Demon's Genesis

Chapter 8

I stopped in my tracks and turned to face her. "What do you mean?" I asked, unease tickling my paws.

"I mean..." she looked to her left, displaying the black marking that swirled gracefully around her eye. "We're a family. We all have each other all the time, so I guess that means that none of us have ever been alone. Not really." She paused, lifting a paw and staring at it uncertainty. "Well, you and your brother, at least."

I inhaled sharply to snap back at her before realising she was indeed, telling the truth.. out of all the emotions I had experienced throughout my short existence, I had never known the feeling of complete and utter loneliness. Someone had always been there for me...whether it was Pa, Kai, or even Mother. I had never felt hopelessly alone.

"Yes, and I'm grateful to have all of—"

"I've felt alone."

I blinked in surprise, slightly taken aback by her sudden statement.

Mother closed her eyes, her expression more stony and cold then I'd ever seen. She hesitated for a heartbeat, before twisting her head to observe the earth under her paws so that I could no longer read her expression. Whether that be for her sake or mine; perhaps I'll never know.

"I've felt very alone," she repeated, her tone suddenly low and quiet. Usually, I would be relieved to not hear the high-pitched squawk of her voice, but this tone... it was... somewhat worse.

"It was so cold and so dark." Her voice breaking as she spoke. "I felt like I was falling deeper and deeper into nothingness. No one to love me. No one to catch me. No one who cared." She raised her tone on the last word, emphasising it in such a way it almost made my heart crack.

She made no attempts to move after her little vent to me, standing as still as a statue. I took a step back, suddenly feeling on edge and continued to stare at her, not even attempting to conceal the anxiety in my widened gaze, unease tingling in my paws. What.. What's she talking about, we.. we're all a family; nobody's ever lonely in a family... Right?

"But here I am now, with you, so I guess I'm not lonely anymore." Her voice was soft, and I took another step backwards, my whole body tense in anticipation. The softness of her voice was not kind nor warm, it was something else, something that sent shivers down my spine.

"I guess.. I guess you're not.." I replied cautiously, fearing that saying the wrong thing might trigger her to snap and do something I dare not think about.

My mother's intense staring contest with the ground was broken as she raised her head and blinked a few times, gazing around with a slightly dazed expression as if she had just been hit by a large force. Seeming to find her feet in no more than a few heartbeats she turned her gaze back to me, a frown woven into her expression.

"Well come on, what are you waiting for? Your father and Kai are probably worried sick about us. Have some consideration of others for once, would you, Lloyd?!"

I flattened my ears, suddenly fed up with her behaviour and how she always treated me like an outcast, I lashed out at her.

"What in the name of Thexa is your problem, Mother? One moment, you're talking about loneliness and the next you're telling me to hurry up or we'll be late! I'm sick and tired of you blaming me for the stupidest things, even if it's not my fault!"

She looked shocked by my sharp tone and opened her mouth to snap back at me before closing it and scrunching up her face in confusion as she doubled back over what I had said.

"I never—I didn't mean—I didn't?"

A growl of frustration rumbled in my throat, "Oh, just forget it," my tail lashed and I swung my head away from her and faced the path instead. "What does it matter to you, anyway?"