25

Before school Sienna popped to the shops to fetch the goods she had promised her little brother. She also grabbed an energy drink for herself, as well as a bag of the chocolate covered coffee beans her mother was always snacking on.

She was too tired to function on any practical level, and the caffeine only made her feel twitchy as well as drowsy.

'I'll sleep during one of my classes,' she decided. 'Nobody will notice.'

Seeing Adrian at the gates, her heart did its usual flutter. She waited to see if he would call her over and since he didn’t, she sat alone. Though she wanted to tell her friends what she thought of the series she had binged, she was just too tired to think.

"Hey, are you okay?" Tamara asked as her friends spotted her and descended like a flock of seagulls spotting paper-wrapped chips.

"Hmm, you look tired," Rose said.

Sienna tutted and rolled her eyes. "I stayed up all night watching Alpha's Return."

"Oh, I'm so glad!" Rose cooed. "What did you think to Marcus?"

"He reminds me of Adrian," Sienna said with a dreamy smile.

"Really?" Rose made a face, looking over at Adrian like he was gross. When Rose saw the death stare Sienna was beaming her face transformed into a cheery smile. "Yeah, I totally see it."

When they walked into the classroom Sienna slid into her seat and rested her head on her folded arms, getting comfortable. Luckily, she sat at the back and behind an overweight guy called Marshal. Good old Marshal would shield her from the eyes of Miss Walters, who seemed distracted anyway.

She didn't even know she had fallen asleep until the teacher nudged her.

"Wah—what?" she cried, jerking into an upright position.

She wiped the drool from her chin as she looked around at the empty classroom in confusion.

"The lesson ended five minutes ago," the teacher informed her. "Are you okay, Sienna?"

"Hmm," Sienna mumbled, blinking the blurriness out of her vision. Her corneas felt as though they were covered in a fine layer of slime.

"I was up till late last night," Sienna said. "Sorry. Insomnia."

The insomnia part was a lie but admitting the truth did not seem like a viable option.

Miss Walters gave her a pitying smile.

"I saw you with that new kid, Adrian?" she said, phrasing it like a question though it sounded more like a statement. Strange, considering the woman was supposed to be an English teacher.

"Yeah, erm, why?" she asked.

"He's... treating you okay?" Miss Walters asked.

Sienna nodded slowly. This was the second time she'd been asked that question in 24 hours.

"Okay," the teacher said, though she didn’t look convinced. "You should get to your next class."

She managed to stay awake in the next class. The day passed in a haze of grogginess and all she wanted to do by the end of it was go home and sleep.

Adrian waited for her at the gates.

"We're going to watch a film at Damien's house. You're coming," he said.

Despite her overwhelming fatigue, Sienna was more than happy to be included. She was overjoyed. As the group walked to Damien's house—one of the largest houses in town—she noticed she was the only girl in the group. A horrible thought occurred to her.

'He could tell me I have to do a striptease for all of his friends,' she realised with growing dread. 'Or even have sex with them.'

She scanned the group, wondering if they would go along with it. Jay seemed sweet and innocent enough but there was something scary about Shane. He always carried a knife, and though he had never threatened anyone with it, he made sure people knew it was there.

Her eyes lingered on Damien. Now Damien was an odd character. Aside from being ridiculously smart, he was very political and usually up in arms over something. Some infringement of human rights or animal cruelty. The school now offered a full vegan menu thanks to his interference.

As merciful as he was toward animals, did he feel the same way about humans?

When he caught her staring, he flashed her his patented death glare. It was hardly surprising that he hated her. The pair had their fair share of clashes before Adrian had come along.

When they got to Damien’s house—mansion would be a better word—he told them to go down to the basement.

"Oh my Goodness," Sienna cried, opening the door and finding a sheer drop into darkness so complete it conjured images of black holes and bottomless pits. "This is so creepy."

It was so uncommon for houses in the UK to have basements that this was the first one she'd seen in real life.

Damien leaned over her and turned the lights on, illuminating the set of wooden stairs that led to the basement. She stared around in wonder at the wine bottles, stacked neatly in wooden shelves. There was a television twice the size of the one in her living room, two leather sofas and a fridge.

