#swncw

This time of the day had always been your favorite. The wind would blow throughout your hair, a nice contrast to the heat coming down from the sun. Birds would be chirping and you could hear frogs singing in a pond just to your right, making music for you to hear. The courtyard you were sitting in made these types of days all the better, a nice place to stay as you sat and wait.

Just like always, a wolf strolled through, stopping and starting at you for a second. It's coat was a light orange, almost sand like in color, and shone beautifully in the sun.  Being larger in size, you thought about how easily it could take down other creatures- including you. But you never worried about it, instead simply watching as it sat down on it's haunches, cocking its head to the side in a puppy-like fashion. You watched while it stayed still, waiting for the signal you would give it anytime you saw each other.

A smile and a wave. That was all.

It almost seemed to nod it's head at you before standing up, turning around and making its way back on the path to wherever it was going.

That type of meeting had been going on for longer than you could remember. You would sit in the courtyard, be it spring, summer, winter, or fall,  looking out for the animal. It would stay on the premises all year long, not a single day passing when you didn't see it. But your sighting wasn't always in the courtyard.

Sometimes you would be walking down the hall of your home, looking out the huge glass windows that made up a wall on one side and spot the animal, doing the same gesture as you just had. Other times, you saw it when you were about to go to bed, standing high up on your balcony and looking down to watch it go into the woods surrounding the premises. It shocked you at first that saw it so often, considering your house was one of the largest mansions in the world, but it happened so often that at this point it was expected. Now that you think about it, if you didn't see it, you would be more worried than not.

Getting out of your trance, you smiled to yourself, looking back down at the phone in your hands to pass time, mindlessly reading the screen.

Another hour or so passed before anyone came to get you. You were scrolling through your phone, reading a recent article before the sound of a twig snapping behind you  alerted you.You could who was there, smirking to yourself and pretending like you were oblivious when you felt their presence behind you. Seeing their hand reach over your shoulder, they grabbed for  your phone. Barely missing the man's wrist as it took your device, you got up, turning and facing the him as he blocked you from its reach.

You laughed, trying to grab the device from the man in front of you who was currently holding it above his head, the golden strands of his hair almost blinding you in the light.

“Ooo what're you looking at?” He lead the phone to his face, looking over the article you were previously reading, a large smile spreading his lips.

“Noé, give it back.” He was dodging all your advances, taking joy as you failed to lay a hand on him.

Noé had been one of your personal servants since you were seven, still staying with you even now at the age of eighteen.

Taken in by your family at five years old, he was found on streets of France during one of your parents trips. He trained for seven years, doing who knows what, before being assigned to watch over you when he turned twelve. Still watching over you, he was twenty three, five years older than you and having practically raised you for eleven. The fact that you had grown up together made him more of a big brother than a servant, your relationship making your life comfortable.

Grabbing at his grey t-shirt, you pulled him so that he was unsteady, using his lack of attention to grab your phone before tripping him. Falling to the ground, he looked up at you, fixing his outfit when you started speaking.

“It's about all the gangs that have been showing up. Apparently, a couple of them are getting together and forming larger ones.” You watched as his once happy smile faded for a split second before coming back again, the change so fast that you would've thought it never went away in the first place. Opening his mouth to question him, another person was heard, making you forget what you were going to say.

“What’re you guys doing in here?” You heard a female voice come from behind the both of you, causing your head to spin around to show a taller girl with long thick black hair.

“Olive!” Smiling, you ran over to her, tackling her to the ground while engulfing her in your arms. She laughed, her chest shaking your head with every breath she took in.

Olive, or as her full name is, Olivia Gayoso. She was your second assigned servant. Adopted from a family in Spain. She had been with you for nine years, serving you since she was ten. She had trained with Noé starting at five, him helping her after having trained a couple years longer than her. Even though Noé was older by two years, Olivia always took care of you both like an older sister, insisting that you listen to her.

“Hey y/n. How are you?” She wrapped her arms around you, hugging you back as Noé sat down next to her.

“Good. I was just reading something before you both came. How are you?” You pushed yourself off of her, helping her to sit straight up so you could all talk better.

“That’s good. I'm doing fine, busy as always, but better now that I saw you.” She reached out and grabbed your cheeks, pulling on them as Noé laughed at the face you were making.  Letting go, she sat back, resting all her weight on her hands, and closing her eyes as the wind blew through her hair. “What were you reading?”

