Red Daughter

Fourteen

The next day the three girls left the compound and headed towards the cabin. They'd loaded everything into heavy duty jeep and had headed out of town, Natasha driving sanely towards the mountains. They all talked for a while and then fell into silence as they made it into the mountains.

Elodie fell asleep at some point and when she woke to Natasha shaking her gently, it was dark outside and they'd stopped. "Wakey Wakey sleepy," Natasha says gently. "We made it."

Elodie gets out of the car and looks around at the dark woods that surround them. Another car sits by theirs and a large cabin looms in front of them with all the windows lit up. As they grab their bags, Wanda emerges from the cabin and stands on the porch, "you made it!"

At the sight of her, Elodie is flooded with relief and happiness. She'd missed Wanda more than she'd thought and hadn't realized just how much she'd gotten used to seeing her every day.

Wanda meets her eyes and smiles warmly, "come on. You're just in time for supper."

The girls follow her in and drop their bags in the living room before following Wanda to a large kitchen. A table with four chairs sits off to one side and a large pot is on the stove.

Supper that night was a very relaxed affair, Wanda had made some soup and they ate in relative silence aside from the occasional compliment or question. Afterwards they all headed upstairs to the bedrooms to get settled in.

The cabin was big enough that everyone could have their own small room. Natasha took the one closest to the stairs and Wanda had already taken one towards the back of the cabin. Elodie takes the one next to Natasha.

For strategic reasons, she told herself.

The rooms were a lot simpler than the ones in the tower- just a bed, some side tables and a small bathroom that connected to Natasha's room. Elodie put away her things and went to the window. The moonlight lit up a large lake with a dock leading out and a small shed. Natasha hadn't been lying when she said it was like paradise here.

A soft knock came from her door and she turned to find Natasha standing there. "You settling in ok?"

"Yeah, there's not much to put away."

"We can go shopping again when we get back if you want?" Natasha offers.

"Maybe," Elodie tells her around a large yawn.

Natasha yawns right along with her and Elodie notice that she was already in her pajamas, "I came to tell you that I'm gonna call it a day. Feel free to look around just don't leave the cabin tonight, there's big animals out there."

"Ok, I'll probably go to bed soon too." Despite her nap she was still tired.

Natasha hesitated a moment, "if you need me, don't hesitate to come over."

Elodie nodded at her and Natasha left to her own room and the girl started to get ready for bed. She took her time hoping that she'd fall asleep faster when she finally made into the bed.

But she didn't.

After a few hours of tossing and turning, Elodie finally gave up on sleep. It was ridiculous, she thought, she's never had trouble sleeping before. But then again she never really slept in the Red Room. You couldn't when at any moment you could be taken and sent somewhere. And now it appeared that she couldn't sleep without the sounds of someone next to her.

She got up and pulling the hood of her sweatshirt over her head before going into the bathroom and opening Natasha's door. At first she thought the Widow was asleep, but when Elodie stood there hesitating, Natasha lifted the blanket for her and the girl crawled in gratefully. She tried to get comfortable and accidentally kicked Natasha, "sorry," she whispered.