Alive

I shut down my laptop and glanced at Vin. "Is there something you need, Vin?" I asked.

"What if your mom's not dead?" Vin asked.

"She is."

"How do you know?"

"Morgan has her hair like the rest of us do for one. Two, the report said they had found a red-haired blue-eyed woman. That's my mom. I did get a good glimpse of her too."

He sighed. "Okay." Then he frowned. "You said your mom had a sister when we met Scoot and Morgan."

I nodded. "Aunt Leetha."

"Do you have her number?"

"Yes, why?"

"You should call her."

"Again, why?"

"To see if your mom told her anything."

I thought about that for a minute and decided there would be no harm in talking to her. I dialed her number. She answered on the first ring. "Hello?"

"Hello, Aunt Leetha. It's Sapphire," I said after I put it on speaker.

There was a gasp. "Sapphire?" She whispered.

"Yes."

"I thought you were dead."

"I survived. Scott and Morgan are alive too."

"You found Scott?"

"More like he found me."

"Who's Morgan."

Crap, I forgot she wouldn't know who he was. "He's the baby mom was pregnant with when she died. He's eleven now."

"Oh." A pause. "Where are you?"

"Rayville."

"Is that where you live?"

"No, I live with Gene and Owen Lockwood in Jason City."

"Then why are you in Rayville?"

"I'm a member of Dark Savers."

"What?"

"It's a monster hunting team."

"You're hunting down your father's terrible creations?"

Oh, so she does know about it. Vin winked and I rolled my eyes at him. "Yes, though not all of them are evil. Slashers are quite nice."

She sighed. "You have a Slasher, don't you?"

"Yup, his name's Slash," I said cheerfully. "He's the king of all Slashers."

"Sapphire, you should know that your father isn't dead."

"I know."

Silence then, "You do?"

"I sent him an email last night and he responded. I just got off the phone with him thirty minutes."

"You've talked to him?"

"Yes."

"Then do you know your mom isn't dead?"

I went still and frowned. "She's dead. I saw the FleshEater eating her, Morgan was ripped out of her, and the report said they found her body."

"They did," she admitted. "It was your mom's twin sister they found. Your father had killed her too. Your mom was only passed out from blood loss and Morgan was cut neatly out of her. FleshEater did rip off some skin but the ambulance got there in time to save her. She's living with me now but I know she'd love to see her kids. Especially the one she was forced to give up."

I was frozen with shock. My mom was alive? "Is she there?" I choked out.

"No, she's at work. We could set up a time for you to meet."

After the shock wore off I felt rage bubble up inside me. "No," I said with a current of anger in my voice.

"Why not?"

"Hmm, let me think. I was put in an orphanage and both my parents left me there," I spat. "You didn't even come get me!"

"Sapphire…"

"No! You didn't even try. The only one who did was Scott and he had Morgan to take care of!"

"Doesn't sound like he succeeded," she snapped.

"The Slade Orphanage is quite hidden and at least he tried!"

There was a sound of a door closing. "Oh, good. You're home, Leslie. I have your ungrateful daughter on the phone," Leetha told someone.

I knew it was my mom. "Ungrateful? You try living at the Slade Orphanage and see how you feel," I snarled. Slash was growling at the phone.

"Watch your tone, young lady," she shot back.

"No."

"Sapphire?" A new voice said. A voice I recognized. One that almost sent me into tears.

But my anger got stronger. "Hello, mother," I said coldly.

"I understand you're angry but why don't you…"

"Don't tell me to calm down," I shouted. "You left me to rot at that orphanage. The only reason I'm not there now is because I ran away and it took me eleven years to do it. So I have every fucking right to be pissed off." I hated that I was talking this way to my mom after I just found out she was alive but I couldn't help how angry I felt. Why the hell hadn't anyone said anything?!?

"Sapphire, maybe you should hang up," Vin said gently. I shook my head at him. No, I need to keep talking to them. To make them feel guilty.

"Who was that? Who else is there?" Leetha demanded.

"I'm Vincent Oak. Her boyfriend and a member of Dark Savers," he said calmly as he walked over to me. He held out his hand for the phone but I shook my head again.

"Boyfriend?" Mom said.

"Yes." He snatched the phone out of my hands and hung up. Then he pulled me out of the desk chair and then forced me to sit on the bed. He sat beside me. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"You were right," I said quietly and unhappily. "My mom's alive."

"I was only guessing when I said that." He saw my raised eyebrow. "Okay, I was hoping," he amended. "But only because you deserve to, at least, have one of your parents."

Slash crawled into my lap and I ran my fingers through his fur. He purred. "You probably think I'm a mean idiotic girl as seeing that," I said dully.

His eyes narrowed. "Don't call yourself that. You have every right to be mad."

"Did I? For all they knew, I was dead." I paused. "Leetha did say she thought I was dead come to think of it. So my mom probably thought the same thing."

"Even if they thought that they should have checked.

I nodded. "I'll call Aunt Leetha tomorrow with Scott and Morgan. That way mom will get to hear from all of her kids." I'll apologize and then tell her we'll about other stuff. Like how to destroy Dad.

"They know she's alive," Vin said glancing at his phone.

I blinked. "You told them through a text message?"

"Them and the rest of the Dark Savers." He frowned as I started laughing. "What's so funny?"

I shook my head. "Oh, nothing," I said giggling. "You just send them big news through a text instead of telling them in person."

He smiled. "I didn't want to. They're quite scary when they team up."

I snorted. "Alright." I looked at the time. "It's only eleven. Why don't we go for a walk?"

He stood pulling me with him. "Sounds good." We left with Slash trailing behind us.