> There are old stories that suggest the Necromancer befriended the Jaan. The one he was closest to was one of the shadow-manipulating cats.

>

> - Of Myth and Legend, The Jaan.

Elena knew that hoping for any different from her father was foolish, but when she strode those steps to her home, it made sense to hope. They called the police, and let them know she went missing. She never saw a single poster, but maybe she never saw them. When her father hit her, again and again in the living room, her brother played with his drawings, and her mother prepared dinner. They couldn’t look at the situation happening right beside them.

“Do you know what the church thought?” She wrapped her arms over her head and curled into a ball. “They wondered if we were good parents. Why would you run away otherwise? Huh?” Each word he yelled made her more certain than the last. Her family was pathetic. “You ungrateful bitch, how dare you come back here.”

Elena felt within herself, past the physical pain, and into the emotional scars she carried. These words spoken by a madman, used to fill her with fear and uncertainty. Elena once regretted her existence, but now she cherished it. She hugged her knees and took the hits. She thought back to meeting Erasmus, the Royal Tree, and seeing the band play. It felt weird, and good to know that people exist in a lot of ways she didn’t know about, and William walked by her side for it all. He didn’t want her to go to the stage, because he knew something was wrong, and she left him there.

Her father’s words didn’t reach her anymore. His reasons seemed pointless and insignificant. She wasn’t ungrateful, she loved her family as much as she could, but being shunned had hurt her. Being shown a world beyond what she knew had freed her. She didn’t run away from her family, she ran away from a cage and found something to be grateful for, she’d find him and apologize. This place was no longer her home.

Elena lets go of her legs, and twists to get up. “You ran away for attention.” As she was about to stand, he kicked her in her side, “how dare you not know your place.” She tumbled to her side and rose again. Even as he hit her, and continued screaming, she kept standing. Her dress, still nothing more than a secondhand, oversized thing, hung upon her more comfortably. Her eyes met her fathers rage induced face, and she felt pity.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“You want to feel special, don’t you?”

“What did you say to me?” He looked ready to hit her again, but she asked a second time.

“Why do you want to feel special? You’re stressed and hurt, but I am not your punching bag.” Elena watched as her father balled his fists, ready to strike, but she continued. “I am going out to find the Necromancer. You may not have noticed, but he is alive.”

“You’re not going anywhere, you’re staying right here at home with your family.” He turned, ready to lock the doors, but froze at Elena’s next words.

“This hasn’t been my home in years. You all hate me and think I’m a sinner. Just let me go.”

Her father turned, anger reignited in his eyes, “you are my daughter! My word is law, and if I say you’re not going, then you will not go.”

Elena didn’t back down, flinch, or turn. She spoke, “you are not my father. You haven’t been for a long time.”

Something inside her father seemed to shift, a sudden realization. His anger melted, and instead of confusion, he seemed genuinely upset. He looked at his hands, as if noticing their weight for the first time. Elena felt inside her chest, and while it burned hot and angry, she willed it down. This anger didn’t fit her, it felt uncomfortable and unreasonable. As she pushed it down, she saw her father wilt further, as if with each push of her own heart, his wilted further.

Elena remembered something William had said, “You’re a rare kind of person, Elena. You’re the kind of person that can care, even when it doesn’t make sense.”

She reached for the door. He didn’t stop her. A part of her wanted to console her father, to let him know it’d be okay, but she didn’t want to. He needed to understand that he didn’t own her, that he couldn’t hurt her. She turned the knob and exited her former home. She didn’t hear her mother or brother call out to her, and it didn’t matter anymore. They weren’t family, and would never truly be people she could fall family.

Once the door closed behind her, she looked out over the tiny part of the city she could see. She took a breath and saw for the first time how small it truly was. She felt at her heart. Each heartbeat resounded against her palm, letting her know that she was alive. “I guess I’m not dead yet.”

She turned and followed the steps down to the Deuda, where she hoped she’d find William. It didn’t take long for a pure black cat to run up and join her.