Chapter 12

I've never been much of a runner, but when I heard the voices and the people rushing towards the parking lot, I took off like a bat out of hell. It felt like I was gliding on air, moving as fast as I was able to. I was a blur in the night, blending into the woods around me, doing my best not to be caught.

Adrenaline was coursing through my veins, and it was a fight or flight moment. I couldn't risk being caught; especially by Emi. She would have to tell mom; this was too big of a deal for her to keep quiet.

The only safe place for me was a place that Emi couldn't follow. My mind raced back to when we were pulling up to the beachfront. Marie and Ashley were excitedly chatting amongst themselves, I was staring at the dark scenery around us. About a half a mile through the forest was a cliff, and if I could make it… I'd be home free.

Marie and Ashley were safe; they were back at the uber, and I was sure they'd leave when they saw everyone coming back from the beachfront. If I could just make it to the ocean… Nobody would be able to get me there.

I was pushing myself, my lungs screaming at me as I ran. Who would think to look near the cliffs, and for a thirteen year old no less. No, it was only Emi who would know my marking, she would recognize my teeth, and she'd come for me.

'Only if she catches you. She can't swim, you can' I could feel my heartbeat in my ears. My hair was flying around me in an inky haze, and I could hardly see. I couldn't risk changing my form again so I could see, it would slow me down too much.

'She can't swim, but she can fly.'

"FUCK!" Pain shot through my leg, and I tumbled into the dirt path below me. My ankle began to throb, and tears began to burn in the corner of my eyes. I brought my hand to my ankle and massaged it gently. There was now a rip in my stockings, and I was bleeding.

Pushing myself from off the ground, I could see the cliff in the distance. I could hear the ocean; the waves crashing against stone, the foam popping and fizzing as the water retreated into the night. It was a subtle call, and I yearned to feel the coolness of the waves against my flesh.

"ELAINE!" I could hear her. Rustling in the darkness, Emi was looking for me. She was feeling for my heat signature, listening for my breathing. She was like a beast in the night, hunting me down.

I began to limp quickly, attempting to swallow my pain. I couldn't let her get me… I couldn't let mom know what I was doing. Everything would fall apart, and she would tell dad. Panic began to flood my senses and I pushed myself into overdrive. I was running once again, my goal in sight.

"THERE YOU ARE!" I turned to look behind me, and my heart shot in my throat. Behind me, the flames of hell burning in her eyes, was Emi. Her fists were clenched, and she was running towards me at a speed that only she could manage.

"NO!" I screamed as she grabbed for me, her hands grabbing the back of my dress. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion at that point. Emi grabbed me, her hands so hot it burned right through the fabric of my dress, leaving a sharp burning scent in the air. I pulled away from her, stumbling backwards and caught Gabriel's eyes just as I fell from the clifftop.

...

I remember listening to my parents arguing. It was the third night that we had moved into our new house, and mom had locked herself in her bedroom. My boxes were still packed, and I was attempting to prove some sort of stupid point by refusing to unpack them. Mom was frustrated, and nearly in tears and she screamed back and forth on the phone with my father.

"It doesn't matter, Alistor, they're my children and I won't let you scare me into giving them to you!" I had placed my ear against the cool wood of my mom's bedroom door. I had heard them yelling, and I was sure Emi had too.

"No_NO! It doesn't matter… They'd never_"

"Just_"

"I CAN TAKE CARE OF THEM!" Her voice was hoarse, and I could hear her slam something heavy against the door… perhaps it was her body. I could hear her crying, her tears bitter and frustrated.

"Momma?" I didn't knock, and I spoke so quietly, I wasn't sure if she heard me. However, a few moments later, she opened the door with bleary red eyes and a tight smile.

"Yes baby?"

"I… I love you." I couldn't even remember what I had wanted to say to her. I'm sure it was a complaint about the house, and how horrible everything was, however I just couldn't bring myself to say anything. The look on her face was just so devastated.

"I love you too." She wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her red shirt, and leaned down to give me a hug. "Now go to bed, it's way past your bedtime."

I nodded my head and turned away from her, the look of anguish and fear burned into my memory… And that look was the same expression on Gabriel's face as I fell into the icy depths below.

Water surrounded me like a blanket, and I could feel myself sinking deeper into the darkness. The waves were crashing, but that meant nothing to me as I propelled myself further and further into the water. I had missed this feeling; being surrounded by the ocean.

However, that feeling was cut short when something nearly as hot at Emi scooped me up and pulled me from the darkness. I gasped out as my skin touched the night air, and flailed in my captors arms as I was being dragged towards shore.

"STOP, LET ME GO!" I tried to scream, but my voice was being drowned out by the waves and water around me. I tried to struggle more, but the grip around my torso was too tight, and not budging at all.

It took me a moment to realize my captor was none other than Gabriel. His face, which had been so panicked before, was completely blank as he pulled me onto the sandy beach. His breathing was ragged, but it didn't seem like it was because he was tired, and he didn't once loosen his grip… even when we were on land.

"Please, please let me go!" I was squirming, my feet not touching the ground. Nausea was scratching at my insides, as the realization was beginning to wash over me. I was on land, caught… I was caught.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" His voice was so quiet, I hardly heard it over my own screaming thoughts. I was clawing at his arms, trying to push him away, but his grip was like a hot iron bar.

"What. The. Fuck. Is. Wrong. With. You?" His jaw was clenching and unclenching, and when I looked up at his face, I saw such an intensity in his emerald orbs… I burst into tears.

...

