A Girl Alone

6 years ago, at the Mackenzie residence

“Motherfucker!” Amelia exclaimed as soon as she entered her house, slamming the door behind her in the process.

Her aunt Margaret was in the kitchen preparing their supper; when she heard her niece’s outcry, she turned around and saw a thrown backpack fly towards the corridor. After her sister’s ****, she chose to assume the role of Amelia’s guardian. Peter had chosen to stay in Scotland to train and learn; there was no way the clan would allow his twin to return alone to Springfield. Margaret volunteered, though at the time she didn’t actually know what it would entail and how long they’d stay in the US.

“What happened, sweety?” she asked when she saw the girl slumped on the sofa on the verge of tears.

“Stupid ass John,” was all Amelia could say just before she started crying.

“What about him? What did he do?” Margaret asked after she sat beside her.

The girl told her aunt about the day’s events and that Vanessa had somehow made John break up their friendship.

“I am sorry to hear that, sweety,” Margaret tried to console her. “But I believe this is a good thing.”

“What are you talking about?” Amelia stared at her aunt surprised by what she just heard. “How is this any good? How is it good that John betrays my trust when I need him the most?”

“Trust me, I know you don’t see this now,” Margaret kept calm while trying to reason with her niece. “But what happened to your parents is the scaling up of activities from our enemies. We can’t afford to have John or his family being targeted. This, at least for now, works for the better.”

“So, what do I do now? I am all alone,” Amelia asked.

“Nothing, as far as the world is concerned,” Margaret answered the girl. “Live a normal life, let him live his. And you’re not really alone, you have me. I came here with you, left everyone behind because I care for you.”

“But Aunt Margaret.”

“Hasn't your mom taught you anything? I know you’re a smart girl, you need to be patient and think,” Margaret suggested in a tone similar to that of her sister when Amelia was being stubborn. “Now, I've been told that you're getting quite good at your skills, use them.”

The irony in this whole situation was very evident. Amelia had always complained about having to leave John when her time to serve her clan would arrive, but it was him that had actually left her. She felt that everyone was leaving her, first her parents, then her brother when he decided to stay in Scotland and now John for trying to protect her from their rivals. Even with Margaret beside her, she felt that she was now a girl alone.

When she entered her room, all she felt like doing was crying. She took a photo of her mother from her desk and asked her, “Mom, what do I do now?” To her surprise, a message flashed on her glasses, as if her mother was answering her. The message told her that John too was suffering with all that happened. “Right,” she said lifting her spirits. “You’re not getting away from me that easily.”

Present day at Amelia’s house

Amelia arrived at her house under different circumstances than on that day 6 years ago. Her mind raced trying to figure out what to do. It was now obvious to her that she should approach John and it was going to have to be soon.

If her teacher’s reprimand for not doing anything wasn’t enough, the bombardment of information she got from his ring would have done the trick.

There was a time span that she didn’t receive anything from it; this left her in an agitated state as she wondered what was happening to John. Because of her agitation, Mrs. Wentworth had to reprimand her again another two times during class. That was something unheard of till this day; everyone of her classmates kept whispering trying to figure out what was going on. This annoyed their teacher to no end.

She nearly jumped from the desk the moment the ring started sending messages again. The messages kept on arriving, telling her that he was fine and continued to do so even when he returned from Scotland after Mrs. Wentworth's class ended; this time showing her that he had gotten stronger. Just before she arrived at her house, she received one last message; that was when he had another slight surge in power.

While lying on her bed, all she could think about was that it was all going too fast. She never realized that he could achieve so much in just two days. It was true that he still was somewhat weak, but the rate of his progression was something that she didn’t think was possible.

She was at first extremely happy for his newfound powers; this changed when she was warned that he was under attack in a barrier inside the school. She feared it was one of her clan’s enemies. When the next warning identified that three Bauchans were his opponents, she felt it was proof of her fears coming true.

Now, she had to decide, does she go to him and tell him everything or does she wait for her brother to come back?

Once again she got the answer from an unlikely source as a message from her phone flashed on her glasses: “Hey, Sis, I am sorry but I have to delay my return. You won’t believe what John just did. I’ll tell you about it later tonight. Love you.”

“Oh well, I guess I’ll have to do it by myself,” she said after answering her brother’s message. “Tonight it is then.”

At John’s house

While he dressed to go to the Hunter’s Camp, John hoped that he could not only check in on Mico but also maybe talk some more with Miranda and Arnold; maybe they could help him train or at least help him out with some gear. He figured he had enough money to buy something.

As he was about to leave his room, he realized he actually didn’t know how to get to the Camp. Luckily, Cynthia had given him her phone number just before he left the day before. It was probably a good idea to call her anyway; he wasn’t really a member of the Camp to be able to come and go when he wanted. He picked up his phone and called her.

“Whoever this is, now is not a good time,” Cynthia whispered on her phone when she answered the call.

“Hey, Cynthia. It’s John,” he said quickly, hoping she wouldn’t hang up on him before he had a chance to say anything. “You gave me your number yesterday.”

“John, like I said, now is not a good time unless it’s something important,” she told him still whispering on the phone obviously trying to make as little noise as possible. “I am in the forest about to kill my prey. Make it quick.”

“I was hoping to visit your camp and see how Mico is doing, but I don’t know how to get there,” he told her his reason for calling. “Since you’re busy, maybe Arnold could help me?”

“Sorry, he’s busy too,” she answered him. “We have a little competition between us going on to see who makes the best kill. He even left his pet at the camp to even the odds,” she continued trying her best not to show her now increasing lack of patience. “Don’t worry about Mico, he’s fine; Mimi is taking good care of him.” She chuckled.

I hope that chuckle means she’s joking, John thought as he felt a little bit of worry for his pet being taken care of by a gorgon child. Unfortunately, Cynthia’s prey heard the noise she made and took off on a run before she could do anything about it.

“Damn it! My prey escaped,” she exclaimed. “You just cost me almost an hour's worth of tracking. I hope you’re happy.” She hung up on him before he could apologize.

John stared at his phone not knowing what to do; the only thing he was sure about was not to call her back in the hope of not making things worse. He prayed that she wouldn’t stay mad at him for long.

I guess all that is left for me to do is to play on my computer, Caile should be home by now, he hoped as he messaged his friend to ask her if she was up to it; he waited a while for her reply, but there wasn’t an answer.