Mia sat on her bed, eyes staring blankly into space as she struggled to comprehend everything that had happened with her. The monster, the near death, the loss of her arms and the full nature of what she actually was sending her into a spiral. Getting off her bed, she made her way to the drawer where a picture frame sat. inside it was a picture of her, Rozie and Hadin at the beach a couple of towns over. Rozie was wearing a one-piece swimsuit while she and Hadin were wearing a pair of identical swimming shorts, with her wearing a sports bra and waterproof concealer to hide the splotches of discolored skin, her mask hiding the genuine smile underneath as Hadin wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"I remember that day," Rozie's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, causing her to put down the picture. "You were so happy that I thought you'd give yourself a heart attack," she wrapped her arms around Mia from behind, pulling her into a hug that Mia allowed herself to relax into. "I know you're going through a lot, but I'm going to need you to be a brave for me right now. Things are going to be hard, things will fly off the handle and you will doubt yourself several times," she placed a gentle kiss on Mia's cheek, "But I need you to know that I'll be here for you every step of the way. And although it doesn't look like it, Hadin does care for you. You're the most important thing to him,"
"If I'm so important then why didn't he bother to even heal me? Why did he decide to make me like this?" she lifted up her shirt and pointed to a piece of discolored flesh on her stomach which pulsated with a steady rhythm. "Why'd he make me a monster,"
"I," Rozie started, but paused as she considered her words carefully, "There's more to that situation, but its not my story to tell," she sighed, kissing Mia's cheek. "And you're not a monster," she reassured Mia, "Don't ever think or say that," her words washed over Mia, the words soothing her in ways she didn't even know she needed soothing.
The two of them stayed like that for a while, neither of them speaking, both content with just standing there; one providing comfort while the other simply basked in it. After several minutes of silence, Rozie pulled away and Mia put down the picture frame. "Now I need you to get dressed," she handed Mia a wrapped package which she opened to reveal a high-quality black suit and a confused expression on her face.
"Dressed? What for?" she asked as she placed the suit on her bed
"I assume your father told you about the lineages and the roles they play?" Rozie asked, opening Mia's wardrobe, searching for a shirt to go with the suit.
"Briefly," Mia replied, taking off her trousers to put on the pair of pants for the suit, "I kept interrupting him, so he couldn't finish his explanation,"
"Briefly will have to do for now," Rozie handed a shirt over to Mia who had taken off her top and was waiting. "Like any good secret society, the lineages rule Amber Plains in secret. They're not involved politics; they find it too bothersome and ultimately meaningless in the grand scheme of things," she explained as Mia got dressed. "There are currently five lineages that rule Amber Plains, five families; the Arkwrights, the Smiths, the Johnsons, the Morgans and the Fays," she explained, leading the dressed Mia out of the room and down the halls of the Arkwright Manor.
"Once every six months, the families gather to discuss the allocation of resources, unaccounted monsters like the one that attacked you and any other business that is beyond what the lesser lineages can handle," she explained as they exited the house and made their way towards one of the many barns that dotted the farm. Several sleek black cars had already gathered in front of the barn; their tinted windows absorbing the light from the sun, the occupants already inside the barn.
"So they're meeting in there?" Mia asked, taking a replacement mask that Rozie had offered her; the device sliding over her mouth and securing itself with a click and sharp hiss as it dispensed the drugs into her system, the cocktail dulling the subtle ache of her body. "Not what I imagined a meeting place for the rulers of the city to look like,"
"True, but you should know better than to judge a book by its cover," Rozie pushed open the door to the barn, revealing a multistoried interior that was impossible for the barn to physically contain. Statues of different people and creatures lined the room; each one masterfully carved in marble. An expensive table sat in the middle of the room surrounded by five ornately carved chairs; each one sporting a different style, crest and decorations.
"Its bigger on the inside," was all Mia had to say, coming to a stop as Rozie placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed tightly, causing her to stop looking around and instead turn her attention to where Rozie was facing; the table. There were five chairs, one for each member of the five families. Hadin was nowhere to be seen, yet all five seats were filled.
"The hell?" Rozie muttered under her breath, eyes slowly hardening, "Stay next to me," she ordered, taking a step forward to put herself in front of her ward. With confident strides, she made her way to the table, two of the five people straightening in their seats with nervous expressions on their faces while the other three looked at her with a mixture of disdain and lust.
"You," Rozie snapped at a man who looked barely out of his teens and wore an expression that basically screamed; The world is lucky to have me. "Get up, now," her voice was firm, belying the anger that simmered beneath.
"How dare you," he hissed at Rozie, every word dripping with arrogance and anger, his outburst causing three of the seated members to almost rise from their seats and attack her, only to be cowed back into their seats by a glance from the youth.
"I don't know who you think you are, but that seat is reserved for the head of the Arkwright family. One of the five," she hissed, "Last time I checked, you are neither the head of one of the five, nor are you the head of the Arkwright family," she took a step closer, ready to physically remove and break his bones for his blatant disrespect.
Just as he was about to retort, the temperature of the room dropped drastically, the breaths of everyone in the room misting over as footsteps resounded in the unnatural silence that had settled. "Ingrates, a barely competent child and indecisive fools," the voice of Hadin filled the room, all eyes turning to settle on him. "Now, would you all kindly explain yourselves,"