WITHERBRANC

chapter 7: The Morning After

Thea's POV – 7:32 a.m.

The sun was already high when I finally got home, but I didn't feel the warmth. My skin was cold, my hands still trembling, and my mind kept replaying the image of Tiffany's yellow eyes staring at me through the darkness.

I did that. I made her that way.

I climbed the stairs slowly, trying not to make a sound, but the floorboards creaked anyway. I held my breath, waiting for my parents to yell at me. Nothing. Silence. Either they were still asleep, or they just didn't care.

I wasn't sure which was worse.

I closed my bedroom door and leaned against it, my head pressing into the wood. The bracelet on my wrist had stopped glowing, but it still felt warm, like Derek's presence was etched into it somehow.

Why did he help me? He didn't have to. He could have let me deal with it alone.

I shook my head. I didn't have time for questions. I needed to sleep. But as I walked toward my bed, my phone buzzed.

Rebekah: "Thea... we need to talk. Please. I saw everything. I can't pretend I didn't."

I stared at the screen, my heart sinking. She had seen me, Ezra, Derek, Tiffany... everything. I had hoped she would think it was a nightmare, that she would convince herself it wasn't real. But she wasn't stupid. She knew.

Now she's going to hate me. She's going to think I'm a monster.

I typed and deleted my response five times before I finally answered.

Thea: "I know. I'm sorry. I'll explain everything. But not now. I need to sleep first. Please, just... wait for me."

I hit send and dropped my phone on the bed. I didn't wait for her reply.

Ezra's POV – 8:15 a.m.

I hadn't slept either.

I was standing on the hill overlooking the town, the same spot where I'd taken Thea just a few days ago. The wind was cold, and I could still smell the faint trace of her fear in the air.

She needs to understand what's happening. She needs to know who she is before it's too late.

I hadn't told her everything yet. Not about the man who attacked her, the one I'd fought in the woods, or about the other creatures that would come for her. She wasn't ready for that. But I couldn't keep her in the dark forever.

Especially not after last night.

My phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number.

Unknown: "We need to talk. Derek."

I almost threw the phone away. The vampire. Of course. He was always watching, always lurking. But he had helped her last night. That meant something.

Ezra: "What do you want?"

Derek: "The same thing you want. To keep her alive."

I stared at the message for a long moment. Then I typed my reply:

Ezra: "Fine. Tonight. The old mill. Don't be late."

I pocketed my phone and looked out at the town again. Thea was down there, sleeping, unaware of what was coming. But I knew. And I knew Derek knew too.

We're going to have to choose a side. And soon.

Thea's POV – 11:43 a.m.

I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. I groaned and grabbed it without looking.

"Hello?"

"Thea, it's me."

It was Rebekah. Her voice was quieter than usual, almost cautious.

"Hey..." I said, my voice groggy. "I was going to call you later."

"I know. But I can't wait. I need to know what I saw last night."

I rubbed my eyes and sat up. There was no point in lying anymore. Rebekah had seen everything. I had to trust her.

"Okay," I said, taking a deep breath. "But it's not a story you can tell anyone. If you want to know, you have to promise me you'll keep it a secret."

There was a long silence on the other end. Then she said:

"I promise. But Thea... are you dangerous?"

The question hit me like a punch to the gut. I didn't know how to answer it. Because I wasn't sure myself.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I hope not. But I can't promise you that."

She didn't say anything for a moment. Then she spoke, and her voice was firmer than I expected:

"Okay. I'll meet you at the park near the school. In one hour."

She hung up.

I sat in my room for a long time, staring at the wall, feeling the weight of everything pressing down on me. Then I got up, got dressed, and went to meet her.

Thea's POV – 12:30 p.m.

The park was quiet when I arrived. A few kids were playing on the swings, and an old man was feeding the ducks in the pond. Rebekah was sitting on a bench near the trees, her hands clasped together, her face pale.

I sat down next to her, not saying anything for a moment. Then she spoke.

"I didn't sleep last night. I kept seeing those eyes. Tiffany's eyes. They were yellow. Like an animal's."

"I know," I said quietly. "I saw them too."

She turned to me, her eyes wide.

"What happened to her, Thea? What happened to Tiffany? And... and what are you?"

I looked down at my hands. They were steady now, but I could still feel the echo of the power that had surged through me last night.

"I don't know everything yet," I admitted. "But I think I'm something that shouldn't exist. A hybrid. Of four different species: vampire, wolf, witch, hunter. They're inside me. All of them."

