Previously on "Enlightenment"

"Shhhh... Its alright now honey. I've got you," she muttered into the child's matted hair. Letting her own tears slip down her cheeks. Gently, Natalya started to rock the girl back and forth, comforting herself and Sally.

Mick let a smile slip through his cold demeanor. As soon as the smile came, it vanished. He couldn't break, not with a psychopath upstairs.

For now, they were hostages, and until the police could figure it out, they were stuck there.

_____________

NATALYA STARES down at her now ruined white skinny jeans. She sat up against the wall farthest from the stairs, and Mick. Her knees are pulled up towards her chest, her fingers picking at the folds in the crinkled pants.

Sally was fast asleep now, off in a wonderland Natalya only wishes she was in.

"You'd think in a town with a superhero, we would be out by now," Mick snorts out. He's laying on the carpeted floor, his hands behind his head and a annoyed look on his face.

"Yeah, well, I guess the scarlet speedster isn't very good at time management," Natalya mutters, not daring to glance at the criminal laying a few feet away. "Then again... We've barely been here for twenty minutes. Traffic must be horrible!"

Mick glances at the brunette. She hasn't looked at him, not once in the last fifteen minutes.

'She just couldn't keep her eyes off of me in the first five...' Mick thinks, a small smirk playing at his lips.

Natalya feels his hard gaze on her, she nervously shuffles away, feeling her skin tingle from his intense staring.

Mick continues to just watch the Russian. He is addicted to the feeling he gets from just looking at her. He gets the same feeling when he watches fire...

The beauty, it's overwhelming for the pyromaniac. The love he feels, for the flames and Natalya. It -unfortunately- scares him.

All the booze loving criminal wants to do is claim Natalya. Despite him first denying it, now, he excepts it. No more running, he needs to fight for what he wants. This time, Leonard isn't there to stop him.

"So, shorty, psychopath run in the family?" Mick questions jokingly, not taking into consideration of her feelings towards her father.

"He wasn't always that way, you know," her voice cracks, "for most of my childhood, he was the kindest one in the family."

Mick grunts in response, wanting her to carry on with the story.

"I don't know what happened, honestly... Suddenly, he jus-just changed..." Natalya let's stray tears fall freely down her cheeks. "When I was, ten, he started to beat мама... Screamed, saying it was, all her f-fault," she sobs quietly, recalling the horrifying memories. Luckily, she stayed calm enough to fight off another one of her many panic attacks.

"Turns out... mother had an affair that snapped my father. The doctors said that he already had schizophrenia, so what-" Natalya didn't finish what she was saying. A sob echoed through the basement, making Sally stir in her sleep.

Mick sat up, he didn't like emotional things. Actually, he hates feelings, he much rather not have that weakness like many do. Still, watching her weep over the past in front of him, it brought a very odd feeling.

He can't help but scoot closer to the orphanage worker. He wraps his arms around her small form and pulls her into his chest. Whatever Natalya was doing to him, it was working. Whatever magic she performed for him to have these, feelings... She is truly a sorceress.

"When I was fifteen, the cops took him away. I left home that day, t-told mother to never contact me about h-him..." Natalya mumbles into his chest. She feels like she owes him an explanation for all of this. Just like how he owes an explanation for that note he gave her.

"Hey Mick," she begins, looking up at the criminal, "what was that note all about?"

"Your father... He didn't get out of prison himself," is all he said before they heard the police and a man screaming curse words.

"If the police see you, Mick," Natalya pushes herself out of his arms, looking up at him with worry.

"They'll arrest me, I know."

"Hide under the stairs! I'll tell them it was just me and Sally. Hurry!" she urges.

Mick takes his spot under the stairs, feeling humiliated that he had to stupe to such a low level.

Natalya gathers Sally into her arms and stands near the stairs. Sally clings onto her caretaker, now awake and ready to finally leave her own personal hell hole.

"Is there anyone here!?" she hears from upstairs. She could barely recognize Joe's voice, but she managed.

"In the basement!" Natalya yells back.

"Stand back!" there is a loud thump and then a crack. Next thing the girls know, the birch wood door is sliding down the stairs in pieces.

Joe comes down the stairs, and when he spots Natalya with a child in her arms, he starts to hate Mr. Roman even more.

"Are you alright?" he asks.

"Yes, thank you," she smiles.

Joe takes the two up the stairs. When Natalya gets at the top of the stairs, she looks to the right to the large mirror on the wall.

Shes a reck, her face is tear-stained. Hair frizzy and wet, and clothes ruined to the point of no return.

She is snapped out of her thoughts when a female police officer comes in to her and takes Sally from her arms. Joe still stands next to Natalya, and he leads her into the living room to sit with her mother.

Once Natalya sits down and Joe leaves, Mrs. Roman throws a blanket over her daughters shoulders.

"Я думал, что потерял тебя, слава Богу, ты в порядке, дорогая!" Mrs. Roman sobs out, not even noticing she has switched back to her native tongue.

Natalya pulls her mother into a heart-breaking hug.

The two sit there for what seems like hours, but in all reality, it has only been a few minutes. When the mother-daughter duo pull away, Natalya's shoulder is even more drenched.

"Я люблю тебя мать," Natalya finally let's herself forgive her broken mother. The person who raised her, and let her father beat her. The woman that has been by her side, no matter the circumstances. Through thick and thin, through Mrs. Roman's work, and the struggles, their relationship is finally mended.

"And I you, дорогой."

___________

PLEASE EXCUSE/IGNORE ALL SPELLING AND GRAMMAR MISTAKES, THANK YOU!

Я думал, что потерял тебя, слава Богу, ты в порядке, дорогая = I thought I lost you, thank God, you're fine, dear

Я люблю тебя мать = I love you mother

дорогой = darling

WARNING: TRANSLATIONS MAY NOT BE 100% ACCURATE

Another chapter done! Thank you all for sticking through this with me, I really appriciate it. And I am proud to say, that this book will be my first ever book I will actually end up finishing.

We're almost to the end! Also, i entered the Wattys 2019, I'm excited to see the results. You guys are the only reason I'm confident enough to even try and compete with the other amazing books entered into this yearly compition. Though, I know I have no chance, I still have high hopes and would be happy if you wished me luck.

Last, but not least, I will be posting every Monday until the book is finished, and that, I promise you. (I have up to chapter 24 already done, lol, thats really why I'm doing this).

AGAIN, PLEASE EXCUSE/IGNORE ALL SPELLING AND GRAMMAR MISTAKES, THANK YOU!