Page 31 of Stalked

I then heard a whisper from Leah’s lips. “Now.”

CHAPTER 10

I REACHED OUTmy hands and grabbed my mom’s wrists. She immediately resisted, as if she knew what was happening. My skin felt like it was on fire against hers—the searing pain burning at my flesh.

She tried hard to pull away, but I was surprisingly stronger. The windows in the room shattered, scattering shards of glass all over the floor, and my mom’s eyes grew black, like the night she tried to take my life.

“Let me go, Mercy. You don’t know what you’re doing!” She twisted her wrists from my grip, then wrapped her fingers around my own hands and squeezed against them until I felt every bone in my hands snap into pieces. Her sudden burst of strength was incredible, and I struggled to hold on under the waves of pain.

Fuck!

I let out a scream.

The pain. Oh, my God, the pain.

Leah was suddenly by my side, but she didn’t intervene. I gritted my teeth, wrapped my broken fingers around my mother’s wrists, and used all my strength to hold her still.

“Leah, make her stop! Help me!” my mother pleaded.

My hands were ruined, but I could feel my powers were already coming back to me. I fought my mother with everything I had while she closed her eyes tightly and her jaw muscles strained under the pain. It looked as if she was battling the worst migraine of her life.

Her voice grew louder as more energy flowed between us, and her screams rang in my ears.

“Stop! Stop!” she cried.

My mother’s body slumped deeper into her chair as I continued to take my magic back. I wanted to reach out and help her, but I couldn’t break the linked energies. Our powers were now connected, gripping firmly like a tight rope, unable to free us from its hold.

An overwhelming amount of power consumed me as the magic drained from my mom and into me. The bones in my hands repaired themselves instantly, and then I felt my mom’s own energy flow into me. I was absorbing her magic as well. I could feel the power shifting from my mom’s hands into mine, moving up my arms and filling my entire body. The sensation was unlike anything I had ever felt before. It was powerful and intoxicating.

Then everything stopped as my mom fell from the chair and dropped to the ground.

“Mom!” I cried out, rushing to her side. Slowly, I looked up at Leah, who moved to my side. “What happened? Leah, what is happening to her?”

Pulling my mom into my arms, all I felt was her limp body against my hold. There was a moment of complete silence that followed. The people rushing into the room were talking to me, but I couldn’t hear them. I saw lights flash, and a rush of hospital attendees circled us before they tried to pry me away from my mom. I clutched her body tightly, unable to release her. None of it feltreal—I couldn’t even cry.

I lifted my head and looked up at Leah. “Did you know?” I asked, fanning out my fingers and placing my hand on her chest. “Did you know this would happen?”

Her vacant stare was all I needed to answer my question.

I checked my mom’s neck for a pulse, but felt nothing.

“I killed her. I … I killed my mom.”

Leah kneeled on the floor, hesitated momentarily, and gently placed her hand on my back.

“Your mom had a brain tumor, Mercy. It was going to kill her, anyway. Your powers were the only thing keeping her alive for the past three years. She was going to die now or in a couple of weeks when you go through your Awakening.” She removed her hand from my back and stood up. “You didn’t kill her, but I am sorry we didn’t tell you.”

“But … why?” I asked, barely able to form any coherent sentence. “Why didn’t you tell me what would happen?”

Leah sagged her shoulders and sighed. “You would have hesitated or chosen not to do this altogether. It would have been much more painful for her during your transition.” Leah placed her hand on mine. “You showed her compassion this way.”

I ripped my hand away. Compassion? I had chosen to trust Caleb and Leah, and now I had my mother’s blood on my hands. I killed her for magic. How ironic was that? She wanted to kill me so that she would keep my powers, and I killed her to take them back. I had taken a life, whether it was willingly or not.

I felt the air conditioning running through the building, chilling my skin to ice. I continued to stare at my hands, unable to believe what I had done. My voice wavered as I said, “I trusted the two of you.”

Even after my mother tried to kill me, I never wished for her to die. I never craved revenge. All I wanted were answers; instead, I was forced to take her life. It didn’t matter how much power was flowing through me at that moment. I felt utterly empty.

Hollow, even.

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