Glitches

Chapter 22 - My lady

"Wake up my lady, Paul want to speak with you and Miranda," a deep voice said, almost a grumble.

My eyes fluttered open, my gaze landing on a bearded man in the doorframe.

Ralph.

"Haven't William told you my name," I yawned, sitting on the end of the mattress.

Still looking at him, I reached for the brown leather jacket on the table, quickly slipping it on. The thin layer of lamb fur on its inside already gave me a cosy feeling.

"He actually did tell me your name Stephanie. I talked to him in the morning, before waking you up. But I prefer 'My lady' what do ya think?" he smiled warmly.

"Isn't that a nickname you use about your lover?" I chuckled, getting up on my feet.

The cold surface made me flinch slightly as the sensitive skin from under my feet touched it. I quickly sat back on the mattress, putting on a pair of socks to prevent me from the cold of the ground.

"Maybe," Ralph said, "but you're a lady. And here, we're all family. So, you practically are my lady. You can see yourself as my niece or something."

I pondered over his suggestion for a moment. A family would be great at this point. Having someone you can trust and put your fate in, when your real family stabs you in the back. And when I had thought about it, I nodded eagerly, before flashing him a cheeky smile.

"I'd like that."

Ralph gladly returned the smile, standing a little taller.

"My lady it is then."

I glanced across the room, my gaze falling on Sam's bed, which was now empty, Sam nowhere to be seen. I frowned, shifting my gaze back at Ralph who fiddled with a device in his hand.

"Ralph, do you know where Sam is?" I asked, making Ralph look up from the device with a thoughtful face.

"I haven't seen the fella this morning. He's probably just in the bathroom, taking a piss and so on. But when you see him, you can tell him that Paul wants to meet you downstairs and talk about what ya know and such."

"Will do," I mumbled, putting on the pair of combat boots William also had given me yesterday.

"See you around My lady," he smiled, walking out of the room and down the corridor at the direction of the staircase.

I quickly got up from the mattress, making my way out in the corridor.

Ralph had said that Sam probably was in the bathroom. It wouldn't be any harm to check could it?

Something in me thought that it was a bad idea, but the worried one won the fight. I swiftly turned my direction to the bathroom.

It didn't took me long to reach the wooden door with the sign of the iconic woman and man decorating its surface. I slowly reached for the doorknob, slowly pushing it down. The door was locked.

"Sam?" I asked, "are you in there? You'd already left when Ralph woke me up. And I just thought that I would make sure that I know where you are, and that you're okay."

I didn't want to mention that I had recognised that he had gotten a nightmare while we slept. That was something I would keep to myself. But no sound was heard from behind the door.

"If you're in there I just want you to know that Paul wants to talk to us and Miranda downstairs. So, when you're done, you can join us."

Still, no one answered. But just when I was about to turn around and leave, embarrassed that I had just spoken to a door, Sam voice was heard from the inside.