Defiance: Perfect by Nature

Chapter Two: An Old Foe Emerges

Chapter Two: An Old Foe Emerges

The Week of Remembrance passed by fairly quickly, and before Gabriella knew it school was upon her and she had to get back to the daily grind that really wouldn’t matter later on in her life. Once her mother had come back from ‘seeing’ her father off, Gabriella didn’t see Anna again for almost an entire week; which was very odd considering she usually came by the house at least once a day to see Amy or bug Gabriella. She asked her mother about her sister’s absence, thinking maybe the immortals were on some kind of a training regime again or just out wandering the stars looking for any signs of the demons, but it turned out that they were doing what they usually did, sparring with each other and enjoying their powers.

With no other explanation Gabriella began to realize that Anna wasn’t coming around because of her, because of the kiss they had shared that probably should never have happened. She felt bad about it now, missing the spunky girl that was easily her best friend in the entire world; and it was all because she had to go and do something stupid. To that day she still didn’t know exactly why she had done it; not really anyways. Anna had looked so sad and all Gabriella had wanted to do was cheer her up, and since a simple kiss had cheered her up the night before that she figured it might work for her older sister. The kiss started out simple enough, but then it quickly morphed into something she had not been prepared for at the time and she had quickly pulled away from it, something she now regretted because it seemed to have ruined the relationship between the two girls.

The first day of school dawned on her with a light drizzle as fall was coming at Northern Canada full tilt, and Gabriella pulled herself out of bed and got ready for her final year in high school. With her hair done up, a light amount of makeup on her features, and a nice, yet casual, set of clothes she headed downstairs to find her mother standing over the stove cooking up a hearty looking breakfast. She quickly sat down at the table and groaned softly when she only found orange juice and milk put out for her, the coffee pot sitting on the counter unused. Sometimes she really wished her parents actually had the need for food and beverages, that way she could steal a cup of their coffee in the morning. It really was the only thing that perked her up enough to go through the motions.

“How’d you sleep, sweetie?” her mother asked as she lifted some scrambled eggs out of the frying pan in front of her and plated them, sprinkling them with a dash of salt and pepper.

“Like a rock, I guess. I don’t even remember falling asleep.”

Her mother walked over to the table and laid the plate of eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast in front of her as she moved back into the kitchen and started to clean up, taking her time so she could enjoy a relaxed morning. “You excited to get back to school?” she asked and the only response Gabriella could give was a snort of disgust. “Trust me, you’ll miss these kinds of days when you are older.”

“That’s the thing, mom; I won’t get older after I turn eighteen. I’ll always be that age. Do you realize in eight months I will be the exact same age as you?”

“That is an odd thought,” her mother laughed as she scraped the remaining eggs into the garbage. “Never in my life would I ever have thought that my daughter would be the same age as I am.”

“It’s kind of creepy, if you think about it. A lot of what happens with you guys is weird. Look at Francis and Lucy for example, they’re legally married and yet they are considered brother and sister. How did they get over that mind numbing hurdle?”

Gabriella hadn’t even been thinking about what was coming out of her mouth, and as the words settled around her she knew she was asking the question more for herself than anything else. The moment with Anna still played on her mind, and it felt weird knowing that they were sisters and all.