Chapter 4

Calliope

"NO!" I screamed, forgetting the pain in my ribs. Wriggling free from the men holding me, I hit the asphalt and crawled to her covering her body with mine as the men all looked on with disinterest, unsure what I could do if they decided to finish the job. "Mom? Talk to me, please tell me what I can do," the fact that she is a nurse isn't super helpful when she is the one who is hurt. "Someone help her! You have the wrong person! I dont know what you want but she is not who you are looking for! Her name is Sara, Sara Thompson! Please she is going to die if you dont help her!" My words fell on deaf ears as the men looked down at us. The only sound I heard was laughter coming from the large man who had just stabbed my mother.

"Ha! Sara? Really? Out of all of the names you could have chosen you picked one that sounds so similar to your own? You truly did not try hard enough to hide, maybe you wanted to be found. You knew you could not win, but I appreciated the game. It has been ages since I have had a good chase so thank you for that." He chuckled to himself with a satisfactory grin plastered on his face. My mom grabs my hand and wraps it around the handle of the knife urging me to remove it. I slowly removed the blade from her chest and her breathing grew weaker, blood soaked our clothes as I held my hand against the wound.

"I am begging you, please help her. I will do whatever you want just please dont let her die" I cried to the men surrounding us, hoping one of them would give in and find pity on me.

"Anything?" The man asked with a glimmer of amusement on his face as his smile creeped across his face and I swear I saw it again, long sharp teeth peaking out from under his lip ."Is that a deal you dare to make girl?" Before I could answer I felt my mom move beneath me, fighting against me to try to sit up.

"No, she is not making a deal with you. Not now not ever" my mother whispered as she struggled to pull herself up from the ground.

"Mom...Stop! You're bleeding, we need to get you to a hospital now! Somebody help!" I screamed panic seeping through my words as my head whipped around, pain echoing through me urging me to stop moving so much, but the thought of losing my mother was the only thing driving me forward. Again the man laughed.

"You really do ruin my fun Clara, she is fine girl, she will live. It may take her a bit longer to heal than it would have had she been home with her own kind, but she will not die. Now, we must be going, I don't have all day and this little game youve forced me to play has already caused enough of a stir that it will take my men ages to clean it up." He snapped, his face contorting into a flash of anger that turned into mild annoyance. "You are no longer welcome to come home." He was pointing at my mother who flinched at the sudden hand movement. As a kindness we will not kill your chosen partner or your spawn, but know should the need arise we know who and where they are and will not hesitate to eradicate them." Although I don't quite understand everything happening here, the message was clear. I am going with the strange brute and if I don't, my family dies...