Sunlight streamed through the window and bathed a rumpled queen bed. In the middle of stacks of pillows laid Ms. Flint, sleeping peacefully with her arms crooked at odd angles.

Suddenly, the door cracked open. Luckily, the monstress didn't hear. The intruder slipped in and quietly shut the door. A shadow crawled along the floor, carefully avoiding stacks of paper and scraps of clothing that littered the floor.

The mysterious monster climbed up on the bed, raised its claws, and...

Roar!

Bonnie struck up in bed, sending the shadow tumbling to the other side. The older one sighed in relief as she recognized her now teenage daughter on the bed. "Oh, Abigail. You're really getting good, you know," she praised tiredly. "Ah...what time is it?"

"Still early," Abby replied, sitting down on the bed next to her. "We just wanted to ask...can Nate and I go and get ice scream after school? Everyone else is going." She even fluttered her lashes. "Please?"

Bonnie looked like she wanted to protest, but the idea of her children socializing was far too tempting. "Oh, alright. But have your phones on you at all times, you understand?"

"Yes!" Abby jumped on her mother and wrapped her in a hug. "Thank you, Mama!"

The snake monstress smiled as she returned the embrace. It wasn't often that Abby openly showed affection towards her. "You're welcome. Do you need money?"

A pause, then a shy smile from the girl. "Ha, ha. Alright, go get my purse," Bonnie replied.

As Abby jumped off the bed, Bonnie noticed her daughter had popped the collar of all her frilled dress shirts and layered them with a leather jacket. It reminded her greatly of...

"Abby, are you really wearing that to school?" the monstress sighed. Abby stopped, turned, and stared at her.

"...alright."

"I wish we were really going to get ice scream," Nate sighed. Abby scuttled alongside him, her back arched and her expression serious.

"Stop whining," Abby hissed sharply, peering over a map. "I'll sneak out during lunch and get you some ice scream if you're really helpful."

"How are we even gonna get in this place? I heard it's got tighter security than the factory."

"Well, we've got plenty of experience breaking into there. It shouldn't be hard."

Unfortunately, 'tight security' turned out to be a twelve foot stone wall surrounding the private school. The two preteens looked at the intimidating sight, and then looked at each other. Abby smiled at Nate.

"It better have chocolate chips and sprinkles," Nate snapped. He scanned the wall up and down. "I don't even know if I can fly that high carrying your fat butt."

"It'll have anything you want on it," Abby tried to persuade him.

Nate sighed, turned, and grasped under Abigail's arms. There was a whoosh of air as he unfurled the huge dragon wings from his back. Flapping them heavily, he began his ascent up the stone wall with his sister in his arms.

"Good thing Mother's...such a great flyer," he grunted through gritted fangs, straining under the weight. His wings flapped noisily behind him as he desperately tried to gain altitude.

"Don't talk about Mother," Abby snarled, but attempted to climb the wall with her centipede legs to put some of the weight off. It didn't help much, but Nate appreciated the effort anyway.

Finally, they reached the top of the wall. Dumping his sister off, Nate collapsed on the edge to catch his breath. Meanwhile, Abby stood standing, squinting at the large and exquisite private school that stood. It was almost like a castle, surrounded with huge stone walls.

"So...explain to me what we're doing here, again?" Nate panted.

"This is where Arabella goes to school."

"Arabella, our...half-sister."

"She's no sister of ours!" Abby roared, turning on him. Her eyes were wide as she glared fiercely down at her frightened brother, breathing heavily in rage . "S-Sorry! Sorry!" Nate quickly amended, but Abby had already turned away again.

"To think Mother would have another child," she fumed to herself, shaking her head. "The Professor isn't scarier than Mama. I'm much scarier than she is. Mother doesn't need her!"

"Abby?"

"What?!"

"Why do you think Mother left Mom?"

Abby stared at him. "How do you know it wasn't the other way around?"

"I've seen the way she looks at Mother's pictures," Nate answered simply, shrugging. "I don't think Mom would leave Mother. I think Mom still likes her."

The young monstress didn't want to think of what her mother felt. "I don't know," she said honestly. "But when Mother notices how scary we are, I'm sure she'll love Mama again."

"I hope so," Nate replied, getting to his tail. "Mom always looks so sad." He extended his arms out, and Abby crawled into them. With a swooping gust, the boy took off the wall and sailed down into the inner compound of the school.

Once on the ground, the two made their way into the building. To sneak past the front desk, Abby used a scarer technique of crawling on the ceiling with minimal noise. Luckily, the receptionist was on the phone, so her legs weren't a dead giveaway. The two ran through the halls and up the stairs.

"Where is she, anyway?" Nate panted.

"She's the same age as us. The classrooms are on the third floor."

"So you don't know what classroom she's in?" A nervous smile from Abby made him groan. Once they reached the third floor, they realized the windows into the classrooms didn't provide them with an adequate view. Abby glanced at Nate, then pointed up at the ceiling. Nate flew her up there for Abby to take out one of the panels in the ceiling and climb in. The two crawled along in the dusty, dark space until Abby stopped.

