𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐟-𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝

Letters And Lovers

Rewritten

The body moved, but the mind was slow to comprehend.

One hand was toying with her lighter; the other was searching for a cigarette. But the mind did not commission any of these actions, for it was focused solely on the scene it had witnessed a few minutes prior.

Aurora remembered what Tabitha had said to the boy as she was leaving, words that had for some reason frozen the blood in her veins.

"There was a Hawkins present during your changing, my sweet lad, the gods will bless you for this!"

Huh, blessed. What a fucking joke.

Aurora thought of a notion she had never allowed herself to think of before.

Acceptance.

The act of being welcomed in without any stigma for all your flaws and scars, the act of accepting one for oneself, despite one's glaring half-breed nature. Despite not being fully human and yet, wholly allowing one to have all the rights they need in a society.

You must know why Aurora has never thought of the notion, if you've followed along nicely, you'd know why it was so alien to her.

Aurora the Creature left them all; walked away from Chief Demyan and his soldiers and his broken newborn Harpy behind. Past the anxious and rejoicing parents, past the Severson brothers and their mother, past the Chief whose ancient eyes followed her until she was out of sight.

She trailed softly through the woods, remembering every moment of what she'd just witnessed. She might have stepped on an animal---all she knows is that it was furry and that she's really sorry---but she was too far into her thoughts to notice.

It took her a second to realize why her mind was so befuddled. It was doing a step by step comparison of her changing and the young man's changing. To this day, Aurora thought that all was the same, all the anger and blood and the sickening methods used to keep a changeling under control. She realized why she was so fascinated in the stone-house, because it was a new revelation.

Golden Boy spoke in her mind, his voice muddled like he was screaming underwater. He'd torn his throat raw that night screaming through the door.

"YOU BASTARD! STOP THIS INSTANT! LET ME OUT, LET ME OUT! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!"

Their father hadn't listened, but Golden Boy had screamed sobbed and pounded all of his weight into the door as he desperately attempted to save his helpless little sister.

"LET HER GO! AURORA?! RUN, AURORA RUN! DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH HER, DON'T TOUCH HER! MONSTER - YOU MONSTER! LET HER GO - GODDAMNIT - AURORA RUN!"

But. . .but Aurora hadn't run. She couldn't. She'd been at his mercy, and he hadn't been merciful. He hadn't spared her anything, disregarding the fact that she was his own flesh and blood. That night, she was nothing but his prey, and he'd carved into her like an animal.

Aurora the Creature found herself sat at one of the tables in the Keep, completely unaware of how she had gotten there. She looked around in confusion before deciding that in the absence of rational thought, her body had used muscle memory to take her somewhere familiar.