The Four Protectors

Thirty Nine

1st Person POV

I didn't know how to feel about Annabelle Clayton. There was rage of course, cold simmering rage, that made me want to throttle her and leave her body out for crows to pick on. She'd betrayed me, destroyed such an important part of me and contributed to a cause that had killed so many.

But there was also a part of me that knew that she was just a teenage girl, staring at her brother with heartbreaking guilt and tears in her eyes. She'd lost her life too, just like the rest of us.

And it was the only thing that had me keeping my clenched fists close to my side.

"Why are you here," Theo asked.

Annabelle flinched at the coldness in her brother's voice but she replied a beat later.

"I'm on the run. They'll put me in jail if they find me. They know I helped the operation willingly before they injected me," Annabelle said desperately.

"And you think we're going to hide you," Theo snapped.

"I have nowhere else to go. You're my brother. Surely you can help me," she pleaded.

Theo shot up from the couch then, beyond livid. Veins stood out prominently on the side of his neck as he clenched and unclenched his fists. Annabelle curled into herself like she could melt into the couch.

A part of me rejoiced as he lashed out at her with rage that I felt deep in my bones.

"Seriously? Now you remember the fact that I'm your brother because you have no one else to cover your sorry ass. You got mom and dad killed. I've lost everything thanks to you. Why the hell would I protect you now," he screamed.

Annabelle had tears streaming down her face as she stood up and held out her hands pleadingly. He wasn't finished yelling though, not by a long shot.

"There's nothing you can do, nothing you can say that can fix this. You've ruined my life, and ruined so many others, and I hope the guilt of that tears you to shreds for the rest of your life so you can feel a fraction of the pain you've put me through," he finished lowly.

He was breathing hard, panting like he'd run a race. Annabelle's whole frame was shaking as she sobbed in earnest.

"I didn't know what I was doing Theo. They said they could make me stronger, faster, better and I thought that's all they were really trying to do, like steroids or something. I didn't know it would turn us human I swear," she begged.

He took a careful step toward her and there was nothing but pure malice in his face.

"You think being human now is the worst part? That drug made me, made us go insane. We took innocent lives Annabelle," he said slowly.

She hurriedly stepped back to put some space between them.

"It was the drugs Theo. Those deaths aren't on us," she said rapidly, shaking her head. 

I'd said those words to myself plenty of times, whispered it to Maia as she lay shaking on the couch after a dreadful nightmare. It sounded different when Annabelle said those words though, callous and insensitive. Surely she felt something for the lives she'd taken, some guilt, some remorse.

"So you feel nothing," Theo asked disbelievingly.

"We need to move past it," she replied firmly, her fire slowly returning to her.