Chapter Ten: Oats in the Water
Lauren's Voice Over:
Ca te sa'va za'ven….
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Lauren's POV
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"Ria is doing better. Still doesn't want to talk." Bo's voice low, soft but stern undertone tells me she isn't doing so for my benefit but rather our daughter's. Gently she closes the bedroom door behind herself. "She doesn't want to go by Kenz. She doesn't want to talk. She doesn't want anything. Just to be left alone."
"I can't blame her."
"No. Luckily she let me give her some chi before slamming the door in my face."
I look up, eyebrow raised. "You healed her?"
"Somewhat. I basically Jedi mind tricked her into taking some. I still can't…" She trails off, hand rubbing the back of her neck as her eyes look at the little card in my hand. "What are you doing with that?"
My eye falling from her face down to the card.
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16 2 3 23 99
75 39 11
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"You and him had this special bond, sometimes made me a little envious, but he was loyal. He believed in me and we may not have had your bond, but we were close."
"I never said different."
"I should have known this was to me. I should have known this meant something."
"Lauren, I'm not in the mood for games."
"Nine words Bo, nine words could have changed everything."
"Huh?"
"Sulfur. Helium. Lithium. Vanadium. Einsteinium. Lemniscate. Rhenium. Yttrium. Sodium."
"And that's crazy ass science speak for?" Her arms folding over her chest, walking halfway over to the bed.
"The message was meant for me. It was written so only I would be able to understand it." I hand her the card, hesitantly she takes it. "I should have connected it when you had your spat with Ethan…"
"You were eavesdropping?"
"I have the hearing of a moth." My eyebrow raising as she gives me this look that is a solid mixture between 'I can't stand you right now' and 'what the fuck does that mean'. If it was any other time, I would have laughed. "Moths are the apex when it comes to hearing, edging out bats by quite a large margin."
"Did we just slip into Animal Plant right now?"
"Sulfur…s. Helium…he. Lithium…li. Vanadium…v. Einsteinium…es. It isn't a sideways eight but a lemniscate. Rhenium…re. Yttrium…y. Sodium…na." Sighing softly, this image of Father Travino smiling while he poses for a picture with his god children, their first picture together constantly flashing to the forefront of my mind. "S…h…e...l…i...v…e…s. Translation….?"
"She lives."
"Lemniscate is the mathematical symbol for eternity. R…e..y..n…a." Sighing once more, I stand unable to remain still any longer. "Translation, long live…me."
"He knew she was alive." I swear I hear her heart break within her chest. "He knew she was coming, otherwise he wouldn't have coded it."
"He must have known she knew he knew she was alive. That's why there was no contact."
"Stupid old man." Tears filling her eyes as she crumples the car in her fist. "He could have just called and we would have saved him."
"He wanted us to be prepared. To be ready."
"Yeah, lot of good that did us." Dropping the paper to the floor, she runs her hands through her hair walking toward the window. "He's gone. Soren is gone. Mila is gone. She's here and once again we're caught with our pants down…bent over."
"There isn't a need to be vulgarly graphic."
"Don't lecture me Lauren. Not now."
"Do you think she was telling the truth about not killing him?"
She spins around, disgusted look written over her exhausted features. "Are you serious right now?"
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Charlie's POV
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"This is fuckin' bullshit." Michael says for the tenth time in fifteen minutes.
"Relax." Ethan demands from his corner of the couch.
"Relax? Sean won't answer his phone. Ria doesn't want to be with us. Oh and yeah surprise Charlie's girl is our long lost secret sister."
"She's not…"
"Shut up." He snaps at me. "You been running around with her. We all saw you that night. The touches and the looks."
"You saw nothing."
"Both of you stop. You're going to wake Aunt Kenz."
"Good maybe then we'll know she's still alive" I snap, both of them glaring at me. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I just didn't think."
"Yeah, you seem to have that problem a lot." Michael runs his hand through his hair the way mom does…the way Dani does. "This female better hope that Ria is okay. It's all I'm saying."
