Control | The Five Sisters | Book Three

3 | Jonah

Jonah could sense that something was wrong the moment she stepped into the apartment, but like the weird feeling she had for the past month she brushed it off. When she stepped into the living room she was hit with such strong emotion that it nearly knocked her back. Her head immediately started to pound. It was as if something was trying to break through.

"Remind me again why I was the one who had to take the girls shopping?" Jonah said as she deposited the bags in her hands on the couch. She shook off the feeling once again and tried to focus on what was going on around her.

Jonah tried to focus on Isis as she spoke but her words barely registered. The pounding in her head began to increase.

"What is going on?" Jonah turned to face them. She tried to not show the pain she was feeling but it was difficult. She felt like she was being suffocated from the pain.

"Are you okay?" Isis asked.

"She's fine," Genesis responded. Genesis snatched a sheet of paper from Isis and thrusted her hand out towards Jonah. Jonah took the paper, a look of pure confusion on her face as she began to read it. "Recognize it?" Genesis asked.

"Where did you get this?" Jonah asked in a low voice. She couldn't believe what she was holding, what she was reading. The last time she had remembered anything about the letter was the day she had shoved it into her bag. After that it hadn't crossed her mind. She had spoken with her mother several times and their conversations were mostly centered around when she was going to tell the others. She wanted to trust her mother to open up and tell them the truth. She was praying that she would, so that she wouldn't have to hold onto the secret anymore.

"I found it where you tried to hide it," Genesis accused.

"You went through my purse?" Jonah asked in disbelief. She had hoped that maybe another letter had been mailed to the apartment, not that Genesis had invaded her privacy. It meant that she didn't trust her and that hurt more than the pain in her head.

"Yes I went through your purse because you lied about that being a bill!" Genesis shouted.

"What's going on?" Jonah felt when Liberty and Freedom stepped into the room, but she didn't turn to them. She kept her eyes on Genesis looking for something that she couldn't name.

"Nothing," Isis and Jonah said together.

"No. Don't lie to them. This involves them too. They should know."

"Genesis," Isis pleaded.

It was at that moment as if a wall had tumbled down. Genesis' thoughts bombarded her head in an instant. She had noticed the lack of thoughts that came from Genesis over the month, but she had enjoyed the peace that she got when she was around her. Everything that Genesis had been thinking and was currently thinking flooded through her head and it made the ache that had been building grow more intense.

She felt as if she was being attacked from the inside. Her head felt like it would burst. It felt full and she felt the force of Genesis thoughts like a weapon. Nothing else broke through. She tried to speak. Tried to make them understand, but she wasn't sure if any sound left her lips. Her throat felt full. She felt like she was choking as she coughed. She felt the wet, sticky substance, but as if Genesis' eyes were a magnet she couldn't look away. She couldn't pull her focus away from the intense stare.

Things happened around her that she couldn't focus on no matter how hard she tried. She felt the brunt of Genesis's anger but she also began to feel pain and sadness that wasn't hers and it started to make her feel weak.

Jonah felt as if a million sparks went off in her head. She couldn't hold back her cries of pain and grabbed her head. She felt as if her head would literally burst. A scream ripped from her throat before everything went black. She couldn't see or hear anything but she felt as if she were still conscious.

"Hello?" she called out to the void that surrounded her. "Is anybody there?"

She got no response.

"Genesis? Isis?" Nothing. "Can anybody hear me?"

"They cannot hear you."

Jonah jumped and turned to find a woman standing beside her. Even in the dark she could make out her features. She had smooth brown skin, her hair was curly and fell past her shoulders and her eyes were gray. The same gray as Jonah's. He eyes were big, her nose straight and her lips full.

"Who are you?"

"Family," the woman asked.

"Am I dead?" Jonah asked, fear gripped her heart. She could still feel her heart beating. She could feel her lungs expanding, but she couldn't hear anything outside of the words leaving her mouth and the woman beside her. Where were her sisters?

"No, you're not dead. Your body shut down," she answered. She sat down on what Jonah could only assume was the floor as she couldn't see anything but darkness. "Sit. I'll wait with you."

Jonah looked at the woman in confusion. She didn't know what she meant. If she wasn't dead then where was she? Jonah had no other choice but to join the woman. She sat down, keeping a safe distance. Jonah looked off into the void. The woman remained silent and Jonah wasn't sure of what to say so she said nothing. She just waited.

She looked over at the woman after a moment only to find her already looking at her. The woman gave her a large smile.

"What is your name?" Jonah asked. She had to know. If she was going to spend however long with the woman, she needed to know what to call her.

"My name is Cora," she answered softly.

Jonah looked away. That was her middle name. She looked at the woman again and wondered if that was where her mother had come up with the name. She suddenly wanted to know more.

"How are we related?" Jonah turned her body fully and settled in to learn everything she could.