Barely An Angel (Completed)

21~ The Upper Hand

My eyes trailed from my parents to the unopened envelope on the kitchen counter. "Mom, what's that?" I asked, pointing at it. She lifted her head from my dad's shoulder, letting her gaze follow where I was pointing. Curious, she reluctantly pulled away from him and walked over to pick it up.

"Oh, yeah, this. It was outside, in front of the door earlier. I brought it in, but I guess I forgot to open it," she explained, examining either side of the envelope. "I have no idea who could've sent it." I could tell from where I sat that it was unmarked, save for a ghost-like seal on the front.

I gulped, my throat suddenly quite dry. "I think I know," I muttered under my breath. I cast a worried glance to my father, who returned it with a short nod.

"Lucy, honey," he murmured, grasping her hand and pulling her over to our couch, where they sat next to me. "I'm afraid there's something that's been going on that I haven't told you about." He looked at me. "Have you said anything?" I shook my head.

"Guys...," Mom trailed off. "What is it? Just tell me, you're freaking me out," she laughed nervously.

I took a deep breath, preparing myself for how she might react. With a shaky voice, I proceeded to tell my mother everything that had been going on with the Fantom Fangs, my dad chipping in here and there to add extra details. When we were done, my mom's face was even paler than usual.

"So you mean to tell me...that Demeille...is this gang leader's son...and they're planning on taking down the Chancellors?" She stammered. "Wow. How come you never said anything to me?" She demanded, looking pointedly at my father and I in turn. "I need to know these kinds of things, guys. Ramona, my most important job is to keep you safe, and I already kind of failed at that. You need to help me out! And telling me when you're threatened by a gang kind of falls into that category." She shot up from the couch and began pacing back and forth in front of us, raking the fingers of her free hand through her wavy blonde locks.

"Sorry, mom, I...," I trailed off, not really knowing of anything I could say that would justify not telling her anything.

"So, um, so what do we do?" She questioned frantically, completely ignoring me.

"I'm going to contact my sister and have her send a message to the Chancellors," Dad explained. "And I need to do it soon, because I believe the Fantom Fangs are inching ever closer to reaching their goal numbers."

"You know, that's another thing," I interjected. "Mom, how come you never told me I had an angel aunt? That's the type of thing I expect to know."

Mom glared at me. "Young lady, now is not the time to discuss our family tree," she growled. "We need to figure out how to keep you safe, first and foremost. And what about your friend, Nathan? Is he involved in this in any way?"

I crossed my arms, leaning back into the cushion of the couch. "All I know is that Demeille and Adrien have some sick vendetta against him. So, I guess he is? But I don't want him involved in this fight if he doesn't have to be. Too many things could go wrong."

Dad gently laid his hand on my shoulder. "Ramonalta, I understand your concern for him. He is only human, after all. But he at least has a right to know what's going on, and what's about to happen. He needs to be prepared, so that he can be safe."

"You're right," I conceded. "I'll go to his house, and I'll tell him everything. But first, I want to know what the letter says."

"Oh, right," my mom muttered, using one swipe of her finger to break the envelope's seal and tear it open. With trembling fingers, she unfolded the letter that was inside and began to read it aloud to us. "'Dear fallen angel, you and your daughter are not as smart as you may think. We couldn't help but overhear your little plan, and we'd like to inform you that you have no chance of ruining ours. It would be easier for all of us if you stand down now, before it's too late. Heed our warning, because we are keepers of our word.'"

My father cursed under his breath. "How could we have been so stupid? They must have had someone in that alley spying on us."

Mom let the letter fall out of her fingers, fear filling her eyes. "How...how could this be? How did we let...this happen?" She whimpered, stumbling towards the couch and sitting down between me and Dad.

He wrapped his arms around her in an effort to comfort her. "Lucy, we'll be okay. For all we know, they wrote that out of fear as soon as they heard us talking about what we wanted to do, most definitely in a feeble attempt to scare us away from ruining whatever they wanted to do. But we have the upper hand. Don't worry," he assured her. She nodded incessantly, nestling herself even closer to him and the comfort of the cushions.

I folded my hands and rested my head on them, exhaling heavily. I hope you're right, Dad. I hope you're right. "It's super late, should I talk to Nathan tonight?"

Dad glanced at me briefly before returning his attention to Mom, who had quickly fallen asleep on him. "The sooner, the better. But you can probably wait until morning," he whispered, so as not to wake her.

I slowly rose from the couch, heading downstairs to my mom's stash of blood. I needed a quick snack before I went to bed for the night; all this stress was making me insanely hungry. Or, in this case, thirsty, I guess. I could feel my dad's disapproval radiating through the air, but I felt his understanding as well. He knew that Mom and I were blackeyes, and that nothing we could do would ever change that. It was something that we would have to live with, and adapt to.

When I had polished off a blood bag, I made my way back to the living room to say goodnight to Dad. I leaned down carefully so that I could hug him without waking up Mom, and as soon as I stood up straight again, I felt terribly nauseous. My hands flew to my stomach. "Oh...I...I don't...feel so good," I stammered.

My father's face contorted into an expression of concern. "What's the matter? Are you okay?" He questioned, gently separating himself from my sound-asleep mother. He stood up and grabbed my face in his hands, examining. "You are a bit more pale than usual, and your eyes are-,"

He was unable to finish his sentence before the nausea got the better of me. 

~

Hey, I've been meaning to ask you guys, what do you think of how this story is progressing? Is it at a good pace? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, I would love to hear from you! As always, don't forget to vote if you enjoyed, and I'll see you in the next chapter! 

~R.J. ♡