For anyone who might be a little confused, the story skipped to 5 years ahead at the end of chapter 8.
**Ivy is 13 years old**
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<RECAP>
"-a race", I said to him, signing at the same time.
He chuckled at me, shaking his head. He leant against the trunk of the tree to relieve his hands to sign.
"What's the point, Ivy? We've been coming here for what, 5 years now? You always win!", he replied, throwing his hands in the air at the end.
"Awww, you getting old, Caesar?", I teased him with a baby voice. I laughed at his sulking face as he crossed his arms in a fake tantrum.
"Okay. Let's do this. Just me and you, you big ape", I chuckled, getting in my stance, preparing to race.
"I'm ready to win."
<>
"You're...getting...better at this!", I gasped out through my heavy breaths. I leaned against the tree trunk as I sat on one of the tree branches.
We'd just had another race, and Caesar was almost beating me. Almost.
"I'll beat you one day, Ivy", he signed, grinning through his own heavy breaths.
I looked down, only just realising how high we were. I laughed, loving the thrill I got out of danger. It was a pretty indescribable feeling.
I glanced at my brother, unable to help myself from snickering when I looked at him.
"What's so funny?", he signed in annoyance. That only set me off into giggles.
I tried to calm my laughing but only managed to control myself long enough to mutter out two sentences.
"Oh nothing. Just laughing at how Dad dresses you like Grandpa", I said, bursting into laughter.
The blank look he gave me only made it worse. Once I'd started laughing, it was impossible to stop me.
I was in fits.
After a few more minutes of healthy banter, we began making our way to the ground as we realised our day was coming to an end. The sun was setting and the air had become considerably cooler than before. I laughed to myself on our way down, not being able to help myself every time I caught Caesar's eye.
Dad would bring me and Caesar to the redwoods every weekend now. Sometimes even Grandpa would tag along. Life was picture perfect at the moment. Unless of course you counted the little smudge in that picture.
Caroline.
There she sat next to my Dad, acting like she was part of our family. It really pissed me off to see Dad and Caroline still together, let alone on top of each other as they...kissed.
I shuddered in disgust.
Dad gave me a pointed look. I rolled my eyes at him, not giving two shits about the fact that Dad had already given me countless lectures about being nice to her.
Upon seeing my eyes roll, he opened his mouth to tell me off but was interrupted by Caesar.
I chuckled to myself. Impeccable timing as always, Caesar.
He hooted, jumping up and down on Will, wanting to cuddle and hug him. He was a real softie sometimes and I know Dad and Caroline loved it.
I picked up a bottle of water from my bag, gulping it all down in one go. I coughed and spluttered at the end, trying to catch my breath after drinking too fast.
"Ivy! What did I tell you about drinking too fast? There's plenty of water and you've got all the time in the world to drink it", Dad scolded me.
In one ear, out the other.
I lay down, splaying my limbs across the grass and facing the sky. It was so calming to watch the clouds go by and the sky get darker with every passing moment. The birds flew across the skies in large groups now, most likely heading back for the night. They were in perfect sync with each other, set in their own positions as they made a beautiful shape in the sky.
I wish I could fly.
"Pack your things. We're heading home now", Dad spoke up from somewhere, breaking my concentration.
I sighed, "Why do we never get to stay until it's dark?"
"Stop complaining, Ivy. You know its because Caroline has work tomorrow", Dad told me, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"I was only asking", I mumbled. I watched as Caroline turned to smile at me after I got told of by Dad.
That...that bitch!
"Why'd you have to bring Caroline? I thought these were family weekends. And she's annoying anyways", I told my Dad. He stopped packing his stuff, and turned to look at me with nothing but anger.
Well shit.
"Family weekends?", Dad asked. His voice was in that scary calm one, making me skeptical about how angry he actually was.
"She is family, Ivy! We're getting married for god's sake!", he yelled at me, holding Caroline's hand up for emphasis. The silver band held 3 small diamonds on it as it shone under the sunlight, only pissing me off more. "Why is it so hard for you to understand?", he groaned.
"She's not my family, Dad. The only family I have is you, Grandpa and Caesar. No matter what you say or do, you'll never be able to change that. I hate Caroline, Dad. And you should too", I confessed, before picking up my bag and storming off without them.
