She woke up. She opened her eyes and realized that she wasn't dreaming and her family was gone. She turned to look at her environment. The room was big, bigger than hers back at home. It felt so uncomfortable. They were all kinds of stuffed animals and dolls in the room. It was almost like they were expecting her. Her aunt said she felt that she was coming ahead so maybe she was connected to her aunt in a way she couldn't understand. She didn't even want to understand. She didn't care. She noticed her phone was gone. There was nothing else to do. She turned on the TV on her room and there was nothing exciting to watch. This was probably because her mind was filled with so much thoughts that she couldn't understand. She just wanted to sleep in her house with her family after they had talked about how their various days went over dinner. That was gone and she was going to have to accept it and find a new way to move on. There was no way of contacting anybody from Southside now. Her aunt already took her phone and she doubted if she was going to give her back. She heard a knock and quickly wiped the tears. The door opened. She looked at who came in. A girl, they were probably the same age. She looked older though and she looked human. There was no sign of the wolf gene in her. She was either human or she was good at hiding it. A wolf would always know a wolf.
"Hey"
She said to Bethany and Bethany gave no reply. The girl sighed
"I am Brielle. My friends call me Brie. Mom said you're my cousin. I have never met any of my cousins from my mom's side before and she said you are pretty cool like her. It'll be nice to meet you"
Beth only stared at her like she didn't understand English. Brie looked back at her, embarrassed
"Oh, okay then. You probably don't want to talk yet. It's fine. Mom told me about your parents and siblings so I understand if you need space for a while but if you ever need anybody to talk to, I'm here. I could give you a tour around the house and maybe the city but that'll be when you're ready I'm not planning on rushing you into things just to get your mind off your parents. You should grieve. They were your family so I understand how you feel. Mom said we would need to go shopping for you to get you some clothes but you can have mine for the time"
Brie went in and on. She wasn't even bothered if Beth was listening and she certainly didn't seem to care whether she was going to reply or not. She kept talking
"You are a size eight. It should be easy for mom and I to get clothes without you leaving your comfort zone"
Her phone beeped and she brought it out
"Oh damn. I have to go. My teacher would be here any minute. You should get to meet the rest of the family though. I gave an elder brother and a dad. Obviously, durh. Breakfast is ready if you are hungry. Mom said you haven't had anything since yesterday morning. She never guesses wrong. You should have something to eat. Mom thinks you would probably have an ulcer before the week runs out and she might probably be right"
The doorbell rang
"That is definitely my teacher. I have to go now. I wouldn't be done until three. I would probably come check on you by then. Nice meeting you Beth"
She said as she turned and left the room. She was a little bit disappointed but she knew she wasn't expecting her to open up, at least not immediately. She had just lost her family. She wasn't even supposed to be here. She was going to live with some sort of guilt that she was the only one who survived instead of them. She was forced to stay with people she didn't know and that was a whole lot to take adjust to it. She was going to be there every step of the way. She was her family now and that was all she needed now, a family. Brie left. Bethany could hear her footsteps as she walked away. She wasn't ready to replace her family. She wasn't ready to move on. She got up from the bed and opened her bag. Her clothes were there, a few of them actually. Her family picture was there and her brother's sweatshirt, Harry. She looked at it and broke down in tears. How was she going to survive without him, without all of them? There was no possible way. Her life was over. She could as well jump from a cliff and end it all. She cried so much she didn't know when she slept off on the floor. Her aunt got back from work and went straight to her room. She already got her a new phone and a new number and she had all their contacts saved in it. She knocked gently and got no reply so she went in. She saw Bethany on the floor. Poor child, she must have cried herself to sleep. She sighed with a heavy heart. There was. I possible way to tell her the truth, not yet. She was going to wait a while before she did tell her the truth about everything but now, she just needed her to get better first. Brie found her mom, staring at Beth. She knew her mom did love her like she was her child
"She would be fine right? "
Brie asked her mom and her mom looked at her. She kissed her head
"I hope so my little runner"
"She just needs time Mom. She would eventually open up to somebody. She would talk to somebody about it. She just needs time to heal"
"They are done wounds that time can not heal. They stay with you forever and hurt like it just happened to you. It would always be a fresh memory for her, never fading"
"Then let us hope she finds her way back to the people that care about Her. Let's hope she finds her way to us"
"That is the only thing we can do. We can only hope"
Her mom said back. She walked into the room. She touched Bethany and she woke up. She blinked twice
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause any inconvenience"
"You did Beth. I just think the bed would be more comfortable"
Beth looked down. This woman looked so much like her mother. It was good and bad at the same time. It was comforting and heart breaking at the same time. She would have to see this woman and remember that she had lost her Mom. There was absolutely nothing she could do to bring her back, to bring any if them back.
