Some guards came out to the car and took my bags inside. They were so serious, until they realized who I was. It looked like they wanted to ask questions, but Jedidiah shot them stern looks and they quickly returned to their tasks.
Jedidiah was the one to escort me on the tour, and the others vanished somewhere into the building.
"What made you decided to stay with us?" He asked casually.
"I was tired of being shipped all over. It's incredibly boring." I said, examing the foyer.
"Oh, I see. Well this room doesn't serve much purpose." He informed me as we continued on.
"Oh my goodness! I forgot to even ask! May I stay with you? How rude of me!" I excused.
He smiled, "Of course, it is our pleasure to have such an honorary guest. And a pretty one, at that."
I, of course, blushed.
"Thanks." I said shyly.
"This is the study, and across the hall is the living room."
We continued the tour until we came across a pair of double doors.
"Miss King, you do expect there to be rules here, correct?" He questioned.
"Oh, of course." I replied.
"As you know, Ukraine is still not a stable country. Luckily, the Mai are financially stable. But under no circumstances are you allowed to leave the house. Whatever you need to do can be done from inside. Also, we advice you train. Most of which will be on your own, but we have occasional trainers hold classes." He told me.
It didn't seem that bad. I didn't really like the no outdoors part, but there wasn't anybody I needed to visit here, either.
As we concluded the tour, Jedidiah led me to my room. He opened the door where we soon found my luggage.
I was still curious as to what exactly Valentina had managed to throw in the bag for me.
"If you need anything, ask the guards or my family and we will assist you. But you've had a few rough days and I'm sure you want some privacy. I'll be going now." He said as he smiled and walked to the door.
"Wait! Jedidiah? I wanted to thank you for letting me live with you. I think I'll like it here until I go home." I thanked.
"Miss Chloe, you are not going home." He frowned seeing that I had been neglected the information.
"I hoped you wouldn't say that." I said.
He left me alone.
It was my guess, that I wouldn't be allowed to return to San Francisco. But I refused to cry, as part of my goal to be stronger. I didn't plan on showing my weak side to anybody in my new life.
Despite how tired I was, I couldn't fall asleep. After half an hour, I gave up. Seeming as this new room was completely foreign to me, I decided to explore.
I investigated the closet to find that it was a walk in. At the farthest corner there was a vanity.
"Nice." I said to myself.
There was also a dresser in the corner of the bedroom. I decided that my next task would be to put my clothes away.
The last thing I explored was my bathroom. I found a large jetted tub. It was sort of plain so I was going to have to think of some way to decorate it.
With my adventuring done, I decided to check out my few belongings. I walked over to the suitcase and sat down beside it.
There was many random pieces of clothing. Not all mine. Valentina had thrown in some of Jasmine's. I don't think I am ever going to be able to wear them without crying my eyes out. There was also my overnight bag. Which contained random items that I missed like my toothbrush and deodorant.
I hoped that Ukraine had some familiar brands that I was use to.
Other than one fuzzy slipper, nothing was all that exciting. And yes, only one. So I practically owned nothing.
I put away the odd random things I owned, and I was left completely bored…again.
This time I decided to get comfortable with the house.
I stepped out of my room and shut the door lightly behind me. I noted that this was definitely more like a palace. I walked around examing the artwork that hung from the walls and the empty vases.
As I was almost to the end of a long, empty hall, I felt someone behind me. I turned around to find a small girl starring at me.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." She said as she walked towards me.
"Oh that's all right." I said.
"I'm Chiles. What's your name?" She asked politely.
"Chloe." I smiled. "Wait, are you Adam's little sister?" I asked.
She smiled, "He always has pretty friends."
Her innocence gave me hope. Maybe my new life wasn't going to be all that bad.
"Thanks. I'm kind of sort of lost. Could you help me find my room?" I asked her.
"Yes, I would love to." She said. "Do you live with us now?"
"Yes." I responded.
"Are you a-" She paused.
"Mai?" I whispered.
She giggled.
"Yes, I am." I told her.
"I can't wait until I get my claws!" She informed me.
"Your funny." I complimented her.
"Where are you from?" She asked.
"America, California actually." I told her.
"Really? That's so cool! I bet it was fun." She awed.
"I guess." I sighed, thinking about everything I left behind.
"Here is your room." She said, stopping at my door.
"Do you want to come in?" I asked her.
I think I was actually getting around to making my first friend here.
"Really?" She asked. "Nobody cool ever wants to hang out with me."
"We can hang out whenever you want." I assured her.
She hugged me, and it was unexpected. As an instinct, I made sure she wasn't squeezing my stomach too hard.
We went in and she looked around.
"Your room is boring, no offense." She said.
"I know. You should have seen my old room. It was fun." I told her.
"We should paint it. We could go down to the art studio. They have a paint machine. I'm sure we could figure out how to make wall paint." She said.
"Are we aloud to do that?" I asked her.
"We are aloud to do anything around here as long as we don't cause trouble or harm." She shrugged. "I always play in the paint. I like to make pictures." She said.
"Is there anywhere I could get a camera?" I asked her.
"Yes. I'm sure we can find one, let's go." She said pulling my hand.
We walked around for a little bit, and I noticed a lot of people eyeballing me. They probably weren't sure if I was really the Uniter.
"Why do you need a camera, Chloe?" Chiles asked.
"I like to take pictures." I said.
"Will you take my picture?" She asked.
"Sure."
"Alright." She said.
She rummaged through a few drawers until she came across a camera.
"Here." She said as she handed it to me.
I bent down and put my face by hers and I snapped a picture.
"What else is fun to do around here?" I asked.
"Tons. But we can't have fun until you get your room done." She laughed, as did I.
We walked down to the painting studio.
"What color?" She asked.
"Mmm, what do you think?" I asked her.
She thought about it for a moment before she said, "Purple."
"Wise choice." I commented.
I made three different colors. A royal purple, a mocha brown, and a paisley green.
Chiles carried the purple and I carried the other two back to my room.
"Where should we start?" She asked.
"Maybe we should wait until tomorrow." I said. "It's getting pretty late."
"Alright," she said as she sighed.
We both turned to face the door after we heard the knock.
"There you are!" Sandra laughed as she hugged her daughter.
"Momma, this is Chloe. We are going to paint her room tomorrow!" She claimed.
"Oh there is no need. You girls would get all dirty. Adam can do it. And you have your piano lesson tomorrow, sweetie." Sandra said.
"Oh it not a big deal, I can handle it." I said.
"No, no. Adam loves to paint! But as for you," she said turning her attention to Chiles. "it is time for bed."
"Goodnight, Chiles. Goodnight, Sandra." I said.
"Goodnight," they replied in unison.
They left and shut the door behind them. I heard them walking away.
"Momma, I like her." I heard Chiles say.
For the first time since this all happened, I smiled. I truly smiled. And I wasn't faking it.
Yes, I'd take my old life back in a heartbeat, but this isn't so bad.
There is one person who would make this situation a whole lot better…but it isn't possible.
I sighed as I crawled into bed. Silently, I begged my heart not to dream of him for it would only make things harder.
Author note: I didn't get many reviews on the last chapter :( Why do you guys always need a threat?