Run, Ember

Ember

The dream I had that night was sort of foggy. I saw my mother. She was walking towards a light. In that light, I could see my father's face.

"Mom" I called out. She reached dad and then turned around and looked at me, emotionless. A tear fell down her face though, and dad reached out of the light to wipe it off.

" Run Ember. Run as far and as fast as you can. Go to Miami. He will not follow you there" , my mom said before stepping into the light with my dad and the light faded. I was soon in utter darkness and I heard a voice behind me in Ryder's voice.

"Look what you made me do!", his voice said before I was grabbed from behind and then I woke up in a sweat. Mom. My first thought was, I needed to get to my mother. As soon as I hopped out of bed, I ran to the door and swung it open. Ryder was on the other side of it with some flowers. I didn't have time for him right now, as I pushed past him.

" Move Ryder, I need to get to my mother", I said. His bodyguards were blocking my way.

" Move now" I commanded, but they fell on deaf ears. If anything , they looked like they pitied me.

" Ember" Ryder said behind me. " I'm afraid I have some bad news", he said to me. I turned to him.

" Whatever you need to say can wait, Ryder. I need to get to my mother" I said, frustrated, although a pit was falling in my stomach.

" I'm afraid that won't be possible , Ember," Ryder said.

" And why the hell not?" , I asked him.

" Because she is dead , Ember." he said..... I stood still..... He was lying right. No way that dream I had was real. Was it?

" I need to see my mother" , I said to him. I felt as if I were going to hyperventilate.

" Ember...." Ryder started to say, but I cut him off.

" SHOW HER TO ME, NOW", I commanded. His eyes flashed black for a moment. A sign that always meant he was losing his patience with me. He looked at his guards and nodded. They parted ways and I drove home, with Lamonte and Ryder behind me in their own car. When I got home, the place was a fucking mess. Ryder's men were already there. The walls had slash marks on them, as if some sort of animal had come in. My stomach turned as I approached my mother's room. Blood. So much blood. It was sprayed everywhere. My mother's body had been on the bed, covered in a sheet.

" Mom", I called out as I approached the bed. I threw the cover off of her and puked on the spot. It was not much of my mom left. Her insides had been pulled out of her body. Some of her organs were missing. Her eyes had been plucked out and the top of her head looked as if it had been bashed in. Both of her arms were ripped off. A slash mark was across her neck. It looked like she had been clawed by a bear, or a .......

" Wolf", Ryder finished my sentence for me. I had finished puking and dropped to my knees. My mother. Dead. Ryder came over and put me in his arms.

" It looks like one of the wolves reported being sighted on the news came through the window", he said, motioning to the broken window above her bed. I burst out crying. She was already in pain. To imagine the amount of pain she must have been in when this happened. I should have been here. Home. Instead, I stayed at Ryders. Ryder........ I looked at him as my mom's words came back to me.

Run Ember. Run as far and as fast as you can. Go to Miami. He will not follow you there. Was she referring to Ryder? It was just a dream, but the coincidence was so great. Could Ryder have had something to do with this? We did have a huge fight. I pulled a gun out on him. Maybe he has a pet wolf and set it on my innocent mother. My mind was spinning a mile a minute.

" I want to leave here" , I told Ryder. He nodded. " Grab her things." , he commanded his guards.

I stood up and went behind the house. It was a very hot day, but I couldn't bear to just leave my mother here like that. Ryder followed me, curious to see what I was doing. I grabbed a shovel and started digging a grave in the backyard.

" Ember, love, we have people that will do that", he said, trying to take the shovel away from me, but I snapped. No one was burying my mother but me.

" Don't fucking touch me. Just...stop. I am burying her here. Father is buried out here. She will be beside him." I said, and kept digging. I'm not really sure what he said after that, but I turned his voice out and kept digging. My head was a mess. He went back inside and Lamonte came out, grabbed a shovel, and helped me dig. I recalled the day when my father died. He always wanted to be buried in our backyard for some reason, and we honored that wish. I dug his grave and visited him from time to time. Now here I am, doing the same for my mom. After the grave was deep enough, Lamonte went back inside. He came back out, with what was left of my mother, wrapped in a sheet. He laid her in the hole before climbing back out. I was on my knees, tears falling, using my hands to cover the grave with the dirt we took out.

