Bloodlines

Chapter 5

"I know," I said again, "I overheard one of your conversations not too long ago."

My parents were quiet, like they for once didn't know what to say.

"You should have told me sooner." I said.

Mom's mouth became a straight line.

"Yes, you're right. We were just afraid you'd be... mad." she said the last words so quietly that it was barely a whisper. But I heard it.

I thought I would have been mad too, which I had been for about a day. So it was a surprise to me as well, this sudden calmness. I didn't know why I was feeling this way.

"I'm not mad anymore," I said, making them lift their heads, "But I still wish you would have told me sooner."

"You're not mad?" dad asked in disbelief.

"Well I was, which is why I was out so late before..."

"Oh! Well that explains it!" my mom said happily. "I was worried that something serious had happened at school or that you might have been getting bullied. All those nights coming home late..." she paused, taking a breath, "But we definitely should have told you sooner." she added.

I stood up from my chair.

"I think I'm going to call Kasey over now." I said, "We can talk about this more later. Right now, I just wanna enjoy my birthday."

With that said, I went into the living room, where I'd last left my phone and dialed Kasey's number. She had after all, said she wanted to come over and watch Netflix the day before.
So twenty minutes later we were browsing through all the possibilities of what to watch. I didn't tell her that I was adopted. Not yet. Today I was sixteen, and I wasn't going to keep wasting it.

----

The bird came back.

More than a week had past and the bird just kept coming back to my window. I was getting used to it's company, more and more every time it came by. Maybe I was imagining it, but I was almost certain I had glimpsed it flying around at school too. But of course, that theory couldn't be confirmed. There were a lot of ravens in the world.

Something was really off with that bird.

It was Monday. One more week stuck inside and then I was free. I could do this. Just one more. At least I wasn't getting beaten up by Alice Stripe now that I never went out...

I quickly regretted that thought.

In through the front door came Kasey with a large, blue bruise over her left cheek. She was fiddling with her hair, trying to hide the mark with her arm as much as possible. I shook with anger.

Stupid.

I was stupid and dumb for letting this happen. I walked up to my friend and put my arm around her shoulder, pulling her into an empty classroom.

"Tell me what they did to you." I said and looked at her face.

Jerks.

"I was on my way home from practice and they just... appeared from nowhere. It all went really fast- I barely remember a thing-"

"Oh don't lie to me Kass. It never goes 'really fast.' You remember it all." I said while brushing my hand over her cheek. She had tried to hide it with make-up. "So what did they do to you?"

Kasey turned her head toward the window, her mouth becoming a straight line.

"They hit me. Once." she said. "And afterwards they said 'tell your friend that it's time to come out.'."