The Last Animega

The Young Mistress

Amber avoided eye contact with the others as she was dragged away. They were all beaten up and bruised all over. She wished that Sam and the others hadn't tried to fight, it would have made things so much less painful for everyone. The Head Troop, Curtis, held her firmly by the arm and escorted her up to a large mansion on the other side of town. The estate was large and groomed to perfection. It looked like something most people would only see in their dreams. But in Amber's case, she only saw it in her nightmares.

Curtis knocked on the large, painted wooden door. Amber didn't try to run, she was too tired of running. "Curtis," she murmured.

The man glanced at her with soft eyes. "Yes?"

She looked up at him with determination. "Promise me that no harm will come to my friends."

He sighed and loosened his grip. "You know I can't do that. They assaulted my men and at least one of them is an Animega-"

"Promise me!" She demanded. "They only fought back because they were trying to protect me! And Animega or no Animega, they're my friends."

He sighed and agreed as the door opened. A woman with shoulder length blonde hair and dark brown eyes opened the door. "Mistress!" She gasped. "You've returned!"

Amber directed her gaze to the ground. "Hey, Georgia." Georgia was one of her family's servants and had been her nanny for most of her life. Normally she would be thrilled to see her friend, but due to the circumstances the only thing that would make her happy would be to get away from the mansion.

Trying to shield her distress, Amber tried to change the subject. "How's Dad? Is he..." She couldn't bring herself to ask if he was dead. Her father had a very rare disease that seemed to be uncurable. And the fact that her step-mom wasted almost all of their money that was supposed to be set aside for health-insurance didn't help. That witch was the main reason why Amber had run away.

Georgia smiled weakly. "He is still alive. But for how much longer, I don't know." Without hesitating a moment more, Amber sprinted towards her father's bedroom. Georgia followed close behind, pulling up the skirt of her dress in order to keep up. "Wait! If Mrs. Rachel sees you-"

"I don't care about that witch!" Amber snapped. She shut her mouth almost immediately after saying those words. Rachel became her step-mom about 3 years ago. At first she seemed nice, she would always have time to talk to Amber and acted like the perfect mother. Then, she changed and showed her true colors. Rachel was a gold-digging monster who didn't even care if her husband lived or died as long as she got her monthly stock of jewelry and clothes. It was sick. And her father just plain refused to see that wicked side of his beloved demon.

Amber burst through her father's bedroom door, half expecting him to be his old cheery self again. Instead of the usual corny joke and smile, her father was lying in his bed. His once tan skin was grey and flushed. Kind brown eyes stared up at the ceiling blankly, like the eyes of a dead fish. Neatly cropped brown hair was now unruly and stringy, it even seemed to gain a few grey streaks since she had left. For a second, Amber thought he had died. Only the faint rising and falling of his chest convinced her otherwise. "Dad?" Her voice cracked saying the word. It seemed wrong. The whole situation felt wrong.

Her father's head turned to look at her, a small glint of happiness flashed in his glazed eyes. "Hey, Princess." His voice sat barely above a whisper, it was hoarse and broken. It was horrible. Rummaging through her vest pocket, Amber pulled out a small jar of Salus berry jam that Sam had given her. Her breath caught in her throat as she placed the jar in her father's hand, closing his fingers around it.

"I got this for you. It's supposed to heal you of anything." She muttered, barely trusting her own voice. Swallowing back the oncoming tears, Amber had to remind herself to not cry. Her father was dying, that was a fact. And although she had finally been able to get her hands on some Salus berries, there was no guarantee that he would accept them. Anytime that something bad occurred, he would always say 'That's life. You have to keep walking. But you can't go down the easy path, that path almost always leads you off of a cliff.' It was a really cheesy saying, but he always recited it without fail.

Her father uncurled his fist and let the jar fall to the floor. It made a loud clatter as it made contact, rolling under the bed. "I don't need that, hon. I'll be fine without it." His weary smile gave away the fact that he was lying, as if his condition hadn't already confirmed it. Jonathan Barns, successful businessman, loving father, was dying and he refused to allow others to help. It was so typical of him that it broke Amber's heart in two.

Lying on her stomach, Amber fished out the jar from under the bed and shoved it back into his limp hand. "Take it. It'll help." She refused to allow him to act like this. It was ridiculous, even for him. How hard was it for him to understand? Her caramel eyes displayed that message like a neon light. It was there for everyone to see, and she didn't care.

Sitting up, the frail figure of her father rested his head against the maple headboard of the large king-sized bed. "Princess, I never take the easy path, you know that." Large dark bags hung under his sunken eyes, it was obvious that he hadn't had a good night's sleep in weeks. Possibly not since she had run away. Feeling a new wave of guilt start to wash over her, Amber struggled to keep her tears from falling.

"I'm not pointing you towards the easy path. I'm trying to help you cross one of the obstacles on the difficult one!" She snapped. Chin quivering, the girl barely managed to pull her emotions back into her control. "Please, dad."

Smiling in a broken way, he nodded and opened the jar, failing to grab onto the clasp a few times. Sticking a finger in the violet jelly, her father had a quick taste of the contents. Almost immediatly, he seemed to recieve some of his health back. He still appeared sickly and weary, but otherwise he was fine. Finally letting go of her hold on her tears, Amber practically launched herself onto the weary man and wrapped him into a hug. This stubborn old man was on the verge of death just a few minutes ago, and now he was regaining his strength.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in." Her father said. Even his voice had become less feeble. The large maple door swung open slowly, creaking and squeaking as it went. In the doorway stood two people. One was a woman in her early thirties. She had long black hair and wide hazel eyes. A few wrinkles lined her face, but they were very faint and near invisivble. The woman wore heavy makeup and a long elegant red dress that did not seem to hold enough warmth for the freezing winter. Jewlry of all sorts, mainly gold, covered her arms and neck, a jewled ring sat on almost every finger. She would have been beautiful if not for the over-done bling.

The second person was a boy of about 18. He had long dirty blonde hair that had been combed to the side in a professional way. His icy blue eyes seemed to laugh at her in the cruelest of ways. The boy was dressed as a butler, expensive suit and attitude included. He winked at her, pulling up the corner of his mouth in a mocking smirk, Aiden.

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Amber: an update! YAY!

Aridis: *sighs* sorry guys, I am just now recovering from writer's block, so hopefully the whole "weekly chapters" thing will continue soon

Sam: about time. I was thinking that you forgot about us

Aridis: I did have to look at the previous chapter because I forgot your name. Sorry.

Sam: b-but......I'm the main character....

Calypso: *bursts out laughing*