Feral Claws [Completed/Editing]

Chapter Sixteen

I'm ten years old. Mom is sitting at the table, with tears streaming down her face. I don't know why she's crying, but I want her to feel better. The only problem is that every time she looks at me, she cries harder.

"Juniper, come here." My mother whispers.

I stand up from my seat on the floor in front of the Saturday cartoons.

"Yes, Mommy?"

She hands me a tear-stained letter.

"I want you to take this to the mailbox. Be sure to lift the flag."

She turns away from me as she speaks, but I can still hear the pain in her voice as it cracks. Disappointed, I head towards the door.

"Juniper." My mom says, without turning around. I take another step forward, and finally she turns around. Her eyes are red, but she's smiling.

"I love you so much." She says, gently patting my head.

"I love you too, Mommy." I replied, smiling back.

"Good. Now, go take the letter to the box."

I bounce happily out the door of our beat up mobile home and down the concrete steps. The mailbox is in sight of the house, but the gravel driveway is uneven and up a hill. By the time I reach the road, my breathing is labored and my cheeks are red.

I take one last glance at the letter before I slide it into the mailbox and lift the red flag.

It's addressed to someone with a name I had never heard; Adriel Matthews.

I could hear shouting and gravel being slung by tires, but no matter how hard I tried my eyes wouldn't open. I was paralyzed, and fading in and out of consciousness. At some points I wasn't sure if I was even still alive.

I was dead. I had died and gone to Hell. That was the only explanation for the pain I felt all over my body. My head felt like someone had blown up a balloon inside my skull and it was about to explode. But slowly, I began to hear again.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The sound kept me grounded, reminding me that I wasn't dead. Not yet, at least.

"... and I'm so sorry."

I hadn't even realized someone was speaking. I tried opening my eyes but it was no use. My eyelids were as heavy as ten gold bars. Nevertheless, I listened in to the voice. It was River, and he was hurting.

"I should have never hid that from you. I thought that if I never told anyone, not even you, maybe I could pretend it never happened... maybe it would go away."

There was a slight pause, and now I could feel his hand in mine. He squeezed it softly, sending warmth through my body.

"But now I see. I could have never had hid it forever. Even if Sam had never come back for me, something else would have drug it out. I lied to you Juniper, and for that I am deeply sorry."