Chapter 8
Torn Apart
Mixed

◇•◇•◇

Aaron

"Aphmau, wait!" I yell.

"Let her leave!" Garroth spits.

I turn around and punch him.

"Katelyn is right. You really are stupid." I growl.

Then I run off after Aphmau.

"What?! Katelyn-"

"Get out of my face Travis!"

Whack!

Katelyn runs over next to me, as Travis groans. We get away from the others.

"Where did she go?!" Katelyn looks around, stopping. There's 3 ways to go.

"You go straight, I'll go right." I say.

"What about left?" She asks.

"I'll go left!" Kim says.

"What the?!" We whirl around and stare at her.

"Oh, sorry for scaring you! Anyway, I saw what happened to Zane. It wasn't Aphmau. Cathy did it." She says.

"How-?"

"Ghost." She interrupts Katelyn.

"Right... anyway, good." Katelyn runs off straight.

Kim goes left.

I run right.

◇•◇•◇

Aphmau

"Sounds like this girl, Cathy, framed you." Hyria says. I nod.

"I know... I don't know why, I barely remember anything..." I sigh.

"Perhaps she is jealous." Hyria says.

"Jealous? Of me? Why?" I ask, confused.

"Well, you have a family, and someone who loves you. Perhaps she wants that."

"But how would framing me help her?..."

"Good question..."

The door shatters suddenly. I scream and hide behind Hyria. She pulls out a staff and readies it.

I peek out from behind Hyria.

It's a staring contest, to put it lightly.

Between Aaron and Hyria.

He must have come by and caught my scent. I felt scared. Why was he here?

"Aaron?" Hyria asks.

"Hyria? Where's Aphmau?!" He exclaims.

"Why is it your concern? She's told me what happened, and it sounds like you all misunderstand." Hyria replies.

"I know that!" He exclaims, "That's why I'm looking for her!"

He hasn't seen me peeking out yet.

His gaze shifted to me.

Spoke to soon, damnit.

"Aphmau!" He rushes forward, I squeak and hide back behind Hyria. She mumbles something I can't make out, and Aaron slams into an invisible wall.

"Ah! What the..." he mutters.

"Stay back. I understand your engaged to her, but give her space." She says.

Aaron backs away, while I blink back tears, turning away from them.

I didn't do it.

I'm sorry.

"I'm sorry... I didn't do it, I'm sorry!"

I fall over, and start crying.

Hyria kneels next to me, putting her staff down, and hugging me.

Footsteps on the other side of me tell me Aaron is next to me too.

"I'm sorry..." I cry.

"I didn't do it... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

"I know dear, I know..." Hyria whispers.

"Shh... I know... we know it wasn't you..." Aaron says. I flinch as he starts rubbing my back gently, but relax quickly.

"Do you know who actually did it?" Aaron asks.

"From what I heard, circumstantial evidence points to Cathy. Otherwise, only the police can tell." Hyria says.

The phone starts ringing, and Hyria gently pushes me into Aaron. I cry into his chest, and he holds me close.

"Hello?... WHAT?! How did you get my phone number?!... What do you want?... No, no, no, and no... SHE'S BEEN WHAT?!" Hyria yells into the phone.

"Hyria, what's wrong?" Aaron asks. She waves her hand at him, in a one minute gesture.

"Excuse me, but she didn't do it!... I WANT A LAWYER!... GOOD! SEE YOU IN COURT!" She slams the phone down, seething.

"Hyria?..." he seems genuinely scared if her. She takes a deep breath to calm down, and turns to us.

"Aphmau was..."

◇•◇•◇

Taiya

"Kaiya!" I call, running after her. She stumbles over a rock, and I manage to catch up with her.

"Come on, don't run off like that!" I exclaim, helping her up.

"I'm sorry... you can't deny what it looks like, but all my emotions are telling me that she would never do something like that!" Kaiya says, pulling her own hair.

"Stop that!" I snap, grabbing her hands. "Look I get it, I feel the same, the problem is you always follow the logical side of things." I say. She nods.

"That's the problem! All my instincts tell me that she did it, and my emotions are yelling the opposite! It's so hard, and the memory issue doesn't help." She cries.

Never.

In all my life, never.

Have I ever seen my sister cry.

She was the stronger one of us, smart, kind, pretty, calm, always seeing from both sides of an argument and finding a solution, pretty, I can't stress enough how pretty she really is, seriously, people use to confess their "undying love" for her at least twice a week.

I act strong, but just because I can fight and yell doesn't mean I am. We're identical twins, but I hated being confused for her when we were little, so I cut my hair. People started calling me a boy. I started fighting. Kaiya always ended up dragging me away from people while I yelled at them.

