Protecting My Kidnappers

Chapter 15- Arrival

-Jesy's POV-
We arrive in London, and I make my way around the large city.
"Where are we headed?" Perrie asks, looking out the windows.
"An old friend's place. I called her yesterday, and she said she would help us." I reply, taking a long breath.
"You mean Astrid?" Jade asks, downright madness in her voice.
"Yes, I mean Astrid." I reply, keeping my tone firm. "Don't fight with her this time, she's nice enough to help us. The least you can do is be nice to her."
Jade huffs, slouching back in her seat.
"Last time I tried to be nice to her she nearly killed me!" Jade raises her voice, while Perrie, Destiny, and Leigh stay silent.
"It was an accident, and she didn't even come close to killing you." I try to prove a point, while trying to stay calm.
"Yes okay, Jesy. Because her hand just accidentally stabbed my arm with a butcher knife." Jade fights back sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"It was four years ago Jade, get over it and forgive the poor girl!" I start raising my voice, getting frustrated.
Everyone goes silent, as we pull into the driveway of Astrid's house.
We get out, the tension between Jade and I is thick.
I knock on the door, then step back a bit.
Astrid opens the door, and smiles.
"Hello girls, come on in." She greets us, stepping aside to let us in.
Once she closes the door, I feel quite safe. She was the first person I went to after I ran away from home.
I notice she's dyed her hair yet another color, this time a very light blonde with a pink and blue streak on the side, and her usual half shave hairstyle.
We walk into the brightness of her living room, sitting on the couch.
"So I've heard that you five lovely ladies need to stay hidden away." She turns serious, while getting a box down from a shelf.
"Yeah, this is Destiny by the way." Leigh introduces Destiny, and Astrid smiles.
"Hello." She says cheerily, pulling a chair into the middle of the room and sitting on it. "So I'm going to give you girls a make over, so that you won't be recognized."
We all look at eachother, as if to get approval from one another.
"Okay, let's do it." I say hesitantly, even though this isn't the first time I've done it. It's still weird.
"Who's first?" Astrid asks, standing up and grabbing a garbage bag.
"I'll go." I volunteer, just to get it done with.
I sit down, and Astrid puts the garbage bag around my shoulders so it drapes down to cover me.
"Okay, so I'm going to cut and straighten your hair. I might dye it too. Is that okay?" She asks, grabbing my hair in her hands.
"Go for it." I say confidently, but inside I'm not so confident.
I feel a pair of scissors by my shoulders, and I hold my breath.
As they cut through my locks, I feel like my dignity is being torn from me.
She's cutting it shoulder length, which isn't too bad, but it's still a lot of hair to cut off.
"I'm done cutting it, Jes. Don't worry." She soothes, knowing I hate cutting my hair with a passion.
"I just need to wait until the flat iron heats up. It won't take long." She assures me, brushing off stray hair from my head.
"So when we dye it, I was thinking of dying it a light brown with blonde highlights." She explains, showing me a picture of what it would look like.
"I like it." I smile, studying the picture.
"Good. I think the flat iron is heated now." She smiles back, going behind me again.
I feel heat close to my head, and then slight pulling on my wavy hair.
I smile at the other girls as my hair is being straightened, and they watch intensely.
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Once our make overs are done, I have shorter, light brown hair with blonde highlights, like Astrid said.
Jade got her hair cut a little bit as well, and got blue streaks, and dyed it a little darker.
Perrie dyed her hair a lighter blonde, and got extensions put in. She also got pink streaks in the front, which she loves!
Leigh straightened her hair, and dip dyed it blue. It took a long time, but she said it was totally worth it.
Destiny really took one for the team, she cut her hair to just below her neck. Before she cut it it was nearly to her hips, and she got a bit upset halfway through. I don't blame her though, it was hard. She dyed it jet black, and Astrid put in purple streaks. In the end, she liked it, but she kept on feeling her hair for about an hour.
I think it was hard for all of us, but if it means safety, it's worth it.
We're sitting around the table, having dinner. Astrid made some stir fry and sandwiches, which are absolutely delicious.
