Rouge's Trail

XXXV

"I know, Nika, I know," a soft voice whispered in my ear," hush, hush. It will be all over soon."

"I don't want to go back there," I cried, wishing beyond all else that Alexia would offer some sort of solace for me. I was only a child. I didn't want to be hurt that way again.

"You have to. I'm so sorry, Nika, but you have to. Cyrus owns us. If we don't satisfy him he will take our lives. Do you want to die? Do you want all of us to die?"

"No! You can't die, Lexi. You can't leave me."

"It's just a few hours, Nika. Then you come back here. Then we will be together again."

Until the next night, I whimpered in my mind. A shadow started to come around the corner and I scrambled to my feet. I recognized his cocoa eyes and sweet face the moment he turned the corner. My tears froze on my cheeks when he started to come towards me. 

"Valentin," Alexia whispered to him, her voice begging for my freedom," She's only a child. Barely a teenager."

"She is the Alpha's favorite, Alexia. Are you going to tell him no?"

She quieted and he grabbed my arm, dragging me to Cyrus's room where I would meet my fate for the night and nearly every night after that until I grew boring to him. 

Ivalo is truly a cruel place to live.

__

I didn't wake up so cold after this dream. I woke up remembering her pretty hazel eyes staring down at me and her long, brown hair dangling from her bun. That was a memory, not a dream. It was going to be a while before I remembered how to forget about all of that.

In all honesty, I can't really tell you exactly when that memory took place. It may have been a year after my mother's death or, maybe, it was two. The point is that I was all alone when my Alpha found me and all he saw when he did was a pretty little girl who had no one to fight for her.

Alexia was the first one to try to fight for me since the death of my father. 

And I don't remember my father.

From what my mother told me, he was taller than tall and tougher than tough. She never truly knew how to describe the man because she was never really in love with him. When you're a Rouge, she told me once, it matters more how safe you make each other than how happy you are together. 

Apparently my father adored me and that mattered more than his feelings for her. She would live to regret that choice.

"Good morning," a cheery Christian chirped from the doorway.

"Hey."

"How are you feeling today?"

"Fine, I guess. How's Sophia?"

"Not even concerned about me," he feigned heart ache by putting his hand over his chest before laughing it off.

We sat in silence for a few seconds eithout him answering my question. I can't really tell you if it was a happy silence or a tense one because my mind was a little occupied with forgetting.

I left Christian to his silence and went to find another set of clothing. In all honesty, I can't remember the last time I changed my outfit.

The rouges have been kind enough to open up their wardrobe to Sophia, Thomas, and I. Christian originally offered Thomas some pants and a sweater but we knew right away that there is no way anything he owned would fit our very tall friend so we had to politely decline. His sister- I can't remember her name- gave Sophia some clothes but I was left out in the cold.

Some kind person, however, had left a small bag of things on my bed when I was out. I hadn't had a chance to really look in it because of the party and my conversation with Thomas, but there was nothing that caught my attention now except for the need to have my attention averted immediately.

The bag was small and crocheted so you could see some of the contents from the outside. I saw a lot of white and more crocheting. When I reached in and pulled out something soft and light, I found a cream dress that went down to about mid thigh. The straps were thin and stringy. Over all it reminded me of a particular actress that I see on magazines in hotel lobbies a lot.

I put it on but left my shoes from before. Christian was gone when I left the back area in the new outfit. I assume he went to find Sophia. I went to find Thomas.

He was sitting with a pair of beautiful rouge girls who both had long, beautiful hair and tanned, beautiful skin. He laughed in a flirtatious way and they giggled along.

I rolled my eyes and went to find Sophia.

It took me longer to find her, but I did. She was sitting alone by a tree and braiding her hair softly while she hummed along to a song that I've heard only from her.

"What are you up to?"

She looked up, startled.

"I'm waiting."

"For?"

"For you to tell me where my twin is."

I felt myself tense up at her words. We avoided telling her Isabella jumped ship for a while now and I wasn't excited to let her know about it.

"I'm not stupid, November," she said while she removed the braid to start over and make it better," I know she isn't here so you need to tell me where she is."

I sat down in the grass with her under the tree. Maybe, I thought to myself, it was Sophia who was the angel all along. Maybe Isabella was never angelic. Maybe I was blind.

That's the way it seemed, looking at her now. Her hair braided gently and her skin shining with the sun high above. Blue eyes turned nearly white in the early morning light. I don't know if anyone ever noticed that her cheeks were rosy with the flush of a bleeding heart and her lips were pink like they were dipped in cherry.

I think Christian noticed it.

I hope he did.

"Isabella ran away to find Ajax, Sophia. She left us."

She said she knew, but the way her blue-white eyes went wide and the small tear that trailed down her cheek made me think otherwise.

Poor, Sophia.