Chapter 63 – Refuge

Chapter 63 – Refuge
I didn't know how long I'd been walking.

Minutes.

Hours.

Days.

Maybe all of it at once.

After getting out of that place, my mind seemed unable to function properly.

My legs ached.

My whole body ached.

But nothing hurt more than my head.

Fercondiny.

Dom Aragão.

My mother.

Pietra.

Romeu.

Everything was jumbled together.

Everything.

I stopped on the sidewalk and put my hands on my knees.

I needed to breathe.

I needed to think.

I needed to figure out what to do.

For the first time since it all began, I was free.

And I had no idea where to go.

My hand went automatically into my pants pocket.

My phone.

It was still there.

Miraculously.

I almost cried with relief.

My hands shook so badly I had to try three times before I managed to unlock the screen.

There were dozens of missed calls.

Messages.

Notifications.

But my eyes stopped on just one name.

Betina.

Without a second thought, I hit the button.

She answered on the first ring.

"Mikaella?"

Her voice came out so loud I had to pull the phone away from my ear.

"Betina..."

Silence.

Two seconds of silence.

But it felt like an eternity.

"Oh my God. You're alive."

The tears started falling before I even realized it.

"I am."

"Where are you?"

"I..."

I looked around.

I didn't even really know.

"I don't know."

Betina cursed.

Then again.

And again.

"Stay where you are. Are you listening to me?"

"I am."

"Don't move.

I'm coming to get you."

"Betina..."

"No.

You are not hanging up.

You are not disappearing.

And I am coming to get you.

End of discussion."

Even in that awful moment, a smile crept onto my face.

Betina was still Betina.

Forty minutes later I was sitting in the passenger seat of her car.

Wrapped in a coat.

Holding a bottle of water.

And trying not to cry.

Again.

Betina drove like a maniac.

Which would normally have scared me.

But that day I was just grateful.

"Are you hurt?"

"A little."

"Did that psychopath touch you?"

"No."

She sighed.

Relieved.

"Good.

Because I still haven't decided whether I'm going to kill someone today."

"Betina..."

"I'm serious."

I smiled a second time.

And that alone was progress.

As soon as we got to the apartment, Betina practically shoved me inside.

"Shower."

"What?"

"You look like a character from a post-apocalyptic movie.

Go take a shower.

Now."

I didn't have the strength to argue.

I went into the bathroom.

Closed the door.

And turned on the shower.

When the hot water hit my skin...

I broke down.

Because for the first time since the kidnapping, I was safe.

Truly safe.

No one was watching me.

No one was threatening me.

No one was holding me captive.

And that was enough for every emotion to explode at once.

I cried.

I cried until I had no strength left.

Cried from fear.

From anger.

From relief.

From everything.

When I came out of the bathroom, wearing clothes borrowed from Betina, she was waiting in the kitchen.

With a mug of hot chocolate.

And a whole package of cookies.

"Emergency therapy," she announced.

"Does this work?"

"No.

But it tastes good."

I sat down.

Took the mug.

And for the first time in days, I felt almost human.

Almost.

"Want to talk?" she asked.

I stayed quiet.

For a few seconds.

"I found out horrible things."

Betina didn't interrupt.

"About my family.

About my father.

About my mother.

About people I didn't even know existed."

My voice broke.

"And I don't know what's true anymore."

Betina took my hand.

"Then don't try to figure it all out today."

I looked at her.

"No?"

"No.

Today you just need to survive.

Tomorrow we deal with the rest."

The tears came back.

But this time they didn't fall.

Because, for the first time in a long while...

I wasn't alone.

Later, while I rested on the couch, Betina picked up her phone.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Calling in reinforcements."

"Betina."

"Relax.

I'm not calling in the cavalry.

Just one person."

"Who?"

She smiled.

That suspicious smile.

Very suspicious.

"Leona."

I rolled my eyes.

Of course.

Had to be Leona.

Fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang.

Betina got up immediately.

"See?

Reinforcements."

"You're impossible."

"I know."

She walked over to the door.

But even before she opened it, something shifted in her expression.

My heart raced.

Because that look wasn't the look of someone seeing a friend.

It was the look of someone who had just seen a problem.

A very big problem.

"Betina?"

She didn't answer.

She just stared at whoever was on the other side of the door.

And went pale.