Not Safe

Chapter 5

The howl came again.

This time, it was closer.

Elara's body went still.

The sound rolled through the night and seemed to settle somewhere beneath her skin. Another howl answered from farther away, and suddenly the darkness outside the broken windows didn't feel empty anymore.

Something was out there.

Something was looking for them.

She glanced around the ruined room. The broken furniture. The shattered glass. The blood on the floor.

A few hours ago, this had been her home.

Now she wasn't even sure she would ever see it again.

The woman beside her moved first.

"We have to leave."

Elara looked at her.

She had called her Mom earlier.

She hadn't planned to.

The word had escaped her when the Hunter's bullet struck the woman, before Elara had even understood why she was saying it.

Now, sitting beside her in the darkness, the word felt different.

It felt real.

And somehow, that frightened her almost as much as everything else.

Her father appeared from the hallway, one hand pressed against his side. Blood had dried along his forehead, and his breathing was heavier than before.

Elara's heart tightened at the sight of him.

"Dad."

"I'm okay."

He didn't sound okay.

He looked at the woman, and something passed between them that Elara couldn't understand.

They both knew something.

Something that had been kept from her.

Again.

The woman moved toward the back of the house.

"There's another way out."

Elara followed them reluctantly.

She didn't want to leave.

She wanted to stay and demand answers until somebody finally told her the truth.

But another howl sounded outside.

Closer this time.

She followed.

They slipped out through the back of the house and into the darkness.

The night air was cold against Elara's face.

Her feet barely touched the ground as they hurried through the narrow path behind the house.

She kept looking over her shoulder.

She couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.

"Who were those people?"

Her voice sounded smaller than she wanted it to.

The woman glanced back at her.

"Hunters."

Elara frowned.

"Hunters?"

"They aren't ordinary criminals."

That didn't answer anything.

"What do they hunt?"

Her mother was silent for a moment.

"People like us."

Elara's steps slowed.

People like us.

The words followed her as they continued through the darkness.

She looked at the clothes of the people who had attacked the house earlier.

There had been nothing unusual about them at first glance.

No police badge.

No military insignia.

No company logo.

Nothing that told her who they belonged to.

They had looked like ordinary people.

Until they moved.

Until they attacked.

Until she saw what her mother could do to them.

Her stomach twisted.

She still couldn't make sense of any of it.

Soon they reached the car.

Her father opened the door, and Elara climbed inside.

Her "mother" followed.

The car pulled away almost immediately.

For the first few minutes, nobody spoke.

Elara watched the familiar streets disappear behind them.

Her neighborhood.

The shops she knew.

The roads she had taken countless times.

Everything looked exactly the same.

That was the strangest part.

The world hadn't changed.

But hers had.

People would wake up tomorrow and go to work. Children would go to school. Shops would open. Cars would fill the roads.

And somewhere in the middle of all that ordinary life, Elara was running from people who hunted creatures that supposedly didn't exist.

She looked at her mother.

Her biological mother.

The thought still felt impossible.

The woman was staring through the windshield, tense and alert.

Elara noticed how often she checked the mirrors.

"You think they're following us."

It wasn't really a question.

Her mother didn't deny it.

"We can't take chances."

Elara looked away.

She didn't like that answer.

She didn't like any of this.

After another stretch of silence, she finally spoke.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Her father remained focused on the road.

Her mother looked at her.

"Tell you what?"

"About you."

The woman's expression changed.

Elara swallowed.

"You knew I existed."

Her mother's eyes softened.

"Of course I knew."

"And you were alive."

A pause.

"Yes."

Elara looked down at her hands.

For eighteen years, she had believed she knew her life.

She knew her parents.

She knew her home.

She knew where she came from.

Or at least, she thought she did.

Now every memory seemed to have a question attached to it.

She looked at her father.

"You knew too."

He didn't answer immediately.

That was enough.

Elara turned toward the window.

She didn't want to cry.

Not in front of them.

She pressed her forehead against the cool glass and watched the lights outside blur.

She had spent the entire night trying to understand what was happening.

Every answer only made things worse.

And somewhere beneath all the fear was something else.

Anger.

She hated that the moment this woman appeared, everything had fallen apart.

Her parents weren't safe anymore.

She wasn't safe anymore.

They were running through the night because of something connected to her.

And she didn't even know what that something was.

The car eventually slowed in front of a small hotel tucked away from the main road.

Her father went inside and checked them in under another name.

Elara noticed.

Of course he did.

Another secret.

Another lie...

They walked upstairs.

When her father opened the hotel room, Elara stepped inside and stopped.

There was only one room.

And one bed.

She stared at it.

Then at her father.

"One room?"

"We need to stay together."

