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Fifth

"He went out the window." I could hear someone shouting down the hall. I turned to see who was standing in the doorway. It was Vox. He rushed over to the side of my bed, “Emmary, are you okay?”

I nodded, “Yeah.”

He walked over and closed the window with one touch. How in the hell did he do that when I struggled to close the damn thing? “I called security, so they should be tracking him down.”

I don’t know why, but I kept my mouth shut. I should have told him that it was Captain Pike, but I didn’t. And I had no idea why. I just sat there in bed with the covers strewn all over the bed and my legs tangled in them.

“Did you open this window?”

I shook my head, “Your brother did.”

Vox frowned. “What were you even doing in here?”

“Hal insisted that we traded.”

The events replayed in my head. How I struggled and screamed. The blinding light. Captain Pike’s face as he jumped out the window. I wondered how he had run away after jumping out the window. Or how he had gotten up here in the first place. “Emmary?”

I looked up at him, I hadn’t noticed he was still talking. “Yes?”

A small smile played on his lips. Like he was amused for some reason. “I asked if you wanted to be alone.”

I swallowed. I certainly didn’t want to be alone. But I didn’t want to be alone with him. I knew I couldn’t sleep now. Not after that. I knew that if I was by myself, I wouldn’t be truly alone. I would have the company of the events that had just occurred. And I definitely didn’t want that. I kept my eyes on the ground as I shook my head.

He ran his fingers through his hair. “Would you rather stay in here, or go to my room?”

A pit in my stomach formed. Did he just invite me back to his room? I had never been asked that, well besides by Koontz. Koontz was the last person I wanted to be thinking about right now. I didn’t look up as I responded, “I don’t care.”

He walked over and took my hand, “Come on. Let’s get you out of this room.”

I stood up and followed his lead out of the room. He walked down the hall and opened a door. The room we entered was dark, and Vox didn’t bother turning on the lights. I could make out the bed as he walked over and grabbed some pillows off of it and placed them on the floor. “You can take the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

I didn’t say anything as he grabbed a blanket off the bed and placed it on the ground. “Are you sure you’re okay, Emmary?”

“Yes.”

He walked closer to me, “He didn’t touch you, right?”

I shook my head and whispered, “No.”

“Come here.” He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a hug. It was comforting. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged back. This is what I needed, actual contact with someone. Of course it wasn’t the person I wanted. I stood there, pretending that I was hugging Koontz. Pretending that he was the one comforting me, not Vox. I could feel tears starting to stream down my face. I wasn’t crying about being attacked. I was crying because I knew that only pretending to hug Koontz was the closest that I would ever get to the real thing. I buried my face into his chest. His skin was warm. I jerked away at the realization that he wasn’t wearing a shirt.

I wiped my face, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

I nodded, “Yes.”

He looked at the clock behind him, “It’s late, you should try to go to sleep. I locked the windows and the door, so don't worry, you'll be safe. We will sort everything out in the morning.”

I sniffled and climbed into his bed. “Thank you, Vox.”

“You’re welcome, Emmary.” He laid down on the pallet he had made for himself.

I pulled the covers tight around me. Vox’s bed smelled like he did. A combination of mint and a clean linen smell, nothing like Koontz. I couldn’t help but compare everything about Vox to Koontz. I put my hands to my face and tried to block Koontz out of my head. I couldn’t think of him anymore. I couldn’t waste my life holding on to something that I would never have a chance in seeing again

“Hey, Emmary, are you still awake?”

I didn’t know if I wanted to answer or not. I didn’t really feel like talking to him. But at the same time I would have felt bad ignoring him after he was so nice to me. “Yes.” I managed to whisper, hoping he didn’t hear me.

“Can I ask you a question?”

I bit my lip, thinking it over. I was more curious about what question he would ask me than actually wanting to answer him. “Sure.”

I could hear him move around, was he nervous? “Well, I was just wondering if you thought that you could ever be happy here. I mean besides the whole guy attacking you, you had a nice time tonight, right?”

“I don’t know.” I said it before I could think about my answer. That’s when the honesty spilled out, “Maybe in time I could get used to this life. But I think I will always feel like I don’t belong.”

Silence hung in the air after I had finished speaking. I was hoping that he had fallen asleep, but then he spoke. “That’s a fair statement.”

“Did you expect me to say something else?”

“I guess I didn’t know what to expect you to say. I was just trying to think of what it would be like if I was in your shoes.”

I turned to lay on my side. “Trust me, you don’t want to be in my shoes.”

“I know. But I was hoping that there would be something I could do that would make you feel better.”

I let his comment sink in. He wanted to make me feel better. That was something Koontz would say. I cursed myself for thinking of him again. “There is one thing I want.”

“What is it?”

“I want my dress back from Mr. Janks.” I picked at my finger nails, waiting for him to respond.

