Chapter 14 My Mother Was Here?

Being apart from Ammie for three days has been killing  me, me and the gang. The atmosphere between everyone was dull and very half hearted. Clair was trying her hardest to make people laugh with predictable puns that really weren't needed.
                    Right now, everyone was reeling from side to side in Danny's care, almost like motion sickness. But really, it was all from everyone's lack of energy.
                     The demons from the abandoned library were killed off and burnt, also, any evidence had been swept away. Sarah and Danny have been closer than ever, stuck side by side from the lack of Ammie's humor. Alyson won't let me out of her sight, every move I made she'd be watching me like a hawk. Mike and Amy have been snuggly, too. Every time my eye caught them, they'd either be deep in talk, in eachothers arms or kissing. It's quite weird, since everyone in our group are finding love. Even me. Clair has just been moody, bitchy and snappy with everyone since she hasn't been with her bestest friend.
                     "Well this is quiet," Amy chirped, trying to lighten the mood, gripping Mike's hand at her side. I sat on the seat next to Alyson, Amy and Mike in front of me towards the back. Behind them was Clair by her lonesome with her gun to accompany her. Sarah and Danny in the front seats, chatting away.
"Tell me about it." Clair retorted from the back and Alyson's face lit up with a spark of anger.
"Will you shut up?" Alyson cracked. Within the space of three days, they were cracks beginning to show between us all. Especially between Clair and Alyson, their bitter anger rival against eachother had been boiling for years now and finally without Ammie, Clair is on a roll to clamp Alyson. Not if I can help it.
                     "Get lost, goody-two-shoes." Clair snapped back, her dark eyes narrowing with spite towards Alyson. I seen Mike and Amy look elsewhere as if not to get involved.
                     "Do you know what you need?" Alyson leaned forward to prove her point, as if that'd do anything. "Anger management. You can't control that fat mouth of yours, and for starters, you're pissing me o-"
                       Before Alyson could finish her sentence, a black and sleek pack of ammo was launched off of Alyon's head. I believed everyone could hear the distinctive crack from bone to metal. Her head threw back and Clair just giggled from the back seat. Mike had to slide closer to the window out of harms way.
                       They've been doing this since we've left. My patience has finally ran out with them. I mean, I felt like an elastic band, with enough tension, I'd break. And I did.
                       "Will you two cut it out?" I semi stood within the car, trying not to tumble from the rocky road. "You two have been doing nothing but get on eachother's cases and frankly, everyone's sick of you two!" I sat down in a heap.
                       Thankfully, the weight on my shoulders had been lifted a little from telling them off. Yet, Clair's digusted face and Alyson's hurt expression fased me a little.
                        "Oh get over yourself, pretty boy." Clair mocked quietly, just loud enough for me to hear. I pretended not to hear it and gritted my teeth. Then I just got a look from Mike who sat clostest. He did a awkward smile and nodded my way.
                        At least Amy, Mike, Sarah and Danny were all on my side. I mean, being with Clair and Alyson is like being in a cage with a lion and hyena. One way or another, it was getting annyoing and petty.
                        "Just calm down everyone." Sarah said calmly, breathing in from her nose and closing her eyes, and breathing out of her mouth and looking back at Alyson and Clair. Her eyes were dark and sharp even in dimmed light, her features firing at them two. "I know we've been on the road long and out for at least three days straight, but on eachothers backs and tearing at our throats isn't going to help."
                        For seconds, it was all quiet, and all we could hear was the rattle of the car as it sped down the road. The smell of metal from our guns and seat polish from the leather was in the air. Our breathing heavy and eyes  wondering over everyone. Just as I thought it got through to Clair and Alyson, Clair speaked.
                        "You're right." She smiled, the feeling the heat of anger die down within me. And like everyone else, we half heartedly smiled. But it was all for the wrong reasons when she spoke again. "There's no need to continue working together. Finding Ammie isn't really group work, without her, this whole clan is in shambles. I will work alone." She closed her eyes and flared her nose.
                        The atmosphere was heavy with worry, anger and shock. We never split up, it's not like us. But Clair had made her mind up and whatever we said wasn't getting through to her.
                        "What? You're mad, you can't continue alone, Clair. You need us and we need you." Amy shifted in her seat to get a good look at Clair. Amy's blue eyes lit up like fire and she burned them right at Clair. "Ammie wouldn't want us to part like sand, she'd want us to get her together, as a team. Like always."
                       "I don't care!" Clair almost shouted, but something got the better of her. She looked at her gun and breathed in deep, as if considering something. "I can't put up with this any longer. I'm chewing my own head off here and it's not good for me, or anyone else. I may as well just leave."
                       And with that, with the car still full speed down the road, Clair ducked and rolled out the car as she opened the door. A gust of wind made me shiver and instantly chatter my teeth.
                       My jaw dropped, in shock and impressed at Clair's swift skill to do so. But mostly shock, and everyone's face dropped and the car stopped forcefully. Our heads drew forward and felt like we had whiplash.
                       Just as the car fully stopped, I hopped out and stood. I ran to the back of the car where Clair had opened her door and I seen her down the road already. I seen her black hair coming out of it's braid and flash behind her like her own cloak. She was faster than I remembered.