"Or what?" I laugh. "Do you even remember how old those stories are, meaning how old is she? Oh yeah and were you at the same dinner as me?"
"Ria is my sister."
"So is she…apparently."
"No, this is some crazy ass bitch from hell who is fucking with my family. Eighteen, twenty-eight, or eighty, I don't give a shit."
"I can't believe I am going to say this, but Michael is right." Ethan says softly, looking between the two of us. "Right now is the time for unity. For our people and for this family. I may hate Michael, Charlie…but the only person that is ever going to harm one overly styled strand of hair on his overly gelled head is me."
"Sorry to break it to you boys, but this family is broken."
"We are not broken Charlie, you just choose to live on the outskirts of it."
"Travino is dead. Mila is dead. Soren is dead. We haven't heard from Denzel, Skylar or Ty in weeks. Sean is missing. Kenzi is out of the loop. Mother and mom have been drifting apart and passive aggressively fighting for weeks. Oh and Ria was gone for days and none of us thought that was weird."
"When did Aunt K, become Kenzi?" Michael looks down at me, judging me.
"Semantics. I was making a point."
"Kenzi is Aunt Kenz. Travino is Trivi. Denzel is Zel. Skylar is Sky. This is our family Charlie, they aren't strangers."
"I know who is who, thank you."
"Where are you going?" Michael barks at Ethan who gets up, almost sneaking out of the living room unnoticed.
"To check on our Aunt, is that okay?"
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Lauren's POV
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"I can't deal with you right now." I say, attempting to walk to the door, only to have her step into my way.
"Now look who is running away."
"Oh…screw you Bo, I'm tired of this. I've been here. I've been patience. I've been understanding. I've been caring. I've been every possible thing I can be to be here for you and you don't want it. Whatever has got you screwed up in the head is obviously something you want to keep to yourself. Don't take it out on me because you can't deal with it."
Snorting at my words, she takes a step back but not out of the way. "I can't deal with it?"
"It's obvious you can't."
"Oh is it?"
"Yes."
"Is it?"
"Yes, it is."
"I'm sorry we can't all be as good as you embracing all the darkness and living it up in darkness land."
"Wh—excuse me?"
"You heard me. You just accept it and move on, oh well I am Lauren the Dark Queen blah blah."
"Are you hearing yourself right now?"
"Some of us don't want to be dark Lauren, some of us have tried our whole lives fighting it."
"I'm sorry, I'm not exactly sure what point you're trying to beat around right now…it could be a few actually, so why don't you clear up the confusion."
She starts to turn around storming toward the door only to spin back around, surprising me. "I'm scared!"
"Because of Dani?"
"No…because of me…because of you. I'm scared all the time now Lauren. I'm terrified. I'm terrified of myself and…." Her voice breaks as she trails off, eyes falling to the floor momentarily before meeting mine as she continues. "Of you."
"Oh."
"Something awoke in me during…no, before the ceremony. Something I can't explain and I've been able to push it off so many times, but now…I can't. I can't anymore and you know what, you're right. You're always freaking right Lauren, because I can't deal anymore. I have these nightmares and when I wake up I don't know what's real. I talk to you and I don't know which you it is. I look at my children and I have to fight off these images of them…being just like Danielle. And sometime I look at you and I can't help judging you…hating you because you can just…be okay with it all."
"Y-you hate me?"
"N-no. No Lauren, that…it came out wrong. I just…I hate that you can be okay…either way." She sighs so heavily it's nearly a sob, her hands reaching out for me only to fall back to her sides when I shake my head.
"Either way?" I nearly laugh. "Meaning I can be okay being good or being evil?"
"Don't…I'm trying to tell you…"
"Yes Bo, tell me how you think I am okay being evil."
"That isn't what I said."
"No, it really is. You think I am okay with it? You think I am okay that I've killed people needlessly. That I've hurt people needlessly. You think that I am okay with what I can become with such ease? Is that really what you think of me?"