You rubbed your cheeks not answering, while pouting as you thought about how you looked, sure they were now red. Noé sighed, choosing to speak up, answering for you as his voice became more serious than before.

“She was reading an article about the gangs and their activity.” Olivia’s eyes opened quickly as her body seemed to tense. She sat up correctly and looked at Noé, and expression that you didn't understand on both of their faces.

“What's wrong?” You looked at them both, not liking that there was something you didn't know going on between them. You had all grown up together, everything being shared between each of you despite your age differences. Now though, the air around you was tense and made you uneasy, but as soon as you had said something, they seemed to go back to normal.

Olivia cleared her throat, getting up and dusting her jeans off before helping both you and Noé up.

“Nothing is wrong, I just remembered what we had originally came here for.” Noé nodded his head, continuing to explain as you started to walk inside.

“You're schedule is pretty busy today, but don't worry, we'll be here for most of it.” Nodding your head, you stepped inside, the coolness of the house prickling your skin.

“First, you have tutoring for three hours. Then, you have vocal for an hour. After that, you have dance and defense for four hours. And lastly, you'll help with making dinner then eat, getting the rest of the time to yourself.”

Sighing, you looked up at them.

“Why do I have to do all of this again? I never leave the house anyways, and I don't know anyone except all the servants and a few of Father's friends.” Noé turned around, petting you on your head as you all stopped in the middle of the hall.

“I know, but it's what your Father wants.” He stopped his movements, looking down at you. “Why are you asking this now though? You've been doing all of this since you were little, what's wrong with it now?”

You looked down at the floor, both Noé and Olivia looking at you with worried expressions.

“That’s the problem. I've been doing all of this since I was little.” You looked up at their faces, trying hard to convey what you were thinking. “I learn, but don't get to do anything with all that I know. I'm taught how to sing and dance, but I never perform for anyone. I know defense, but I've never had to use it. None of what I do makes sense.”

They were silent the whole time you were speaking. They still didn't open their mouth, giving you one more chance to speak.

“I want to do something other than sit in this house my whole life. I'm eighteen, and I've never been outside before, and that's not right.” Finally being done, they both glanced at each other, almost looking guilty of something. Olivia walked over to you, both of her hands on your shoulders as she looked in your eyes.

“We know y/n, and we feel bad about that, really. Sadly, there's nothing we can do about it. So come on, let's go to the first thing on your schedule.” She started walking as you stood there for a second, watching her leave. You felt as though what you had said fell on deaf ears.

Disappointment washed over you as your head hung low, your body following behind her, and Noé walking beside you with an arm swung around your shoulders, trying to comfort you.

After the grueling hours of your schedule were finally over, you started to walk back to your room. The sun was long gone from the sky as stars started to appear outside, filling up the night in a beautiful way. You walked down the large hallways, passing by other house servants who waved and greeted you on their way.

The servants weren’t really how servants were depicted in the movies you had watched, or books you had read. None of them were dressed in any sort of suits or fancy attire, most of them dressing casual with jeans or shorts, leggings or sun dresses here and there. They were all from different parts of the world, so you knew many different languages due growing up around them. The ages of all the servants differed in many years, the youngest being Olivia at 21 and the oldest being your father's main servant at 67.

Nobody spoke very formally, unless there were special guests in the house or a party going on. You were allowed to wear whatever you wanted, sometimes a crop top with shorts, or a sweatshirt with pants. The house was pretty lenient on everything, but they all did their assigned jobs well. You were comfortable where you lived, there were hardly any rules, except for two: Never leave the premises, and Don't go onto the right side of the house unless instructed to.

Even though your home was one of the largest in the world, you still felt trapped. Those two rules had kept you confined your whole life. Even with all the stories the servants told you about the outside world, and all the different ways they tried to bring their culture to you, you couldn't help but feel like you were missing out on a lot.

You sighed as you reached your room, opening the large doors to reveal your even larger room. Walking over to your bed, you flopped down, rolling on your side, and facing the glass doors that opened to your patio.

“I just wanna go outside.” You said the words as a whisper, hoping that they would reach the ears of anyone. But then again, no one was in the room with you. Closing your eyes and taking a deep breath in, you sat up and opened then again, regrouping yourself and your thoughts. Looking around once more though, you saw a note sitting on your bedside table, your name written in a fancy lettering on the outside.

