by Bob Dattolo
“Maddie? Is she the one you mentioned? Your roommate?”
“Yeah. Her.”
“I don’t understand. Why would you be traveling with her? She wasn’t an ally!”
“I told you a bit about the trial. She’s one of the only reasons the three of us lived through it. She’s powerful as hell. So we’re all trying to get to know each other. Samantha’s parents tried to go after her and were chased away. Now they’re on the warpath. They’re tracking Samantha’s phone and were able to figure out Maddie’s number and now all of the other parents have been calling her. We all have our phones off so they can’t get our location. I’m only calling because we wanted to try to stop this crazy train.”
“I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all. You’re traveling with a girl that you tell me is powerful. How do you know she’s not waiting to kill you and drain you dry?”
She sighed, “Dad? She’s not. She’s been nothing but honest with us. As it is? She gave me one of the guys to drain before they died.”
Silence on their side for more than a mile, “What? No one does that!” Her mother sounds almost insulted.
“She did. She gave the others one each. That’s not important, though. I’m calling to tell you that we’re fine. We’re all good. Just driving. We were in Texas and are now headed out again since we think they narrowed down where we are.”
Her father spoke again, “I don’t like this, Parece. If she wants to give you more power so that you can eventually take her, then I’m fine with that, but I don’t like you being with someone that antagonizes adults like that!”
“Dad? I get that we’re just infants to you, but antagonize? Samantha’s parents attacked her. Then they ran away, barely being able to shift and escape in time. They were warned not to go after her, but they did anyway.”
“I don’t like this.”
“I’m sorry about that. I don’t have any plans of leaving her. We’re going to continue on, and we’ll be back to school for the second year. I’m turning off my phone again in a minute. I’ll try to check messages and things like once a week or so once we figure out how to do that without anyone being able to pick up where we are.”
“Parece? That girl is endangering your life!”
“Dad? I only have this life because she saved my ass in the trial. I’m not joking. I’m not exaggerating. Nothing. The last challenge would have killed me.”
“I thought you were strong!”
“20 of us, Dad. 20 of us. In a room with a long narrow beam that we had to cross. You couldn’t use magic to stop from falling. No one would have made it across because everyone would have made them fall with magic. And one of us was already shifted. She’s the only reason we got across.”
“Mark my words, she’s going to kill you.”
“She could have done it any number of times already and hasn’t.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m wrong.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way. I’m turning my phone off in a minute.”
“Be safe. Call when you can!” Her mother’s desperate plea came in, overriding her father’s gruff response.
Then she ended the call.
Parece sat back, body relaxing as the stress started to ease up. She stinks of fear and agitation. “God dammit to hell, man. I’m shocked they didn’t tell me outright to kill you.”
“Right? At least they didn’t threaten you.”
“Not outright. It was there, though. I know what they’re thinking right now. They’re gonna go dust off their family planning plans. They don’t think I’m gonna make it through or be strong enough, so they have to get working on a new heir. I’d bet any amount of money that they’re fucking by midnight.”
“You think?” Samantha has a cute smile in place. “Are they really like that?”
“They are. Once they think their kid isn’t gonna cut it, they start fucking to get another started. They did that any number of times when I was growing up. They’d tell me that’s what they’re doing.”
“That’s messed up!” The three of them laughed at my response.
“Welcome to being a dragon when your parents are kinda mental.” Parece summed it up nicely.
Angelica fired up her phone without being prompted and created one long voice mail for her friends. She recorded it three times because the first two were crappy, then hit send on a group distribution thing. I have no idea how to do that, so that’s pretty cool.
Then she called her parents.
“So, the weakling finally responds? Hiding away from us already when you’ve only gone through one year? Pathetic!” Her father’s voice is deep, powerful, and he’s not at all trying to hide his viewpoints.
“Hey, Dad. No, I’m not hiding away from you. We all have our phones off because another set of parents is trying to locate us and possibly attack us. As for me being weak? I’ve drained more than one person between the trial and now. I’m stronger than ever before.”
He grunted, sounding much calmer. “Hmm, good, maybe you weren’t a waste after all.”
What the fuck? What a dick!
“Who are the parents trying to locate you? Why are they doing that?”
“I told you about Samantha? We were staying at her place. We met some guys and they decided to attack Maddie.”
“The girl that was your ally at one point? The weird girl?”
She gave me a look that nearly made me laugh, “Yes, Dad, the weird girl. Anyway, the guys decided to attack Maddie and she tore them apart. The parents of the guys apparently know Samantha’s parents, so they’re up in arms. Samantha’s parents came and attacked Maddie and she chased them off. Now we’re driving to stop them from tracking us by our phones.”
“This Maddie? Why are you with her? She sounds dangerous.”
“We’re all dangerous, Dad.”
“Maybe. You’ve yet to prove to me that you have what it takes to survive. When do you plan on killing her and taking what’s yours?”
