Alethea
My breath catches in my throat as my eyes widen in shock. I don’t know how to feel-should I be happy that the woman who’s cared for me all these years is my mother? Or should I be angry that she’s kept this secret the entire time? How am I supposed to reconcile this?
I turn to her, with a trembling voice. “You’re joking, right? You said you didn’t know anything about me.” I shake my head in confusion
Selena looks like she wants to say something, but then she closes her mouth again.
I take a step closer, my heart pounding. “You had three years to tell me, Selena. ‘Three years.’ Why didn’t you? Why now?”
She became teary but I didn’t care. I need answers.
“Do you have any idea what it’s been like not knowing who I am? The nights I’ve stayed awake wondering why my parents didn’t want me. And now, you’re telling me you’re my mother?”
She wipes at her tears, her voice soft but firm. “I didn’t tell you because I was trying to protect you, Ally. From the moment you were born, your life was in danger. If anyone knew who you truly were, they would have come for you. I couldn’t let that happen.”
“Protect me?” I repeat, my voice rising. “By lying to me? By keeping me in the dark? Do you have any idea how it feels to live with nothing but questions and no answers?”
“I thought it was the best way to keep you safe,” she says, her voice breaking. “You don’t understand the kind of enemies we have, Ally. You’re more important than you realize.”
Her words only make me angrier. “If I’m so important, then why did you let me suffer? Why didn’t you tell me the truth so I could understand?”
Selena takes a deep breath, her hands trembling as she reaches for me. “Because I wasn’t sure if you were ready to handle the truth. And because… I was afraid you’d hate me for leaving you in the first place.”
I flinch at her words, the anger inside me colliding with a sudden wave of sadness. Hate her? No. But forgiving her-trusting her again-that feels like a mountain I’m not sure I can climb.
I take a step back, my mind spinning. “I don’t know what to believe anymore,” I whisper, my voice barely audible. “I don’t even know who I am.”
“You’re my daughter,” she says, her voice trembling. “And whether you believe it or not, I love you more than anything in this world.”
Before I can respond, a sharp, searing pain pierces through my skull. I clutch my head with both hands as the room tilts. It’s as if someone is inside my mind, ringing a bell.
“Selena!” I scream, in panic. “Make it stop!”
She’s at my side in an instant, her face pale. “Ally, breathe! Just breathe!” she says with fear in her voice
Amelia rushes to my other side, gripping my arm tightly. “What’s happening to her? Selena, do something!”
“It’s her memories,” Selena says, her voice urgent. “They’re fighting their way back, but it’s too much at once.”
The pain intensifies, making me groan loudly as I squeeze my eyes shut. Flashes of images, sounds, and faces flicker through my mind. A voice echoes louder than the rest: “Leave, or I’ll kill you.”
“Maya…” I whisper, the name slipping from my lips like a forbidden secret.
Selena freezes, her face a mask of shock. “What did you just say?”
I open my eyes, tears streaming down my face. “Maya,” I repeat, my voice trembling. “She threatened me. She… she made me run.”
The pounding in my head returns with a vengeance, and I scream, clutching at my temples.
“Selena, help her!” Amelia yells, her panic rising.
Selena snaps out of her daze. Without a word, she rushes out of the living room. Moments later, she returns, clutching a small vial tightly in her hand.
The pain in my head is so sharp, so consuming, that I don’t have the energy to question her. She kneels beside me and tilts my head back.
I blink up at her, my vision blurring slightly from the pain. She’s looking at me. Right now, she feels more like a stranger than the woman who’s cared for me all these years.
“What is this Selena?” I managed to croak.
“Just take this,” she says in a rush. “It’ll help with the headache.”
She notices my hesitation, and her grip on the vial tightens. “Please, Ally,” she urges, her voice breaking slightly. “You have to trust me.”
Trust her? After everything that’s just come to light, the relentless pounding in my head steals my ability to argue.
Another wave of agony crashes over me, making me groan and clutch my temples. I can’t fight this. With no other choice, I part my lips, and Selena seizes the moment. She tips the vial carefully into my mouth.
“What was that?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
“It’s… something to calm your mind,” she says carefully, but her words feel vague.
The vial Selena gave me leaves a bitter-sweet taste in my mouth, and I can’t help but wonder what it was.
Before I can register what’s up ask. My legs weaken, and I clutch at Selena for support as she helps me to the couch.
How did everything spiral out of control so fast? One moment, I was dressed for dinner, ready to explore what Xavier truly wanted from me.
Now with the fact that the man who claims to care for me arranged for me to be his breeder. The thought alone makes me sick.
A flash of an image of my head being pulled into a river-flickers in my mind. It’s cold, dark, and suffocating. I clutch my head in desperation, trying to block out the memory.
Through the fog, Declan bursts into the living room, his wide eyes filled with fear.
“Mummy! Are you okay? What happened to my mummy? Please, mummy, be fine!”
His voice cracks and my heart aches at the sight of him so scared. In my weakened state, I force myself to lift a trembling hand and cup his cheek.
“Mummy’s just tired, sweetheart,” I whisper, trying to sound reassuring. “She’ll be fine, okay?”
He nods hesitantly, but I can still see the worry in his eyes. Declan’s innocence pulls me back to the present.
Selena steps forward, scooping Declan into her arms. She cradles him protectively, her hand rubbing his back as she stares at me.
I know she has the answers I need as regards Declan. I just don’t know if I’m ready to hear them.
Whatever Selena gave me worked quickly, cooling the firestorm in my head. But as the pain subsides, something else happens-memories begin to surface.
Images flash before my eyes in a chaotic blur. Faces, voices, places I can’t fully place, all rushing back at once. My breathing quickens as I clutch my head, trying to make sense of it all. It’s too much.
And then, amidst the chaos, one face stands out. It’s sharp, distinct, and terrifyingly familiar.
My chest tightens as realization slams into me like a freight train.
I gasp, the air leaving my lungs as I stare into the horrifying truth that’s been locked away in my mind for so long.
And then everything goes black.