Destruction

25. The Aftermath

Athena

It would be fair to say I don't remember a lot of our escape.

One moment I was Jude, the next I was struggling to keep my head up and eyes open as Zachary mumbled nonsense words of congratulations against my head as the air rushed by.

The Orphanage became a small dot in the distance as my body shut down.

My head felt like a cinder block, with an elephant sitting on it, with a whale sitting on top of that, all pressing down on me.

"Sleep mon chéri, you've done well."

I want to close my eyes, so that when I woke up I'd be at my new home, but I feared that it was all a dream. That our escape wasn't real and any second I'd hear the painfully loud sound of boots on the hard stairs as Lawrence and Jude came to taunt us.

"Sleep mon amour I'll protect us now."

I felt guilty for falling asleep when I knew Zachary was just as I tired as I was and on the brink of starvation, but I could no longer control my eyelids.

I needed sleep.

I needed that secret world which only exists when you're so exhausted your brain can't even function.

"Annie go and pack! Hurry." Her mother begged, her once tidy, polished hair was falling out of her perfect bun. "Chris, phone Andrew and tell him not to come home."

"Annie are you packing?!"

The small 7 year old had never been so scared in her whole life, she felt as though she'd managed to bring about impending doom and wasn't quite sure where she'd gone wrong.

Her home was filled with the yelling of her parents as she grabbed her favourite Disney rucksack and searched her room for everything she'd need.

In went the essentials clothes, dolls and her favourite teddy bear. The one thing she simply couldn't live without.

The yelling was torture.

Athena hated loud noises.

"Mon amour, we're home." The soft voice tickled my ear as his arms gently moved me to a more comfortable position.

"My Lord-"

I hated that we'd been interrupted, all I wanted was to fall asleep in Zachary's arms and deal with all the problems in the morning.

I wanted Zachary to tell me how well I'd done, to take me in his arms and murmur sweet nothings to me until his throat was dry and I was overcome with happiness.

That was all I wanted until the darkness pulled me back in.

"Faster Athena please, I can't carry you as well, I promise everything will be fine, it'll be fine because we will be together." Her father clutched her arm painfully as they ran down deserted streets ladened with bags.

"But i'm tired."

"And you can sleep when we get to our new home I promise, but for now you've got to be a good girl and run for daddy, ok?"

She nodded her head and forced her burning feet to move faster, so that she was running along side her father rather than behind.

"Well done Athena, that's good just keep it up and we'll be there before you know it."