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Dad opened the door of our car and immediately grabbed my arm to prevent me from making a mad dash for it. Mom came to my other side and grasped my other arm, both of them lifting me off of the ground. They flew into the house and put me back in the box, making sure to seal it tighter than ever. Mom had her fingers in his long hair and I realized she was taking out his braids. She leapt on his back and continued to take them out, and I saw his body loosen up. She was helping him relax. He turned and walked out of the room.
I sighed and threw myself onto the bed in the large box, clenching my eyes shut and trying to remember my first and final moments with Rowan.
I heard my father's familiar growl and Mom's angry hissing. They were next to the box, taking a protective stance and facing the window. Rowan easily slid in and stared them down. Mom glared angrily at him. "I mean you two no harm," Rowan said, throwing his hands up and falling to his knees. They weren't convinced, they kept their stances. I leapt up from the bed and ran to the side of the glass. "Rowan!" I pressed my hands to the glass and stared at him, waiting to be freed. He punched the glass next to me and it didn't leave a scuff. Dad leapt at Rowan and Mom followed. Rowan was on the ground, hands up in defeat, as my parents were ready to tear him limb from limb.
"You have plenty of nerve showing up here," Dad snarled. Rowan lied on the ground in fear as Mom pressed her teeth against his neck. "No!" I screamed as I pounded the glass, desperate to break it. I shot a fire beam from my eyes and desperately hoped for it to break. "No! No! Rowan!" I screamed as I continued my attempts to break the glass. "Alice. You should realize by now that I'm an amazing liar. I never loved you, and I never will. Part of my quest to destroy your kind," He thought bitterly, weakly even. I stopped and stood there, staring at my mother and father as they knew they were right about him. Mom bit down harder and harder until I realized she was draining him. Not of blood, but of his energy and of his magic. I saw her eyes glowing a bright orange as his body went limp, and a beam of light shot from her eyes. Angel light. Dad stared at her in disbelief as the body of the Angel slowly faded and disappeared entirely. She looked up at me, her eyes back to the normal brown. "Alice, you can't go back," She said quietly. I was numb all over. Frightened even. Mom opened the glass and embraced me as I shivered in fear. Dad followed and held us both. I felt an odd, beating sensation in my chest. Mom pulled away and stared at me, confusion set in her eyes as she put a hand to my chest.
Her eyes were set wide with fear. "Alice!" She gasped in fear. "Heartbeat. . . Alice. . ." She fell to the ground and pulled her knees to her chest. "No. Not a chance. I can't. . . No!" She screamed. She shook her head rapidly from side to side and pounded her hands against her knees. "Monique!" Dad shouted. He lifted her from the ground and lied her down on the bed in the box. He held her arms down, staring into her face with genuine worry. "Alice, get her legs!" I immediately held her shins to the bed and Dad pushed his lips to her neck. I watched him bite down harder than she had bitten the Angel and heard him exhaling. He's pushing something into her. She stopped fighting and closed her eyes, breathing softly. "Nothing better than the toxins of the undead to calm the undead," He muttered. "And as of you," He said looking into my eyes. "The Angel gave you the gift of a heartbeat, which is a vulnerability," Dad explained. "You have to breathe now." Dad walked over to me and placed his teeth on my neck. "There's a chance I'll kill you forever doing this," He whispered. "Do you want to be like us again?" I nodded. And then a sharp pain shot through my entire body.
I tried to breathe, but he was cutting off my throat. I couldn't move. I felt the toxins shooting through my veins and it numbed me. He pulled away and put me on the bed next to Mom. He stared at Mom with genuine concern and held her in his arms. I was nodding off, a human trait. Mom opened her eyes and stared up at Dad with true affection and devotion. "I love you more than my own life," She thought. "You don't love me at all then, you don't have a life," He thought back. "I love you more than my own existence," She thought after a moment. I tuned out of their thoughts after that, and closed my eyes. "Sleep, Alice, the toxins won't work if you don't," Mom whispered. "No," I slurred. Mom concentrated her gaze on me and my eyes closed. "Stop," I moaned sleepily. "No," She strained. Dad laughed at me as I struggled to keep my eyes open. Fire burst from in them, sending a wave of heat from my body. "Alice!" Mom screamed, standing across the room where I had burned a hole in the wall. Dad laughed uncontrollably as I drifted away, hoping I wouldn't be drifting away forever.
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