Hybrid

Rapunzel

I lifted myself through the second story window with great difficulty and threw myself through the window, hitting the floor and knocking the wind out of myself. I heard Maria crying as I forced my way in, which made sense. She deserved to cry.

"Dylan?"

"Oh, so you remember me?" I snapped.

"You've been drinking," Maria realized, taking a few steps away from me.

I lifted myself off the floor, brushing off my shirt, "Yeah. So?"

"You shouldn't be here," She said timidly. 

"Neither should you," I said bitterly.

I walked at her, closing the distance between us so I could get this off my chest. She walked back into the wall as I approached her, her eyes growing wide. I put my hands in the space around her head, and she shut her eyes tight.

Seeing her like this had thrown me off, and I had forgotten what I originally came to say.

"How could you do this to me?" I asked, tears brimming in the back of my eyes.

She opened her eyes to meet mine, and a tear fell from my eye, streaming down my face. Once one fell, more followed.

"I thought this was what I wanted," She whispered.

"I was supposed to be what you wanted."

"I know that now," She said.

I dropped to the floor, holding my head in my hands. I shouldn't have come here. I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to calm myself. Maria dropped to her knees beside me and hesitantly reached out to touch my arm. I pulled away from her, I didn't want her help.

"Why wasn't I good enough for you?" I asked.

"Dylan, of course you were," Maria tried to soothe me.

"Apparently I wasn't," I said.

I met her eyes, but she was looking at the floor. Then I noticed the giant bruises littering her body.

"Where are those from?" I blurted.

"Nowhere," She lied.

"Oh, right, hunting." I looked away from her.

"I'm not hunting," She said.

"I saw you with my own two eyes," I snapped, looking back at Maria.

She stood up, turning around to grab something. She went back to the floor and handed me a photo, "This is Denise. She was the mother I never had."

"She's the one who died?" I asked.

"They killed her because she knew me," Maria's voice cracked.

I handed back the photo, feeling slightly guilty for not knowing the whole story. It still didn't completely add up, but I wasn't going to push it.

"So, the bruises?" I asked.

"I said they're nothing," Maria grew defensive.

I looked at her in the dim moonlight, struggling to understand who hurt her and why she was defending them.

"If your father is the one laying hands on you," I left my threat open.

"He isn't," Maria said.

"Then who is?" I asked.

"None of your business."

I shook my head. There was no reason for me to care about the bruises, and there was no reason for me to be here. I stood up and started making my way towards the window.