“Oh? What's this?” Gabbing it and picking it up, you flipped it over, opening the envelope and taking the letter out.

'Dear y/n,

      When you see this letter, come to my office immediately. I have something important that I need to discuss with you.

                                      Father’

Reading it, you immediately got up, already heading out the door to where he was.

'Why would he want to see you? You hadn't talked to him in weeks, maybe even months, so what could be so important now?’ Your feet shuffled through the halls, downstairs and upstairs weaving through the house. Your heart was beating fast in your chest, light sweat starting to roll down your face as your breathing sped up.

He had asked to see you, not only that, but in his office to, his office that was located in an area that you were never allowed to enter- the right side of the house.

It took you what felt like hours to finally reach his doors. It was eerily silent, no one around, which was unusual for this time of day. You turned you head straight, looking at the wood faced in front of you. The doors looked huge to you, the presence of your father prominent even outside of them. If you felt intimidated in the hallway, how would you feel actually inside the room?

The thought scared you slightly as you took a deep breath in, placing your hand over your heart in an attempt to calm it down.

'It’s fine y/n. He's just your father. Nothing bad is going to happen. You'll be okay. Just breathe.” Giving yourself a pep talk, you looked straight forward, a wave of courage flowing through your body as you stepped past the doors.

Once inside, the air seemed even worse than you had imagined, all pep talk and courage being left outside as you close the doors. The sound of them shutting seemed to startle you, as you looked around and spotted him, but he wasn't alone.

Noé and Olivia stood by his side, their faces shooting up to look at you as they heard you come in. You father looked up at you, his face serious as he called you over.

“Ah, y/n. Please, come in.” You walked forward slowly at his call, stealing glances at Noé and Olivia who tried to keep their gaze from you.

“What am I here for? What are Noé and Olive doing here?” Your father looked you in the eye and then at them, their bodies visibly slouched as they heard their name.

“Would you like to sit first, or how about something to drink instead?” You father pointed to the chair which you sat in as you shook your head.

“No I'm fine, thank you though. But really, why am I here.” The silence in the room got heavier as you heard him breath in. Slowly, he raised a glass of water to his lips and drank, the time allowing for more unease to slip in as you felt your hands starting to feel sweaty.

“You’ve been doing good around here, haven't you.” You nodded your head, showing you were listening as he continued.

“I've been busy, so I'm sorry I haven't been able to see you or talk to you as much as I've wanted to lately.” You kept nodding, remembering how close you both used to be. When you were little, he was always with you. Your mother, him, and you used to cook together everyday, making meals for the whole house. Both of your parents would call all of the servants working to play large games of hide and seek and tag with you, movie nights would be held on Fridays, large festivals in the courtyards representing different countries on Tuesday- you were always happy. You were still content of course, but everything had gone downhill after while.

Death had arisen in the family when you were six, the whole of the house mourning for quite some time. Your father tried to keep everything intact, still doing all the different activities you used to. But months later work started to pile up for your dad, leaving Noé and Olivia in the positions they're in now. It was hard at first for you, but you had gotten use to it now. That's why all of this just made the whole ordeal even more confusing for you.

“I've been fine, but why are you calling me in here now?” The room went silent as the tension in the room seemed to reach its peak, the largest amount of tension you’d ever felt before. Your father got up, walking around Noé and Olivia moving so he was leaning against the front of his desk.

You stared at him, body frozen as you waited for him to speak. You could feel your heartbeat against your chest lightly, trying to anticipate what he was going to say, but nothing that you thought of could have compared to what came.

“You're moving out of this house.” Your mind went completely blank as you stared at him, nothing registering until a couple of second later.

“What?” Your voice came out as a whisper, the words sound like a breath, but being picked up by your father.

“After thinking for awhile, I think it's time you go out and see the world. There's so much that you don't know, and being trapped behind these walls isn't going to help.” He reached behind him, your eyes following to find an envelope the exact same as the on in your rooms held in his hands. He handed it to you, watching as you opened it to reveal multiple bills of money. “This should last you for a year, your flights ticket is in there, and you'll be leaving tonight.”

You reached searched through the money, finding the ticket with a flight set to leave three hours from now. You were excited, finally being able to leave the house after all these years. The smile on your face was stuck there, ears thoroughly listening to the rest of what he said.

