Blue Ribbon

Chapter 41 - A queen's reign

"In this world of chaos, she holds the throne;
A queen, a ruler all on her own.
A symphony of power, her reign untamed,
A queen of shadows, forever unnamed."

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Lilly's POV

Chaos reigned all around us, like a force of nature, unreconciled. Order and peace got torn apart, unwilling to ever release us from its torturing grip.

Dad, Nikolas, and almost every other man that was in the house left in a hurry after the onset of the hurricane. They went to the destruction site, the one we all witnessed from over here, from behind the small screen. They went to search and look between the remnants for any type of hope.

Like them, I hoped, prayed, and hoped...

My eyes flickered around the room, my hope diminishing the second they fell on Wyatt, he was sitting on the stair's last step, his terrified eyes focused on the door, waiting for his parents to walk right through it and end this nightmare once and for all. Panic ate at his youthful face and my chest felt so tight, constricted, and trapped, as if a thousand hands had grasped and clapped on its cells.

Max sat by his side, he tried to speak to him, to drift his thoughts away, to offer him assuring words and some hope. He rested his hand over the boy's shoulder and squeezed but Wyatt's gaze didn't leave the door for once, his jaw set tight, hands fisted over his knees and he just waited. He couldn't do anything but wait.

I forced my gaze away, I let it fall over my lap and I tried to hit a pause over my messy thoughts. Because the longer I thought of it, the harder it got to breathe, a force so solid and rigid pressing over my lungs, a weight that held me down and immersed me deeper into this chaos.

I got shaken back when I felt gentle fingers rest over my cheek, turning my head around to face him. Blue eyes held mine and I taught myself how to breathe again but the pressure persisted, unyielding and strong over every alive nerve in my being. Stressed lines etched between his eyebrows, "Hey, drink this," He whispered, or I was the one who couldn't clearly hear him, my ears still ringing from the explosion sound; that deafening roar. Even though the sound had died away, its impact lingered still...like a haunting dismay.

His fingers brushed my skin soothingly, "You look so pale," He mumbled as he inched the water's glass to my lips, his eyebrows pulling closer in worry. I brought my hand up, it rested over his as I titled the glass and allowed the water to wash over my dry hoarse throat. He placed it away when I was done but he stayed so close to me, his warmness creeping over my very cold shaking self. I leaned into him, seeking his heat and he brought his arm around my shoulders, tucking me closer.

He brushed something from under my eyes, maybe a lost tear I wasn't aware of had stuck there. Chase inched closer, pressing his lips over my forehead, leaving a gentle kiss, whispering soothing words to me and I let my eyelids drop down as I thought of happy thoughts, as I tried to escape the idea that my family won't be able to handle another tragedy as such.

I let my eyelids glide open and the first thing they met was Christian across the room, whose gaze was already settled on me. He hadn't left yet and everyone was too busy and worried to comprehend or question his presence. He seemed slightly worried, like he genuinely didn't want anyone getting hurt, only doubling my confusion about him and his immense so-called hatred toward my family...or maybe it is just hatred targeted toward my dad only.

Besides the worry, there is that look in his eyes. The one slightly blaming me for being so close to Chase, the one making me feel guilty when I shouldn't. It involuntarily had me straighten up, slightly pulling away; Christian's gaze and presence were getting me so uncomfortable and I wanted him to leave because I wasn't doing anything wrong. I wasn't, was I?