She would persevere

Chapter 21

Comme paralysée je ne ressens plus
Si fatiguée mais loin d'être perdue
Je suis comme je suis et je ferai tout
Pour être plus comme moi
Un peu moins comme vous

Coming back home, Ezekiel carried Adelaide out of the car and into the house.
James was in the living room with Genevieve and Lemuel when he saw them come in. Lemuel had forgotten something and was back for it. James immediately stood up.
"Is she alright?" He whispered seeing Adelaide being asleep.
Ezekiel merely shook his head and started to walk up the stairs towards his bedroom. He laid her down on his bed, took off her jacket and shoes, and dragged the comforter over her. After kissing her temple he softly walked out of the room and headed upstairs to Noah's office.

He heard his father and him talking about the mafia with the door open. He thought of knocking, but thought better. He simply stormed in.
He stood in front of Noah, his twin, with an accusing glare.
"What the hell did you tell that girl?!" He roared out.
"Hello to you too, Zeke." Noah chuckled.
"What's going on?" Ricardo asked.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Ezekiel asked Noah in a softer voice.
"Oh god, let me guess. She went to you teary eyed and all, talking about how mean I was, right?"
Noah thought he knew everything. He wouldn't fall into her trap again. Not even when she had manipulated his brother against him.

"I'm giving you one chance to tell me your side of the story, Noah."
"Simple. I don't want to see her face. I don't want to hear her voice again. Very simple."

Ezekiel was raging. His hands were itching to punch that smug look of his face.
"I'm going to ask you once. Did you use the words, mistake, trash, monster, disappointment?"
Noah simply shrugged. "Yes. Why?"
That did it. Ezekiel walked up to Noah, grabbed him by the collar and slammed his fist into his face. Noah did not expect that to happen and was taken aback.
"What did you do that for?" Both Noah and his father yelled at the same time.
"How could you? You were the one person she loved most and you completely broke her heart. Are you happy now? Is this what you wanted? Lainy completely broken down and detached from the world? Because that is what you did."
Noah was still. No one had called him out on his shit like that.
"Zeke, this is all just a charade. None of this is real for her. The person you care about doesn't exist. She is using the tears and the acting to let you think she is sad. It's not real."
"Noah, are you blind or just plain stupid?!" Ezekiel yelled out.
With the open door everyone that was close by could hear them scream. It was Lemuel that heard them arguing from the beginning. His other brothers quickly came as well.
"Noah, with what you're doing, you're killing her from the inside out." Ezekiel sighed, why was his brother so thick headed?
Noah laughed. "What are you talking about? Give it a few days and she'll be back to her original schemes"
Ezekiel nodded. He looked at Noah and his father and nodded.
"If that's the way you want to be, fine. Lainy is finishing this school year here, but during the summer vacation I'm moving her back to Miami. You can say goodbye to Adelaide, dad. And you Noah... well you can't really say goodbye to Rora, cause you just killed her."
"You're not taking my daughter!" Ricardo butted in
"Is she though? Is she your daughter when her name is not Adaline? Is she actually your daughter, when Noah was the one who practically raised her? Is she your daughter, when she goes to me, or Kyle for any type of advice? Is she actually your daughter, when she no longer views you as a dad?" Ezekiel sighed.
"I am going to make arrangements for her to move back to Miami. This house with all of you in it, is way too toxic for her."
Ezekiel wanted to walk out of the room, but looked back at Noah one more time.
"You are going to regret this."

Ezekiel went downstairs, got himself a drink and sat down on one of the lounge chairs. Lemuel and James quickly joined him.
James couldn't keep it to himself. "Why are you taking her away from us, Zeke?"
Ezekiel sighed. "This house has become toxic to her. The memories, the people here, everything weighs on her. In the time she has been in this house, I no longer see the amazing woman I met in Miami. I no longer see the genuine smile that is on her face 24/7. I no longer hear the Sassy sarcastic comments she would normally make. You may not see it, James, but I do. I have seen both sides of her. And this place is drowning her. If I don't take her out of here, she will become a complete shell of herself." Ezekiel couldn't look at anyone. So he made sure his gaze remained on his glass.

