Freaks

32 • unravelled

❝embrace reality, even if it burns you.❞
ｐｉｅｒｒｅ ｂｅｒｇｅ

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  ＩＴ takes me a moment to register that the person with their arms around my neck is not an armed attacker trying to ambush me, but my actual blood relative, Aunt Victoria, trying to give me a hug.

By the time this registers, my hand luggage is already falling halfway to the floor and I'm inwardly chiding myself for still being in the constant state of fight or flight that training at the Dome had drilled into me.

"Welcome home, honey," Aunt Victoria says, giving me a final squeeze before breaking away. She holds me by my shoulders and inspects my face in a motherly way. "It's nice to see you back home."

"Hi, Aunt V," I reply, grinning. "It's nice to be back home."

"Well, not quite home yet," Uncle Ted says, leaning down to pick up my fallen luggage, "we'd have to leave this airport first. But it's great to see you again, Ems. Was your flight okay?"

"Y-yeah, it was. Good! Th-thanks," I reply in a stilted voice, avoiding direct eye contact with him.

After my discovery a few days ago, I can't look at my uncle the same. It isn't because he has changed. To me, Uncle Ted is the same as always: warmth, smiles, a soothing voice and caring eyes. It makes me feel guilty for my behaviour around him now, but the fact still remained that I couldn't trust him. Not anymore. Not after the lies.

"Okay...." Uncle Ted's eyebrows furrow. "Is there anything you need help with? This isn't all your things, is it?"

"No, it's not. I still need to collect the rest of my main luggage from over there," I reply uneasily, pointing to the collection point.

Uncle Ted nods, and with a slight frown makes his way over there.

This would be a lot easier if he acted like a Bond villain instead.

"So how was school?" Aunt Victoria asks me while we trail out the building after him.

"School was good..." I reply, with a vague nod of my head.

The last days of school were relatively uneventful. I'd like to say everyone was teary-eyed and emotional, but it was mostly just Cass. And I think her tears stemmed predominantly from the thought of foregoing her holidays for a month on the island. Of course, Cass wasn't going to be the only one on the island the whole time, some students had no choice but to stay back—especially if their powers were still too temperamental for them to not be under regular surveillance or if they had no family to go back to. And there was Cole as well, who still couldn't remember where he used to live, and at this rate, didn't seem to want to.

Our goodbyes was one of my most awkward ones to date. Unsure of whether or not it would be inappropriate to hug him, I settled for a nice, friendly fist bump .

Inevitably, Cole left me hanging again. With a roll of his eyes, he said, "Don't be an idiot, Emma." And then he brought me into a hug that lasted for a good minute.

He leaned down to whisper his final parting advice into my ear, "Don't do anything stupid," before retreating back inside to the safety of the Dauntley Academy.