After Stephany learned what Clara had done, she was furious. It was not yet 6 p.m., but she decided to leave work early. Thomas was like a son to her that she never had. And not only had Clara kept it from them that Thomas had almost killed himself, but it was also Clara's friends who had pushed him to do it. Poor Thomas. He's such an angel, which almost brought tears to Stephany's eyes. And at the worst moment of his life, they did not even know about it. Stephany's vision blurred from the tears. She stood in front of her car for a minute and calmed down. Then she drove home as fast as traffic would allow.
When she got home, she rushed to Clara's room.
"Mom... I" Clara tried to speak, but instead, she got a slap from her mother, making Clara burst into tears again. Stephany was angry, but her anger subsided when she saw that her child was crying. Stephany sat down next to Clara and took a picture of the table. She looked at the photo and began to cry as well.
"How could you do this to poor Thomas. He was like a brother to you, yet you bullied him like that." Tears again clouded Stephany's vision. It was not Clara who had bullied him, but Clara did not deny it. She bore as much guilt as Jake did with Mark. If she had helped Sandra, they probably would have stopped bullying him. "Where did it all go wrong. No wonder Thomas ignored us when we passed him outside the store. I knew something was wrong. Even if he was wearing headphones, he saw us."
Stephany now remembered the first time Thomas and Clara met. They were both about six years old. Thomas was a timid boy. He hid behind his mother when they first met. Clara took the initiative and asked him if he wanted to be her boyfriend. Thomas did not answer but began to blush. Clara took him by the hand and pulled him to play. From that day on, they were inseparable. Soon Thomas was no longer shy in front of Stephany and Mark. One day when Clara fell off her bike, Thomas began to cry. Although Clara was not hurt, Thomas was apprehensive about her. He rushed to Stephany and called her mother. She was so happy that she almost cried. Unfortunately, after learning that he had not he could not awaken, he rarely stopped by. He was no longer the same young man who cried at minor accidents. He had matured. She and her husband had their suspicions. They knew that parents sometimes treat children differently when they are not awake and sometimes even mistreat them. He remained calm whenever they tried to question him and said everything was fine. Neither Stephany nor her husband could do anything about it without evidence or specific knowledge.
'You stupid boy, we would have adopted you.'
Stephany calmed down and went downstairs. She boiled water and made coffee for herself and her husband. Stephany was sorrowful and angry. She decided to go to Thomas' house herself. She must check on him. Stephany must explain to Thomas that he can live a fulfilled life even without magic and that he can always rely on her. And she will also take her husband to the school to talk to the principal and teachers.
'How dare they pretend that nothing happened!'
"Are you... are you all right?" Mark was worried about Thomas, too, but now his main concern is for his wife. She's here, shaking with fear.
"I am fine. Hey Mark. Can we go see if Thomas is okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, we can go if you want. I was planning on going either way. Poor kid." Mark took a sip of his coffee.
"Thank you. Can you believe this girl?" She stared at the table. She had very mixed feelings. She was angry at Clara, but at the same time, she was struck by how pathetic she looked right now.
"Do you think Thomas will forgive her?" asked Mark, but he thought to himself, "Would I forgive if this happened to me? "It will take some time, I suppose."
They finished their coffee and decided to go straight to Thomas' house.
__________________________________________
Meanwhile, Thomas was still sulking about his embarrassing behavior in front of Johnson and Olivia. He walked in circles. Then Thomas decided to calm down, so he took his cell phone out of his pocket and watched funny animal videos.
[You can now update the system]
'Huh?'
[Does the host want to update the system] Another message is displayed.
'Why do you ask? You have always updated without permission.'
[This update is different. It no longer takes just a few minutes as it used to. Now it updates for 24 hours when the system is not active].
'What the... Sure, go ahead.'
[You will update the system. count down 23:59]
"Well, that was strange."
At the same time, Thomas heard someone unlocking the doors. He assumed it was probably Monica. However, she rarely comes home that early. He went to check it out. The doors opened, and first, his father came in. He stopped and stared at Thomas' ears as he entered the house.
"Did not anyone teach you that it's rude to stare? Do you want me to teach you?" Thomas stared at his father. Thomas's tail thrashed back and forth.
"You are a mutant?" Thomas' father was so shocked that he continued to stare even after Thomas warned him. Thomas walked up to him and slapped him across the face. However, this time, he held back, and his father was not hurt, but that does not mean it did not hurt. After the slap, he fell straight to the ground.
"What's wrong with you, Thomas? He just got back from the hospital! Are you crazy?" She rushed to her husband after seeing his swollen face and helped him get up. She was not that surprised when she saw that he had mutated. She already knew that Thomas must have awakened during his time in the hospital. How else could he have shown such strength after his release from the hospital?
Thomas just smirked and walked over to his mother. Instinctively, she tried to hide her face, but Thomas did not hit her. He hugged her warmly and whispered.
"Is not that what you wanted, mommy? Did not you want to raise a powerful awakener? You always believed, Arthur and Monica, that you could treat the weaker ones like scum. And you know what? In my eyes, you are all scum!"
Behind her stood Arthur, who was startled. In his eyes, Thomas was an evil monster who wanted to harm him and his family. Five years after Thomas lost his chance to awaken, his mother thought he was more substantial than Thomas so that he could use him as a punching bag. That is why Arthur was always allowed to beat him in the name of training. However, Monica wanted nothing to do with Thomas' bullying, she thought it was inhumane, but her mother found an excuse and said it was for Thomas' benefit, that was his training for the future.
"Who would have thought that I would reverse our roles one day?"
While Thomas hugged her, he released his dark energy, which soon became miasma. As a result, no one in the house could breathe. They rushed out of the house. Thomas was pleased with their reaction. He thought it was funny how his brother almost peed his pants in fear. He probably would not bully them today, but he wanted to vent his anger because of his embarrassing behavior in front of Olivia.
"Can you stop being so childish, Thomas?" his mother yelled. She realized her fault and regretted it. Powerful enough to easily overpower a hunter like his father, who was a silver-ranked mage. Now that he was fully mutated, his body must be even more powerful.
"I am just kidding around. Come on in. I will not bite," Thomas said. "Probably."
A few minutes after the family came into the house and changed clothes, Thomas went to his room to relax. He put on his headphones and listened to music. His mother decided to make dinner, and his father sat on the couch, turned on the TV, and massaged his swollen face. Arthur did not want to come in sight of Thomas accidentally, so he ran straight to his room and locked the door. A few minutes later, they heard a loud knock on the door.
"Are we having guests?" mother asked.
"Not that I know of," answered Father. "I am coming already. Stop knocking!"
Father got up from the couch and went straight to the door. After unlocking the door, he saw Mark and Stephany Millers. He had not expected that. 'Did we have dinner plans with Millers and forget about it?'
"Hey, hey, come on in," Dad smiled. He decided to let them in and plan dinner afterward. He could send Thomas to the shop to do some shopping...
'Nope. Change of plans, I'll send Arthur.'
"Hey, George? What the hell happened to your face? An accident at work?" Mark was surprised to see George with a swollen face.
Stephany squeezed Mark's hand.
"That's rude, Mark! Hey George, Hi Andrea," she smiled and waved to Thomas' mother.