Chapter Fifteen
766 Words
Alison sat at the dining table, slowly eating the food Nicholas made. The silence between her and Nicholas was getting more suffocating as time passed by. She could feel his presence in the room even though he hadn't said anything.
He stood by the window, his back facing her, staring out at the surroundings. She could tell his body was tense. He seemed to be thinking.
“Do you ever talk?” Alison asked, finally breaking the silence between them.
Nicholas turned slightly, his gray eyes narrowing. "Do you ever stop asking questions?"
She bit her lip, holding back a reply. His dismissive attitude hurt her, but she reminded herself not to push him.
"I'm just trying to figure out what's going on," she said this time in a calmer tone.
“I don't need you to understand, I just need you to be alive,” he said sharply.
“How am I supposed to do anything when you barely say a word? How do you expect me to know what's going on?” she could feel herself getting frustrated again.
Nicolas turned around completely, his expression dark. “Do I owe you an explanation, Alison, or are you still a little child that you don't know what's going on?” She flinched at the harshness of his tone but refused to back down. "No, but I suppose you can at least treat me like a person”
He approached her, his presence looming as he stood over her. “ You’re more useful this way." Don't mistake it for kindness.” His voice grew lower, colder by the second.
Alison stared at him, her heart pounding in her chest. His words hurt, but they also touched something inside her: anger, defiance, and something she didn't want to mention.
"Then tell me what I'm useful for, then I would be out of your way then" she replied, her voice shaking a little.
Nicholas’s jaws clenched, and his eyes narrowed even more. For a moment, she thought he was going to lash out again, but instead, he pulled away, breaking the tension.
"You won't understand," he muttered, pulling away from her.
"Try me," she whispered.
“ Get used to this,” he said before leaving her in the room once again.
He paused, reaching for the back of the chair in front of him. For a split second, she thought he would say something, but he stood up and shook his head.
"Get dressed, Alison. This won't get any better."
With that, he left the room, leaving her alone once more.
Hours passed and Alison found herself wandering around the house. She tried to read the dusty books she had found on one of the shelves, but her mind kept drifting back to Nikola. His coldness. His anger. Everything she had experienced so far.
What happened to him?
Her curiosity only increased and she found herself standing in front of the very room she yelled at. The door was closed properly this time. She wondered what he was doing.
She could hear some muffled noises from inside the room. She didn't intend to eavesdrop but she was so curious what could be going through Nicholas’s mind.
She pressed her ear against the door.
She heard a male voice, one that wasn't Nicholas asked “ What about the girl”.
“ Everything is going to be sorted out soon,” she heard him say, and her heart skipped a bit for a moment.
What was Nicholas trying to do? What was he trying to let go of? There's no way that's possible after their long journey together. “He could decide it was the best. After all, she seemed to be pissing him off since they arrived,” a voice said to her.
She couldn't hear anything else so she removed her ears. Nicholas opened the door at that moment and shot her questioning look when he saw her at the door. What was she doing here
“ I was just about to knock, I came to bid you goodnight,” she said nervously.
“It's afternoon” He deadpan
He was seeing through her lie and she knew it. “What kind of Stupid lie was that Alison” she was inwardly scolding herself.
“ I just wanted to apologize earlier,” she lied. “ I don't need your apology,” he said before walking off.
“I need to talk to you in the living room now” She heard him say. Her heartbeat quickened a bit. Whatever was coming she doubted it was anything good.
- Writer