"Jade, do you want to help me with dishes after?" Astrid asks, the look in her eyes is heartbreaking. She's begging for Jade's forgiveness, but Jade is so stubborn sometimes.
"You aren't going to stab me this time?" Jade says coldly, giving her a stare.
"I'll help." Destiny offers, probably trying avoid a fight from breaking out.
"Oh... Thanks." Astrid replies, taken aback by her.
"So Destiny, I hear you've been tangled in with the vortex of Hunter Rankin." Astrid says, changing the topic quickly.
"Ya... Um, I've been involved with him for awhile now." Destiny replies, shifting uncomfortably.
"Did you used to work for him? Or how did you get involved?" Astrid asks, and Destiny's eyes go wide.
I'm quite shocked by Astrid's questions, usually she's not interested in people's back stories.
"Um... I'll tell you after I get back in. I'm just going to step outside for a few minutes." Destiny chokes out, excusing herself from the table.
I hear the door shut gently, and I stare at Astrid in surprise.
"What was that?" I let out, but calm myself.
"What do you mean?" She asks, innocence in her eyes.
"Hunter killed her cousin and parents! Why would you ask her?!?" I scold, my stress levels through the roof.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know!" She apologizes sincerely, rubbing my arm.
"I'm sorry, I'm stressed." I apologize back, standing up. "I'm going to go make sure Dest is okay."
I leave the room, opening the front door. I walk out onto the porch, but Destiny is nowhere in sight.
I start walking around, and I see her on the corner of the street.
I jog towards her, and then I see a cigarette in her mouth.
"Destiny!" I yell in shock, watching as she jumps.
"Jesy!" She yells back, hiding the cigarette behind her quickly.
"Why the hell are you smoking?!?" I ask her frantically, the smell of smoke making me cough.
"It's a stress relief." She replies quietly, raising the smoke to her mouth again.
I bat it out of her hands, shaking her shoulders.
"That is a cancer stick! Why do you have it? Where did you even get it?!?" I continue, starting to pull her back to Astrid's house.
She is not acting normal, and I'm curious.
"How long has this been going on?" I ask, stopping her from walking for a minute.
"Mitchel and Amber made me do it, and I only have one every few days, it's not that big of a deal!" She argues, looking at the ground.
"It is a big deal! I'm not letting you do this! I'm not going to!" I try to prove a point, grabbing her shoulders roughly.
"Ok... Ok..." Destiny sighs, continuing to walk.
"Give me your pack, I'm chucking them. You're not going to get addicted to these." I calm down a bit, realizing I need to bring down my anger levels.
Destiny hands me a half empty package of cigarettes, and I toss them in a rubbish bin.
"I'll help you through this, don't worry." I assure her, as we make our way back onto the porch.
"Before we go in, can I ask you something?" Destiny stops me in my tracks, leaning against the wall.
"Anything." I offer, leaning back on the handrail.
"What happened between Jade and Astrid?" She asks curiously, quirking an eyebrow.
I sigh, remembering the event.
"Last time we were here, before we came to find you, we were doing what we did today. Jade and Astrid were doing dishes, and something fell. They both jumped, but Astrid had a sharp knife in her hand, and she accidentally stabbed Jade right above the wrist." I let out quickly, then take a breath. "It wasn't pretty, but Jade can be stubborn when some one hurts her."
Destiny looks at me silently, as if she's trying to take everything in.
"I'm... Shocked." She barely gets out, blinking her eyes continuously. "Let's just get back inside, we can get the suitcases later."
We both go back in slowly, joining the other girls at the table again.
"You alright?" Astrid asks, the look of concern and guilt on her face.
"Ya, don't worry about it. Let's get those dishes done, shall we?" Destiny asks, gathering the dishes from the table.
"Okay." Astrid sighs, helping her with the job.
I can already tell this is going to be an interesting stay, and I can only pray it'll go okay.
(A/N): Hey guys, thank you again for sticking with me. I hope this chapter is better than the last one, considering the last one was so short. So... Yeah. Mwah :*