Chapter 15

Something Else to Worry About?

My heart felt like it was about to burst from my chest. I could only breath in short pants, and Lukas shot me a worried glance. It was just him, Alec, Rylan and I. Alec and Brent stuck with Cassy and Claude to break through their plans. Elly and Max went home before it became dark.

I sat in the back with Lukas as Rylan and Alec were in front -with Alec driving his car.

"You feeling okay?" Lukas asked me.

"I-I'm fine. I just kinda wish Brent had come along…" I trailed off and sucked in a deep breath to control my unsteady gasps. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. And I didn't even know what the symptoms were!

"Why him? I can hold your hand." Lukas gave me a cheerful grin, but it faltered when I frowned.

"That isn't it… he knows what I'm really feeling." I murmured, looking out the window. We had been driving for quite some time; the prison was in Pendleton, Oregon. The exit sign was visible to me, and I felt my heart beat faster -if possible.

"Rylan knows what you're feeling too, Oh Smart One." Alec reminded me. I glared at the back of his focused head, wishing that he hadn't been driving. Otherwise I would have slapped him hard.

"You know you aren't exactly helping a poor girl who's about to have a panic attack, right?"

Alec smirked and, keeping his eyes on the road, he said, "You just keep giving me more nicknames for you, Oh Poor One."

"You are so lame." I retorted, turning hastily back to the window…a small smile on my face. Our arguments suddenly seemed a bit more funny than angry.

As he steered the car onto the exit we needed, I knew I'd be seeing my father in fifteen minutes flat. How would he react? How would I react? What was going to happen? What cruel words were going to be said?! Ugh. I wasn't sure about any of it, and it just kept making my brain hurt-

Lukas took my hand in his cool one, shocking me out of my aching mind. I glanced over at him, and he gave me a sad smile. I bit back tears and squeezed his hand. It was the most comfort I would allow him to give me at the moment.

Just minutes later with Alec's illegal driving, he parked the car in the jail's parking lot. Fences and gates stood in front of the great building, and I shuddered at the eeriness of it.

"Alright, get out of my car." Alec told me as he climbed out. I glared after him and the rest of us followed suit. I took back my hand from Lukas when we began walking. My hands were now wringing my shirt nervously. The guard at the front gate looked over at us, and then opened the giant fenced door.

When I handed the woman at the front desk inside of the building my information and legal birth certificate, she smiled and told us to wait. And so, I was now sitting in a hard, uncomfortable chair, staring straight ahead blankly at a wall.

"Wow, snap out of it. All we're going to do is interrogate him a bit. If he doesn't give us answers, then we're shit outta luck until you can remember somebody else in your family." Alec nudged me in the shoulder and I sneered at him.

"Your father wasn't an abusive man who tried molesting you, was he?" I hissed just above a whisper. Alec's eyebrows raised and he looked taken back for a moment. Then he quickly recovered and crinkled his nose. But he didn't reply. Instead, he looked away.

"Is that why he was jailed?" Lukas asked me. I nodded.

"I remember stabbing him in the stomach. Blood had been everywhere and…" I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "I hated the feeling of having to do something so gruesome. It was like stabbing my own heart."

Lukas was about to reply, but a lady interrupted, "Avanni Maddox?"

I stood up immediately, and the boys followed suit. The woman in the police uniform frowned.

"Sorry, only two visitors at the moment."

"Then Rylan can go." Alec said. I shot him a surprised look. He raised an eyebrow at me, as if to tell me…Oh yeah, Rylan could climb into my father's mind. Brilliant. Rylan nodded once to me and then we followed the woman through a metal detector. On the other side was a cafeteria with several empty tables…except one…in the far, far corner without windows.

I stopped walking as red-rimmed eyelids with blue eyes peered at me from the slightly darkened corner. Rylan was completely, one-hundred percent focused on him as well. In fact, he looked tense all of a sudden. The only other person in the room was a man cop, who was busy reading a newspaper on the opposite side of the corner.

The man whom was my father cracked an ugly smile, as if he hadn't brushed his teeth or slept in ages. "Ava, baby, how nice to see you again. It's been years."

My knees buckled. Rylan seemed to catch me before I collapsed, and he looked back at the cop, who suddenly seemed suspicious. "Just surprise." Rylan filled in. The cop shrugged and went back to his own business. "Come on, now." Rylan lifted me so I leaned against him, and we walked to the table.

To my relief, my father's wrists were cuffed, and his leg was fettered to the table. I let out a sigh and sat down opposite of him. Rylan remained standing. My father's eyes traveled over me, and I felt self-conscious and disgusted. Then he narrowed his eyes to Rylan.

"Who are you, boy?" he demanded. I realized his voice had become…darker, along with the stubble on his cheeks and chin.

"Rylan Darquecaster, and you?"

My father snorted. "We ain't on full name basis, punk boy. Just call me Ivan."

