Reunion II

Aria looked at the gash on Sinbad's shoulder. He had blocked a strike for her when she had her back to the zombies and had gotten injured. For some reason, the injury was taking a little more time to heal. "That was unnecessary," she commented. Sinbad looked a little hurt. "Do you have to be so thorny?" "Thorny? That's the first time I've been called that... it's quite fitting." Sinbad pulled a strip of cloth from his pocket and tied up the gash. "Why don't we get together first? If you still hate my guts in... what, three months, then we can break up." Aria leveled him with a bored look. "I don't think you want to be involved with a short-lived ghost." "What!?" "Nothing much," she smiled mysteriously. "Your precious goddess Selena who 'mated' us has cursed me to die soon without hope for reincarnation." "What!?" Sinbad looked stricken. He was confused and seemed not to believe her. Aria caught his look of distrust with a smirk. "Do as you wish, three months, right? Either way, I don't care; I'll be dead before the end anyway." "Aria," Garsam called and waved. She stepped over corpses without the slightest bit of discomfort and reached Aria. She pulled the other girl's hand. "It's been a week since we last saw, how is Sue?" "She's still asleep." Garsam frowned. "Oh no." "Don't worry, she's fine, just... waking up might take a while." Garsam patted her hand. "I'm sure she will; I'll drop by later today." Garsam's interaction with Aria didn't go unnoticed by Sinbad. It was clearly two girls chatting, but since Sinbad didn't know Garsam's true gender, it came off as Garsam flirting with Aria. Sinbad's expression didn't look too good. Aria reveled in his annoyance. She knew he would misunderstand. Garsam finally turned to Sinbad. "Oh hey, how are you? Your ma had roughed you up pretty good." Sinbad's face darkened, and he pursed his lips. Other than apologizing to Aria, he didn't want to discuss 'that' woman with anyone else. Instead, he pulled Aria to his side and gave Garsam a smug look. "I'm fine as long as she's with me." Aria scoffed. Garsam raised a suggestive brow. "That's good then; have fun you two." *** Mrs. Andrews squeezed her husband's hand as they rode into Clearwater Pack. The guards at the border had confirmed their identity before letting them in. Mr. Andrews had commented that things were not this strict when they first came; otherwise, he would have found it odd and realized what this place was. Mr. Andrews pointed out the way to their house. It was difficult at first because he had barely gotten used to the roads before he was kidnapped. When the dark van stopped in front of the house, the door opened. Aria came out carrying a big backpack. She adjusted the bag and locked the door behind her. As she climbed down the steps, she noticed the black van. Mrs. Andrews didn't wait and pulled open the door; her husband climbed down after her. Aria was stunned to see her mom. Sure, her mom had told her she would escape, but she didn't think it would happen so fast; she had even been planning to ask for help from Alpha Kain to save her parents. The father and mother pulled their frozen daughter into a tight hug. Until she felt the warmth of their bodies, Aria finally dared to believe it. Her parents had returned, safe and sound. Her eyes stung with tears, and she sobbed quietly into her mom's shoulder. "Hush, it's okay, love," Mrs. Andrews patted her back; tears stung her own eyes. Mr. Andrews watched both mother and daughter with a loving look. Sigh, they were finally together again. Aria took her mom to the hospital. After she told her Sue was sick, Mrs. Andrews had been anxious and had wanted to see Sue immediately. Aria tried to reassure her several times, but her words fell on deaf ears. It didn't matter; her mom will see Sue and be sure of her good health, then she would naturally calm down. When they got to the hospital, Aria took them up to Sue's room. Jerry was by her bed playing games on his phone. He looked up when the door opened and froze. The phone fell from his hand. "Mom?" His voice quivered. He shot up from his seat like a bullet and barreled into Mrs. Andrews. She caught her son in a firm hug. "My baby," she cooed. Jerry felt the familiar embrace and sniffed back tears. Mr. Andrews looked at his son and stretched his hand to rub his hair. After ruffling his hair good-naturedly, Mr. Andrews placed his palm on Jerry's forehead and pushed. Jerry's head was pushed away while his arms still hugged his mom. "Leave my wife alone," Mr. Andrews grunted. "Dad," Jerry complained. Aria watched them with a happy grin. They finally made their way to the bed. Mrs. Andrews touched her first daughter's face. She closed her eyes and hummed. When she opened her eyes, she sighed in relief. "She's just asleep; she must have been exhausted." As they watched Sue, Jerry regaled them with exaggerated tales of their adventure. Aria felt her stomach grumble and realized it was past lunchtime. "I'll go get us some food," she announced before leaving. When she stepped out still grinning, her expression froze when she saw several people standing outside Ivy's doors. She walked over and saw Ivy had been unplugged from her machines and was being wheeled out of the room. "Stop!" She ordered. "What are you doing!?" The people in the room turned to her. A man and woman stood out the most. The man in a hooded fur coat and dark eyes stared down at her. The woman beside him had cascading white hair, not as resplendent as the Acabi's, it framed her small face and made her icy blue eyes glow. She was smiling but Aria could tell it didn't reach her eyes. "Who are you?" The man asked. His voice was literally music to the ears; Aria was startled for a second. She shook her head. "I should be asking you the same thing! Where are you taking Ivy? You don't look like doctors." The man waved to the men who had been pushing Ivy's bed. "Continue." Aria's expression hardened. How dare they kidnap in broad daylight. She tapped into her Acabi power, and her dark hair slowly turned grey. And one eye became a striking shade of violet. Ivy's hair on the bed also slowly turned grey. This did not go unnoticed by the man and woman. The man gave her a curious look. Aria stretched her hand and knocked on the room next door. "Jerry!" She yelled. Her brother came out in a second. He took in the situation and frowned. "Run down in a second and get Garsam!" Jerry didn't ask questions and took off. Aria continued blocking the door. "If you want to take her, you have to go through us first!" "Are you the twin sister?" The man asked. "You can come with us if you're worried." "I'll ask for the last time, who. are. you?" The man answered. "My name is Tomas, and I am her mate." Aria, who had been prepared to blast them out of the room, deflated. "Who?" The sound of running footsteps echoed in the corridor. Garsam looked at Aria's battle stance and peeped into the room. "What the hell is going on here?" She asked. Aria answered with a dull look. "He said he's her mate and he wants to take her away." Garsam scoffed. "Why the fuck should we care; he can't take her anyway!" Aria smirked. "I was about to say the same thing." Garsam's hair was already white, and both eyes violet. It didn't take a genius to figure out they three were connected somehow.