"Don't make this about you Lauren."
"Oh believe me Bo, it's not." Blinking back tears, I pull my continuous vibrating phone from my pants. Ethan's name scrolling across the screen. Fourteen missed calls written in bold in the bottom left hand corner.
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Charlie's POV
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"Mother answered, they're on their way. No update on Aunt Kenz though." Ethan says, walking into the waiting room and taking a seat next to Sean who had surprisingly answered his phone before our parents. Sort of bad parenting if you ask me. Have a supposedly psycho killer on the loose, your one child just got kidnapped and yet you don't answer the phone calls from your remaining children.
"Are they okay?" Michael asks walking in with an arm full of snacks from the vending machine.
"I don't know. She didn't sound…like herself."
"They were arguing." Sean mumbles, barely looking up from the table he's been staring at for the past fifteen minutes.
"How do you know?"
"Because I've been around them a long time. I've been in your shoes, whenever they don't answer and then sound weird, they've been arguing."
"Because now is a good time to argue." I scoff, folding my arms. "Not like more important things going on."
"Petulance runs in the family." He laughs under his breath, almost sliding out of his chair. Drunk? High? Both? "You should be well acquainted with that though, being Danielle's bff."
"I…Sean, it wasn't…I didn't know who she was."
"That name is forbidden. No one has been born with it in over a decade. Anyone who had it, changed it. You thought…what?"
"I didn't know we had a secret sister!"
"But you knew something was off." He laughs, pushing himself back up in the chair for the second time. "Right?"
"I need some air." Pushing myself up, I storm out into hall tired of being blamed for everything. How about they blame who is actually responsible. How about blaming mother for once? How about that.
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Lauren's POV
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"The kids are fine." She says walking up the hall toward me, my arms folded as I lean against the wall. I think fatigue is beginning to set in. I can't remember the last time I fed. "You could have checked on them yourself."
"I…it was just better you did."
"Right."
"Don't start, not now."
"I'm not." Sighing, she mimics my stance, starting at the little poorly placed poster about STDs. It's nearly comical. "I bet you she hasn't been taking those meds."
"More than likely. You can't drink with them."
"You gave her something that prevented her from drinking?" Bo almost laughs, staring me down.
"I can't help that…" My words trailing as Doctor Jackson walks out from her room. "Did the cocktail work?"
"Ah, yes…ah." He looks between the two of us rather peculiarly. "My Queen…s. I um, well see the thing is that…"
"Are you getting to the point soon?"
"Bo." Gently and more importantly discreetly, I tap her hand with the back of mine. "Please. Continue."
"There is not easy way to say this, especially considering who she is…who you are. Her condition is terminal."
"Wh-what is that? What do you mean?" Bo asks, standing up straight looking between me and him.
"Kenzi, has an unusual cocktail within her bloodstream from what she takes to prevent her…mortal issue. Which is fine, designed by the Queen so it's flawless of course and-."
"Quit kissing my wife's ass and tell us what you mean."
"Your friend…"
"Sister, Kenz is my sister."
"O-okay. Your sister, she has contracted the F.R.H.K. virus. The cocktail within her bloodstream reacted with the virus in an unpredictable way, which is why her illness had presented like a flu like infection."
"No, no see Kenzi was sick before the attack."
"Yes my Queen." He nods. "Which is…I was one of the ones who cared for your daughter in law's body. We tested her blood, nothing invasive, to make sure that she was not infected because as you know the deceased can still act as incubators for the virus. We wanted to make sure…her blood turned up with some anomalies. At first we weren't sure, but now with Kenzi…the disruptions in the DNA are identical. The cocktail in which they take is identical."
"So, you're saying that they both…?"
"Had…have the virus."
"I don't understand." Bo says, looking at me with such an innocence I haven't seen since the first day we met. My hand gently wrapping around hers. "I don't get it."
"They were both infected prior to the attack, my Queens."
