Running from Monsters (The Broken Trilogy Book 2)

Chapter Eleven

 "I can't believe this happened." Andie sat on the couch with her face in her hands. Ethan, Jay, Randell, and Richard, the man who owned the farmhouse, sat with her. They were all shocked and stunned by what had happened as nothing like it had happened before. When a mystic comes into their powers, they transform into their animal form. Then they shift back after a few hours and they can go back and forth as they wish. Most mystics don't transform much anymore unless they're a traditionalist. Then they use their animal form more than the crystals when it comes to hunting.

But this... getting stuck halfway between forms. Ethan had no idea what caused it or how to fix it. And after a few hours, she still hadn't changed back so they could only assume it was permanent.

After Mia cried it out a little, she sent Ethan away and hasn't left the guest room since. He didn't blame her. Her entire body has been morphed into some strange half-animal form.

"We need to get her back to the base. Run some tests and figure out what went wrong," Ethan suggested. He didn't know how much good it would do. Their doctors weren't equipped to handle something like this. They would need to get a specialist. Someone who has studied the different kinds of mystics and knows the ins and outs of their anatomy.

"She doesn't want to go back," Jay said, speaking for the first time in hours. "She ran away from you guys because she was terrified of your world. Now, look at what happened. We're lucky if she ever comes out of that room!"

"We don't have much of a choice," Ethan said. "She can't just run around the real world now without raising suspicion on why she looks the way she does. She has to come back so we can fix it."

They were all up for hours last night after it happened and barely got any sleep before coming back together that morning and they'd been arguing ever since on how to handle this. Ethan and Andie were in favor of bringing her back to the base. Jay was insistent on letting her go her own way, which was weird to Ethan, considering he was the one who called them. Randell didn't have much to say and Ethan was grateful because he didn't really have a say in the matter anyway. And Richard didn't understand much of what was going on but asked to sit in since it was his house. Ethan agreed because being rude to the guy who made the hunter's weapons didn't sound like a wise choice.

"What if we talk to Mia about what she wants," Richard said. Everyone's heads snapped in his direction as no one really expected his input. "You want her to go back with you-" he pointed at Ethan and Andie on the couch. "And you want her to stay away-" he gestured to Jay standing in the doorway to the living room. "But the only real opinion that matters here is hers. So, why don't we ask her what she wants to do?"

"She traumatized," Ethan said. "She probably doesn't know what she wants. We need to fix her." If she really wanted to leave, fine. He would let her. But seeing her reaction after she saw herself in the mirror, he knew she would want to find the solution. He just needed to find it for her.

There was a knock at the front door. Richard seemed surprised to hear it, but then again no one really stops by this place unless it's an emergency. He went to answer it and Ethan followed out of curiosity, but also because he felt the pull to see who it was.

Richard opened the door. Ethan couldn't see who it was past Richard's large frame, but he could see the person's hair. White blonde hair. Then the person spoke.

"Where's my daughter?"

***

Mia laid in bed and tried to put the argument she was hearing downstairs out of her mind. She didn't want to think about how she looked or how to fix it. Stay or go. Return or run. She just wanted to put this whole mess out of her head.

After an hour of hearing their muffled voices, they suddenly stopped. Silence. She was curious why then stopped, then she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Great, they were coming to talk to her.

She threw the comforter over her head and turned away from the door. She didn't want anyone to see her like this. She didn't want to look like this period.

There was no knock on the door. Whoever it was burst in then quickly closed it behind them.

"Go away," Mia said. She didn't care who it was. She wanted them to leave.

"When I pictured seeing you again, I didn't imagine it would be like this."

Mia couldn't place the voice. It wasn't anyone's she's ever heard before and yet it was familiar in some dark part of her memory. She slowly lowered the comforter only low enough so she could peek out and saw some strange woman standing by the door. Only she wasn't strange. She was so familiar, but Mia had only seen her in pictures.

After all this time she was finally here. And Mia couldn't help but find herself angry.

"I'm sorry it took me so long, Mia. I only wish I could explain my actions to your satisfaction." She walked over and sat down in the chair Ethan was sleeping in earlier.

"Get out," Mia said firmly. "I don't care what you have to say. Leave." She threw the blanket back over her head and waited to hear footsteps but there were none.

"I have a lot to explain, I know. But this time I'm actually going to talk and not wimp out."

"When did you wimp out before?" Mia couldn't believe she was engaging in conversation with the person who abandoned her.

"A few nights ago. I was supposed to be at that dinner with you and your dad, but I couldn't bring myself to come. It would've been too painful."

"Why? You seem perfectly fine not having me in your life." Mia couldn't help but snap. She didn't feel this angry at Samuel, but then again he was trying. He helped her at the Rutherford's by giving them to the location of the vampires. He saved her life at the massacre, he tried to talk her on New Year's Eve and gave her the money to leave which she desperately wanted. He may not be Father of the year and she still didn't think of him as one, but at least he appeared to care. This woman couldn't even be bothered to show up for anything.

"It wasn't that I didn't want you in my life. It was that you would've been safer if you weren't in it. And there's probably no way I can explain all of this to have you understand-"

"Try."

"What?"

Mia sat up and let the blanket fall off her face. She looked over at Lora with a look of pure apathy. "Try to explain it to me. You'll never know unless you try." Her tone came out bored, but she guessed that was better than getting angry and yelling at her. Then she would probably never know. And Mia desperately wanted to know.

"Okay, but this is a very long story that goes back and starts when I was about your age. Are you sure you want to hear everything? Because I know you want to escape this world, Mia. But once you know, you won't be able to."

Mia stared blankly at her mother. "I would like to know why you left me and abandoned me at the doorstep of a high school friend that you barely talked to. I can handle it."

Lora nodded. "Okay. It all started when I was about your age. When I found that crystal."