***
She took one step towards me. I took one step back.

"It's me Aeja Bear," her green eyes glistened with tears.

"Your mommy."

Before I could even get a chance to think things through, an irrepressible fury had shrouded my better judgment, and somehow, my fist had connected with her jawline.

She staggered backwards from the impact, almost colliding into a bookshelf. Her hands flew to her mouth in shock when she realized that it was bleeding.

"You bitch!" I screamed as I advanced swiftly towards her.

A pair of strong arms grabbed me from behind and yanked me away from her direction.

"Let me go!" I screamed and kicked.

"Calm down or I'll break your neck!" The person growled, and I could only guess that it was the mutt who had brought us there.

"Not before I break yours," Cade intervened, "Let her go man."

"Who the hell are you?" The mutt hissed at Cade without releasing his hold on me, "I will break all  of your necks!"

"Noah, please," the woman sighed in exasperation and waved one of her hands dismissively, "You will do no such thing. Release her."

She had a cloth in the other hand, softly patting the blood that was trickling down the side of her mouth.

Noah huffed in anger but released me with a not-so-gentle push.

I glared at the mutt. He'd pay for that soon.

My thoughts reverted to the woman.

Somewhere between feeling furious and slamming my fist into her face, it'd occurred to me that maybe she wasn't my mother.

Maybe I'd acted too quickly.

However, looking at her there and then, I just knew it was her.

Those sea-green eyes were unmistakable. Not to mention the hair, the fricking hair!

My mother was standing in front of me.

The woman who had left me.

Anger surged through me again, and I lunged at her.

I froze suddenly, unable to move of my own free will.

I suppressed a groan.

Stupid blood-wielding cave men.

A chair sailed from across the room and knocked me off my feet, forcing me to sit.

I tried to get up, but that proved to be futile.

"Will you please calm down?" Anna rolled her eyes and sighed.

The nerve she had!

"You have no right to tell me what to do. You left me!" I screamed and glared at her, hoping my radiating hatred would somehow choke her.

"Aeja," she sat in a couch across from me, "Let me explain."

"No, I get it," I held her stare, "You're a whore."

She grimaced as the statement stung her, but recovered quickly.

"Don't talk to my mother like that!"  Noah barked.

"Shut up mutt!" I spat harshly. A sudden pain shot through my head, causing me to bite my tongue to stop the screams from escaping.

"Noah!" Anna warned in frustration. The pain slowly ebbed away.

"But mom–" he whined.

"Leave!" She shouted, "And take the rest of them with you."

Shit. I'd momentarily forgotten that the others were present in the room.

Anna's eyebrows crinkled in confusion as they settled on Cassia, who shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably.

"Is she the...Never mind. Just go, please."

"Where should I bring them?" Noah asked sulkily.

"To one of the cabins Noah," Anna answered, "Give them food."

Noah grunted and proceeded to shove them out the door.

He shot icy green darts my way and gave me his middle finger before leaving the room.

Anna's eyes were trained on me.

"I don't want to be here," I told her with a low growl.

"I know," she leaned back in the couch, "But you are, and I want you to hear me out."

I scoffed.

"I don't want to hear anything that you have to say. You. Left. Me."

"With reasons!" She screamed, then let out a long sigh, "I had my reasons."

"Oh I know," I nodded my head dramatically, "Because you were cheating on my father."

She winced and glanced away.

Yeah we were hitting home now huh?

"You don't understand," her voice cracked.

I stared at her impassively, my anger only growing.

"You need to calm down," she reprimanded with a frown.

Really?

"You're an empath. Your emotions are supposed to be stable."

I must've been having a bad case of déjà vu. That's the same thing Katherine said.

"Screw you," I twisted my face in disgust, "Don't pretend to care about me now: after 12 years!"

"As I said before," she held my stare, "You don't understand."

"Oh I understand clearly alright!" I muttered, " You ran away with your new family. You chose them over me. You chose to run away and live here!"

I glanced around.

"I don't even know what the f**k this place is. You left your family to start up a refugee camp? To live as a savage?"

I raised my eyebrow.

She pursed her lips. "This is not a refugee camp. Neither are we savages. It's a free village of wielders."

"Right," I rolled my eyes, "That doesn't change the fact that you left Dad and I...For them."

My voice was dripping with hatred.

She suddenly shot up from the couch, "I did what was best for you!"