"Why?"

"Separating gives them an edge."

Elara didn't argue.

She was too tired.

Instead, she walked toward the window and stood there with her arms wrapped around herself.

The city outside continued as though nothing had happened.

Lights glowed from distant buildings.

Cars moved along the road.

Somewhere, people were laughing.

Living normal lives.

Elara wondered if she would ever have one again.

Behind her, she heard the door lock.

Then silence.

Her mother walked toward her.

"Sit, Elara."

Elara turned.

For a moment, she simply looked at the woman.

She still didn't know how to understand everything that had happened.

But she had called her Mom.

And somehow, that word was becoming harder to take back.

She sat on the edge of the bed.

Her mother took the chair opposite her.

Her father remained near the door.

Elara looked between them.

She was exhausted.

Confused.

Frightened.

But more than anything, she wanted the truth.

"What is happening to me?"

Her mother took a slow breath.

"Your awakening has started."

Elara frowned.

She remembered the golden light beneath her skin.

The way the room had trembled.

The strange sensation that had passed through her body.

"Awakening?"

"Something inside you has been dormant for a very long time."

Her mother's voice was gentle now.

"We always hoped it would remain that way for longer."

"Why?"

"Because once it begins, things change."

Elara's fingers tightened around the edge of the mattress.

"Change how?"

Her mother looked at her.

"You become easier to find."

Elara's heart sank.

"The Hunters?"

"Among others."

She stared at her mother.

There were more?

How many people knew about her?

How long had they been watching?

"Why did it happen now?"

Her mother hesitated.

"You just turned eighteen."

Elara's stomach dropped.

Her birthday.

She had thought turning eighteen would mean more freedom.

More independence.

Instead, it had apparently unlocked something inside her that had been sleeping since birth.

"What awakened?"

Her mother was quiet.

"You."

Elara's eyebrows pulled together.

"That doesn't explain anything."

"I know."

The woman looked down at her hands.

"Because the truth is, Elara, I don't know everything myself."

That surprised her.

Her mother continued.

"I know what was done to you. I know what happened when you were born. I know what I saw. But I don't know exactly what you are."

Elara stared at her.

"What do you mean?"

Her mother met her eyes.

"You're different."

The words settled heavily between them.

"Different from you?"

"Yes."

Elara's chest tightened.

"But you're my biological mother."

"I am."

"So shouldn't I be like you?"

Her mother looked at her for a long moment.

"In some ways."

Elara waited.

"In others..."

She stopped.

Elara could see the uncertainty in her face.

It frightened her.

"What?"

Her mother shook her head slightly.

"You're something I don't fully understand."

Elara felt a strange emptiness in her chest.

All this time, she'd imagined that finding her real mother would answer everything.

Instead, the woman sitting in front of her had almost as many questions as she did.

"Then why are they after me?"

Her mother looked toward the window.

"They know you're different."

"How?"

"Because people have been watching for this moment for a long time."

Elara's breathing became shallow.

"Watching me?"

Her mother didn't answer immediately.

That silence was answer enough.

Elara looked down.

Her eyes burned.

She blinked quickly.

She didn't want to cry again.

She had already cried too much tonight.

"What happens now?"

Her mother reached for her hand but stopped before touching her

"You learn."

"Learn what?"

"How to control yourself."

Elara looked up.

"Myself?"

"The things inside you."

She remembered the golden light.

The shaking walls.

The way the air had seemed to change around her.

Then another memory came rushing back.

Her mother moving.

So fast that Elara had barely seen her.

The Hunter hitting the wall.

The sound of the impact.

The impossible strength behind it.

"You..."

Her mother looked at her.

"When you attacked that man."

A pause.

"I saw you."

Her mother's expression softened.

"I know."

"You moved so fast."

"Yes."

"That wasn't normal."

"No."

Elara looked down at her hands again.

They were trembling slightly.

She closed them into fists.

"Could I do that?"

Her mother nodded.

"Yes."

Elara looked up sharply.

For the first time, her mother looked almost afraid of what she was about to say.

"You can do even more."

Elara's heart pounded.

She didn't know whether to feel frightened or relieved.

Maybe both.

Her mother held her gaze.

"You're special, Elara."

Elara swallowed.

The word felt heavier than it should have.

"You're something different."

She looked at her mother, waiting for more.

But there was nothing.

No explanation.

No name.

No simple answer.

Only that strange look in her mother's eyes.

Elara couldn't understand it.

She didn't know what she was.

She didn't know what was waking inside her.

She didn't know why the Hunters wanted her.

And she didn't know how many other people were already looking for her.

But one thing was becoming painfully clear.

The life she had known was gone.

And whatever was waiting inside her had only just begun to wake.