The Crown of Thorns

Chapter 5, Why do You Look so Scared Around Men?

Chapter 5
Why Do You Look so Scared Around Men?

"Where's Seraphina? She said she would be here with you when she helped you escape." The woman continued, seemingly worried about Seraphina.
"She stayed back to make sure I escaped. There were so many people aiming weapons at her, I hope she gets out safely." The young teen responded with a mix of worry and guilt in her voice. The woman was looking down at her on her lap with a small, slight frown. She quickly changed it to a smile as she spoke again.
"I almost forgot to introduce the team. I'm Ember, That's Madison, " she said, referring to herself,she had bright red hair and deep brown eyes. She then referred to a woman with blond hair and brown eyes that was driving the van.
"That's Luis," Ember continued, pointing towards a brunette with beautiful and interesting eyes. One eye was dark black and the other was a kind of cloudy brown colour. Luis also had a dark scar over the eye that was clouded, the scar looked like a claw mark or something. Zelia wondered how she got it.
"And that's Baron." She finished, pointing at a man sitting in the very back of the van. He had black hair and dark eyes, to Zelia, he looked intimidating and scary. The young teen didn't trust any of them yet, especially Baron.
"Why did you look so on edge when she introduced Baron? You don't know him, do you?" Madison asked, her voice soft,  reassuring, and gentle. Zelia shook her head slightly
"No, I don't know him. I don't know why I got scared." She said, shaking her head slightly.
"You don't trust any of us yet, do you?" The woman with a scar, Luis was it?, said with a harsh and, what seemed like, angry tone. The teenager looked at Luis, then spoke.
"I don't have a reason to trust any of you yet." She responded in a stoic tone.
"Huh. I like her already." Luis muttered to the person beside her, which was the man, Baron. He nodded in understanding, but looked sceptical
"I don't know though. What if Ace managed to...y'know...already? He's unpredictable and impulsive, you never know what he has or hasn't done yet." He whispered beside Luis. He said it quietly, but loud enough for Zelia to be able to hear.
"Shut it you two, no need to talk about him right now." Ember interfered, before the two could finish their conversation. Luis and Baron quickly stopped talking, and the entire van fell into an awkward silence.
"Oh! I forgot to ask! What's your name, darling?" Ember said, breaking the silence.
Zelia looked at her, before answering shortly
"Zelia, Zelia Lagos"

After the van was driving for about an hour or two, it slowed to a stop and all the people began to stand up and get out of the van. Ember gently started to help Zelia off her lap and out of the van. They left the van and it was parked on a driveway of a fucking castle.
The building had imposing stone walls with cracks and vines growing out of them. It looked like the villain's lair in a fairytale story. The four corners had tall towers with cannons, machine guns and crossbows and people with guns standing on each side of the weapons. 2 out of 4 towers began to point big, probably heavy, guns in Zelia's direction, but stopped once Luis nodded slightly at them.
"Stand Down." Luis called to the men and women who were aiming guns at the teenage girl. They all started to put away their weapons and just stood there, holding their guns on their side, looking on edge but not drawing their weapons.
"W-where are we?..." Zelia curiously asked as she followed the group of people. Ember grabbed Zelia's hand gently as she looked at the younger girl. The ginger smiled brightly before speaking excitedly.
"This is Asorda Headquarters, this is your new home! You are safe and will not be harmed for as long as you stay here." Ember explained. Zelia was surrounded by the group as she was led to two huge, heavily reinforced, wood metal and concrete doors.
Once they were about to walk through the doors, the doors suddenly opened and a woman was standing in the doorway. The woman had hard, cold eyes, but they softened when she saw who was standing at the front of the group with a solemn expression. The woman looked concerned and quickly walked out and hugged Ember, who was the one standing in the front.
The woman had deep purple and black  hair styled in a fluffy pixie cut and colour changing eyes. For a second they would look green, then blue, then grey and purple and a bunch of other colours. They looked beautiful.
Ember and the woman hugged for a few more seconds before the women slowly pulled away.
"What happened to Seraphina? And who's the kid?" She asked, looking at Zelia for a second with a confused and concerned look. Ember looked behind her for a second.
"Oh, she said her name was Zelia Lagos, we saved her...Seraphina sacrificed herself to make sure Zelia left unharmed." Ember answered. The woman got a sad look in her eyes and she hugged Ember again.
"Everything is fine. I'm sure Sera got out of there just fine." The woman tried her best to comfort, but almost everyone could tell she wasn't very good or used to it.
Ember slowly pulled away first, then turned to Zelia.
"This is Astrid." She said, turning back to the woman, Astrid, with a small smile.
"Welcome to Asorda Association Headquarters!" Astrid said excitedly as she stepped aside so everyone could go through. They all flooded into the building, the sky starting to cry heavily.
"Come on, let's get you cleaned up and a change of clothes." Astrid said, gently reaching out and grabbing Zelia's hand. The younger girl was led to a set of wide marble stairs that led to the second floor.
They walked through winding halls lit by lamps hanging from the ceiling until Astrid led her to a bathroom. Astrid, of course, did not walk into the room with her, but she gave Zelia a shirt and sweatpants that looked close to fitting the young teenager.
The bathroom was big and fancy, with a gold rimmed white marble sink, a gold faucet attached. The shower walls were white marble tile and had glass sliding doors. It had a shelf full of hair and body products.
Zelia took the longest shower in 4 years, scrubbing every inch of her body, dirt and grime swirling in the water at her feet.
After she got out, dried herself, got dressed, and looked at herself in the mirror in front of the sink. Her dark brown hair had gotten lighter since the last time she saw it and her eyes looked dead inside. There were a few cuts on her face from the glass after being pushed out of that tiny window before.
She walked out of the bathroom and didn't see anyone, the hall was completely silent. She looked around and started walking down the hallway the same way she came to the bathroom, but she quickly got lost anyway.
She walked down some stairs and passed an open door and, being extremely curious about what was inside, peaked her head through the door.
The room was comfy looking, with two small couches facing each other, a lamp on a coffee table between the two couches, and a bunch of bookshelves filled with books. She noticed someone curled up on one of the couches, reading a book. She noticed it was the blonde woman that was driving the van before, Madison was it? She looked up from her book as she heard Zelia move the door slightly by accident.
"Oh, I didn't see you there. Did you need something?" Madison asked, a slightly curious look on her face as she looked away from her book. She looked and noticed there were a bunch of cuts on her face.
"Let me help you with that." The blond said with a soft voice before leading the teenage girl to what looked like an infirmary.