Constant

Chapter 25

"No, I didn't," I said.

He sighed deeply. "The enlightenment ritual can be very overpowering for some individuals. I know it was for me three years ago, but for you... it almost ended you. You were too overwhelmed and tried..." He didn't end the sentence, instead he let his accusation hung in the air unsaid between us.

"No, I didn't," I said, full of conviction. I would never do anything of that sort.

"Which is why I was so afraid when you jumped in front of the car and-"

"NO!" I shouted, getting to my feet and yelling at his face. "Stop lying to me! Stop telling me things that aren't true! You don't care about me! You don't know me! And these god damn fairytales aren't about ME!" I threw the books on the floor, cracking the spine of one of them, making the insides spill out.

"What the hell did just do?" he shouted back, scrambling to his knees to collect the books and put it back together. He glared at me. "We should have let the darkness have you," he spat.

"Yeah, you should have." I looked down at my white dress and shoes, looking like an angel but feeling like the devil. I must be everything they were afraid of. I turned on my heel, stalking out through the front door. With purpose, I aimed for the gates, liking that they were open for once. No more trips through the woods.

"Where are you going? Sweetie?" I turned around at the sound of my mom's voice.

"I'm leaving," I said. "These people are crazy. I want nothing to do with them anymore. Lumenoil and the Light are all bullshit. What they're selling and proclaiming is bullshit. They're a cult! They're crazy!"

"What are you talking about? These are the same people that are keeping us afloat," she said. "How can you be so cruel?"

I sucked my teeth, glaring at her. How could she be so blind? What had she seen during all her trips to the community and Baltimore? How had they gotten to her?

"I want to go home," I said. "Now."

"I'm not done here," she said.

"Well, I am."

We stared at each other in a silent standoff.

"If you leave now, you're not my daughter," she warned, her voice hard but her eyes wide in desperation. My mouth fell open in shock. Where was this coming from?

"You don't mean that," I said.

"Yes, I do. I've done everything for you, I've done garbage jobs for you. If you leave me—us—now, you're leaving everything. You get that? I won't help you through college!"

I snorted loudly. As if she could do that without the aid of Lumenoil. She was nothing without that company—and I was everything without it.

I turned around, hearing her gasp in surprise as I continued my way toward the gates. She thought she had me all wrapped up and was going to follow her like a puppet. Well, she had another thing coming. If I couldn't trust her to be there for me, then what good was she?

"Where is she going?" I heard Lady Keller's voice, but I didn't look behind me.

"Let her leave," Douglas spat. "Let the darkness take her. It has already happened."

"No, she's not in the darkness. She will bring forth the light!" Lady Keller yelled. "It's been told!"

I glanced over my shoulder, seeing people fill out of the banquette hall, probably to see what all the commotion was about. They all looked like ghouls, dressed in white, surrounded by tiki torches.

I could not have cared less about their secrets. I could not care less why they cut me. All I cared about was getting the hell out of there.

"Greta, drive her home," Lady Keller called, without turning around. Greta escaped through the crowd and walked toward me. I didn't object and got into her car without a word. Greta didn't utter a single word to me until we reached my house.