Torie

Chapter 1

Torie POV

I was still hurting, my emotions were all over the place but I knew I had to get out of there.

I could feel my other half trying to send calming waves, she was all calm while I was all hurt and pain. She was the only thing keeping me sane.

About a week ago a police car had driven up the road to my family home late in the afternoon. I had been doing some chores while my parents had gone out to town to buy some groceries earlier in the day. 

I was getting a little concerned since they had been gone for hours but didn't pay much attention to it, our house was about 20 minutes outside of town in the middle of nowhere surrounded by nature so I figured they had used the trip to catch up on errands and maybe visit some friends.

My fleeting concerns had solidified the moment I opened the door to find two police officers standing on the porch.

And then my whole world had crumbled.

I had been right. My parents had gone to run some errands, they had gone to the bank where apparently some crazy man with a gun had decided to try a heist. Four people were dead, two of them being my parents.

And just like that, they were gone. Just poofed.

It had taken every ounce of self control not to shift in front of anyone this whole past week.

I had thought I could get through it all until a social worker had appeared and informed me that my parents weren't really my parents. That I had been adopted when I was a baby.

I was completely devastated, not because they weren't my biological parents but because they had never told me about it. I was just turned 18 last month and they had never told me.

Not to mention that they had known my secret and had always been supportive and understanding with me. I knew they loved me but the fact that they hadn't told me hurt.

So here I was, both my parents dead and with nowhere to go but with a social worker who didn't seem to care much about my situation.

The summer had just began and my life was a complete disaster and just as I thought things couldn't get worse he had showed up.

Adam was a lawyer and my father's step brother and I had never really like him. He would give me these dirty looks when he thought no one was looking and kept telling me how pretty I looked when no one else was around.

I had always managed to keep him at bay since we only saw each other when my parents decided to have friends over and I had always made it a point to not being alone with him for more than a minute or two.

But now with my parents gone and me being almost 18 the social worker seemed more than happy to just hand me over to him. He was well off and everyone around though highly of him. I had never understood how they didn't see the darkness just underneath the surface.

Neither me nor my other half liked him and I sure as hell had no intentions of ever being at his mercy.

So when they had driven me back home to pack some clothes while they worked out the paperwork, I took the opportunity and made my escape.

It had hurt coming back to an empty house. The thought of never seeing my mom cooking in the kitchen while playfully bickering with my dad and me had almost made me break down but my other half had reminded me that I couldn't break down just yet, not if I was to get away before they handed me off to Adam.

I made my way to my room trying my best to not look around too much because everything hurt, every single corner of the house brought up a memory and I wasn't sure how long I could keep myself in check.

I closed the door to my room behind me and looked around. My bed was still unmade from the last time I had slept here. I smiled sadly as I looked at a life that was no longer mine.

After a few minutes of just standing there lost in pain my other half sent me a nudge to get moving. I couldn't keep break down here and lose the only opportunity to escape Adam.

I easily got out through the window and made my way out into the forest that ran along the back of our house. I knew the forest like the back of my hand. I spent a lot of time here as myself and as my other half.

I made my way up to a ridge that overlooked our house. I could make out the social worker, who had finally figured out I was gone talking with the police officer who had accompanied us here, they were pointing to the forest.

I smirked. They were too late to stop me. I gave my house one last look before shifting.

I spread my wings and shook them out. It had been a long and stressful week without being able to shift. I walked back a bit and then made a run for the edge of the ridge spreading my wings out and flapping them hard. As I took off a gust of wind came up the ridge helping me gain altitude.

I circled my house one last time and then took off letting my other half take over completely. She would know where to go better than me and once we were somewhere safe she would let me take over again. We knew that one didn't reign over the other, we were a team and together we would make it through.

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