Devotion to Danger

A Bird in a Cage

{Viktor’s POV}

I finished calling in the takeout order and walked back into the kitchen seeing two empty glasses of wine, but Clara was nowhere to be found. Panic immediately set in as I ran through the house. “Clara? Clara? Where are you?” I shouted, making my way through the house.

Before long Adrien and Dimitri came out of Dimitri’s room and caught up to me. “What happened?” Dimitri asked.

“I went to order some takeout for all of us and came back, and Clara was gone!” I said, still looking around.

“Wait.. Clara’s gone? What do you mean gone?” Adrien asked, beginning to run through the house. “Clara!” He yelled.

We ran around, checking every room, every hall, even looking outside. Before we knew it 45 minutes had passed, and we had checked the whole house, with still no sign of her. Dimitri, Adrien, and I met back up in the upstairs hallway, all looking to each other.

“I don’t know where else she could be!” I said, looking around.

“She wouldn’t just leave!” Adrien shouted, pacing the floors.

“Hey, why are you guys yelling?” Clara’s soft voice came from the end of the hallway, I saw her and Daniella stepping out from our panic room.

“For fu*** sake Daniella, you should’ve told us you were with her, and taking her up there, we’ve been running around looking for her!” I scolded, walking to their side. Looking down at Clara, she was wrapped in a blanket, with it pulling the strap of her dress off her shoulder. Her face was red, and her eyes puffy, she wore this sweet, dopey grin on her face.

Clara was holding a half glass of wine, taking a sip. “Since when do you drink?” Adrien asked, causing everyone to look at her.

She giggled. “Since tonight..” the look on her face, it was adorable, she had this smile that made my chest feel like it was full of light that was trying to burst through. “I think I like wine..”

“This was her first time drinking?” Daniella asked, looking a bit worried.

“Yeah, why?” Adrien asked, walking to Clara’s side.

“That’s her fifth glass..” she squeaked, pointing to the glass that Clara was now finishing off.

“Okay Bean, that’s enough.” Adrien laughed, pulling the glass from her hand.

“Awe Ducky.. why are you taking my glass, are you worried about me?” She asked, giggling to herself. “I’m fine!” She giggled again. “I’m fine..” her voice came out a little more shaken this time, you could see her face fall, and her eyes begin to water. “I-I’m fine..” she whimpered, pulling the blanket tightly around her.

“Bean..” Adrien said, pulling her up into his arms and holding her close. “I’ve got you Bean, if you need to fall apart, then fall apart, I’m here to hold you together.”

Her body shook as she cried. “They.. they were going to..” she whimpered, stepping away from Adrien, and turning to run. She ran down the hallway, back down the stairs, and into the bathroom she got ready in earlier. We caught up to her as she slammed and locked the door, we could hear her throwing up, no doubt the alcohol and the stress of everything.

“Bean.. open the door..” Adrien said, his voice filled with worry.

She gagged on the other side before whimpering. “I’m fine Ducky.. just go away..”

“Bean, I..” he said.

What none of us expected was the shouting of Clara on the other side. “I said go away!” She yelled, I could hear her crying, this is exactly why I called my doctor to come look her over. My doctor, and my family’s therapist.

“Okay.. we’ll be in the living room if you need us..” he said, as he ushered us away. Once we were all in the living room he sat down on the couch, his face falling into his hands. “I can’t believe this.. I should’ve taken her home.. I shouldn’t have taken her with me..”

“It’s not your fault Ren..” Dimitri said, pulling Adrien over allowing Adrien’s head to fall on his shoulder.

“It is..” he whimpered. “My sister.. she’s had a really sheltered life.. my mother was controlling.. Clara was never allowed to drink, to have friends, to date..” he said, cuddling up to Dimitri.

“So that’s what she meant..” Daniella spoke softly.

“What?” I asked, looking over to her. “What are you talking about?”

“Earlier.. she said, ‘They almost took something from her, something she couldn’t get back..’” she sighed, looking over her shoulder towards the bathroom.

Adrien nodded. “Yeah.. never dating.. never even being alone with a guy, or even a girl until now.. she’s never had any normal experiences for her age.. the first experience she had that had anything to do with that.. was those guys, the ones that wanted to assault her..” he shook his head. “I shouldn’t have told her to come.. she should’ve stayed in England..”

“A bird in a cage..” her soft voice broke the tension, all of us turning towards her. Clara stood in the hallway behind us, the blanket now dragging the floor, the strap on one side, down on her arm instead of her shoulder. “That’s all I was.. pretty to look at.. but you couldn’t speak to it.. or touch it..” she cried. “Our mother is so controlling, she pulled me out of school because they kept putting me in group projects with people. She didn’t want me to have any contact with anyone besides her. When I got my job, she would randomly show up to make sure I wasn’t being too friendly with customers. Anytime she would catch someone looking at me, she would scream at them, and chase them away.. do you have any idea how lonely I was?” She whimpered.