The Crown of Thorns

Chapter 4, What Happened to You, Sweetheart?

Ten hours after Seraphina left, a completely different woman came down the stairs with a tray of food. It wasn't Seraphina, so who was it? The new woman had ebony skin, raven hair styled in ringlets and bright electric blue eyes. She looked at Zelia with narrowed eyes that pierced into her soul.

"Είμαι Άλεξ, ο νέος σας φροντιστής."(I'm Alex, your new caregiver.) The woman said as she placed the tray beside the small little mattress Zelia was sitting on.

"Τι απέγινε η Σεραφίνα; Γιατί είσαι εδώ αντί για αυτήν;"(What happened to Seraphina? Why are you here instead of her?) Zelia asked skeptically and cautiously, having to hold back saying it in English. She was sitting curled up on her mattress that had access to the window, The sun shining through the bars covering the window, providing the only light source other than a small, almost burnt out flashlight. Alex narrowed her eyes even further, so far that if this wasn't such an uncomfortable and scary situation, Zelia would've thought she was trying to be an Asian person.

It continued to be the new woman every ten hours for the next four years, Zelia still wondering what happened to her friend

"ακόμα δεν εμπιστεύεσ-"(you still don't trus-) Alex was asking Zelia as she got to the bottom of the stairs, carrying a tray with food and a bottle of water. Alex walked over beside the little mattress, that she outgrew almost a year ago, Zelia was sitting on and put the tray down beside her. A loud Bang! came from behind Alex, making Zelia flinch slightly at the sound. Alex fell sideways, hitting the wall, and revealed a battered, bruised, and slightly bleeding Seraphina holding a silver handgun under the darkened room. Seraphina smirked slightly.

"Είσαι καλά? Σου έχει συμβεί κάτι;!"(Are you ok? Has something happened to you?!) Seraphina asked frantically, her smirk disappearing as she bent down and checked Zelia's arms and legs for any wounds or bruises.

"I'm Fine." Zelia said, with a slight bit of shock in her voice. Seraphina looked at her slightly worried at the shock in the not so little girl's voice, her eyes narrowed slightly at her speaking English so well.

"You spoke English." Seraphina said softly, a small smile growing on her face as she looked at her feet.

"She spoke English." She repeated under her breath. She looked up at the little girl with a huge smile on her face.

"You kept studying after I left, didn't you?" Seraphina was smiling like a maniac now. Her smile was a bit infectious as Zelia began to smile as well.

"Of course I did, why wouldn't I?" Zelia asked as she was pulled into a tight hug before hearing yelling from atop the stairs.

"THERE! SHE WENT DOWN THERE!" A man yelled from a distance, most likely referring to Seraphina. She pulled away from the hug and pulled a small dagger from a pouch on her hip and swiftly cut the bars off the window, breaking the glass in the process. Seraphina quickly turned and pulled Zelia towards the window.

"GO! GO, GO, GO! DON'T STOP MOVING!" She said quickly as she pushed Zelia out of the window. The girl was about to start running before she stopped herself, realizing Seraphina wasn't trying to get out the window behind her.

"What about you?!" She asked frantically, hoping Seraphina would appear right behind her.

"I won't be able to hold them off for very long, GO!" Seraphina said, holding the dagger and silver handgun in a defensive position.

Reluctantly, Zelia began to run away from the mansion, away from her prison, away from Alarie. But Seraphina wasn't behind or in front of her, she was still fighting all those people they heard rushing to the basement. She ran and ran, even after the mansion was almost out of view in the dark night, even after her feet were scraped on sharp rocks. She ran along the road, trying to get back to society, But she was suddenly pulled into a moving black van.

"What happened to you, sweetheart?" A woman asked Zelia, who was laying on the woman's lap, after she was pulled into the car.