“Did your mother make it?”

I swallowed. Teyland was the closest thing I had to a mother. Mine was so distant and couldn’t care less what I did. She had told Teyland once that she didn’t want to get attached because I would just be leaving her. Teyland had made me that dress, and all I wanted was something I could remember her by. “Yes.”

“We can get it tomorrow.”

A smile formed on my lips. “Thank you.”

“You are welcome. Now, we should get some sleep. Goodnight, Emmary.”

“Goodnight, Vox.”

I could hear his breathing getting deeper and deeper as he fell asleep. I envied him as he started to snore lightly. I wished I could have fallen asleep that easily, however I was plagued with the events replaying in my head. I felt safer in Vox’s bed with him so close by, but I was still worried that Captain Pike would be back. I watched the window, ready for it to open and a figure to come out of the darkness. But the only thing that I saw was the sun slowly rise.

An alarm started to buzz and I jumped out of bed. Vox reached up from the floor and turned the alarm off. He sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes.

He saw me standing beside him, “Good morning, Emmary.”

“Good morning, Vox.”

He removed the blankets and stood. “Did you sleep?” He gathered his blankets and made the bed.

I nodded my head. It was a lie, but it was better than him knowing I just laid in his bed, scared that I was going to get attacked again.

“Good. Do you want something to eat?” He fixed the last pillow.

I wasn’t hungry, but I nodded anyways.

Vox smiled, “I’ll get Hal and she can replace you something to change into.” He walked out the door and left me standing in his room alone.

Now that I could actually see everything in his room, I realized it wasn’t decorated fancy like Hal’s was. His dark stained furniture was still nicer than I could ever imagine seeing in person. His bedspread was a plain blue pattern and the walls were a neutral cream, much like the guest bedroom walls.

A few minutes later Hal entered the room with a shirtless Vox trailing behind her. She eyed me, then the bed, her brother, and then me again. “Come on, Emmary, I know the perfect outfit for you.”

After Hal had dressed me in a light yellow dress with flats and did my hair and make-up, we sat and had an elaborate breakfast. The table was filled with fruits and eggs and all kinds of juices. I mostly just moved the food around my plate, hoping it would look like I ate something. My stomach was in too many knots to actually hold any food. I sipped on some orange juice as the others ate.

“Paulson told me that they were still looking for the intruder.” Mrs. Bly calmly stated as she dug into her grapefruit. “I am so sorry that happened to you, Emmary. Don’t worry on it any more, Paulson, our head of security, he’s the best, really, he’s on the case. He’ll track down this mystery man. But, really, that sounds like an awful experience, and on your first night, too. How dreadful.”

I just politely smiled and continued to push the food around my plate.

Hal smirked, “I don’t know seemed like the night ended just fine.”

I looked up at Hal. Vox’s head snapped up and he scowled at his sister, but didn’t say anything in response.

Mrs. Bly ignored the comment, “So, what do you kids have planned for today?”

Hal smiled at her mother, “I told Emmary that we could go shopping today. She needs her own wardrobe and things to decorate her room with.”

“That sounds nice, what about you, Vox?”

“I didn’t really planned anything.”

Mrs. Bly took a sip of her juice, “Well, your father left for work early this morning, I haven’t seen your brother since yesterday afternoon, I hope he is still alive.”

I had assumed that the Bly patriarch was out of the picture. It was the first that anyone had mentioned of him. I instantly wondered where he was last night that he couldn't make it to the dinner party.

Vox set his coffee cup down. “That is the ever allusive Addeck for you.”

Mrs. Bly rolled her eyes before standing up. “I have some errands to run, so I will see you later, children.” She whirled out of the room, the clicks of her heels trailing behind her.

Hal turned to me, her brown eyes glimmering with excitement. “I am so excited to take you around the sector. It’s going to be so much fun! I love having a sister.”

I really wanted to correct her. I wasn’t her sister. I wasn’t even her sister-in-law. Instead I just smiled and nodded. I had been doing that a lot since I got here, just smiling and nodding. I had a feeling I should get used to it.

She clapped her hands together. “Why don’t we go freshen up a bit, and I’ll tell Watts to get the car ready.” Hal gracefully got up from her seat and rushed off toward another hallway.

I stood, “Okay.” I hesitated a moment, “Which way is my room, again?”

A smile played on Vox’s lips, “Up the stairs, left hallway, second door on your right.”

“Thanks.” I followed his instructions into my original bedroom. I opened one of the doors in the room and found the bathroom. I grabbed a new toothbrush from the drawer and brushed my teeth. It felt good to have a nice clean mouth after not brushing them last night.

I found my way back down the stairs to Hal waiting on me. “Ready?”

“Yeah, where are we going exactly?”

Hal shrugged, “Wherever you want. We can go clothes shopping or décor shopping, anything you want.”

What I wanted was to go home.