``n e w s {Safira/Demetri}

[igloogirl]

After catching her yawning several times of the past few days, Gabriella's superior had finally forced her to take a day off. She was pretty torn about doing so, but Gabriella had finally decided to split her time between catching up on sleeping and doing some hunting. She had arrived home in the early morning to an empty house, which she would have thought was weird, if she didn't already know that Isaac was out with Demetrius searching for Safira. Gabriella was a very worried about that, both for her husband and for her sister in-law's safety. Yet, she figured that all she could do was continue with her job and catch up on sleep while she had her chance.

Before the sun had come up, Gabriella had caught a deer to drink. After burying the kill, she retreated back inside the comfort of the large estate, not wanting to be out too much in the sunlight. Even with the ring, Gabriella found it to be rather uncomfortable being outside during the day. Instead she passed many unfinished rooms and headed to the master bedroom, which at least had a decent floor and a bed. Gabriella shut the curtains and fell asleep.

It was about an hour later that her sharp ears picked up on the sound of a knock from the front door. Slightly annoyed, but not wanting to be rude, Gabriella got up from the bed, put back on her robes over the black clothes she had worn to hunt and headed downstairs. She ran a hand through her hair and then opened the door.

[bugock]

Safira was emotionally unstable, she had been anyways with the pregnancy hormones, but now that Isabelle had exchanged her freedom for Isaac's it was even worse. She felt a bit better now that she was clean and had on another set of clothes, but she was unsteady, she wanted her brother back. Safira was on the edge of tears yet again, now that it was up to her and her husband to tell Gabriella what had happened. She looked up tearfully at her sister-in-law, hands resting atop her very pregnant belly. Aurora stirred a bit, her feet lightly kicking again her mother's hands. When words failed to come, Safira directed her gaze downward, defeated.

[igloogirl]

Shocked was an understatement compared to how Gabriella felt when she saw that it was Safira at her door. She hadn't known that her sister in-law had been rescued, so seeing her was extremely surprising. "Safira!" Gabriella exclaimed, giving Isaac's sister a soft hug. Then she heard the anxious heartbeats of Safira and Demetri and took a step back. "Where's Isaac?" Gabriella asked, feeling her heart sink. She quickly gestured them inside; whatever this was, it was not a conversation to be had with them on Gabriella's doorstep.

[bugock]

Safira stepped inside cautiously as Aurora became a bit mroe active, starting to adjust her position and stretch out a bit, making Safira wince slightly in discomfort. She was grateful for Gabriella's embrace, but she wasn't quite sure how to get the words out, she felt helpless. Eventually her brain was able to connect to her tongue, so she started talking. "Isabelle would only let me go if she kept Isaac or Demetri a-and she made me chose wh-which one she would keep... And I'm so s-sorry!" Safira blurted, no longer able to contain her tears.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella took a step backward at the news, taken entirely off-guard. She had certainly not been expecting Safira to say that she had allowed Isabelle to take Gabriella's husband. For a moment, anger flashed in Gabriella's eyes. Then she realized that it was hardly Safira's fault; Gabriella might have done the same in that situation. "Do you have any idea where she took him?" Gabriella asked.

[bugock]

Safira shook her head, no longer able to generate any words. The tears continued to splash down her cheeks, she felt awful, giving up her brother for her husband. But what was she supposed to do? Either way was going to be negative. Safira hated Isabelle, she truly did. But now all that was left was to hope that Isaac would fare as best as he could. Safira would never be able to forgive herself if he died, she already felt guilty enough as it was. And the worst part was that Isaac really could be anywhere, there was no telling where Isabelle might have taken him to.

[broken]

Demetri had been entirely silent for the duration of giving his sister-in-law the news. He felt terrible, felt sick. It was all his fault that Isaac had been taken. He shouldn't have allowed it, he should have stayed behind. At Gabriella's angry outburst, he stepped back, but kept his hand in Safira's.

[bugock]

Safira tightened her grip on Demetri's hand without even thinking about it, now more than ever she needed to know that he was there. Spending several months in near solitary-confinement had scared her out of her mind, she was terrified to be alone, she was currently dreading the day that Demetri would return to teach school. Safira bit her lip and wished she could stop crying, but she knew that once she had gotten started there wasn't any stopping until she had finished entirely. Aurora gently kicked at where Safira's hand was resting, as if to assure her mother that whatever was wrong would be all right in the end. She gingerly rubbed her stomach, continuing to bite down on her lip.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella mumbled incoherently under her breath, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do about this. She inhaled and exhaled deeply before speaking again. "Alright," Gabriella said, her voice entirely calm. She refused to allow herself to show how she was truly feeling. "Thank you for telling me," she added, none of the panic she was feeling entering her voice. "You are both welcome to stay here for as long as you would like. There's food in the fridge, too, if you're hungry."

[bugock]

Safira opened her mouth to say something, anything that might be applicable to the situation, but her throat was only able to conjure a couple of odd-sounding syllables that could not be formed into words that made any sense. So instead of standign there looking like a crying idiot, Safira instead closed her mouth and nodded once. After a second she released Demetri's hand, and then brought her sister-in-law and close friend into an embrace. "I'm so sorry," Safira whispered through her tears.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella was a bit surprised when Safira embraced her again, but she returned her friend's hug willingly. She knew that this wasn't Safira's fault, but a small part of Gabriella was still a bit angry with her sister in-law. Still, the larger portion knew that all the blame lay with Isabelle. "It's not your fault," Gabriella whispered back before letting go of Safira.