Dark Waters

Chapter 10

EDITED

(Nerissa's POV)

In the back of my mind, I always knew this day would come. The day Avalon would have to leave. I knew  I should have told her before, explained the treaty to her so that she wouldn't be blindsided when the day finally came. 

But I couldn't bring myself to do it, not when she was finally becoming comfortable with who she was. I couldn't burden her with the knowledge that she may one day be ripped away from us, that her fate didn't rest in her own hands. 

No parent wants to tell their child that their future isn't their own to make. 

She didn't take the news very well, not that I had expected her to. She's always been headstrong, not afraid to take matters into her own hands. Another reason why I didn't tell her about the treaty - she would be foolish enough to believe that she could fight against it, that she could find a way around it. 

Teenagers always believe that the world will bend at their will, that they're unstoppable. That they can defy the very rules that define us, the ones that shape us into who we can and can't be. 

I remember that I once did, too. Reality can be cruel. 

After finding out, she locked herself in the bathroom and refused to come out. When I was her age, I did the same thing. 

I walk to Avalon's bedroom, knocking lightly on the door. Though I know she'll refuse to go, she best be getting up if she wants to make it out with her grandmother. 

"Avalon, wake up. Get ready to go."

I walk into the kitchen to find my mother sitting at the table, sipping on a mug of coffee. I raise a eyebrow in her direction in passing, "I thought you found coffee disgusting?" I ask as I grab a mug from the cupboard for myself. 

She doesn't look up as she answers me. "People can change their minds, dear." 

They sure can, I think to myself as I make my coffee the way I like it. She had no problem changing her mind about having me as her daughter when I left the sea. No problem at all. 

My mother has always gotten on my nerves, she's the reason that I decided to become a Domestic in the first place. She's one of the most controlling people that I've ever had the misfortune of meeting, and when the time came I couldn't get far enough away from her. 

"Where is your daughter? She should be ready to go by now." 

Of course she won't even acknowledge the fact that Avalon is her granddaughter. I'm not sure why I even expected, honestly. She despises all that Domestics are, all they stand for. It's stupid of me to believe she could overlook the lifestyle of my family and I simply because we're her flesh and blood. 

No, that would be too much to ask for. 

Instead of arguing with her, I walk up to Avalon's room once again. "Avalon?" I knock again. Receiving no reply, I open her door and walk into the room. My eyes widen when I see that she's nowhere in sight. 

I frantically search her whole room, hoping to find her even though I know that I won't. 

Where has she gone?

I go into the GPS tracking device I have for her phone, but see that it's been deactivated. I sigh to myself as I leave her bedroom. 

She ran away. 

(Jade's POV)

When I wake, it's to birds chirping and sunlight pouring through the car windows. I sit up, only to find I was on top of Kaitlyn and Avalon.