"No, no. Because see not to sound overly pretentious or anything, but they are both part of the royal family. And see again at the risk of sounding like a snob, we don't really have much contact with people outside of a select group. Certainly not people who are carrying the F.R.H.K. virus. I mean, before the attack, you would have had to go outside the walls." Bo pulls her hand away from mine, slightly beginning to hyperventilate. "No, you're wrong."
"How much time does she have?"
"Lauren, stop it. Don't go along with this. He's wrong."
"Bo please, how much time Doctor?"
"It is unpredictable honestly. The cocktail she takes…honestly she should have already been dead. The symptoms she starting to show now…anywhere from a few weeks to two months maybe."
"See! He doesn't even know this! He's wrong."
"My love," I start to reach for her only to pull back. "Please."
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Charlie's POV
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"Here take the blue one, you love the blue one." Michael tries coaching Ria into taking a sugar shot, to which she has no interest in. Honestly she has no interest in any of us, if they haven't noticed. She walked in with one word and sat opposite us, Michael of course rushing by her side.
"What about a green one?" Ethan holds his up. "No? Alright. What about a lemon striper?"
"I hate lemon." Ria mumbles, leaning away from Michael.
"Yes, but I got you to talk." Ethan laughs, getting up and taking the free seat beside her.
Oh well, big surprise I'm left out.
The sound of hurried steps in the hall pulling my attention. It's not heels, but familiar. Guardian boots I bet. Leaning forward in my seat, maneuvering myself to see into the hall. Steps growing closer as I double down on the bet with myself. And what do you know, some young guardian holding a blue envelop. She glances in as she makes her way passed, the most peculiar look she gives.
Wonder what her problem is.
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Lauren's POV
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Lingering in the doorway, hand gripping the metal frame in a poor attempt to find a balance of sorts. Uniquely large room only unique in the fact that it isn't unique at all…except maybe its occupants. Semi comfortable chairs lining the walls, newly upholstered navy cushions presumably in the change of my houses' color. A single wood table in the middle that no one could properly use without sitting in front of it, even leaning forward it would be a stretch to reach it. I really should bring up the impracticality of this room.
Row of seats to my right empty. Row to the left of me against the wall with only Sean, he's high on something. I can see it, can smell it, his sweat secreting an unusual stench. That's a problem for later. Victoria, Michael and Ethan sitting in a row on the back wall across from me, uniquely silent.
Drawing in a deep breath, I step in and then six steps to my left taking a seat beside Charlotte. Sitting directly across from her three fourths of her siblings, she doesn't so much as look at them. It is almost as if they aren't even there. She doesn't bother looking at me, just sort of shifts her weight to her left doing the most she can to put a distance between us without getting up.
My eyes running over the faces of my children, and for the first time in lifetime I actually think to myself there's one missing.
"I always assumed I was going to be a good mother. Not in the sense of providing or keeping my children safe, but a really good mother. The kind you could talk to and hang out with. The type where if something happened you couldn't wait to call me and tell me. Just the really good kind of mother." Sighing, I place the envelop I had been gripping since I opened it down on the empty seat beside me. "Partially because I thought I was made for it. Partially because I wanted it, and anything that I ever wanted I was good at. Anything I ever wanted just seemed to come natural. I wanted to be a doctor and I excelled at it. I wanted to be a scientist and I excelled. At some point along the way, I wanted to be more than a healer. I wanted to be a leader and eventually, I wanted to be Queen. I've never excelled at anything the way I have at ruling." Sighing to myself, eyes falling to the magazine on the table that just so happens to have me on the cover. "But being a mother…I never quite excelled there."
"Mother?" Ethan lets out curiously.
"At first I thought I was doing okay, you know my first born was Sean and he was really just perfect. He was just so easy and basically took care of himself. He was smart, kind, funny, handsome, athletic and a natural at nearly everything. Even as he got older and my failings more evident, he was understanding. He was just so easy and I would look at him and think I wasn't so bad."
"Maybe she was right, you do have something weird for him." Charlotte says under her breath.