I have always been one to admit when mistakes were made. I am but a humble little New Yorker, and I can plainly admit that I totally, wholeheartedly, from the very bottom of my heart and to my very core, fucked up royally.

As I sat in the back seat of Gabriel's car, soaking wet, covered in a thick flannel blanket, I thought back to how I ended up in this terrible, horrible situation. I thought back to the decisions that I made, and how I was a complete fool for ever going through with this terrible plan after so many things went wrong.

I thought about my parents as well. If my mom didn't contact my dad, that would be the very best case scenario, but not by much. My mother was going to kill me. She was going to either string me up, beat me to death, or maybe, perhaps, die of shock herself when she finds out what I did.

And that's if the police don't get involved.

So as I sat in the back seat of Gabriel's sleek black Volvo, dripping water all over the spotless leather interior, and huddled tightly in his thick flannel blanket… I closed my eyes and cried harder than I ever had before. I had had periods of intermittent sobbing ever since Gabriel pulled me out of the ocean, but this time was different.

Gabriel had pulled me to shore, not saying much, but he was shaking so bad I thought he was being electrocuted or something. He finally put me down when he saw Emi and another girl in the distance running towards us. The other girl was about their age with short dark hair and a worried expression on her strong face. She stayed further behind as Emi ran towards us.

"Elaine, you're in so much goddamn trouble." I had never seen her so angry before, and I could feel the heat pouring off of her in heavy waves. I flinched away when she reached for me, and she retracted her hand. Gabriel moved away from me, running over to where his friend was in the distance.

"E-Emi… You're gonna burst into_"

"Shut up Elaine." I flinched at the venom in her voice, tears falling freely from my eyes. I couldn't stop the tears as they dragged to Gabriel's car and sat me in the back seat to dry off. I was shaking, partly from the cold, but mostly from fear.

I had no idea what my parents were gonna do.

It turned out that I did, in fact, not pop Candace's tire, but Avery's instead. For all of our planning and scheming, we were foiled by a couple of wrong numbers on the license plates. Marie had pointed out the wrong car, but I could hardly blame her… I was also none the wiser of her mistake.

My phone was completely ruined; I wasn't thinking when I ran, I only ran. There was no way of knowing if Marie and Ash made it out, or if they were caught as well. I hoped they left me, but something tells me that they didn't.

I wiped away some of the snot coming from my nose on the sleeve of my shirt, and tried to compose myself. Gabriel, Emi, and this Avery chick were talking about me outside while they waited for a tow truck to come and take her car away. I looked up as the car door opened and Emi stuck her head in.

"I called mom. I'm just giving you a fair warning for when she gets here. She probably called dad as well." Emi's voice was tight, and I felt my heart squeeze and bile rise in my throat. I placed my blotchy face in my hands and began to cry softly once again.

"Thank you Avery. I'll be sure to pay for the replacement." My mom was a professional woman. She was able to speak calmly and smoothly in even the most frustrating of situations, and even if she was completely furious. This was one of those times she was able to surprise me with the sheer amount of control she had over her emotions.

When she arrived, she got out of her car and slowly, and calmly made her way toward us. She motioned for Emi to get into the car with the flick of her hand and beckoned me forward with her index finger. I had slipped from the backseat of Gabriel's car and approached my mom with caution. She had never hit us before, but I wasn't sure if she was gonna start now.

"I apologize, sincerely and wholeheartedly once again." Avery, Gabriel's friend, just shrugged her shoulders and began to make her way towards Gabriel's car. Mom then turned to Gabriel and sighed.

"Thank you for getting her. Emilia can't swim, so she would have been unable to… save her." Mom's smile was tight, but her eyes were furious. Her expression was identical to Emi's. And I knew that I was in for the worst car ride of my life.

"No problem Mrs. Kirkland_"

"Call me Ariel. Anyone who pulls my youngest out of the ocean has earned the right to call me by my first name." She dug her nails into my shoulder and I flinched, not from pain, but from anxiety.

"No problem Ariel." Mom nodded and she directed me towards the car.

"Put a towel on the seat before you sit down." I nodded, limping up the sandy walkway and making my way to my mother's car. My ankle was beginning to ache once more and I was feeling nauseous.

"You should get her ankle checked out." I could hear Gabriel and my mother chatting back and forth for a moment, before she too followed behind me to the car.

The car ride was silent at first. Emi and mom were too angry to say anything. However, when we were about fifteen minutes from her house, mom adjusted her rearview mirror and glared at me.

"You lied to me, Elaine." Her voice was tight and a little hoarse, like she was trying to prevent herself from yelling.

"No I_"

"You were deceitful and dishonest. I asked you, no I begged… I begged you to be on your best behavior and this is how you go and act?" Her brows furrowed, and she glared at me through her reflection.

"I'm sorry_"

"I don't wanna hear it. I don't want to hear a damn thing from you right now. You have no idea what you could have done tonight; the police could have been called, they would investigate me for sure, and I do not need any social services poking their noses into my_ our business. You almost exposed yourself, and to expose yourself is to expose your sister, and your father. You put this family in danger Elaine… and your father will hear about this." Mom's words cut through me, and I winced.

"I didn't mean too…" I whimpered and mom shook her head.

"Not another word. I can't speak to you right now. I just… Get in the damn house." She pulled into our driveway, and I let out a shaky sigh.

How could I have been so stupid?

*Hello, hello! I'm super sorry for the delay, life has been insane! However, here is the next chapter! Thank you all to reviewed, it was such an amazing feeling to see people enjoying this story. Please continue to review, and I'll continue to write for y'all.*

XOXO Randomkay