" I can't believe I'm doing this again." I said to him. He stayed silent, which was good. I wasn't trying to hear anyone say anything. I just wanted to be alone. Ryder went outside.

" Ember , some spies were just spotted around the mansion. I have to go", he said to me. "Stay with her", he said to Lamonte, who nodded. Ryder and his bodyguards were gone soon after and it was just me and Lamonte. He went into the house and came back outside with a duffel bag.

" We need to go... Now", he said.

" Just give me a moment, Lamonte. I doubt Ryder will let me out of his sight once we get back to the mansion.

" We're not going back to the mansion, Ember. I'm getting you out of Tallahasse" , he said. I stood up, confused.

" Why? Ryder said we needed to go back to the packhouse." I told him and he started walking towards my car. I followed him.

" Ryder is not the man you think he is", Lamonte said as he climbed into the car. I got in the passenger seat.

" Ryder is just trying to keep me safe, as annoying as it is", I told him, though I half believed what I had said.

" Ryder is the reason your mother is dead", he said to me, looking in my eye, before cranking up the car, and speeding away.

" You're lying" I said to him. He kept driving, zipping along the highway.

" I'm not, Ember, and I think deep down you know that as well as I do." , he said. I was silent. Thinking. Was this revenge for me pulling a gun out on him?

" You've lived with us long enough to know he is prone to dramatic outbursts when he is upset. Did you ever wonder what happened to Victoria?", he asked me, as he made a sharp right.

" She killed herself. Suicide." , I said. He seemed to growl.

" It's all bullshit. Victoria was in love with another, and he tried to claim her for his own, on the threat of killing the love of her life. When she finally got the courage to leave, he couldn't take it anymore, and snapped her neck, right in front of her lover. He is so fascinated with you, because you honestly look so much like her. He has a type. " Lamonte said menacingly. He made another sharp turn. I had no clue where we were going. I was silent, taking all of this new information in. I also put it together on why this was so important to him.

" It's you, right? Victoria's lover." , I asked him. He didn't reply but I took his confirmation from his silence.

" If Ryder is such a bad guy, why would you stay and work for him? What does he have over you?", I asked.

" It's something I am forbidden from explaining. I had a hunch something bad would happen again when he first brought you to our land, so I prepared better this time," he said , coming to a stop in front of a blue Honda Accord. . He got out and I followed. He opened the door and started it before tossing me the keys. I caught them.

" This is as far as I can take you. If you want my advice, head to Miami. He can not follow you since it crosses into enemy territory. " he said. They were basically the same words my mother said. Why was Miami so important?

"Come with me," I told him, holding out my hand. We could escape together , if Ryder is the monster he says he is.

" I can't leave this territory," he said before handing me a flyer about a cook wanted at a restaurant in Miami, called Moonlight.

"Seek out the Moonlight restraint, and speak to the owners, Seth and Carter. . Tell them Seal sent you. They will know who I am and help you get settled." he said, before hugging me. A lone tear fell down my cheek and he wiped it.

" I hope that by helping you find peace away from this madness, my Victoria will be at peace " he said, before pulling away. His face then seemed to contort in a way I didn't understand. Like he was fighting something in himself, and he started speaking to himself.

" No. You will not do this again. She is not yours. " he said to himself. He threw me the duffel bag. "Take it. It has money and the resources you will need to help you get away". He took my phone and tossed it on the ground.

" Ryder has a chip in your phone to track you" , he said. " NOW GO", he yelled. I hopped in the car, watching him struggle with himself in front of it.

" For Victoria , Alpha" he said, before pulling out a gun and putting it to his head.

" I'm sorry, Vicky", he said before closing his eyes and shooting himself in the head. I screamed and drove away. I knew the way to Miami and so I drove. I drove like a bat out of hell, processing the information that he had given me. So much was happening so fast, but I would have time to grieve later. I believed Lamonte. No one would randomly risk their own life the way he just did to help me get away. Any love I had ever felt for Ryder disappeared the second I realized he had killed my mother.