“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” I said, my voice shaking. “You saved me.”
“I…” Her face twisted, grief and shame mixing into something raw.
“The details don’t matter,” I whispered, closing the remaining distance between us. “You saved me, mum. You were the one who held me when I cried, who sang to me when I was scared, and who sat for hours untangling my hair. You showed up for everything, even when it scared you.”
She broke, folding into me as if her bones had given out. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tightly as she sobbed into my shoulder.
“You were brave enough to break free,” I murmured into her hair. “Brave enough to raise a child when you were essentially still a child yourself. I don’t care that we’re not blood; you’re my mum. You always have been and always will be.”
I don’t know how long we held each other. It was longenough for my tears to dry and for her sobs to stop. Long enough that I knew we could do this. Survive.
“I’m going to get better,” she said at last, pulling back to gently tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “I’ve spoken to Roman. He’s arranging a place for me, a private care facility.”
My eyes widened. “Wait, what?”
“I’m getting help. Therapy, medication, whatever it takes. I want to get better, Violet. For you, but also for me. It’s why I need you to come with me right now,” she continued softly.
“I’m not leaving him.” I turned toward Ryder, still and pale against the hospital sheets. “I can’t.”
A small, warm smile curved her lips. One I hadn’t seen in years.
“We’re not running, my flower. Not anymore. But I need you to see this, so the demons that haunted me don’t end up haunting you too.”
Mum took my hand as we moved through the Fluffy Duckling, completely unfazed by the customers who paused to stare. Maxim guided us through to the back, leading us into a cold, concrete room that smelled faintly of dust, disinfectant, and blood.
I stopped in the doorway, taking in the scene. Roman sat on a nearby table, a cigarette tucked between his lips, his white shirt sleeves rolled up with deliberate calm. A metal tray of tools lay neatly arranged beside him, each one lined up with unsettling care. A plastic sheet covered the floor,smoothed out perfectly beneath the figure of my father suspended from a hook in the ceiling.
Mum stepped forward, slow at first, then with growing certainty until she stood just a foot away from him. Caretaker writhed in his restraints, eyes wild, snarling behind the strip of duct tape across his mouth. Utterly helpless.
She didn’t speak, simply staring at him in cold, unflinching silence. Her hair had been hacked short, uneven strands curling in all different directions. Her skin was mottled with bruises in various colours, and her frame was slight compared to the man hanging in front of her. Yet she’d never looked so powerful.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked Roman, who’d moved to stand by my side.
He looked down at me with a raised brow, the orange tip of his cigarette forcing hard shadows across his handsome features.
“What did she give you?”
“Nothing,” he said simply.
“Nothing?” I repeated, unable to believe it.
He shook his head, dark green eyes returning to where my mum continued to stand, watching Caretaker struggle.
“Then why?”
“Ryder is my family,” he said calmly. “And you’re his.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, frowning as mum moved. She brushed her fingers across the tools set up on the metal table, finally selecting the gun. Without pause, she raised it and pulled the trigger.
Caretaker’s scream was muffled, caught behind the tape as he lurched violently. His eyes bulged in agony, blood soaking through his trousers, dripping from the fresh, gaping wound right through his groin.
Mum’s voice, when it came, was steady. Stronger than I’d ever heard it. “I would take so much pleasure intorturing you,”she said, her gaze never wavering.“I should hurt you, again and again, just as you’ve hurt me. As you’ve hurt all those men, women, boys, and girls over the decades. I should throw you in a cage and share you with the vilest of creatures this world has to offer. Let you beg for mercy that never comes.”
He thrashed, nostrils flaring, but she only leaned closer.
“But I want you to understand something before you die.” She paused, watching him with newfound determination. “I’m nothing like you.”
And then, calm as anything, she lifted the gun and shot him clean between the eyes.
