Intended

Chapter 16

I turned to my father quickly, confused. What was the point of giving me room? Surely I would be going home soon, right? I had thought that was what meeting him meant: that arrangements for my safety had been made and now I would get to go back home. He noticed my look of shock, I could tell by his smile that he had wrongly interpreted it as delight.

"Why?" I quickly ask, the tone of my voice just as quickly showing my lack of delight. He seemed surprised by my question, no doubt expecting me to squeal and thank him.

"Well, I thought you'd like it, since you'll be here for awhile," he says, clearly confused by my disapproval.

"No, I'm not," I state quite firmly, clenching my fists, "I have school, college applications, life. No offense , but I can't stay in fantasy land!"

Maybe I had gone to far, but in that moment, I didn't care. I was starting to feel that buzz in my hands, creeping up my arms, but I ignored it. His jaw visibly tensed, his eyes narrowing.

"You said you'd stay here, work with me," he growled out through gritted teeth.

"No," I argue, "I said I'd think about it! There's a difference. You'd see that if you'd actually listened to me!" I felt the sparks at my fingertips, crackling as my anger and frustration grew.

"Well, it doesn't matter, you belong with your family!" He says, practically shaking. He was holding back I could tell.

I was shaking too, but I didn't holding back.

"What are you gonna do? Keep me here, like a prisoner!?" I push, surely not. He may be your average absentee father who finally gaining a conscious, baring the heavenly status, but he wasn't a psychopath.

"If that's what it takes," He grits out.

There was a crack and a flash as the electricity at my fingertips swelled. It didn't hurt, it felt like power, a low hum that's ran through my veins. I let it flow through me.

"No! I'm not staying here with you!" I yell back at him, "You may be my father, but we'll never be family! Family doesn't abandon each other! Get that through your thick skull!!"

The ringing in my ears lasted for more than a minute after what happened next. Blinding light flashed from my father, followed by a thunderous boom. It was like the building collapse all over again.

I laid on the ground by the wall, the breath knocked out of me. I gasped, trying desperately to draw in a bit of oxygen as my eyes adjusted to the explosive light. I didn't hear or see the door open, I didn't know that others had entered until felt hands on my shoulders, pulling me up. As soon as they moved me, I felt pain in my head and tried to push them away. I wasn't strong enough.

Darkness overtook me.

• • •

I hear myself groan in anticipation as I wake to pain. Luckily what had been piercing, was now a dull throb. Passing out had become a trend for me.

Ok, fingers... I focused on moving, feeling my digits twitch, then they were squeezed. A hand. Someone was holding my hand. A chair drags across the wood floor closer to me.

"Hannah?" The gentle voice soothed me. Jess was with me. I want to respond, but I find my mouth is too dry to form words, so I simply groan in acknowledgment and shift my head to the side.

I finally get enough strength to peel my crusty eyes open. It takes a few blinks for them to adjust to the bright light.

"Hannah," Jess sits in the chair next to the bed, the bed that I refused to acknowledge as my own. "Thank the gods you're awake," she says, "He was ready to kill Mother. We should have told him earlier."