Rebekah stared at me, her mouth slightly open.

"That's impossible."

"I know. But I made Tiffany what she is. Just by scratching her. My blood... it changes things. It changes people."

She was silent for a long moment. Then she said something I didn't expect:

"So you're like a monster?"

I felt my chest tighten. But I nodded.

"Maybe. That's what I'm trying to figure out."

She reached over and grabbed my hand. Her fingers were warm against my cold skin.

"Then I'm going to help you figure it out."

I looked at her, surprised.

"Rebekah... I don't know if I can protect you."

She shook her head.

"I don't need you to protect me. I need you to be my friend. And friends stick together."

I felt tears prick my eyes, but I blinked them away.

"Okay," I said, squeezing her hand. "Together."

We talked for a while longer, but soon I had to go. The weight of everything was pressing down on me, and I needed to be alone.

Thea's POV – 1:45 p.m.

When I finally got home, the house was quiet. Too quiet. I knew my parents were there, but they weren't making any noise. No TV. No conversation. Just silence.

I crept up the stairs, hoping to slip into my room unnoticed. But the floorboard at the top creaked, and I heard my mother's voice.

"Thea? Is that you?"

I froze, my hand on the doorknob.

"Yes, Mom."

I heard footsteps. She appeared at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at me. Her face was pale, her eyes puffy, like she'd been crying.

"Where were you last night?" she asked, her voice quieter than I expected. "We heard you leave."

I felt a knot tighten in my throat.

"I needed air."

"That was a long time for air," she said.

I turned to look at her. She was holding the edge of the banister, her knuckles white.

"Since when do you care?" I said, the words coming out sharper than I intended.

She flinched. For a moment, I thought she'd yell at me like she always did. But she didn't. She just looked at me with something I couldn't quite read. Guilt? Fear? Sadness?

"Your father and I... we haven't been fair to you," she said. "We've been so consumed by our own pain, we forgot you were hurting too."

I stared at her. I didn't know what to say. This was the first time she'd ever admitted that.

"I know it's late," she continued. "I know we can't undo the past. But we want to try."

I opened my mouth to respond, but no words came out. My father appeared behind her, standing in the kitchen doorway. His face was tired, older than I remembered.

"We're not going to make excuses," he said, his voice rough. "We failed you, Thea. Both of us. And... we want to fix it."

I stood there, frozen, my hand still on the doorknob. Part of me wanted to run to them, to hug them, to pretend everything could go back to normal.

But the other part, the part that had learned to protect itself, couldn't trust them.

"I... I don't know what to say," I finally whispered.

My mother took a step up the stairs, her hand reaching out toward me.

"You don't have to say anything right now," she said. "Just know that we're here. And that we love you."

I felt tears sting my eyes, but I blinked them away. I couldn't cry. Not in front of them.

"I need to be alone," I said, my voice shaking.

I turned and walked into my room, closing the door behind me. I leaned against it, sliding down to the floor.

They said they loved me. For the first time in months, they said they loved me.

But I didn't know if I could believe them. Or if I even wanted to.

I pushed myself off the floor and walked to the window. The garden stretched out below, overgrown and wild. The flowers were dead. The grass was yellow. No one had tended to it since Ben died.

I stared at the empty space, and without warning, the memory hit me.

---

FLASHBACK – Thea, Age 5

I'm in the garden. The sun warms my face, and the grass tickles my bare feet. My mother is sitting on a checkered blanket, reading a book. My father is nearby, with a hose in his hand, watering the flowers.

"Look, Dad!" I shout, holding up a dandelion. "I found a wish!"

He puts down the hose and kneels beside me. "And what are you going to wish for?"

I close my eyes tight and blow. The seeds fly through the air like tiny stars.

"I wished that we'd all be together forever," I say, proud of myself.

My father lifts me into his arms and spins me around. My mother laughs from the blanket.

"That's a good wish, Thea," he says, and kisses my forehead. "We'll always be together."

END OF FLASHBACK

I opened my eyes. The garden was still empty, still overgrown, still dead.

But we're not together anymore. And we never will be again.

I pressed my hand against the glass, feeling the cold seep through my fingers.

I wished for the wrong thing. I should have wished for Ben to live. I should have wished for my parents to stop hating me. I should have wished for a different life.

But wishes didn't work. Not for people like me.

I turned away from the window and sat on my bed, staring at the bracelet on my wrist. Derek's bracelet. The one that had glowed with my power.

Maybe I can't fix the past. But maybe I can stop the future from getting worse.

I didn't know how. But I was going to try.