"She can meet him." Lemuel spoke up. Ezekiel looked at him with raised brows. He was willing to let his boyfriend meet the other sister.
"I told Nick about her and the fact that you want to introduce Em to her. He said that if you trust her with Em, then he wouldn't mind." He smiled.
Ezekiel smiled back. "Maybe we could take her to the fair at the pier. She would love that."
"Oh, can we come?" James asked. "I would love to see Nick and Em again."
"Let's make it a family day, but without Adaline." Lemuel replied to James.
"And without Noah." Ezekiel snorted. The other two nodded.
"I'll talk to Lainy about it, maybe Wednesday?" Ezekiel asked.
Lemuel was instantly texting his boyfriend. "Wednesday is fine." "Good. Sorted."

They proceeded to drink a few more drinks together for a while. Hours later, Lemuel was about to leave again. "I'll see you guys Wednesday?" The other two nodded. Lemuel walked out of the living room and proceeded to put on his jacket before leaving. He heard it. The whole household heard it.
A scream.
A terrifying scream.
A shattering scream.

Everyone instantly grabbed their guns and ran up the stairs. Lemuel had both James and Ezekiel on his back as they came close to the screaming. It didn't stop. It continued to get louder, schrilling.
A horrifying scream that made their blood run cold.
Ezekiel's door was wide open. Noah and their father were inside already. They stood petrified. Not knowing what to do.
Adelaide was screaming. It was the type of sounds that would haunt Ezekiel for the time to come.
He ran to her. He tried to hold her, but her hands and arms were trying to get to her back. As if the pain originated from there.
Ezekiel forcefully held her hands in front of her, while patting down her back and trying to soothe her with words.
"Lem! Get me a cold towel!" He yelled out. The other did as requested immediately. Adelaide did not stop screaming. If anything the screaming intensified. She wasn't waking up, she was falling deeper and deeper into the pit of memories as they flashed before her over and over again. They were on a continuous loop. Her episodes were happening while she slept and she couldn't pull herself out of it. She couldn't wake herself up as she normally would.
She felt it all.
Word by word.
Letter by letter.

She could vividly smell the burning. She could hear her mothers laugh and cackles.
Was she actually asleep?
This was real, this was happening. She was awake.
The pain she could no longer hold back. Tears leaked down her face.
She could no longer stop it. She screamed it out from the top of her lungs.
She couldn't breathe as her body was jerking and twitching in pain. The chains on her hands grew tighter and tighter. The pain was never ending.
There was no one that would hear her screams. There was no one to hear her pleas.

Lemuel quickly came back with the cold wet towel. Ezekiel immediately proceeded to place it over her clothes onto her back.
"Lem! Press it down on her back in different areas!" He ordered out.

"Lainy do you hear me? Wake up, it's not real!" He yelled to her, but no matter what, the screaming didn't stop. It didn't get softer. It went on and on and on.
Ezekiel got an idea he didn't think would work.

Ezekiel got right into her face. "Tu es libre. Tu es aimé."
He repeated the sentence over and over. The same words Rebecca would often say to her.
The screaming got softer and eventually stopped. Adelaide did not stop sweating and twitching.
Adelaide's hand gripped parts of his shirt in an unrelenting grip. She was still asleep but unconsciously needed the grip on her lifeline
He got James to grab another set of underwear and pants for her. She would simply sleep in his shirts.

Ezekiel looked at Noah, who still stood frozen, petrified. "Are you happy now?" Ezekiel said softly.
Noah looked up at Ezekiel, still with a petrified expression. "You caused this. You caused this to happen. I hope you're happy. Now get the hell out of my room!"
Ezekiel would continue to hold Adelaide for the rest of the night.

Lemuel helped Ezekiel undress Adelaide from her sweat drenched clothes. Multiple cold wet towels were softly going over her skin to remove the excess sweat before they could redress her. Lemuel's eyes stared at the scars that littered mostly her arms and the sides of her stomach. The giant tattoo she had on her back was meticulously made. But closing in, Lemuel could see the harsh life under it. The life Adelaide tried to cover up. The life she so desperately tried to forget.
"What is she hiding under her tattoo?" Lemuel asked Ezekiel.
"The same things Noah spewed out at her." Ezekiel replied whilst he continued to dress Adelaide.
Lemuel had heard the words and looked at Ezekiel with burning eyes, the question lingering in them.
Ezekiel merely nodded.

Omg, the one of the hardest chapter to write so far, but I was so inspired.
How did you guys think Ezekiel handled this?
What about Lemuel's involvement?
Let me hear those thoughts of yours!

Love, Sarah