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JARIS
I sighed as I looked at her. “Your hair. It needs washing.”
She furrowed her brows. It was hard to do with all the swell on her face. “I–I don’t think I can wash it myself.”
“I know.”
I continued walking in with her, and this time, she let me.
I dropped her there and told her to wait for me while I went to get a chair from the room.
“Do you want to wash me yourself?” She asked with disbelief when I returned with the chair.
“Yes. Sit.” I pulled her to the chair which was in front of the sink. She hissed from the pain that shot through her body. I’d almost forgotten she was bruised in places I couldn’t see.
I helped her to lay backward, so her hair was in the sink. Then, I brought a towel and put it around her shoulder.
She didn’t say anything else as I turned on the sink tap and began soaking the hair. I was lathering shampoo into it when she finally spoke.
“Does this help you relax?”
Her question made my fingers pause for a second before they continued moving.
“When I was younger, I used to do it with Maddy’s hair. It was a method that helped control my sick urges.” I looked into her face where her eyes were closed.
I hated the bruises I saw on it. It made me wash the hair harder.
“You and Maddy used to be that close.”
I didn’t reply. But she knew what the answer was already. Maddy and I were best friends, as well as Caden. But everything fell apart.
If someone had told me some hours ago that I’d actually be washing Lyric’s hair, I wouldn’t have believed it. A few minutes into it and my anger was completely gone.
I realized I was more than enjoying this. Right now, it was beyond wanting to calm myself.
When I finished, I used a towel to dry the hair and took her back to the room. I sat her in front of the mirror, took a brush and started brushing.
She was trying so hard to lower her face, to keep it hidden.
“Lyric, you weren’t born this way. I really don’t understand why you keep putting your face away.” My voice was a bit scolding.
She stared at me through the mirror. “I–I just…” Her eyes dropped again. “I’m just ugly.”
Her words stunned me. She said them like she was someone who was used to hearing those kind of words from people. What was wrong with her?
“You’re ugly because you have bruises all over your face? You think I’ve forgotten the beautiful lady beneath all of these?”
She met my gaze again. What gave her the impression that she needed to hide her face from me or something?
Yes, I was angry seeing the bruises, but it had nothing to do with being repulsive of her.
“Don’t look away again. I mean it.” I let her get the warning in my tone.
Fortunately, she didn’t try to hide her face until I was done with her hair.
I loved the way she smelt now. Like vanilla and aged bourbon, which was the fragrance of my shampoo.
Hm. It was the first time someone was ever sharing my shampoo with me, and I think I liked it.
“Thank you,” she muttered as I took her back to bed. “D–Do you really want me to stay here?”
“I need to keep an eye on you.” That sounded stupid. She’d still be safe in her room. But the thought of being away from her right now just seemed unbearable.
She nodded, and it didn’t take long before the maids brought her meal.
***********
LYRIC
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After such a traumatizing day, it looked like I got a reward.
Waking up in Jaris‘ room was a shock to me. Having him wash my hair and take care of it was a wonder and I couldn’t understand it.
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He even let me sleep in his bed!
I didn’t understand why he became so caring; showing me a side of him I hadn’t seen. Maybe it had to do with the fact that his brother hurt me. But I didn’t want it to stop.
When I woke up in the morning, the comfort from last night was gone, replaced by the load of problems I had to deal with.
I still had the Executioner problem. Her people might come for her, and what if her death was somehow linked to me?
Not to mention that someone had seen us in the restroom. But why hadn’t they said anything? Or tried to confront me at
least?
The best option was to go as far away from here as possible, but how would I do that after the call I got from Penelope?
She said my kids were alive. It sounded like a joke. If they were alive, where had they been all these years? Why did she keep them from me? Why was I told that they were dead?
But on the other hand, could it be the reason I didn’t seg Penelope after I put to bed? Could it be the reason I didn’t even get to see where they were buried and Penelope wouldn’t even take me there?
A lot of things didn’t make sense. Penelope might be lying, but I needed to know. And for that, I couldn’t leave just yet.
Jaris was not in the room when I woke up. But there was already a steaming tray of breakfast on the table for me.
I managed to freshen up in the bathroom. It was difficult as I felt pains all over my body. I hated seeing myself in the mirror, but Jaris‘ words from last night had a way of calming me down.
I was beautiful.
I was just about to start eating when the door opened with Maddy running in the twins.
I gasped and quickly looked away, wanting to hide my face from them. Why would Maddy bring them here?
“Aunty Lyric! We heard what happened!”
“Are you alright?!” They ran to me anyway, tugging my arm until I was forced to look at them.
“You’re hurt!” Xyla screamed. “Aunty Maddy told us you were in an accident!”
“Are you feeling… better?” Xylon asked, picking his words.
I felt relieved they didn’t seem repulsive at how ugly I looked. It was hard to get used to these reactions when people always bullied me for how I looked when I was young.
“I’m–I’m fine,” I managed to say.
“What’re you doing here?” Maddy stomped her foot on the floor. “Don’t you know you won’t get better? If you don’t want to stay in your room, you can come stay in mine, Lyric.”
I tried to laugh and only ended up grunting from pain. My cheeks hurt.
“Oh, gods. I’m so sorry,” Maddy quickly held my shoulders. “Does it hurt?” She turned to the kids. “We should stop being funny so Aunty Lyric can get better.”
They nodded eagerly. I had to bite down on my lip to stop the smile that was forming.
They spent some time with me, watching me eat. The kids went on to talk about their party and how much fun they had. From the look of things, they didn’t know someone died. They just thought the party had to come to an end due to some
unknown reasons.
Guilt tugged at my heart, knowing I was the reason the party ended sooner than it should have.
I was bad news and should be away from them, but the thought of finding my kids, getting to love them just like I do Xyla and Xylon, it was more powerful than any threat my life was currently under. I didn’t mind dying to find my kids and having them see me as their mother, even if it was just for a day.
That was, if everything Penelope said was true.
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