Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
•••
Jane woke up in the bed, which she knew was not where she had fallen asleep. The last thing she remembered was lying on the floor with Five in her lap. She could feel the dull ache in her arms from the bruises as she propped herself up, looking around for Five. He was gone. She squeezed her eyes shut for a second as the events from yesterday came flooding back, giving her a headache. She turned her head to look at the clock but her hair fell in her face.
Jane brought a hand to her head, raking her fingers through her blonde curls, and realized her ribbon had gone missing. She knew, without a doubt, that Five had taken it with him, wherever he went. The only question was why. Jane dragged her hands across her face, a cool, smooth, sensation made her pull her left hand away. A ribbon for a ring.
The five small diamonds embedded into the ring reflected the light, making small stars within them. Jane smiled softly but it quickly disappeared as she saw the hand-sized bruises on her arms. She tugged at her sleeve, hoping to cover them. She knew Five felt bad enough but she didn't know why he had runoff. Or where he had run off too. She felt empty now that he was gone. Especially after last night.
It was strange, Five had never had that bad of a reaction before. And he never had a 'nightmare' about the twins, unlike his wife who was plagued by them constantly. At least, he hadn't had any that Jane knew of. Even after talking it out, back in 2019, and recently, Jane still blamed herself. She should have caught on that the drinks were drugged, it was her fault she got pregnant. But in all reality, the blame rested on one person.
The Handler.
YESTERDAY NIGHT
Jane had fallen asleep half an hour ago. Her comforting taps and rubbing had died down and her hands rested gingerly in Five's hair and mid-back. He knew that when her breathing evened out, she was peacefully asleep. Five removed his head from her lap, finessing his way out of her arms. The warmth left his body as he broke free.
Staring down at her sleeping figure reminded him so much of that night. The nightmare continued to haunt him, even while awake.
Two children, twins. A boy and a girl.
Jane had lost the remainder of her energy in grief, trying to push Five away and call out for her lost children. Now, she was asleep. Five slammed his fist into the wall, just after she had lost consciousness and now stood over her, with his thumb on the silk of the ribbon that was tied around his wrist. Despite the recent events she looked so peaceful, so beautiful. It was a wonder why something so bad would happen to someone like her. The saying 'fortune favors the beautiful' certainly didn't apply to her situation.
Five sighed and moved the blankets on the bed before picking Jane up and placing her onto it, making sure the blankets only went up to her waist. He went to brush back the shorter hairs that didn't make it into her make-shift headband but stopped short, untying the ribbon instead. His eyes caught sight of the dark spots on her forearms and he clenched his jaw, angry at himself. He stood up straighter, his expression immediately softened again at Jane's sleeping figure.
