Message in a Bottle

Chapter 22

I am putting a warning here to alert everyone that there is smut in the second half of the chapter. If you are uncomfortable with this then you can stop reading where I put the warning into the chapter. You won't miss anything if you skip the second half. I will also warn that I have never written a mature scene like this before so I hope it doesn't suck too badly. 

I apologize for not updating but I hope you enjoy.

Nicole's POV

"Kiki?" Anna mumbled, half asleep and tucked in tight under the tarp. She had stayed up later that she usually had and, in addition to the heat, she was now completely exhausted. Even I found the heat tiring, around midday when the sun was at it's highest, I'd be tempted to lay down for a few hours. The lack of nutrition also aided in our weakened state. 

"Yes, darling?" I replied, laying down to cuddle with her for a while. 

"Are we going to die?" I chocked on the sharp gasp that threatened to escape my throat. How did Anna, a child her age, even comprehend the idea of death, let alone ask me a question like that. The most logical explication I could come up with was that her parents had put death into perspective for her when he grandmother had passed, due to dementia, the previous year.  

"Why do you think that, sweetheart?" I asked gently, swallowing back the large lump in my throat. 

"The bad men hurt you. And they won't let us go home," She explained her thoughts to me. "What will happen to me if they take you away? What if they hurt me?" 

"That won't happen, Anna," I told her immediately. "I won't let that happen and neither will Blake. We are going to protect you no matter what."

"But you can't stop them?" She opened her rich, blue eyes to look at me, the worry and fear she felt clear. 

"I would die to protect you," I told her honestly, without hesitation. Because I would, in heart beat. And I might very well have to make good on my word. "And Blake and I are going to everything we can to get you back home."

"How will we do that?" She asked curiously, forcing herself awake. I smoothed her hair down, trying to provide some comfort for her. She absorbed a lot more than I wanted her to and it was obviously weighing very heavily on her. She shouldn't have to deal with this. She should be at home, safe in her bed, worrying about whether her parents would let her go to her friends birthday party rather than if tomorrow would be our last day alive. But Anna was a smart little girl and I couldn't keep the severity of the situation from her. 

"I don't know yet, banana," I placed a kiss on her forehead and encouraged her to settle in for the night. "But we are gunna figure it out. We just need to wait for an opportunity. But Blake and I are so very proud of you for how we you're behaved here. You have been our brave little girl."

She smiled at my praise and complied, closing her eyes and snuggling into my chest. I knew I hadn't really answered any of her questions, which most likely still nagged at her, but I had provided some comfort, which satisfied her enough to try and get some rest. I stroked her hair and hummed a soft tune in her ear, one that my own mother had sung to me as a child, until she'd fallen asleep. 

I pulled away from Anna when I knew that she wouldn't wake up when I released her. I left the safety of the fort and joined Blake by the fire, which he had build up quite large on the beach next to our shelter. I sat a distance away from Blake, rage stewing deep in the pit of my stomach. 

He sent me a questioning look, as I would usually curl up under his arm, and asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Anna asked me if we are going to die," I stated, my nails digging into my palm as I stared into the fire. I heard Blake's sharp intake of breath and I'm sure similar thoughts to mine were running through his head.