified by a hundred in the body of a sixteen year old. So show some bloody respect!" With that, Bex went back to sleep, leaving me in control.
Hannah glared daggers at me when I opened my blue eyes to look at her. "It wasn't German," I told her, "it was Irish." And with that, I turned and walked past the crowd of people recording us and went to class.