Chapter 3 Heartbreak and abandonment
Tasha:
The town was quiet when I returned. The streets were empty, shadows stretching from the dim lamplights like fingers pointing toward the ground. Night had fallen completely, the sky above thick and heavy, blanketing everything in darkness. There was no werewolf outside right now.My legs moved on instinct, carrying me toward the familiar shape of our house. My chest felt hollow, but there was a strange warmth beneath it too, a sense that I was finally moving back to what I knew, even if I no longer recognized myself.
I reached the front door, and just as my hand touched the handle, I hesitated. The old fear of being scolded and interrogated for being outside surfaces, what was even worse was that, I stayed the night out, and dad would be pissed. I counted to ten, took deep breaths but a strange nagging feeling settled in my chest instead. But I shook it off and turned the knob.
The door creaked open and I entered, ready to face my very fuming parents, and then to go take a warm shower.
Mom was sitting in the living room cutting fruits when she looked at me and froze.
Her eyes were wide. My mother’s face was pale, rigid with horror, as if she had seen a ghost standing in the doorway. Her lips parted, but no sound came out at first. She stood up slowly,forgetting the fruits in her lap that fell, then she stumbled back a step, pressing a hand against her chest, her breathing shallow and quick.
“Mom?” My voice trembled. I stepped inside, confused. “Why… why are you looking at me like that?”
Her eyes didn’t leave mine. She seemed frozen, unable to process what she was seeing. Then my younger sister Ama appeared from behind her, clutching her doll to her chest, eyes wide with fear. My father appeared in the hallway at my voice, too silent, his mouth slightly open as if he had lost the ability to form words.
“I… I don’t understand,” I said softly, my brow furrowing. “What’s wrong with all of you?”
My mother’s voice shook as she finally spoke. “Who… who are you?”
Her question stabbed at my chest.
“What do you mean, who am I?” I asked with a painful smile, stepping further inside. “It’s me, Tasha. I’m back.”
Her eyes narrowed, scanning my face as if expecting to see a stranger. “No,” she whispered. “You’re not Tasha.”
“I am! I….” I hesitated, trying to understand their reaction. “I don’t know why you’re acting like this. I… I was attacked by the rogues. They hurt me, and someone saved me. I got up and I came home. I survived…it’s all good now.” I tried to lighten my strained voice like their reaction didn’t shatter my heart.
My father’s voice was low, hoarse, trembling with disbelief. “Saved you? By who?”
I froze, remembering the cave, Noah’s words, the warning he had left me with. “Don’t tell anyone about me", I could not say his name. My lips parted, then closed again. “I… I don’t know. Someone. I don’t know who he was.”
My mother’s eyes filled with tears. Both of them looked at each other with a known look, their faces struck with horror. The trembling in mom’s hands increased. “Oh, Tasha…” she whispered. Then she fell to her knees, crying frantically, her face buried in her hands. I was so confused I had no idea how to console her.
I felt heat radiating from my face, which was a strange feeling. Ama screamed, a high, piercing sound, before bolting up the stairs. I heard the bedroom door slam, the lock clicking into place. She had retreated into herself, terrified.
My father’s jaw tightened, his hands clenched at his sides, but he did not speak. The horror on his face was heavy, almost physical. He could not comprehend what he was seeing.
I stepped forward, reaching toward my mother. “Mom… it’s really me. I’m back. I’m okay now. I’m sorry I made you worried sick, but I’m okay now. See these are just scars, they don’t hurt anymore…I will take a shower and sleep and they will fade away.” I tried to show her my wounded arms to console her, all I could figure out was that she was worried for me, that’s why she broke down like that.
She looked up at me, her tears streaking her cheeks. Her voice broke as she shouted, “Back? Back from where? From what? Who did this to you? You… you….” Her words stumbled, fragmented by panic.
“I don’t know!” I said, my own fear rising. “I only remember the attack at the warehouse. I fought… I don’t know how I survived. I was hurt so badly. But I came home. I’m here. Please, just listen to me! Stop crying mom!”
She shook her head violently, her hands raised as if to ward me off. “No! You’re not my daughter! You… you can’t be! This isn’t supposed to happen!”
I stumbled back, confusion flooding me. “Mom… stop. I am your daughter! I don’t know why you’re acting like this. I… I just came back. That’s all.”