A piece of the tiled ceiling came off to be replaced by Abby's eyestalks poking out.

"See her?" Nate whispered. Silver eyes scanned the classroom. The girl reared back up and replaced the panel quietly. "Nope, not here. Let's try the next one."

"Do you even know what she looks like?"

"I'll know when I see her!"

They tried a few other classrooms before Abby finally gasped. A girl was sitting in the front row who had striking horns on the back of her head and a familiar long neck. Her face and body were splattered in yellow and orange, but Abby knew her all the same. It was Arabella Knight, and, according to any sources, the legendary Abigail Hardscrabble's only daughter.

Abby whirled up and replaced the panel. "I found her," she hissed to Nate. She scrambled over to the panels in the front of the classroom, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Can I help?" Nate asked.

The girl blinked and paused. "Well...oh, I know! Can you fly around the room and make that weird noise?"

Nate brightened, rustling his wings. "Gotcha."

His sister nodded and went to remove the panel, but hesitated. Nate smiled at her gently. "Hey. You got this, Abby. You're Mother's daughter, not that girl. Now go and prove it."

Looking at him for a moment, Abby nodded seriously and stood. With a mighty crack, she slammed her foreleg through the panel and broke it, sending herself plummeting into the classroom.

She landed on the desk with a heavy slam, all thirty of her legs clacking at once. Rubble and broken bits of the panel fell and settled around her as her silver eyes gleamed in the dust cloud. The teacher and the students all gasped and turned their attention to her.

There was a screeching sound in the air as a shadow flew around the room. Having done his part, Nate settled down at a respectable distance to observe his sister, perched high upon the desk.

Abby took a deep breath, glaring at everyone in the room before her eyes settled on the girl in the front row. "I am Abigail Hardscrabble the second," she announced clearly to the room. "Abigail Hardscrabble's true heiress to her name! And I challenge you, Arabella Knight, to fight me for it!" She pointed a claw right at Arabella, who looked incredibly shocked. Her jaw was wide open and she glanced around at her classmates nervously.

"W-what? But I..." Arabella said weakly. Abby snorted at her voice. It sounded frail, and not at all like her own confident voice. How could this be her mother's daughter? "I...I don't know how to fight."

This, Abby did not expect. Her eyes widened and she stuttered. Nate even looked shocked. The teacher, a large, multipled-eyed tentacle monster, took this time to get his classroom under control. "Alright, Miss-"

"NO!" Abby howled, lunging forward to grab Arabella by the dress. "You're going to fight me whether you like it or not!" She threw Arabella on the ground and pinned her by the neck, rearing back her fist. The other girl struggled under her, trying to toss Abby off of her, but with both centipede halves the girls were an even match. The class was in a frenzy, all backed into corners as papers and notebooks flew. Abby punched her a couple times before the teacher scrambled over to them.

Nate noticed the teacher about to break them up, and knew Abby would be bitter and disappointed if she didn't have her full fight. So with a strong flap of his wings and a rush of wind, he shot forward and grabbed the two struggling girls. The entire class gasped and watched as the boy sailed towards the parking lot with two fighting girls in tow. Well, one fighting girl, and the other screaming in fear.

"Stop screaming like a human child and fight me!" Abby screamed, tears pricking her eyes. The two girls tumbled out of Nate's grip as he made a clumsy landing. Almost immediately, Abby scrambled over to her half-sister and pinned her down again.

Her fist shook in the air, but she couldn't land a punch. "Why?" she cried, tears rolling down her eyestalks. A few droplets dripped from her face and landed on a shocked Arabella's. "Why do you get to be her daughter? It's not fair...it should be me. It should be me!"

"Don't cry..." Arabella croaked, a small, bloody smile adorning her bruising face. "My sister shouldn't be sad."

That only enraged Abby further. "WE. ARE NOT. SISTERS!" she roared, opening her fist to slash across Arabella's face. The girl cried out, clutching at her face, just as Abby was pulled off by a large monster in a tie. Abby continued to claw at the air and the monster's arms, screaming over and over as she sobbed.

Abby could feel her mother's thinly veiled rage before Bonnie even spoke. And it was a long time before Bonnie spoke. She had settled things with the principal, drove them both home, and pushed Abby into her room. But when she did finally speak, it in was a clipped, enraged voice.

"You'd better have a good explanation."

Exhausted and beyond upset, Abby couldn't meet her mother's eyes. "I...I just wanted Mother to see...I was better."

Bonnie stormed over to her daughter on the bed. "You lied to me, you broke into a school, you assaulted a little girl. Abigail, you're damn lucky you're not being charged. Is your mother really worth going to jail over?"

Abby was shaking, tears filling her vision. "I...I just want to be her daughter," she pleaded. "I'm better."

Her mother's next words shattered her heart. "You are not her daughter. You're mine." Bonnie leaned down and roughly laid her collar flat against her shoulders. "You need to stop this obsession with her and face facts. What's wrong with being my daughter, hm? What's the problem with me? Are you ashamed of me?"

"No!" Abby cried, her voice muffled as she hid her face in her hands.

"What, I'm not good enough for you?"

