Chapter 59

Chapter 59

Ren awkwardly shifted his weight on his feet. He clenched and unclenched his fists, looking around the room for something to focus on. He could have bailed completely and followed his mom upstairs, but he couldn't bring his feet to move. He was a deer caught in headlights and those headlights were Ashton's eyes.

They weren't glowing red or anything. They weren't even glaring at him like he'd become accustomed to. That might have been easier to tolerate. He could have glared back at Ashton or maybe given him a snark look before—again—running after his mom. But he couldn't do either of those things because his stupid body wouldn't unfreeze itself.

Ren tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but he couldn't even do that. The first few times he tried to swallow he couldn't fulfill the motion. He panicked for a second, thinking that he was about to choke, but on the second try, he got it down.

He must have looked like an idiot with his stupid eyes wide. Embarrassment went through him like lightening and he wished that he could melt into the floor.

Ashton didn't seem to notice that Ren was dying on the inside or that he was having a mental breakdown. He was simply looking back at Ren like he was thinking about something.

Slowly, his eyes looked Ren up and down before they settled completely on Ren's face.

Ren let out a nervous laugh. He rubbed his neck. "Uh—I don't know what to say."

He didn't need to say anything really. It would have been better if he kept his mouth shut and ran away to never see Ashton again. They could do that. Until they found a way to break the bond they could go their separate ways and pretend that the other didn't exist.

Ashton's almost blank eyes blinked.

"I don't think there's much to be said."

Ren's face flushed.

The look on Ashton's face now was one of contempt. It was like he was looking at a bug stuck on the bottom of his shoe and Ren was that bug.

Ren's gut clenched. He couldn't really feel the thing, but he could remember how angry it usually got and that's what he was feeling right then. He wished he could get that angry once more. Just angry enough to say "fuck you" to Ashton and maybe throw a punch at his face.

He didn't want to feel this defeated when he didn't deserve it.

Okay. Maybe he did deserve some of it. It was kinda his fault that the Hunter Society had been lead to the Mantel's house and he'd been the one to kill the Hunters back at the HS Headquarters. But the HS was going to try and kill them eventually. It wasn't like he'd been doing all this on purpose.

He couldn't get angry. He was just ashamed. He was a stupid puppy with its tail between his legs.

He nodded.

"Let's make a deal. We stay out of each others way and we never speak of this again," he said. His voice betrayed him, shaking at the end like just voicing his thoughts was going to get him accosted.

He forced himself to look Ashton in the eyes. When he did, he thought the world was going to crumble around him. His stomach sank and he had to clench his hands to keep him anchored. He hated that Ashton could almost drive him to tears with just existing. Ren hated him so much for it too.

"That sounds great." Ashton crossed his arms. He stared back at Ren. The look on his face became unreadable, but it was still unsettling.

Ren thought Ashton hated him when they first met. That didn't even start to compare to the hatred brewing in his eyes now. All because Ren was part witch. He was still the same person he was before, but because his blood came from a certain group that somehow made things different between them.

And it was that startling realization that finally put it all in perspective for Ren. At first, he didn't truly understand on what side he stood on. He'd always dealt with not fitting into one group or the other. He wasn't human nor was he a vampire. He just was never enough—too soiled to be part of either group.

But now he understood. He was his mother's son. He was a witch and that was the only side that had ever welcomed him with wide-arms. He would choose his mother's side.

Ren didn't want Ashton's approval anymore. He didn't want the approval of humans or vampires. They didn't care about him like they should. They didn't respect him and they wouldn't care if he died. And he wouldn't give a flying fuck about them in return.

All the excuses he made for Ashton no longer amounted to anything. The good he thought he saw in Ashton fell away to reveal this horrible person standing in front of him right now.

Ren couldn't stomach to look at him any longer. He averted his eyes, anger brewing, but cooling in the next second. Ashton didn't deserve his anger. None of the Mantels did. And it wasn't like his fluctuating emotions were going to make a difference.

He hated how weak he felt when he turned his back. But Ashton was right about the fact that there was nothing left to say between them. As many times as he had to remind himself that they weren't anything to each other he thought he would know that by now. Still, he was holding out on someone that didn't care about him.

His feet were numb as he ascended the staircase. He clenched his teeth as he remembered the horrid look in Ashton's eyes. He wanted so badly to turn around and actually give Ashton a reason to look at him like that. It would be a waste of his time and energy. Nothing would be able to change Ashton's mind.

As he walked down the hall, his mom popped her head from one of the many rooms. Her bright smile felt so out of place in the gloomy mansion.

"Hey! Come check this one out." Her head popped back into the room a second later.

Ren let out a snort. It was all he could muster in his sour mood, but he was glad she was having some sort of fun. It was better than her still being angry at him.

He slowly stopped in front of the open door. The room was as large as their entire house, including the small upstairs. Three large windows—each rounded at the top—overlooked the back yard. The cream colored curtains were pulled back, letting in the small amount of sunlight into the spacious room.

Adjacent to the windows, to the right, was a huge bed that even rivaled Ashton's. The pillows looked like they could be made into a bed of their own there were so many of them. The comforter was a golden color with even darker gold accents sewn in. To the other side of the room there was a bathroom with its door open and its light on. The tiles were black and white, the walls a neutral floral pattern, and the sink and bathtub were porcelain.

