Chapter 6

A few hours later, the heavy doors of the station swung open, and Elena jumped to her feet as familiar voices filled the room. 

"Mom!"

"Elena!" Her mother rushed forward, pulling her into a tight embrace. 

Elena clung to her as if she might disappear, burying her head on her mother's shoulder. Her own began to tremble, and at last, the tears she'd been holding back burst open like a water dam. 

"Oh, my God, honey," Elaine, Elena's mother, murmured. Her hands ran over Elena's back, her arms, her hair, checking for injuries. "What happened to you, honey? Are you hurt? Where have you been, hm?"

"Elena," Hector, Elaine's husband, came and patted Elena's back. His voice was firm but gentle, yet there was an edge to it, as though he was trying to hold back his anger. "We came as soon as we could."

Elena stepped back. She wiped her tears and cleared her throat. "Mom, where's Nathan?" Her parents exchanged uneasy looks. "He didn't come?"

Elaine held Elena's hands together and squeezed them. "No, honey. We threw a small party for your sister's full recovery, but she suddenly fainted."

"What?"

"Her doctor said it was due to exhaustion, maybe because she helped in cooking, that's why, but we insisted on further observation, so she stayed in the hospital for the night. Nathan is with her."

"You…you threw a party…without me?" Elena asked, bitterness laced in her voice. She was going through a traumatic experience but her family was just partying! Her heart filled with resentment, but she couldn't dare express it.

Elaine frowned. She didn't like Elena's tone. What was wrong in celebrating the full recovery of her daughter? Any mother would feel overjoyed! 

"We waited for you, of course. But we didn't want to restrict you anymore. You barely got to do anything you wanted because you've been keeping an eye on your sister always. So, when we heard that you went clubbing, we didn't dare to disturb you and call you home."

Elena's stomach dropped. 

"I was kidnapped! I went to buy ingredients to prepare a surprise feast for Erika! I was kidnapped, Mom!" She blurted out, hurt dripping in her voice. Then, her body stiffened, and her breath hitched after seeing the shock in her parents' faces. "Y–you…you didn't know?"

Hector cleared his throat. "Elena, we thought you ran off to a club. You never told us where you were going!"

Elaine nodded, her eyes clouded with worry. "We had no idea you were missing. No one said anything about a kidnapping. My goodness, honey! Is that why you're like this? You've been kidnapped?!"

Of course, they wouldn't know. They had no idea because they didn't look for her in the first place! Elena took a shaky step back, her head spinning. No one cared where she was. Not even Nathan!

A cold chill seeped into her bones. 

"Honey, tell us what happened. We'll file a report. We'll make sure whoever did this to you will be put behind bars!" Elaine exclaimed. 

Someone snickered in the background. 

Elaine and Hector turned in the direction, ready to shout and humiliate whoever dared to scorn their daughter. Officer Jennings came forward, scratching the back of his head after getting caught. 

"Sir, ma'am, can we talk to you for a few minutes?" Jennings began. Once the two people mentioned nodded, he continued, "We will go check the forest and the location your daughter said, but…is your daughter alright in the head?"

Hector glowered at the office. "What do you mean by that, officer?"

Jennings rubbed his nape. He stole a glance at Elena who was distraught and dazed. "She'd been claiming she was kidnapped by vampires and werewolves, and that there was a big fight between the two," he paused, trying to erase the laughter in his voice. "No offense, sir, but is your daughter taking drugs?"

Hector angrily spat, "No." 

Elaine worriedly looked back at her daughter, suspecting whether her daughter really was on drugs or not. Elena noticed her attention, and upon realizing what they were talking about, she stomped forward and shook her head repeatedly and frantically. 

"I'm telling the truth, Mom, Dad! I was kidnapped by those—!" Elena's words were caught in her throat after witnessing how those three pairs of eyes looked at her. The same look her first foster parents gave her when they learned she could see ghosts and even played with them. It was haunting. 

"...you don't believe me either," she whispered, her body shaking. 

"Elena—" Elaine reached for her, but she flinched away.

"I swear to God, I'm not lying!" Elena shouted again, her voice growing frantic. "I was taken! There were—," she hesitated, knowing how insane it sounded, but pushed forward anyway. "There were vampires. Werewolves. They were fighting. Monsters! I escaped, but I was…I was…" she couldn't bring herself to say it. 

What would her parents think? How would they react? 

Rape victims sometimes get blamed for what happened to them. No one believed her story, not even her parents. Not to mention, she was suspected of doing drugs! Her parents looked at her already as if she was a disappointment, a disgrace in their devout family. 

"Elena, that's enough," Hector's voice cracked like a whip. "You're exhausted. You've been through something, we can see that, but that isn't possible. Vampires? Werewolves? Do you hear yourself?"

Tears burned in Elena's eyes. "Why can't you believe me?"

Elaine placed a hesitant hand on her arm. "Honey, let's just go home, okay? The police said they will look into it. We'll figure everything out once you've had some rest."

Elena's chest rose and fell in uneven breaths. She couldn't believe that the horrendous things she went through were disregarded, seen only as a druggie's hallucination or a crazy woman's bout of madness. 

A strange, sinking dread settled in her gut. She was alone. She had always been alone. She was just deluding herself all this time. All these years. 

Now, she knew where she stood. Her rightful place.