"Beth?"
Emily called her attention
"I am sorry, I got carried away"
"You really do apologize a lot" Brie said
Her Mom smiled
"So I got you this now. I know every teenager can't do without a smart phone so I got you one since we would have to get rid of the other one. I transferred all your pictures and videos to this one but got you a new number. I have all our numbers saved on it"
Emily said. Beth looked at it with indifference and murmured a thank you
"Brie, can you leave us for a moment and go grab the clothes I got her from my car"
"Yes Mom"
She said as she stood up from the bed and went out
"You don't seem to pleased with the phone. You don't like the apple brand?"
"Its not that. I'm grateful for it. I just have a question or maybe two"
"Go ahead"
"How did you know I was coming? This room. It feels like it was prepared in advance. You knew I was coming here. To an extent, you knew about their death. You had an insight on what was going to happen. You knew that they were going to die. How did you know?"
"Are you sure you want an answer to that question right now?"
Beth was about to say yes but she took another thought at the question. Sad she ready to know? The less she knew, the less she had to move on from. Either ways, how long was she planning on staying in the dark? The earlier, the better. Wasn't that what they said? She couldn't stay in the dark for so long anymore. She had to know
"I need to know. It is going to help me understand why all this had to happen"
"Well, of you insist. Yesterday, your mom called me. She said Cyrus came to your house and told her that you needed to me killed before you turn eighteen"
"Killed? Why? I rarely cause any trouble in the pack"
"It is not because of who you are but because of what you are. You transformed by age nine. That is the youngest age anybody has ever transformed. You broke my record. You have super speed which nobody has. You have super strength which nobody has. You can tell when someone is lying. You are what he's not and when he can't control something, he eliminates them. He came to your house to warm your father to drug you and put you in an eternal sleep, like they asked of my parents. Your mom said she wasn't going to do that. She would rather let you come stay with me so she called me. She said she was going to bring you on the night of your birthday so I had the room prepared in advance. She was supposed to bring you here and act like you died. She was supposed to come here and check on you every six months. That was what we agreed on. She knew we were bonded one way. She knew you and I had a special connection but there was no way of saying how. I was the only person she trusted to keep you. I was going to take you in and treat you like you were my own. I guess that was the plan until I felt this pang of pain in my chest. I called my kids and my husband and they said they were all fine. I figured that it had to be you or my sister. Then my husband told me to follow my instincts. I did and I found you, laying on the ground, out cold. You must have slipped or something. I recognized you immediately I saw you. What happened to your parents happened…"
"Because of me. It happened because they were protecting me"
"The last thing you should do is blame yourself. I wouldn't let you do that. You can't possibly blame yourself for what happened. They are your family. They are going to protect you no matter what. You didn't ask them to and you definitely didn't kill them. Cyrus did. There's nothing absolutely wrong in being extra ordinarily gifted. He's just stupid. Trying to wipe out people with special abilities is something that everybody should kick against but with Cyrus as ruler, nobody would dare oppose him. He would kill them all and nobody would do anything about it. That's what happened to your parents and that's how I know you were coming ahead of time because I was expecting you. Your mom told me and your dad agreed to it. They were going to tell you and your brothers last night before bringing you here by midnight but I guess they were outsmarted and they didn't get to keep you safe and keep themselves alive but none of it is your fault!"