human // teen wolf

41. broken

Riley excitedly ran back to her room and sat down at her desk where she tried out the key. It was very old and looked a bit rusty, so hopefully it fit properly. She tried to unlock the box, but it was not the right key. Why the hell would they go through all this trouble to hide a key and end up not being the right one? Riley groaned and let her head fall onto the box, but not hard enough to knock her unconscious.

"Shut up Riley." Olivia mumbled, and Olivia looked over at her. She put the key on top of the box and went over to her, sitting down in front of her. She picked up a closed book that had little pink tags in it and opened up to the first one, seeing a lovely photograph of a young boy and girl, who had glowing eyes. It was in black and white, obviously, because it was a very old picture. They were not her ancestors, because they were werewolves.

"Try to not tag pictures of people that have glowing eyes, okay?" She asked Olivia, flipping to the next marked page. She just mumbled something under her breath about ungratefulness.

For the next half hour, they both looked through the books and tried to find anything that might be related to Riley.

"This is so boring! Have you felt anything yet?" Olivia asked after a while, and Riley sighed and she chucked the last book she was reading onto the ground along with all of the others.

No. Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way. Maybe the relative wasn't a part of the founding of Beacon Hills. Maybe it was before or after it. I don't know." Riley contemplated, and Olivia checked her phone. It was getting dark outside.

"Well, I really hope that you find out whatever you want to know, because I need to get home and cry for a few hours." Olivia informed and Riley gave a small smile. Olivia gathered her things and said goodbye, leaving Riley to her thoughts.

She got off her bed and stacked all of the books that were on the ground and placed them in the corner of her room. She needed to remember to return some of those to the library. She sat on the ground, looking around her room and spotting the mirror that was hung on her bathroom door. She got up and walked over to it, looking into her reflection. She saw a plain, but confused girl. She looked out of place, like she didn't know where she belonged or who she was. Riley's smile left with Olivia and she was just left with a pained expression.

"Who are you?" She whispered, but she got no reply. Nothing. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know where to start with all of this. She was just a small, lonely girl in a large world. She slowly became angry; there was nothing she could do to help her with her quest. All of her questions were left unanswered and it was so frustrating for her. She bawled her hands into fists as she breathed loudly. "Who are you?" She asked loudly, tears starting to well in her eyes. This was too much for her, she just wanted answers. Even though there was this 'guardian angel' watching over her, she felt so alone. Even though she had these amazing friends that stood by her, she still felt so alone. "Who are you?" She yelled, and in an instant she raised her fist and punched the mirror, the mirror smashing and little shards of glass ripping into her skin and embedding themselves into Riley. She screamed in agony as her hands shook, blood running down her arm as she stared at the broken mirror and the broken girl inside of it.

**

Not long after Riley had injured her hand and she dressed it appropriately, she was surprised to hear a knock at her bedroom door. She jumped at the noise since it was dead silent, and she checked her phone for the time. It was almost midnight. Riley's heart started to speed up as she watched the door knob slowly turn. The door clicked and it slowly opened up. Riley was so relieved to see her mum and dad's head poke through the door. But at the same time, she was annoyed. She was mad at them. Why were they here? Riley suddenly remembered the mirror and dried up blood on it, but at that moment, she doubted that her parents really cared.

"Surprise!" Her dad quietly cheered, and they both came into the room wearing pyjamas. Her mum was holding a large breakfast tray with so many different lollies and chocolate that Riley was almost happy to see them.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, sitting up on her bed as she hastily covered her hand with the covers.

"We, as in your mother and I, decided to take an absence of leave from work for a while, so we can spend all of our time here, with you." Riley's dad explained, and Riley automatically smiled. She didn't mean to; she didn't want to. But she couldn't help it. Even though she was mad at them, she couldn't be mad for long; they were her family.

"Are you sure they can handle it without you two?" She asked, as she tried to mask her excitement. They both smiled and walked over to her, both of them settling on each side of her on the bed and tucked themselves in. Riley's mum put the tray on Riley's lap and took a chip from the bowl and ate it.

"I'm sure they'll be fine." She replied, looking at the bedside table and spotting the remote to the tv. "Now, what do you want to watch?" She asked, turning the TV on and flicking through the movies on Netflix. Riley smiled to herself and looked at both of her parents, glad that they were here with her. She definitely needed it. Riley's dad's eyes travelled from the TV to the bathroom door, and gasped lightly.

"Riley, what happened to your..." He started, but stopped when he saw Riley's ever-growing depressed expression. "You know what, we'll just buy you a new one. Don't worry love." He added, and nudged her shoulder with his and kissed her on the forehead. Riley closed her eyes and smiled at the warmness of her parents being next to her. She really missed it.

They spent all night watching comedies and snacking on the variety of foods that her mum had brought with her and they all fell asleep on each other, content with their lives.

Riley was finally starting to feel like she wasn't alone.