The Exile

Chapter 14: Threats and a First Kiss

"Where are you going?" Koul asked me as I pulled a hoodie on over my head. "It's freezing out there. There's a horrible storm as well, you can't possibly go out there."

"I have to," was all I said. When I had grabbed that damned note, I found on the back it had an address of a location. There was absolutely no fucking way I was going to ignore that. I wanted to see these fucking bastards with my own eyes. And I would make sure that they stayed the hell away from Myrina and Fletcher.

Koul pulls on my sleeve, her eyes wide and watery. "Erin, please, I have a bad feeling. What if you don't come back?"

The emotion in her eyes, the worry over me had my arms wrapping around her quickly and tucking my nose into her hair. "Koul, I'll come back. Safe and sound. I swear, just stay here and watch Myrina and Fletcher for me, all right?"

"Okay..." she mutters quietly. "What do I tell them when they realize you're gone?"

Well, Fletcher will likely know why. But nobody knows that but me. "Just tell them I went out for a minute and I'll be back later."

With that, I left the house. And I prayed to my mother that this would go over well.

---

The address was to the burned down building that the Jeffersons once lived in. I remembered them, a kind old couple that had helped me navigate the town when I had just moved here. Their house was struck by lightning during a freak storm and burned down. The structure was still standing, but just barely. It has been abandoned ever since.

As soon as I pull up, I feel my palms become sweaty. The storm was coming down hard, with clumps of snow falling from the sky heavily. I tore my hood on over my head, hands tucked away in my pockets as I jogged across the street and into the home. As soon as I close the door, and turn, I see it.

A person.

Sitting in the armchair of the burned down house. Her legs were crossed, her head down, while her arms rested neatly on either side of the chairs arm rest. She was dressed up, like she had a lot of money, her hair done in fancy waves down her back and the side of her face. When she raises her head, I saw the smile.

And the mark.

Right on the center of her forehead. The mark of a Dark Angel.

"Who are you?" I ask, and I am certain she is the one sending the letters.

Her smile doesn't fall, nor falter, and her still expression unsettles me. "The Pariah, how good it is to see you."

"Answer me."

"I don't know. I don't remember. But what I do remember is what you did to me. What you did to my son." Her smile finally drops and I suddenly felt even more unsettled with the glare she was sending my way. "But you don't know, do you?"

"Know what?"

"Cerberus gave my family and I a second chance. When I woke up from death, I saw them again. We were reunited finally, after all the time I spent away from them. My husband and my son. When you killed Cerberus, they died as well. And left me here, all alone. To live this life without them." Her glare turned pained, then anger suddenly took over again. "I spent years wandering, looking for happiness. But it's hard to be happy when you have this," she pointed to her forehead, "right on your face."

"I didn't--"

"Then I found out you were here. All alone, just like me. And I came. As quickly as I could, because I wanted to see you with my own two eyes. The person who took away my son's life." She leans forward, finally shifting from her position, to lean against her knees. "You're pathetic. Cerberus gave us a chance. A second chance, all of us."