Into The Light

9

I gasped as the words left Poppy's mouth. My eyes widened and brimmed with tears.

"H-how.." I paused, trying to stop my voice from shaking.

"How old is he?" I asked, but had a feeling I already knew.

Poppy sighed. She knew exactly why I asked. "Evangeline, please don't take it the wrong way. It wasn't like-"

"How old is he?!" I cried, cutting her off.

She sighed, dropping her head. "He's seven"

The tears in my eyes slowly escaped. I stumbled backwards, shock taking over my actions. I turned and ran into the woods. My tears carried on falling as I ran and I didn't have the energy to wipe them away. That boy was born after I was thrown out. In fact, they hadn't even waited a year since I had left to make the little bastard.

My tears were fogging up my vision and I tripped, twisting my ankle and falling face first into the dirt with a thud that knocked the air from my lungs. I shuffled myself back leaning against a tree, hugging my knees to my chest. I sobbed and buried my head in my arms.

I wasn't angry at my parents for having another child, I knew they would eventually but I never expected them to have one so soon after I left. I felt like they didn't want me anymore, I was replaceable to them. I didn't even see the point in telling them that I was back because of this. Did I really mean nothing to them?

When my tears had slowed down I looked around the forest. I remembered running through this forest when I was banished. Scared of the wolves that chased me through the boarder. My defense mechanism was to run away and I considered running over that boarder again, except this time would be voluntary and I would never come back.

I heard a twig snap to my left and my head shot to the direction. I couldn't see anything. I pulled myself to my feet, using the tree for support and pulled a knife from my pocket. I hid myself with the tree ready to pounce on whatever the threat was.

I heard another snap, then another, mixed with rustling leaves. It was a person walking towards me. They stopped just behind the tree.

"Evangeline? It's me" Carlos spoke, softly, as if he knew I was holding a knife. "Please don't stab me."

I chuckled and put the knife away. I walked out from behind the tree and hugged him, holding onto him like he was my life support and more sobs racked my body.

He whispered soothing things to me, wrapping me tightly in his arms. "Poppy told me what happened and I came as soon as I heard. Are you alright sweetheart?"

He pulled back to look at me and wiped away my tears.

I shrugged, not really sure how to answer him. "My parents replaced me"

His face softened. "Sweetheart, I'm sure that isn't the case. There's probably an explanation"

I scoffed. "They didn't even wait a year before he was conceived. What explanation could they possibly have?"

Carlos sighed. "I don't know but maybe you should hear them out." .

"What if they don't want me anymore?" I muttered, my head dropping.

Carlos shook his head with a light chuckled. "Then they must be crazy. I can't imagine there is anyone out there that wouldn't want you in their life."

This made me smile. I knew there was a reason I didn't keep running from him. He was so caring and always knew the right thing to say to me.

I mulled the situation in my head. If they didn't want me, I'd still have him and honestly, that's all I needed. I was known for being over sensitive and jumping to conclusions. Maybe I could give them a chance to explain what happened.