Damned

Chapter Thirty-Two

"Absolutely not! Have you lost your damn mind?" Clearly, my mom was upset with my talking to the reporters. When I got home I had gone upstairs, deciding to tell her first thing in the morning. That had been a bad idea. I had caught her before her morning pot of coffee -- one cup wasn't enough, she needed the whole pot.

My mom was dead set against me talking to reporters. She continued to tell me it was a bad idea, that I would just draw attention to myself. Attention, that she and Dolores had worked very hard to diminish. She didn't realize why I wanted to talk to the reporters. That was because she didn't know about Sarah Good and her vengeance to kill me and this town.

"I just feel that people should hear our side of the story," I tried to convince my mom. She wasn't having it. Her eyes blazed with anger as she glared at me, her coffee mug gripped tightly in her grasp.

"I cannot believe you are suggesting this. I thought you and your sister had been better, so I could go on this weekend trip with Zack, but apparently--

I sighed. Of course, she thought this was more than what it really was. It wasn't about Dara and I's mental state. It had nothing to do with my mom going on a weekend trip with Gellar. I almost rolled my eyes, but she wouldn't have appreciated that.

"Mom, you should definitely go on your trip. It isn't that, it's--

She cut me off, something she was really good at.

"Of course, you want me to go, so you can run to the reporters. If I go, how do I know you won't talk to them?" She brought up a good point. In fact, that had been part of my idea. Except, my mom would definitely know I had talked to them when she came back. Honestly, it was a lose-lose situation for me.

"I won't if you will please think of this. I'm serious about this." She looked from me to her coffee, then back to me.

"That's what I'm worried about." She finished her cup and poured herself another one, emptying the pot. As she did this, I started another pot. I wanted coffee before I headed over to Sage's to train. Last time, I hadn't been on my A-game. I wanted to get better at using my shield. Maybe, I could use the Amulet a little bit. I'd use it just enough to have a power boost but not enough that anyone would be able to figure out I was using it.

"Mom, please don't cancel your trip because of me. I promise I won't talk to the reporters until you get back. Then, we can sit down and talk. I tell you why I need to do this." I meant every word. I would tell her all about S.G. if that meant she would understand. My mom was terribly stubborn and if she didn't want to do something, she wouldn't. The same went for if I wanted to do something she was again.

I needed to make her understand, but I wasn't going to ruin her weekend with Gellar. I knew how much he meant to her. Plus, I would be busy training with the Lycan's I meant Sage, Jack, and Troy. That was going to take some getting used to.

"Okay, only because you promised. I'm holding you to that Cornelia Ann." She rarely used my middle name, so I knew she meant business. I nodded as she stared me down, index finger extended towards me. I held up my hands, defensively.

"I promised, okay?" My tone thin.

"You said you're hanging out with Addie today?" She asked. I nodded. "Let your Gran know when you'll be home because I'll be gone. Call or text me if you need me. I'll have the ringer on for an emergency." She made me recite her phone number -- twice. It was only ten o'clock and I was already tired.

"I'm gonna head out," I finally told her. She had killed a half hour of my time with her babbling. She had me go over every scenario in case of an emergency. I wanted to tell her if an emergency really happened I would use magic. She didn't like that response. She wanted to know the human way I would go about things.