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T h e H o l l o w s I n 
O U R F R E E D O M
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I awoke feeling dread. Jace and I had gone to sleep at pretty much the same time, but I still felt detached. So much detached, in fact, that I slept a good three metres away from him, facing Sky's bed.

I think I cried a little.

But I'll never tell anyone that.

I dreaded the morning. I dreaded waking up to see Sky's sunken face, the feeling that she had been fed lies and only lies her entire life still a weight heavy on her shoulders. And I'd wake to Jace, still worshiping Sky.

Always worshipping Sky.

Despite the fact that I had withdrawn my body from him and gone to sleep far, far away from him, I still ended up in his arms in the morning.

Always in his arms.
Never in mine.

When I had gotten out of bed, after ripping myself away from Jace, I found that Sky had already left her bed—and the room, it seemed.

I bent down to the suitcase, choosing an outfit and taking my cosmetics bag with me.

I washed quickly, before getting dressed. I had chosen skinny jeans and a cropped jumper. Jealously is looking good today.

I brushed through my hair, seeing it bounce with the natural kinks weaved through it. I then decided to curl it, since it was already curling up on it's own. Fortunately, my hair held curls pretty well, so I could easily curl my hair into big waves, and they'd probably last until tonight.

Finished with my hair, I brushed through them with my fingers, hearing Jace move around in the room.

I moisturised by face with a B.B. cream, needing the moisturiser and the coverage. With it on, I looked better than I had done in a while—guarding meant that I hardly had time to look good. But, if everything went according to plan, our group would have breakfast here before continuing onwards. Maybe then I'd have time to always look good, not that I need makeup for that—nor does any girl—of course.

I applied a coat of mascara and a tinted lip balm before I sprayed myself down with my favourite perfume. Then I was done.

As I left the bathroom, I ran into Jace. He was holding something in his hand. "Your phone was–" when he saw me, though, I paused for a moment. "–ringing." He finished, handing me my phone.

I barely nodded at him, glancing down at the phone screen, seeing that the person who had called me was Jameson. I immediately called him back whilst I slipped on my trainers. He answered almost instantly.

"You called?" Was how I greeted Jameson, seeing Jace disappear into the bathroom in the corner of my eye.

"How's things on your end?" Jameson asked, sounding mildly worried.

"A few broken hearts, but that can't really be helped. Otherwise perfect. We stopped off at a hotel overnight; I'm guessing it'll give your group some time to catch up." I heard a few muffled words over the phone, and I wasn't quite sure what was happening.

"We're about to leave now, in fact Jonah just loaded the last suitcase—and he wants to know how Saph is." I heard the interest in Jameson's voice decline as he spoke the last sentence, and I found it quite humorous.

"Last I knew she was still alive, but the best person to ask about that is Elle." I told him as I looked into our floor length mirror by our windows.

There was a pause. "Yeah, I won't tell him that." I laughed, pulling my coat down from the hanger.

"We'll leave our hotel in maybe two hours; we're getting breakfast down us first—though, saying that, I think we're late." I said, picking my wristwatch up from where it had fallen on the floor. I wound it around my wrist and it displayed the time as quarter to nine. I cringed when I saw it, before glancing at the bathroom door.

"'We'?" Jameson replied.

I sighed, feeling the weight of what had happened last night on me again. "Me and Jace."

There was another pause. I had a feeling that Jameson didn't quite know what to ask questions about. "What about Sky?" He chose to completely ignore the details, it seems.

I collapsed onto the bed, burying my face in my hands. "She knows, Jameson, she knows." I didn't need to clarify, I think he knew. If not by the regret in my voice, then by the fact that he just knew.

I heard him shift on the other side. "I was going to call her after you, but I don't know if I should now."

I closed my eyes, thinking for a few moments.

"Who's driving later?" I asked him, referring to when they were going to be on the move.

"Either Jonah or me." He responded.

Jace entered the room at the moment, and I glanced up at him quickly before returning my attention to the call.

"Let Jonah drive and call her quickly in half an hour—I'll give you the heads up." With that, I stood up, my thick jacket laying across my right arm.

"Thank you, Alexi."

With that, we ended the call, and I returned my attention to where I currently was.

"Is everything okay?" Jace asked as he picked up his coat too.

I tried to ignore him, but I needed someone to talk to, and I couldn't help but fall into his eyes. Those gorgeous eyes.

