80 Speak Now (1/2)

”Thank you for the image, Cienna.” Yes, sarcasm. I could work with that. Right now, that's as close to the normal Cienna as she was going to get.

”Don't think this will go on forever. We'll not be friends... ever. I'm grateful that you're doing what you are, but you didn't need to. It's not going to last long. Go call Anthony before I fall asleep. I have a story to tell.” She looked away from me then, almost like she was shooing me away. I wondered if I should remind her that the room was mine from what I had perceived. I left, though, without protesting. I needed to call Anthony anyways.

As I opened the door to the room, I saw someone move at the far end of the corridor. Opening the door wider, I saw that it was Anthony who was rus.h.i.+ng towards my room.

”What the h.e.l.l is going on, here?” he almost shouted as he took long steps towards me. ”I heard the cries and then everything went silent. Did you kill her?” he panicked.

”Hardly,” I snorted leaving the door so that he can look outside. He must have been surprised by what he saw because his eyes widened and then he gaped at me.

”It would be believable if you had killed her.” I shrugged, knowing that what he said was true. If someone would have told me that I would be taking care of Cienna while she was living the most vulnerable moments in her life, I would have laughed on their faces, but now, it seemed pretty natural to do so. Curiosity had, in the end, gotten to me. The thirst for knowing what screwed her up had left me with a fire burning hot inside my mind.

”It would,” I sighed and then turned around to look at Cienna, who was now lying down on the bed, her hands and legs spread eagle and her eyes staring into nothing.

”Holy s.h.i.+t, why is she smiling like a loon?” I heard the voice from right behind me.

”Ethan,” Anthony hissed and I heard a distinct thump coming from behind me. I turned around again and ushered them into the room. They came in without a word and then took seats across from Cienna on the very same couch that I had been sleeping on. Cienna snickered when I stood near the foot of the bed.

”Mia, dear, the men have returned I see. Did you have a nice time trying to escape helping out a poor lady in need?” she sounded amused, but I could see that her face turned into a slight frown as she spoke. ”You should have been born a couple of decades ago when the escaping act was popular. You could've beat Houdini at his game!” she scoffed.

”Cienna,” I warned. She had been the one who had asked me to bring them, and now she was scorning them for giving her s.p.a.ce. ”Get down to business. We've been waiting long enough for this.” I tried to keep my tone light, but the adamant curiosity reared its ugly head.

”Curiosity killed the cat, kitten,” she snickered, self-satisfied with using the much-hated nickname as ammunition to fire back at me.