Generation 2, Chapter 20: Things can never be the same again

Everything in this reality was just wrong. How could it be that I hardly had a scratch on my body, while the rest of my family suffered a lot more. Amelia had a deep scar on her left cheek that would probably never disappear, Aaron had a concussion plus broken ribs, and Charlotte... It was too painful too even think about it. My little girl, dead. She didn't deserve it. She had hardly started living at all. If the car accident had to kill someone, it should have been me. I've seen and felt enough for one lifetime.

"It's funny to think that more than fourteen years ago I saw Aaron standing in the exact same stance, worrying about the health of you and the baby... I guess it's not good news now, as it was all those many years ago."

Her. I knew her, just by her voice. It was a tad bit different, older, more mature, but it was still her.

"Janelle," I almost hissed. Yes, she was once my best friend. Yes, I had always thought that we reconcile one day and forget about the past and the pain that it contained. But the fact that we hadn't spoken for eight years diminished chances for that. Perhaps I had forgiven her for those words she had shared, but all of that didn't mean that I wanted to speak to her again.

It was time I accept that our friendship was something of the past.

"Hi, Kaylin," she whispered, reaching out to take my hand. I stood still, not moving an inch, not even acknowledging her gesture of kindness. Good. She got the message. "I'm...sorry, for what happened, and...and for all the things I said to you. I wasn't myself. Thinking back, I wish I could have kicked myself for doing that. The awful thing is, I can't change the past, but I can try to make things better in the future. We could talk things out, laugh again, do silly-"

"LAUGH?! How the hell do you wanna laugh after all that's happened?" screaming, I gave an exasperated laugh, showing just how pathetic her proposal was. "Charlotte's dead, for crying out loud! I almost lost my husband as well! And now you wanna be friends? Wow, Janelle, I never thought I'd be saying this, but you're a horrible human being."

"You can't mean that, you're not that kind of a person!" the woman before me protested. God, how she irritated me just by existing and breathing in the same air.

"Shut up! Just shut the fuck up, okay. You know what this whole thing is about? You think we're even. After I had kids, you were jealous. And when you lost the one you were expecting, you couldn't handle the fact that I still had mine, and  that I was living happily with my family. And now, now after I have also lost a child, now you think you can waltz in and make amends, thinking we'll be closer than ever. I got news for you. It ain't gonna happen."

The word "harsh" could definitely be used to describe my speech. To my surprise, it felt...uplifting, to have gotten that off of my chest. It was all true, though. I could see the truth in my eyes.

"I know now what's wrong... You're feeling like how I did after losing my baby. I'll give you time, so you can think things out and decide what you wanna do. Time truly is a good healer. It made me see the truth," Janelle replied calmly, not showing a hint that she might have gotten hurt. Did she care at all? Was that why she didn't show her feelings then, because there were none?

"I doubt it, bitch," I spat, using the same word she used on me eight years ago. "If I could order you to leave this room, I would, but seeing as this is a hospital, I'll leave."

Oh, it felt good saying that, and being able to get away from her. I hated her, I truly did.

The hospital felt so small, if you were to try running and hiding away from them, of course. The cafeteria was quiet, almost deserted were it not for one person that was resting by one table. Something felt familiar about her. That faint feeling pushed me forward to strike up a conversation with her.

"Is this seat taken?" I try to sound polite, under the circumstances. I doubt if I had succeeded.

"Yeah, it is. I was planning that my daughter sit down and talk to me about her accident, but I'm unsure whether she wants to open up or not. If I were her, I probably wouldn't be so talkative." She spoke so confidently, but she sounded kind, like my own mother. My mother.

"Mom?" moving around the table to get a frontal view, the air escaped my lungs, getting out in the form of a gasp. "MOM?! But, you, I... What? You look the same. You've looked like this all your life! WHY don't you have wrinkles, why don't you have gray hair like all the other people of your age, or the age you would be?"

"Sit down, please," she requested, gesturing to the empty chair. "I knew one day I would have to explain this to you, and that day is now. So please, sit."

Without putting up a fight, I pull the chair back, hesitantly lowering myself onto the chair. This person had to be an impostor. It was impossible that this could be my mother.

"Around the time you became a teenager, your father and I... Well, we were becoming scared," my mom stated cryptically.

"Scared...of what?" I frowned.

"Of growing old, getting wrinkles and gray hair as you would put it. And most of all, dying. We didn't want to leave our children behind. We wanted to take part in their lives."

"Yet you've been living in seclusion all along, not even taking the time to come to our weddings, nor the birth of some of your grandchildren," I growled.

"It's not like we received an invite or anything in the first place," my mother pointed out, taking on a more offensive approach in her speech.

"So... What did you use to make yourself...um...stay like this?" Yeah, I was an expert at changing topics and avoiding conflict. Most of the time, of course.

