Disclaimer: Fortunately for all parties involved, I do not own Mercy Thompson series.

Chapter 10

Needless to say, Amy was pissed off. The mask of smooth coolness and emotional detachment took over as she tried to push the anger back. It wasn't Kenny's fault that she couldn't be normal. It wasn't even Elliot's fault.

Her thoughts were so focused on trying to suppress the emotions that she didn't notice her hands digging into her backpack until they brushed over her treasures. Too emotional to restrain herself, she dumped her bag onto the bed.

Text books issued by the private school she and Jessie attended where the first things to flop onto the bed. English, math, history… Then the real gems fell to the bed: a small tin box and three smaller paperback books.

The first book was a copy of Dante's Divine Comedy written in its original Italian. Lovingly she caressed the worn cover and fraying pages. It was a fairly simple cover, the colors fading and completely rubbed off in some places. It had been her first book and the tales of fire and redemption had often been the stories that filled the hours of terrified uncertainty.

It was to her shame and guilty pleasure that her fingers traced over the gold lettering of the second book within her possession. Although she knew beforehand that this book strictly forbade stealing, she couldn't help herself. She'd been ten the first time she saw the Latin beauty and her itchy fingers couldn't contain themselves so she'd traded her boring English version for the much more fascinating Latin Bible. The irony was not lost one her, nor was the shame of her thievery. The joy the little text had brought her seemed worth it though, a secret sin which she would never reveal.

The last worn book, the one which she was now grasping in her hands, was a Greek translation of Homer's works. The book was the largest of the three and included both the Illiad and the Odessy. She flipped to the first page and read over the first line of the poem.

Rage!

She felt like she understood Achillies at times like these. Her life was her Brisies and Agomemnon was taking it from her. Literary scholars wouldn't agree with her allusion of course, but it helped sometimes.

Quickly, she replaced her treasures in the bottom of her bag, all except the Greek classics which she was about to enjoy in. Then her text books safely hid the two texts and her little box from prying eyes. A pin prick of guilt picked at her heart, but she shoved it away. Elliot had taught her better than to ignore the Sabbath day and she always made sure to read her Bible first thing Sunday mornings. God will forgive me one Sunday, she decided as she continued to read the epic poem.

She heard the door to the trailer slam shut and shortly after the sound of Mercy's car pulling away. Amy wondered if Sam ever went to church on Sundays or not. She'd always wanted to go but it'd always been too dangerous for her. Even Elliot walked a thinning line.

The phone on her table side buzzed, rudely awakening her from visions of massacre and bloody honor. The poor rectangular piece of technology was subjected to one of her glares as she searched the little screen on top for the name of her interrupter. The glare fell and her heart caught in her chest. Without any further delay she answered the phone.

"Elliot, I thought you'd be at church."

"I was." He answered calmly, his deep voice melting the words together. "There's a time difference Amelia."

"Oh." She sounded like a child, and she felt like one too. Elliot always did that to her. She assumed it was residual effect of him taking care of her so much when she was a child. Actually, he still took care of her, which reminded her of Kenny's threat. "I'm not leaving."

"So I've heard." That was Eillot's way. Kenny yelled when he didn't get his way and Elliot just pointed out that you were an incapable idiot without ever having to scream. He'd yell if she pressed the right buttons, but not like Kenny.

"I like it here." She continued, hoping that he would actually agreed with her this time. It was always hard to predict which side Elliot would chose, her's or Kenny's.

"So I assumed."

He wasn't outright telling her to run away so maybe he was on her side? The best thing to do now was to stay quiet until he spoke his mind.

"Amelia, there is a reason I made the plan." Uh-oh. He was annoyed, which meant he'd sided with Kenny. "It's not just for your safety. It's for theirs too. We're preventing war Amelia."

Horrible, bloody war. Just like the Iliad. She didn't like it but he was right. They both were. "I don't want to leave them Elliot."

"Amelia," His tone wasn't as gruff and she was thankful for that. "They won't want you when they find out why you're there."

"…"

"Amelia?"

She hadn't thought of that. Never had it occurred to her that they would turn their backs on her. Would they really do that? Well, why not? It would be the smart thing to do. They should get rid of her.

"Yeah. Okay."

"Good. I'll come by to pick you up tomorrow."

"Thank you."

"And Amelia?"

"Yes?"

"I love you." Click.

Numbly, she put her book away. They don't want me? She could feel her mouth setting into one of those hard, unfeeling lines. They don't want me. Her heart beat seemed too loud, too unfamiliar. It almost felt out of place, as if it was a beating heart inside a corpse. They don't want me. She curled her knees to her chest and hugged them. Her chin rested on top of them as the thought lodged itself more firmly in her mind. They don't want me.

He heard the phone ring from her room but wasn't surprise until he heard her answer. With a wall and a door between them he couldn't hear the voice from the phone very well, only that it was a male. Her voice came across very clearly through the barriers.

At first he questioned whether he should be listening in on her conversation, but when he smelt the change in emotions he didn't care about invasions of privacy. As soon as the sound of the phone closing reached his ears he opened the door. She looked like she'd seen a ghost. Either that, or she was about ready to cry. From all the pain he was smelling from her, the second choice seemed more likely.

"Amelia?"

Slowly, much slower than she ever did anything, she turned to look at him. No, she turned to look through him.

"Honey, are you okay?"

"Yeah." The word was devoid of anything. It was empty, blank, unfeeling. Sam didn't like the look of this.

"So what did the mystery friend say?"

"He said hello and asked how I was." The answer was so hollowly polite that it made Samuel's heart ache. He entered the room fully, squatting at the edge of her bed so that he could look up into her face.

"Amy, you don't sound okay. What happened?" The was the tiniest hint of a growl in his tone. The protect nature of the beast inside wanted to rip something or someone apart in order to keep his child safe. Unfortunately, not all things were that simple.

They don't want me. There were very few times when Amy had chosen to break protocol in her life. Most of the time, it was better to act polite and not give anyone a reason t hate you. However, she'd broken the rule just a few sweet times when action was called for. Never had she done it out of selfishness.

There's a first time for everything.

The pillow slammed into Samuel's face before she even knew it was in her hand. His head hadn't even snapped back around before she was running out of the door to her room. Samuel, poor unknowing father, was left to wonder what exactly he'd said as he watched her fly out the front door. Sighing, he got to his feet, placed the pillow back on the bed, and tried to suppress the urge to run after her. She'd come back after a quick walk.

A/N: Okay two notes! One, this chapter was a lot shorter than I planned but as soon as finals are over (Next week :D) I should be able to write more and make the chapters longer. TWO! On my profile I was sharing these stories I found on fiction press that I liked. Figured I might as well put it here too: .com/~bunneh

Other than that, I hoped you enjoyed and I'l try to post again as soon as possible. Thank you so much for all your support!