I sighed. "It was Jameson; they're leaving soon." I dodged his question without even knowing, but Jace brought it up again.

"But is everything okay?" He asked.

I shrugged. "The plan is running smoothly, our relationship with our group, maybe not so much." He reached out to my arm and squeezed it to comfort me.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, she's just dealing with a sudden open wound—it couldn't be helped." He told me. I nodded, trying to pull myself together.

When I felt like I had most of the pieces stuck in the right places, I thanked Jace before opening our room door.

We walked in silence, trying to find where our group was. We found a big dining area, which was actually quite quiet. Since it was quiet, and our group was quite big, it was easy enough to find them.

As we approached them, Elle caught my arm and halted me before I could go any farther. "Does she know?" She asked, a matter of urgency in her voice and signs of stress in her eyes.

Regretfully, I nodded. She lowered her head as she pulled away. I think she was lost in thought for a few moments.

"She's been talking with Bria and Sapphire since they woke up, and I heard them. If it wasn't for my trained senses, it would be from the fact that Sapphire actually confronted me to how I ended up knowing." She looked around, looking scandalised.

"What do I do?" She asked me, worriedly.

I sighed, feeling her pain. "She won't talk to me because I betrayed her, she probably won't feel too fond to Jace or Jameson either, since they also knew. But you weren't even close to her in the first place—maybe you can build a bridge. I'm not sure the betrayal would be as bad." Elle seemed to absorb everything I was saying in an interesting turn of events.

"So I should speak to her?" She asked, seeming oddly nervous.

I bit my lip, observing the situation, seeing everyone stood up and in their own little clumps. Well, you had Sky, Sapphire and Bria, then you just had Jace on his own. I shook my head. "Not here. Later. There are too many people that can get in your way. Just act natural."

"I can't act." Elle responded.

"I can," I told her, "follow my lead."

I approached our group, feeling the eyes slowly turn on me. "Good morning, is everyone on board and ready to leave in about an hour?" I asked them.

"You can leave first, and on your own, we'll wait for the other group." Bria said, making Sapphire snigger slightly.

"What a wonderful idea, that way I'm sure to get rid of you." With that, I pulled out a chair and sat down, making myself the only one to be seated. After a few moments, Elle sat beside me, then Jace sat on my other side.

I rose my eyebrow at the group, challenging them all.

Sky was actually the first to cave, and slumped down onto a chair. Sapphire and Bria reluctantly followed.

Great, how the hell did I end up with tweedle bitch and tweedle other bitch?

"I'm glad you are all compliant," I said, watching Bria throw me a fake smile and Sapphire roll her eyes. "Just a last word of advice before we begin to eat," I said, leaning in to talk specifically to Sapphire and Bria.

"If you didn't want to be here," I said, lowering my voice. "You didn't have to be—I'm sure we would lose a lot of dead weight if you had chosen otherwise." I watched their faces turn sour, but defeated.

I leaned back, picking up my knife and fork.

"Nonetheless, you're here now, and the croissants await you."

With that, everyone dug into the food—though Sapphire and Bria seemed to falter slightly.

Leadership suddenly reached a high, but it wasn't a good high.
I had resulted to using fear in my favour.

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Issa tyrant mood

Lexi got the tyrant vibes

Y'all dig it?

If so, I've finally solved the mystery of who was digging up my frickin garden..stop it!!! Please?!!

I have questions

Lexi and Jace?
Sky's reaction? Cutting off Lexi and Jace?
Lexi giving Elle advice?
Elle actually uncertain for once?
Lexi's threats?

Opinions and so forth ^^

But not forth enough that you walk into my garden again; turn around, young lady!! Out!!!!

-peace

FABULOUS SONGS

Songs that played when I was writing this chapter (in order):
Long & Lost - Florence + The Machine
I Know - Aly & AJ
Bullet - Ann Marr
Promises - Aly & AJ
The Fear - Lily Allen
Louder - Neon Jungle
Bela Lugosi's Dead - CHVRCHES
Dead Air - CHVRCHES
Breathe - Fleurie
Only You - Selena Gomez
Salt Skin - Ellie Goulding
Bridges - Broods

END OF FABULOUS SONGS

Date written:
02/04/18

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Next update: Wednesday
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CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO SPOILER:

The group continue on their adventure, in seek of Elle's mystery camp, and her other secrets that she keeps under the tents.

But will the team get there, or will our resident bad-tempered badass ram their car into the fiery pits of hell when tensions rise?