Chapter Ninety-One: Changed
After explaining my well thought out plan to the guys in the office for some time, I needed some fresh air and time alone. Walking through the halls of the palace, I couldn’t help but allow my mind to begin to wonder, the thoughts I had forced to remain at the back of my mind for the entire day now had time to fill my thoughts.
As I reach the back doors of the palace, the glass doors allowed the afternoon sky to fully shine through the dark halls. Today had been a lot for me to deal with, yes, I had done so much and was finally, able to put away some bad people who deserved it. But now it was all said and done, I couldn’t feel the happiness or be pleased with myself as that niggling feeling at the back of my head wouldn’t budge.
I soon take both doors by the handles and throw them both open, the blast of cold air causes goose bumps to litter my skin and my dark brown hair to dance in the wind. Taking my first step out, I couldn’t help the smile which graced my lips, no matter what I’m feeling in any moment, if I’m able to step outside and take in some fresh air, I can’t help but feel so much better.
In the mist of me enjoying my peaceful moment of silence, I feel a presence beside me where I turn and see Griffin stood there, looking over at me with a smile but deep in his eyes, I knew he knew.
“Is it safe for you to be out here, what if you’re seen?” I ask a little worried looking around the area just in case someone runs up and begins to cry wolf, hang on, they’re all wolves!
“I’ve been locked in that bedroom of mine for what feels close to a lifetime, I need some fresh air or I’m going to lose my mind! And I trust you and Macaulay were able to deal with my mothers' assholes here. The ones who may be here hiding away obviously, are not important and don’t scare me.” He says with a smile looking out into the sky, a smile also on his lips as we watched the sun slowly begin to go down.
“Because you’re not scared of anyone?” I ask with a raised eyebrow and a smile, I knew how Griffin was, so his comment hadn’t surprised me.
“What’s the point in being scared, if you show people your weaknesses, people will just play off that! If you show them, you’re as hard as nails and refuse to go down without a fight, no one will touch you!” He tells me in his toughest voice where I couldn’t help but laugh with a shake of my head.
I just smile before my eyes go down to look at the ground, the thought at the back of my mind subsiding for a moment but now, is taking control once again. Silence begins to fill the space between us, I think both of us knew but didn’t want to be the first to speak up.
“Do you know what today is?” I ask in a low sad tone, breaking the silence, Griffin turning to look at me with a little nod of his head and a look of sadness on his face.
“I’ve been worried about you all day, which is why I used the tunnels and went to Max’s office today to see how you were but then I saw Paul. So, how you holding up?” He asks where I couldn’t help but sigh taking a look down at the ground, in this moment, I didn’t know.
“I’m okay, I think. I want to say with every year it’s get better, but I can’t because it hasn’t, it’s just this year so much has changed.” I explain looking down at the flowers in front of us with a distant look, but when a hand is placed to rest on my cheek, I look over at him with little tears in my eyes.
But before he could open his mouth to say a single word, I feel as though someone else had entered our little bubble, the atmosphere shifting in such a dramatic way that I couldn’t help but feel very uncomfortable. When the sounds of rustling in the trees around us appear, I knew my suspicions were not just in my head and someone or something was looking at us in this moment.
Within a matter of seconds, four men in masks jump out from the bushes and run straight for us. I’m ripped away from Griffin who was taken down by the three men whilst one man, who’s eyes I had seen somewhere before drags me off to the side of the palace. His arms wrapped around my body keeping me in place no matter how hard I would fight against him.
“Max! I need hel-“I begin to try and mind-link for help but when a cloth was placed over my nose and mouth, the most awful smell takes over my senses as I attempt to rip the man’s hand away from me, but my strength was no match for his!
The world around me begins to move in such peculiar ways I began to feel sick, it was as though I had been sat on a roundabout for an hour and the sudden dizziness had taken over my senses. A mouth looming right by my ear was all I could feel as the world gets even more blurry.
“Just take a deep breath in, no use in fighting. I’ll look after you.” A deep males voice soon whispers in my ear before my eyes begin to get so heavy, it was hard to even attempt to keep them open and before I knew it, my body goes limp in the man’s arms, and I pass out.