Three Hearts Left Intact

Chapter 13: Slip Up

Once Lauren twisted the handle she barged into the room with steam still trailing out of her ears. Kaila shot up from the rug cowering behind Lauren's desk as she entered. The taller being loomed over her as she made her way around the desk to where Kaila was pushed up against the bookshelves.

"Did you have fun playing while I was gone?" Lauren asked grinding her teeth as the sound slipped out. She knew the answer, at this point she was waiting from Kaila to see if she was going to lie or tell the truth.

When the little one shook her head out of fear of saying otherwise, Lauren finally asked the question she had been wanting to ask. "Did you find something that didn't belong to you?!" Her voice dropped low as she took a step forwards, trapping Kaila's legs in between hers and her small frame pushed all the way against the books. With the smallest push she would hit her head against the wooden pole behind her head, supporting the bookshelf.

Lauren waited patiently waiting to see Kaila's response. When all she did was shake her head, Lauren was furious. Not only did she know Kaila was rummaging through her belongings, but she was going through her families company information. And she lied about it. Without thinking Lauren's hands at her sides, curled up into two fists nearly breaking the skin by how tense her hands were.

She had to withhold every ounce of willpower not to slap Kaila silly right there and then. She knew it would do no good towards the little girls health and happiness, not to mention she really didn't want to deal with a crying Kaila for even longer than she needed to.

"Are you sure?" Giving Kaila one last chance to change her story she nearly growled out by how angry she was.

At this point Kaila knew something was wrong. The way Lauren looked at her, with the coldest and darkest of eyes. Thinking back on the questions Kaila's eyes nearly fell out of her head when she realized that Lauren knew about the folder. Internally she was screaming and punching the walls of her mind, while on the outside she was crying cause of how scared and intimidated she felt. Deciding it would be best to confide into the situation she nodded.

"Smart move." Lauren unclenches her fists only somewhat. She backed up one step letting Kaila's back be let off the wall of books. She took a semi breathe of relief to have some space between the two of them. "Where is it?" Lauren breathed out as she watched Kaila nearly fall to the floor with how shaky her legs were.

Not being able to hold her own body weight anymore, Kaila collapsed to the floor as gravity took its toll. She could barely feel any strength left in her body. She had spent too long crying that she was exhausted. She didn't even care when her thumb snuck it's way into her mouth as she crawled over to grab the file. Holding it up somewhat proudly, Lauren snatched it out of the little girls hands sitting at her office desk going through all it's contents.

Meanwhile Kaila was too nervous to move from her spot by the books. She was still too dangerously close to Lauren, she felt as if she were walking on eggshells. One wrong movement or word and Lauren would be at her throat again.

By the time Lauren slammed the folder shut, she looked over at Kaila demanding her closer to her. Kaila was still too shaky to walk over, instead she crawled. The entire time she was unaware of the fact that one of her hands dangled in her mouth. Lauren rolled her eyes at the small gesture, seeing her old friend behave in such way caused her annoyance.

She wanted to pull at Kaila's wrist to remove her thumb from her mouth, but even someone as cold as Lauren could see how badly the little girl needed the small amount of comfort. "Why'd you take something that didn't belong to you? You knew better than to look through this folder." Lauren voice was still tough and low, but compared to earlier she was letting loose. Her voice and body language was more relaxed, causing Kaila not to fear her as much in the moment.

"I...I wanted to see how she was doing." Her voice came out almost in a whisper, she was being truthful. All she wanted was to finally get some answers and see how someone she desperately cared about was doing in such a terrible place like this.

"Were you satisfied with what you found?" She cocked up her eyebrow, crossing her arms as she slouched back in her chair.

When Kaila shook her head it came to no surprise. "Next time you go through my stuff, it won't be so pretty. This was important and classified information that was sent to me, not to you. Keep your hands to your own things."

Kaila sat back wanting to argue back, she felt the anger and tension rising in her own body. "What's the levels mean?" She shakily asked.

Lauren shook her head at her, 'do I tell her? No, mom and dad would kill me if they found out I ruined their plan and told her information.' She leaned over to Kaila's body on the floor. "Why do you want to know about the levels?"

"Cause that..." she pointed on top of the desk to the folder that was dangling off slightly with her free hand.

"Well the levels aren't any of your concern. To give you a simple run through, the more you try misbehaving like all your escape attempts, the higher your level becomes. The higher your level becomes then the harsher and ruder people are going to treat you. Make sense?"

Kaila nodded understanding what she was trying to imply. "Good then we understand each other. Right now your lucky, since your under my watch you'll be stuck at a level three as long as you don't test your luck again. But as for her, I'll put in a good word to my parents to lessen her level if you start behaving."

Kaila very quickly debated in her mind. She wouldn't be able to rescue Lain if she were in high alert or badly hurt. Instead the best option she could think about was Lauren's offer. Behave in exchange for Lain's security. Nodding her head to it Kaila's hands soon found themselves attached to a coloring book besides her on the floor near the rug. All the vibrant colors were attracting her.

Shaking her head she tried to stay focused, stay on topic. She was finally getting some kind of answers to her questions, now was not the time to be slipping. But she couldn't find the strength in herself to stop, her head was traveling down its own path. One that was less big and more carefree. She tried fighting herself not to slip, but before she knew it she was curiously looking around the entire room.

Lauren sat up noticing the slight change in Kaila's demeanor. Her mind was curious as to how impressionable the little girl was in the state she was in.
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Let me know what you think. Thanks Lexx signing off