Resolve

"Hello, mother." Dor entered the hospital room again.

"If it isn't my son from Robert." She chuckled at him, clearly at her wit's end. "Honestly, I thought you would be dead by now."

"Why is that?" He took a seat opposite to her.

"I made sure you became so dependent on me that you wouldn't be able to live without me. So that when I left, he'll be devastated." She pulled at her hair. "But look who's still alive."

"Why do you hate dad so much?"

"He got everything he wants. Every woman. So I was ecstatic when he chose me after I gave up years and years of my life to get his attention. I lived a happy life but then even more beautiful women would throw themselves at him and he would do nothing about it. I even caught him with another woman in the room. I HAD IT! So I made a plan, he loved you dearly, so I'll just ruin his beloved son's life as payback. But, apparently, my plan failed."

She snapped at him while Ran threatened to come out.

Let me take over!

No! I need to do this one.

I am the protector! I protect you from dealing with things again. Let. Me. Out.

No. Just some more minutes. Please.

Fine. Five. You got five minutes.

"Why did you try to poison him then?" He asked, his voice shaking.

"I heard about a trinket from some men. The trinket that absorbs people's lifespan and it was with him. So I thought, because he made me use so much of my lifespan for him, it's only right to steal it from him. Many people want money and when I promised them your father's wealth, they were all on board. I heard about the poison from another person. Poisoning him is a bonus for me. And if it weren't for my darling son then I would have gotten everything."

Dor!

Wait! I have two more minutes!

"Is this the trinket you are trying so desperately to find?" He walked to her and pulled up his sleeve, showing the glistening metal in his hand.

When she gasped, he thought a crow slammed against the window.

"Darling son, why don't you just give it to your beloved mother? You care about me right? I loved you more than anyone does. Show me that you love me too."

He smiled down at her, "You are my mother. The one I waited every day for ten years to come back to me."

"And I am here now! I don't have much longer to live anymore. You just have to give it to me and we'll hang out ok? Every single day." Her voice sounded sickeningly sweet when she said that, making his stomach churn.

"So that's how you got the trinket from me last time." He laughed, pulling his sleeve down. "I can't believe I was stupid enough to believe you."

"What are you talking about? Hurry up. I'm going to die soon." She tried to get to him but her broken legs wouldn't allow her.

"You never cared about me in the end. You'll take the trinket and leave me to die. Like you did last time. Caitlyn was right, blood doesn't make a family." He walked to leave the room.

"What are you spewing!?!? I am your family. I gave birth to you!" She shouted so much, he could see the spit come out of her mouth.

Dor stopped just at the door and shook his head. "No. You're not family. A family doesn't hurt each other." He opened the door and smiled at her, "Goodbye mother. I'm going to go find my family now."

Dor swallowed back tears as he heard her screaming and cursing at him.

You did good.

Thank you.

You should have given me a chance to say something nasty to her.

I'd rather you didn't. Let's end, at least, this on a good note.

So you were going to involve with them? It seems like a lot of trouble.

He looked at the jacket Caitlyn gave him and smiled.

I want a family like theirs and I know I'll need to do a lot to prove myself to them but it's something I'm willing to try.

Alright. Let's go. For family. I guess.

♣

Caitlyn sat on the roof watching the sunrise with a blanket wrapped around her.

She just got off a call from her parents. The press is getting concerned with the lack of content with Caitlyn so they arranged for an interview through a video call with her and her parents.

Neither of them wanted to do it, but neither of them could refuse. If Caitlyn can convince them that she's enjoying her seclusion, then maybe they'll stop trying to find out where she lived.

"Yeah right." She scoffed. "People always feel like it's their business to keep celebrities and their family in check. They think they have the right to know everything just because they supported the celebrity. They forget that they are humans with likes and dislikes of their own."

She laid back on the ground and picked up her phone. Seeing the picture that her parents posted of her with the caption, 'Missing our heart. I hope this filming gets done soon so that we can hold you again.'

She laughed. The only time they held her was in public but that's better, the lesser the contact the better. She felt repulsed whenever they touched her and they hated acknowledging her.

Caitlyn lived in an orphanage while she had parents. Sometimes she envies the kids here. Either their parents died or they had no memory of them, this means they can start a new life wherever and however they wanted without anything tying them down.

While she felt like she was bound with chains everywhere she went. Not just because her parents were alive but because of their status in society. If she left, someone was bound to recognise her and try to turn her into her parents. It has happened and will continue to happen as long as she is alive or recognised.