"We used science," my mother grinned, "and money, that's always needed. The glass in front of you contains elements of that substance, and if you want to, you could also become like us, continuing this new family tradition."

So that simple glass was the reason my mother had pretty much abandoned us, yet received eternal life in return? Did I want that? Living for ever, having to carry around the pain in my heart? Nope. Not ready for that.

"Mom... Thanks for the offer, but, I don't think I can take this. I mean, after everything...it wouldn't be right."

"I understand, sweetie," my mom nodded. "I heard that Charlotte was a wonderful person. Strong, stubborn like her mother. I wish I could have met her, but alas..."

"And what about Aaron? I don't want to live for ever, knowing that he'll die," my hand reached out to grasp the glass, and I abruptly get up from my chair, walking towards the window.

"Oh, he's gonna be joining you. In fact, your father is probably with him now, offering him the deal. He'd take it, Kaylin, because he loves you and wants to spend his entire life with you, and also because it'll speed up the recovery of his injuries."

I chuckled softly to myself. My mother and father were smart. They knew if Aaron could be convinced to take it, I would immediately agree. I had no choice in the matter, not if I wanted to remain with Aaron.

"You two, you're smart, I'll give you that much," I smirked at the reflection in the window, thinking how my mother must have had it all planned out for so long. Deep breaths, I told myself. It won't hurt at all. Then why was I afraid?

Whatever. I was beyond pain now. If I had to take another hit, it wouldn't hurt as much as what I was currently feeling. In one quick motion, I swallowed the contents of the entire glass.

"It's been nice seeing you, mom," I smiled at her, walking to the bar to put the glass away, "but I have to go now... There's something I have to do, and it involves a certain someone. You know him all to well."

For a moment, fear crossed my mother's eyes, but she nodded all the same. "Go, do what you must... But Kaylin. Don't let that man change who you are."

"He already has," I sighed under my breath, walking out of the room.

His room wasn't too far away from the cafeteria, and not hard to find. All I had to do was ask for the man that had severe burns across most of his body.

He looked peaceful, lying there unconscious on the bed. No more conniving thoughts running through his mind, no more thoughts of how he could hurt my family.

But he would wake up, and even though he was scarred from the whole ordeal, he would come back and strike again. Not if I stopped him first. Quietly, like a cougar stalking its prey, I opened the door and tiptoed in, making sure no one saw me.

The monitors beeped every so often. His heart rate wasn't normal at all, nor was his breathing. His lungs had been damaged by the smoke. I found it strange how the hospital hadn't hooked him up to a breathing apparatus already. It was just my luck to find him in this condition.

"You're a horrible human being, Dwayne. No matter how much my mother may have hurt your feelings, my family did not deserve to be hurt as you hurt them. How could you take a life? You're not a god, you can't decide. What's worse is that you won't land in prison, because no one suspects it to have been arranged, and that you could have been the mastermind behind it."

No response. Of course not. He couldn't speak at all, being in a coma. But I hoped he heard my words. He looked awful, having burns all over his face and some spreading across the right side of his body. For revenge, he had to pay a very high price, losing his good looks.

"But no more, Dwayne," I huffed, getting up from my chair with a lot of trouble, my body shaking from nerves. "Your treachery ends today, with me at your side."

Not taking my eyes off of his miserable face, I tenderly removed the pillow from under his head. It was now or never. Slowly, the pillow was moving toward his face, over his mouth. I pushed down with all force, waiting till I could be sure. Sure that he wasn't breathing anymore.

~*~

"A-Aaron!" I yelped out in shock as soon as I left the room, bumping right into him. Beside him stood a wheelchair, something he should probably be seated in, but he was too stubborn to admit that he also could be weakened at times. "I wanted to come visit you, but my mother told me that my father was occupying your company."

"Yeah, he was. Quite charismatic, I have to admit. He talked me into something I normally wouldn't have accepted."

"My family is like that," I shrugged.

"I see that now. Speaking of family... How's my uncle?" he asked, gesturing to the room behind me. Why? Why did he have to appear at this very unfortunate time? Now I had to lie to his face. But more so, why had he not brought up the fact about Charlotte? Was he just going to ignore what had transpired?

"Uh, Aaron...," I choked on the words, trying to keep the truth contained. "I...had to say goodbye. He didn't make it, Aaron."

His mouth slowly formed a circle, and his eyes shadowed his shock. As if he wasn't believing me, he stormed into the room.

"NURSE! NURSE! Nurse, please, help him, he's not breathing..." Aaron's call for help echoed through the empty corridor. Seconds later, I heard footsteps approaching the room with haste, yelling orders to each other.

I, on the other hand, walked away, satisfied.

The evil that had plagued us was finally gone. But in defeating it, I had become a monster.