Contrite

four » s n o w

"Liberation comes from conquering the oppressor within." — Unknown.

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Octavia

       "Woah," I press my face against the window of the car, my nose against the window as I make a face, watching with awe as small white flecks of snow start to come down from the sky. "Guys did you know I've never touched snow? I've always lived in the south and never got the chance to touch it." I say before opening my mouth and breathing onto the window, grinning as it becomes foggy.

       "Really? Well, I hate it." Malu says beside me and I look at him, turning my body.

       "Why?" I smile at him with amusement.

       "Because it's cold and it sucks because you always have to shovel it, and you can't do anything in the snow and the ice is horrible." He grunts then cross his arms over his chest and I laugh. "I love the tropical places better, like for instance my home in Hawaii."

       "Ooh, you're Hawaiian?" I ask him and he nods, smiling at me. That's so cool.

       "Yes, I am." he says, smiling proudly.

       "What about you Kady? Where you from?" I ask, turning to look at the woman that sat beside him. She looks up from her phone.

       "Cuba." she answers before returning her attention back to the screen of her phone. My mood instantly drops at her one-word answer. Really? You can tell me more than that.

       I nod then l look toward the siblings up front, Javier is driving and Kendall is sitting in the passenger seat beside him.

       "How much longer till we get to your house, Javier?" I ask him and he glances at me from the rearview mirror.

      "Not too long, we'll arrive in thirty minutes or so." He tells me and I nod again and turn my attention back to the window.

       We arrived in London an hour ago and have been driving ever since. I'm so excited to be here since I've never come to England. When we boarded and got our bags, I went up to people and made them talk, wanting to hear their accents. They sound so posh and intelligent.

       Javier lives on the outskirts of London, in a closed off area. He says that he lives in a mansion and my eyebrows raise at that. Damn, the Lovato siblings are loaded.

       He also tells me that he has three children, all adopted. The oldest is an Indian boy at the age of fifteen. Jayesh is his name. The middle child is a French girl at the age of eleven, and her name is Belle. And last but not least, the youngest a Portuguese boy of nine years old. His name is Afonso. Javier's husband, Nathaniel, is pretty much the stay-at-home dad and loves his family very much. As Javier spoke about them, I could hear the sense of pride and love in his voice. Kendall smiles, saying that she can't wait to see them since it's been years the last time she saw them.

       Javier also told us that his students are there too, to protect his family from any danger or threats. He tells me that they are my age and are some of the best assassins around.

       Leaning my head against the window, I sigh and watch as the window gets a little foggy with my breath.

       "And we are here," Javier says after thirty minutes. I look up to see a grand mansion coming into sight. Javier slows down and drives to the front. His mansion is just as big and beautiful as the last couple of mansions that Demi had. Trees surround the mansion, white beautiful snow decorating its branches and the ground. It's cloudy and snowing, and Javier jokes me that the weather here is very bipolar and that you barely see the sun. Javier parks the car and we get out, grabbing our bags.