Cherished

9

Eva woke up screaming.

She sobbed as her throat burned painfully, and she struggled to orientate herself in her dark room.

It was the exact reason why she hated sleeping at night. There was no light on, nothing to protect her.

Her bedside lamp flicked on, and she let out another startled yell as Miles came into view.

"You're okay, Evie," he whispered, sitting on the edge of her bed. "It was just a bad dream."

She sniffled, rubbing her eyes, trying to push away her tears. She hated crying.

He reached for her, but she flinched back away from him.

"It's okay to cry," Miles said, reaching again. She decided to let him. If he was going to hit her, she wanted to get it over with. She squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation. Her racing heart hadn't slowed.

His hand brushed against her cheek, pushing her hair behind her ears. His touch was warm and gentle, and it surprised her.

There was a new emotion rising that she tried to shove down. She would never be safe, not here, not ever. It was impossible.

"I used to get nightmares every night," he admitted. "I could never remember what they were about, but I certainly could guess."

He encouraged her to lay back down and she did as she was told, curling into a ball.

Miles pulled the blankets up around her. There was no possible way that she was going to be able to sleep with him in her room. He was going to hurt her while she was sleeping. He was-

He was stroking her hair, letting his hand run up and down her arm, and then back up. Her eyes fluttered too easily, and she was asleep almost immediately.

--

It had to have been a dream. How could she be foolish enough to fall asleep with Miles, a stranger with potential to do her great harm, sitting over her?

It had been a long time since Eva had slept at night. It was weird to feel so clarified early in the morning.

She was a bit disappointed that she couldn't help Rosetta in the kitchen. She felt like wanting to do something, so she dressed warm and put on a pair of shoes. She was going to go outside.

The morning sun was a warm glow, casting little beams of light as it hit the dew along the grass that was starting to green.

The property was huge. She could've walked for forever.

Pierce was stepping outside just as she came back up towards the house again.

"There you are," he said. "Looks like you got an early start this morning."

Eva shuffled her feet, unsure of what to say to him.

"It's my turn to get the groceries in town. Would you like to come with?"

She hesitated, before nodding slowly. She wanted to see how far town was, and getting out sounded nice. Was she supposed to say no?

"Great. Come on," Pierce said, leading her to a second garage that she hadn't been to, one that was towards his wing of the house.

He held the passenger side door open for her. It was the same car that she rode in back from the auction. The thought made her feel strange.

She had never rode in the front seat before.

"Here," Pierce said, offering her his phone.

She glanced at it confused, very slightly turning her head to glance at him. What did he want her to do with this?

"It plays music. Just tap it. Mess around. You'll get the hang of it."

He backed out of the driveway as she glanced at the very foreign screen in front of her. She tapped on the words 'driving' which revealed a whole list of what she assumed were songs. She tapped the first one, jumping a bit as music filled the entire car. She was not expecting that.

She scrolled through some of the other lists, mostly because she was curious. She didn't know music, certainly not specific songs.

Graham: how is everything going?

The message came through while Eva was holding his phone, but it also displayed on the car screen.

She felt herself freeze. Was this some kind of trick? What if he wasn't taking her to the grocery store? Maybe he was tired of her and going to get rid of her?

"Miles always goes with me to shop. I hardly ever go alone, but he had a meeting today," Pierce said.

Eva relaxed just a tiny bit. That seemed entirely reasonable, especially as Pierce let her hold the huge grocery list as he shopped the store. Rosetta was very specific with what she wanted.

The store was quiet because it was early, and Eva enjoyed looking around as Pierce navigated.

There were so many things, so many colors.

Pierce was pretty quiet, but so was she. She really didn't mind his company after a little while of getting used to it.

She liked to look at him when he wasn't paying attention. His hair was similar to Graham's, but longer and darker. There were a few pieces that framed his face, and he had a large scar across his left brow.

She helped him bag the items at checkout, and then load them into the car. She liked being helpful.

He gave her his phone again as they got back in their seats.

"I think we deserve a treat for doing Rosetta's hard work," Pierce said after a few moments of driving. He pulled off into a shop that said 'donuts'.

She listened to him order, figuring he would just get for himself, or for the others. It smelled incredible as he had his window down.

He had a small bag and two drinks, and he parked his car. He offered her one of the drinks.

"They have the best hot chocolate," he said, pulling out a colorful donut. He offered that to her, too. "The sprinkles are messy. Don't worry about it too much."

The warm donut seemed to just melt in her mouth. She had never tasted anything like it in her entire life.

"Don't tell the others," he said. His features seemed brighter, a little less stern.

She had never had a donut before, nor hot chocolate. She couldn't believe he would let her enjoy with him like that.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome, Evie."

He had used the same nickname Miles had used last night.

Graham's message to Pierce replayed in her mind. She still believed that they were up to something, and it probably wasn't good.