A/N: REWRITTEN. This is a family chapter.
After I took Cassie back to her house, I drove home. It's been a long night and I just wanted to go bed. I was so tired.
Locking up my car, I walked up the steps and let myself in the house. I put my keys on the kitchen bench and and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. As I was going to take a sip, I saw the basement light on.
Walking down the steps, I found my parents. Dad cleaning something off Mum's shoulder.
"What's going on?" I walked down all the steps and over to the pair.
I gasped when I saw the bite mark on her shoulder. Did Derek–NO, he wouldn't do that. He would of told me.
"It's not that deep right?" Dad asked, concentrating on the wound.
She put her hand over his, "It's okay. I can clean it myself." He got off the chair and walked passed me.
I just stood there. Frozen.
"It's a bite from an alpha." That was all I heard and it made me want to be sick.
Why would Derek do that?
I walked over to Mum and numbly helped her patch up the bite mark.
It was spring break and I was cleaning my room since I had nothing to do, plus it was also keeping me from thinking about the other night, although it wasn't working.
As I finished cleaning out my closet, my phone started ringing. I answered it with looking at the caller.
"Hello?" I sniffed, wiping the tears away.
"Hey...are you crying?" Cassie asked.
"No," I lied.
I could hear her talking, but all I was listening to was the conversation going on down the hall.
"Mrs. Argent, what do you think of this one?" Lydia asked.
I walked over to the threshold, leaning on it.
"It's lovely." Pause. "Allison, can I grab you for a moment to talk? Just the two of us."
"Um...can we do it later?" My sister asked.
"Actually, to be honest, sooner would be better."
"Party is at 10," Lydia commented.
"You'll be around before then?" Mum asked.
"I think so."
"You think so?"
"I don't know."
Tears were clouding my vision.
"Maddie!" Cassie's voice snapped.
My lips were quivering.
"I'm sorry, I have to go." I hung up and removed my phone from my ear.
I followed Mum down stairs, into the kitchen.
"I can help," I said, making her turn around, "there has got to be a spell I can do to reverse this."
"Madison, it's okay," she assured me.
I shook my head, "No, it's not. I have to do something, I can't just sit around here and wait."
I sat in Alex's car, leaning my head against the passenger window. Mum wouldn't let me try and reverse the bite so she called Alex to take me away for the day, to distract me.
"Why won't you let me help with the kanima situation?" He asked.
"Because you have a very-pregnant Julie to look after," I answered with a smile. Honestly, it felt good to smile.
"Okay, okay, but besides that?"
He pulled over and turned the car off.
"I don't want you to get hurt," I said, getting out of the car, before going inside the building.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked, opening up the door and we walked inside.
"Yes," I answered truthfully.
I wanted to get a tattoo and there was no way I would regret it.
The tattooist at the front desk looked up at me and chuckled. Probably because I don't look like a person who would get a tattoo.
"The manicure shop is down the street, Sweetheart," he said to me.
Scrunching up my nose, I opened my mouth to give him a piece of my mind, but a woman came out of the back room.
"Ignore him," she said, giving the man a look. "What can I do for you?"
I handed her a piece of paper, "I want to get that on my left wrist." It said 'être courageux' meaning be brave in French.
"Okay, that should easy," she nodded, "come right through."
I gripped Alex's hand as we walked into the back room.
"First tattoo?" She asked.
"Yeah," I said, nodding.
I sat down on the black leather chair and placed my arm on a table so my inner wrist was showing.
As the tattoo artist was was sketching the words onto paper, I looked up to Alex.
"Do you have any tattoos?"
"Nope," he answered, popping the 'p'. "My skin is completely clear and it's staying that way."
I chuckled and he cracked a smile.
"If Miranda was here today, do you think she'd be proud of me?"
"I know she would be." I smiled softly.
Then tattooist finished the sketch and put the paper on my wrist. A few seconds later, she peeled the paper off and there was the word 'être courageux' in ink so she can trace over it with the needle.
"Ready?"
I nodded, closing my eyes and taking in a deep breath.
After the tattoo was finished, she put a bandage over it and told me to leave it on for 12 hours.
"That'll be $25."
I handed her the exact amount of money and left the building.
"Your dad is gonna kill me for this," Alex mumbled, running a hand through his dark brown hair.
