He drove us directly back to the house, hordes of vampires flooding the streets emitting waves of rage. It pained me to think how much torture was occurring at that moment in time, how many humans were suffering due to a rebellion that I myself had a hand in. Feelings of guilt flooded me, but I had little time to dwell on them.

''Aiden, what are we doing?'' He darted out of the car, heading towards the house faster than my eyes could follow. It took me what felt like an eternity to make it in after him, only to see him pacing and pulling at his hair, agitated.

''I don't understand what is going through that woman's mind,'' He continued to pace, voice frustrated, ''It's like she hasn't even considered the repercussions.''

He was right that the Queen really must have been acting on instinct alone, her plans seemed to have no real thought in them. My suspicions were that it was obviously her way of lashing out at her son, proving the point that his behaviour would be met by a fight.

At the thoughts of his family, my mind snapped to thoughts of my own. My father's ideals were living on in the rebellion, but I don't think even he could have stood up to this kind of attack, I wondered if the rebels even knew this was coming. Then, what of my mother? She was probably alone and terrified, maybe for me.

That made up my mind.

''Aiden, please, you have to take me to see my mother. I can't leave her alone in this, she's the only family I have left.''

Aiden stopped at my words, his scorching eyes turning to burn into mine. For a moment, I wondered if he was even going to acknowledge what I had said, or just start his pacing again, ''If that's what you want, then I'll take you to see her,'' he said.

''Really?'' I couldn't help but be completely shocked. I mean, even with my relationship with Aiden, I would have thought that he'd come up with some sort of excuse as to why we couldn't go and see her.

Maybe the fact that she had been married to the leader of the rebellion. Though, in her defence, I doubt she knew that.

Although, she probably wouldn't have minded fighting against a force she hated.

My thoughts were processing slowly, all troubled by the fact that I may be about to see my mother again. The woman whose face had not left my mind since the day I'd left her. Of course, I wasn't entirely sure how she'd react to my being with Aiden, and obviously not too cautious of him considering I would be leading him to her.

''If she means so much to you, then I want her to be safe too.''

I reacted without really thinking, launching towards Aiden and wrapping my arms around him in a tight hug. It was pretty uncharacteristic for me to be so forward, which meant that it took a few seconds for him to react, holding me close.

''Thank you, Aiden. You have no idea how much this means to me.''

We shared a smile.

-*-*-*-

My street was empty, a stark contrast to my last memory of it where it had been filled with marching teenagers. Curtains were drawn, lights off in every house we passed, only the wind rustling its way through the trees filled the silence.

My home sat unmoving, seemingly not having changed since the day I had left it. What worried me though was the state that my mother could have been in. Yes, she could take care of herself, but I knew that she had kept up a brave face the day we'd parted, for my benefit.

It would only hurt her more to hear about my father, her husband. It felt like a sort of betrayal to withhold that information from her though, no matter her reaction.

I stepped out of the car as we pulled up, tentative however to approach the house. It was difficult to predict my mum's reaction and whether I was prepared for it.

''She's in there.'' Aiden said matter-of-factly. His words made me momentarily confused, but obviously with his advanced hearing, I shouldn't have been shocked that he knew that.

His confirmation gave me the confidence to walk up the drive. Aiden couldn't have been far behind, his steady footsteps thumping in time with my heart.

My knuckles hit the hardwood of our familiar front door before I gave pause. I took a step back, not wanting to pounce on my mum in fear of scaring her, goodness knows what she must have been feeling in the moments following the Queen's announcement.

A voice spoke through the barrier, as strong as it had been the last time I'd heard it, ''Who's there?''

Tears immediately sprung to my eyes, ''It's me, mum.'' I clenched my hands into fists to stop them shaking, knowing that my mother wouldn't approve of me showing these signs of weakness in front of my Master. But then, Aiden had already seen me in many of my different emotional states, it must have been lost on him by then.

There was a brief moment where none of us spoke, my eyes drifting to land on Aiden whose hard gaze stared right back. If I didn't know him, it would have seemed scary, but his nature was a part of the reason for that.

''Violetta?'' My mother sounded cautious, which I didn't blame her for. In her mind this could have been some sort of trick, to lead her out of her home. It was such a shame that us humans were to live each day with the thought that it could be our last, meaning we had a hard time trusting anything that seemed too good to be true.

Certainly for any family, this would be too good to be true, much like it had been difficult for Hazel's family to accept.