"No!"

"Then what is it?"

"I want her to love me, too!" Abby started sobbing, burying her face in her blankets and stuffed toys. "And maybe if I showed her how scary and tough I am, she'd love me!"

Her mother didn't say anything for a minute before the phone started to ring. Abby couldn't see her, but she could hear her slither to the doorway. "You're grounded for a month," her mother said sternly before closing the door.

"Don't talk about her like that. She's your daughter, too. And she loves you and she misses you." A pause. "She wouldn't be this way if her mother had the decency to drop by every once in a while! Or send her a card! Or basically do anything to acknowledge her existence!"

Abby cracked open the door to her bedroom, watching silently as her mother leaned back against the kitchen counter and rubbed her eyes. "I know you'd rather pretend like she doesn't exist, but I'm telling you that if I know her well enough, this is only the beginning. She'll find a way into your life sooner or later, Abigail. In fact, she's pretty much exactly like you. She never gives up anything once she sets her mind on it. And she has her mind set on making you into the mother she's always dreamed of."

A muffled voice over the phone. "Actually, I think I'm doing a pretty damn great job of raising two kids by myself and working to support them at the same time, thanks. And I'll have you know she does love me as a mother, but she wants you to be in her life, too. She absolutely admires you, Abigail. And you don't even know her name, do you?"

Abby's eyes widened. With shaky hands, she silently closed the door and stood in her bedroom, staring at the floor absently. Before she could start crying, she wobbled over to her bed. She almost made it halfway before her legs tangled and she laid on the floor.

Her eyes met her mother's poster under her bed. That was when the tears finally flowed.

Her brother talked to her later that night, in their secret sibling way of communicating. He would slip pieces of paper through the grate between their two rooms and she would do the same thing.

U Ok? his note read.

Not sure.

mom ground u?

Yes.

month?

Yes. You?

month 2 :/

I'm sorry I mixed you up in this.

Its Ok. Ur my sis. I got yur back :)

Even when I'm doing something really stupid?

yup

Thanks for everything, Nate.

love ya sis. try 2 sleep. Along with a crudely drawn Abby snoring away in an equally poorly drawn bed. p.s. mom loves u 2. i haeard heard her saying it to some1. :)

Abby sent back a picture of a heart.

Abby didn't talk to her mother for a long time afterward. Bonnie was content to let her come on her own time, but when Abby turned away from her after two weeks she finally put her tail down. Well, more specfically, she roughly set her coffee mug down on the counter.

"Are you mad at me?" she snapped.

"No," her daughter replied quietly.

"Oh? You're not? How long are you planning to mope around, then?"

"I'm not moping."

Bonnie sighed, shaking her head. She approached her daughter quietly, sitting down next to her on the couch. Abby's eyes rested firmly outside the window, where the rain splashed on the windowpane and rattled the shutters.

"Abby," the snake monstress began gently, "what's wrong? Is it me?"

"No," Abby murmured.

"Your brother? Someone at school?"

"No."

Bonnie swallowed and hesitated. "Your...your mother?"

Abby shrugged. "Not really."

"Then who is it?"

"Me."

Bonnie blinked. "...You?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"...I...something's wrong. Something's wrong with me." The girl's voice cracked and broke on the last word, her face crumbling. Tears flowed from her previously dry eyes as she hid her face in her hands. Feeling her heart break, Bonnie rubbed her daughter's back.

"No, sweetheart, there's nothing wrong with you. Why would say such a thing?" she tutted.

"I-I-no one is like me...I don't fit in. I'm different. And I messed up and now no one likes me. Not even you anymore!" Abby sobbed, curling up at the foot of the couch and pressing herself far into the couch cushions.

Bonnie's thin arms wrapped around her and pulled her into her lap. She rocked her gently, shushing her. "Abby, Abby. Abigail, listen to me. I love you. There is nothing you could do to make me hate you. I love you, and I always will. And I like you, too."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do! You're the scariest little monstress in the whole world. And you're smart, and passionate, and so strong. Abby, you're the strongest monster I know. I wish I could be half as strong as you. You just made a mistake, that's all. And you know what? Everyone makes mistakes. Even me."

"Mother doesn't."

Bonnie snorted. "Your mother has made more mistakes than the both of us combined. But there's nothing wrong with that. It's all a part of growing up. You just have to pick yourself up and learn from it."

Abby had calmed now, snuggled deeply against her mother's chest as she held her. "Mama...do you think there's something wrong with me?"

"No." Golden claws came up to stroke the leathery skin at the base of her eyestalks. "No, I don't. I think you're hurting. I think you're in pain and you don't know what to do it. But you're just a little girl, Abby, you'll figure it out in time."

Abby sniffed, and a few tears soaked through the lapels of Bonnie's blazer. Bonnie ignored it and held her daughter for as long as she needed.

A/N: So...there it is. I don't know how I feel about this chapter...I don't like it. I know it feels really rushed :/ But I'd like to get it out of the way so I can work the next chapters. P.S. Abby and Nate are around 12 or 13 in this chapter, whereas they were around 8 or so in the last one.