VENITA:Three months after...It has been exactly three months since we got rescued. Three months of grief and loneliness. Three months of having to stay strong not knowing if Landon was out there somewhere. I pray he was. My heart shattered every time I thought about him. My nights were terrible whenever memories of the blast came wrapping arms around me.I stepped up in so many things despite my loss. As the doctors said, my pup couldn't be saved. For the first month, all I did was lie down and cry. I refused to eat or even entertain communication of any sort. I pushed my limits, forcing Leah to search in every corner within me if my pup was still there. She always apologized that it wasn't. I lost my pup and then Landon. Things would never be the same.Since I was wheeled to the emergency room and all attempts to save my pup failed, Sasha has refused to speak. She was assigned to a therapist whom she wouldn't say a word to. I kept in touch with Peter and the companies, he was the a
VENITA:Before I left for my appointment with Jason, I headed to Landon's to check on things. Yes, Lanson's house. I took a few of our things and moved back there since it gave me a sense of security. With the situation, Sasha was in no shape to go back to school so, she only had her therapist and Cross training her. Cross strengthened security as he wouldn't take chances having almost died."She still hasn't said anything?" I asked Cross. Mr. Grumpy was more kind and interactive with me after he woke up from a two-day coma."She hasn't. Should we get a speech specialist to make sure they didn't do anything to her vocal cords back at that crazy lab?" He was sweaty, panting, having just come out from their last session which lasted an hour.Running my hand through my hair, "I think it's more of a psychological damage than physical because she spoke to me when we came out of the lab. She only stopped speaking once she was taken to the hospital," I explained."Let's give it time. The who
LANDON:"Wow," I exclaimed as I made another mark on the glass, making know that I had been here for exactly ninety-one days. I have run out of everything and even hibernating wouldn't help. I threw a disgusted glance over what had served me for the last ninety-one days. Nothing was left of it except bones which were beginning to dry up.When I went back to the building, Dr. Grant had lazily gotten up, dragging me to the box that held Venita. He shut it before I could fight him off and the next thing I saw was a shockwave bringing everything down and burying us in the ground. Apparently, the box had been designed also to withstand such a blast, and around the building had a ticking bomb and a manual controller which the sicko head had activated."Of there's no evidence, then, they won't have a case," he coughed out before smiling. "My work is done. Now, I can die in peace. However, more of us will stand up in generations to come to fight against your kind. Our story would be told," he
VENITA:Things with Landon have been...different. Although having him back changed a lot of things, for one, Sasha starting to talk again, he zoned off most of the time. Each time he was in that state and I found him, he quickly recollected himself. As much as I would love more vacation days, Landon didn't allow that. He went back to work after beating the crap out of Jason and handing him over to the cops. Landon, as always didn't let any of his betrayers go free. He rounded them up and imprisoned them while he thought of a suitable punishment. Surprisingly, he submitted himself to his pack. More like asking for forgiveness. Something Landon Kurt hardly did. It felt great seeing this side of him. He was more level-headed. I guess that was what happens when you have a near-death experience.Here he was dragging me to an unknown location. It was so beautiful to have him back."Just tell me where we are headed. This blindfold is killing me," I nagged."We're here," he announced almost
VENITA:As I walked through the dark corners of my street on my seventeenth birthday, a heavy ache of loneliness weighed on me. My parents were once again engrossed in work in the depths of their mysterious lab. More than anything this year, I yearned for their company. I wanted them to care about me and my presence rather than work. Sadly, that wasn't the case. They were distant figures in my life, their work consuming them and leaving me to find solace in the company of stray animals I saved and cared for.Something else bothered me beyond their absence. At the stroke of midnight today, my parents had woken me up for an absurd conversation."Venita, we hope you can understand what we did," my mother had said, her voice filled with regret and sorrow, shadowing her usual vibrant tone when speaking to me."What did you do?" I asked curiously."It was to make you healthy, sweetheart," my father had added. "No matter what, when the time comes, protect it with your life.""What are you bo
Six years later...VENITA: “Five more minutes. Five more minutes,” I constantly growled into my pillow. Still, I knew that I didn't have that luxury because my alarm was persistent. “Okay. Okay. Time to be productive.” Slamming the alarm to silence, I got out of bed, wrapping my robe around me. The morning was still quiet and my eyes were heavy. Managing my steps, I walked out of my room and down the hall with a tender yawn. Keeping my voice gentle, I called out to Sasha. Rays of sunlight filtered through the curtains, casting a warm glow across her room. “Baby girl, time to get up. We’re already late,” I whispered, leaning down and planting a kiss on her forehead before completely drawing her curtains open. “Mom, do I have to?” she murmured, her protest a soft protest against the morning's demands. “Yes, my dear. The day awaits, and we have much to prepare for,” I calmly said, sweetly smiling at my baby. She was a miracle, difficult to explain. Especially how I conceived her. S
LANDON :I have always had a thing for kids. They warm my heart. Their innocence and purity made me want to linger around them consistently. It made most of my charity work go to everything that had to do with them. Months back, when Peter, my assistant suggested I do an image damage control by spending a whole day at one of the local schools to which I frequently donated, I quickly agreed. The thing was, the press made a terrible headline about my establishment abusing and unjustly firing my workers because I dismissed a large number of incompetent employees. They made me look like the bad guy. To create a diversion, Peter put this charity piece together, which was also great for my kind.I took a moment to observe the locality of his choice, and it wasn't a bad one. The school needed work. But, also, required accountability as to where all the fund has been going. With the chunk of cash I gave, there wasn't a reason for this school to have a bad structure and ugly-looking roofs. I w
VENITA:The universe must want me to end up somewhere unfortunate. A jail, perhaps. Because why would a man who thinks the world was his to dominate come in contact with me this morning? And, why was he calling my child sweetheart? I had zero tolerance in me. As a surge of anger coursed through my veins, about to intervene, I noticed that Sasha was abruptly in pain. My heart skipped in worry. Hopefully, it was nothing serious, please. We can't afford a hospital bill, either. Before I got out of my shell shock, the arrogant man was next to her, a gentle smile plastered on his face. His voice was reassuring. “Take a deep breath for me, Sweetheart. Inhale. Exhale,” he instructed Sasha. Why was he calling her Sweetheart? “Move away,” I busted out, not minding if tons of kids were watching us. “I need to take her to the hospital,” I cried out after seeing that her pain was worsening. “Just allow me to concentrate,” he barked. “Keep quiet!” I was too stunned to speak. His audacity neede