The car was silent, the only sound was the faint hum of the engine and the pounding of my heart in my ears. I stared at Mr. Calloway, my mouth dry, my mind struggling to process what he'd just said.
"What did you say?" I whispered, my voice barely audible.
Mr. Calloway's hands tightened on the steering wheel, his knuckles white. He didn't look at me, his gaze fixed on some distant point through the windshield. But when he finally spoke, his voice was steady, though laced with pain.
"I loved her," he said simply, his words heavy with regret. "Your mother. Lexie."
I felt like the ground had been ripped out from under me. My chest tightened, and I couldn't breathe.
"That day you came to our house," he continued, his voice softer now, "I saw it immediately. Something in your face—your eyes. They were hers. I knew, even before you told me your name."
Sebastian was silent, his face pale, his jaw clenched. Zaire sat in the backseat, with me, his expression unreadable.
Mr. Calloway took a deep breath, his shoulders sagging as if the weight of his words was too much to bear. "I was always a part of the cult," he admitted, his voice low. "A lawyer by day, a pawn by night. Lexie... she was new. A rookie. Just a carrier for the elites. She didn't know what she was getting into."
He paused, his eyes distant, lost in memories. "We met at one of the parties. She was... different. Strong. Fierce. She had a daughter—you—and she was determined to protect you, no matter what. Even though she was trapped in that life, she never let it break her."
"Even in that darkness, she shone. She had you, and she was trying to make a better life for both of you. I didn't care that she had a past. I didn't care about any of it. I just... I loved her."
My throat tightened, tears burning at the corners of my eyes.
"I fell in love with her," Mr. Calloway said, his voice breaking. "My wife had passed when Sebastian was just a baby and Lexie... she made me feel alive again. We talked about leaving. Starting over. A family. Me, her, you, Sebastian. We were going to leave it all behind."
He stopped, his hands trembling on the wheel. "But the day we were supposed to leave... they took me. The mayor and his men. They abducted me, locked me away for two days. When they finally let me go, I went straight to Lexie's house. But it was too late."
His voice cracked, and he looked away, his eyes glistening. "The paramedics were there. They were taking her body away. She was gone."
The tears spilled over, streaming down my face. My chest ached, the pain so raw it felt like I was being torn apart.
"I couldn't protect her," Mr. Calloway whispered, his voice barely audible. "And I've lived with that guilt every day since."
The car was silent, the weight of his words pressing down on all of us. Sebastian stared at his father, his face a mask of shock and betrayal. Zaire looked away, his jaw tight.
And I... I felt like I was drowning. My mother's face flashed in my mind—her smile, her laugh, the way she'd hold me when I was scared. All this time, I thought she'd been taken from me by some random act of violence. But now... now I knew the truth.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, my voice trembling.
Mr. Calloway finally looked at me, his eyes filled with sorrow. "I wanted to protect you," he said. "From them. From all of this. But I failed. Just like I failed her."
The silence that followed was heavy, suffocating. I didn't know what to say, what to feel. My mother's death, the cult, the murders—it was all connected. And now, so was I.
The car felt like it was closing in on me, the air thick with grief and unspoken pain. My hands trembled as I clutched the pendant around my neck, the cold metal biting into my skin. I couldn't hold it in anymore. The memories, the guilt, the anger—it all came rushing out in a flood of words I'd kept buried for years.
"That night," I began, my voice shaky, "my mother knew something was wrong. She... she locked me in the storeroom. Told me to be quiet, no matter what."
Zaire's hand found mine, his grip firm and grounding. I didn't look at him, didn't look at anyone. My eyes were fixed on the rain-streaked window, but I wasn't seeing the world outside. I was seeing her.
"I watched through the keyhole," I whispered, my voice breaking. "There was a man... a man with a dragon tattoo on his arm. He—"
"Mia," Zaire interrupted, his voice soft but urgent. "You don't have to do this. Not if it's too much."
I shook my head, tears streaming down my face. "I have to. I can't keep running from it."
I took a deep breath, forcing myself to continue. "They beat her. Pushed her to the ground. And then..." My voice cracked, the words catching in my throat. I swallowed hard, trying to steady myself. "Why do the weak always have to pay for everything? Why did they let you live," I said, turning to Mr. Calloway, my voice trembling with anger and pain, "and not her? Both of you wanted to leave. Both of you tried. So why did she have to die?"
No one answered. The silence was deafening.
I couldn't stay in that car another second. I shoved the door open, the cold rain hitting my face like a slap. I stumbled out, my legs shaky but determined.
"Mia, wait!" Sebastian called, scrambling after me.
I didn't stop. I couldn't. The rain soaked through my clothes, but I barely felt it. My chest heaved with sobs I couldn't hold back anymore.
Sebastian caught up to me, grabbing my arm. "Mia, stop! You can't just—"
I whirled around, shoving him away. "Don't tell me what I can't do! You don't get it, Sebastian. You don't know what it's like to lose everything and then find out it was all for nothing!"
Zaire was there in an instant, stepping between us. "Back off, Sebastian," he snapped, his voice low and dangerous.
Sebastian's eyes flashed with anger. "This isn't your fight, Zaire."
"It is when you're pushing her too far," Zaire shot back, his fists clenched.
Mr. Calloway stepped out of the car, his voice cutting through the tension like a knife. "Enough! Both of you, stop!"
But Zaire wasn't backing down. He turned to me, his expression softening. "Come on, Mia. Let's get you home."
I nodded, too exhausted to argue. Zaire wrapped an arm around my shoulders, guiding me away from the car, from Sebastian, from the weight of everything I'd just said.
Sebastian started to follow, but Mr. Calloway stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Let her go, Sebastian. She needs space."
I didn't look back. I couldn't. Zaire's presence was the only thing keeping me upright as we walked through the rain, the world blurring around me.
"You're stronger than you think," Zaire said quietly, his voice barely audible over the storm.
I didn't answer. I didn't have the words. All I could think about was my mother, her face, her voice, the way she'd held me that last night. And the question that haunted me—why did she have to pay for everything while the rest of us got to live?