Chrysalis

Chapter 8

Notes: I'm so sorry for taking so long! And I didn't even correct the previous chapters as I had promised... I have a lot going on right now. But I promise that I won't give up on this story, and I thank all of you for the support, especially, the comments, they mean a huge lot to me.

Warnings: references to child abuse.

Again, dialogues in italics mean that Maggie and Francis are speaking French. From now on, keep in mind that they mostly speak French between them.

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Chapter Eight

The first thing Maggie became vaguely aware of was a pleasant cosiness. The mattress under her side was firm yet soft as a cloud, and her body was wrapped in smooth, clean-smelling sheets. The sunlight filtering under her closed lids told Maggie that it was morning, but she was too comfortable to get up. Still half asleep, she turned on the bed, only for an unexpected burst of pain to rip through her abdomen at the movement. Gasping, Maggie curled in a foetal position, clutching her stomach as she registered at the same time that her entire body was awfully sore...

'And since when do I have such a big bed?'

That wasn't her bed. That wasn't even her bedroom.

Maggie jerked up, ignoring the way her stomach cramped and her entire body protested with fierce jolts of pain at the movement, as the events of the previous evening flooded her mind.

'I'm not in my room because I'm not even home. I'm at Francis's.'

Maggie cautiously inched towards the edge of the bed and lowered her feet on the smooth wooden floor.

'How long did I sleep?'

She didn't have a clock with her. From the light filtering through the curtains, Maggie could tell that it was morning, but she didn't know how late. Birds were chirping outside, and a car roared in the distance, but aside from that, everything was silent.

Gathering courage with a deep breath, Maggie finally got to her feet and stretched her arms and legs. Every movement tugged painfully at her muscles, and her stomach, in particular, answered with an intense flash of pain, but it wasn't unbearable and she was sure that nothing was broken.

'I really got off easy.'

Maggie let her eyes wander across the room until they landed on a mirror next to the wardrobe, where she hurried to look over herself more closely. The bruises on her arms and legs were now darker and sported hints of sickly green that made Maggie grimace, but there was nothing she could do about them. In an unexpected contrast, her face looked fresh and rested, the skin under her eyes for once missing the faint shadows Maggie was accustomed to. Even with her hair still a bit in disarray, she looked better than she had in a long time, excluding the bruises.

She also felt better, she realized with a pang of surprise. While her entire body ached and her abdomen was unpleasantly contracted, her stomach churning with slight tendrils of nausea, Maggie didn't feel as exhausted as she usually did. She wasn't exactly full of energy, but surely more rested than she had been in a while.

'Just how long did I sleep?'

There was only one way to find out. Taking a deep breath to calm down the apprehension that had already started creeping over her, Maggie resolutely walked to the door. Her hands fumbled a moment with the key before she managed to open it. Once out in the corridor, she stopped short.