wild life | l.p

Chapter Five.

Arianne wakes up on Wednesday afternoon to the sound of the door slamming shut with all it's might. She knows it's her father's doing, and it's made even more clear when she pads down to the kitchen and sees Lydia on the phone, obviously on a very stressful phone call.

"We don't have time to wait any longer, William is already on his way to pick up Mr. Tynan from the airport... No, he won't be okay with that... I'm trying to help you, Margaret so there's no need to argue with me..."

Arianne slides onto a stool on the other side of the kitchen island, grabbing the note left from her father intended for her to read:

ARIANNE.
Do not be late tonight.
I'm warning you.

Dad.

Such a heartfelt good morning in the Park Mansion today, she thinks to herself as she crumples the note and tosses it into the garbage bin. Lydia gives her an apologetic smile, but Arianne doesn't care much for it. She's far too used to this treatment after years of repetition. She knew it would only take one day of anyone caring that she was home at all before she was as forgotten as the dust clinging to the bookshelves that no one ever bothered to look through.

She slips out of the kitchen and walks back to her room, reaching into her suitcase for something to wear. She's a little disappointed to find that the only thing she has that's still clean is a bulky grey sweater, too warm to wear on a hot day like today. Her jeans have been worn a couple times too many, too. She does a quick smell test, decides they're probably fine for the afternoon and clutches the small pile of clothes to her chest as she walks across her bedroom to her bathroom.

She turns the tap on, letting the water run and steam fill the space. She thinks she'll put on a face mask, but opens the cabinets and realizes that she threw those away too when she moved in with her mother. She checks the drawers and the linen closet, and finds that all to be found is one small grey hand towel and a half empty box of tampons.

She drops her clothes to the floor, pacing back out to her room in an attempt to find a towel big enough for her body, but stops at the sound of her cell phone vibrating loudly from somewhere in her bed sheets.

She hops onto the mattress, smiling at the name on the call display.

"Zayn!" She sighs in relief, "I know it's only been two days but it feels like it's been--"

"Arianne this is Zayn's mother."

The voice on the other end is cold and unwelcoming, just as it always has been. She sounds like she doesn't have any time for Arianne and wouldn't even be on the phone with her if it weren't important. The sound of her icy voice makes Arianne's blood run just as cold.

"What's happened?" She asks, vaguely aware of the shower still running in the bathroom behind her. She can hear the water pounding on the tiled floor of the shower, can sense the steam starting to become thicker in the air behind her. Suddenly her pulse is loud in her ears. She's terrified of the worst, unsure what kind of news she could possibly have to deliver to her at one o'clock in the afternoon on a Wednesday.

Zayn's mother clears her throat, "We've admitted Zayn into the Aurora Health Recovery Centre." She says firmly. Like this information isn't absolutely heartbreaking to hear.

"I thought he--"

"Arianne... listen." She says, not so much as a demand, but almost as a request. She sighs before she speaks again, "Zayn refuses to meet either me or his sister. He has you listed as an approved visitor. Can you please come down with me so I can speak with my son? I know it's only been a couple of days, but I need him to speak with me. He needs to understand."