Hollow

Chapter 15

~ ~ ~

I sat in the middle of my bed with my legs crossed. It was a beautiful day outside. I had my window open, letting the light pour in and a nice summer breeze flow around the room. I let my eyes fall closed in relaxation and breathed in deeply.

It was Friday afternoon and I had just gotten home from school. In a few minutes, a therapist would arrive. I would go downstairs and greet him. He would ask me how I was doing, and I would tell him that I was fine. He would ask if I was enjoying school, and I would say yes.

He would ask if I was happy here, and I would smile and nod. Of course, I would say.

I would lie. Just as I lied every other Friday afternoon that my therapist came. I would lie because I was terrified of what would happen to me if they knew the truth.

~ ~ ~

More than a week had passed since the moment I shared with Sebastian in the music room. I didn't see much of him after that moment, only brief glances of him in the hallway.

I had begun to fall into a routine. I would wake up, come to school, fake normalcy, go home, sleep, and repeat.

I spent most of my free time alone. Miranda and Victor had gone back to working and so I saw less of them.

Angela quickly became involved with her school life once again. She had friends to meet after school, dance team practices, and she had her own homework.

I, on the other hand, had no friends to meet after school. I wasn't apart of any clubs and the homework assigned in my classes was so simple, I could finish it in minutes.

Days began to blur together. I thought that when I started school, things would get easier, but they only became harder. When it was just my parents, I was fine. Now I had to deal with the hundreds of other students that filled the school and hope that they didn't realize that I was different.

I sighed as we all sat around at the lunch table. Angela and the other girls were discussing a pep rally that was approaching. Lunch had just begun and I was already anticipating the slow-approaching bell signalling the end of it.

"We need to have two routines for the pep rally, Mo." Angela was saying.

"I know, but the newbies aren't learning the steps fast enough." Monica replied, sounding frustrated. "We need to start cutting girls from the numbers."

Angela shook her head. "I don't think that's necessary. We'll just have to have more discipline."

Discipline. I almost scoffed at how casually she used the word. Our views of it were probably two completely different images.

My earliest memories of training flashed through my mind. I had been taught discipline. Disciplina, Dominus had called it. I remembered being put up against operatives years older than me. They were meant to challenge me.

I was told to avoid their strikes, do not allow them to make contact. I wasn't allowed to fight back, otherwise I would face punishment. It was difficult at first, being only in my eighth year, but soon my abilities grew.

My thoughts came to a halt as I thought back to my earliest memories. I couldn't remember anything before my eighth year. It seemed so natural, I hadn't ever questioned anything. If I was kidnapped when I was six, then where did the memories of those two years go?

"Bella," I looked up to my cousin who was staring at me with concern-filled eyes. "Are you okay?"

I blinked and nodded. "I'm fine." She and her friends were all staring at me. "I just need to use the restroom. I'll be back in a few minutes."