Flash Forward Two Years

Casie was still reeling. I couldn’t believe the horrors that happened to my mom. It was far worse than the worst case scenarios I’d come up with after I returned from after my stint living in Faerie. I was still staggered my mom let me live there for a time. She even argued for me and stood up for me against everyone who didn’t want me to go. Her goodness had yet again staggered me.

I laid my head down and drifted off to sleep. My hands felt grass beneath me. I jolted and realized I’d woken up in a meadow. Rain linked, “We are the Beyond.”

I teased, “I know that.”

I smiled calling, “Uncle Arion?”

I loved that he pulled me here now. I thought he didn’t want to meet me and that’s why he didn’t my whole life. Instead, it was thinking we’d hate him. Now, we were getting to know him.

I heard a melodic laugh, “No, sweet girl. I wanted to meet you, so I brought you here.”

I whirled around hoping that wasn’t who I thought it was. Rain snarled in my head because there was no mistaking the features staring back at me. Everyone was right when they said my mother and I looked like Alania.

My mother was FAR more beautiful than she was though. I snorted, “Is that so?”

Alania sighed, “You are angry with me.”

I laughed humorlessly, “I passed anger a long time ago. Why am I here? Did you want to meet the little girl you failed to murder?”

Alania argued, “I never tried to kill you.”

I disagreed, “So when my mom was pregnant with her second set of triples, Julian, William, and Preston you didn’t send a toy to try and kill me? Before you answer you should know I found Uncle Aiden’s notes when I was in Faerie about said incident.”

Alania sighed, “It wasn’t to kill you.”

I smiled mockingly, “Awww, so just to seriously injure me. You almost cost me my brothers.”

Alania looked away, “I did not see my darling girl taking the toy. She should not have done that.”

I gaped at her for several moment. Finally I asked, “That’s your excuse?! Not that sending a child who has Fairy blood a toy with iron in it is wrong.”

She said nothing. I scoffed, “That you don’t understand my mother enough you didn’t realize she would walk through fire and crawl naked over broken glass to not see me or my siblings hurt is actually insane. I think you have something wrong with you mentally.”

Alania looked back at me. I studied her then shook my head, “Of course you don’t understand. Because you are the kind of person who cannot hold a candle to my mom. You could and would never be the mother that she is. You are too selfish and conceited. You are arrogant enough to bring me here after the atrocities you have committed against my mother.”

She went to say something, but I cut her off, “You will NEVER understand, and don’t you EVER call my mom your darling girl in my presence again. Do you understand the devastation you caused by being an inadequate, neglectful, and spiteful mother?”

She gasped in shock.

I threw a finger in her face pointing, “You hurt Grandpa Titus! You hurt ALL of my uncles and Grammy Veronica! YOU HURT MY SIBLINGS AND MY DAD! All because you couldn’t look away from yourself for one second to realize what you had in my mother.”

I growled, “Nooooo, you couldn’t do that because you had to be adored by everyone more than she was. You saw that was going to happen, didn’t you? You had to make people view her as less because she is MORE THAN YOU WILL EVER BE! Had people gotten to know her, they’d have realized that.”

I shook my head, “You want to know what’s truly sad? You could’ve been right by her side. In fact, you should’ve been. My mom has always said I’m better than she is, but I honestly hope to be a fraction of the person she is.”

I glared at her now, “My mom never held me back. She’s always wanted me to shine and believed in me. She wants me to reach any dream I have. You should’ve been that for her. Barring that since you seem incapable of love you should’ve given her to my Grandpa Titus. You're selfish and vain. Send me home you bitch.”

Alania frowned, “No, I want to talk this out. I do so miss my darling girl.”

I snarled, “I told you NOT to call her that again.”

I shot sunlight at her, and she screamed bloody murder when it struck her in the chest. I attacked her and had her on the ground in seconds.

I mocked her, “I am not just a Fairy. I am a Wolf and a Hackura.”

Rain linked, “Let me shift and bite her for hurting mom.”