"Then there was all of you, and more or less you were carbon copies of him in that sense. You all were unique and had your own personalities, but you were all easy for the most part. So much time had passed, I had learned, and I know I improved, but still this voice in the back of my mind always told me I was still failing. Told me every morning, every night…after every snide comment one of you said to me, deserved or not…that I was a failure. But until recently, you were all perfect and it was so easy to ignore."
"Mother, stop this." Michael demands, or rather pleads sternly.
"Danielle was this mixture of perfectness and imperfectness. Even from her conception she was never easy. She was so beautiful, and took after Bo in so many ways. It was so easy to just accredit the little things to that. And I think her looking and acting so much like Bo, even before she was trying to become her…well consciously and unconsciously it made me give her a lot of leeway, in the same way I had always done for your mom."
"I don't want to hear this." Sean snaps, starting to stand.
"Sit down." I snap with a tone stern enough for them all to take notice, Sean taking his seat. "I loved her so much just as I love all of you. Sometimes, I may have loved her more than I should have. I never could explain why. Maybe because I know I failed her in so many ways. Maybe because she reminded me so much of your mom. Maybe because she was a product of me, and what was in her was because of me. Maybe because she was the embodiment of not only my failures, but my darkness and if I could love her than I could be loved. Maybe because it just came natural. I don't know."
Charlotte shifts in her seat. "Glad to know where we stand, obviously." She waves her hand toward Victoria, who is nearly completely healed now thanks to Bo.
"The funny thing you will learn in life is that there is never truly an untouchable alpha. There is always someone above you and if you ever have the misfortune of reaching the top, which eventually all of you by birthright will, there is always someone being born to challenge you. It's nature's balance. Everything must have a balance. Me and your mom, we grew too complacent and began to forget that principle. We didn't teach you how to fight. We didn't teach you about the real world and its cruelties. We didn't prepare you to be what you will need to be one day. Part of that was because we wanted to shelter you. Part of that was because we didn't believe anything could be as powerful as we have become. Part of that was because we thought we had time."
"This isn't your fault mother." Ethan tires, always so loyal.
"We were wrong. But if one thing has become clear it is that even without us teaching you, it is in your DNA. Victoria, there are no apologies I could ever make to you that would make this okay. There are no apologies to any of you that would. But the guilt and regret that I feel over not telling you about Danielle, about what you needed to have learned one day pales into comparison over the pain I feel knowing that I cannot protect you from what's coming."
"We will handle…this…as a family." Victoria whispers almost, eyes meeting mine.
"No honey, that isn't what I mean." My eyes moving over all of them, stopping on Charlotte. "In a couple of minutes," Attention shifting back to the three across from me. "A day or two or a week, maybe a month or two you will have a moment when you realize you're not the same anymore. You're not children and you're not innocent and the life you had lived is over. You will realize that no matter what you try, you can never go back."
"Lauren." Bo calls me from the doorway, having walked up several heartbeats ago.
"Charlotte, what I am about to say, this lesson is for you, but I want everyone to listen very closely to my words."
"I don't have to listen to this." She scoffs, shifting once more.
"No, you do. I am an adult. I am your elder. I am your mother. And most importantly now, I am your Queen."
"Lauren." She warns.
"What you need to understand is that there are consequences for your choices. The butterfly effect is very real, not in the sense of a butterfly's wings causing a hurricane on the other side of the world, not in theory but in reality. Every action has a reaction. That man you make fun of at work, one day might become your bosses' boss. That girl that's picked on in class, while you might not do it but rather you idly stand by and watch, one day she might hit back and it might be at the one who stood by. That slave that you whip for all the world to see might one day become Queen and while she may never lay a hand on you, those who take their devotion a bit too far may teach you a lesson. Sooner or later the consequences of your choices always catch up with you."
"Gee, thanks Yoda. We done?"
My hand grabbing her arm, keeping her in her seat. "Today you learn that lesson and whether you feel the weight of it now or soon, one day you will."
