When It Breaks

| FIFTEEN |

"What do you want to do now?" Ray asked, making me loosen my grip on the cell phone.

After hesitating for a while, I replied, "I don't know, I guess I have no other choice but to go back to my parents."

"Back to the West Coast then," Richard said.

"On a second thought, what are the chances that Luciana will not be waiting to grab you the second you get back to West Coast?" Ray added.

Shrugging, I replied, "One in a million chance is still a chance and I will take it, Ray."

He nodded and I stood up, crossing my bag over my body.

"Thanks for all your help, Richard, you are a wonderful person," I said sincerely.

'You are a wonderful person when you are not in my head all the time,' I added in my head.

His lips turned up into a small smile which developed into a full-blown laughter then he patted my shoulder.

"It was no big deal. What can I say, I love being in people's heads? Stay safe, sweetheart, and don't let her get you."

Smiling, I gave him a small hug and he stiffened before hugging me back. After pulling away from the hug, Ray came to stand beside me, his hand brushing against my back. I inhaled sharply, clearing my throat.

"You sure you don't want to come with us?" Ray asked.

I stared at Richard, hoping he would agree. It would be great if he did.

"Raymond, you know why I can't. I swore I would never get involved in the affairs of mortals anymore," Richard responded then turned to me. "I am sorry, sweetheart, this is as much as I can help you."

I could see in his eyes that he didn't wasn't to talk about it so I dropped the case and smiled instead.

"It's okay if you can't come, you've already done more than enough. I mean, not everyone would keep a stranger in their house, so thank you."

He smiled sadly as I patted his shoulder before Ray and I left for the West Coast. Uncertainty, fear and hope were all I could feel as we exited Richard's cabin.

I could only hope that Luciana doesn't kill me before I learn the truth.

(•)

I grew up as an only child in a huge manor. It was quite lonely even though I had such wonderful parents.

When my parents saw how much potential I had, it didn't take long for them to send me away to the school of the gifted for years and I managed to make two great friends.

After college, all I wanted was to go to another state, gain a lot of power and finally expose the school for the gifted. I had spent eight years studying the school with my friends who were behind me In everything.

I hadn't planned on coming back until I achieved all my goals but I couldn't help but feel a sense of comfort as I stood in front of my childhood home.

I was half expecting the police to surround me the moment I showed up and haul my ass to jail but nothing of that sort happened thanks to Ray.

Instead, I was bombarded with hugs and questions from my parents. It felt weird calling them my parents after knowing the truth.

I doubted I would see them the same way ever again as no matter how they loved and cared for me, it didn't change the fact that they weren't my biological parents.

Immediately after I arrived at my parent's house, they called up Maddison and Amelia who they said were worried sick about me.

Ray disappeared a while back saying he had to report back to base camp but he will be around. He hadn't been gone for a long time but I missed having him around. I shuddered at the thought.

Did I miss Ray?

What on earth had possessed me, Luciana?

It was possible, seeing how much she shipped Ray and me.

"We went to your apartment after your graduation only to find it empty. Where on earth were you and why did you leave for so long without telling anyone?" Mother asked.

Her question drew my thoughts away from Raymond Black and my possible possession.

"I had to go away, mother. I got into some trouble after graduation so I needed to run to find out the truth," I replied, sitting down beside my father.

"What kind of trouble?" Father asked in a concerned voice, looking like he had grown a few grey hairs in the past few days.

Then I told them everything that had happened, hoping they would connect the dots. My mother paled instantly and my father had an incredulous look on his face.

Both of them shared an identical knowing look and I frowned. Their reactions told me they know a lot more than I did.

"Can you please tell me what you know about everything?" I pleaded, my eyes meeting my father who sighed as my mother shot him a desperate look.

I began to notice the differences between my parents and me, differences I never noticed before.

My father had brown eyes and my mother had clear blue eyes but I had forest green eyes with golden tints.

"We never wanted you to find out this way. You know by now that we are not your biological parents. Your Mother, Lilian was our best friend, we grew up together.

"She was in trouble with a witch and fled to our hometown in search of refuge. Marissa and I took her in, alongside her friend, Hunter.

"By then, Lilian was already pregnant with you. She stayed in our town until she gave birth then everything went south. A woman came looking for Lilian one day.

You were barely a month old then. I took one look at the woman and knew she was trouble. I told her Lilian wasn't staying with us while Lilian hid in the storage room with you.

"The woman disappeared and reappeared with Lillian and that was when I realized the woman was a witch.

"But by then Lillian had already given you to Marissa who fled through the back of the house.

"Hunter tried to stop the woman from taking Lillian but failed as the woman was too powerful for him.

"The woman took Lillian, Hunter and me to a kind of altar but later released me because I was 'useless' to her. She needed Lillian's blood for some sort of sacrifice–"

"Why her blood and not some other person's?" I asked, cutting his sentence halfway.

He looked at me anxiously before glancing at my mother who nodded her head. I was not prepared for what I learned next.

(•)

Thank you for reading.