"Damn, you're out of beer," Shane said, checking the fridge.

"I want tea anyway," Adrian said. He turned to Sienna. "Go make me tea."

"Erm," Sienna struggled, looking about. This was her first time in someone else's home. Aside from not knowing where anything was, it would be weird to go traipsing about their kitchen. What if Damien's family was up there? And yet, she didn't feel she could say no to Adrian's demand either.

"I'll go with you," Damien offered, saving her. "You guys want anything?"

After taking the drink orders he led her back up the narrow stairs and into the kitchen.

"Thank you," Sienna said.

"What for?" Damien asked.

'Good question,' Sienna thought. She wasn't sure why she'd said it. It just seemed appropriate.

"Err... for not being a dick to me," she said.

This made Damien laugh, but he didn't pass comment. He showed her where the kettle and fridge were and left her to make the tea, handing her a tray to help her carry them down.

"Thank you," Sienna said, trying to remember what the other lads had asked for. She did her best, hoping they wouldn't complain.

Just as she went to pick up the tray a woman appeared. A slim and attractive woman with dark hair wearing an expensive looking suit and holding a phone to her ear.

The woman's eyes widened when she saw Sienna, but she didn't ask who she was or what she was doing there, just if there was any hot water left in the kettle.

When Sienna nodded, the woman continued to talk on her phone while making herself a cup of coffee.

'I could be a burglar or anything,' Sienna frowned. 'Though people robbing houses don't tend to make a round of tea.'

When she got downstairs Sienna found they were planning to watch a horror film. A huge list of trigger warnings filled the screen but only one popped out at Sienna. Child Abuse.

She couldn't watch anything with child abuse. It would send her into a panic attack. She didn't know why, but she had first noticed it with stories on the news. Every time something mentioned a child being hurt, she would feel her throat closing up and a sensation like hot and cold pins and needles.

"I can't watch this," she muttered, hoping Adrian would understand.

"Aww," he cooed. "Are you going to get triggered?"

"Trigger warnings are for pussies," Shane snarked, looking at her like she was an attention-seeking bitch. She was most definitely both an attention seeker and a bitch, but in this case, her issue was genuine.

"You're watching it," Adrian said.

That was it. No question or concern.

With a sigh, she sat in the last available spot on the sofa, next to Jay. She planned on ignoring the movie, but as the group fell silent, it was hard to concentrate on anything but the screen.

When the main character, a little girl, was locked in a cupboard by her father, the familiar feeling of cold dread returned, gripping its steely hands around her throat.

She focused on her breathing, trying to avert her eyes, but she could still hear the little girl crying. Tears tumbled from her eyes as she looked down and blinked, trying to block it out.

She felt eyes on her and caught Damien giving her a funny look.

"I don't want to watch this," he said, clicking the film off with the remote. "It's making me feel sick."

As the boys argued over an alternative film, Sienna asked to use the bathroom.

"I'll show you where it is," Damien said. "My house has a lot of rooms, so people sometimes get lost."

"Sometimes they're never found," he added with a creepy grin.

"Thank you," she said.

"Sure," he said, pointing to a pale grey door.

"No, I mean, thank you for turning off the film," she clarified.

"Oh, right, I guess Adrian doesn't know about your past or he wouldn't be such an insensitive dick about it," Damien said.

Sienna frowned.

"W—what about my past?" she asked, no idea what he was talking about. Maybe he had his wires crossed.

"Well, you know," he said, shrugging. "Your real parents."

"What?" Sienna asked, becoming confused. Her parents were her real parents.

"Oh, fuck, shit, never mind," Damien said, turning away from her. "Forget I said anything. I must be thinking about someone else. I’m always getting my wires crossed."

When Sienna returned to the basement Adrian pulled her by the hand, positioning her in his lap and encircled her waist in his arms. She felt safe and loved as they watched the movie—this one about a chainsaw toting maniac—but couldn't get Damien's words out of her mind.

'My real parents?'