Chapter 8

" Any issue so far? " Jack asked, breaking into her thoughts.

Ava was brought out of her reverie and she shook her head " Nothing, everything is cool "

Jack nodded slowly " Do you need anything? "

Again, she shook her head " Not at all, I'm okay " She ended her answer with a little smile.

" Let me know when something comes up, okay? Here is my number " He made to give her his phone number but Ava shook her head.

" My phone isn't in a good working condition at the moment, I'm planning to get a new one in the nearest future, probably a month from now "

Jack's eyes widened a little " Oh! " Then he frowned " Did you just say next month? Don't you have any use for it at all? You should get it now "

Ava smiled wistfully " I wish I could " and she went quiet.

Jack's frown deepened " What's stopping you from getting a new one now? "

" Money " She blurted out, not ashamed of speaking about her financial problems.

Jack nodded slowly, absorbing the information " Oh "

Ava shrugged in a nonchalant way " Yup " She replied, popping the 'p'

" You should have informed me about it then, you need to have a cell phone " Jack said, eyeing her.

Ava smiled sheepishly " I don't wanna bother you with my problems, it's my problem to sort out, not yours "

Jack exhaled a deep breath " Ava, it's not your problem anymore, it stopped being your problem alone the day you stepped into this house and signed a contract "

Ava shook her head " It's my problem to deal with, Jack and I'm gonna do just that "

Jack copied her action and replied firmly " No Ava, it's not just your problem, it became our problem the day you became part of this family " He brought out his phone and typed something on it.

Margaret came in that moment and turned to Ava " Some people are outside looking for you "

Ava became so tensed that Jack noticed. He frowned, wondering why she was like that when she was perfectly okay before Margaret came in.

" Did they tell you who they are ? " He asked calmly.

Margaret nodded " Yeah, they said they're Ava's family " She said.

Ava turned white and she froze the minute she heard the word 'family'. The monsters were back, they were back to take her, she thought and panicked. Her breathing came in rapid motions now, and she clenched her hands in fists by her sides. She gripped the hem of her cloth tightly.

Jack and Margaret exchanged a look, wondering what was up with her. Margaret took frantic steps to her and held Ava's hands in hers, looking alarmed. Jack sat up too, looking at Ava intently.

" Ava! What's wrong?! Are you okay?! " Margaret shouted, shaking her slightly.

Ava shook her head, her eyes staring blankly into space.

Margaret shook her again, harder this time " Ava! Come on, snap out of it! " She shouted again, all to no avail.

" Come, come sit! " She said and led her over to a seat. She looked over to Jack for help but he shook his head sadly, he had no idea how to handle girls being that way.

Margaret sighed, resigned to her fate of bringing Ava back to her senses. She got up and dashed into the kitchen. She emerged a few seconds later, holding a glass of water in her hand.

She handed it to Ava who collected it with shaking hands. She took a sip and closed her eyes briefly, taking a deep breath in a bid to calm her racing heart.

" Are you okay now? " Margaret asked anxiously.

Ava nodded and swept her hands through her hair.

" Are you sure? " Margaret repeated, searching her face for answers.

Ava nodded again, this time she managed to give her a little smile.

Margaret heaved a sigh of relief and relaxed visibly.

Jack came over to them " Are you okay? Or do we need to take you to the hospital? " He directed his gaze at Ava.

Ava smiled at him too, but he could see the smile didn't quite reached her eyes " No I'm fine, guys, thank you " She said quietly.

Jack looked doubtful " You don't need to go to a hospital? "

Ava shook her head " No I'm fine really "

" So what's wrong? What happened? " Margaret asked, looking curious.

" Something went wrong and you changed the minute you heard your family is here looking for you, what happened? " Jack piped in, observing her closely.

" Nothing much, I was just taken aback by the news, I wasn't expecting them to find me so fast " Ava explained calmly, shrugging her small shoulders.

" Oh, Is that it? " Margaret asked.

Ava nodded.

" You should have told us then, instead of you zoning out like that " Margaret scolded softly.

" Don't you want to see them? I can tell them to go away, that you're busy or something. How about that? " Jack offered, feeling pity for the once lively girl who had withdraw into her shell so fast that he couldn't believe she was the boisterous young woman he had employed.

Ava shook her head " I'll go meet them " she exhaled a deep breath, in preparation of what was to happen when she finally meet them.

There was no doubt that they came stir up some trouble, but Ava had to meet them now or never. She had to muster up some courage and shook herself free from their tight grip on her. They thought they still had control over her life and could step on her however they liked. She was going to prove them wrong today.

