Morrigan walked forward, her thin arms crossed and chin held high as if she were challenging the presence of the world around her. Her blue ball gown had been torn short. Victor trailed behind her, seemingly held by invisible shackles connected to her.

“Morrigan, I need to go back and see Camila. I’ll grab us all a change of clothes, too.” Elizabeth’s voice had a slight tremor, but her face held firm.

“No,” Morrigan replied curtly.

Elizabeth froze, surprised. “I told you, I’m going back to see her no matter what.”

“Are you going to become an even bigger liability to me? You’ve already killed Alyssa. How much more do you expect from me!” Morrigan shouted, her head whipping around as her cold steel eyes bore into her.

Elizabeth’s lips parted, her shoulders drooping. She bit down on her lower lip and look toward the ground, swallowing whatever words were on the tip of her tongue.

“Let the woman see her sister,” Victor interjected, glaring at Morrigan. He clearly didn’t view her as a threat. “The officers will be investigating the Song family if anything. How you got them to play along is beyond me, but their last concern is some broke ordinary.”

Morrigan eyes burned blue flames as she walked up to Victor, staring up at his eyes.

“You can’t do anything to me,” he smirked, tilting his chin up. “I’m your only connection to General Kristiansen now that you’ve killed beloved Alyssa Song.”

Morrigan stared at him for a moment longer before laughing, turning back around. “And I wouldn’t hesitate to kill beloved Josephine Meyer if it comes to it.”

Victor tensed behind her, clenching his jaw. Elizabeth shot daggers at him.

“I don’t need you to get involved, and you sure as hell shouldn’t be questioning Morrigan.”

The walk to Elizabeth’s town was tense and thick, and Morrigan seemed to crackle with malevolence until they passed through a small field. Morrigan’s demeanor softened as she stared at small dandelions sprouting on the ground, and her gaze lingered on Elizabeth.

“Go say bye to Camila. If anything is out of the ordinary though, you come back here. Pick up some clothes for us too, alright?” Morrigan’s voice was softer and that childish demeanor almost seemed to return to her exhausted and sinking eyes.

[Y ou su re y ou ca n rel y o n he r?]

You’re on my case now, too, Mom?

[I ne ed to k eep y ou saf e.]

“I promise,” Elizabeth confidently replied. “I’ll be back with clothes for all of us. I won’t head in if there are any officers”

Victor laughed, shaking his head as he looked down at the ground. “There won’t be officers. You think they’d have a profile on someone like you?”

Elizabeth ignored his taunting words and ran down to her house. She was still wearing the short gold sequin gown, but she didn’t plan to stay long.

She knocked on the door, a rhythmic pattern that only Camila would recognize. She could hear the little pattering footsteps getting louder as the doorknob clicked.

“Lizzy!” Camila cheered, running up to Elizabeth and hugging her legs.

Elizabeth gave a big smile and picked up Camila, twirling her around before giving her a

hug. “Oh, my little Camila,” Elizabeth cooed, pinching Camila’s cheek.

“Mommy and daddy are home. They want to know where you’ve been,” Camila said, her high-pitched voice innocent and unknowing.

“Keep it a secret that I was here, okay? I’m going to be in and out. But, I wanted to say goodbye to you Camila. Be a good girl when I’m gone, okay?”

Camila looked at her with hazy eyes. “Gone where?”

Suddenly, a dark figure slunk out from the shadows, the whites of their eyes seeming to glow in the darkness. They slowly entered into the light, her snow-white skin and high cheekbones made her look ghostly as she emerged.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Answer her question, Elizabeth. Where were you?”

Elizabeth’s lips trembled with raw fear and hesitancy at the sight of her. She covered Camila’s ears and held her tightly against her bosom. “It’s none of your fucking business.” I am strong.

The woman scoffed, shaking her head as she closed the gap. She stood in front of Elizabeth before her hand made thunder across Elizabeth’s face. Elizabeth cried out and held Camila tightly as she fell to the ground. She held Camila tighly against her chest, gasping as she was curled up in a ball.

“Camila, go into your room and lock the door,” Elizabeth whispered, gently setting her down. Camila’s deep brown eyes glittered with big tears like snow globes.

