Lying Bloodlines

Chapter Eleven

Nonna stands up but I raise a hand.

“Don’t come any closer,” I pause looking at her heartbroken expression, “Please.” I walk over to a chair close to the door and sit down pulling Mandy on my lap. I keep a tight grip on the gun, just in case.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Alina leans forward staring at me, “Who hurt you?”

“Hunters and more hunters.” They look at one another, “They wanted to know about you, they needed to know.” Shai looks down.

“We’re so sorry, you had to go through that, both of you.” I shake my head.

“They didn’t hurt Mandy, he protected her from the others. I wasn’t so lucky.” Nonna cries silently.

“Who’s ‘he’, dearie?” I look down at Mandy.

“Reuben.” Mandy nods leaning into me. “She was with Reuben while Aster had some men try to get me to talk.” I stare Nonna straight in the eye, “Of course I knew even less than they did, they hurt me more for being useless.” Nonna began to sob shaking her head.

“I’m so sorry, God, I’m so sorry.” I look at the wall behind her.

“I’m fine, we’re both fine.” I stand up putting Mandy on the chair, standing in front of her, “No thanks to you all. So if you don’t mind, I’d feel better if we were as far away from you as humanly possible.” I look at Alina and Shai when I say ‘humanly’ making them look away. Nonna walks towards me wiping her nose.

“No, it’s not safe, I won’t let either of you out of my sight again.” I cock my head at her.

“Your not even our real grandmother, as for being our guardian, that was revoked the moment you left us in the dark about everything that came back and bite us in the ass.”  Everyone casts their eyes down ashamed, as they should.

They’re the reason Mandy and I are in this mess in the first place, if we weren’t associated with them we’d be living a normal happy life. Not on the run from hunters who want to use us to get to them.

Alina walks towards us, ignoring the gun, wrapping me in a hug. I freeze up as she squeezes me.

“Oh, Aj. I’m sorry, so so sorry.” I push her away gently.

“That’s all you guys are, sorry. Sorry doesn’t change this last month or anything else.” She stares at me.

When we were little, looking at her was always like looking in a mirror. We would copy each other’s expressions and try to confuse mom on who was who. But that stopped when mom started taking us to Nonna and shai’s house, and then I started staying home with dad while Alina kept going. That’s when we started growing apart, last year before her and shai left I could hardly recognise her.

But looking at her now, I definitely don’t know who she is. We still look the same but her eyes, her eyes have a different glow and she stands differently, bold. We’re still identical but anyone could tell who the stronger of the two of us were, the smarter. She was everything I wasn’t and she knew it, she was sorry but she wasn’t.

And then there’s Shai, I was never really close to her but she looked at me with pity. Not regret or remorse, pity. She looked at me as if I were a kicked puppy, she didn’t hurt me directly so she’s detached. She never liked me, even when we first meet, she frowned her face up and turned to Alina. The two of them are quite the pair I suppose.

“Annalynn.” Nonna eyes plead with me to stay here with them.

Nonna never talked to me the way she talked to Alina and shai, she was even different with Mandy. I was always off to the side, separated. And when the girls left last year, she started to treat me like a child, like I was made of glass. Now I know it’s because I’m human, a weak defenseless human.

My hands start to burn as I think of how defenseless I was just a day ago, how I couldn’t protect myself let alone Mandy. The heat slowly goes up my arms, Alina gasps.

“Nonna, look at her hands.” I looked down, they were red, the gun was turning orange where my hand was touching it.

I drop the weapon and bring my hands towards my face, it’s the same feeling I got back with the hunters. I close my fists taking a deep breath, they slowly cool down. When they’re no longer glowing, I shake my hands out and grab Mandy’s hand and the still warm gum.

“We’ll be going.” I wiggle the car keys around my finger and turn to Theo, “Don’t follow us.” Nonna stands.

“You can’t go, did you see what happened to your hands? How is that even possible, you don’t have the gene?” I turn to her quickly pointing the gun.

“I know, I know, I know. They wouldn’t let me forget.” Everyone flinches as I yell, “They told me each and everyday as they burned me with a lighter and cut me up.” I push Mandy back and walk closer to Nonna. “He taunted me, told me how much of a weakling I was because I didn’t have that stupid gene, hell, he hurt me more just because of it. That gene almost got me killed, and I don’t even have it. So go to hell.”