                      "Where is she?" Sarah was by my side along with Mike and Amy. Alyson and Danny were on the other side of the car.
                      "She's already gone." I felt the wind pick up and we all stood. Not knowing what to do. Clair won't listen to us and if we chase her, she would just fight back. And I didn't want to fight Clair, she was more like a little annoying sister to me.
                      "We can't just-let her leave!" Amy spat and was about to run. I held my arm out, also, Mike held her back by the arm. "What's wrong with you people? You're going to let one of our memebers, one of our family, leave like this!" Her voice rose, but really, there was nothing we could do. She was gone, disappeared in the dead of night. I caught the last glimmer of her gun glinting off the moonlight before she vanished in the dark.
                      "We can't do anything." Sarah sighed and leaned against the car when she slammed Clair's door shut with force. Her anger was radiating off of her like a black aura. "If we chase her, she'll be like a petualnt little child and run away again. She's like that." She huffed, folding her arms. "She'll come back. No matter what, she'll come back."
                      Everyone just and looked at the long road we came from. I seen the city lights beyond that. Shining like jewels, like spotlights. The air smelt like dirt and damp water. We were in the middle of an empty road to the city next to it. Both left and right was just bushes that led to forest and hills and mountains. We had to go to Little Tree. The city nextdoor to Gapwate.
                       Inside, I knew Clair would come back. She had to. For Ammie's sake.

                         
                             

I sat alone by the wall to wall window looking out among the dark waters. It was mysterious and magical. The sides of the river were covered with bushes and massive oak trees like from Lord of the Rings. I could imagine a tree begin to walk and in the distance a little tower with a glowing orange eye. The smell of gun powder and sweat everywhere.
                        Gee, my mind goes weird when I'm bored and stressing.
I just sat with a thin black blanket draped over me like a cape, in pajarmas and stupid bunny slippers. The grand chandelier was alight like a halo in the centre of the ceiling like a firefly. I could faintly smell alcohol from the bar to the side of me, the workers glancing over at me and whispering as if we were in school. 
                         I sighed.
Today was horrific. Lil had came to dress and parade me for Byron. It's disgusting and malicious it was sickening. I was like a doll to Byron, a trophy. I hated it here, yet, I wanted to stay. I wanted to stay for my friends to save me, for Nathan to save me. I wanted to find out how my mother died, how my mother is connected here. I can feel her here, like a mist.
                         "Hi."
I heard a traitors voice behind me.
                         "Go away." I said to Lil grimly without moving. I dragged my knees to my chest, propping my chin on my knee caps and sighing heavily.
                         "Please don't push me away-"
                         "What do you expect?!" I turned on my bum and glared at her as if she'd killed a puppy in front of me. She looked hurt, but she deserved it from betraying me, and the whole academy. "You've totally lied to everyone I know and love, who I trust. You are a fake, Lil. Is that even your name?" I said with disgust in my voice.
                          She looked dirty and tired, thick black bags under her eyes and lips starting to peel and crack. Her hair slightly greasy in her wobbly bun, loose strands coming out of it. She'd changed into a black hoodie and grey sweat pants. It was quite weird seeing her like that, since she was normally in a doctors uniform.
                          She sat behind me as I stayed the way I was, with my legs on the floor and blanket clutched to my chest.
                          "Please, Ammie." Lil sighed, hers more ragged and stressed. "I didn't mean it. I never wanted to be here. I mean, when I first found out that these were demons, I thought it was a joke. Then, I was forced to train."
                           She placed her cupped hands in her lap and hung her head low.
"There was three more girls here with me," Lil's eyes looked haunted. "We were put up to a test, and I won. The other girls were exterminated straight away." A single tear dripped from her nose, and her breathing changed. "They were like my sisters. Then after a while, I ran away and found a homeless shelter. I was still so young, so went into school and I found a job, rented a small and scruffy flat and built myself up. But no matter what, Byron always found me, always had a hold of me. Just like a little puppet." Lil's face looked beaten and sad it was kind of scary to look at her, I actually felt guilt towards her.
                         "Why did you work in a demon assassin's academy even when you belonged to demons?"
"There was a girl I knew from the little cafe I worked in who went there." Lil looked up at me. Her lips took on half a smile. "She was beautiful, dark hair and full dark eyes. She always came to work happy, as if she'd been on a jog or something."
                           The air felt full and heavy that it felt hard to breathe. I looked back at the water and seen the ripples carry leaves and twigs, the moonlight glittering off of it like a torch. My heart rate felt like it was picking up naturally.
                             "Mother?"
                             "Yes."
Suddenly, I felt like crying. Like breaking down into little pieces, like throwing my weight out of that window and drowning. I wanted to cry and scream at the same time, I wanted to stomp my feet. I wanted to rip at my hair and bite my lips until they bled. It was so hard to talk to someone who betrayed my trust that I had for so long for that person and talk about my mother, a woman I loved dearly.
                          Why did my throat dry up? Why did my hands begin to shake? Was is because Lil could've been really close to my mother, also?
                           "She made you join?"
