Anchor

Part 13 - Agree to disagree

    I don't remember my mother. However there was one picture of her that my dad kept in a box under his bed like a hidden treasure. But when she left I was too young for her to have had an impression on me that if not for the similarities like the downward curve of the tips of our noses or the shape of our eyes, she could have been just another picture that came with the frame. For these people to know more about her than I did, it stung. I wanted to hear more but some strange sense of abandonment I felt towards her stopped me from asking. I now knew it wasn't her fault she left but time was needed to close that wound. 

    "I'm not saying I don't believe you. I mean, it's a lot to take in," I sighed, mentally coping less than I let on, "like a lot. Next you'll tell me that you all have a weekly poker game with Bigfoot and Dracula." I laughed nervously as tears filled my eyes.   

  After a long and gut wrenching cry, I was carried to the living room by Stellan who was reluctant to leave my side. The rest of the 'gang' followed and eventually Jodie and Saphrine moved to the kitchen to make us all some coffee, Ben's with an extra shot of whisky. Stellan had asked them to bring me something to eat as according to him, I looked a little drawn in around the waist since he last saw me. It actually reminded me I hadn't eaten since I was last at his house, not that I was hungry. The thought of food surpassing my lips made me queasy. 

    My eyes were puffy from the tears and as I sat there thinking over everything that had been said, I wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed and wake up to this having all been a strange dream. Ben sat on the small two seater opposite me and when the girls returned with the beverages, Jodie sat on seat next to him, leaving little space between them. Guilt flushed through me thinking of how she had expressed her feelings towards him to me and the very next day I ended up with his lips on mine for the second time. If I thought she didn't like me before, then she definitely hated me now. 

    Saphrine took her coffee and climbed onto the recliner in the corner near the fireplace. Keeping her gaze firmly on the contents of her mug, she withdrew herself from the rest of us. No matter where I went chaos followed and I brought it into her home, something I didn't plan on doing. 

    A voice brought me from my thoughts, a softness to it that made my heart flutter, "I know it's a lot, Kitty, but I'm here if you wanna talk." I think I forgave him when I saw the hurt in his eyes at the door, or maybe it was before that, I couldn't tell. All I knew was that he tried to do what he thought was best and honestly, that was good enough for me. 

    The warmth in his arms as he hugged me back made me feel safe. I practically threw myself into him as I whispered words of thanks in his ear. There was a slow pause before he fully embraced me but when he did, he was the first to pull away. "About my uh... so called... powers. What now?" Saying it out loud sounded stupid. "Am I in danger like my mu- like she was?" 

    "Word has already spread about you and your lineage, it's only a matter of time before there's another attack. I think it's safer if you come back with me." Stellan spoke, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, like he was discussing world domination. 

    "Oh you can f**k right off if you think she's safer with you." Ben shouted, "You might as well stick an ad in the paper offering her up in the personals. No, she's staying put and that's that." The vein on the side of Stellan's neck pulsed as he rose from the sofa. They seemed to forget that I was sitting so close to them yet they spoke about me like I wasn't anywhere to be seen. As Stellan went to shout back, the unexpected happened. 

    She agreed with Ben. 

    "Stell, listen to me when I say this. It's better it she stays here."

    "What are you-" 

    "Just f*****g listen to me," Jodie stood from her seat next to Ben, her stance attempting to be intimidating. It didn't work. "You wanna take her back with us - fine. It's not like we have a house in the middle of the forest with two people living there to protect her. Oh, wait, that's all we have. If she stays here then there is a big arse house they have to get through to find her, not to mention the what, four other people that live here."

    "Five." Ben spread his fingers and raised his hand, leaning back in his seat like he had discovered fire.  

    "Five," Jodie repeated, "You'd be risking not only Kitty's life but ours too if you bring her back with us."

    His fists clenched a released before finally his arms slacked at his sides. A long sigh escaped him and seconds later he had marched off in the direction of the hall. My opinion in this matter sided with Jodie and I hated that she was probably right, safety in numbers and all that. Still, having everyone gang up on Stellan didn't sit well with me. "Aren't you going to see if he's alright?" I asked Jodie as she sunk back onto the seat next to Ben. I didn't know if her yelling at Stellan was a regular occurrence but from the sight of her now, looking almost defeated, I would say otherwise. 

    "Deep down he knows I'm right. If I go after him now, whilst he's still reeling from what I said, then he'll try convince me I'm wrong, and I don't have it in me for an argument right now." Ben wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her to rest her head on him. She didn't resist and closed her eyes as she made herself comfortable. I wonder if she knew Ben hadn't dropped his eyes from mine as he did this, almost trying to force a reaction from me, one I knew I wouldn't give him.