Chapter 5

The pain suddenly stopped, and the voice spoke. ‘I apologize. That was not intentional. As I’ve mentioned, I get angry easily and I can’t always control what I do when I’m angry, sugar.’

‘You need to learn!’ Indianna shouted. ‘God, you can’t keep doing that!’

‘Go home, and I pinkie-promise that I’ll work on it.’

‘You’re crazy!’

‘Go home!’

‘No!’

‘I won’t tell you again.’

‘Tell me who you are, and I’ll go home,’ Indianna said, attempting to reason with the voice.

The voice scoffed. ‘Not happening.’

‘Then I’m not going home.’

‘I can make the pain worse, sugar. Don’t make me.’

‘You’re blackmailing me?’ Indianna gasped.

‘You are in no fit state to be at school. If blackmail is what it takes, then that’s what I’ll do.’

‘You’re evil.’

‘I’m trying to look out for you.’

‘By hurting me?’

‘Are you going to go home?’

‘No,’ Indianna said stubbornly.

The pain that appeared in her head was sharp, and Indianna gasped, doubling over. It didn’t last long, and when the pain disappeared, Indianna noticed Brooklyn crouched in front of her, her eyebrows furrowed in concern.

“Indianna, sweet, what’s wrong? Are you in pain?”

“My head,” Indianna whimpered and groaned. She pulled herself up. “I had a really bad pain in my head.”

“I have painkillers if you need them,” Brooklyn suggested.

“Thank you, but no, they won’t work. It’s gone now.”

‘I don’t like hurting you, sugar. I don’t want to.’

‘Then don’t!’

‘It’s extremely hard to control, especially when I’m trying to help you and you’re not listening.’

‘Help me by leaving me alone!’

Indianna groaned in frustration and rubbed her head. She refused to let the voice in her head win. She would not go home.

“Maybe I should get the nurse?” Brooklyn said, looking at Indianna unsurely.

“P-Please don’t, I’m fine.”

“Lessons have started,” Brooklyn said softly. She took in Indianna’s appearance—it was easy to tell that she was ill. “You really don’t look well at the moment.”

“I’m fine.”

“You seem to say that a lot, sweet,” Brooklyn said. “I’m starting to think that you aren’t actually fine.”

“But I am—”

“No, you’re not. You’re ill. You need to go home and rest.”

‘You should listen to her, she’s right. Don’t make me force you, sugar. Neither of us will like it.’

Indianna sighed and nodded. “Fine, you win,” she whispered—but she wasn’t talking to Brooklyn. “I’ll go home.”

***

Indianna had been home for a few hours. She had spent the whole time lying on the couch in the lounge, feeling like death. She was trying to sleep when the doorbell rang, and Indianna groaned, the loud bell making her head hurt. Her mother was in the kitchen, and Indianna heard footsteps as Iris walked through the house and opened the front door.

“Hello, Mrs. Hughs.”

Indianna suddenly became very alert when she heard his voice.

“I’m a friend of Indianna’s. I just wanted to check in and see how she was doing.”

“That’s very kind of you. I’m glad she’s making friends,” Iris said. “What did you say your name was again?”

“I didn’t.”

There was a silence, and then Iris spoke cautiously. “You seem awfully familiar.”

“I’m sure I do.”

“What is your name?”

“Greyson Evans.”

Iris gasped, and Indianna heard a thud. “You need to leave.”

“That’s not very polite, Mrs. Hughs. My foot now hurts. Why don’t you open the door fully and let me in?”

“Get out,” Iris said firmly, and Indianna, surprisingly, found herself agreeing with her mother. She couldn’t face Greyson right now. She had spent the majority of her time at home comparing his voice with the one in her head. She couldn’t stop thinking about how similar they were.

“Let’s have a chat, Iris,” Greyson said, talking to Iris like he knew her. Indianna heard his voice get closer, and she closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.

“Indianna is sleeping. You should leave,” Iris said as she followed Greyson into the lounge. He looked over at Indianna and then at Iris.

“Please, leave—”

“Sit, Iris,” Greyson commanded and took a seat. He gestured to the couch beside him.

“What do you want, Greyson?” Iris asked meekly.

“I want an explanation.”

“You’re not getting one.”

“I get what I want,” Greyson snapped. “The more I understand, the easier it will be for her.”

“I can deal with her when the time comes. We don’t need your help.”

“You do, Iris. This is going to happen to her very soon. She didn’t randomly get ill. It’s time.”

“No, it’s too soon!” Iris gasped.

“No, it’s not.”

“She’s nearly eighteen. She has time—”

“She does not.”

“Yes, she does!” Iris said, her voice rising in panic.

“Do not raise your voice at me, Iris,” Greyson warned. “I am here to help.”

Iris sighed and shook her head. She looked at her daughter. “We shouldn’t have come here.”

“Did you really think you could help her go through this just by yourself?” Greyson asked.

“Yes, I did.”

“Then you are stupid,” Greyson scoffed, and Iris gasped. “You are a fool if you believed you could help her.”

