Diary of An Unnatural (BOOK #2)

Mother Dearest

            Ava

"How...Why...?"

I couldn't form a coherent sentence. It was like all those years at school learning proper sentence structure disappeared in the presence of my mother. I blinked over again as if I was somehow seeing things. But there she was, wearing a thick black blazer and blue jeans and heeled boots she would have never worn when I knew her.

She seemed as shocked as I felt. I guess no one had told her that they brought me in. Then a darker expression crossed her face. Her thin brows pulled together as she called out into the hallway behind her.

"Derek!" she yelled.

A couple of seconds later a man appeared by her side. His light brown hair stood straight on top of his head and his eyebrows hung low over his eyes. He kept his mouth a permanent grimace as he assesse Hanson and me.

"Great," Hanson mumbled.

My mother turned to the man she called Derek, not even bothering to lower her voice. "Derek, please take my daughter to the interrogation room, if you wouldn't mind. I need to have a little chat with her."

"And the other bloodsucker?" Derek asked her, his voice low and gruff.

Hanson rolled his eyes at the insult.

"Leave him," she quipped. "I would like to have a private conversation with Ava today. I give you permission to do whatever you want to dear Hanson while we're out. Last time I checked, he loved a little torture. Don't you, dear?"

Hanson's smirk reappeared. "Torture the one who tortures the most. Brilliant idea, Celia."

"What can I say? I try."

Derek took a key and opened my cell. Then he undid the shackles from my wrists. He kept a tight grip on me as he led me out. His strength was unbreakable. I couldn't take a swing no matter how hard I tried whether it had to do with my own weak body or his super Hunter strength.

"Don't even think about it." He pulled a piece of wood from his pocket. One end of his was engraved with symbols and swirls. The other was brought to a sharp point. A stake. The only known weapon capable of taking down a vampire. It occurred to be then that I had never actually seen one before and that it was everything I had to fear.

My mother led us down the hallway, the sound of her boots echoing against the concrete floor. From what I could tell, the Hunters' headquarters seemed to be held in some sort of penitentiary. Other rooms branched off surely holding more cells potentially possessing more vampires. Then others looked to be offices and interrogation rooms. We arrived at one of the latter, a mirror covering one wall, surely a window in disguise.

Derek pushed me down into a chair in front of a table. My mother stood on the other side of it, arms crossed and her eyes narrowed at me as if I was some sort of parasite.

"You're free to go, Derek," she told him.

He thick brows furrowed. "Are you sure?"

She glared at him, her voice steel. "I can handle her myself. You go on and take care of Hanson. I'm sure he's growing impatient."

Derek left the room, shutting the door behind him. Now, for the first time in years, my mother and I were left alone, face to face after all this time apart. Mother and daughter. Hunter and vampire. Not quite the reunion I'd been hoping.