Beautiful Crime ※ DogNut

six

ONE YEAR LATER...

The sound of crying woke Adelaide up from her light slumber, sighing to herself as she knew whose cries they belonged to. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Adelaide lit a small lantern that rested beside her bed and quietly made her way through the quiet room to locate the crying girl without waking up any of the other sleeping children that littered the floor around her feet.

Placing her lantern down on the floor, Adelaide kneeled beside the crying girl and gently began to shake her awake. "Esme? Esme, hey, you're dreaming, you're okay. You're just dreaming," she gently whispered, being careful not to startle her.

Esme's eyes slowly opened as she turned to Adelaide, quickly clinging to Adelaide as if her life depended upon it. "It was her... it was my mum," she spoke in a small voice, her breathing heavy as she clung to Adelaide. Adelaide licked her lips as she paused for a moment, knowing far too well what Esme meant.

Adelaide had found Esme almost two months ago; scared out of her mind and half-starved. She'd spent the last year in her house, only going out when she needed food from her neighbour's houses. When everything went to hell; her mother tried to protect her by stock piling tinned food and keeping the windows and doors locked but that didn't stop her from getting sick. Esme's mother wasn't one of the lucky ones who died from the infection; she changed almost overnight.

Esme had to be saved by her next-door neighbour Maya when Esme's mother tried to kill her, leaving the poor child traumatised for life. Maya got sick, too, but allowed Esme to come and go between their houses whenever she pleased.

That was the last Esme ever saw of Maya; she got into her car to get some petrol and never came back, leaving Esme in her house alone for almost a year before Adelaide found her while she was on a supply run. Esme had run to her and hugged her so hard, Adelaide was sure she cut off her blood supply. She refused to let Adelaide go, screaming and crying whenever someone tried to separate them.

Adelaide pursed her lips together, her eyes closing for a moment as she held onto Esme. "I know, sweetheart, but she can't hurt you anymore. You're safe with me, I won't let anything happen to you, I promise. It was just a dream, try to go back to sleep, okay?"

Adelaide rocked Esme in her arms, humming a soft lullaby into her ear to try to sooth her before pressing a gentle kiss into her hair. Esme was a few years younger than Adelaide and clung to her like a small child to a teddy bear, not that Adelaide really minded. She somewhat enjoyed being her surrogate mother of sorts; it gave her something to fight for and a reason to come back to the museum after every run when she would want to run off and find DogNut.

Once Esme was safely back asleep, Adelaide gently laid her back in her bed and pressed another kiss to her forehead before leaving her, taking her lantern with her. Instead of going back to bed, Adelaide walked through the empty halls until she reached the roof access staircase. Quietly opening the door, she stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

Arriving at the roof, Adelaide felt a chill go up her spine as the cold spring air hit her, making her shiver a little as she regretted not wearing her jacket over her vest, shorts and socks which acted as her pyjamas. But it was far too late to do anything about it now.

She walked slowly towards the edge of the roof, stopping several feet before the drop and placed her lantern down before sitting down as well. Sitting on the roof, Adelaide brought her knees into her chest and rested her chin on her knees. She spent most of her time up there, undisturbed by the other kids. Ever since she arrived, Adelaide spent more time on the roof than in her own room or anywhere else in the museum.

She usually went up there to be alone or to think about DogNut – something she'd started to do a lot more often. She missed him terribly and she desperately wanted him back in her life but a part of her knew that he had moved on and forgotten about her. She'd replayed that last moment she had with him inside her head over and over thousands of times and it always ended the same way; he went down the Thames, she stayed with the truck.

She stayed up there until dawn, watching the sky slowly lighten above her. Sighing a little, she stood up and picked up her lantern before making her way back down towards her bedroom to sleep.

By the time she woke up, her thoughts of DogNut never subsided, like every night. She dressed and headed through the museum to have some breakfast – one that wasn't made by her. That wasn't her job anymore.

Gone are the days when Adelaide was part of the kitchen staff and deemed too valuable to be able to fight; after Lambeth Bridge, Adelaide was placed into the fighters group and taught how to fight, quickly becoming one of the museum's most valuable fighters. She still had her machine gun Jordan gave her but she never used it, instead, she used a set of throwing knives and a baseball bat with nails in it.

Along with her role in life, Adelaide's wardrobe had changed dramatically, too. Needing more space in her clothing to move around now that she was a fighter, Kwanele made her the "perfect" battle outfit. It comprised of denim shorts, a black tank top, combat boots, fishnet tights and a denim jacket – a drastic contrast to her old t-shirt and jeans.

She'd gotten closer to Brooke in the year since the battle; but Adelaide knew that the now brunette Brooke didn't want anyone to replace Aleshia and Courtney so the pair didn't get too close. And anyway, Brooke was always busy being another mother to every small kid while Adelaide was busy killing every sicko that came near the museum and going out on supply runs.

After getting herself some food, Adelaide sat in one of the many armchairs that had been placed around the hall and began to eat slowly until she saw Esme bounding towards her, a wide smile on her face. Esme sat down in front of Adelaide, hairbrush in one hand and some hair-ties and clips in another. Adelaide sighed a little but picked up the hairbrush and began to brush through Esme's hair, her eyes fixed on the room around them.

As she was braiding Esme's hair, she noticed Hayley across the room. Over the past few months; Adelaide had kind of been seeing her. And by kind of they'd kissed a few times and there were some romantic feelings there but both of them knew it wouldn't go anywhere. Adelaide was still hung up on DogNut and Hayley didn't even want a relationship – but they still enjoyed each other's company.

Adelaide sent a series of hand gestures towards Hayley, making sure that she was looking. I see you, don't try to pretend you're not stalking me.

Hayley rolled her eyes, mouthing words back. Are you free later?

Adelaide shook her head, sending more hand gestures across the room. Killing sickos is my job, I won't come back until dusk. You know that.

Hayley hit the side of her head, like she'd forgotten something before smiling. Of course I do, babes. I remember everything; rooftop tonight?

Adelaide shrugged, taking a bite of her now slightly stale food. I'll think about it.

Hayley nodded. They're waiting for you, by the way.

Adelaide looked down at Esme's braids, finishing tying the second before looking back up to Hayley and nodding a thank you. "Alright, Leia. You are done, you're free from my grasp."

Esme jumped up from the floor, taking the hairbrush from Adelaide. The smile on her face dropping as she looked at Adelaide. "You have to go, don't you?"

Adelaide sighed, nodding her head as she stood up from her chair. "Yeah, I gotta go, Esme. But I'll be back, I promise."

Esme almost looked as if she was going to cry as she grabbed onto Adelaide tightly. "You better come back, or there's gonna be trouble."

Note

The Blackest Day by Lana Del Rey and Faded by Alan Walker were on repeat while I wrote this chapter, I think they just fit Adelaide's character after everything with DogNut.

Let's be honest, Mama Adelaide is everything tbh. DogNut will return in the next chapter, I promise! aND BISEXUAL ADELAIDE IS RISING AND I AM NOT SORRY FOR THIS.