Rylan sat down next to me, and leaned forward as my father's eyes went back to me. To my shock, Rylan snapped his fingers. "Hey, right now, your conversation is with me." he ordered. Ivan glared at the younger boy.

"Just who the hell do you think you are? My daughter is here, so I should be visiting with her, not you."

"I don't care about what you want. We came here for answers to visions, and that is it."

My father let out a laugh. "Visions? What the hell are you on, son?"

Rylan narrowed his eyes dangerously. I almost had to look away from all the tension. "Ivan, how is your stomach doing? Any damaged internal organs?"

I stared at Rylan in shock. My father stiffened, and his face went serious again. "How do you know about that?" he asked, lowering his voice. Rylan leaned over the table and came face to face with him.

"I can do a lot more damage than she did before. I know your thoughts. I know what you want to do to her. So answer our questions before fate comes back and stabs you in the face…or the stomach."

It was probably the second most I had ever heard from Rylan…but definitely the scariest. My father, Ivan, paled considerably and moved back. Rylan sat back as well.

"So, having second thoughts?"

My father swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing. His eyes went to me, but I quickly averted my gaze. "Fine. I'll answer your damn questions, filthy daywalker." he replied angrily in a low whisper. His words shocked me, and I looked up in surprise. How did he know?! Rylan of course, didn't appear so surprised. Of course, he'd know what my father was thinking beforehand.

"Wonderful." Rylan said, a small smirk alighting his face. I shivered at the cruelty reflecting in it. "Your daughter has visions in her dreams that has either happened in the past, or the future. We need to know if there was ever a vampire in your family, a psychic…or even a witch."

My father stared at me as he thought, and I began making shaky circles on the table. This was becoming overbearing. I could feel myself begin to sweat. I wanted to kick the table up into his nasty face and scream and kick some more. But that would get me nowhere.

"Your mother's grandma lived alone. I never wanted to visit the wench because she was insane. Your mother tried assuring me it was only because she could see things that others couldn't."

My eyes widened, and I was sure Rylan was just as shocked as I was. "What kind of things?!" I quickly asked, finally looking back into my fathers' tired eyes. He grinned widely.

"You talk!"

"Answer her!" Rylan snarled, slamming his hand down on the table. I jumped, and I saw movement out of the corner of my eye.

"What's going on?" the policeman asked. I smiled apologetically at him.

"Just old problems being talked out. Sorry."

He stared from me to my father to Rylan with extremely more so suspicious eyes, and then sat four tables down from us. I really hoped he couldn't hear.

"Things like ghosts. And supposedly she could tell the future out of a crystal ball." My father whispered. Rylan studied him a moment, and I held my breath in case my dad was lying. Then he blinked and nodded once.

"Excellent. We will be leaving now." Rylan stated, and stood up. My father's mouth dropped open. I quickly stood with Rylan.

"W-wait! Please don't leave me! You have no clue what it's like here! All alone without you!" he gasped.

I found that I couldn't turn away from him. I felt my heart hurting a bit more, but Rylan snapped me out of my pain with a cold hand on my arm. "Let us go." he said softly. I bit my lip to hide my tears and agreed silently with him. I turned my back on my father and began walking toward the exit.

That was when I heard the crash. And what followed. "You cannot leave me here, you little bitch!" Ivan screamed. I spun around, and cried out in fear. He had ripped out of the chains!

Hell, he had flipped the table and broken it, along with his ankle chains! My father began stomping toward me, a snarl upon his face. The policeman flew out of his seat and yanked out his tazer. Rylan pulled me back, farther from the scene. My legs wouldn't move.

I watched in horror as the man tazed my father, and it didn't even faze the jailed man. In fact, he ripped the tazer away from him and grabbed the policeman by the throat. He chuckled as he stared hungrily at the cop. I saw his eyes gleam red, and I screamed.

Rylan was there in a split second. He grabbed my father's wrist and twisted harshly. I turned away and collapsed to my knees, hiding my face in my hands as I heard the sickening snap of my father's arm.

We were saved from more trouble as at least a dozen cops ran in and grabbed a hold of my father once more. I couldn't watch as they knocked him out and re-chained him. They dismissed us and apologized, and Rylan grabbed me quickly from the floor and we were in the waiting room before I knew.

Alec and Lukas shot out of their seats, both of them appearing worried…even Alec! I didn't realize I was crying until Lukas wiped at my cheeks. "What happened? We tried to get in there when we heard her scream but the cops wouldn't let us…" Lukas looked at Rylan.

"Her father is a newly made nightwalker." Rylan stated. That was all he needed to say before I began sobbing uncontrollably.

A/N: I AM SOOOOOOOO SORRRYYYY that I have not updated for so long. I was busy with school, thinking up new ideas, and hanging with my family. But now I finally have this chap. Whew! That took a lot of my hands! Tomorrow, if you're one of my S.O.S readers, I should be updating it.