"No. You did what was best for you, your other kid and your vagina."

A ghost of a smile formed on her lips.

"You remind me of myself when I was your age..."

"I am nothing  like you!"

I may have looked like her, but that's where all similarities stopped.

"Aeja I'm sorry..." She sighed and tried to touch me.

"Sorry!?" I cried incredulously and flinched away from her impending touch.

I was impervious to the hurt that shone in her eyes.

She couldn't actually believe that 'sorry' could fix everything? What did she expect me to do? Jump into her arms and cry 'mommy,mommy'?

Well screw that and screw her.

I just wanted to get as far away from her as possible.

"I know it won't fix anything immedia-"

"Wait you actually think I want you as a mother? You actually think I want us to sing kumbaya and bond over old family albums and eat biscuits?"

"I don't expect you to just–"

"I don't want to be here! Let me leave with my friends and be on my way!"

"Aeja calm down..." She pleaded.

"No!" I shot up from the chair.

"Calm. Down." She commanded fiercely and stared into my eyes.

A strange and sudden tranquility took over my body. I slumped into the chair and sighed, feeling as if I could fall asleep right there. I felt euphoric, like I could jump on clouds and ride ponies.

What the hell was happening?

"What did you do to me?"

"I calmed you down."

"So you can control minds?" I querried, "Why didn't you control dad's so he wouldn't find out what a whore you are?"

She pinched the spot between her eyes and shook her head.

"No, I'm an empath just like you. I suppose you didn't know that empaths can alter the emotions of a person?"

I remained silent. Ofcourse I didn't know that.

"I could teach you one day," she smiled.

No thanks, I thought. What if her harlot ways were contagious?

"Now," Anna continued and sat down when she realized she wasn't going to get a response, "I want you to understand that I left because your father had found out and I just... I got scared. So I ran."

"How long was the affair going on for?" I asked.

She hung her head. "Before you were born."

I should've been angry, but it seemed she had made me imperturbable.

"Why didn't you leave before anyone could get hurt?"

"Because...I loved our little family."

I grunted. "Evidently not enough."

She shook her head. "You're too young to even comprehend all of this."

"Too young?" I raised my eyebrow, "I have been on the run for over a month. I have had way too many near-death experiences. Found out that my dad is the leader of the dark clan, been–"

Her eyes widened in shock.

"Clay is the leader of the Dark Clan?"

Shit.

"I just want to get out of here..." I changed the subject.

"I know you're angry at me Aeja but... Your dad left you too... You know that, right?"

"Yes..."

How could I forget?

"I know that, and I hate you both."

"You don't mean that," she shook her head sadly, "You're just angry."

"I hate you both," I reiterated slowly, hoping my words would resonate with her, haunt her.

"I want to leave now." I could feel anger slowly seeping back in.

"Just, stay a few more days," she pleaded.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" I slammed my fist against the chair handle, "I want to leave. I don't want to be near you."

She nodded.

"Noah," she called out.

The door opened to reveal the mutt.

"You called me, mother?"

The thought finally hit me like a boulder. He was my half-brother.

I swear I was about to throw up.

"Take Aeja to one of the cabins so she can get some rest. Get her something to eat as well."

I glared at her. "That's not what I meant!"

She ignored me and took a book from her shelf.

"Yes mother," Noah walked up to the chair and hauled me up by one hand.

"Let go of me!" I warned and tried to bite him. He rolled his eyes, threw me over his shoulders and used his abilities to make me a temporary paralytic.

He veered me towards a cabin-looking formation with a canvas covering the 'doorway'.

Some of the villagers stopped what they were doing to absorb the scene.

Nothing to see here savages! I wanted to say.

The inside of the cabin was dank and cold, holding only a small bed, a semi-clean toilet and a miniature table.

I shrieked when Noah threw me onto the bed.

"Stay put." He warned with his index finger in my face.

I knocked it away.

He frowned and went over to the exit where another man stood.

They spoke in hushed tones.

I wanted to leave; but where were the others and how would I get pass the blood-wielding mutt?

I scrambled backwards on the bed and drew my knees up to my chest.

Honestly, my mind was reeling. I had just met my mother: the woman who had left me for another family.

I also found out that I had a half-brother. He must've been the kid Anna always brought to the house when Dad was away.

There were no words to describe how I was feeling.

