After our walk, we went to dinner then went to our hotel rooms. It took a long time for me to convince Slash to come into the room for some reason. But he came in at the end. In the morning, Scott and Morgan knocked just as I got done braiding my hair. I opened the door. "Come on in," I said. They came in and sat on the bed.
"So we're going to talk to mom?" Morgan asked.
"Yes," I replied. "Sorry about how you found out though." I wasn't but they were my brothers and I had to be nice.
Scott scowled. "Vincent texted us. Texted! What kind of person gives another person life-changing news through a text?"
"My boyfriend and your friend." I waited for him to say something. He remained quiet. "Okay. So when I talked to her and Aunt Leetha yesterday things got a little heated." A lot heated but they didn't need to know that. Mom will understand what I meant when I apologize.
"You're going to apologize," Morgan said.
My mouth twitched. "Yes. But I'm going to be calling Mom's phone this time so Aunt Leetha doesn't get a chance to piss me off." They nodded and I called her.
"Hello?" She said.
"Hey, Mom. It's Sapphire, Scott, and Morgan," I said.
Silence then, "You're all there?"
"Yes," Scott said.
"Yes," Morgan said.
"Oh!"
"Mom, I just want to apologize for how I reacted yesterday. When I had the chance to cool down I realized that, since Aunt Leetha thought I was dead, you thought I was dead too. So I'm sorry," I said.
"It's okay, Sapphire. The authorities told us they didn't find you so we thought your father had fed you to those wretched creatures of his."
Slash growled. "He did," I said as I quickly started petting Slash so he'd calm down. "Mom, not all of his creations are evil. I have one of his monsters here and he's so nice. He's a Slasher so I call him Slash. He's the king of all Slashers so that means we have all of them on our side." I paused. "And we figured out all of Dad's monsters are programmed to kill people who are older."
"How much older?"
"Twenty and up," Morgan said.
"But Scott will be twenty next year!"
"True, But I'll be fine," Scott said soothingly.
"How?" She demanded.
"No one in the Dark Savesr will let anything happen to me."
I scowled at him. I was pretty sure I was better at shooting a gun than the others. Vin wanted to challenge me but I refused because I didn't want to shoot the gun unless I had to.
"Dark Savers?" She asked confused.
"Didn't Aunt Leetha tell you?" I asked. I told her about Dark Savers.
"Tell me what?"
"Dark Savers is a monster hunting team. Scott, Morgan, and I are all members."
"You're hunting your father's creatures?"
"Yes."
"Are you killing them?"
"Only the evil ones."
I heard her sigh. "The Slashers might not be evil but all the others are."
"No. A Puffer isn't," Morgan said.
"Oh, alright. A Puffer's and Slashers then."
"Mom, I can tell when a monster is evil. I'll let the others kill those. I won't let them kill the ones who aren't," I said firmly.
"Oh, Sapphire." A pause. "Your father told me once that you'd be a stubborn young woman and it seems like he was right."
Not what I wanted to hear. "Maybe." I thought for a minute. "Does Dad know you survived?"
Silence. "Yes," she said softly.
"Does he know where you are?"
"Possibly. I don't think he actually wanted me dead. Just injured enough that I wouldn't tell people what he's done."
"I don't get it," Morgan said. "From what Sapphire told us, you just went to the barn to get him for dinner."
"I did." A pause. "The only reason he was out there in the first place is because we had argued that morning about his creations. I told him that people were dying because of the monsters he was creating and he needed to stop. He said that this world is boring and it needs something new. Something that would make it more exciting. When I asked him if he cared that he was killing people he said, 'The monsters need to eat.' I told him he could have them eat animals but he called the idea stupid. He was about to leave the room when I yelled, 'If you don't stop creating these things then I'll tell everyone!'
"He came over to me and slapped me across the face. Hard. He said, "If you do, you'll never see Sapphire again." Then he left the room." I heard her sniffle. "I was still awake when he cut Morgan out of my stomach. But I had lost too much blood and couldn't do anything. When the police told me they couldn't find Sapphire or the baby I had ripped out of me, I freaked out because he had done what he told me he would do. He took you from me. Freaking out made tore some of my stitches and the doctors knocked me out so they could work on me without my flailing about. When I woke up again your Aunt Leetha was there and we both cried for the ones we lost. Or the ones we thought we lost. I wasn't sure if you were dead or not. Leetha told me you probably were. Sapphire if your father didn't take you from the house then who did? What happened to you?"
"Mrs. O'Reilly came and got me from my room. I told her that a monster had killed you but she told me they didn't exist. I shouldn't have thought she would believe me but you told me we were her only friends which isn't true. She hated us. Anyway, she took me to the Slade Orphanage. I was there for eleven years then I ran away a few weeks ago." Miss Slade hadn't even tried to find me. "I wanted a normal life without monsters but…" I sighed and smiled at Slash. "I couldn't stay away."
"I see."
"I'm determined to take Dad down too."
"Okay."
"Bet Mrs. O'Reilly wishes she believed you," Scott said.
I grinned. "Me too." Then I told Mom everything from running away until now.
"Oh." A pause. "Morgan, what happened to you?"
"Dad must have known where Scott lived because he dropped me off in a basket on his doorstep," Morgan said. "I've lived with him since."
"You raised him, Scott?"
"Me and my adoptive parents," Scott said. "I was only eight."
Silence then "Would you three be willing to meet me at two this afternoon at the Ray Cafe?"
"Yes!" We chorused.
She laughed. "Then I'll see you later."
"Bye," we all said together and hung up.
"I'll finally get to meet her," Morgan said.
I nodded. "You'll love her just as she'll love you." I stood and saw something black on the lampshade. Hmm. "Well, we have some time to kill and I'll be doing that by researching." I snatched it and dropped it to the ground. Then stepped on it. My Dad somehow placed a bug in here. No wonder Slash wouldn't come in last night.
Scott frowned. "What are you going to be researching about?"
I grinned. "The Hemlock family." And then I'm going to call up everyone and tell them what I have in mind for this afternoon, I added silently. I went to my laptop and the other two left. I was excited to see Mom too but I knew this afternoon wasn't going to go the way she was planning it to.