A/N: Look at Chapter 13 I just put a comic about the chapter up.
After sighing I get up and head up to the new but still familiar red door to find August already there. "Mom?" He whispers.
A lady I don't know stands in the doorway. As I stand next to August my head fills with questions she smiles and says," August, oh, it's been so long." She moves to hug him but then sees me. Her face morphs into what I guess mine must look like: eyebrows raised in confusion and curiosity. "Jenica? What are you doing here I was just going to see you. I need your-"
She stops after realizing I wasn't my mother. But now I know that she knows my mother. This means that she has to be in a gang other than the Purple Scars. But why doesn't she know that my parents are dead?"Wait, are you Auralia? What are you doing here?"
" Why don't you come in, August will call Muna and Daniel to come back from physical therapy and I'll wake Jake up. Then we can all sort this whole thing out." I surprise myself with my calm and logical answer. August was usually the one who said things like that but now he stood by the doorway paralyzed in shock. Slowly, though, he gets out his phone and leaves the room to go call Muna and Daniel. August's mom heads over to the couch as I go to Jake's room(which he shares with August). "Jake! Come on, get up."
He jumps out of bed and immediately gets into a defensive position," Who's here? Did a gang invade our house? Which gang? Is anyone hurt? Are-"
"No, no. Everything's fine. August's mom just came and we're gathering everyone to come to talk about." His stance relaxed as a look of shock and confusion invaded his eyes. Nevertheless, he quietly followed me into the living room. Even though the group of us hadn't known each other for very long we had developed a sort of trust in one another.
We came out to find Muna and Daniel just getting in and I was glad that the hospital was so close. Muna's reaction when she saw her mom was different than August's because instead of being frozen in shock she ran to her mother and threw her arms around her. "Mom!" She started crying as they hugged. I look at August to see his nose scrunched up in disgust now.
" Muna, get off of her." You can hear the poison dripping off of 'her' as if just mentioning her disgusts him. "Talk," He says shortly. But his mother doesn't reprimand him, she just nods forlornly and starts her story,
"If you don't know me I'm Ayda, August's and Muna's mom. I've been gone for all these years because of... the gang I was in."She pauses with a sigh and then continues," I left for a normal day of work, around when my husband was diagnosed. But, when I got there I knew I couldn't leave. Gang work is violent, that's a given especially when you specialize in weaponry. You'd be surprised how defensive people can get when you try to steal their weapons," She chuckles," But they started asking me to find the strangest, most exotic and expensive weapons. Lipstick pistols*, Ulfberht swords*, Chinese hook swords* you name it! But our leader wouldn't tell me why so I stayed to figure it out. That's what I've been doing for the past few years. I'm sure you're wondering why I didn't come to see my children and husband. I know this may sound weird but I wasn't aware of how much time had passed. I now know that the boss gave us something to make us like zombies, only living to work for him. Anyway, I came back because I heard about Jenica and Jesse rebelling against their gang and wanted to ask them for help. And that's my story."
I shake my head, "They can't help you, they're dead." I'm proud of myself for not crying but surprised to find that Ayda hasn't even flinched.
Catching my curious stare she says," This happens a lot when you work in this business. But, the boss never allowed us to hear from outside gangs. I know you can't possibly forgive me but please just understand I never meant to leave you alone." Her eyes begin to water and her mouth quivers.
" Don't worry Mom, I forgive you. I always knew there was -" Muna starts smiling the biggest smile I've ever seen her wear before August interrupts her.
" No reason you left. Everything you're saying is just an excuse. You know you picked the gang over us, over your family" He says bitterly.
"August, it doesn't matter anymore! Mom came back!" Muna yells a distraught look in her eyes. August's eyes get stormy, it's a look I know too well. It's the same look I wear whenever I'm going to argue with someone. Normally, I would let him release his anger but right now I know we don't have the time.
"My parents can't help you but we can. We've defeated the Purple Scars we can take one another gang." I say
"Auralia! We haven't even discussed this!" August hisses.
" And I can't ask you guys to help me." Ayda shakes her head.
Jake looks at me and catches on, "We're not doing it for you, you think what your leader is planning could be dangerous to the other members of the gang right?" She nods warily.
"Yeah, then we have to help them. What, do you think we're too weak to beat them?" My question isn't directed to Ayda, instead, I'm looking directly at August. And I watch as his expression lifts. Even though he's a very calm person I know how much he loves a competition.
"No, it's not that. But this isn't like your other battle. I don't know much about your fight but this is... well it's just different!"
"You said it yourself, you don't know much about our fight. And you don't know about us or our capabilities." August says this now fully on my side.
"Yeah, Mom. Don't worry we're really strong." Muna adds in with a grin. Her smile is so infectious that Ayda's mouth slowly forms a smile.
"Muna, August you've got yourself some good friends. Fine, you win, we'll work together. But for now, we should get to sleep."
After some arguing, we decide that Ayda will share a room with Muna and the guys will share a room while I take the couch. Muna wanted Daniel to stay with her just in case anything happened or if he injured himself but Jake promised that they were fully capable. And August offered to take the couch but I insisted. And so here I lie. I know I said that we could defeat this gang but I wasn't really thinking. How are we going to defeat them? This question repeats itself in my head and I don't go to sleep.
*** A lipstick pistol was a single shot weapon used in the cold war. An Ulfberht sword is a type of sword mainly made in the 9nth to the 11nth century made with Damascus steel. And a Chinese hook sword is a sword with a curved tip and a knuckle guard.
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The Silent Gate (Book 2 of The Quiet Key series)
Mystery / Thriller-"Oh, just stop it already!" Zinari is waving his arms around as if it might get me to stop, "You can't fight against me and win!" I almost laugh. Winning has never been very important to me but fighting? Of course, it was. He was asking me to give...
