𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑴𝑨𝑵, ᵗʰᵉ ⁱⁿʰᵉʳⁱᵗᵃⁿᶜᵉ ᵍᵃᵐᵉˢ

𝟎𝟎𝟏: 𝐢 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧

Who am I?

That is the question I have been asking myself for the past eighteen years.

According to my mother, Skye Hawthorne, I am nobody. According to my grandfather, I am dangerous. According my brothers, I am worthy.

But who am I, according to me?

I have spent my entire life trying to figure that out. There is no way of truly knowing because I don't allow myself find out. Because finding out stuff like that leads to mistakes being made and whenever I make mistakes, they haunt me forever.

The one mistake that truly haunts me is dating my boyfriend. He is a horrible human being. I don't even think he deserves the title "human". Because everything he does to me is so inhumane.

But I can't bring myself to break up with him. Maybe it is because I have never had anyone love me as much as he claims he does. And it feels good for someone to love me. But I also feel as though I am getting manipulated. All the time.

My phone ringing brings me back into the present time. I set down the bottle of wine I was drinking from and pick up the phone.

"Hello?" I say to the person on the other side of my phone.

"You're late" they say. I roll my eyes.

A laugh escapes me, "Maybe you're all just early, Grayson" I say, slightly slurring.

I hear my brother sigh from the other end of the phone, "Have you been drinking again, Aurora?" He asks me.

"That depends on what exactly you think I'm drinking" I say, "Water, juice, tea, coffee. The possibilities are endless, Gray!"

I can practically hear him roll his eyes from the other side of the phone, "Where are you?" He asks me.

I laugh again, "Where do you think I am?" I slur as I pick up the bottle I was drinking from earlier and take another swig.

"I'm not sure" his voice is soft through the phone but I can still hear the annoyance in it, "That's why im asking you."

I smile, "Oh well if that's the case, I'm on the roof!" I finally answer his question.

The line goes dead and I frown for a moment before continuing what I was doing before he called. I hop off the edge of the roof I was sitting on and take the bottle with me.

I stumble over to the entrance of the roof and when I am about three feet away, the door opens and Grayson Hawthorne walks out of it.

I smile at him, "Funny seeing you here, Gray!" I say as I walk over to him, "The old man will not be pleased when he hears you're missing the will reading!"

A flicker of emotion appears in Grayson's eyes, "The old man is gone, Aurora." He says to me, "Remember?"

A frown appears on my face, "Oh" I say sadly, and all the events that happened in the past month come rushing towards me.

Tobias Hawthorne dying. Me being there to see him die. A mystery girl being invited to the will reading. My boyfriend being an manipulative asshole who somehow always finds a way to make me forgive him.

A stray tear falls down my face, "And it's his will reading that I'm late for?" I ask Grayson in a small voice.

He wipes the tears from my face and takes the bottle from my hand, placing it on the edge of the roof.

"Yes, it is" He answers, "But it seems as if you are dressed appropriately for the will reading, so all we have to do is get you down there." Grayson gestures to my black silk mini dress that ends at my mid thigh and the half up half down style that is in my hair. Along with a black bow.

I link my arms with his and lead us both down the stairs.

"I'm going to trust you not to speak while you're drunk during the will reading" Grayson says to me.

I grin at him, "You don't have to worry about me, Gray!" I say happily, the memory of Tobias Hawthorne going away in the blink of an eye, "I can handle my shit"

We walk down to the Great Room at a decent pace, getting there in not much more than five minutes.

I see the doors to the room the will reading is being held in, and I hesitate, "You can go in without me. I'm going to get some water but I'll be there in a moment" I say with a crooked smile.

Grayson looks at me for a moment. Then sighs, "Fine but be if you take more than five minutes, I'm taking away you're roof privlages" He says.

I gasp dramatically, "You wouldn't!" I exclaim, holding a hand to my heart.

The corners of Grayson's lips turn upwards in what appears to be a smile, "I definetly would." He says, right before he turns around and enters the Great Room.

I'm not actually going to get water. I figure this will reading will be easier when I'm the least sober I can possibly be. It will be less painful then it already is while I'm intoxicated.

"Rory" I hear someone say from behind me. I turn around and see my brother, Jameson, standing there, looking like he is in the same state as I am.

I give him a smile, "Hey, Jamie" I say, "Are you ready for this?"

He looks at me with a crooked grin, "As ready as I'll ever be." Jameson says, "I met the mystery girl. She appears to be smart. And pretty. Really pretty" He slurs a little at the end of his sentence and even though we are both pretty intoxicated right now, I know we will sober up very quickly when we enter the Great Room.

Jameson shakes his head a little and then looks at me again, "What about you?" He asks me, "Are you ready for this?"

I laugh a little, "I don't think I'll ever be ready for this." I say with a slight frown.

And on that note, me and Jameson both walk into the Great Room.

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