Black Rose (Rose Kisses #1)

15

Isaline Winter

Dinner had begun extremely well, but took a very sour turn as the rest of the family had begun to show up for dinner as well. I hadn't realized that my grandmother had made an announcement to everyone that I would be joining them.

"Why is she here? Who is she?" The children's mother asked. I believe she was my mother's younger sister and therefore, my aunt, but her and my mother shared absolutely no resemblance to each other at all. I also noticed that the children didn't share any resemblance to her as well, and took more after their father.

"Watch your tone, girl," my grandfather warned. "She's family."

"There's nothing in common between us except for our last name," the woman said. "But I bet she doesn't even have that, does she?"

Suddenly I felt ashamed of being who I was and I no longer felt welcome inside the house. She was right, there was nothing I had in common with them except for our lineage. I didn't know them and they didn't know me.

"Isis, you sit down and you show some respect," my grandmother ordered. "I know you and your sister weren't on the best of terms but Isaline is all we have left of her."

"I couldn't give a damn if Isla was here herself," the woman spat. "Matter of fact, I hope she's burning in Hell right where she belongs, along with that pussy of a father of yours."

Something snapped inside of me and I could no longer restrain myself. I flew across the table and tackled my aunt to the ground, food flying up everywhere as the rest of the family screamed in shock.

I wrapped my hands around my aunt's throat and squeezed until her eyes nearly bulged out of her head and her face turned red with the lack of oxygen, "Don't you ever disrespect my mother. Don't even speak of her when you're in my presence. You don't deserve it."

I raised a hand and just before I struck, my grandfather grabbed my wrist. I snarled at him angrily but he held firm, maintaining eye contact as he spoke to me clearly and calmly.

"You need to calm down before you do something you regret," he said. I stared at the hand he was holding—the clawed hand that he was holding.

And I screamed.

I scrambled off of my aunt and yanked my hands out of my grandfather's grip. I was tripping over fallen chairs and ruined plates of food but I couldn't find it in myself to give a single damn about anything except for the fact that I had claws.

"What the fuck is this?!" I screamed. "What's happening to me?!"

"You're Becoming," my grandfather explained.

"Becoming what?!" I screamed again. "It's not possible! It's not supposed to be possible!"

I wasn't an idiot. I knew of my mother's lineage and I knew of my family's lineage. I knew what we were and what we could become. What I didn't know was that I would become it too.

"It's not supposed to be but it happens," my grandmother joined. "The possibility varies from child to child, especially in half blood children. But even in pure blood children, the chances of the Becoming are slim as well."

"It's a matter of if you will or if you won't," my grandfather. "Some simply won't and even those that will never survive long enough to truly Become."

"So I'm gonna die?!" I screeched. Was this how my life was going to end? Is this what death had signed up for me?

"No, you idiot," my aunt rasped. "You won't die. If I can say anything about your mother, it's that she was strong. Almost too strong sometimes. And if you're anything like your mother, you'll be strong too."

My head was pounding from all the information being poured into me. My mother had told me vaguely of what the Becoming consisted and the process that children would go through in order to fully transition. She had told me when I was too young to really digest any kind of information but I remembered certain parts better than others.

"To Become is to let another being into your body and share the space with them," my mother explained one night as she brushed and braided my hair. "It's a painful process, I won't lie. But it also rewarding one, if you have the strength to push through."

"Will I be strong enough, momma?" I asked her.

"Of course you will," she smiled softly. "I will be there along every step of the way to guide you, my little cub. You have nothing to fear."

My eyes began to well up with tears and I sank to the floor, not bothering to move the fallen food out of the way. I could care less about the mash potatoes beneath my knees, if I was being honest.

Most things in my life, I had learn to experience and overcome without my mother by my side to guide me. There were many things that I wished desperately to have been able to turn to her and ask what my next move should be. Was I making the right decision? Did she think I could've done better?
I'd learned to live with the absence of both parents but this was simply something that I could not do without her by my side. It felt wrong of me to hold it against her but she had promised to be here when the time came for me to Become.

"I can't do this," I cried softly. "I don't know how to do this."

My grandmother kneeled down beside me and wiped my tears away gently, "You don't have to do this alone. You'll never have to do anything alone ever again, sweet girl."

"She was supposed to be here," I cried. "She promised that she would be here."

"And she is," my grandmother said. "She will always be here. No matter how far life takes you from each other, whether it's from one city to another, or from one world to another, she will always be right beside every step of the way. Just as she promised she would be."

"And we'll be here too," Evangeline joined. Her response was confident and firm. It held the conviction that I needed to let my worries ease just a bit and I smiled at her.

For once in my life, I had found something else worth hanging on to; something more than the family I had found in Elysia. Push come to shove, the others would choose loyalty to the Queen over their loyalty to me but I couldn't put that blame on them. But with this family—my family—our loyalties would remain the same.

I would be okay.

**********
I don't have anything to say lmaoo

I'm trying to be consistent y'all😂

With love,
Laleh