Moonlit Awakening

Chapter 18

Liam

When Liam returns to his home, he's exhausted. He collapses onto his bed, falling into a deep sleep. The next morning, he wakes, and heads downstairs to eat breakfast. "Liam," his mother says, "have you calmed down some?"

"Yes," he mumbles.

"Are you going to talk with Alice?"

"No, I don't want to see her right now."

"Liam..."

"Mom, please..." She sighs, turning her attention back to the breakfast she's cooking. Cedar paces around anxiously in his head. "Cedar, what's wrong?"

"Mate is sad," Cedar responds, "Mate didn't mean to make us so angry."

"That doesn't make what she said any better!" Cedar whimpers, retreating to a corner of his mind.

Three days pass before he finally goes to see Alice. "Mate, needs us!" Cedar yells, "Mate is hurting!"

He arrives at her house and knocks on the door. Ember answers, immediately dragging him upstairs to Alice's room. "Alice," Ember states, "Liam is here. Do you want to tell him about..."

"N...no," she whimpers, "I can't..."

"Do you want me to?"

"Y...yes... "

Ember sighs, facing him. "You might want to sit down for this."

He sits down on the bed. "What are you talking about?"

"When Alice was a child...one of our father's friends started to molest her. She didn't tell anyone. She was too afraid to. It continued until she was fifteen when..." She glances at her sister, who's buried herself in the blankets on the bed. "...when she became pregnant."

He's silent, absorbing the information. "You...this...this isn't your first pregnancy?"

"N...no," Alice whispers from underneath her blanket, "that's not all...Ember tell him the other thing..."

"There's more?"

Ember sighs. "She...she had a miscarriage when she was thirteen. It nearly killed her. She was too scared to tell anyone. Thank god Margaret was still here when it happened. She was the one who found her."

He pales. "What...where is the child that survived?"

Ember looks angry. "Our parents took her son away from her. They didn't even let her meet him."

"Do you know where he's at right now?"

"I...I think he's in foster care right now."

His expression softens. "Ember, may I speak with Alice alone?"

"Yes, I'll be outside the room if you aren't able to calm her down."

He nods, watching as she leaves. "Alice, it's okay. You can come out. I'm not angry with you."

She peeks out from underneath her blanket. "Y...you aren't d...disgusted?" she whispers.

"Baby, I promise, I'm not."

She slowly comes out from underneath the blanket. "I'm sorry..."

"For what?"

"For not telling you, I was scared. I thought you...I thought you'd think I was disgusting."

"Why would I think that?"

"B...because I'm used."

He reaches out, pushing her hair out of her face. "I don't care about that."