"Danielle could have tricked any of them." Sean quick to her defense.
"That's not what this is about." My eyes holding Charlotte's, hand still on her forearm. "I don't know when selfishness turned to a choice. I don't know when ignorance became a decision. I don't know when you became this person. Never in my life did I think that I would lose another child."
"Lauren, stop this."
My eyes shifting to Bo momentarily. "Every action has a consequence." I let go of her arm, but she doesn't move now. "You conspired with the rebels Charlotte, what did you think would happen? Or was it never a thought?"
"It—it wasn't that…"
"Whatever it started as, it became that. You gave them information. You led them to the weakness in our walls, our security. You demonstrated how to avoid the cameras. You undoubtedly vented your frustration about this family and our people to them. You consorted with Danielle. You lied about everything in your life these past months. But worst of all Charlotte, you didn't once think what going and coming so freely could mean."
"You. Covered. It." Jaw clenched, teeth gritted together as the words barely make it through.
"No, sweetheart you still aren't getting it. Your actions led to the death of hundreds of our people. Innocent people. Your actions led to the death of your sister in law. And-."
"Lauren, don't."
"Ironically your actions have killed the one family member you don't loath."
"Wh-what?"
"You've killed your Aunt. She doesn't have the flu Charlotte, she has F.R.H.K. What she takes to prolong her lifecycle, has slowed the effects. Presented as a cold and then the flu and now in its final stages there is no hiding it. And had Mila somehow survived the attack, she would have died too. The same strain was found in her blood system. You wanted your family to suffer, well Charlotte, life is fickle and above all malicious, and you made the ones you hated least pay the highest price."
"Enough of this dammit." Bo steps in, tears in her eyes. Shaking her head at me, disappointed.
"There is nothing I can do to you that will be worse than when you realize the weight of your decisions Charlotte. I had wanted so much for you and your siblings to never know what it felt like to have blood on your hands, especially that of those you care for. Yet, you ran to it and welcomed the situation with open arms because you are selfish brat. Now I have to live with my failure in knowing that I apparently did a horrible job in teaching you what it meant to be a decent human being and you will have to live with your actions." Standing up, pushing back the feeling of tears as my eyes meet Bo's once more. It's been a long time since she's looked at me with such contempt. "Here concludes the lesson."
"Mother…" It's not a plea or an insult, but rather just a call for me as if she was using my name.
At the doorway I look to her. "I can't stop what's coming for you Charlotte."
I don't wait for another word from her. I don't wait for another word from Bo. I don't wait for anything, rather I walk into the hall and head towards Kenzi's room. Heart breaking into a million pieces within my chest, tears wheeling up in my eyes, but I can't focus on that now. I can't focus on the pain. I can't focus on the hurt. I can't focus on anything except my next step.
In the distance I hear a rustle. A vicious growl from Sean. Bo and the three of my children yelling various versions for him to stop. It might be cruel they say to have walked away risking this, but apart from scaring her, Sean would never actually hurt her. And Bo would never allow him to. So if the worst that happens tonight for her is that she gets scared, then let that be the beginning of her lesson.
Let her know how terrified the rest of us are.
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Charlie's POV
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Climbing up the rubble, an excuse for stairs my foot almost slips twice but it's not enough noise to be noticed, I hope. Hand gripping this knife stolen from downstairs. The light reflecting on the wall only growing the closer I get. Heart racing a little more with every step. And when I reach the top I find her alone. Her back to me, sitting on this huge slab of concrete facing the fire.
Six steps forward, but she doesn't so much as look back. "You lied to me."
"You lied first." Her words even, tone calm and she doesn't bother looking back at me.
"You aren't who you said you are."
"Neither are you."
"But you knew who I was."
"Yeah," she nods. "I knew."
"I didn't."
"Grow up Charlie." Sighing, her head hangs but still she seems unbothered. "I warned you, many times."
"Excuse me for not realizing what you were warning me about. I thought you had commitment issues."