She slumped a little, “I don’t have any plans to attack her.” She smells completely honest.
“That’s not the daughter I raised!”
“You have friends, Dad. You don’t slaughter everyone around you. I’m not planning on going for her because if I try and fail? She will fucking destroy me. She basically killed three guys at the same time in that fight. I’ve seen her kill shifted dragons while in her human form. She may be small and reads like a weakling and someone to dominate, but she’s so much not that that I can’t even explain it.”
“No one is that powerful.”
“Dad? She forced people to change. You have trouble with that. She ignored orders from our teacher in the academy. She fought off the powers of three researchers!”
“Researchers? Why were they there?”
“I told you about her hair and eyes. She’s different. They don’t understand how or why she’s different, and they’re looking into things with her. They commanded her to shift and she fought them off. Could I possibly take her down? Maybe. I’d better not freaking miss, though, because then I’m chum. As it is, I’m stronger for being friends with her than ever before. We have a good mix of strengths in this group of four. I don’t know if it’ll carry into the second year, but I feel good about this. We’re setting ourselves up for good things with a strong nucleus of power.”
“Maybe. I’m not sure I believe what you just said, but maybe. Don’t be a patsy. Don’t be a fool. Take everything you can from her. Learn from her. Then be prepared to take her down. I don’t care if you cheat to do it. Wait until she’s asleep and crush her skull and drain her. Explain it however you want. We’ll back you. As it is, I’m not sure I expect you to make it through the next two years and be worth it when it’s done.”
“Maybe not. I can’t say.”
“I’ll update your mother. I think it’s time to work on another in case you continue to disappoint me.”
Then he hung up.
“Oh my fucking God…I can’t believe the
three of you have parents like that!”
Weak chuckles from Angelica, although the other two were louder.
“Don’t kid yourself. Your parents tossed you away as well. All four of our parents are like that. We just have nine more years of dealing with ours for them to get more honest with us.”
Samantha hit it on the head. She really did.
It makes me wonder how or why the parents change. Are they all like that? Is this nature or nurture? I’m hoping it’s not nature, because I don’t want to have this conversation one day with my kid. I really don’t.
Angelica spoke again, “I don’t have any plans to try and kill you while you sleep. I just wanted you to know.”
She smells completely honest, which is good. Now I don’t have to think about spells to protect me while I’m sleeping.
Much.
I have a feeling I’ll need them at some point.
Chapter 12
Our trip east meandered just a bit and we’d spend a day here, two days there, all the while staying well away from social media sites and keeping our phones off. Well, our main ones. We did pick up pay as you go phones that we could use to stay in touch with each other and look things up, so that’s good. They’re not connected to our original plans, so we’re thinking the parents hunting us might have a harder time finding us.
We did debate whether or not private investigators would be able to find us. That’s why we paid a homeless guy ten grand to get them for us. We figured it’s win-win that way.
We spent three days in New Orleans, and it was a blast. We’re still spending most of our time together, so our friendship has pretty much blossomed something fierce. Still not quite what I picture in my head with people not in our shoes, yet it’s still a good sign. We’ve had multiple conversations about our upcoming year and what it means for us. Do we stay together? Break up and create larger groups that sort of revolve around each other? We’re not sure how to handle that and what’s a better idea there.
We left New Orleans when I caught sight of Levi again.
I was leaning over the edge of a rooftop bar and caught him in the mass of people below. He was walking down the street in the crowd. No one near him that I picked up. Definitely him, though. I can’t even imagine how many people in the world would look like him with the same facial scars.
That got me to admit to the girls that I’d been seeing or smelling him at times.
We were gone a half hour after that, leaving the city behind.
No idea how he’s tracking us or if he even is. Maybe it’s all a fluke? I find that hard to believe.
We bypassed Atlanta and visiting Angelica’s parents. They left a few more voicemails that she was able to pick up from her new phone, and they’re definitely trying for another kid. One of them was literally mid sex, with her mother moaning and her father audibly pumping away, talking while fucking his wife. When he came, he said something about this might be your replacement if you continue to be weak!
Yeah, none of us wanted to be there for that mess. Who the fuck leaves something like that for their kid?
Parece’s parents didn’t leave anything like that, although they did allude pretty heavily towards working on a brother or sister.
Samantha’s parents? The other parents? The army of other people they got involved? They left both of us voicemails galore. We can’t pick up the texts, but we can listen to the recordings. They’re freaking brutal. Although the outright threats are directed more at me. She’s getting her share, but it’s all around turning me in. Killing me and sending them pictures of my ravaged corpse. Things like that.
Those thoughts followed us to Miami and some gorgeous beaches that I simply fell in love with.
Watching the sun rise our second day there was magical. My breath caught as soon as the sun poked above the horizon, and it’s like my heart seized. Gorgeous and amazing wasn’t descriptive enough as I stood ankle deep in the light waves and watched the sun come up.
