Stolen Voices ✓

June 24th

*mentions of drug use towards the end (it's not bad, don't worry)

drapetomania - an overwhelming urge to run away

June 24th:

Elias is blinded by the sunlight as the urgent ringtone wakes him up quite early in the morning. Tiredly blinking his eyes open, he groans at his headache, rolling over to grab his phone. It isn't his phone ringing, though, it is Mara's. The name reads Genevieve, frustrated, Elias picks it up.

"Hello?" He croaks, squinting his eyes. He glances over to Mara, who is peacefully sleeping. Her limbs are entertained in the navy blue blanket, her hair sprawled around her head and tossed over her shoulders. The golden ray of light shines on her frame as her chest rises and falls at a steady pace, her breathing even. She's dressed in one of his jerseys.

"Who is this? Where is my daughter?" A desperate voice hurts his ears. She is talking loud and fast, Elias has to hold the phone away from his ear. His hair is distressed as he runs his hands through it, messing it up more.

Elias looks back over at Mara's peaceful sleep, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He quietly walks into the en-suite bathroom, closing the door partially behind him. He doesn't want to wake her, knowing she needs the rest.

"What now?" Elias speaks up, his voice still gravely. He glances at his reflection in the mirror, wincing at the bags forming beneath his eyes. He and Mara had stayed up late last night, talking about nonsense. Avoiding the bigger questions that filled the tension.

"I'm looking for my daughter, Emanuella. This is her phone number," this voice is desperate, pristine. Elias blinks slowly in the mirror, his mind drunk on tiredness.

"Who?" He sighs, rubbing his forehead. Emanuella-

"Mara, I'm looking for my daughter, Mara Gray," the woman cries. Elias nods, looking through the crack in the door. Mara's back is to him, her shoulders moving with her leveled breathing. He smiles, looking back into the mirror.

"Yeah, she's here. She's asleep, though, so you'll have to wait-" Elias sighs, rolling his eyes.

"So she's there?" Genevieve sounds wild, her words morphing together. Her voice is thick like she's been crying all night, wobbly around the edges. Elias is slightly wary, he's never actually met Mara's mother before. Of course she was at the wedding, but Mara had made it a mission that they avoid her for the most part of the night.

All he knows is what Mara tells him, and she's never painted a gorgeous picture. In fact, from what Mara has told Elias, her mother is the devil even hell can't handle.

"Yeah..." he drawls out, furrowing his eyebrows. He and Mara never talked about why she showed up drenched on his doorstep last night. He could just tell she didn't want to talk about it, but now he wishes they had.

"Can I talk to her? I need to apologize to her," she exerts powerfully.

"I just said she was asleep," Elias puffs. Rubbing his eyes he finds himself openly annoyed with the women for waking him up this early. Yawning, he scratches the stubble peppering his chin, working his tense jaw.

"Well wake her up," she yells. Elias shakes his head in slight amusement. It is obvious where Mara gets her stubbornness from. They are a lot more alike than Mara will ever admit.

"Okay," Elias sighs, pushing the bathroom door open with his foot. He's stopped by an empty bed and no Mara in sight. The blankets are strewn across the floor, her backpack, which had been thrown by his dresser, is gone.