"He won't even know," I assured him.
Dad opened a case full of pills.
It was getting late. The full moon was rising.
"You really thought I would do this using prescription pills."
"According to gender statistics, most women..." He trailed off as Mum held a sharp blade knife.
"But you're not most women," Dad finished.
"I'll go upstairs and write the letter." She stood up and left.
I've been trying not to cry all day, but few tears would always escape.
"Don't hesitate because of your daughters," Gerard said, standing up and walking over to Dad, "they'll feel the ground shifting beneath their feet time and time again in their lives. It is our job to teach them how to keep standing."
"The ground isn't shifting," I snarked miserably, "it's crumbling." They glanced at me, before looking away.
"You want easy?" Gerard asked, taking in Dad's silence. "Change your last name." Good idea. "Otherwise, go up there and help your wife and mother die with dignity."
I couldn't hear anymore so I walked up the stairs. I found her sitting in Allison's room. She was holding a picture of the three of us in San Francisco.
"Hi," I whispered, sitting next to her. I didn't know what else to say.
"You've grown into a beautiful woman, Madison," she started, "even though you don't want to be a hunter, I've always respected your choice. And one day, you are going to became a nurse, like you always said, and help people."
"Then why can't I help you?" I asked, my voice cracking.
"This is how it's suppose to be," she said calmly.
I shook my head. "No, this is not how it's suppose to be. I'm suppose to have a mother. One who will see me graduate school, be at my wedding, see my kids." She wiped away the tears that I didn't know I had streaming down my face.
"I'll always be watching you," she told me, pulling me in for a hug. I instantly wrapped my arms around her.
"I'm gonna miss this," I whispered, "I'm gonna miss you."
Dad entered the room and we pulled apart.
"I never got a chance to talk to Allison," Mum's voice cracked. "So I want to do it here, where I can be with her." Dad sat on the opposite side of her.
"I think I'm gonna need your help."
I looked out the window and saw the full moon rising.
Mum aimed the tip of the knife at her chest. Just as she was about to stab herself, Dad grabbed her wrist.
"Wait."
"I can feel it," she whispered, "it's happening. You know what to do. You know what to tell people. Tell them I had a history of depression. Promise me."
"I will," Dad promised, "I will, even though I've never seen you depressed once in 20 years."
"Allison need to say it too." I nodded, forcing the tears away.
"But I won't let her believe it."
"She'll hear things. People will say I was weak. They'll say I took the easy way out."
"Dad and I will tell her it was the hardest thing you ever did," I assured her.
"And they'll ask, how could I do this to my family?"
"She'll know you did it for us."
Mum nodded, gripping the knife tightly as Dad kissed her cheek
"I can't do this myself," she said, "Chris, help me."
He nodded, shifting her onto his lap with his hands around hers.
Then he pushed the knife into her chest.
Mum's eyes shifted to golden then back to its normal pale green.
I let out a shaky breath, running a hand through my hair. Standing up, I walked out of the room.
I poured myself a glass of water as my eyes turned glassy. I didn't want to believe that she was actually dead. Both of my mother's are dead.
"Madison." Looking up, I saw a blurry image of Dad and Gerard.
"Everyone around me keeps dying," I said, my voice cracked at the end, "Miranda, Isobel, Elijah, James, and now Mum is gone." A single sob escaped my mouth.
I glared at Gerard, "I hope you're happy. You got what you wanted. I could've of helped her, I could of reversed the spell...but she didn't let me and now she's dead." I think that's when it really hit me.
"She's dead! And I–" Dropping the glass, I let out all the tears I held back.
A pair of arms wrapped around me.
"I could of h-helped her," I sobbed.
"Everything will be okay, Red." Dad hadn't called me that in ages.
"N–no, it won't," I shook my head, "I need her."
After I calmed down, the E.M.T. arrived and took Mum's body to the hospital. Dad and I followed.
"No," I heard Allison protest.
"Babe..." Dad whispered.
"No. No, Dad. No, Dad! If this is some kind of sick training session you had... You better tell me! You better tell me!"
"No. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
"I hate..." She started sobbing as Dad kept apologising. "You."
"I'm sorry."
"What happened? What..." Allison started crying again.
Not once did I moved from my spot, staring at Mum's covered body.
She's dead...