Barely An Angel (Completed)

33~ The Letter

"Mom, what was that all about?" I asked, getting up to meet her as soon as I saw her leave her room.

She huffed, out of breath as she tried to walk past me. "Your dad found a letter in our room, from Anna. Apparently, she planned on leaving before she could be caught and that's why she left it. Anyways, I have to go with him, okay?" Without waiting for a response, she pushed her way around me and was out the front door before I could even blink.

"Well...that was weird," Nathan deadpanned.

I turned around to look at him. "I know, right? I wonder what the letter said that was so important," I scoffed.

"Well, let's find out," Nathan insisted, hopping to his feet and skipping into my parents' room. "Neither of them were holding paper when they ran out, so they must have left it somewhere in their rush."

I jogged after him, reaching out to grab his arm. "Nathan, we can't just go snooping through my parents' room," I argued. He shrugged out of my grip, smirking.

"We're not going to snoop, we're just...examining," he reasoned. "I'm not going to touch anything, I'm just going to move my eyes around until I see-," he cut himself off, pointing. "That, there it is." My gaze followed the direction he was pointing, and sure enough, laying on the ground was a slightly wrinkled piece of paper that sported a crease right down the middle.

I narrowed my eyes, curious, walking over to it and bending down to pick it up. It was written in good handwriting, but I could tell it was scribbled out in a hurry. My eyes scanned over it, hungry for any clues as to where my parents could have rushed off to.

I gasped, eyes wide, the letter falling from my fingers. Nathan darted to my side. "What? What is it?"

I gulped. "I know my dad said to stay here, but I need to follow them. I think you should go home, be with your mom. You shouldn't have to be involved in this, not at all." I gazed into his eyes. "I'm truly sorry that you're even a part of this."

"Wh-wha...Ramona, what are you saying? I want to be a part of this, if it means helping you, or...or even being near you. Trust me, you don't have to be sorry," he assured me. "I'm staying with you."

I almost forgot to breathe as I stared into those chestnut eyes of his, and was about to give in. But I shook my head, looking away. "No, you can't. I'll walk you home. Come on," I insisted, reaching out my hand for him to grab.

He hesitated, and looked as though he was going to try again to convince me to let him stay. But he eventually relented, grasping my hand with a sigh.

"This is the right thing to do, don't worry," I assured him. "I should have never involved you, and I'm sorry that I did." I squeezed his hand. He didn't say anything in response, just stared straight ahead. I knew that he wasn't sorry, and that he wanted to help, but I couldn't bring myself to let him become any more involved than he already was.

***

After Nathan and I walked to his house together and said goodbye (it was a rather one-sided farewell, as Nathan hadn't said much, if anything), I ran as fast as I could in the direction of the industrial district. The destination I had in mind was the Fantom Fangs hideout, but I couldn't remember exactly where it was because my memory from the night they held me hostage was quite spotty. That could be due, in part, to whatever access Dario did have to my mind, even if it was only for a few seconds. He could have - whether it was purposefully or not, I don't know  exactly - hindered my receptive capabilities, which would have made it to where I wouldn't remember where the Fantom Fangs hid out to plan their deeds. It wasn't until then that it occurred to me that maybe he did do it on purpose, but it was for my own good. It still wasn't going to stop me, though. 

The letter Anna had written said she'd be going to the hideout, to meet the blackeye she had given Mom's blood bags to. It's where my parents had headed off to in such a rush, and I intended to meet them there. Whatever was about to go down, I needed to be there for my family.

She didn't happen to mention the identity of this blackeye she would be meeting, but I had a pit in my stomach when I thought about who they might be. Whoever they turned out to be, I just knew in my heart that whatever would transpire after meeting them was not going to be good.

Upon entering the district limits, I strained my ears to hear as far as they could, and whatever they could. I didn't pick up anything I deemed to be important, as I eventually figured that my parents would have found the place by now, so there was no way I could listen for their voices to clue me in on which direction they could've gone.

My thoughts traveled back to the letter. I could just barely remember an address scrawled in the margins on the left side of the piece of paper it was written on. That must be where the lair is, I thought to myself. The address came back to me in parts, but I was eventually able to piece it together.

I began running as fast as my legs would allow, skimming through block after block of in-process builds. After what felt like an eternity, I finally reached the part of the district that consisted of finished buildings; apartments and shops and such; with actual addresses displayed outside. Alright, just one more block, I thought in relief after a while of scouring for an address that matched the one I had remembered.

When I reached what I hoped to be the correct location, I cringed. It was an apartment building that may have once been grand and tall, but had been burned down decades ago. Apparently, no one cared enough about it to restore it to its former glory and so there it remained, a charred shell of the magnificence it once held; a reminder that nothing – no matter how grand it may be – is truly forever.

Even supernaturals, while immortal, could still die from external causes. The only real difference between being immortal or mortal is that immortality only meant you didn't have to worry about or run away from time anymore; time would be on your side. The physical world, however, would not be - any more or any less than it would be if you were mortal.

That was why, as I stepped cautiously up to the dilapidated doorway, I took a deep breath. I began trembling at the realization that, if the sense of uneasiness I felt turned out to be warranted, it could very well be one of the last breaths I ever took.    

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Sorry this one took so long to upload! But happy fourth of July, to those that celebrate! See you in the next chapter!