“Do you think that’s for the best?” Raisa asked Alexsei.
“I think it can’t hurt. Besides, I think having you around is intimidating her.”
“Her own cousin is intimidating?” Sadie asked, incredulous.
“I can’t forget how she looked at you and freaked out, Raisa,” he said. “When she saw that you were pregnant, she seemed more scared.”
Because they bred her! Held her down and?—
I closed my eyes, willing the thoughts away.
“Maybe my idea will backfire,” he admitted, “ but it’s an option we can try.”
“Just for a while,” Sadie said.
“Yes, temporarily,” Raisa said. “I’ve only just gotten her back in my life and I don’t want to lose her again.”
Alexsei coughed. Or maybe it was a dry laugh. “She won’t be lost. She’s not leaving. I’ll have her right under my guard.”
His words should’ve spooked me. They were a direct promise to keep me under his surveillance. Yet, I didn’t grit my teeth in frustration. I was too numb to react. The first thought that came to my mind, though, wasn’t one that he’d be my overlord. I recognized something like gratitude, that he was promising to watch over me and not in a threatening manner.
It was a vow.
Their voices carried down the hall as they seemed to walk away. I wished to know more details and eavesdrop some more, but they were taking their conversation away from me. Shunning me. Excluding me.
Before I could turn back to the window, the door was pushed open wider.
I held my breath, whirling around.
More light shone in.
But in the open doorway stood a young boy.
“Oh, shit.” He grimaced. “I mean, oh,shoot.” Wearing a troubled expression of guilt, he looked up at me with a pleading frown. “Please don’t tell anyone I said that.”
I shook my head immediately, understanding that he was trying to avoid a punishment. I didn’t know who he was, but he was so young. Too young to be beaten.
Then he smiled, confusing me with that goofy and shy grin. “If I’m caught saying another swear word, bubbles will be coming out of my mouth forever.”
Bubbles?I stared at him, confused.
“You know.” He arched a brow. “When you say a bad word and then you gotta have a mouth full of a bar of soap to wash it?”
I didn’t know. I had no reply. If I spoke at all, I’d get a beating. This boy was lucky to be spared the same.
He watched me as I failed to reply. With one hand on the door knob, he gave me such a perplexed yet patient look that I didn’t feel pressured to open my mouth.
Contradicting what Alexsei, Sadie, and Raisa had just been talking about, that I would feel overwhelmed with more people and strangers coming in, this boy’s presence made me feel less alone.
And… safe.
He wasn’t big and tall and able to hurt me.
In his eyes, I saw a glimmer of innocence that suggested he hadn’t experienced hatred in his life, the kind that had been mywholelife for too long.
“I’m sorry,” he said, sounding like he meant it. “I, um, I didn’t mean to break into your room.” He took one step back. “I saw the door cracked open and I thought that this was still part of the area for hide-and-seek.”
I recalled that fun pastime. But those memories were from a lifetime ago, like they belonged to someone else. My mother and I played it often, and when my father came home from work, if he wasn’t too tired, he would join in as well.
