Hunters

nine

“She’s just an infant Henri! Don’t you dare take her from me!” A woman sobbed and I turned around to find myself in a log cabin.

The woman had long brown hair, grey eyes like mine and her willowy form was exactly the same as mine. The baby she held clutched to her chest had a feathering of dark black hair and it slept soundlessly, oblivious to it’s mother’s distraught feelings. A pang of pity shot through my stomach and I ran forward to help protect the mother and child.

A man stood before them, his raven black hair striking with his green eyes. I noticed the scar that cut over his left eye. When I tried to push him back, my hand went right through him and I realized that it was a dream.

“Aevery, please.”

“No!” The mother- Aevery- backed up, tears filling her eyes. “You’re her father, how could you do this to us? She’s our baby!”

His jaw clenched and I saw how he was struggling with his emotions. Pain flashed through his sad eyes and his head ducked. “If she stays then she’s going to die. We have to protect her, love. Willow isn’t safe here.”

I froze, staring up at the man before me. He’d called the baby Willow. Is that the same Willow as me? I glanced between the two adults in the room, my eyes widening as I realized why the woman had looked so much like me. Her frame, her eyes, her nose, the shape of her mouth- they were the same as mine. My gaze flickered to the man and noticed that his hair color, the shape of his jaw and his ears were exactly like mine.

“I can’t let her go!” Aevery sobbed and Henri pulled her into his embrace.

“We have to. I want her to live a full life, she can’t be killed so soon.”

After a few tense seconds, Aevery finally relented and handed the baby over to Henri, kissing it’s forehead before moving to stand by the window. “Take her away now. Before I try and get her back.”

Henri moved from the room and I heard a car start up a few seconds later. I slowly walked up to the woman and saw that she had her eyes closed, tears streaming silently down her face. Was this woman my mom? Am I adopted, just like Carrie thought four years ago?

I reached out for her, but the whole room disappeared and I screamed, not wanting to leave yet. My body felt like it was broken and I sobbed, hating whoever had taken me from the woman’s side...

My eyes snapped open and I found myself staring up into a set of concerned blue ones. Bright lights beat down at me from behind the face hovering over me. I groaned and squeezed my eyes shut again. Trying to roll onto my side, I cried out as pain raced up my leg.

“Willow, it’s okay. You’re going to be okay.”

Nick’s voice made me open my eyes again. I squinted against the lights and he turned around briefly to turn them off, letting the sunlight light the room from the window. My eyes swept around the room, landing on the woman in the corner. Her eyes were wide, filled with tears that glistened in the faint light.

“Danielle.” I said the word coldly, my face settling into a frown. She widened her eyes even more so and choked on her next breath. My eyes took in her face and I realized that I looked nothing like her, wondering why I didn’t notice it earlier. Could I really have easily let her make me think that she was my true blood mother? Another figure moved into the room and I froze, hatred rolling off me in waves. I tried to stand up, but my leg felt heavier than usual and I looked down to see it was encased in a cast.

“I- I called him.” My ‘mother’ stammered and I gaped at her, hurt flowing through me. “He deserved to know that you were in the hospital.”