Losing Battle

Ch. 8 Realizations

The door swung open slowly. My breathing quickened as I saw our white carpet stained red. James took my hand as tears spilled down my cheeks. We walked carefully into the apartment. My entire world shattered the moment my eyes saw her. Her blonde hair was covered in blood her hand looked as if she had been trying to protect the child inside her belly. She was finally going to have a child of her own but here my adoptive mom lay slain on the ground. Everything began to spin as I was pulled into a tidal wave of grief. I crumpled to the floor pulling her body toward me.

"Mommy, wake up," I sobbed as James looked at me sadly. "I'm sorry, this is my fault. They weren't after you."

"Chrystal we can't stay here," James said softly as I looked up at him.

"Where's my dad?" I asked as James searched the rest of the apartment.

"He isn't here Chrystal," he said as I stood up.

"Would they take him?" I asked but James shook his head. They wouldn't take people as leverage. "Dad!" I gasped as he stepped out of the closet covered in blood. I saw instantly it was my mother's blood and it covered most of his body. James pulled me away from him as my father stood there without a scratch.

"Chrissy, who is he?" My father asked walking toward us.

"He's my friend," I said stepping toward him but James held me back.

"Chrissy help me," he said as I noticed his eyes turn black.

"He's one of them," James muttered as I glanced at my mom.

"He killed her!" I screamed anger blasting through my sorrow.

"Chrystal run to the door now," James said as I turned sprinting toward the door when the door slammed shut. I gasped turning to find my father right next to me. He put his hands against the wall next to my head.

"You weren't supposed to find out, what to do now," he said spinning me around to use as a shield.

"Dad please," I said softly as he laughed.

"Your guardian was right, you can't reason with me. I have no emotions to cloud my judgement," my father whispered.

"Why did you raise me?" I asked tears in my blue gaze.

"You were a job. Placed in my care until they were ready for you," he said as James looked at us.

"What are you going to do now?" I whispered as his hand wrapped around my waist.

"Take your memories, the ones of magic and hide them. After I have done that I will take you somewhere no one will find you," he said as I thought of my mother.

"How will you explain your wife away?" I demanded as his magic clung to me slowly oozing across my skin.

"Car crash," he said as my hands began to glow. My body was suddenly filled with pain as he squeezed me. He was trying to disrupt my magic but it was strong, undeterred by pain. The power surged forward knocking him away from me. I ran forward tumbling into James's arms.

"Chrissy, this is for your own good. Your body isn't ready for that magic. It will destroy you," my father yelled as I stood tall. I saw something in his dark gaze, it wasn't malicious but caring. Is it possible for this creature to grow attached, to love?

"Dad, do you know who made me this way?" I asked stepping forward. I stood in front of James facing my father and somehow felt no fear.

"Someone strong, yet sinister. Someone special, more special than us all," he said an edge of anxiety in his voice.

"What does he want with me?" I asked as he looked down. He really did care about me, as much as a creature like him could.

"To control everything, his hunger for power is much worse than Drake's," my father said to me.

"Chrystal, you can't trust him," James said grasping my hand.

"But then why do I feel as if I can trust him entirely?" I asked softly as my father held out his right hand revealing his palm. He had the same symbol on his hand as I did on my belly.

"Chrystal we have to go," James said as I touched my mark.

"Did you hurt mom?" I asked him as his eyes filled with sadness.

"No but I know who did," he muttered. I trusted him on this subject, the baby she was carrying was his.

"Tell me!" I demanded as he stepped toward me.

"I loved her even if he says I can't love!" My father snapped as I nodded. "It was Freya."

"But why would she come after her?" I gasped as he clenched his fists.

"She said you were hers," he said as my heart flaked again. She hurt the woman who raised me for no reason.

"I'll be back dad, I promise," I said stepping into James's arms. "Let's go to Drake."

"Yes Ma'am," James spoke softly teleporting to my father. I walked into the main room where my father was arguing with Freya. It took everything I had not to strangle her on sight. I pushed past my sorrow and my grief to speak with my father.

"Dad," I said tightly struggling to bite my tongue.

"You shouldn't be here," he said as I stood still.

"She can't hurt me, none of you can," I said flatly though I knew it was true.

"What do you mean?" My father asked, his green eyes filled with confusion.

"I was hit with a spell that made me my own amulet," I said firmly as Freya, my mother, stepped towards us.

"How do you know?!" She growled as I showed the mark. I watched both their moods change. They were scared of me, I was a threat to them both. How far would they go to eliminate the threat I was becoming?

"Who did that to my sweet girl?" My father murmured his voice quivering.

"I can't remember," I said softly. "My memory was shredded in the process."

"Sir she tried her best to remember but Freya killed her adoptive mother who, might have known who gave her to them," James said harshly. "The man who raised her is a shifter who seems to, unbelievably, love her like his own."

"Shifters can't love, it's their curse that only the strongest magic could overcome," my father said with shock in his voice. Was it me or the one who made me who overcame the curse? Only the strongest magic...