Unhinged 2: Til the Flame Burns Out

Chapter 26

A/N: OK, so finally an update! So sorry you guys have been waiting so long lately. I usually update sooner than this but my mom's been in and out of the hospital so its been a bit hectic.

If I used chapter titles this one would indeed go something along the lines of "A Long Night" LOL because most of this chapter does take place the night before they head to Adwell Labs.

Hope you enjoy!

Ginny had been sitting on the bed beside Riley for the last half hour just looking her over. She wiped the few tears that still streamed down her face at seeing the horror her daughter had been going through this whole time. She had been in this lab for so long now that she forgot what it felt like to hug her children or hear the sound of their laughter. She missed her mother and how she hoped she was ok after her father's death. So many things just broke her heart to pieces, and she didn't know how much longer she could keep it together. She was starting to think that allowing her powers to take over her mind was the only relief she might feel from all the pain in her heart... to just forget everything.

She quickly wiped the new tears from her face when she saw Riley's eyes flutter open and look up at her.

"M-Mum?" she choked out in a small hoarse voice.

Ginny smiled down at her. "Yes, Sweetheart."

She saw Riley sink back in her pillow a bit and attempt to move away from her. "What's wrong with you?" she asked in a frail voice.

Ginny's heart sank a bit. "It's ok... nothing is wrong." She said as she tried to sound confident in her statement.

Riley sat up, letting her mother help her a bit. "You look different... your eyes. Are you really my mother?" she asked through her cracking voice.

Ginny slowly reached up with one hand to cup the side of her face. She could feel Riley relax as soon as she felt her mother's touch and then threw her arms around her tightly.

Ginny pulled back a bit when she felt Riley's neck device against hers. "Have they... surfaced?" she hesitantly asked, unsure of what she wanted the answer to be.

Riley looked down at the burn marks on her hands and arms and held them up for her mother to see. "Fire... like you." She said softly.

Ginny looked at her daughter's pained expression before she took in her burns and gently traced one of them with her fingers. "I don't understand... why do you have these then?"

"Because they were forced out of her." Came Jade's voice from the doorway before she entered the room. "Her powers didn't naturally surface so her body doesn't know how to respond to them, so they are causing her more harm than anything."

"That's barbaric." Ginny scowled, getting up and taking a step towards Jade out of anger.

"Well, that is Father's style so I wouldn't expect anything less." She shrugged. "It's time to go, so say your goodbyes."

Ginny turned back to Riley and grabbed her face in her hands. "You stay strong my Sweet." She bent down and leaned her forehead against hers. "Own those powers of yours... you are amazing, and I love you so very much."

Riley looked at her with teary eyes as she felt her mother's kiss on her forehead and watched her leave the room.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

She pushed herself up from the wet grass so fast she barely had time to think about the burn mark on her neck. She got right in Ember's face before shoving her backward in anger.