last Hope

Wake Up Call

Lily

What happened? 

I have no idea where I am. Even with enhanced sight and hearing, there’s nothing. The last thing I remember is crying in Luca’s arms. I must have fallen asleep, but that still doesn’t explain anything. 

‘I think we’re in a basement. Who’s, I have no idea. And for some reason we’re in silver chains.’ The silver chains cause my strength to be drained but only to the point of a normal human. Probably part of the reason I can't see as well.

All I can think of, even in this situation is, I hope the boys are safe. I don’t want them to be alone with Dad, but I’m sure it’s safer than here. Wherever here is. 

I try to distract myself by talking to Molly. “So, you think you could explain the whole other consciousness to me now?” 

She answers in a hesitant voice. “Sure.” 

She pauses for a moment to find the right words to explain. “You’ve heard people talk about their conscience right. You know, that little voice in the back of your mind that tells you right from wrong.” 

I answer a little confused as to where this was going. “Ya?” 

“Well, that’s me. I’ve always been here, you just couldn’t hear me as well until you shifted.” 

“OK, I guess that makes sense. But why couldn’t I hear you until after I had shifted?” 

“Well, when you shift your senses are enhanced and so then you have the ability to hear me. Humans have the same conscience in them as well, but they can't hear it like this because they never go through that shift and their senses are never strong enough.” 

Before I get the chance to reply, I hear heavy footfalls making their way down stairs. Bright light floods into the room not long after and I flinch closing my eyes as tight as I can. 

When I open them again, I see him. My Father. He looks rough. He has a black eye that's swollen shut, a busted lip with gross yellow pus coming out, and it looks like someone broke his nose. Luca comes to mind. 

I laugh quietly to myself, but he looks beyond pissed. 

“Do you like what your supposed mate did to me.” He gestures to his face. “Too bad he can’t be here to protect you now.” A wicked smile overtakes his face and makes a shiver go up my spine, and I shudder not knowing what’s to come while Molly whimpers in the back of my mind. 

He continues towards where I’m chained up, staring daggers at me with that same creepy smile the entire time. Something was off though. He seemed different from usual, almost spaced out. 

As he got closer I saw the small figure of a woman only a few steps behind him. My Mother. 

She stepped out from behind him, finally showing herself. I hadn’t seen or even talked to my Mom in almost two years. We were never very close before she had decided on leaving us about two years ago, but it still hurt for some reason when she left. 

After we had initially left the pack she was happy for a while, her and Dad were even getting along better. However, like everything else in life, it didn’t last long. She went back to being her old self after only a few weeks. Depressed, sick, and constantly trying to get everyone's attention and sympathy. 

After she reverted to being like that again, Dad changed to. He, for the most part, abandoned us. It was hard losing my Dad. Losing the one person I depended on the most in the world. We never had our Mother so he was all that kept me sane and balanced. But after that, he left us to fend for ourselves most of the time. 

At that point in time my parents were doing their own thing. Playing their own version of cat and mouse, if you will. That stayed on repeat for about eight years, Mom leaving, Dad going after her, and me helping the boys to forget and cope with the fact that our parents had mostly forgotten and abandoned us. I tried my best to help them with their school work, help block out our parents fighting, and other things our parents should have been responsible for doing. Not their daughter. 

If it weren’t for our Aunts and Uncles that took us in we may not have made it as long as we did. They helped me when it came to acting like a kid for at least a little while, but we could never stay long enough in one place for me to really relax or act like a normal child my age. 

Anyways, after all that went down Mom just vanished one day. Dad tried to find her, looking everywhere he could think of for over a year. Once he finally gave up on his search he started to drink and turned into the monster he is now. I always thought it might have been Mom's fault for his change in attitude and even his change in personality, but he only got worse after she left. 

-

“Mom?” I say, my voice cracking a bit. 

“Hi, babygirl.” She reaches out to touch me but I pull away and try to get as far away as possible, Molly growls at her through me in the process. 

She may be my Mother through blood but she lost the right to be my Mom a long time ago. I think to myself. 

 Growing up my parents were both abusive towards me in their own ways. My Dad became physically abusive once I got older, but my Mom was mentally abusive my whole life, always trying to control me. To manipulate me. I didn’t even realise how abusive she was until after she had left. 

She’s the type of person that likes to manipulate and use people as much as possible when it’s beneficial for her. She used my brothers against me a lot when she was trying to control me. She knew I treated them like more than just brothers and that I needed them just as much as they needed me. But she didn’t care who her actions affected or how it affected them. We weren’t her children, we were her property. Her toys that she could play with and use whenever she was bored or trying to use people. 

“What do you want Witch?” I glare coldly at her while I say this, hating that I’m in this position. 

“Don’t you dare speak to her that way!” My Father slaps me across the face as he yells this, spit flying onto my face in the process. I didn’t dare move to wipe it away though. Molly just whimpers and retreats to the back of my mind. 

‘I’m sorry Lily.’ 

‘It’s OK Molly, I’ll be fine.’ She just whimpers again and vanishes without another sound. 

“Now, be an obedient child and listen. I know that you shifted and being the only female and the oldest means that you most likely inherited my power as well as your father’s werewolf gene.” She grabs my chin as she says this and continues talking. I glance over at my Father to see him keeping his focus on her the entire time. 

“This means that you will be very powerful so I want you to stay with me and I will teach you how to control it.” You mean how you can control me. Feelings of dread and anxiety build up in the pit of my stomach as I begin to feel like vomiting. 

“Why would I do that?” I try to say this without letting my emotions show, but it doesn’t work very well. 

I take a careful glance towards my Father to see him with that same wicked look and smile on his face as before, and then see that my Mother in front of me has a similar look to his. 

“Because if you don’t I’ll just have to take your brothers and play with those little experiments instead.” My heart sinks to my stomach as my anxiety and dread turn to pure hatred and sorrow. 

She just had to go there. She just had to use them, didn’t she?

“Where are they? If you touch them I swear…” I drew out my sentence to try and intimidate her, but she just blows it off and replaces the creepy face for one of boredom and impatience. 

“They're fine for now. You, on the other hand, need to make a choice. You can come with me, or I can take your brothers instead and you will never see them again.” I pause and just stare straight into her eyes for any empathy or remorse for what she is doing. 

There isn’t. 

“Why does it matter if you ask me anyways. It’s not like I actually have a choice.” I turn away and curl up in a corner of the small concrete room, crying silently as my heart shatters. 

Luca, where are you? I fall back asleep after a while with that last thought resounding in what’s left of my broken heart. 

The last bit of hope I have, slipping through my fingers.