It was so frustrating that he didn't see Caroline for who she really was. She was an evil bitch under that innocent face and she was breaking up my family. Before she came into our lives, me and Dad rarely even fought. But now we argue like it's routine, and you could probably guess what its about every time.
By the time I brought myself back to focus, I realised I'd crossed the bridge and was quite a bit ahead of the rest, so I decided to wait.
I groaned when I realised I'd left my jacket back at the place, completely forgetting to pick it up when I left in a hurry. I pressed my lips together in annoyance. It was one of my favourite jackets too.
I closed my eyes and breathed in and out deeply through my nose, succumbing to the sounds of nature.
It was a few more minutes before the sound of voices met my ears. I opened my eyes, knowing they were still a minute or two away from me. Over the years I've experimented with my abilities a lot to test their strengths and limits.
For example, the average human can hear someone who is talking at an average volume within a 20m distance. My hearing stretched out to 100m.
It's so cool, I'm not gonna lie.
I watched as Caesar first emerged from the treeline, followed by Dad and Caroline. I looked away from the pair, not in the mood to have another argument yet. You have no idea how irritated I get by Caroline, its actually pretty indescribable.
She makes me want to rip her limbs and gauge her eyes out because she makes my skin crawl so bad.
"Ivy!"
I scowled, turning to face the devil herself. "What?"
"You left your jacket", she said, a sly smile on her face. I narrowed my eyes at her hand as she held out my jacket for me to take.
"It's okay, Ivy", she chuckled, mockingly. "I won't bite."
I raised my eyebrows, "I might."
I walked up to her, snatching my jacket from her and not forgetting to give her a cold stare, successfully making her squirm. I stared at the skin on her cheek, reminiscing the time I gave her the scar which lay on it.
I gave her that scar when she cheated on Dad. She deserved what I did to her, and more.
"Will?", she spoke up in a quiet, scared voice.
"Ivy, back off. Your eyes, they're scaring her", he told me off, putting his arm between me and Caroline.
He was probably referring to my now dilated eyes.
I didn't waste another second and walked off, knowing now that Dad was here I wouldn't be able to do anything to her anyways.
I waited around for them still, not wanting to leave Caesar alone. Dad was putting his leash on, despite how many times I told him to stop. He wasn't a pet, he was my brother. It was a fact Dad seemed to have forgotten thanks to a certain somebody.
He handed the leash to Caroline before walking up to me on his own. I leaned back against the tree behind me, sighing when I knew a lecture was coming.
"Knock it off Ivy. Your anger issues are getting out of hand, we both know that, but you don't take it out on Carol. I mean it", he scolded me. I looked everywhere but at him when he was telling me off, knowing if I did I would give in to his demands.
But even Dad knew that. "Hey, look at me. Say you'll leave her alone, Ivy."
I looked at him, "I'll leave her alone," I mumbled, looking away immediately.
"There's no use with you", he sighed in anger, running his hand through his hair.
I narrowed my eyes, "What do you mean!"
"Your ears are red", he told me, walking back to Caroline.
My eyes widened before I grinned to myself. Of course they were red. I guess I just can't lie to Dad, even if I tried.
My flippin' ears wouldn't allow it.
We set off once again, but only managed to make it a few steps before another family appeared in front of us. They were heading towards the bridge which led back into the woods.
What caused my hairs to stand on edge though, was the fact that they had a dog with them.
I hate dogs.
I scrunched my nose up in disgust and stood dead still. The dog looked at me in curiosity, copying my stiff stance. It edged closer to me and sniffed, its eyes making contact with mine.
"Ivy, come on", Dad said from behind me.
I narrowed my eyes at it, a slight growl coming out of my throat when it refused to break eye contact with me.
The dog then started barking, but at someone next to me. I turned my head slightly to see that Caesar was only walking past, but stopped at the sound of the dog.
The dog was relentless. It barked and then barked some more, leaping towards Caesar as his owner tried to hold him back with his leash. The dog's attention kept switching between me and Caesar, unsure of who the bigger threat was. I rolled my eyes at the dumb mutt. They were so overrated.
