arcane

e i g h t e e n

And everybody gone run,
And you can call it what you want,
But I call it moving on,
And I'm so done,
With singing words I don't believe in no more.

The ride home was quiet. Diana had her head on my shoulder, sleeping, Jordan in the front and Dane driving. We dropped Jordan off, and drove to my house. Luca had gone with the twins and Ali. I was just worried about how mother would take this all in. She never wanted me to meddle in mafia affairs. What confused me was, we moved from England to America. And she was born in England, and the crash happened in England. How the fuck did she get here? I slapped my forehead. Of course Armarni would have scouted her and sent her here on a private jet or something. My poor sister. But at the funeral, who's body was that? I had no idea how this had worked out.

We reached home and I woke Diana up.

"Ana. Wake up. We're home." I mumbled. She opened her eyes and smiled.

"Home?" She repeated as I nodded.

"Home." I confirmed, getting out the car.

"Babe, I'm going to go home. See how ma is doing. Stay safe okay, call me if you need anything." He said, kissing my cheek. I nodded and bid him goodbye, opening the door quietly. It was around 10 in the evening. It did take that long to get all the girls to the house and get them cleaned up etc.

"Mother?" I said, walking inside.

"In here." She said.

I held Diana's hand and showed her inside.

"Mother don't freak out. I found...someone." I muttered. She stared at me intently.

"Who?" She asked as I pulled Ana inside.

Her eyes immediately widened, she placed her hand over her mouth.

"Is that...is she?" Mother stumbled over her words, wobbling towards us. I nodded, pushing Diana towards her.

"Turn around." She croaked. Ana did so. She lifted her hair up a bit to show a birth mark. I didn't even know she had it.

"Oh my beautiful princess Diana." She wailed, throwing her arms around her. Diana sobbed in her shoulder. I moved upstairs to give them some space, changing and taking a shower. Ana soon came up and showered too. I lent her a pair of clothes, and it was around 12 now, we sat down at the table.

"Diana. My darling daughter. You've grown up so much." Mother said, wiping her tears.

"Diana I'm gonna ask you a few questions okay, if you feel like I'm being too pushy, tell me to stop." I said seriously. I sounded like a cop.

"What year did you go missing?" I asked. She furrowed her eye brows.

"What year is it now?" She said sipping on some hot chocolate.

"2018." I mumbled.

"09." She mumbled. I nodded, that was the correct date.

"Did you ever...get..you know?" I asked softly.

Her eyes watered and her hands started shaking. I studied her properly, she had mothers hair and dads eyes.

"I never got r-raped in the years I was there. No one asked for me, I made myself the ugliest. I always fought back, and no one took me. I had been t-touched before though. Not... properly. Just inappropriately." She stuttered. I nodded.

"And those girls. When did they come?" I asked as she blew out a breath.

"Different times." She said as I nodded again.

"Mother I gave the summer house to the rest of the girls." I pursed my lips and she nodded.

"How did you find her?" My mother asked.

"She was in a sex ring Dane shut down. I found her there along with around 300 girls." I said, not elaborating on the matter.

"Where's Damien?" She asked.

"He's coming home tomorrow." I said, knowing that I was going to call him tonight.

"I think you should get some rest darling. Tomorrow we'll sort everything out." Mother said smiling softly.

I nodded and took her upstairs the the attic room. She immediately loved it, it was for her.

"Thank you Monica. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." She said, hugging me tightly.

"You need to go to school by the way." I said chuckling as she groaned.

I left her room and went back to mine, snuggling up in my covers. I had less than 5 days till I got married and I had done 0 preparations. Maybe I could persuade Dane to let this go, so we could get married properly. There was no doubt that I wanted to be with him, I just think this was all too much. I grabbed my phone and dialled Damien's number.

"Hello?" He said, his voice low.

"Damien. You need to come home. Tomorrow, latest. I have a surprise." I mumbled smiling.

"Why is everything okay D?" He asked worried.

"Yes, just make sure you're home tomorrow. No if's or but's. Home. Tomorrow. Goodnight." I said, shutting off the call.

A lot of thoughts had floated around in my mind. Tomorrow I had to go see the girls, and Damien had to buy a house for them.

How did Armarni find her?

Who was in the casket at the funeral?

Why did they take her to America?

I sighed heavily and stared at the ceiling.

I wonder where my father was. Was he okay? Was he dead? Did he have a different family? It was Monday tomorrow anyway, missing a day of school wouldn't hurt. I also had to get Ana's enrolment papers.

A tear rolled down the side of my face. I wiped it and closed my eyes, letting myself sleep soundly.