“You'll be moving to a house six hours by flight away from here. School will start in a week. You'll be on your own from now on, we won't be in contact anymore.” The last sentence confused you as the happiness in you started to fade, a distant sense of alarm beginning to build within you.

“We won't be in contact anymore? What do you mean?” He sighed, his eyes looking into yours as they filled with sorrow.

“From now on you are not a part of this family. You will not be allowed back here, and must find a means of living as no more money will be given to you once you run out.” The tone of his voice was empty, void of emotion, and you felt your hand start to shake. Fear welled up in you, multiple emotions moving through your veins as tears stung the edges of your eyes.

“Why? Have I done anything? Is it because I didn't practice hard enough? I'll work harder, I just-” Olivia cut you off, moving and wrapping her arms around you, stroking your hair as her voice came out, just as strained as yours.

“Shh, shh, you didn't do anything. You've been perfect. This isn't your fault.” You sniffles filled the air while you spoke.

“What about Noé and Olive, will they come with me too?” The thought of them being with you made your heart calm down a little and your breathing more stable. You knew that everything would be okay if they just stayed by your-

“No, they'll be staying here with me. But they will walk you to the car that'll take you to the airport. Speaking of which, it's time for you to go now.” Your heart completely stopped along with all feeling around you. How could he just push you out of the only place you've ever known without a second thought. Olivia released you suddenly, walking around your chair to stand in front of your father, clearly as surprised as you were about this.

“But sir, you said that-” He cut her off, his voice harsh and his eyes flashing in warning.

“I said that she is leaving now, and that you are taking her to the car. All of her stuff has already been packed and is waiting in the trunk. Once you are done, report back here.” He turned around, walking back to sit behind his desk. Oliva was also moving, following in his direction until being stopped by Noé.

“Come on, let's go. There's nothing we can do now.” She shook her head, clearly angry by what was going on, but unable to speak her mind. Walking to your chair, Noé grasped your arm, lightly helping you up onto numb legs that trembled under the sudden weight.

Silently, all three of you walked down the hallways. Nobody could say anything, as this whole thing didn't seem real. Noé’s arm was slung around you, giving some form of comfort as Olivia lead you outside and held open the car door for you.

Looking down at the seat in front of you, tears began to flow down your face again. So many questions filled your head that it felt as though it would explode. The pounding sensation you felt flowed through your body from top to bottom, leaving not a single place calm. Your body was frozen, unable to move as you felt two pairs of arms around you.

“We're so sorry. There was nothing we could do. We- we really didn't know that this was how it was going to turn out.” Noé’s voice came from your right ear as Olivia's came from the left.

“We thought that- we honestly didn't know that you would be alone like this.” They were both crying now, voices wreaked as they both took in large gasps of air. You realized that this wasn't hard on just you, but them too. You couldn't let them be sad that you were leaving, they didn't deserve that. Wrapping on arm around both of theirs, and lifting your other to wipe your eyes, you cleared your throat.

“It's fine. I've wanted to be able to see what the world was like for awhile.” You removed their hands and got out of their grasp, turning around so that you could face them. Smiling, you dried their faces, holding their both of their cheeks in separate hands. This would be the last time you would ever see them again. The two most important people in your life were about to be gone forever.

Looking into both of their eyes, you noticed that they must of realized the same thing. Olivia started lightly chuckling, followed by Noé and then you. The sounds filled the air, happiness mixed with sorrow leaving the only thing to be heard in the night. Looking back at the large house, you felt wetness on your cheek.

“I always wanted to see the outside world, but I never thought it would happen like this.” Shaking your head, you closed your eyes. The air blew through your hair, a cool and calming feeling contrasting that of the heat filling your veins as you thought of everything you would be leaving behind.

You felt two pairs of arms wrap around you, two bodies softly cried by your ears as three bodies started shaking in unison. You put your own arms around them, your face going into the crook of one of their necks as your tears mixed onto their skin.

“We’ll always be by your side, promise.” You heard Olivia’s voice from you left, her voice cracking with every syllable as you felt her tears hit the skin of your neck.

“No matter the time, no matter the place, we will be there. Even if you cannot see us, we’ll be right by you.” Noé's voice fell on your right side, a pair of arms around your back holding you tighter as you felt everything inside of you shatter. You didn’t hold your voice back, loud sobs leaving you mixed with gasps for air that you didn’t feel reach your lungs.