It's Code For You (Parallel NurseryVerse Series)

Chapter 8- Echo

The wind was cold, it now longer brought peace to the blonde who was now curled up on a bench outside of the hotel she had woken up in that morning. Her dress was ripped across her chest from the force Roger had used to keep her weakened body upright. She was shivering, but she could no longer tell if it was from being cold or from the shock of the evening. If she were honest, she didn't care. All she wanted was to be as far from Roger as she could get.

"Siobhan?" Her head snapped up at the sound of her own name. In front of her was a car with its windows down and one Autumn Knight sitting in the front seat. "My god, what did he do to you?" Autumn bolted from her driver's side door out into the cold London air. Siobhan wanted to remain tough, keep her exterior the same as it always had been- but she couldn't even attempt to. She was beaten and bruised, and not just physically.

"I made a mistake, Autumn." She muttered as Autumn checked over her wounds frantically.

"No, the mistake is up in that hotel room. You haven't done a thing wrong, Siobhan." Autumn practically growled as she spoke.

"I did. I let someone I truly cared for get away. I let him manipulate me, make me believe that I was only good enough to be property... What have I done...?" Siobhan's eyes darted up to meet Autumn's. Autumn wanted to be mad, to go upstairs and beat her father the way he had beat Siobhan- only she wouldn't stop. She wanted to scream at him for making anyone feel this way. But instead, her face dropped at the sight of the tears in Siobhan's eyes. It was a feeling she was all too familiar with. Complete loss of self.

"We can talk more on the drive, Siobhan. But we need to go." Autumn held out her hand for Siobhan to use. The concept was foreign. Receiving help was not something Siobhan had ever received, in fact her mother had raised her never to accept it. However, she was in no place to be stingy with her values. She was in bad shape, and she knew it. Hesitantly, she took Autumn's hand, a gesture she also knew was not easy for the Knight daughter.

"I have nowhere to go..." Siobhan felt like a child without its mother, lost in some department store alone.

"You called me, did you not?" Autumn's monotone voice was soothing to Siobhan, even with the attitude coating each word. "Did you think I was taking you to the pound? Marjorie is setting up the guest room as we speak." Autumn opened the passenger side door. "Now, come on. We haven't got all night." Siobhan blinked in disbelief. How was she meant to accept such kindness when she had given everyone around her nothing but grief and misery? A gust of wind hit her skin again, and suddenly it didn't matter to her who was offering- the door was open, and the heat was on. She was getting in that car.

Autumn shut the door behind her, looking around cautiously before getting in on her side of the car. Roger surely was watching, whether it be from his window, or through one of his many colleagues. Autumn knew better than to throw caution to the wind, but as she drove away- she must have left one last point out of her search.

"Where do you think she will go?" Janice asked from behind Roger from behind the glass of the lobby doors.

"She's off with my disappointment of a child. Don't worry, Janice. She won't be gone long." Roger grinned sinisterly.

"I don't know why you think you need her so badly." Janice let a bit of jealousy slip through her facade.

"Security, my darling." Roger clicked his tongue against his teeth before turning back around. "But don't you worry. My eyes are always on you."

**

"How badly are you hurt, Siobhan?" Autumn asked after a half hour of silence. Siobhan hadn't truly assessed her own damage, let alone mentioned to Autumn just how badly her chest hurt from the blows.