''Yes, it's me. Mum, we came to see you, I wanted to know that you were alright.'' Desperation seeped into my tone, something that I hoped would help convey my honesty to her.

But, she instantly became suspicious, ''We? Violet, who is with you?''

''My Master, mum. Please, open the door. He brought be here to see you again, I asked him too. This isn't a trap.'' I shoved my hair out of my face in frustration, holding back from knocking on the door again. Every part of me wanted to feel the comfort of my mother's arms.

''Violet, I can't trust that you aren't compelled.'' My mum spoke again, her words feeling like a stab to the heart, making me lose hope that I would be able to see her again. It would be hard for her ever to believe that I wasn't being used in some way.

Aiden nudged my arm, grabbing my attention as my eyes snapped to his. He inclined his head towards the door, raising one eyebrow in question. I nodded, understanding that he was asking for permission to get involved, which wouldn't hurt considering I wasn't doing well to convince her.

''Mrs Simmons? I brought Violet here at her request. She's here without any of my influence and would like to see that you are safe. I assure you there are no dark intentions.'' His words and tone reminded me of how he had tried to reassure Hazel's parents. Though, my mother seemed much harder to persuade.

Nevertheless, it did work.

The door creaked open an inch on its hinges, just enough for me to make out one half of my mother's form. I let out a sigh in both relief and disbelief at seeing her again.

She hadn't changed at all, still the same, strong role-model that I'd left all of that time ago. Although, this time she was grasping tightly to a knife in her left hand to be used for what I guessed as self-defence. It was a smart move considering the hunt that was probably about to begin from the vampire's perspective.

Still, my throat tightened at the sight of her.

I smiled reassuringly, able to encourage her to open the door another fraction so that the rest of her was in sight. I wasn't sure what she must have thought of me, although I had started the day dressed to impress, that had probably gone downhill due to all of the mixed emotions and frazzled nerves, ''Do you mind if we come in?''

She looked me up and down, her eyes softening a little but hardening again as they landed on my company, ''You should not be so trusting of him, Violet. His family is the worst of them all.''

I was surprised that she obviously recognised him, as it had taken me a while to put the pieces together when we'd first met. It was true that I didn't know a lot about my mother's time in slavery, but her comment made me all the more curious.

''You know Aiden?'' I couldn't help asking, although my muscles itched to hug my mother once again. It probably wasn't safe to throw myself at her whilst she wielded that knife though, the situation needed to calm a little before any of that.

''It's a story for another time,'' she said, Aiden seeming intrigued by this as well. Whatever the story was, it obviously wasn't a direct meeting between the two considering Aiden wasn't showing any signs of recognition, ''Get in before the other vampires come around, it's only a matter of time.''

She ushered us inside, seemingly more concerned for my safety and momentarily accepting my trust for Aiden. Though, by the look on her face I could tell that she would still be ready to stop him if he made any sudden movements.

I wasn't entirely sure how far a knife would get her with Aiden.

The house seemed in perfect order, as I remembered, even the smell bringing back memories of home and comforting thoughts. A wave of love washed over me at the images of all of the family times we had had in the house, forgetting the cruelty of the outside world.

Aiden made himself at home, taking a seat on one of two sofas in the centre of our rather bland living room. This gave my mother the confidence to lay down her weapon as her eyes followed him, her face soothing into one that seemed to be much more familiar as she tugged me into her arms.

''I'm so glad that you're here. I've been constantly worried since the day of the auction, seeing you go was worse than the day I left myself.'' I could hear the emotion in her voice that pulled at my heart.

''I was lucky in that Aiden chose to be my Master. The sight of the other vampires was worse that I'd imagined.'' I said, holding back a sob.

My mum pulled back, her lips pulled into a tight line and worry lines becoming more prominent on her face, ''You must not forget that vampires are cruel by nature. Whatever this one has done to make you gain his trust is an illusion, a mask. I thought you understood that a long time ago.''

I took a step back, no matter how much my mind protested, ''He won't hurt me.'' I said with confidence, casting a glance in Aiden's direction. He was doing well to act unthreatening, seemingly engrossed in staring around the room.

''I hope you're right. Just, don't ever let your guard down.'' Her voice was low, words a whisper.

I nodded, mustering a small smile for her benefit. If there was anything that I'd learnt during my time as a slave, it was to expect the unexpected. Especially when it came to vampires.

-*-*-*-

A/N Thank you for reading this chapter! Please remember to leave a vote and comment if you enjoyed, it really means a lot to me. :)