Surrender -Under Re-Write

32

While Maya packed, and my dad tended to my mom and debriefed my brothers, Daniel sat in the room with me while I got my own things together.

Anna was here, and she was smiling and laughing, completely oblivious to all the shit that had happened only an hour before she and Kai arrived.

I envied her ignorance.

The blood stained carpet beside my desk was currently being covered by a towel so none of us had to look at it, but I could still smell it.

Daniel was busy entertaining Anna by playing some weird hand clapping game, and her happy laugh made the whole vibe of the room feel suffocating.

Rylands words plagued my mind. "But I'll come back. I'll come back and rip it away from him the way he did to me."

I shudder at the thought, and I could feel Daniel's eyes on me at the exact moment. I hadn't said anything to anyone yet about what he had said.

Daniel had said they'd find him, Maya had said they'd find him. My parents and brothers hushed voices kept saying they'd find him. But I couldn't help but feel a sick ache in my stomach that we wouldn't.

He said he'd disappear. What exactly did that mean? Why did he need to murder a child and break into so many homes just to find Daniel, then tell me he was going to disappear and come back years later?

Well, thinking about it now I was probably the game changer. He probably fully intended on killing Daniel when he found him, but he saw us together and came up with that scheme. A better way to hurt Daniel.

"Anna why don't you go see what Maya is up to?" Daniel says suddenly.

I blink a few times, trying to clear the fog in my mind. It's then I realize I've been standing in front of my closet unmoving for who knows how long.

"Okay!" Anna's sweet voice says. I don't turn when I hear her hop out of my room and towards Maya's.

"He said he was going to disappear." I say without looking at Daniel. "But that he was going to come back, and take everything from you."

I feel Daniels pain intensely in my chest.

"Like I did to him." Daniel says with a bitter chuckle.

I turn around and face him. He sits on the edge of my bed, facing me. His elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together. He looks so tired. How can someone his age look so tired?

"You didn't do anything to him." I say.

Daniel only nods. "No. Not intentionally. But that's not how he sees it." He says.

I sigh and nod.

"We're gonna fin-"

"Can you. Just not say that." I say.

Daniel frowns at me and stands up.

"We are Angie. I am going to find him." He says in a low warning tone.

"How? He said he was going to disappear. He some how managed to outrun my dad who is by far one of the fastest wolves in our pack. Who the hell knows how far he could be by now."

Daniel takes a deep breath, and waves of remorse and anger fill him before he speaks. "He had a child killed. He almost killed your mother in front of you and he put his hands on you." He takes another deep breath as if to calm himself, but I could still feel his rage as clear my own.

"I will find him, Angie. I can't, and will not rest till I find him and he's killed by my hands."

His low tone frightens me a little, and I shrink closer the closet behind me.

"Can you do that? He's a terrible person but it's still a life, your dad's life, a life you'd be taking." I say.

Daniel sighs and steps closer to me. "You know, he loved me once. I loved him too. Even after he shut me out, even after he put his hands on me. I loved him because he was my dad."

My chest tightened at his confession. It was hard to imagine Daniel as a child, still loving a man who treated him so terribly. His innocent mind confusing grief with abuse.

"But then I came to terms with the fact that my dad died alongside my mom. The man who "raised" me after my mom died, was not my dad. He's just a man who abused me. So yes, I can do that."

It was his final word. I could tell. Even if it hurt Daniel I could tell he meant everything he said. It was a little scary. Someone being so sure they'd be able to kill their own dad. The thought wouldn't settle in my brain. It's not that I disagreed with what needed to be done. I knew there was no other way to fully live in peace with Daniel unless his dad was completely out of the picture, but fuck. This is heavy for the shoulders of an 18 and 19 year old.

"You guys almost ready?" My brother Kai's voice breaks the silence between Daniel and I. We both turn to the door to face him and I frown at the sight of my brother.

He looks exhausted, and pissed.

"Yeah." I say and nod.

Kai walks closer to us and frowns at the marks on my neck. He glances at Daniel before turning back to me. "Don't ever do that again." He says in a pleading tone.

I knew what he meant. I shouldn't have gone after Ryland. I mean hell I struggled with training as a first year, did I really think I'd be able to handle a full grown male who's trained longer than I have?

Kai pulls me into a tight hug and sighs deeply. I wrap my arms around him and bury my face in his shoulder.

"This sucks." I mutter against him.

I hear him chuckle against me, and he slowly pulls away while resting his hands on my shoulders.

"It does. But we got this." He says reassuringly. "We're gonna get him."

I try not to vocalize my disbelief, but I'm sure Daniel feels it because he reaches for my hand and squeezes it gently.

After Maya and I load up all our things into Tyler and Tara's truck we say goodbye to Kai and my parents. All of us tried our best to keep a poker face for Anna's sake. As far as she knew we were all going on a vacation and everyone would meet us there later. I sat in the back middle seat with Anna in my lap, Daniel to my right and Maya to my left. As we drove off I held Anna tightly against me, and did my best not to cry as we drove away.

"Alright! Anna's first road trip with her Aunt's and Uncle's!" Tyler says excitedly from the front seat.

Anna cheers excitedly and everyone in the truck musters up a wide excited grin.

"What are those?" Anna asks pointing at the bruises on my neck.

I clear my throat awkwardly. "Bug bites." I say.

I feel Daniel rest his hand on my thigh and squeeze gently.

"That's a mean bug. Did you squish it?" Anna asks with a giggle.

Odd question from a 4 year old but okay. "Yep. With my bare hands" I say to her with a wink. "Look even got some of its guts on me." I say and wipe my hand on her head.

Anna giggles and fights against my hand, which obviously does not have bug guts on it, as I ruffle up her curly hair.

Her innocent laughter lifted the mood in the truck, and everyone slowly began carrying on with normal conversation.

You could tell we were all talking about anything just to ignore the obvious. That we were no longer preparing for a war, but for a man hunt.