Chapter 60: Family: Part One

Esme sheathed her knife then let her body fall backwards; the wind flapped through her clothes and hair until she backflipped through the air and landed on the grass below. She walked casually into the chilling woods that could potentially cause her danger, but her heart beat regularly and her breaths even. She'd killed many in her very young age; there was nobody that scared her now. Death had never scared her. If she died at the hands of Ethan, it would really piss her off, and if she died at the hands of Gabriel, then she'd be saddened but if anyone else killed her, then so be it. 

She walked across the forest floor, her mind in a bit of trance watching the shadows at her sides from the moonlit path in which she followed. The light flickered across her eyes as she walked, creating shadows of warped and twisted branches from trees as she stepped over uplifted roots and sidestepped wet mud. After another ten minutes of listening to the rustle of wind through the leaves and the occasional owl or other nightly creature making their presence known, the trees became scarce as she was met with another slope leading down to a valley. It was the same valley she often visited from the other side of the city. 

Esme plopped down, still looking down from the hill she sat atop and gazed at the shimmering water of the river far below and watched as the breeze brushed along the grass, creating small green waves. She inhaled slowly, closing her eyes and smelling all the pleasant scents of nature fill her nostrils, with no hint of any other werewolves, vampires, witches, nor shapeshifters. It was like she was all alone as she fell onto her back and stared at the dark cloudy night sky. 

It was peaceful where she lay, but she made sure not to relax too much. She was in the open, and not only were Ethan's pack after her, but it seemed now the Hellhounds were. The rogues know for certain she is no longer protected by the pack and that she is still alive. 

Ah, the Hellhounds, the strange 'family' she grew up with. But she wasn't always with them; there was a time when she was with both her parents in a luxurious mansion filled with security guards (which she later found out were pack members). 

Esme didn't remember much before the age of four, like most, but what she could remember was not exactly pleasant. She shrugged it off, people went through worse shit every day, and when she met Ethan, she lived in her very own nightmare for years. One memory that stuck out like a thorn in her side was the last day Esme saw her father. What she remembered of him before that wasn't that bad; whenever he was with her, he'd cuddle her, read her bedtime stories, and tell her to eat certain vegetables when she refused. 

But that was one small child's side of the story. From her blurred memory, he always seemed to be called off to some place or another and would return bloodied. She would clutch her cushion over her ears as she tried to sleep through the yelling of her parents and the sounds of plates, glass or something shattering in the other room. It was scary for a young girl as the fights seemed to worsen, but she still loved her dad throughout it all. How could she not? 

Little Esme couldn't understand what they argued over, but she remembered one time like it only happened yesterday that her mother screamed at the top of her lungs, "I can't live like this anymore!" and there was a loud thud. At the young age of four, she'd crawled out of bed, her heart thumping loudly, too loudly for her as she strained to listen for her parents. Esme clutched the little pink bunny rabbit teddy to her chest, one floppy ear squeezed in her hand as she rounded the corner to the living room. 

A tall figure stepped in her way, and she looked up alarmed, her mouth open, the air in her lungs building ready to scream, then it died down in her throat as a large hand went over her mouth, and she stared into her bodyguard's brown eyes. He was packed full of muscle, his brown hair cropped short, his large arms full of tattoos, ears pierced full of rings. But even though he was a scary looking guy, he protected her. Oz released her mouth and opened his arms as he crouched in front of her. She walked into them, finding the comfort in her guard, and looked over his shoulder at the sight of a large arm on the floor unmoving as he lifted her up and started taking her back to her room. 

Esme didn't know how much time flew in between that incident and the next, but her last memory of her father was heart-wrenching. It was the moment she realised she had sided with her mother.

In the middle of the night, little Esme woke up disorientated as the bed in which she'd been sleeping fell further and further away as she was lifted into the small arms of her mother, her bunny still clutched in her arms as she was crushed into her mother's shoulder. 

"Mummy?" 

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"Shhh, shhh, go back to sleep. Mummy just wants a hug."

Esme nodded and let her head fall back down, her heavy eyes closing. But something didn't seem right, yet she couldn't pinpoint what it was. Esme could feel her mother's tense body and the way she rushed through the mansion, the night's cool air blowing through her hair. She opened her eyes, now more alert, as she watched the front door close behind them quietly, her mother creeping along, making no sound as she rushed over to the red SUV and started strapping Esme into the back of the car.

She watched as her mother ran around the car and slid into it, closing the door as quietly as possible until the key turned and the engine went on. That's when the front door to the house opened and fell off from its hinges, and her father's bloodied head appeared, his wavy blonde hair coated in red, his eyes wild as he sprinted towards them. The car wheels squealed as they started to speed away, but her father ran after them, his hand outstretched.

"Essie! Es! No! Don't do this!"

"Essie!!!"

"Daddy?" She whispered through tears falling down her cheeks. 

Esme's hand was on the window as she watched her father shouting after them, alerting the rest of the guards. Her heart beat rapidly in fear, not understanding why they were leaving her dad behind. Then she stared wide-eyed as her dad's body shook, and mid-step, his skin ripped away into fur, and a beast appeared. No, it was a large, red-brown wolf with a white patch over his amber eyes. 

"Daddy!?" She screamed in shock. Where was her dad? What did this monster do to her dad!?

The wolf chased after them, as did others that seemed to race through both sides of the road that was surrounded by large thick trees and snow covering the earth.

"Shh, it's okay, it's okay, sweetie. We will be out of here soon," Her mother cried in the front seat as she pushed down on the pedal more, and the glowing eyes of the scary beasts started to blur. Esme's tear-filled eyes moved from the scary woods and to her mother's face that tried to calm her down, her hand flattening her daughter's hair, though causing more angst in her chest than reassurance. 

That was when she saw it. Her mother's neck clawed, the blood trickling down her throat followed by the panic, fear and desperation brewing behind her eyes. Esme knew then, even though she didn't quite understand, that her dad, who had turned into a beast, did that to her. 

The image of her wonderful and loving dad shattered before her.

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