Renee blinked her eyes to see it was already morning, and she sat up on the bed with an alarmed gasp. Her palm lightly slapped her right cheek after the painful recollection of her past life – those memories haunt her dreams like ghosts parading a cemetery now, it was impossible to get rid of them, no matter how hard she tried.
Feeling her cheeks and confirming that it was truly just a dream of the past, she released a pronounced sigh and tried to shake it off– she was stronger than that.
Turning her head the other way, she found Cyrus dozing off on a chair, his hand supporting his head so he could sleep more steadily on the armchair.
"Cyrus?"
His presence stunned her, and she could remember vaguely that she he had been with someone overnight. Was it Cyrus? Makes sense, since he's the one sleeping here, but then again, why was he here? If she remembered correctly, he was still upset with her, or did they talk things out last night and she forgot ?
"Gosh, my head." She winced when a sharp pain shot through her head, and it felt like she was incurring another heartbeat somewhere in her brain, but damn was it painful.
She shouldn't complain, she literally brought this one upon herself.
Moving her duvet off her body and getting out of bed, she approached the chair where her brother sat. She shook his shoulder lightly, attempting to wake him up, and her brother's eyes fluttered open after a few shakes, those beautiful sea-green orbs peeking from his slightly opened irises.
"Hey, you need to go to your room." Renee whispered as though she was talking to a little child. She shook his shoulder once more, and that did the trick. His eyes were wide-open now, and he instinctively adjusted himself before realizing his sister was standing in front of him, peering at his face with furrowed brows.
"What?" He frowned.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, raising both eyebrows in query, but he palmed her small, annoying face and gently pushed it away, creating some distance. He stretched a little before proceeding to his earlier posture, resting his head on his hand for support.
"You didn't think I'd let you sleep alone with an animal on the loose, did you? And why didn't you lock the doors too?" He rubbed his eyes with the other one as he queried her for her carelessness, and Renee smiled at his comment. If he's here because he was worried about her safety, does that mean he no longer hates her for what she did? Normally in her past life, she gets sold, but never forgiven so easily.
"Are you back to being my brother then?" She asked with hopeful eyes, making him chuckle at her silly question.
"Because I got mad at you doesn't mean I disowned you, you'll always be my sister, but it's difficult to understand your twisted little mind these days." He rose from the chair, stretching once more as he released a yawn, "since we're in it, let's see what happens from here. I'll leave and give you some time to get ready, and you can join me downstairs."
"Uhm Cyrus," she called his name before he could exit the room, "was anyone else beside you in here with me?"
"Anyone else? Oh, you mean Lysander?" He arched an eyebrow, "yeah, he took care of you after you got drunk last night. If it wasn't for him then… wait, that reminds me! Since when did you start drinking–"
And his voice grew quiet when Renee shut the door at his face, evading his question.
"Hey! You still have to answer to me young lady!" Scolded Cyrus.
"Bye, get out, I need to get ready." Renee dismissed him and locked her door. She leaned her back on the door's frame upon hearing her brother mention Lysander, and she wanted to pull at her hair when the images of last night resurfaced. Well, it could have gotten worse if it wanted, couldn't it? Because last night, her emotions had reached a boiling point that all she wanted to do was let off some steam and cry on someone's shoulder.
Who knows what could have happened if she had lost all sanity last night?
"You're never drinking again!" She scolded herself, slapping her cheeks as her own punishment.
After getting ready for the day, Renee exited her room and tried to retrace her steps to the dining room. It took her approximately fifteen minutes to locate the stairs, and when she reached the foyer, she remembered the familiar archway that brought her to the same dining room, and as expected, everyone was present, but her relieved expression waned when she caught sight of Cullen sitting at the head table.
Lysander was seated at the right side of the table, and he was indulging in yet another conversation with Cullen who had stopped talking in her presence. She glanced at Peaches who waved her good morning, and she pointed at the seat next to her, conveying she had saved her a vacant space with them.
Cyrus was also joining the table, and he took his seat beside Eric and Vincent. Mustering the courage, Renee approached Peaches and gratefully took the seat she had kind-heartedly saved for her– far away from Cullen himself.
"You don't usually join us for a morning meeting, what's the occasion?" Robinson harmlessly asked his brother, hazel eyes peering at him from his monocle, and he smiled suggestively, "since you're here, would you like to start the meeting with a little prayer session for us then?"
"Is that supposed to be a joke?" Cullen held back a scoff. "First of all, I'm not some fucking priest. We're here to discuss the supplies and that's exactly what we're going to do, okay?"
His stern face returned to the seven quiet members, and he declared.
"Eric, Vincent and Naya, you three are in charge of the hospital and food stores. Renee, you and your brother are going with Lysander to the tech company, and you're in charge of bringing back every single weapon we can use to survive, until the day of evacuation, everyone got their roles for today cleared."
"Wait, what about me?" Peaches pointed at herself, "what am I gonna do?"
"What you know how to do best darling, handling the kitchen." He quipped, shifting his attention to Levana. "When they leave, you and Peaches handle the monsters that try to get in, and each car has the gates control, so don't worry much about who'll be locking the gates."
"Then, what will you be doing?" Renee questioned him, sounding so unusually formal that it had Cullen taken aback for a few seconds, and then he choked a laugh, as though he just heard something stupid.
"I'm the leader, sweetheart, I don't have to do anything unless I feel like it."
"So you feel better endangering the lives of your members instead?"
"If anything I'm doing you ungrateful, homeless gremlins a favor." He smirked, eyeing her condescendingly, "experience points are required to level up in every system. You don't have the wish to remain at level one, do you? So go out there, and upgrade your strength, cause I don't need weaklings in my guild starting from today."
A hint of fury flashed in Renee's ruby-red eyes, and her fingers curled on her lap, suppressing her rage, but then why did it sting somewhere in her chest? This wasn't the man she knew at all, Caden was nice to her, he treated her well until his flight overseas, and maybe coming to terms with what his true nature is was starting to take a toll on her.
No, this isn't the time for self-blame. She wasn't going to let Cullen watch her crumble, not this time, not again, and she will definitely upgrade, so much so he would wish he hadn't brought this challenging idea up in the first place.
She will survive.
"Fine." She agreed with a straight-face, emitting a sudden stolid, yet appealing aura that wiped off the tenacious smirk on Cullen's proud face.
Lysander was quietly playing with a little lighter in his hand, and his lips secretly curved into a delectable smile.