Ch. 5 Naomi

I awake with a slight headache and sit up, looking around the room. I realize I am alone and stand carefully. I look around the room in search of the bathroom. I decided to try the black door by the balcony first, and internally dance it is. I turn the light on and look in the mirror. My hair is stuck to my face, and my eyes are puffy and red from crying. I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

"Maybe being here won't be a bad thing," I speak out loud and open my eyes. I had always found that speaking my thoughts out loud helped me work things out. "Maybe here I will fit in and actually feel wanted." When I walk out of the bathroom, there is a note on the bed.

Take all the time you need. There are clothes in the closet, the door directly in front of the bed. When you are ready, whether today or tomorrow, you can ask the guard outside your door to bring you to the garden. You are not a prisoner; he is there for your protection, so feel free to explore.

~Alex

I laughed a little while reading the letter because he probably knew I was going to start to think I was being held prisoner. I walk to the closet, not noticing the door before because of the beds' canopy curtains. It's filled with various dresses and casual clothing items. After showering, I settle for jeans, a t-shirt, and my high-top Converse I found on the shelf with shoes. I walk back into the bedroom and contemplate going down to the garden, but my growling stomach decides for me. I walk to the black double doors and open the right side, peeking out. Sure enough, a man was standing there off to the side. "Um, I think-" my voice cracks, and I blush in embarrassment. "I think I would like to join everyone down in the gardens." He nods his head and instructs me to follow him. I step out of the room and close the door.

As we walk down the corridor, I take in the intricate detail of the door frames and wall borders. Pictures hang on the walls of Alex, a woman, and a boy with golden eyes who looks like her. As the pictures continue, you can tell the boy is getting older, but one stands out to me the most. It's a woman lying in a bed, holding a baby, with the boy on top and Alex. "Is this Alex's family?" The guard nods. We walk into a dining hall, and there are clear double doors off to the side. He goes to the door, opens it, and bows. "Thank you."

When I walk through, Alex stands and greets me with a smile. "Glad you decided to join us." He guided me towards the table and pointed to the woman he had just been sitting next to. "This is Reina, my wife and your mother." She stands smiling and gives me a hug, which I return. I feel a little awkward at first, but then I realize it was because my adoptive mother never really hugged me, and neither did my father. Alex points to the boy sitting across from them, "This is AJ, your older brother." He stands and also hugs me, "If you would like, you can have a seat next to AJ." AJ guided me over to the seat next to him and pulled my chair out for me. "I hope you were able to get some rest." I nodded my head and thanked the person who set a plate with pancakes, fruit, and eggs in front of me. I start eating my food in silence; I finish only the pancakes and fruit. I push the eggs around on the plate. "Is something wrong?"

I look up, shake my head, and my cheeks start to turn red. I was always scolded for not finishing my food, even if I didn't like it. "I really don't like eggs." He waves someone over, and they take my plate. My curiosity gets the better of me, and I decide to ask about the baby in the picture. "If it's ok to ask, in the halls I saw the pictures of you guys, but there was one that stood out to me. Who's the baby in the picture I saw?" Reina seems to smile sadly before answering.

"That was you when you were born. It was the only picture we had had a chance to take before they took you." I let out a soft oh and an apology for asking, then sip on the juice that was sitting in front of me. "It's ok. I get why you would ask. Hopefully, in the near future, we can change that, so your only picture hangs. Since we are all done eating, why don't we go for a stroll through the garden?"

"I think that is a great idea, amica mea," Alex says as he stands. Reina and I both stand, while AJ, who is tapping away at his phone, remains seated. I was a little confused at first, since he said mine wouldn't work here, and I made a mental note to ask later. "AJ?" Alex raises his eyebrow to him.

"Oh. Sorry, I can't. I have to get to practice. If it's ok, Dad, and you want to, of course. Maybe I can show her around Daemonium after?" Alex nods and turns to me as AJ walks over and kisses Reina on the cheek. I nod my head and am taken aback when he hugs me. The amount of affection they show each other has me feeling out of place because it is not something I am used to.

We began to walk down a path of calla lilies. I noticed there were at least 8 different kinds planted near each other. I stop to take in the beauty of them all. "Do you like flowers?" I jump, startled a little when Reina walks up next to me.

"I do. Growing up, anytime we moved to a new place, I would make sure I knew where the nearest botanical garden was." Alex smiles and bends over to pluck one of the Night Life lilies and places it in my hair.

"I planted these Night Life lilies when I was pregnant with you. So it does not surprise me that you are drawn to the garden." I notice they have almost a similar tone of red to my hair. "I know it may be a little too soon to ask, but how are you doing with everything?" I look down a bit, "It's ok, if you are still upset."

I take comfort in her reassurance. "I'm ok, but I do feel a little homesick. It's not like when growing up, we would just pack up and leave, but I think I will adjust to it with time." She gives me a small hug, a tight squeeze, comforting me. I am thankful I didn't get too upset thinking about not returning home.

We continue down the path, then decide to take a break on a bench. They must have noticed me slowing down a bit. I start to feel a little winded and tired, but don't say anything. I look up at the orangish-purplish sky, with a reddish sun. "Does the sky always look this way? Like in a perpetual sunset?" Alex nods and looks up at the sky with me. "So how do you tell the difference between the time of day?"

They smile at me, and I blush a little at my juvenile question. "We didn't mean to embarrass you, but we are glad you are asking questions." Alex offers some reassurance before continuing. "Well, at night the sky is more of purplish bluish with a tinge of orange and can tend to be a bit colder no matter the season." I nod, showing I understand.

I continue staring up at the sky, but then the thought of my phone starts gnawing at the back of my head. "I know you said my phone would not work here, but I saw AJ with one and…." I trailed off, unsure whether to continue asking my question.

"Ahh, I'm sorry, I should have been a little bit more specific. It won't work until a certain program is installed on it. I have someone working on that now, so you will be able to message anyone you want from home. But it will also probably be a good idea for me to let you know that I sent some people back to try and grab anything valuable you might want. But it seems David and Linda caught on much quicker than we expected and set the house on fire; there wasn't anything left to recover."

I shrug my shoulders, "It's ok. I really didn't have anything of value since we had just moved there. Anytime we moved, I was only allowed to take necessities." I yawned a bit, underestimating how tired my body actually was.

"Well, I hope we can change that, you having more than just necessities. We want you to feel like this is your home. So please don't hesitate to ask for anything." Reina nods her head in agreement. I smile at them and then see Marcus walking up from behind them. My smile grows when I see him, and I stand to hug him, but my balance wavers. Without noticing him standing, Alex grabs me, steadying me. "Maybe we should get you back; your body is still healing."

Marcus smiles at me and I hug him, he tenses at first but hugs me back. "How about I give you a piggyback ride as we would do on our walks." I smile and nod my head. I feel Alex lift me, and I wrap my arms around Marcus' neck and my legs around his waist. We start to head back, and I lay my head onto his back. I hear them talking about some things, but before I know it, my eyes are drooping.