Their bitter pheromones were so high in the air I was barely controlling myself from throwing up…the scent was bitter and stale…and heavy.
My father finally spoke, his voice low and brittle. “It’s not her. She… she can’t be.”
I looked between the two of them, my heart aching. “It is me! Tasha! I don’t understand why you’re so… scared! I went through so much, and I didn’t know how to come back. I… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gone to the warehouse without telling you, I….”
“You went where?” my mother snapped, cutting me off. Her voice rose with panic and fury. “You went to the warehouse? Where you weren’t supposed to go? You left home without telling anyone? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
“I was just with friends,” I said quickly, my hands raised, trying to calm her. “I didn’t know… I didn’t think anything would happen. I didn’t mean to worry you. I was attacked, and I came back. That’s all I know!”
Her eyes were wild now, staring at me as if she were trying to see something inside me, something she could not name. “No! You’re not coming close to anyone! Do you understand me? You… you’re a demon!”
I stumbled backward and a strong pang hit my chest. “A demon? Mom, no! I’m Tasha! I…”
She shouted, stepping toward me, her hands trembling. “I don’t care! I won’t let you touch anyone! You don’t know what you are! You don’t know what you’ve become!”
“I’m your daughter!” I cried. “I am! I fought, I survived, I came back because I love you people! I didn’t ask for any of this! Please, just let me—”
“You’ve brought this on yourself!” she screamed. “You’ve done the forbidden! You’ve… you’ve…”
My father took a step forward, but he said nothing. His face was pale, frozen in horror, his eyes darting between his wife and me, as if he were trying to understand something impossible.
Ama’s muffled cries came from the top of the stairs. My mother’s frantic movements did nothing to calm her, and my father seemed paralyzed.
“I… I didn’t know anything!” I said, my voice cracking. “I didn’t mean to—”
“You didn’t know!” my mother shouted. “That’s exactly it! You didn’t know, and now everything is broken! You’ve been… altered! That old man… he’s done the forbidden! He brought something into our lives that should never have been here!”
My chest tightened as I tried to process her words. I did not know what she meant by the forbidden. I only remembered the cave, the strange man who saved me, and his final words: “Don’t tell anyone about me.” I had not even dared speak his name, and now I realized why.
“I… I came back. I’m here. I survived. That’s all I know,” I repeated, my voice quiet now, trembling not from fear, but from frustration.
“You’re a danger,” my mother cried, taking a step back. “I can’t let you near anyone! Not your sister! Not your father! Not even me!”
I shook my head, trying to reason with her. “Mom, please! I’m still me. I'm begging you don’t push me away from you! I’m your favourite child mom! I’m Tasha! Nothing has changed who I am inside!”
She backed up, shaking her head, tears streaming down her face. “It doesn’t matter! You’re different! You’re not supposed to be here! I cannot lose my whole family. You’ve been changed by something forbidden!”
I fell silent for a moment, trying to understand, to reach her, but she would not listen. My father remained frozen, unable to speak, and Ama’s cries echoed faintly from her locked room.
Then my mother stepped toward me with a sudden force, grabbing my arms. “Get away from me! Get away from everyone! You can’t stay here. You’re a demon, Tasha! You’ve… you’ve—”
“Mom! Stop! Please, where would I go? It’s cold outside! I—”
But she would not stop. She dragged me toward the door, her grip tight, frantic. My father stood frozen, unable to intervene. I tried to break free, tried to plead with her, tried to make her see that I was still me, but there was no reasoning with the fear that had taken over her mind.
The last thing I heard as they forced me out into the night was her frantic voice, low and almost a whisper, but sharp enough to burn in my chest:
“This was not supposed to happen… that old man… what will happen now?”
And then the door slammed behind me.
I stood in the cool night, the echo of the slam reverberating in my ears. The world I had returned to was no longer the home I remembered. Every shadow seemed longer, every sound sharper. I pressed my hands to my arms, my tears still falling, the night was so dark I could barely see my hands,let alone my tears. I was feeling the strange changes that had overtaken me, the unnatural calm in my wolf, the slow pulse of my heart, and the emptiness that stretched beneath it all.
I did not know where to go. I did not know what to do.
All I knew was that home was gone, and nothing might ever be the same again.
I pondered for a while, walking lazily, then a person crossed my mind.
“Rhett!"