Locked in chains

Chapter 17

Hearing the front door open, my heart skipped a beat. I hurry up the stairs to avoid seeing them, I'm not ready to face them yet and I still need time to think it all through. I slam my bedroom door and throw myself onto the bed. I can't hold back my tears as they go down my face, invading my cheeks as if they belong there. 

3:00 am

"No! Don't do that, please! STOP!"

"Don't touch me!"

I wake up from my nightmare, sweating from head to toe. I sit up in my bed, my breath is short and echoes in the room. I'm sweaty and my body is cold. For a second, I thought I was back in that empty, cold room. I put my hand on my heart to try to calm it. Suddenly, my bedroom door opens, and I come face to face with Cole. He looks just as out of breath as me, and even worried. He's only wearing pants, I can see his tattoos on his chest. His hair is falling over his face, and the bags under his eyes indicate that he hasn't slept much these past few days either. I meet his eyes again and before asking him what he's doing here, he beats me to it.

"I...I heard you screaming, and..." he says, out of breath.

"I'm fine, you can leave."

I try to catch my breath and retake control of my body when he slips under my covers with me.

"What are you doing? Don't come near me" I say, raising my arm towards him.

"Let me be there for you, Leila."

"You can't understand me? I said no."

He doesn't listen to me and tries to get closer to me. Before, he would have told me to shut up and that being afraid was for the weak. He also wouldn't have bothered to come see me, let alone comfort me. Without realizing it, I lower my hand which separates us and let him lie down next to me. I don't know why I'm letting him do this, but I can't help it. I move to the other end of the bed, not wanting him to touch me yet. I'm exhausted and soon I'll be at my breaking point. I let down a tear, I want to move on, but I can't. I wish it would be that easy. I feel his finger wipe the tear off my cheek and out of fear, I immediately push him away. He stays there, looking at me, trying to understand me. I feel like he wants to ask me questions, but he doesn't. Good, cause I have no desire to answer or explain myself right now. I just want the nightmares to stop so I can go back to my old life. I want to forget everything and never talk about it again. Slowly, he pulls me towards him so I can lay on his chest. At first, I was hesitant to be so close to someone, even if it was Cole. The little voice in my head keeps repeating "It's not him" "It's not him" and yet deep down, I know he's not. David's locked up and can't hurt me anymore. I take a deep breath and let myself be carried towards him. His presence has been missed and having him close to me feels surprisingly good. I feel his hand caressing my hair, he does that for a couple of minutes. Nobody's talking and we can only hear our breaths. Not long after, I fall asleep in his arms. When I woke up this morning, I noticed that Cole was no longer there. Last night, when he came to join me, I was able to fall asleep without having nightmares, and it felt great. I don't know how long I had a semi-good sleep like this. I get up and head to the bathroom to take a shower. After I come out, I quickly get dressed in jeans and a sweater before heading to the kitchen. I open my door and see the guys talking in the living room. Being the little snoopy that I am, I go to the corner of the hallway to listen to the conversation. 

"We should talk to Steven, don't you think?" Enzo says.

"He's already aware, he's on our side, but we need the vote of the other members" Cole replies.

"Does Marcus know that Leila is here?" Lucas asks.

"No" Cole answers.

I see him raise his eyes and meet my gaze. He turns his attention back to the conversation.

"This isn't going to end well" Kyle adds.

"Would you rather he finds out and kills her?" Lucas retorts.

"No, of course not, Lucas."

"Then we have no choice!"

"We'll talk to the others when we get back to California," Cole says, getting up from the couch.

"But..." Enzo begins.

"We'll talk about it another time, you never know who might be listening."

I'm waiting for them to leave the living room before going downstairs, not wanting them to know I was eavesdropping.  Once in the kitchen, I make myself a bowl of cereal and sit at the table. They're in the yard, so I have a moment of peace. I start to think back to the conversation they had earlier, why do they need to talk to the other gang members? What are they going to do?

"Lost in your thoughts again?" I hear a voice say, and I see Kyle leaning on the edge of the kitchen door.

"Why does it matter to you?" I reply sharply.

"I just came to tell you we're leaving on a mission tomorrow morning."

"Ok."

"I was also wondering, tonight or tomorrow, whichever you prefer..."

"Spit it out, Kyle."

"If we could talk?"

I look at him, not sure if I want to. Maybe getting some answers from them would help me move forward and better understand what happened.

"Tonight."

I see him smile. I missed it.

"You can leave now," I say. 

"Oh, and here's a new phone. You have everyone's numbers in it, see you tonight princessa."

After finishing my meal, I head back to my room as usual and decide to call Emma to check up on her. The past weeks she was there for me, and we texted a lot. I didn't want to see anyone and she let me have my leeway. 

RING... RING... RING...

"Hi L, how are you doing?"

"Em', I'm doing ok, what about you?" 

"Same old, same old. Did you sleep last night?"

"I wasn't able to for a while until Cole came."

I figured might as well tell her that he came in my bed last night.

"Leila Scott! You and Cole? You two are.." She starts.

"Em'! Not that. He stayed with me until I felt asleep," I say laughing.

It had been so long since I had laughed like that that I didn't even recognize the sound of it.

"I'm joking! You don't have to hide anything from me, you know?"

"I just don't feel like talking about it, that's all. It helped me and that's it."

"I understand. I'm here if you ever want to talk about it."

"I know, thanks, Em'. Enzo can't stop talking about you, I can hear the guys complain about it. You should call him."

"He calls me when he has time, but let's just say I can't wait for you guys to come back. I miss you!"

"I miss you too!"

"I have to go now, my break is over, but you'll call me as soon as you're back, right?"

"Promise."

After that, I hung up and placed my phone on the nightstand. Tomorrow the guys are going on a mission, and I'll have the whole day to plan my attack into action. Be careful David, your worst nightmare is coming.