Page 47 of Zodiac Monsters

“Some,” was all the answer I got, before he followed with, “I should take you home. Finish eating, and I’ll drop you off. I’m sure you’re overwhelmed and could use some more rest and privacy to dissect your new reality.”

My whole heart sank.

“Okay.” I squeaked, no protest left in me. I quietly finished my meal, and I let him take me back to the dorm. It was a somber drive back to Graves Academy.

I left that afternoon with more questions than I had answers, and a weight of shattered trust that I might never be able to lift. The worst part was that it wasn’t these psychotic, questionable, monstrous men who had my heart in my stomach this time around. It was my own family.

I was in a daze as I wandered back into my room. At some point, I’d gotten under the covers and curled up in bed, then picked up my phone, and scrolled through my contacts.

I dialed the only number that made sense, but my mom’s phone went straight to voicemail. I dialed again. Same thing. Again. Again. Again.

It’s not like she was avoiding me. Why would she be? She didn’t know what had been happening to me. She didn’t know anything about anything. I wondered, now, if she even knew I wasn’t human at all.

Of course she did. If it wasn’t her blood that made me some kind of mythical beast, then it was Dad’s. As much as I loved and respected my father, he wasn’t capable of keeping a secret of that magnitude from Mom. He couldn’t even resist telling everyone what he got them for Christmas long enough for them to open the gift.

I dialed Dad next, to the same result, then dialed five more times to communicate the urgency of the conversation. When neither picked up, I threw my phone at the wall with frustration, hard enough that it would have broken if I’d not had such terrible aim that I hit my desk chair instead.

I curled more tightly into my pillow and squeezed my eyes shut.

What the hell is she doing that’s more important than explaining to her daughter why she enrolled her in a school full of monsters without telling her she fucking is one?