She got up " I'll go meet with them and see what they want " She repeated, trying to convince herself she was doing the right thing.

Jack started to protest but Ava raised up her hand to stop him " Jack, I'll be fine, I promise "

He finally nodded " Okay, but holler if you want some sort of intervention, okay? "

She nodded and took another deep breath " Yeah I will, but I hope it won't come to that " She could feel her lower lip trembled just by the thought of them coming to disrupt the peace she found here in the King's mansion.

Margaret spoke up " You heard what he said, right? Cry out if you need help and we'll come running "

" I'd have my kitchen knife ready " she added in a light tone.

Ava chuckled softly and nodded. She felt her eyes welled up with tears but blinked them back. She met such wonderful people just when she thought she was all alone in the world. This was the family she had dreamt of having, she smiled wistfully. It's never too late to start over, the voice in her head consoled. Ava smiled, agreeing with her inner voice for the first time in days. They had sensed something was not right with her family but chose to keep quiet rather than asking her directly which may seemed rude. They probably didn't want to pry into her private life.

" Hey " Margaret said quietly, tapping her on the forearm.

" Huh? " Ava asked, startled.

" Where did your mind wander off to? A lover we know nothing about? " Margaret asked teasingly, trying to lighten up the tension in the room.

Ava managed to chuckle " Nah, just thinking about something irrelevant " she looked between Jack and Margaret, willing the pitiful expression on their faces would disappear. She didn't need anyone's pity, she thought.

Managing a smile, she said " I'll be back soon "

They both nodded and Ava walked briskly to the door and went out, but not before waving at little Liam.

She saw Bobby busy with his phone, Ben was smoking a cigarette. She shook her head, wondering how she had coped with living with these monsters. They were the devil's minions, if she must say. She made her presence known by coughing slightly. Bobby looked up first and smirked when he saw her.

" Now now, who do we have here? " He asked rhetorically, the ugly smile still evident on his face.

Ben looked in her direction and smirked too " So, this is where you've been hiding, precious daughter? "

Ava clenched her hands in fists by her sides and gritted her teeth, trying so much to control her anger.

Ben saw her expression and laughed scornfully, thinking he had succeeded in shaking her up with fear. He continued " When I made my research and found out you were here, I couldn't believe it so I came here to confirm if you really worked here " He puffed out a smoke that filled up the air, the smoky smell drifting in her direction.

Trying to suppress her anger, she asked " What are you guys doing here? "

Ben continued like he hadn't heard a word she said " Lucky you, I must say you got yourself a good job coupled with strong protection "

By this time, Ava was boiling with anger " What do you want from me? What are you doing here? " She asked again, louder this time.

" You don't butt in when I'm talking, daughter. You simply listen, have you forgotten your manners? Living in this place has changed your character, huh? "

Bobby laughed " Yes Dad, she thinks working in a mansion has made her rich so she could trample upon us anyhow "

Ava threw him a dirty glare and he looked shocked at first, he was surprised Ava had the gut to glare at him when she couldn't even looked at him right in the face back at home.

He covered his shocked expression with another ugly smirk of his " Oh Dad, she's glaring at me! I'm so scared right now "

Both father and son laughed and Ava shook her head at their stupidity. She wondered how her mother found this gambler romantic, why had she married him anyways? She asked herself this particular question countless times even though she knew the answer.

Bobby snorted when he saw the glare she was still giving him " You better drop that look or I'm gonna slap some sense into you and to hell with whoever comes to intervene " He spatted out.

Ava raised her eyebrows and folded her hands under her breasts " Oh really? Well, I assure you that you wouldn't leave here in good shape if you so much try to strike me " She threatened in a very low voice.

Bobby looked taken aback that she answered him right back. His eyes widened slightly as he registered her words. She couldn't be bluffing, could she? Nahh, he thought. She wouldn't be talking fearlessly if she didn't have a good backup in the mansion.

Ben intervened " Hey girl, watch your tongue, you don't disrespect your brother that way "

Ava laughed scornfully and threw a glare in the direction too " You aren't related to me in any way, my mother who got married to you is dead so tell me, how are we related? By blood? You better snap out of it and get it in your rotten head that you're not my family! I'm not related to you in any way! " She screamed.

Ben staggered back on his feet, too shocked to get words out. Not that he had a comeback anyway. Even Bobby looked shocked, it was the first time she talked back to them. Back at home, she was a small, fearfully kitten so when had she developed her claws? He wondered.

They stared at each other for a moment and held their gaze, not breaking the eye contact for a second.

She spoke up " So what are you doing here? " She asked again.