𝐄𝐍𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 ° ° ° 𝑚. 𝑟𝑜𝑟𝑦

Chapter 20; The Tainted Truth

Previously on "Enlightenment"

"Shhhh... Its alright now honey. I've got you," she muttered into the child's matted hair. Letting her own tears slip down her cheeks. Gently, Natalya started to rock the girl back and forth, comforting herself and Sally.

Mick let a smile slip through his cold demeanor. As soon as the smile came, it vanished. He couldn't break, not with a psychopath upstairs.

For now, they were hostages, and until the police could figure it out, they were stuck there.

_____________

NATALYA STARES down at her now ruined white skinny jeans. She sat up against the wall farthest from the stairs, and Mick. Her knees are pulled up towards her chest, her fingers picking at the folds in the crinkled pants.

Sally was fast asleep now, off in a wonderland Natalya only wishes she was in.

"You'd think in a town with a superhero, we would be out by now," Mick snorts out. He's laying on the carpeted floor, his hands behind his head and a annoyed look on his face.

"Yeah, well, I guess the scarlet speedster isn't very good at time management," Natalya mutters, not daring to glance at the criminal laying a few feet away. "Then again... We've barely been here for twenty minutes. Traffic must be horrible!"

Mick glances at the brunette. She hasn't looked at him, not once in the last fifteen minutes.

'She just couldn't keep her eyes off of me in the first five...' Mick thinks, a small smirk playing at his lips.

Natalya feels his hard gaze on her, she nervously shuffles away, feeling her skin tingle from his intense staring.

Mick continues to just watch the Russian. He is addicted to the feeling he gets from just looking at her. He gets the same feeling when he watches fire...

The beauty, it's overwhelming for the pyromaniac. The love he feels, for the flames and Natalya. It -unfortunately- scares him.

All the booze loving criminal wants to do is claim Natalya. Despite him first denying it, now, he excepts it. No more running, he needs to fight for what he wants. This time, Leonard isn't there to stop him.

"So, shorty, psychopath run in the family?" Mick questions jokingly, not taking into consideration of her feelings towards her father.

"He wasn't always that way, you know," her voice cracks, "for most of my childhood, he was the kindest one in the family."

Mick grunts in response, wanting her to carry on with the story.

"I don't know what happened, honestly... Suddenly, he jus-just changed..." Natalya let's stray tears fall freely down her cheeks. "When I was, ten, he started to beat мама... Screamed, saying it was, all her f-fault," she sobs quietly, recalling the horrifying memories. Luckily, she stayed calm enough to fight off another one of her many panic attacks.

"Turns out... mother had an affair that snapped my father. The doctors said that he already had schizophrenia, so what-" Natalya didn't finish what she was saying. A sob echoed through the basement, making Sally stir in her sleep.

Mick sat up, he didn't like emotional things. Actually, he hates feelings, he much rather not have that weakness like many do. Still, watching her weep over the past in front of him, it brought a very odd feeling.