Shadowlight (On Hiatus)

Chapter 8: Family Reunion

"What do you mean it is home?" Lucas asked suspiciously.

"This is where I used to live with mom and," I swallowed hard, "And my little sister Nox. Before the Luxbellatores saved me."

"Nox is your sister?" Liam exclaimed incredulously, "But she's an..."

"An Umbrawalker?" I smiled bitterly, "Yeah, I know."

"But how?" he asked.

"I-I was weak. I lost my family because I was weak. The Umbrawalkers broke into our safehouse because somebody gave them a tip that we were hiding out there - here. They killed so many of the others because they tried to defend me. They killed my mother. Then they grabbed Nox and threw me against the wall. I just pretended to be dead because I was scared. I let people die for me because I was a fucking COWARD!"

"You're not a coward, Sera," Liam hugged me tight to his chest while I cried, my tears soaking his shirt.

"I love you," I mumbled, my voice muffled by fabric.

"Love you too," he murmured back, kissing the top of my head. I allowed myself to rest in the warm comfort of his arms for just a few more moments. Comfort was a precious luxury that I rarely allowed myself. Finally, I pulled away from Liam and turned to face the others.

Almost everyone's face was full of confusion and Aaron - being Aaron - just looked bored. The only expression that confused me was Lucas'. He looked... hurt.

"Luke, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said, glaring, "I just love hearing about your family. Please, tell me more about how much you loved them all." Then he stomped off, not far, but far enough for me to know that he was mad at me.

"What did I say?" I groaned, looking to Liam.

"He's jealous because you're talking about your biological family and it's making him feel inferior as your adoptive little brother," he explained.

"Oh, if that's all!" I said sarcastically, throwing my hands up in irritation.

"Come on guys, I need back up," I waved for everyone to follow me.

"Why?" Lumina whispered.

"For the sneak attack..." I answered. Then I jumped at Lucas and grabbed him in a huge bear-hug. "GROUP HUG!" The others - even Princess Inferní - followed my lead.

"Okay, okay," Luke gasped for air, "I'm not mad anymore. Let me breathe."

"Release," I commanded. Luke crumpled dramatically to the ground and we all burst out laughing. That is until I heard a distinct snap and a loud gurgle.

I whirled around to see Aaron bleeding out on the cobbles, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle. Behind him stood a row of smirking Umbrawalkers. My body shook with fury and, for once, Liam was holding me back from a fight. Sure, Aaron wasn't my absolute favorite guy, but just the thought of how broken up Aileen would be made me want to set some heads rolling.

"Sera, look," Liam said as he held onto my arms to keep me from pouncing on the bastards. Taking a deep breath, I calmed my rage just enough to look around. What I saw made me feel sick.

The faces of the Umbrawalkers... once I looked past the smug smirks and now purple eyes... I realized that they were the faces of people I'd once known. My playmates and friends and my... my own sister.

"Ky? Ro? Ashley? Rykee? Audrey? Oliver?" I paused, choking back a sob, "Nox?"

Their smug expressions faded and they stared at me in confusion. Lumina took the opportunity to lunge toward Aaron's lifeless body. She cried over him, while Zane guarded her.

"I am not Ky... I am Adrian."

"My name is not Ro, I am Nyx."

"I am called Ashes, not Ashley."

"My name is Drakon."

"Kali, not Audrey."

"I am Daemon."

"How do you know my name, light warrior?" my sister asked, her violet eyes flashing with suspicion.

"You're my sister," I whispered. She stared back at me in disbelief. "What happened to you? To all of you?"

The seven of them exchanged baffled looks before recognition flooded their features. Then they looked down at Lumina, Zane, and Aaron's corpse. Their faces filled with guilt.

"It's no use!" Lumina cried, "There's too much blood loss. I can't bring him back."

I looked at Aaron's killers and asked again, "What happened to you?"

"Locke," my little sister gulped, her eyes overflowing with tears of shame and sorrow, "An Umbrawalker named Locke took us and he performed... experiments on us. He injected us with vials of pure darkness, just to see what would happen. We gained all the powers of the other Umbras, and some of the others became truly evil, but he had to brainwash the rest of us. Make us forget who we were."

"Don't worry," I said, "we're going to fix this."

"How?" Ashley wept, "We killed your friend and Light only knows who else. You should just kill us now."

"That wasn't you," Liam told them.

"He's right," Lumina agreed, "You're coming with us."

"Where?" Ro sniffled.

"Back to the Sactuary. C'mon let's start walking."

Liam and Lucas hefted Aaron's body onto their shoulders and started following me down the street. Some turn-coat Umbras, five Luxbellatores, the Princess, a vessel for an ancient Queen, and a corpse. We made quite the procession. I guess that's what we were, Aaron's funeral procession, bringing him back home to the girl that loved him.

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Author's Note:

Anyone crying? I know I am. Opinions on Sera's old friends. Do you think they should've killed them? Do they have an ulterior motive? And where the heck did Leo go? Sorry to any Aaron fans out there, it just seemed ridiculous to have no deaths at all in a book about a war. Comments, questions, hate mail?

I had to sneak onto my dad's computer to write this so sorry it's so short and it took so long to put up. I'm trying! :)

The image is of Nox, Seraphine's adorable little sis.

Love Always,

Beth (the undiagnosed mentally unstable author who is free to roam the streets. ha!)

<3