Because You Exist(58)

I heard the scuffle before I saw her. The woman had bolted from whoever held her back and was running down the hallway. The woman pushed a second nurse off her, sending her flying into a shelf of supplies, all of which came crashing down on the floor. The woman was wild, frantic.

And she was running right to us.

And then she saw Jo.

And then everything stopped.

The woman came to a sudden halt. Her hair was wild, covering most of her face, but anyone could see Jo’s eyes staring right back at her. She didn’t share Jo’s red hair. That she had gotten from her father. Her hair was more like...more like...mine. I took a shaky step to the right, so Jo would be blocking me.

I didn’t want this woman to see me.

I wasn’t ready for what it might mean.

Because this woman recognized Jo.

The woman fell to her knees and Jo rushed to her. The woman put her shaky hands onto Jo’s shoulders. “They’re going to take you and your brother from me!”

Brother.

The noise in the small waiting room was getting louder and louder. I couldn’t think. I could make sense of anything that was happening. I looked back at both Randall and Bentham, but they offered no helped. They were transfixed by the scene in front of them.

“Who is?” Jo asked desperately.

“The Dark Men.”

I heard someone call for security. Maybe one of the nurses. A tall, doctor-looking type grabbed Jo’s mom from behind by the arms and started to pull her away. Jo was quick. She jumped to her feet and punched the man in the face. The man dropped Jo’s mom to the floor and stumbled back holding his now bloodied nose.

“We have to get out of here,” Randall yelled, panicked.

But Jo wasn’t listening to anyone. Her mom was on her knees, her eyes darting all around, waiting for her next attacker. Jo crouched in front of her and grabbed her face. “Why? Mom? Why?”

“Because I was never meant to raise you. Neither of you. They’ll take you and twist you. They’ll make you fight. They want you to fail. I never knew they’d take you from me. I wouldn’t have agreed to it.”

Time was running out. I could feel it. Soon, security would be here. We couldn’t risk being caught.

Hadn’t we seen enough?

I wanted to tell Jo this but my voice wouldn’t work.

“Jo, we have to go. Now. Grab her, Logan!” Randall yelled to me.

“No! You can’t go! Not before I tell you,” Jo’s mom cried out.

“What, mom?” Jo asked, her voice cracking.

“I shifted. He took me. I shifted. And he showed me. They don’t know he showed me!”

“What did he show you?”

“One of you will die. One of my children will die.” And then the woman started to wail. Whatever strand of sanity she was holding onto to speak to her daughter was gone. The woman was writhing around on the floor, cursing and screaming.

Bentham knocked past me and rushed to Jo. He grabbed her and began to drag her from the mental woman lying on the floor. There wasn’t anything we could do for this woman. We could only run.

But Jo wasn’t so willing.

She let the bottom half of her body go limp, making it more difficult for Bentham to drag her. I still found it impossible to move my legs. Bentham let free a grunt and swept his arm under Jo’s legs so he could carry her.

“We have to run,” Randall implored.

And I sprang into the action. The entire time we ran Jo was screaming for Bentham to let her down. She was cursing us all out. She twisted her body around in his arms and shot her arm out, as if she could somehow reach her mother if she reached far enough.

My mother.

The woman I left behind too.

Twins.

And one of her children would die.



***



We didn’t stop running until we were blocks away from the hospital. Jo had gone quiet about five minutes before we stopped. Even I was surprised when she forcefully shoved Bentham away from her the minute he put her down.

Her face was red with anger. I took a step towards her. My sister. But she pointed a finger in my face and flashed nothing but disgust. “Where were you?” she screamed. I took a step away from her, but she stalked towards me. “You were supposed to help me!”

Her fist curled, and I thought she was going to punch me. Maybe I deserved it. But before she could spring her had back, Bentham appeared and dragged her back away from me. Jo struggled against him. He bent his head towards her ear and began to whisper to her. Whatever he was saying, Jo began to struggle less and less.

Soon, she didn’t move at all. Her eyes went tight. Her face gave. She looked up at Bentham and nodded.

I didn’t like it.

I strode over to Bentham and got in his face. “What’d you just say to her?” I demanded. Because I had a feeling whatever it was, it wasn’t good. He was a dark shifter, after all. I knew the sort of mood Jo was in. When I looked to her now she looked determined. Her anger had lessened.