"Woof woof you ugly bitch", I told it, earning a gasp from the adults around me. I heard Dad sigh, knowing he was getting angry now.
"Ivy, Caesar. Come on", Dad urged us again. I turned my back to the dog and walked a few steps away from it. Caesar, however, refused to walk off. The dog kept barking and Dad kept yanking at Caesar's leash to get him to move away.
I opened my mouth to tell Dad to stop yanking on the leash so hard, but before I said a word, a loud snarl interrupted me.
Caesar.
The dog began whimpering and ran off with its tail between its legs. I diverted my attention back to Caesar, and he was pissed.
I had never seen him so angry before. Actually come to think of it, I'd never seen him angry full stop.
He walked straight past us, not making eye contact with any of us and lead us back to the car. I jogged up to Caesar, walking alongside him as I matched his quickened pace.
"You okay, Caesar?", I asked him. I'm not gonna lie I was a little worried. Nothing like that had ever happened before with Caesar and so making sure if he was okay was priority for me right now.
"I'm fine. That dog pissed me off", he signed to me.
I chuckled at that. "Pissed me off too. Don't worry about it, it's just a dumb mutt."
He nodded and side smiled at me, but it didn't reach his eyes. He seemed pretty worked up about it, but I let him be for the rest of the walk back.
"Caesar, come on", Dad beckoned him over. He untied his leash and opened up the door of the boot for Caesar to get in.
I was stood with my own door open as I flung my bag into the car whilst I put my jacket on. A few moments passed and Caesar just stood there, not getting in the back.
"You getting in?", Dad asked him. He looked down to meet Caesar's eye but he simply looked away in annoyance.
Caesar began to walk away from the back of the car, and then opened the door on the opposite side to me. He sat in the car and closed the door behind himself, waiting for the rest of us to get in.
Dad looked surprised. Hell, even I was surprised. Was it the dog thing that brought this on?
I sat in my own seat next to Caesar and shut the door behind me. I kept my gaze on Caesar. He looked troubled to say the least.
Dad walked up to the window beside Caesar, "You okay, pal?"
Caesar began signing, ignoring his question. "Am I a pet?"
"Are you a pet?", Dad said back. "No. You're not a pet."
Sure as hell don't act like it, do you Dad?
Caesar signed again. "Who is my father?"
My heart dropped at his questions. He was upset and confused, and it pained me to see him like this.
"I am your father", Dad replied, pointing to himself. At this point, Dad seemed pretty concerned and upset too. I know even he hated to see Caesar like this.
No matter how much I might hate him for Caroline, he was still the most amazing Dad to both me and Caesar that we could ever wish for. He cared a lot about us and was just such a kind human being. I always told him that he was too kind, which is why people like Caroline walked all over him. Of course he never believed me and was too blind with his love for Caroline to listen to what I had to say.
That, and a few other things.
I watched as Caesar hesitated before asking the next question. He lifted his hands and signed.
"What is Caesar?", Dad repeated back. He was definitely worried now.
"Okay", he said, before getting into the drivers seat and driving off without another word said.
After a 20 minute drive, Dad stopped in front of his workplace. Gen-Sys labs.
For the next 10 minutes, Dad told Caesar his story. I knew that Caesar was born at the lab and that Dad snuck him home to save his life. I knew his mother had died, but what I didn't know was that Caesar was an experiment too.
He had an experimental drug in his system just as I did now. Caesar made eye contact with me at the mention of the drug and I looked away from him. Apparently that drug was what made him so much smarter than the other chimps.
It was also the 'medicine' that Dad gave to Grandpa all those years ago.
I wasn't sure what it was, but something about this place made me so uneasy. I just wanted to go home.
"Let's take them home", Caroline spoke up for the first time.
And for once, I agreed.
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+++SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT READERS+++
So basically, you know how I used to ask for a certain number of votes, comments etc. for me to update the next chapter?
F*ck that shit imma upload whenever I want now.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS.
I feel bad for you lot who read my chapters all the time and have to wait so long for the next one, so this is for you guys.
ALSO
what did ya think about this chapter? :')
LEMME KNOW 'KAY!?