I punched Alania in the face. She screamed in pain. I sneered, “You really should’ve learned to fight. Looks aren’t everything. They can get you out of a lot, but they cannot get you out of a fight.”

I rammed my fist into her gut .

She finally popped away. Rain linked, “I’m just saying I could rip her throat out.”

I replied, “She’s already dead.”

Rain reasoned, “But it would hurt.”

Alania interrupted our conversation by trying to grow vines to keep me in place.

I laughed mockingly, “Oh please.”

I sent the vines at her. The earth responded to me more than it did her. She stared at me in shock. I mocked her, “Using the Earth is one of my strongest powers.”

Alania frowned, “But your Sky side has the sunlight, and you are the Truth Seeker.”

I smiled, “But there’s me and two of my other siblings that love the earth, and it loves us back. I DO hope you call my brothers here. One will have you pulled into a tree to explode before you reappear. It would be what you deserve.”

Rain linked, “Ummm hello miss I have three supernatural sides. It’s my turn. Let me at this bitch who harmed our mom!”

I warned Alania, “I do have one more side anxious to get in on the action.”

Alania paled. I ordered her, “Stay.”

Just like my mom, I had the power to make people unable to pop. Or leave if I didn’t want them to.”

Alania screamed and took off running.

I laughed, “You can’t outrun a Werewolf, you dumb bitch!”

I shifted and took off. I heard my Uncle Arion laugh behind me. At least he wasn’t stopping me. Rain ran full speed and tackled Alania from behind. She bit her shoulder deeply and painfully. She clawed at her stomach and ripped her guts out then bit into her neck. If she could die again, she would’ve. As it was, by the time Rain was done Alania was screaming in pain wishing she could die, and that was good enough for me.

I shifted back and snapped myself clothes. I told Alania, “My wolf side isn’t even my strongest. If you pull me here ever again, you’ll find out which of my sides I favor. Are we clear?”

Alania whimpered but didn’t answer me. I grabbed her arm and yanked it out of the socket.

I shouted, “I SAID, ‘ARE WE CLEAR?’ You have to know that requires a response!”

Alania cried, “I understand.”

I let her arm go and snorted, “You will never understand. You will always be the basic bitch who never gets it. You led your son down a path to his death. You held his damn hand, and my mom would face death himself to save me or my siblings. You’re a pathetic excuse of a woman, and you don’t deserve anyone’s time.”

I turned to see a smiling Uncle Aiden and Uncle Arion. Uncle Aiden grabbed my hand, “Let’s go back, Slugger.”

I snorted, “That’s what my siblings and I call Elise.”

Uncle Aiden laughed, “Yes, well it’s fitting for both of you.”

I asked, “What are you doing here, Uncle?”

Uncle Aiden answered, “My brother and I always spend today together. It’s the day our dad died. He’s around here of course, so now we spend it with him here.”

I rolled my eyes, “That’s why she pulled me. That bitch didn’t want to be alone. Well, I don’t think she’ll make that mistake again.”

Uncle Arion laughed, “I kind of hope she does. That was epic. Plus, we all know which side you favor, and I could see a Hackura beat down.”

My Uncle Aiden agreed, “It would be something.”

He gave me a hug and told Arion, “Send her home.”

Arion smiled and tapped my forehead.

I woke up with a start. EJ and Alexander were sitting on my bed. EJ asked, “Why did Uncle Arion pull you and not us?”

I snorted, “You guys will NOT believe this.”

Alexander asked, “What happened?”

I said, “Alania pulled me. I think she thought she could manipulate me but found out quickly that was NOT true.” A tray dropped on the ground that had all our attention.

My mom had been coming with breakfast, I guess. She screamed, “SHE DID WHAT?!”

I bit my lip knowing that we’d be going to the Hackura realm to calm mom down. Maybe I’d run into Cayden. Rain grumbled, “He’s probably on a mission.”

He was on a lot of missions.

As the future Commander, he did have to know what kind of missions he’d be sending people out on.

He had to know who should be recommended to my uncle and one day, when he took power, my cousin Hastein. He had to know those in his army and their strengths. One day, Cayden Crawford, I’ll meet you.