Kept In The Dark

Chapter Ten: Nowhere Left to Hide

Warning: There are scenes in this chapter that some may find upsetting. Don't say I didn't warn you.

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Donna Chandler may not have been the best mother in the world, but Mia knew there was no way she was a werewolf and that was a fact. She lay wide awake thinking... wondering... panicking, as she thought back to something she thought she'd heard. At the time she didn't know what to think, part of her thought it wasn't true. She'd suffered a head injury after a fall from a chair when she was searching for her birth certificate about a week earlier. She awoke with a blinding headache and couldn't help but overhear her mum and Aunt Mary arguing from downstairs. And then those words Mia thought she'd forgotten came flooding back to her mind. They were Mary's words of fury and anger during an argument with Donna, but that didn't matter.

'You dated a werewolf and had some cross-bred bastard'

The words 'werewolf,' and 'crossed breed bastard' ran rings around her mind as slowly the pieces fell into place.

Mia moved from the bed and quickly hurried across the small room where her bag sat on a chair opposite her bed. She reached inside a pocket on the side and retrieved a small brown envelope. Her address was written by hand on the back. She knew what it was. But part of her hoped this letter would end everything. Maybe, just maybe, it would hold all the answers to the questions that had pestered her mind for as long as she could remember. Mia slipped her finger under the opening of the envelope and quickly ripped it open. Two pieces of paper were folded neatly inside. There was an A4 letter on crisp white paper.

Dear Miss Hunter,
Please find enclosed a copy of your birth certificate. If you require any more assistance contact us at the number below.

It was a typical letter from the district council letting her know that a copy of her birth certificate was located inside. A second piece of paper, this time cream in colour, lay folded on the bed. Mia's hands trembled like falling leaves as she carefully opened it. Several columns were visible, in the first, her name, was Miami Jane Hunter, and her gender was listed as a girl. Her mother's name was present, Donna Louise Chandler, along with her address and occupation, college student. The rest was blank, no father's name, no father's occupation, and every scrap of information that was supposed to be listed on someone's birth certificate wasn't listed.

Mia wasn't surprised. If Mary was right, and he was a werewolf, what could he list under occupation? Werewolf? She didn't think so.

She placed it back into the envelope and lay awake that night as her heart continued to pound through her chest and the sound pulsated through her ears. Her aunt's loving words rang in her ears, as a cold sweat soaked through her hair and clothes. The pale pink bed sheets, covered in little images of cats and kittens wearing brightly coloured clothes, twisted tightly around her like a boa constrictor. She kicked her legs, forcing the heavy duvet to slip onto the floor. She took a deep breath as her temperature began to cool.

She looked up at the ceiling, tracing the patterns in the plaster, doing anything she could to help herself fall asleep. But how could she? Not after what she witnessed. The man who claimed to be her brother turned himself into a wolf-like creature on the night of the full moon.

A cold sweat coated her forehead and soaked through her hair. Strange smells surrounded her, and the strong scent of cat urine clung to the air. Her heart ached for home, to smell the familiar scents of lavender that drifted up to her bedroom window on a warm summer's morning from the front garden of her home. As she thought about her mum and family, a small tear formed in her eyes. With a single blink, it tumbled down her cheek.