Summer Changes

Chapter Seventeen The Binding

Sorry there seems to be an edit problem here the quotes are @ and the ' are =. Sorry

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Hailey=s breathing was labored burning her lungs creating a painful stitch in her side, so she slowed her bare feet to a walk.

She wanted to scream into the watching nights presences, her frustrations.

She had developed a massive headache.

Breathe she instructed herself, just breathe.

The night settled around her like an unwanted weight. Hailey ran in bare feet past the row of tree=s heading toward the bluff that she had been to this afternoon with Kylier.

How dare they negotiate her life as if she was some sort of prisoner, her own dad!

When she had left the ballroom on a pleasant high with Kylier to take that walk he had mistakenly walked her near the open study entrance. There they heard the familiar male voices that carried outward.

Both of them froze, standing like statues listening to her dad, grandpa and Mr. DeVonier as they made what sounded like the final deal to this so called marriage.

Hailey stood there in shock as her eyes took in the tall four mysterious hooded figures standing against the back drop. What were they to her dad? Then she heard Kylier whisper, Silver Vardain she looked up at him frowning but at his expression she went suddenly cold. Her brain understood what was transpiring in there and to confirm it Hailey watched through the entrance into the room as her dad bent over a desk that held some papers and quickly signing them. He straightened and shook Mr. DeVonier=s hand looking stressed,

AI hope this works toward a successful arrangement for both our families’ sake.@

In the sudden heavy silence that followed Hailey felt her whole world turn upside down, in horror she heard the cough that caught her father attention coming from none other than her grandpa.

Her grandpa saw her and indicated with the slight nod toward her and Kylier. Her dad spun around looking shocked at seeing her there,

AHailey,@ he began but she had spun around without giving Kylier a thought or a care.

Instead she ran for her life, away from that betrayal scene that spoke volumes.

Somehow she knew her dad had given in, why? Frantically she searched her mind for an answer only coming up blank. She felt hurt and betrayed right down to her very soul.

She felt the chill in the ocean air as her whole body felt numb with a single paralyzing word, married!

Her mind rebelled rejecting the very comprehension of the single hated word. She was running for her life, only how far can one run on an island as she came to a sudden breathless halt. The last time she did this she ended up in the hospital.

Standing now on the edge of the bluff she looked out across the watery ocean depth as it danced within the moon=s blue light. The waves crashed against the cliff=s wall far below in their constant turbulence, which ironically reflected her own inner self.

The smell of salt cleared her lungs as she willed herself to calm down. Did her mom know?

AIf you jump may I come with you?@ His voice was deep and rich causing her skin to race betrayingly with goose bumps.

Hailey didn=t answer right away as he silently came to stand beside her. Her nerves were raw her body was shaking and the last one she wanted to talk to was him.

Only it wasn=t his fault either, he was just as much a victim here as she was in this forced union.

She balled her hands into fists and screamed heartily out into the night her frustration.