For The Better [1]

Chapter 8: It's Going To Be Okay

Once again, the amount of time that had passed was uncertain to me, but I now stood outside at the front of the mansion, waiting for the rest of them to join me. The ones who had succeeded in taking care of Morph were washing the blood off of themselves and I gave them time to return. It was time to move on from this place, I knew that now. Beck stood beside me with Piper resting in the warmth of the hood in his sweatshirt. He wanted to say something to me, but words did not reach his lips. The older male rested a hand on my shoulder, making me jump slightly and look at him, to which he showed concern in his eyes and gave me a slight smile. To which I did not share, turning away from my brother and looking back up at the mansion before us. Charlie, Freddie, Nira, Razz, Toto, Phillip, Ciro, Scruffy, Beck, and Piper were the ones that currently stood here with me as we awaited Sebastian, Ryuu, Henry, and Vore to return to us. The rain had completely stopped now and the blood on my body had washed away, leaving almost no evidence of the fights that had taken place. There were no words shared among the group, but we were closer than ever, knowing that we could not trust anyone anymore outside of our group - not even my own friends. I couldn't take any more chances. Not ever again.

Soon enough, the four of them walked out the front doors, all cleaned up and looking at me, for instructions on what to do now. I was their leader, no matter if I liked it or not now. In the back of my mind, there was someone telling me that I was always their leader, but I never wanted to be like that to them. I wanted us to be a family, not some cult or whatever you'd call it these days. We looked up at the mansion before us for a few moments, they all followed my gaze, wondering what I was thinking, but I truly didn't even know what was going through my head. "Henry," I said the single word, making everyone jump to attention as I broke the silence and the black-haired teen stepped forward to stand beside me. "Yes?" He murmured to me, not knowing how to act around me and that pained me because they all seemed to fear me now. "Burn it down." I said to him through clenched teeth, "Destroy that mansion and everything inside. That is no home to us anymore." Everyone exchanged glances and then nodded, agreeing with what I said - this was not a fit place for us anymore. No, this place only held bad memories now. He was silent for a moment, wondering if what I said was true, but with everyone agreeing on this, he stepped forward. Henry was a commander of fire if you hadn't figured that out already. The male's right hand lit on fire, the warm light casting an orange glow onto his face as he reeled back and cast a ball of fire into the large home. It didn't take long for the whole place to be cast up in flames, spilling out the windows and putting on a twisted show for all of us to watch. Everyone looked on with multiple emotions on their faces, but we all knew it had to be done.

Somewhere in the middle of watching the place burn down in a fiery mess, I noticed tears brimming in the corners of my eyes and my hands shaking for a moment. I was starting to break down in emotions, my strong, cold demeanor crumbling away as I struggled to keep calm right then and there. As they were too focused on the fire, I backed away from the group slowly to make sure none of them noticed me. Then, in one effort, I turned and ran. I ran as fast as I could into the forest that was surrounding the mansion. I shifted into my usual sleek brown-striped cat form, thorns and branches tugging at my sides as I ran through the undergrowth, never stopping, never looking back, never letting myself not feel guilty for what I had done.

I ran for what seemed like miles for hours on end, but I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure at all, all I could think about was the monster I had become. The violence, the pain that I had inflicted on others and caused to perish. Tears stung my eyes to the point where I was running blindly wherever I could run at this point. Then, without warning, an unknown force tackled me from behind and I went tumbling into the grass with a strangled shriek of surprise. I leaped to my paws, shifting into my human form and facing the danger head-on, expecting to be attacked, but I was only met with Henry, breathing quite heavily as he looked at me, standing up in the grass. My hands started to shake again and a tear slipped down my cheek, my teeth clenching together in pained frustration. "Go away, Henry." I snapped at him, "Just leave me alone!" I stared at him with the burning fire that raged in my red eye, but he only looked at me for a moment before walking towards me. I growled and stepped back. "I said get away from me, goddamnit. Did you not hear me?" I snapped again, but he did not stop stepping towards me. In a fit of emotional angry, I raised my arm to push him away from me, but as it came towards him, his own hand came up and gripped my arm, preventing my strike. He looked at me with his gentle emerald-hued eye as I glared at him, shaking where I stood and tears running down my face. His chest still heaved up and down like he was out of breath, but that did not seem to show elsewhere. Henry went closer to me and wrapped his arms around me, rather tightly as my arm fell limp to my side as my legs seemed to wobble underneath me. We both seemed to fall to our knees, but he never loosed his grip around me, holding me close to him. "It's okay.." He murmured, his tone soft, "I'm here for you, it's going to be okay - I promise." His words made more tears form in my eyes and I buried my face into his shoulder, whimpering like a small puppy as I broke down in front of him, terrified of so many things and feeling so many unknown emotions at once.