Initiation

Chapter 15: Family

*The picture of the rose above is what I picture as the color of Xavier's eyes*

     The once vibrant violet dulls ever so slightly. Sadness lingers in Xavier's eyes as he assesses my hardened facial expression. He breathes in deeply before exhaling a slow, burdened sigh. At the moment all I could do was stare at him. There was nothing I wanted more than to roll my eyes and tell him to quit playing games. His depressed show was not going to fool me.

     Our eye contact remains intact for what felt like hours. Xavier shifts the weight of his body to his other foot before crossing the space between us.

"Let's take this IV out. You would probably like to regain feeling in your muscles."

Reaching over, long, slender, yet masculine fingers press against my skin as he pulls the needle out of my arm. I wanted to flinch away from his touch, but the medicine still held it's intended potency. That didn't stop an unidentifiable warmness from traveling up my arm, eventually settling over my entire body.

     A smile brightens Xavier's face when he sees the flicker of confusion in my eyes.

"You felt something didn't you?" he questions, sounding elated.

My eyes flash from his to the wall, avoiding eye contact all together. A light chuckle leaves his lips, "I guess I will take that as a yes" he mutters to himself. "I bet you don't know how tightly woven aura endowed families are. Our mind recognizes the similarities that our auras share with one another." My eyes break away from the white paint to narrow at him.

     "One of the reasons you can use your aura so superbly is because of your bloodline. The endowed community say that I am the strongest aura endowed individual in the entire League. Has Argon told you any of this...?"

The symptoms of serum held in the IV had finally worn off by now, but chatting with my enemy wasn't my main priority. It was almost as if Xavier could read my thoughts. A bemused look forms on his face before taking on a more serious edge.

     "You should be able to talk by now, so I'm assuming you are being stubborn. You still can't believe we are family," Xavier holds up his pointer finger, "correction- you don't want us to be family. Argon has hardened your heart I sense it," he finishes, and his voice cracks at the end.

     My eyes are now being entertained by my hands lying on the white sheets as my supposed uncle stands quietly beside the bed pondering.

"Do you remember what your parents look like Chloe?"

His question catches me off guard, and my eyes find they're way back to his with nothing more than a frown spread on my lips. I still don't respond, so he sighs.

"If I show you something- a picture of someone, will you at least tell me if you recognize the person?"

"Sure," my shoulders lift then fall briefly, "if it'll get you to leave me in peace." I respond, my voice clearly portraying the annoyance I felt.

     Xavier's eyes fall to the ground as his dark eyebrows furrow together. He wasn't that old, but he seemed to age ten years before my eyes. He nods as his violet eyes slowly lift, meeting my waiting gaze.

"Good, then show me the stupid picture."

He rummages through his pocket, pulling out two old, weathered pictures. Xavier then smooths out the crinkled material in the palm of his hand. A second later he holds one in front of my face.

     The breath catches in my throat at what I see. A girl around the same age as me greetS my eyes. The only main difference between her and I were our eyes. Hers were a luminous grey, and mine obviously are brown with silver flecks.

"H-how can you have a picture of me?" I stutter.

Xavier pulls a trick out of my book and remains silent. He simply switches the pictures. The same girl, at least five or six years older, is smiling in the new picture. Her hair is a shade darker than mine and is long and straight.

     My hair was long and wavy, not to mention mahogany colored with red undertones. My mind ponders through the possibilities. Sam had looked at me funny, muttering something about seeing my eyes before. The woman's eyes in the photo could pass for a light silver. I had silver flecks intermingled amongst the brown. She was obviously an aura endowed. Then again there were more aura endowed individuals with silver colored eyes. Xavier was more than likely messing with me. She couldn't possibly be who he says she is...or was.

     Xavier pulls the picture of the woman away. His one of a kind eyes are analyzing my reaction when my eyes meet his with disbelief and curiosity mingled together. With disbelief shining the brightest.

"I'm going to give you some time alone. There will be security guard by your door at all times. Sam will be back shortly," the pictures are carefully tucked back into his dress pants, "When you are ready to talk, I will come back."

His lack of pushing me to believe false information to be true quite honestly baffled me. What kind of villain would take this opportunity up for granted? Doubt was already beginning to creep into my thoughts.

     The new thoughts swirling in my head almost made me miss Xavier's stealthy exit.

The sudden desire to blurt overtakes me, "at least clarify who that woman is."

Xavier stops in mid-step, spinning gracefully on his heel. "She was your mom. The first was taken when she was sixteen, and the other after she found out she was pregnant with a little girl. You," he replies. The honesty in his eyes is overwhelming. Figuring out whether or not people were lying was a specialty of mine and I knew he was not.

     My eyes widen in alarm at the information increasingly becoming more concrete. Without another word, he takes his leave, finally leaving me alone. My brain feels numb and somewhat fuzzy. Even with the evidence I still can't wrap my head around this revelation. If what Xavier was telling me is true, did Argon know my relation to a leader? After all he called the League leaders pathetic excuses for authoritative figures before.

     Did that mean Argon thought I was weak, even though I surely am not? The future fire endowed leader was beaten by me. Six highly trained agents were taken down by me. I was not weak and Argon does not know that Xavier and I are related. He just couldn't. Argon was blatantly honest and boastful. He would have used my position as a leader's niece more efficiently. The bigger question now that I was captured by the League is whether or not he'd keep me around if Xavier truly is my uncle.

     Hey everyone! For starters I finally updated a chapter! Getting a new chapter to you guys was so long over due it's not even funny. Seriously, I was starting to get super anxious and slightly annoyed at not having enough time to even touch my laptop. Also hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving if you celebrate the holiday. If not, then I hope you all had a great week last week! 

I really hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and the interactions between Xavier and Chloe. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Let me know down below in the comment section. Till next time!