                           "No, she got me a job there as a cleaner." Lil looked wistful.
"She ended up in here, didn't she?" I looked at her, my mind racing through images of my beautiful mother. How she'd smile at me, how she said she was always proud of me, how her and father would grip me in a tight grip it'd fill me with the upmost love and happiness that I'd be in a great mood for days, and it was contagious. "Why was she here? How was she here? Was my dad here, too?"
                           I was talking so much that I didn't hear who had came up to me from the side.
"That's enough questions for the night." Byron said with a happy smile. His eyes deep and dark, and his stance read 'bored' and 'waiting' and he had his arms folded. The smell of crushed roses flooded over me and it almost made me sneeze. "Let's get you to bed, you're wedding is in four days, you need your rest."
                          I felt angry. My bitterness from the past couple of days was over flowing and I was ready to burst and scream and smash things. I tried not to show it, but the hoarse breathing from my nose was kind of a give a way.
                          I stood quickly and threw my blanket over his head.
"You can get lost!" I screamed at his covered face, and he didn't even move. Then he lifted his hand to drag the blanket off of him, it dropped to the floor just like his smile. "You can shove this wedding, this whole demons crap up your arse! I'm sick of your s**t and secrecy! It's killing me!" I was on a roll, my tongue working it's way up the ladder of insults.
                           This was the wrong approach, but I was about to kick him. It was a bad idea.
Lil gasped and so did people behind the bar, but the gush of wind as he swiped my foot out of the way knocked me on my knees. And it hurt, blinding pain rushed through me only made me more angry.
                           I got up in a flash and upper cut him, but he grabbed my fist in a painful grip and twisted it all the way around that I had to twirl. I kicked him in the crotch and felt victorious as he staggered but he only recovered and managed to get both my hands behind my back like a policeman would to make his victim surrender. I panted sadly from my loss.
                           "See? You can't beat me." He whispered in my ear and it felt like spider had crawled up my spine and it made me shiver. But he thought differently. "Oh, you like it when I do this?" He hefted my arms higher up my back and I whimpered in pain. The bone cracking feel was crippling, but I didn't dare show anymore weakness that I did now.
                           "Let her go, Byron." Lil was now standing and facing me and looked incredibly scared.
"You remember, Lil, don't you?" Byron let me go and had my wrist in a blood stopping hold, I could see my fingers going yellow and blue. "You remember when my father had Helen in here? When he was going to force her to mary him? How he beat her and starved her-"
                            "Shut up!" I caught him by suprise and pounced on him, well really I used my shoulder to crash into him and clipped him to the ground. My anger and pain was all in my strength, all my energy went into my punches. I sat on his stomach and just used my clenched fists to punch the smirk off of his face. My face contorted into a swirl of bitterness I scared myself. Within seconds my knuckles begin to feel sore as I connected with his jawline and cheek bone, but I couldn't stop. My hatred towards him was coming alive just like this, but it was more like the pain of my mother. The death of my mother was because she was here, she must've died here, no, must've been killed here. And it made me the more angry. So I just sat for seconds just punching his disgusting, wretched and ugly face.
                            As I was beginning to fade, I was pulled off by the bartenders from the bar. I was dragged off and let to sit on the floor, my knuckles bleeding and splattered with blood. My lungs burnt and air escaped me, I couldn't breathe. My face felt flushed and I smelt mould linger off of Byron.
                            When I lookd at him, I had never been so suprised.
He sat up by the help of the bartenders, and he was pouring of blood. His whole face was bright red, his nose looked like it was bent to one side, dripping with blood. His eyes already bruising and his left cheek actually broken skin. His face dotted with blood from his cut eyebrow, cut cheek, bleeding gums and from my knuckles too.
                            Lil shook off the bartenders that held me back, but all the energy I used on Byron disappeared and I felt like eating a lot and just sleep.
                            "You know what, I'm going to forgive you for that." Byron sat up straight and wiped blood from his nose and lookd at his hand, grimaced and peered at me. "I deserved that. From killing your boyfriend, kidnapping you, forcing you to marry me and stay as a hostage is enough," He then stared at me with big eyes. "But teasing you about your dead mother is enough."
                            He stood and dusted himself off, ignoring the bartenders who fussed over his cuts and tried to straighten his ruffled clothes. He gave me a sad look before departing.
                           "Why'd you do that?" Lil whispered wickeldy in my ear, hauling me on wobbly feet. "He could've killed you, you idiot!" She turned me to face her and checked me over, and finally, held my hands in hers. She tutted at my messy knuckles. "Jeez, Amelia, you've cut your knuckles for him. That's for punching his cheeks and teeth."
                           While Lil fussed over me, I felt myself fall sleepy and sort of wanted to forgive Lil. No matter what, she was still the same. I mean, she still cared for me and looked out for me. I don't think she's told Byron that Nathan is alive, and Lil is here with me on my side.
                           Just like that, I made my desicion and crumpled in Lil's arms. I heard her squeek and say my name. But I was way too tried to stay awake, my strength had left me and I could barely keep my eyes open.
                            Then I smelt flowers and I was being whisked away in strong arms.