Chapter 22: Annette and Shawn Greene
Stepmother.
It was a word that implied a being lesser in status than a mother. Not a biological mother, not even an adopted mother. A stepmother was almost always unwanted, from Cinderella to Snow White, and were made out to be the bad guys all the time.
Were they to blame for everything, all the time?
That girl, Maggie. The one who continued to insist that Annette would never be her mother defiantly, even when she raised her voice or tried to negotiate with her, not even when she said, you'll never be as good as mom.
She continued to love that girl. Hershel brought her downstairs and made her apologize to her. Beth was Maggie's half-sister, and yet she treated the girl extremely well, almost as though she were het own biological sister. She seemed to ignore the difference between them.
Shawn, on the other hand, was sort of the odd one out. She knew Maggie cared about him, however, he seemed to often be the one left in the background while they did the things that girls did together, so to speak.
She worried about her son and cared for him, but some days, it was so rough. She loved all of them, so, so much. She loved her husband.
She loved life.
That was why, when Shawn came to her complaining of having been bitten by something, she thought nothing of it and put him to bed.
The next day, when she walked into his room, a monster took his place and bit her as well.
"Hershel…take care of the girls for me."
"You know I will. I always do. I love you. You're just sick, you'll get better."
She shook her head placatingly.
Around her, Maggie and Beth weeped.
She died and then as soon as she reanimated, Hershel put her in the barn, hoping that one day she would be cured.
"Mom!" Beth called out.
The being that used to be her mother snarled at her, its face filled with hatred.
She only had time to register: that's not my mother, before the gunshot rang out. And before her mother was bludgeoned to death before her eyes.
Horrified, Beth grieved her mother.
She grieved what was.
She grieved what could have been.