“How dare you—”

“How dare you!” Greyson growled. “You’ve come onto my land with her, and you expect us not to bother you? It’s my duty to look after my own. Pack or not. The moment you crossed the border into this town, you signed her over to us. You can’t get her through this. She belongs with us.”

“W-What? No!” Iris cried. “H-How?”

“You two belong to no one. She needs a pack, and you happened to move to a town where there is a very powerful one. Mine. I can choose who I want in my pack, and when the time comes, she will join mine. You have no say in the matter, Iris.”

“You can’t do that! She’s my daughter!”

Greyson raised his eyebrows, shrugging his shoulders. “And?”

“We’re leaving. You won’t have to worry about us. We’ll leave tomorrow.”

Greyson laughed. “Don’t be a fool, Iris. If you try to leave this town, you will never see her again. I promise you that.”

“You’re evil! You can’t do that!”

“I’m just trying to look out for her. I’m being nice and giving you time with her, but she’s going to find it hard once the time comes, and you won’t see her as often.”

“You can’t do this!” Iris pleaded.

“Do not push my boundaries, Iris. You know who I am, so you know that I’m not always this nice. Accept the time I’m giving you with her.”

“She’s scarred,” her mother whispered. “Please.”

“Her wrist.”

“Not just physically. Mentally,” Iris said. “She’s been through a lot. This is going to be too much for her. I’m guessing because you know who I am, you are aware of what happened to us?”

“I am.”

“The attack changed her,” Iris said. “She used to be so full of life. She was confident and so bubbly and friendly with everyone. She may have been little, but she had such a big personality. When the attack happened… she became a shell of who she was. I lost my daughter that day, Greyson. She’s not good with new people. You can’t just shove this life onto her.”

“I’ll deal with her. She’ll be fine.”

“She won’t. I’m her mother, and I can’t even get through to her anymore. I know I’ve not been the best over the years, but I’m trying now, but she wants nothing to do with me.”

“Trust me, Iris, she’ll be fine with me. I’ll get her through this.”

Iris paused and narrowed her eyes at Greyson. “Why? Why are you interested in her?”

Greyson looked over, and Indianna sighed. “I think you know.”

Indianna twitched, and she felt both Greyson and her mother’s eyes on her.

“She’s waking up,” Iris said, and Indianna knew that pretending to be asleep was over.

Indianna opened her eyes and blinked, staring at Greyson, who was staring directly at her with his arms crossed over his chest.

“W-What are you doing here?” she asked, sitting up on the couch.

“I came to see how you were,” Greyson told her.

“I’m fine.”

“I think that’s a lie.”

“Greyson, you’ve seen her. You can leave now,” Iris said. “She needs to rest.”

Greyson raised his eyebrows at Iris, almost warningly, but he stood from his seat.

“I hope you feel better, Indie,” he said. “I’ll see you soon.”

Indianna fell back onto the couch and rubbed her eyes. She was glad that the exchange with Greyson didn’t last for long because now her head was hurting even more. She was extremely confused.

Iris looked at Indianna questioningly. “He’s your friend?”

“No,” Indianna answered immediately, “he’s not.”

“Then why would he check up on you?”

“He beat a guy up today in front of me, and he must have felt bad,” Indianna shrugged.

“You need to stay away from him, Indianna.”

“Since when do you care about me, Mum?” Indianna snapped suddenly. “Why do you suddenly care? You’ve been distant for years. You can’t decide out of the blue to start being a decent mother again.”

“I do care about you, Indianna,” Iris said softly. “Please know that.”

Indianna sighed and stood up, fanning herself with her hands.

“Do you?” Indianna questioned and headed for the door. “That’s nice to know.”

Indianna made her way to her room and sat down on the windowsill, opening the window wide in hopes the cool air would soothe her burning skin.

She thought back on the conversation she had overheard and frowned, trying to connect the dots, but she was clueless. She so desperately wanted to sleep, but she knew that her thoughts would keep her wide awake now. She wanted answers. Her mother was hiding something from her, and Greyson knew things about Indianna that she didn’t know herself.

How?

Indianna sighed when she felt pressure forming in her head, and she knew that the voice was back.

‘What do you want?’ she asked before he had a chance to talk.

‘That’s not a very nice greeting, sugar.’

‘I’m not in the mood.’

‘Well, I was going to supply you with some answers, but seeing you’re like this, I think I’ll leave it.’

‘No!’ Indianna shouted. ‘What were you going to tell me?’

‘It can wait.’

‘Tell me!’

‘Why should I, sugar?’

‘Because I deserve to know something! Anything! Even my mother is keeping secrets from me! My head is all over the place, and I’m freaking out!’

‘I didn’t think you were really asleep.’

Indianna froze, her breath getting caught in her throat.

‘It’s you. It really is you.’

‘I said I’d give you some answers, sugar.’

Indianna gripped the windowsill, steadying herself. She had a feeling that it was him, but she was still shocked to say his name. Indianna swallowed nervously.

‘Greyson?’

‘Hello, Indie.’