Who's ready for a glimpse of what's going on with Clara and Delilah?! Well, here it is!!

Chapter 14 (oh good, the bad luck is over now)

Clara

"NO!" I scream. "You can't make me do this!"

Mum sighs impatiently. "Come on, Clara, cooperate with me here! I'm trying to help you."

I glare at her. "Some help you're being."

"Just tell me what you've been doing for the last 16 years, and I won't have to hurt you."

I laugh a very humourless laugh. "You won't have to hurt me? What do you call all this, then?" I'm strapped to a wall, and it's seriously like one of those cliché movies where the villain captures the hero, tortures them, and tries to get them to talk. In fact, I think I feel like making this even more cliché than it already is… "I'll never talk," I declare, and it takes quite a bit of control to stop myself from bursting into laughter.

Mum raises an eyebrow. "Really, now, Clara, don't you think that's a little much? I'm just asking from the point of view of a concerned mother."

"If that's true, then why am I strapped to a wall in a dungeon full of torture devices?"

She looks around the room. "Oh, these? They're just movie props. I was in quite a few movies over the past bit."

"Oh really. Why haven't I ever heard of them?"

I've stumped her. "Fine, if you won't tell me, I'll just find out for myself."

Before I know what's happening, she's diving into my mind. I had no clue she was a Truthseer. If I had known, I probably would have kept my thoughts guarded closer.

Guarded…Guard…oh crap! I suddenly realize that she'll find out…no, I have to keep at least that to myself. I struggle to throw as many walls up as I can, trying to stop Mum before she finds out that…well, before she finds out stuff I don't want her to. I have to stop thinking about that stuff!

Oh, give up, Clara, Mum's voice tells me. Your sister didn't put up this much of a fight.

What did Delilah tell you? I ask, worried that she might have already blown everything.

Hah! So there is something you're keeping from me!

No shit, Sherlock.

Hey! Watch your mouth, young lady!

Hell no. I'm not listening to you. In fact… I concentrate, and create a gust of wind strong enough to push Mum backwards. It works.

"You…brat!" she yells. "I don't even know why I'm bothering with you. I can make do with just Delilah…pity Seth turned out to be a dud."

"He doesn't have any skills?" I ask, confused.

"No. I thought he would, given that his father was in the Guard, but…"

"Hold on. Dad was in the Guard?"

Mum sighs. "No, not your dad, just Seth's. You and Delilah have a different father from him."

"Still. If you were with someone in the Guard, why are you the Order's new leader?"

"Ah, but I didn't meet him while he was with the Guard. He switched over before we met, and it's a good thing, too."

She seems to realize that she's way off topic, and snaps back to reality. "Anyway, maybe Delilah can help me break you. Delilah!"

I hold my breath, afraid of what I might see. My sister walks in, glaring at me. My eyes widen.

"D-Delilah. H-how could you?!" I whisper, my voice unable to do much else.

"It's for the best," she says, much colder than I've ever heard her. "It's not like we could continue being in the Guard and eventually having to fight Mum."

I gasp at the fact that she just revealed one of our biggest secrets. "No!" I whisper again. "No, why did you say that?"

"So it's true, then?" Mum asks, looking between me and my sister. She nods.

"And that's not all," she goes on to reveal. "We've gotten very close with what remains of the Named, and Clara here is even considered one of them."

I feel tears slide down my face and make no attempt to stop them. "Delilah, please!" I plead. "Don't say anymore!"

"Oh, really?" Mum asks, obviously intrigued. "What else is there?"

Delilah glances at me, at my tear filled eyes, and looks back to Mum. "There's also a small group of people from England who are witches and wizards, and they're helping the Named out. One of them is Clara's boyfriend."

Since I know that Mum will probably use this information against me, I don't mention that Kyle proposed to me a little while back, before Delilah had to go to the hospital. I obviously said yes, and I honestly don't think anybody knows except the two of us. So, I continue pleading with Delilah, to no effect.

After a while, Seth pops his head in. "Mum, the toilet's broken again," he announces. Mum sighs in frustration. "I'll be right there," she says, then turns to Delilah. "Keep her in here," she says, and Delilah nods.

Once Mum and Seth are gone, Delilah comes over to me. "I'm sorry," she whispers, her voice back to normal. "I had to say and do all that. If you were wise, you'd do what I'm doing. We have to let Mum think that we're on her side, when in reality, we're still siding with the Guard. She can't know this, or she'll try and kill us."

I'm still very confused. "Why would she kill her own daughters?" I ask.

"What do you think happened to our dad and Seth's dad? Do you think they just up and left?"

My eyes widen again. "You mean, she…?"

Delilah nods. "I'm really surprised Seth is still around. I thought that Mum would have killed him when she discovered he was of no use to her. But I guess that, since he was her first child, not to mention her only boy, she kind of wanted to keep him around."

I nod slowly, still trying to take this all in. "So, if you're just acting all this 'working for Mum' stuff," I start, "then why did you tell her our – and my – secrets? I understand that you want her to trust you, but still."

She sighs. "I wouldn't expect you to understand. But know this: Seth isn't actually useless. He pretended not to have any skills when he was little, because he knew enough back then to know the difference between good and evil, and he could tell that Mum is evil. So he hid his skills from her." Delilah half grins. "The toilet's not really broken. That's just a distraction to get Mum out of the way while I tell you all this."

"Well, then, why hasn't she discovered that yet?"

Delilah smirks slightly. "I didn't tell you what Seth's skill is, did I? You know how I have earth and you have air? Well, Seth has water. He's making it seem like the toilet's overflowing, when it's not really."

I grin, just realizing something. "I thought of something funny," I say.

"What's that?"

"You know the old rhyme, 'March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers'?"

She nods.

"Well, I was born in March and my main skill is wind. Seth was born in April and his main skill is water. You were born in May and your main skill is earth. Isn't it funny?"

Delilah snickered slightly, careful not to laugh too loud, or else Mum will hear.

"So, is Seth part of the Guard, then?" I ask.

"Yeah. He only lives here with Mum so he can keep the Guard informed of what she's planning, since she doesn't worry about the fact that he can hear her when she's talking about her plans. She's actually kind of stupid, in a way."

We hear footsteps coming back, and Delilah retreats to her previous spot. I try to look forlorn like before as Mum comes in for the next round of "torture".

There you have it, folks! That's the plan over there, I guess…although there was no plan at the beginning of this chapter…I'd like to thank ThePurpleRose for being my beta reader, cuz I realized I really need one…