Everything looked like it had come straight out of a victorian history book.

As nice as it was, Ren scrunched his nose. "Its all a bit...dusty."

Margret rolled her eyes with a laugh. "Of course its going to all be. No ones been in these rooms for decades. I highly doubt Renin or Antinette care enough to dust. Old Mantel used to have a servant for that."

Renin and Antinette. Their names rolled off her tongue like it hadn't been years since she said them. Ren furrowed his brows as he looked at Margret, really looked at her like he was going to be tested in the near future. With her back turned toward him, she pretended to not know she was being watched. The way her shoulders tensed as she lifted up the comforter, looking at the sheets beneath, gave it away that she knew he was staring at her.

"Hm," she said, pulling the sheets completely away, exposing the cream belly of the large bed. "These have got to be washed."

Ren ripped his hard gaze away from her and turned it toward the sheets she was referring to. In doing so, he stopped trying to figure her out. Her secrets would come out one by one though they couldn't come soon enough. He just felt helpless when he was in the dark.

She looked up, holding the comforter up to show him. She stilled when she looked at him. He tried to hide the fear on his face, tried to bundle it up and bury it to the darkest depths of himself. There were just things he couldn't hide from Margret. Like him, she could sense his feelings, and he supposed that was because she'd given him this gift.

Though, it was more like a curse than a gift. He wasn't ever going to tell her that though. It wasn't her fault he'd been born this way. But, he guessed, she could have ended his sorry life before it truly started.

On some level, he blamed her for that. The only fault she truly had.

Ren looked at her ear instead of looking directly in her eyes. She tilted her head, knowing already that he was trying to deflect.

"I wouldn't worry about anything just yet." She turned back to the bedding. She roughly stripped it off, ripping the sheets off like they had personally offended her. "We'll worry about it all when it's actually happening. For now, we take a break."

Ren's throat felt tight. "I can't stop thinking about it. Mom—"

The tears sprung in his eyes. He licked his lips, willing them away, blinking as if that would help. He tried to swallow, but he couldn't get it down. A sob broke the silence and the dam shattered.

Warm and strong arms wrapped around him. He was pulled into his mom's tight embrace. He hugged her back, wishing that he was smaller so that she could lift him up and cradle him to her chest like she used to. In an instant, he reverted back to being a toddler in her loving arms. She even smelled the same. Sweet floral that brought back memories he didn't know he'd forgotten.

She rubbed his back. Her fingers rubbed circles over his spine exactly like she used to. His eyes fluttered closed. His breathing slowed and all that was left of his sobs were sporadic hiccups that shook his entire body. He felt weightless in her arms. As she cradled him, rocking from side to side, it hit him that as much as he missed his childhood, she had been torn away from hers too early.

She patted his back. "Feeling better?"

"Hm," he answered, not bothering to move. He wanted to stay here until he fell asleep. It wouldn't take much longer.

"Okay. Come on. You're not as small as you were."

Yeah. That was the problem.

Reluctantly, he let her go. She steered him to sit on the edge of the bed, her hands lingering on his shoulders. She smiled. Her soft eyes looked down at him.

"I'm proud of you," she said. "I might not say it, but I am."

A small smile spread over his lips. However, it didn't meet his eyes.

With a sigh, she walked away. "I'm going to locate the washer."

He listened to her footsteps until they faded into the distance. His focus shifted to the large windows in front of him. The near trees were so close that he was able to make out individual needles. Between the radiant green pines, he saw glimpses of the forest floor. He stared at the beautiful picture for a prolonged moment.

Just as he was zoning out, he felt an abrupt pull that was just as foreign as it was familiar.

He jolted forward, falling off the bed and onto his knees. His breath was ripped from his lungs. His mouth fell open as he gasped for breath. He grappled at his throat, hands squeezing as his face turned red. His eyes widened as the green forest turned dark and as red as blood. The scent in the air turned sweet and metallic.

Then, a force of breath was knocked into him. He gasped and fell to his hands.

Ren...Ren...

He jerked his head up.

Come to me...Ren...Ren...

The deep voice of a man rang in his head. It was soft yet loud to the point that it made his head throb.

"Who are you?" He asked shakily.

Come to me...

The dark monster inside of him yearned to be united with the voice.

United?

Ren's eyes widened with shock.

The red filter covering his vision disappeared abruptly like a switch was being flipped. The forest turned back to green and the monster inside of him receded back in him.

"Ren?"

Margret rushed over to him. "Are you hurt?"

She pulled him back to the bed.

"I'm fine," he croaked out.

He wasn't looking at her. He was still staring at the forest and beyond that to the mountain.

For now, he was fine. But he knew, whatever was inside of him wasn't content. He didn't know how much longer it would be fine being trapped within him.

He feared the day it would break free and reunite with whatever was pulling him to the mountain.

Until then, he would ignorantly pretend he was fine.

The End of Book 1

A/N: It's finally finished! Thank you for everyone that as stuck around since the beginning of this book. It's been a long five years! I'm going to wait until around March to start writing the second book so it'll give me time to write the outline. Be sure to follow me to know when it comes out :)

Again, thank you so much for reading!