Hannah laid down with Penelope for a while, holding the sleeping child close to herself. When she felt that everything was over and the fight had ended, she slowly stood up from the bed and covered Penelope properly before leaving the room.
She met Raymond in the living room. He seemed to be thinking hard about something and she knew what was on his mind. He was going to try and persuade her to come back to the basement but she already had her response prepared for him.
Raymond looked up and saw Hannah staring at him. He flashed her a tight smile before standing up and going to meet her. When he got to her side, he stretched out his hand and opened his palm, and Hannah, seeing this, sighed and placed her hand on his.
He pulled out a dagger from his thigh and ran it across Hannah's palm. She hissed and shut her eyes tightly as the searing pain shot through her body. She didn't know why but anytime she gets attacked like this or gets injured in an encounter, Raymond would always do something like this and the weird part was that it happened to only her. She has never seen him doing something like this to other gang members and when she asked him about it, he only said, "You are different", and nothing else.
Raymond brought out a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around Hannah's wound as he stared at her face that has pain etched on it. Luckily, he had kept a first aid box in her house for a situation like this one.
He left the living room and came back with a first aid kit he kept in the kitchen. He took her other hand and pulled her to the couch and began wrapping her wound.
Hannah didn't understand this. He does this every time. First, he tears her palm and then wraps it up himself. She knew that she didn't know much but who does that?!
Raymond finished bandaging Hannah's wound and she immediately pulled her hand away. "Hannah". He started but Hannah cut him off immediately.
"I am not going back there". She said sharply. Even though Raymond hadn't said anything yet, she knew what was going on in his mind. He was going to lock her up again.
"I know that and I won't force you". Hannah's eyes flew towards Raymond's face trying to see if he was joking, she even mentally pinched herself to wake herself up in case she was stuck in some crazy dream but all she saw was Raymond's serious face. No, not serious, his face was expressionless and she couldn't read anything from it.
"Are you serious?" She asked. Not because she wanted to go back but because she wanted to be sure. Raymond was obsessed with taking her back to the basement, so she had expected him to force her to go back, especially after the sudden attack but maybe she was wrong.
"Hmm… I'm serious. I won't force you to go back there if you don't want to". Hannah's eyes widened when she heard him. Did she hear right? Was she finally free from that place?
"But…" Raymond's voice drew out from her thoughts and she sighed. She knew it, he would never let her go. "How about you stay at Jackson's place? It is much safer there, when everything ends I will bring you back…"
"I won't leave". Hannah said flatly. "I am not going anywhere, not to Jack's place and certainly not to the basement". She leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes.
Though she looked okay on the outside, Hannah was a wreck inside and the only thing stopping her from bursting into tears was Raymond's presence. She really thought that Raymond was going to let her be but instead, he was sending her away.
Jackson is Raymond's cousin who managed the Night Knights in another country. Sending her there was the same as sending her to the basement. One way or the other, they would both find a way to keep her there if she decides to go.
"Try to understand ". Raymond said in a pleading tone. "It is the only safe place for you other than the basement, so please go there".
Hannah opened her eyes and stood up from the couch. "I won't go anywhere". She said and walked away.
"I will stay over tonight!" Raymond said behind her but as if she didn't hear him, she continued walking till she got to her room. Unlike the previous times when she wouldn't allow Raymond to stay in her house longer than necessary, she didn't stop him today. Right now… right now she was tired and had no strength to disallow Raymond's staying over. All she wanted was to go back to sleep and drift into a beautiful dream that she would never wake up from. But these days, even her dreams are not pleasant.
She just laid down on the bed and placed her hands on her abdomen while staring unblinkingly at the ceiling.