8 VII

I silently trailed after the male in front of me, scared for what these people who I was going to meet would do to me. I had only read stories about what kidnappers do to the people they take, yet nothing I read could prepare me for the fear that struck me. The boy looked back at me and stopped at the top of the stairs, waiting for me.

"Week," he said and turned his back to me.

"Weak? Who are you calling weak?" I asked, offended at his tone.

"No, Rosie girl. My name is Week. You still don't know my name, so I'll be the first to introduce myself with my name," he said as he began walking through the house, pausing every little bit to make sure I was still following.

I knew if I made any attempt for the door, I would get lost in this maze of a place he lead me through. Week began to hum to himself as he lead me through a long narrow hallway I go the heart of the house.

Inside the room there was three people staring back at me. Each looked so vaguely familiar, yet I couldn't place them. One girl was sitting on the desk, while another was leaning the right of the desk. The other male was sitting at the desk chair behind the desk. All three of them looked at me in recognition then the girl on the desk threw herself at me.

"Rose! I've missed you! Look how you've grown! Oh my god, and I've missed it all!" She ranted on, then held my cheeks between her hands and examined my face. She had silver hair like mine that was cropped to her shoulders. She and I looked similar, but the difference was her glowing yellow eyes that seemed to look through me.

"Enough, Lavender. Let the girl breathe," the man behind the desk said. He looked to be an older man with no hair on his head. His eyes searched through mine and held little sincerity in their depths.

Then there was the girl beside the desk who seemed to be loathing my very presence in front of her. She reminded me of Week with her long black hair and red glowing eyes, yet she was a lot shorter. Her facial features were eerily similar to him as she stared at me.

"Oh goodness me, I'm so sorry, Rose!" the girl said, quickly jumping off me. I looked at her in confusion, trying to place who she was and why she seemed so familiar.

She looked down at the ground, her silver hair blocking her eyes from me as she spoke, "You really don't remember much, huh?"

"Of course she wouldn't remember, Lavender, the girl was only a week old when she vanished," the other girl spoke. Her voice was melodic and I felt almost in a trance listening to it. That voice was familiar.

"You guys should probably introduce yourselves before I take her outside to train," Week said, staring at the wall behind the other man instead of at any of them.

"Hello, little Rose, I'm Marissa, I'm Week's mother and your mother's best friend," the black haired woman said, watching my face as if searching for something in me.

"I'm Orion, and I'm the head of this household. I would introduce you to my daughter, but she is no longer with us," he said, a sadness sparking in his eyes at the mention of his daughter.

"Goodness, I forgot all about that! My name is Lavender, and I'm your sister, Rose. I was only five when you were taken away," the girl with silver hair said, reaching for my hand and holding it between hers. She was slightly taller than I was, but not much.

My body froze and I stared at the woman in front of me. My sister, I had a sister. My world started to get blurry at that.

"Wait, I was told my mother abandoned me at my birth, what do you mean I was taken?" I asked, looking up at Lavender for an answer, and receiving sorrow behind her dark gaze.

"Rose, your mother died in childbirth. She saw you in the last seconds of her life," Orion said, almost in a whisper, but loud enough I could hear it.

My whole world began to crash around me. Angelina lied. She lied to me and to Levi about where I came from and where she got me. She took me. Why would someone do that?

"Rose, love, I need you to look at me and breathe," a voice came through my panic. Week.

"Rose, you're having a panic attack, you need to breathe," he called through my darkness, but I couldn't reach him. I couldn't talk or move.

The pain didn't stop until the darkness came, and with it, the silence of my raging emotions.

~~~~~~~~~~~

A loud pounding came through the darkness of a house. The storm outside wasn't letting up, yet it was coming down harder as the lightning began to crack. A woman began to race towards her door at the sound of the pounding.

Opening the door, a rush of black hair came rushing into the warmth of the house. The woman heard panting behind her and turned to see a young boy in the house. His hair was long and falling into his glowing red eyes.

"Sweetheart, where's your parents," the woman asked, closing the large oak doors behind them. The hound boy let out a growl and that was when the woman noticed the ball of blanket in his arms, being held close to his chest.

"Angelina?" a small voice came from down the hall. The boy walked out and hid behind a door frame while watching his caretaker with the boy in the hall.

"Levi, go back to your room, sweetie. I'll take care of this, but stay in there," she called to him and he immediately ran back into the safety of the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Your name is Angelina?" the you g boy asked in his raspy voice, watching the woman in front of him carefully.

"Yes, but you need to tell me who you are," Angelina began, but stopped when she saw the boy collapse with the blankets on top of him. A loud wail sounded through the home, but it wasn't the sound of either boys and it was coming from the ball of blankets in the young boy's arms.

Angelina carefully pulled the ball away and looked down at the small girl in her arms. She was a tiny thing and her hair was silver and shone when the lightning struck. Her eyes were a glowing silver color that turned to a baby blue when she saw the face of the woman in front of her.

The baby cooed at the woman and Angelina's heart melted. She looked down at the boy on the ground and saw him awake and watching her with the baby.

"Her name is Rose, miss. She's in need of a safe home," the boy said lightly and smiled at the sound of the baby's cooing.

"Why did you come all this way, and who are you?" Angelina questioned the boy.

He looked up at her and began to walk towards her door, "My name is Week, Miss Angelina. I came here to find a person to keep her safe until I can come back for her."

"Why leave her here with me?" She asked, looking up at the boy in front of her as he walked back to the baby and she grabbed his finger, pulling it to him.

"She's my promised. I can't let her be in danger, but I'm not strong enough to protect her yet, Miss. I have to leave before they notice I'm gone, but I'll be back soon to check on her, I promise," and with his words, the boy disappeared into the night, leaving the small child to begin whining and crying at his departure.

The woman began to shush the child and quietly sing to her as the small boy came running back out to see what had happened.

"Levi, come meet your new friend. Her name is Rose," Angelina called and Levi ran up, looking at the baby. Rose opened her eyes and stared at him, immediately capturing his heart with just one look. Then she grabbed a fist full of his hair, causing him to cry and yell.

"I don't like her, Angelina! She's mean," the small boy said, backing up to the wall and holding his chin up in defiance.

"Don't be like that, Levi. She's only a baby, she doesn't know right from wrong yet, but we'll teach her," she said softly, holding the bundle out to the boy in front of her. He walked back over with a sigh and grabbed the small girl in his arms.

Her eyes flashed silver before clearing to a bright baby blue color.