The sand around me is nearly devoid of people. There are three with metal detectors wandering around. I talked to the little old guy off to my left. He’s been doing his hobby for nearly 30 years and basically supplements his retirement income with what he finds. Since he had a little belt baggy thing of like 20 bucks in change, several folded bills, a wallet, and six or seven pieces of jewelry, I can see that. That doesn’t even count the four cell phones in another holder. He returns them for a finder’s fee. I have to salute his ingenuity for ways to keep the money rolling in.
Seventy bajillion joggers made their way past over the past few hours as I’ve wandered the sands. I was up at 4:30 and basically left the girls behind for some alone time. They’re exhausted, which I can appreciate. I’m expecting them to be awake and ready for breakfast around 9, maybe 10, so I’ll be back then.
That puts me outside in flip-flops and my bathing suit. I have a number of them now, and I really like this one. There’s a pair of shorts that match that I can wear over the bottoms if I want to. For a human, it might be for modesty’s sake. For me? Yeah, no. I just like how they look, so I have them on today. It helps that it allows me to hold my room key and some cash. My phone is in a holder on my arm, which should keep it above the water unless something strange happens. It’s also waterproof, so maybe it won’t break if something does happen? That’d be nice.
I didn’t move from my place until the sun was fully above the horizon. It’s like a light switch in my head for some reason. Something I’ve never felt before. Some sort of release. Like this, right there, is what I should be doing with my life. Like it’s ringing a bell off in the distance in the back of my brain that I just don’t understand.
THIS IS FOR YOU
That’s the feeling I get. It’s a mix of the sight of the sun coming up above the waves, the sound of the waves lazily coming in, the light calls of the few seagulls flying around, the soft voices of people making their way past me as they go about their morning exercise or strolls or hobbies, the feeling of the sand under my feet, the smell of the ocean and lingering scent of suntan lotion and coconut oil floating on the air currents.
All of that comes together to fill me with something. I can’t put my finger on it, but it really does mean something to me on a level that I simply don’t understand.
Every time I try to understand it, it bumps against my messed-up memory.
What is it about all of this that makes me feel connected with this scene, yet I can’t quite take that final step? Is it that I thought that maybe my life was originally in a place like this? After all, I was in Florida when I flew out. I know that for a fact. I was found in Florida. Reggie lived here. I looked that up online.
Not too horrifically far from here, either.
You’d think that would worry me, but it doesn’t. He’s well and truly dead, so there’s no fear there for me.
Yet I’m still left with the what-ifs. Did I live around here? Are my parents here somewhere? Sleeping, maybe? Comfy in their homes and not thinking about the daughter they basically threw away into sexual slavery?
It’s a possibility.
While I love the feeling that I have right now, I have to come to grips with the fact that there is a very real possibility that my parents are here somewhere. Maybe not Miami, but within…two hours or so of here? That first trip in the car before they dragged me out of the trunk by my hair and threw me to the pavement in the alley? I know we drove around for a while as I bled and moaned in the trunk, but I did look it up when we got here originally. There’s almost no way I lost track of time enough to mean that we drove for more than five hours, meaning I used to live in Georgia. I can’t imagine that being the case. At all.
Which means, unless I’m missing something, my parents are from Florida.
Everyone around me on the sand becomes a suspect as I study them one by one. The norms get bypassed pretty quickly, which leaves me very few supernaturals to look at. None scream that they’re my parents, although I can’t quite cross them off
my list.
If they’re here somewhere, how do I find them?
Dammit, there has to be something online, right?
No one stops me as I head back across the beach, heading for some handy benches. Then I’m seated and my phone is out as I stare at it.
I’ve never thought about checking for this. I really haven’t.
“Do I do it?” No one answers my quiet question. As much as I want to find out who my parents are so that I can kill them, I sort of don’t. I don’t want to confront the people that started this for me. I’m kinda scared about that happening, honestly. Very much so. Will I break down if I meet them? Becoming prey to them again? They did such vicious and hurtful things to me that resulted in nine years of daily agony. The idea of seeing them makes me cry, which I didn’t even realize was happening until tears splashed on my phone screen.
Fuck.
My search bar waits for my entry, so I put in my name.
Nothing really comes up. That was a stupid search. Who would have my name out there?
Random things start going in, all based around the word stricken.
Millions of pages. So freaking many of them. None having anything to do with really anything I’m interested in.
What about fan pages? Pages that track rumors and things like that? If my parents were famous, surely some people out there knew about me and wondered what happened to me and talked about it?
So I put in Florida, stricken, and “where is she” and hit enter.
Not as many pages, so let’s see.
This is the type of page I thought about, but it’s focused on the husband of a powerful mage. The mage disappeared, and there are rumors galore about what happened to her.
The next page is about someone that had cancer and how she disappeared one day. Not me, I’d think.
Page after page go past, then one sticks out to me. The title of the article that comes up is Stricken or still family, a fan’s perspective.
