Dangerous Love (girl x girl)

Chapter 48

Arielle

I was dreaming...and then I wasn't. Or maybe it was my imagination. Everything was a blur. I vaguely remembered being dragged back down the stairs and shoved into the cell before a sheet was thrown over me. I didn't know where the rest of my clothing were. I faded in and out of consciousness. Part of me just didn't want to wake up. At least it was somewhat peaceful when I slept. Clara wasn't down here when I had been brought back, but I couldn't stay awake for long enough to think about where she had gone.

When I was awake, I was cold. I was so cold. I trembled weakly in the corner, huddled in the single thin sheet. My whole body was sore and I knew that I was covered in cuts and bruises. I didn't want to cry anymore. I didn't want them to hear me cry. I was in such a daze that even when I regained consciousness, the sounds around me barely caught my attention at all. In fact, it didn't even register to me that I wasn't alone in the cell until someone grabbed me and turned me over.

I immediately went rigid, thinking it was Francis or Tristan. When my eyes made contact with a familiar pair of piercing blues, my expression turned to disbelief. I had to blink several times, trying to figure out if I was dreaming or hallucinating. Isabelle started to cry. My eyes flickered to the doorway where Clara stood, watching us with an unfathomable expression.

My arms shakily moved to wrap around Isabelle as her familiar scent hit me and I buried my face into the crook of her neck, allowing a single tear to fall. Although I was concerned for both of our safety, my heart fluttered and I felt warmth flood over my body for the first time in awhile.

"I knew you would come."

Isabelle's expression softened. With little hesitation, she picked me up by sliding her arms underneath my body and lifting me in one quick movement. She used the sheet to wrap around my lower half, which I was grateful for. She nodded at Clara who turned and hurried to the base of the stairs. I huddled close to Isabelle, feeling her scent surround me. This comforted me, despite the unimaginable danger that we were in. I made sure to refrain from making a single sound on our way up, despite all the things I wanted to say.

As soon as we made it to the top of the stairs, I saw Marcel and two other men standing in front of the sliding wall which opened to lead upstairs. "Mademoiselle, we need to leave now!" Marcel yelled and Isabelle rushed over to skylight with me in her arms. She hoisted me up and through the broken window. A man on the other end caught me.

Isabelle gestured for Clara to climb through as well, and she hesitated, looking in the direction of the passageway upstairs, but eventually turned and followed behind me. As Isabelle walked towards the opening, I could see a figure start to stir through the window and slowly make his way towards Isabelle.

"Isabelle!" I screamed out and she turned around, firing a clean shot at his head without hesitation. Clara gasped in horror as Francis fell to the floor, dead. Isabelle quickly climbed through and took me back from the man.

"Marcel, Evan, Greg, back out!" She called inside the house. "We can't take them all!" She began to run with me as the bodyguard teams on the outside ran in a perimeter, shooting at any that emerged from the house. I was pushed into the passenger's side of a car and Isabelle jumped into the other side before driving off. I tried to do my seatbelt with shaky hands.

Suddenly, Isabelle grabbed my shoulder and forced me down in the seat. A second later, bullets began flying through the back windshield as she hit the gas and sped out of the neighbourhood. I stayed still and didn't say a word until Isabelle stopped at a red light ten minutes later and gently reached to pull me back up into the seat.

She didn't look at me and her jaw was set as if she was forbidding herself to feel. I didn't speak either, not wanting to distract her until we were safe at home.

"We're going to my father's estate. I highly doubt they could've followed us this far with the convoy slowing them down, but it's not worth the risk going to my place. They wouldn't dare try to raid the Versailles estate." She explained. Only when I saw the familiar building ahead and we drove into the gates did I let out a shaky breath.

Isabelle pulled over to the side of the path and turned off the car. She came over to my side to help me out. As she did, I noticed that her eyes had filled up with tears again. She picked me up wordlessly and held me close to her as she walked towards the estate.

"Wh-where's Clara?" I whispered.

"In Marcel's car." She replied quietly, carrying me past the guards at the entrance who bowed to her. She walked up the grand staircase and all the way to her bedroom before carrying me to the connecting bathroom and setting me down on the sink counter. Wordlessly, she turned on the water to the bathtub and sat down on the ledge, looking over at me. I waited for her speak, fully expecting her to tell me off for leaving the house alone.

"I'm so sorry I didn't come sooner." She whispered in a broken voice. I blinked in confusion before reaching out to her shakily.

"How can that be your fault? I-I left the estate when you explicitly told me not to go anywhere without you." I said miserably.

She reached out and touched my cheek. "Hey...you did what you had to. As did I. You found your sister and you managed to get your location to me. I came as soon as I could."

I blinked in confusion again. "What? But they took my phone from me. I was in Tristan's office-" I cut myself off, going pale at the memory. Finally, I managed to push down the urge to vomit. "I-it must have been Clara." I whispered. "That's why she wasn't there..."

I caught Isabelle's look of confusion and went silent again. I knew she had seen that I wasn't wearing any pants. Surely she had inferred what had happened. I didn't know what to say to her.

Isabelle turned off the water and stood up to carefully unwrap the sheet. I grabbed her hand, stopping her as I started shaking nervously. Even though I was rather sure she had already seen, I didn't want her to. She watched me with an indecipherable expression before leaning in and pressing her lips to my forehead reassuringly and moving my hands away. She successfully unwrapped the sheet and removed my shirt before lifting me into the water.

I inhaled sharply as the hot water made contact with my sore muscles and bruises. Isabelle examined the cuts on my face. "The ones on your cheek are pretty shallow, but I might need to stitch the one here." She murmured, kissing my forehead again.

I looked up at her pitifully. "J-join me?" I whispered after a moment of silence. With no hesitation at all, she stood up and began to unbutton her top and remove her skirt. Once she had undressed, I shifted forwards in the water and made a spot for her to sit behind me. Luckily, the bathtub was a jacuzzi, so we were left with plenty of space.

Isabelle held me silently, giving no indication of what was going through her mind. Moments later, I could feel her tears hitting the top of my head. "Ari...never scare me like that again." She said in a shaky tone that I hadn't heard before.

I wrapped my arms around hers that held me firmly, not saying a word. There was nothing that needed to be said. I felt the realization sink in that I was finally safe, not because I was out of that house, but because Isabelle's arms were around me. I had no doubt, quite literally, that she would not be letting me out of her sight again.

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*edited*

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the late update, I was sick all weekend.

Lots of love,
-Cindy