Continued :
Alexandra had planned on being reasonable, but Audrey’s blatant refusal to reveal Snowpiercer’s secrets only grated at the teen’s rapidly thinning patience. “It is bold of you to assume I am lying. I speak for Mr. Wilford. He does not lie.” Her jaw clenched, unclenched, clenched again. It was once the older woman began speaking of the man who had moulded her into the strong, resilient woman she had become in such a disrespectful way that a furious fire grew within her tiny frame. “Mr. Wilford is a wonderful man. How dare you speak of him like that...” She trailed off, unable to think of other ways to defend her saviour. Aside from him being just that, there was all of the repressed pain, years of abuse, an abuse the girl simply could not recognise as such. Seeing and hearing others attempt to point it out flicked a switch within her. On Big Alice, you respected Mr Wilford or else.
“He is brilliant ... and you ... what do you even do for this train?” An eyebrow raised as dark eyes, sharp with disdain, glanced around the night car. She scoffed as Audrey claimed she should not be inside the car. “You might be the boss of the ‘night car’, but you sure as hell aren’t the boss of me.”
They were alone, in the dimly lit orange hue of the car, but anyone who had walked in at that moment would have had no doubts they were mother and daughter, both so fierce, so alike. It was a likeness Alexandra refused to open her eyes to, even when it stared her square in the face. If anything had the potential to scare her damaged, darkened soul, it would be just that. Wilford had spent years grooming the child he kidnapped into a perfect weapon against Melanie Cavill, but that same little girl hid in the fractures of Alex’s heart. For the sweet child trapped within her, it was difficult enough to accept one mother had left her behind, another would break her entirely, before she had even had a chance to try to piece herself back together.
One slow, menacing step, followed by another. Such a small, malnourished girl appearing almost ghostlike in the lighting, as though straight out of a horror film, eyes glinting cruelly as she straightened to her full height, inches away from her mother’s form. “I’m relieved I have no memories of you. I would be ... ashamed ... to call you my mother.” Her voice was low, as sharp as shards of ice. She continued, “It’s no wonder Melanie left you. Who wouldn’t?”
The poisonous words had found their target and bit down hard.
---- { @whpsiedaisies }
