Oxygen

Chapter 19 - The deal

"Martin decided you deserved to be taught 'a lesson'. He organised for the guards to gas your cell and get you to this room".

This is a lot to take in. I unzip the dress carefully so Emma can address my wounds. As she applies crystaderm to my skin to heal the cuts, she tells me more.

"He wanted you to be asleep so that he could hurt you. It wasn't Alec's idea, and he was really mad when he found out. He didn't want to do that to you, my husband was going for the manipulative path. But Martin, Alec's Dad, had other ideas. He gave you a dream that would hurt you over and over again".

I looked over the dark bruises on my arms as I asked her, "Where's Jordan?".

She smiled and put the cap on the bottle. "Jordan's just fine dear. But Alec and Martin have both agreed that it's in our best interests to keep you in separate places for now. We're all doing our best to get him and Natalie together".

What did she just say? For the first time someone finally answered my question. They were after me, because they wanted abilities, and I was in their way. Who knows what's coming next.

"But why? Why do you have to taunt me like this when you could just send us all home and get Natalie and Jordan to fall in love? I'll do it if Jordan can be safe".

She laughed lightly at my contribution, and tied my hair back from my shoulders into a ponytail.

"Honey, you know that if we just tell you to stop loving each other it wont work. You have to be separate for long enough to lose the bond, and be stripped of the abilities you have to lose your connection".

"I'm sure you don't want to lose Jordan anyway" she states, and I sulk at the realization.

I decide to move on and get the dress back on. Emma zips up the back and hands me a pair of black shoes with small heels to wear. I slide them on my feet gently and follow Emma down the hall.

The narrow corridor is simple with white walls, and the carpet is a fancy red colour, like the red carpets for celebrities.

We go down a flight of stairs and enter a kitchen. It is completely spotless. The shiny black counter top is smooth and the white draws have sliver handles, which make the room sparkle under the chandelier above us.

We pass the dining room, which is very tidy and neat, with a large wood table in the center and matching chairs. The far wall is a bold black, which looks very classy.

Finally we turn another corner to find a living room. The white leather sofas make the room look pristine, and the glass coffee table is empty, with a few magazines on a shelf underneath it. The grand TV sits in one corner on the wall.

Emma ushers me to sit, and a waitress comes to offer us tea and coffee. I shake my head, and Emma requests a flat white.

"So I'm guessing you want to know about how I came to be with Alec" she assumed, closing the doors once her coffee was delivered.

"It would be nice to know, yea" I agree, and Emma coughs to clear her throat before she begins.

"Alec and I were a love at first sight, as it happens in the bonding process. We met in a restaurant, when he knocked my bag off the back of my chair while walking past. I thought he was going to steal it at first, so I snatched it away, but when I looked into his muddy brown eyes I knew he was being sincere and giving it back".

I nod along as she continues, trying to keep up with her detailed story.

"After that we started crossing paths at school. We were only sixteen, but I couldn't stop thinking about him. Our love was powerful. Finally one day he asked me to the formal and I accepted".

"So how did you bond?" I asked, more curiously.

"We went to the dance, and had our first kiss there. After that we dated, and life was great. Once I turned eighteen, he wanted more. We had Natalie when we were both twenty one. It was a tough start but we loved each other, also we thought".

"You thought?" I questioned.

"Well, before we had Natalie, we had abilities, both of us. I had the ability to move items, which was pretty useful in our clan. But as all the others have done in our line, when we had kids, the woman lost her ability. It was like losing all power, and some of our love was lost too. And that's how I'm here now. If I tried to leave, find any life for myself, Alec would know".

"You tried to leave?" I asked. This story is getting very complicated.

"Yes, as ashamed as I am to admit it. When I lost my power I became depressed. Like if my family had died. My mother and father had no idea what happened to me, I just left them, when Alec and I bonded. I felt terrible, so I decided to leave this house and go home. But Alec managed to convince me to stay, he said they'd find out what I was if I went back. So I stayed, and to this day I haven't left this house since".

So she's trapped here? It sounds to me like Alec forced her to stay, not convinced her. I can't believe that after everything Alec was even worse than I thought.

"To be honest with you, I was falling for another man when I met Alec. I know what it's like to want someone you can't have. Between you and me, I think you and Jordan should go home and live your lives together at the fullest".

So she's a traitor. I smirked, at the thought that she could help us. An idea bursts from my head.

I lean in to talk quietly to Emma, "Why can't you help us? You could get Jordan out of the cell, Charlie and Georgia too. Then we could sneak out, and Alec would think I got them out".

The idea seemed like a good one, but Emma didn't want to hear it. "You know I can't do that, kiddo. If I tried to go against Alec and Martin's wishes, I'd be stuck in that cell myself. I'm sorry, but if I could help I would".

Actually, maybe there's another way. If Emma let me go back to the cell, even for five minutes everyday, then I could be strong enough to get them out myself. I could save Emma too, help her find somewhere safe to live, away from here.

I propose this to Emma, and she looks sympathetically at me. She shakes her head sadly and says, "I would have to leave Natalie behind, I couldn't do that to my daughter. I can help you get out of here, but I have to stay. For Natalie".

I nod my head and start processing my ideas to create a plan of action. This is going to work. The rest of the Kingsley's were also looking for us, as Cathy told me. Hopefully soon this plan would go to action.