"Ha." Laughing, she stands, turning around. Her eyes looking at the knife, but she looks unbothered. "For me?"
"I…I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"I don't know. It felt like the right thing to do. Come here…be angry…avenge my people and my honor."
"And now?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"Stop repeating what I'm saying Trini."
"I met your mother, I missed my opportunity. When I walked away that night, I knew this moment would come. It was a toss up between you and her, I suppose its fitting it's you."
"I'm not going to kill you Trini." I toss the knife down. "I just…I don't know."
"What?"
"My Aunt is dying. My mother informed me of this tonight, threw in my face that she is the one family member I still care for. She was right. The whole way here I kept thinking about my family and my childhood, all the positive memories had to do with her."
"I'm sorry."
"Right."
"No Charlie, I am. I really am. It was never about hurting you. I actually came to like you and hate having to use you, but this war…it's bigger than what we want."
"Yes," I nod. "It is."
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Lauren's POV
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"That was cruel." Bo says softly, as she walks into the much more practical waiting room.
My hands folded, leaning forward in the chair as I stare down at my shoes. "It was the truth."
"It. Was. Cruel."
"Did I lie?"
"That's not the point."
"Did I lie?"
"You know, it's been a really long time since I had this much trouble recognizing you."
"Hm." I nod. "I forgot."
"Forgot what?"
"That it's always me Bo. There always has to be something wrong with me."
"When u behave like this...yes."
"Life is incredibly cruel and it is unforgiving."
"Yeah Lauren, I'm aware of that."
"You may be aware and I may be aware, but it's something that we forgot to teach our children. But now? Well now the decision is out of our hands."
"Sure seemed to be in your hands a little while ago."
"They needed to hear it."
"Not like that,"
For the first time I bring my eyes up from my shoes to her face. "Then how Bo? Coddle them as we have? Take Charlotte aside and tell her she just needs a little time out but it'll all be okay? Tell her that what she did is okay? It's not."
"You don't think I know that?" Her voice raising.
"Then act like it. You're standing here berating me for what Bo? For what? It took Danielle years to reach even near the body count that took Charlotte a couple of weeks to do."
She scoffs, looking away from me. "It's not the same."
"It is."
"It's not and you know it."
"You don't get to pick and choose which murderous child you still love Bo, it doesn't work that way."
"Why not, seems to be what you've done."
"Careful Bo."
"Or?"
"Or nothing." Rolling my eyes, I glance passed her into the hallway as a nurse passes. "You forsake one, you forsake them both."
"Charlie made a mistake that-."
"That killed hundreds of innocent people. That would have killed Mila even if she didn't die from the blast. And it's killed Kenzi. How can you not care? How can you not realize what's happened…what will happen?"
"Because if I focus on that then I break! And I can't break right now Lauren. I can't!"
"Charlotte made a decision. And then another and another, so on and so forth. At some point the risks crossed her mind Bo and she decided it was acceptable. At some point she decided that their lives were worth more than ours."
"I refuse to believe that."
"She sat there with no remorse. Shock. Anger. Hatred. Fear even. But there was no remorse."
"You can't be sure of that."
"I apparently raise killers Bo…I am one."
"So damn over dramatic Lauren."
"Run from it all you want my love, but at the end of the day Mila is dead. Hundreds of innocent people are dead. Kenzi will be dead soon. And Danielle has been running around storing up anything she's needed...because of Charlotte."
"She is our daughter."
"So was Danielle…once upon a time."
Her eyes meet mine. "Don't do this Lauren."
"It's already done."
"Excuse me my queen...s." Tamsin interrupts as she always seems to do.
"Not a good time Tam."
"Yeah…yeah I know, but…"
I answer for my wife this time. "Not now."
"Okay..." She nods, half turning toward the hall only to turn right back around. "But see the punishment for me not telling you this would be far worse than me disobeying now so..."
"What is it?"
"At ten fifty-six p.m. tonight Danielle Alreyna walked into G-H.Q. and surrendered into our custody."