XVI. Secret
I had never been the kind of person to keep secrets. Throughout my years of life, it was rare for me to hide something from the public. I didn't care much about what other people thought of me. The only thing I ever truly worried about was whether or not I was being a bother to the ones I cared the most about.
I was surprised to wake up alone. I was even more surprised to wake up alone in my own bed back at my house. I sat up and rubbed my eyes just as my alarm went off. Startled, I jumped and nearly screamed. Throwing myself out of bed, I slammed my hand down on the off button, sighing in relief when the machine shut up. I crawled back in bed and silently glared at the clock. I looked around for my phone and found it sitting on the floor beside my bed. I reached over and grabbed it, checking the day.
"Monday?" I gasped and got up, hurrying out into my kitchen. My mother was standing in front of the coffee maker, silk robe wrapped tightly around her slim body. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun and I was a bit stunned by the casual appearance. When I regained my though process, I leaned against the counter behind her and spoke up.
"Mom?" I tilted my head as she tossed her head in my direction without looking and humming a Hm? letting me know she was listening. "When did I get home?" I crossed my arms, picking at dry skin on the back of my forearm.
"I'm guessing sometime in the night. I didn't even know you were gone until I realized the living room was still clean." She spoke with such a cold sharpness, I flinched involuntarily.
"Where's Dad?" I mumbled loud enough for her to hear me. She didn't even glance at me as she walked by. I sighed, knowing I had gotten the most words I was going to get out of her. My mother's mood could flip from kind and caring to ice cold in less than a second. I watched as she walked out onto the back porch and left me standing in the empty kitchen.
I slowly made my way back upstairs and towards my parent's room. The door was wide open and my father was nowhere in sight. I left their room and went down the hall to my brother's room. He was gone, too. I went to the last door and pushed it open. Even Nicholai wasn't here.
"What the-" My whisper was cut off by the sound of my mother's voice. I turned around to see her standing there, staring at me. Her usually green eyes were pitch black and her tanned skin was paper white, almost like porcelein. I bit my lip and watched her, growing slightly afraid. Something wasn't right here.
"Adriette." She murmured my name a second time and I swallowed back the scream building in my chest.
"Wake up," She spoke again, but her mouth didn't move. It didn't sound right either.
"Adriette!" I jolted awake in a dark room that looked similar to the infirmery I woke up in weeks back. Viola was standing over me, her, now, purple eyes glistening with worry. I looked down at my body, willing back the tears. I had never had a nightmare so vivid before.
"It wasn't exactly a nightmare," Daniel's voice spoke up from the bed opposite mine.
I raised an eye at him, watching as he stood up and began walking towards my bed. I glanced around the room and found that this room was much smaller than the infirmary. This room had three small beds, a TV and a little table beside the bed I currently resided in.
"It was kind of a flashback to the late 90s. You envisioned an occurance that happened with a young girl named Jayne. She was about five when she found her emotionally dead mother wandering about the house. Her father and two sisters were laying dead in their backyard. She would have died right then if she hasn't been a Siren." He explained, gazing down at his lap. I calculated time and figured she would be somewhere around 23 years old now.
"Nobody knows where she is." Viola added in, watching me calculate. I made a face and flopped back on the bed.
"Do either of you know why I had her flashback?" I raised an eyebrow, glancing back and forth between the two. Viola shrugged and went to the small fridge in the corner and pulled out a bottle of water. Daniel avoided my eyes and went to his bag at the foot of his bed.
"We should get moving soon if we want to make it to Pheonix in time." He zipped up his bag and was out the door without another word. I groaned and got out of bed, thankful for my soft pyjama pants because it was freezing out of those blankets.
I fell asleep on the way there and when I woke up, I scowled, irritated with how much I've been sleeping recently. Daniel gave me a funny look and I just shook my head, not in the mood for conversation.
The rest of the drive lasted maybe twenty minutes before we drove off down a random trail in the woods. I mentally questioned this and Daniel just simply responded with hush, you'll see.
I did see. At the end of the long, twisted path, there was a small cottage the size of about half my house. We climbed out of the car and I followed the two inside. Unlike the cliche stories of seeing a small house and walking into a magnificent and rich setting, reading this book by its cover wasn't the wrong answer.
"Tomorrow, you will meet a few friends of ours. They're coming here for a council meeting. Make sure you're completely filled on sleep and dressed appropriately." Viola spoke coldly, her face unreadable. I gave her a short nod and she left the room. I turned towards Daniel and waited for him to speak, sensing he was about to.
"She's stressed about the situation. You're different compared to most of us. Usually, you're raised by your birth parents who explain to you what's going on at a young age." He had moved into the kitchen and I had followed.
"Why didn't mine explain?" I hopped up on the stool and watched as he pulled some random ingredients out.
"They're not your birth parents. They have no clue what a Siren even is." He shrugged as if it were no big deal, but I gaped at him, unsure of whether or not I should believe him.
"Daniel!" Viola's voice snapped from behind me. I couldn't bring myself to even turn around. I was going into shock.
"What?"
"She wasn't supposed to know yet!" She hissed. I began to see stars and next thing I knew, everything was black.
