ADELINE'S POV
Today is one of those days when the girls and I are free. We sit in our rooms all day in solitude and try as much as we can to not get bored to death. The guards watch us from time to time to make sure we aren't doing anything crazy.
There are guards watching us through cameras in security rooms and the guards in front of the girls' doors have special plugs in their ears so they might be informed if anything suspicious is going on in our rooms. It's like the worst kind of prison and we have no way out. Colton is outside my room right now and all I can think about is Naomi.
I need to know where Veronica is keeping her and Colton has refused to talk to me. I need to know what he said to Dante and I need to know if he has tried to contact him again recently. Feeling frustrated, I leave my bed and walk towards my door and start banging on it. I know Colton is out there and ignoring me so I keep banging on the door as hard as I can until he finally caves in and opens it.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He barges into the room with an angry look on his face. I step backwards rapidly, monetarily in fear from the look in his eyes. I push myself backwards until I am hidden in the bathroom. Only then do I say anything.
"I should be asking you that question!" I say angrily. "We had a deal and you haven't said a word to me all this time? What, do you want me to die from curiosity?? When ae you going to contact Dante again?" I ask him.
"You think it's that easy to just pull out his number and talk to him. We're in fucking prison where any and everything is controlled including our phone calls. You want me to talk to Dante again, you'll have to be patient." He says to me baring his teeth in anger.
"What did she do to you this time?" My voice softens when I see the look his eyes. "Veronica did something didn't she? Did she threaten you or hurt you? What? Remember Colton, you can't let her get to you. We still have a plan to carry out."
"I'm fine. The plan is still on so you don't have to worry." He tells me but I can see it in his eyes. He's scared about something.
"Then what is it?" My voice softens as I look at him.
"She's threatening to increase the amount of time I'll have to serve her. I'll pay off almost all of my debt soon but…I should have known she would never let me go so easily. I just want to get my sister safe and I can only do that if I get rid of Veronica. I'm tired of this."
He says honestly. He has a hard and expressionless look on his face but I can read his eyes. I can basically see and feel his pain. I walk closer towards him and grab hold his hand. He flinches, taken aback by the sudden contact.
"We'll get out." I tell him. "Me you, Naomi and your sister. We'll escape Veronica's grasp. I know it." He doesn't move or say anything. He doesn't even blink. He gazes intensely into my eyes and then his gaze averts towards my lips. He licks his lips softly and then slightly grazes my arm with his fingers.
I stand in front of him in shock because I know that look in his eyes. I know that look because I've been looked at this exact way before whenever a man wanted me. I find it surprising that I do not feel disgusted by Colton touching me. I don't feel anything pleasant either. All I feel are his hands on mine and the feeling that he's desperate for any sort of comfort he can find.
I break the eye contact he's making with me and pull my hands gently and softly away from him. We haven't said a word but my actions now just tell him that whatever it is he was thinking would happen between us can never happen.
"You need to help me see Naomi." I whisper. My words bring him back to his senses and he widens his eyes at me, as if I just said something so crazy. Something so delusional. He takes a step back and runs his hands down his face.
"Do you at least know where she's keeping her. I just want to make sure she's safe Colton, please. I want to let her know she's not alone in here. Where is she?" I ask him eagerly, hoping that he can see the pleading look in my eyes and help me out.
"She's locked up in a cell on the second floor. She's guarded Adeline. I can't bring you to her but, maybe I can send you a message." He tells me. I look to him gratefully and he smiles.
"Just tell me what you want me to tell her and I'll get the message to her." He says.
"That'll be risky, won't it?" I ask him and he silently nods his head.
"I'll come up with an excuse or something." He says.
"Okay. Okay." I start rubbing my hands together as nervousness takes over me.
"Tell her not to panic. Tell her to do as Veronica says. Tell her than I'm here and that she's not alone. Tell her that Dante and Liam are coming to save us soon and tell her that no matter what, she must not lose hope. Tell her to hang on for as long as she can and that we'll both be out of here soon. I know you wont have much time with her but please, if you can, just tell her this for me okay?" I grab Colton's hands and hold them pleadingly.
He tenses again and looks down at me with that same look in his eyes, as if he were contemplating the right thing to say.
"I will." He states simply and then takes a step back. "I have to go now. If I stay in here for too long, they'll start suspecting something." He says and backs away towards the door. I watch him leave. I watch him walk out of my door and immediately, the solitude is back.
I stare at the four walls in the room I'm in and my body shivers with a shudder. So help me God, give me the strength to not go crazy in this place. Give me the strength to keep my mind, heart and body strong. Give me the strength to do what I'll have to do when the times comes to get out of here.
Give me the strength to not lose myself to the darkness of my experience once I'm finally out of this place. I know I'm a therapist but after all that I have witnessed here, I will need a therapist myself to pull myself away from the edge. I can't jump. I can't lose myself. I must fight and I must keep fighting no matter how hard it might seem and I must not stop for anyone or anything. I know that one the day I leave, I won't be able to get everyone out but I have to do everything in my power to save Della, Silver and Naomi. I have to.
I stay up in my room for a few more hours. Tossing and turning in bed as I drown myself in boredom, then in the evening, when Colton comes in with my food on a tray. The food that contains drugs but of course, I have no choice but to eat it or I'll starve to death here. On the long run, I don't know how negatively my body will react to whatever Veronica is making us ingest every day, but for now, I'll have to make do with what I have.
"I talked to her." Colton says. "I convinced one of the guards to take a break while I brought here food to her. She was scared and given then fact that I was the one who kidnapped her, well I'd say she wasn't too happy to see me. But I gave her the message. She didn't say anything to me while I was talking, probably in shock or something but I saw it in her eyes that she believed me." Colton whispers as he places the food he brought for me on my bedside table. I stay in place and listen to him and I do not dare make eye contact.
There are cameras watching us constantly.
"What does she look like? Is she hurt? Does she have any wounds on her?" I ask eagerly, whispering as I grab the food from beside me.
"I'd rather you don't know the answer to that question." he says, turning his back to me.
"Wait." I whisper and he bends down on one knee, pretending to tie his shoe laces.
"The next time you talk to Dante, tell Dante where your sister is." I blurt out. "I know you don't trust her with anyone but the only way you and I get out of here without your sister getting hurt is if Dante gets to her first. We should set a date when we get out of here and I have the perfect date in mind."
I wait for his response but he stays silent, his back to me as he walks out.
"Let's talk about this some other time. I have to go now." He says and dismisses himself. He cares about his sister so much and I get it. I get it more than he could ever imagine but this is the only way I can think of for us both to get what we want. I don't want to think about Dante's deception right now but if he's this amazing assassin that Veronica has been searching for years for, then I have no doubt he is the best person to trust with Colton's sister.
Colton will give Dante the location of this place and once Dante gets his sister, he can come here and get me. But all of this has to happen on the day of the auctioning. On the day everyone will be distracted. That seems to me like the best time to leave this place and maybe, just maybe, we won't get caught and die.