Betrayed was one though.

I wanted to scream, to fight, to cry.

I didn't cry though. I would never waste precious tears on the bitch.

The mutt, Noah, returned soon after with a plate of food in his hand.

"Eat." He placed it on the bed and stood there watching me.

I didn't move.

"Eat!"

I still didn't move.

I looked up at him. "Where are my friends?"

"Dead." He stated, deadpan.

He must've noticed the horror on my face because he rolled his eyes and added: "I wish."

Relief washed over me.

"Now eat."

For all I know it could've been poisoned.

"If we wanted you dead, you'd already be dead," he rolled his eyes for the fiftieth time..

"Oh so you're mute now?" He growled when I remained silent. I could see he wasn't very patient.

"Eat or I will force you to."

"Screw. You. Mutt."

"Fine!" He hissed and ran a hand through his dirty-blonde hair, "Starve then. See if I care."

I yawned, indicating my disinterest.

"I'll leave it on the table," he muttered.

"I'm not hungry," I stated proudly. The rumbling in my stomach betrayed me.

He smirked and placed the food on the table before leaving.

After a few minutes, I slowly rose from the bed and gingerly approached the doorway. I peeked out. The place was empty.

I quickly pushed the canvas away and stepped outside.

"And where do you think you're going?" Mutt appeared at the side of the cabin with his arms folded across his chest.

F**k.

"I want to pee."

"There's a toilet inside."

"It's dirty."

"So are you."

I looked down at my clothes self-consciously.

"Eat shit." I flicked him a finger and went back inside.

I was stuck.
                                *
After about an hour of staring at the food, I finally let go of my pride and grabbed it from the table.

It was long cold but still tasted good.

I think it was fish or something.

"So much for not being hungry huh?" Mutt walked in and smirked.

I didn't say anything as he took my empty plate and placed a bottle of water on the table.

"Do you want more?" He gestured towards the plate and raised his eyebrow.

I grunted and turned my back to him. My pride had been wounded multiple times for the day. That was enough.

"Well whatever," he said from behind me before leaving.

I didn't realize that I'd fallen asleep until my eyes peeled opened hours later.

The cabin was dark.

It took me a couple seconds to adjust to it. There was only a faint light coming from outside.

I had one plan: find the others and get the hell out of there.

I eased myself from the bed and crept towards the exit.

I peeked outside, making sure to look in all directions for Mutt, before stepping out.

The night air was deadly cold.

I shivered, but was determined to find the others.

I advanced towards a cabin opposite to the one I was in, but was impeded as an arm hooked around my neck.

I elbowed the person in the crotch as to weaken the hold then gripped onto the arm, flipping him over.

I groaned as I saw who it was.

Mutt swiftly eased himself up and grabbed my neck with both legs, then twisted it so my body was forced to the ground.

He quickly got up and pinned both of my arms behind me.

I lifted my chin with a bit of struggle. He was right over me.

"You just don't give up do you?" He sighed.

"Let go of me." I thrashed.

He pulled me up and pushed me inside the cabin.

"Listen," he hissed, with only one side of his face illuminated by the dim light outside, "Stop trying to escape. You won't get away until mom wants you to. Give her some credit. She's trying to show you she's sorry."

"Are you serious?" I cried, "She left my family for yours!"

He shoved me towards the bed and flicked on a light.

I didn't even know the cabin had a light switch.

"She left by default." He shrugged.

He was unbelievable.

"Yeah default to get some action from your dad."

He winced.

"You know nothing about my dad!"

"I don't need to. He ruined my life."

His green eyes were ablaze with anger.

"Shut up!"

"Bark on, mutt." I dismissed and toyed with a fray on my shirt.

"I don't like you." He stated.

"Oh my!" I gasped sarcastically, "I'm perpetually wounded!"

He frowned and retreated towards the exit. He stopped suddenly and turned to face me.

"Your dad ruined mine too."

"That doesn't mean we're even," I countered and turned my back to the exit.

I laid there for hours, browsing through the events of the day and fighting the urge to try and escape again.

I knew, however, that Mutt was somewhere out there, waiting.

He was like the annoying big brother I never had, I observed disdainfully.

I chuckled humorlessly at the sick irony.

My thoughts soon dissipated for the night as sleep came and pulled me under.

***Please remember to press the tiny star at the bottom of your screen. Thank you! :)***