“You heard her, Camila. Go to your room.” The women stood over Elizabeth, arms crossed as the light create long, outstretched shadows across her face.

Camila slowly stumbled away, wiping her face as her little arms reached up for the doorknob to her room.

“Look at that cheap dress you’re wearing. There you go again, dressing like a slut,” her foot kicked Elizabeth over. “I didn’t raise you to walk outside like a prostitute with your tits and ass out, you vile whore.”

Elizabeth laughed, slowly getting up. “Is this how you treat your daughter when she’s been missing? You’re a disaster of a mother.”

“I’m not your mother. I’m Camila’s mother.”

“Yeah. You can never be my real mother, no matter how much you obsesses over her.” Elizabeth brushed her hair back and loomed over the woman. She finally saw her father watching from the corner of the other room. “Are you seriously going to let this witch of a woman treat your child like this?”

Her dad averted his gaze. “Don’t talk about her. Your stepmom is your real mom.”

Elizabeth’s expression was crazed as she buried her face in her hands before brushing back her hair. “You’re kidding me, she’s never treated me like her daughter! Be careful, if you slap me like that again you won’t be able to take out the trash.” Elizabeth hysterically laughed, stumbling backwards as the laughs rolled through, seismic. “That’s all I am to you, right? Just a trashcan for you to dispose your fucked up self. Welcome home, me!”

Elizabeth’s stepmom shoved Elizabeth onto the ground, kicking her stomach over and over and over until they were both breathless. Elizabeth continued laughing, spitting blood and saliva at her mother’s face.

“How dare you come back here. Are you trying to get us all killed! We’ve heard the Song news report before your stupid friends could end it! Do you know how hard I’ve worked to give you a good life? Just for you to rebel against the government and destroy it for all of us. That’s all you ever do,” her mother screamed, short and furious.

Elizabeth’s teary eyes widened. The news? Before it was ended? Had all of their identities already been reported? The government hardly kept records on ordinary citizens, never bothering with crime. There was no way they could have moved this fast.

“I only came to see Camila, so get out of my fucking way,” Elizabeth stood up, bruised and battered. She stumbled toward her room, grabbing some extra clothes for Morrigan and Victor. She walked into the bathroom and stared at her face. Pathetic—no. She was strong. She didn’t need anyone to protect her. She put on oversized, comfortable clothing to hide her wounds from Morrigan.

She walked out, holding her gold sequin dress in hand. She flung it at her step mother, whipping it at her face. “Go sell that for a buck, and take Camila out somewhere nice.” She headed toward her father; he was a petite man filled with utmost turmoil and cowardace. “I hope my face haunts you forever and stops you from ever moving on. Try as hard as you want to replace my mom and me with Camila and this bitch, but you’ll never be able to.”

Before Elizabeth could slam the door on her way out, Camila ran out of her room, screaming. “Lizzy, please, don’t go!” She cried and wept, clinging onto Elizabeth’s long tan legs. “Mommy doesn’t mean it.”

Elizabeth bent down and tugged on Camila’s ears, pressing small kisses on her forehead. “I’ll always be back for you, Camila. You’re all grown up already, so don’t cry.”

Standing up, she gently shut the door as she left, not wanting to show her anger in front of Camila. She quickly met up with Morrigan and Victor again, tugging her sleeves down around her fists.

“Here’s a change of clothes for both of you guys,” Elizabeth muttered, shuffling through the bag to hand the sets to both of them.

“Are you all right? Your eyes are red,” Morrigan reached for Elizabeth’s hand and jolted, as if she could feel Elizabeth’s pain. “Are you okay? What happened?” Her face seemed to fill with concern, and she slid Elizabeth’s sleeves up and held her arm, healing her.

“It’s from last night. Don’t worry about it.” Her face was flushed as Morrigan healed her bruises and cuts from her mother’s beating.

Victor made a gagging sound as he glanced at the two of them. “Enough of this sappiness, where am I supposed to change?” He held up the fresh set of clothes Elizabeth handed him.

Morrigan looked up at him before scratching the back of her neck. “Umm…”