"Hey!"

I'm pulled from my thoughts, seeing Kim running towards us.

"Kim?" I question.

"Thank Irene! Have you seen Aphmau?" She asks.

"No, why?" I ask.

"After you ran off, everyone started arguing, and she ran off. I'm glad I found you though." She replies.

"Mom i-is missing?" Kaiya chokes out.

"Oh my Irene, are you okay?!" Kim asks her.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Kaiya says, rubbing her eyes. "Let's go find Mom."

◇•◇•◇

Katelyn

"Aphmau?! Aph!"

Ugh, I can't find her!

"Katelyn?"

I turn around.

A man, with light brown hair and mint green eyes, is staring at me. He looks familiar. A girl is next to him, looking about 10 years old, with dirty blond hair and the same eyes as her father.

Wait what?

"Who are you?" I ask.

"Oh come on Aunty Katelyn! I know it's been a long time, but you gotta remember us!" The girl says.

It sparks a memory.

"Now be good, okay Abby? I love you. Bye!" Jeffory rushes off, and Abby comes inside.

"Whose the kid?" Travis asks.

"Ah! Stranger danger!" Abby squeals and hides behind me.

"No, no! It's okay Abby. This is Travis. He's Aunty Katelyn's... friend..." I assure her.

"Oh. He must be old for his hair to be white." She says.

"Jeffory? Abby?" I ask.

"Oh good." Jeffory sighs in relief. "For a moment, I thought you had forgotten us." He smiles. Abby cheers and runs over, hugging my leg.

"Heh... well, don't take offense when I say I just barely remember you. I got amnesia a little while ago..." I say, picking up Abby.

"Whoa! You've gotten heavier!" I say, forcing a strain in my voice. She's actually still quite light.

"Hey!" Abby giggles.

"You've gotten so much older, you were just a little girl when I last saw you." I put her down, and she grins.

"I was 7. Now I'm 10. 7 - 10 is 3! It's been 3 years!" She says proudly.

"She uh... still hasn't quite grasped the idea of subtraction yet." Jeffory laughs.

"Not quite right Abby." I say, ruffling her hair.

"What?! But 7 + 3 is 10! So 7 - 10 is 3!" She crosses her arms.

"Nope. You did it backwards. 10 - 7 is 3. 7 - 10 is -3." I say.

"Aww! Stop confusing me!" She exclaims.

"Anyway, what are you doing her?" Jeffory asks.

"Looking for Aphmau. Something bad happened, and she's been blamed for it." I sigh.

"Oh no! That's horrible, what happened?!" He asks.

"Zane's been hospitalized. When Cathy told us he was dead, we came running... but it didn't look good. Aph was the only one there. I know she didn't do it, but... you can't deny how it looks. She ran off after everyone started arguing. Aaron and I went after her." I explain.

"Oh, speaking of Aaron and Aphmau, are they dating yet?" He asks.

"Actually, they're engaged." I tell him, smiling.

"WOW! I've missed a lot, haven't I?! What else is new?" He asks.

I brief him on everything that's happened so far, excluding Aaron's species, the lab, and the GF, just saying we all hit our heads on something.

"Wait, so Aaron's a werewolf too? Wow..." Jeffory blinks.

"Wait, so your dating the old guy? Isn't that pedophilia?" Abby asks.

We both stare at her.

"What?" She asks.

"You've been reading too many Wattpad fanfics..." Jeffory sighs.

"Travis isn't an old man Abby." I laugh a little, "White is actually his natural hair colour."

"How's your dad handling it?" Jeffory asks.

"Surprisingly well. Anyway, I need to get back to searching. It was nice catching up with you." I say.

"Wait! Let us help! Aphmau is our friend too." Jeffory says. I pause, then smile.

"Sure, now let's-"

I'm cut off by my phone ringing.

It's Aaron.

"Hey Aaron, what's up?" I ask.

"Aaron? Is everything okay?" Kim asks. It's a group call.

"Good news or bad news, which first?" Aaron asks.

"Good news?" I ask.

"I found Aphmau." He says.

I cheer.

"That's great!" I cheer.

"What's the bad news?" Kim asks.

Aaron takes a deep breath.

Then he says it.

My mood falls.

My eyes well up with tears.

"Katelyn, what's wrong?" Jeffory asks.

"Aunty Katelyn?" Abby asks, grabbing my hand.

"Y-your kidding." I say, voice cracking.

"No... Hyria demanded a lawyer, the court is next week... until then..." Aaron trails off.

"What happened?!" Jeffory exclaims.

"I'm scared..." Abby mumbles.

"Aphmau..." I manage out.

"Aphmau..."