A Hero In The Dark

Chapter 147: My Love Gone

I don't move.

It is as if my journey with the Loric never happened. I'm back home. With my family. Living again under my parents' roof; under their rules.

There was a time in Mogadorian captivity that I wished I could be home and go back to living a normal life. I was under incredible pain. I begged the universe to bring me back home. I regretted ever leaving in the first place. All I wanted then was for the pain to end and to be held in my parents' arms.

Now, I finally have that chance. I finally have the opportunity to live my life the way a normal teenager would; the way all of my normal friends would. I'll probably never see any of the Loric again. I should be happy.

But I'm not.

I don't think I could go back to living the life I had, even if I wanted to. So much has happened since I left.

I've experienced pain, but I also met some of the greatest people in my life. Aliens, but people.

I helped save Earth. I lived the life of a hero.

Sure, it wasn't all glory and greatness. In fact, a lot of the time, it was misery and doubt and fear. But even still, I wouldn't have missed a minute of it.

I wouldn't have missed a single chance to spend with John. Even if it means I'm truly not safe with him, I'd rather be by his side than living my old life.

My Dad takes my hand.

"Come on honey. Let's go," he says, trying to pull me back in. I can sense my Mother watching; perhaps worrying, but I don't care.

In the span of just a few hours, everything has been taken away from me.

The love I found has been taken away from me. The love that I found. My love.

My love.

I pull my hand out of my Father's grasp, refusing to leave this spot.

And without turning my head to meet his gaze, I speak grimly without emotion, "Are you happy now?"

I can feel my Eneration light in my palms, fueled by raw emotion; by growing rage. I have to resist its flare.

It is difficult.

It wants to be unleashed. I need to put in a conscious effort to bottle up the emotion inside by clenching unclenching and clenching my fists tighter. All to suppress the energy within me.

"Emily-" is all I hear my Father say before my body makes the decision for my mind.

I don't give him a chance to say much of anything, my legs pumping fast and running up the stairs to the room that I haven't been in for years.

I slam the door so hard it even startles me, but I'm too angry to worry about it.

My room is a mess.

Although the bed is made, my things are piled all over the floor. Clean clothes scattered everywhere, art supplies spread across the entire room, my desk bombarded with loose papers. It's as if someone broke in and trifled through my belongings, looking for something important.

That's when I notice it.

My books. The books written by Pittacus Lore. The Elder on the deceased planet Lorien. That which started my journey.

All of them are gone.

From I Am Number Four to Return to Zero. Even the Chronicles and Lost Files.

"No," I whisper to myself, dreading the only possibility as I walk toward my bookshelf that is only half the collection as it used to be.

That is when the anger heightens to full strength.