However, some of the kids do envy her when they find out about her parents. 'She's so lucky to still have parents, I would do anything to live her life', that's all they say about her.

And if Caitlyn could, she would readily change lives with them.

Putting her phone down, she looked at the sky.

"I wonder how Kaia is, now that she's free."

She remembered the day at the hospital like it was yesterday. Seeing Kaia like that to Faith and all the bruises on her body made her angry. The one person she promised to protect, got hurt and from what Dorran told her, he was a big man.

Ever since she was a child, she always watched movies on families, and looking at her's made her want to make one of her own. So she decided to do that, Kaia was the first member.

She remembered meeting her on the first day of kindergarten. The outcast in the corner with an extremely disfigured face caught her interest immediately, but she couldn't understand why that time. She only knew that she wanted to be her friend.

Now she understood why she caught her attention that day. It was because everyone she met so far looked sickeningly perfect. Then Kaia appeared in her life.

She became attached to her as time passed by. Even negotiating with her parents just so that she could be in the same town as Kaia, her real family.

When she came back she met Dor-Ran then Shia then Aliya and Max. Each one of them drew her attention in some way or the other. When she found Kaia again and her family was complete. Because of what they've gone through, they are all fiercely protective of each other and she was finally happy.

She could continue to live like this for the rest of her life but life was not without struggles, especially not for them.

People demanded more of her and her smile got faker. But she still had her family and that's all she needed. Then Kaia's mother died and she came with an entirely different face the next day and a new girl.

Caitlyn didn't mind Faith though, she proved to be a wonderful person and a great addition to the family. But Kaia got more and more distant with them.

That's when she wondered if she really knew Kaia or if she changed so she talked with her.

She is the same person but something definitely happened.

"She'll tell me when she's ready." That's what she told herself. She is her family and she'll support her through everything, no matter how difficult it is for her. That's the kind of family she plans to be to them, whether they feel the same or not.

Speaking of family, Caitlyn was happy when Kaia's father died. She felt sad to see her cry but she was genuinely happy for her.

Kaia would always tell her about how her father treated her every time they met and she really, really hated him. She heard about how he looked after her in the hospital but a few days of affection can't make up for years of neglect and abuse.

While Faith, Dor-Ran, and Aliya ran after Kaia that day, Max, Shia, and Caitlyn had the same idea in their head. The way the knife stuck out of the man's head was too convenient a spot for Kaia not to be the one to stab him.

Whether she did it on purpose or not, they didn't care.

After a quick glance to each other, Caitlyn took off her sweater, passing it to Max who wrapped his hands in it and pulled the blade out of the man's head. He made a very deliberate trail to make it look like the stabber escaped by letting the blood-soaked knife do all the work.

Once it was convincing enough, he wrapped the knife in Caitlyn's sweater and gave it to Shia to get rid of it.

All that's left is to just give their testimonies to the police and that's done.

But, because of this, Kaia disappeared for so long. No matter how many times she called her phone she wouldn't pick up.

Dor-Ran called her instead and took her everywhere she wanted, getting her whatever she asked for but that just made her angrier with him.

She had a feeling that he liked her and she does fancy him, somewhat but seeing him like this didn't interest her. What happened to the boy she met that rainy night? Where did he go? It's like that strange boy with two people inside him was replaced with another adult and she hated that.

Then she decided to give him one last chance, and he didn't disappoint. She finally saw the person from before and finding out that Kaia met with him reassured her more.

He's not that bad of a person, but, just like Kaia, because of circumstances, they had to change to survive and she's ok with that. As long as they don't lose themselves.

Her phone ringing pulled her out of her thoughts. Caitlyn took the phone and smiled when she saw the caller ID.

"Speak of the devil."

♣

"Cati!" Dorran called to Caitlyn as she made her way to him from the orphanage.

"You took your time coming here." She looked at the limo with an eyebrow raised but didn't say anything about it. "So, why did you call so early this morning? I skipped school for this."

"You have school on a Saturday?"

"Extra classes. So what's this about?"

"Kaia."

"What happened to her?" Caitlyn almost grabbed him.

"You're going to have to wait for the others." He flinched back with her reaction.

"Others?"

"We're going to pick Aliya then Shia after that Faith. Her's is the one with the most traffic."

"Why didn't you tell me the others were coming? Let's go fast." She was so excited to see them all again and maybe she'll finally know what happened to Kaia.