Fiery Frost (A House of Night Fanfiction)

Chapter Two

A wave of emotions hit me as I hold Adalynn close to me, her little arms wrapped around my neck. The tears that I had been holding back since the Tracker had marked me were finally flowing free. I was so afraid of what would happen and Adalynn was the only thing that brought me to ease. She was the sweetest little girl and she could always bring my mood up, no matter what was bringing me down. Though as I held her close to me, for the first time I felt unease and worry, like I was waiting for the worse.

The sound of laughter comes from down the hall followed by footsteps. "Just slam your toys onto the floor, Adalynn Grace," my mother's voice rang. I try to control my sniffling but my mother catches onto it. "Someone's home early. What's wrong, Estella?"

I shake my head, feeling like I was the three year old child instead of Adalynn. "Everything's gone terribly wrong, mother," I whine as I run my fingers through Adalynn's sandy curls.

"What happen?" My mother walks closer to us and tugs Adalynn away from in order to get me to look at her. I keep my head down as she picks Adalynn and places her on her hip. "Estella look at me," she demands, worry lacing her voice.

I stand up slowly, taking care to cover the crescent moon on my forehead in the process. I look at my mother and I was sure my blue eyes resembled a crying child's. "It-it just happened," I cry. "One minute I was listening to Holly, the next he appeared and fucked up everything."

My mother makes a face at my use of the "f" word but ignores it and asks, "Who's he and what did he do?" Her eyes flicker to my hand covering my forehead and realization clicks across her face. "No. That can't happened." She shakes her head. "Put your hand down," she demands, anger spreading across her face. When I hesitate, she speaks louder. "Put your hand down, Estella."

I slowly put my hand down as my mother watches me wide eyed. The look of horror on her face told me that the mark was there and stood out like flashing light. The only person in the room that wasn't distressed about it was little Adalynn, who stared at my forehead in wonder. Her clear blue eyes were wide as she reaches her hand out in a grabbing motion. "Pretty," she says in awe and my heart almost broke.

A smile breaks out across my face as I hiccup as cry back. "You think so, Adie?" I ask the curious three year old. I reach out to touch her but my mother backs away from me. At this reaction, I furrow my brows. "Mother? What's wrong with you?"

"You can't touch her, not when you're-" she pauses for a moment, her eyes flickering back to my forehead. "Not when you're one of them."

At this statement, I gasp but it turns into a cough. I had almost forgotten about my aching body and the coughs that made me feel worse than what I was. Though none of the aches compared to the blow my mother just gave me. "Excuse me?" I screech slightly after my coughing fit stopped. "Did you just tell me I can't touch Adalynn?" Anger was building up in me. It felt like my mother had just slapped me across the face. "Last time I checked you did not carry her for almost nine months and went through almost forty-eight hours of labor with her," I snap at her, appalled that she had to audacity to think she could keep Adalynn away from me.

"I am her mother, not you," I spit.

My mother shoots me a nasty look. "You are no longer suitable to be her mother. Look at yourself." She glares at my forehead.

I clench my fist at her words before taking a deep breath. "Let Adalynn go to her room so we can talk," I tell her while crossing my arms over my chest. Whatever was about to be said, I didn't want my daughter to hear it.

My mother holds Adalynn closer for a moment before sitting her down. She rubs the side of Adalynn's face while smiling at her. "Go to your room, dear. Mommy and I going to have a discussion, okay?" Her voice was soothing which cause Adalynn to nod her head.