you was because of the senator. Or I swear I would have been there for every birthday, for every tear and party and dinner, and breakfast. I never would have let any harm come to you,” he said brokenly. She recoiled, her head shaking even more.
“No... stop it... I can’t be...”
“Please believe me... When I heard word about you, about the Senator, I told him. I told him that you were mine, and I almost beat the living shit out of him for laying a hand on you. Your mother had to send you to me... I couldn’t let you live a life without knowing who I was, I couldn’t let myself --” His voice broke off. Zyn took a hard breath and stood up.
“I’ve loved you since the day you were born, since I knew that you were mine. Don’t ever doubt that you have a father who loves you as much as I do. If you don’t want to stay here... I’ll find someone to take care of you. I just.... I needed this time with you, my daughter...”
Jamie was too...devastated to cry. Was too shocked to do anything but stare at him. With a shaking hand, she held the note to him, speechless. His hands were unsteady when he took it from her.
“If you can find it in yourself to just...stay with me, I’ll show you my world. I’ll let you live the life you deserve. I’ll do everything I can to protect you and to make you happy. I couldn’t do anything less for you --”
“I’ll stay,” she managed to whisper. Her bottom lip trembled to the point where it was hard to talk, but the utter relief on his face was worth it. “But I need...to think.”
He nodded his head, closing his eyes. She could only imagine him trying not to cry, just as she was.
When he left, the door was closed so softly, it sounded and felt like a whisper of pain as it coursed through her with the power of a raging wave. Nothing could stop the onslaught of pain, nor the need to escape. Jamie grabbed her hoodie, threw it over her shoulders, and ran from her room blindly, not noticing how dark it was getting. Zyn didn’t come after her -- probably because he didn’t hear her.
So blinded by her tears, Jamie didn’t notice she was veering off of their normal trail until it was too late. The months that she had spent here hadn’t been fearful. Their walks were calming and peaceful, all during the day. She remembered his earlier warning that she wasn’t allowed to leave the house after nine. It was well after nine-thirty.
Jamie stopped running, slowing to a walk. It was so dark that she couldn’t see her feet, and her normally keen senses were gone. The trees were so thick that she couldn’t see the moon, and the barely noticeable shadows the cast reminded her of the horror movies her mother had said she wasn’t allowed to watch, but had anyways.
“Oh god,” she breathed, turning in a circle and staring around her. Which way had she come from? Was Zyn going to notice she was gone? Her stomach rebelled against her, threatening to spill all over the dirt floor of the forest.
She felt something move behind her -- Jamie screamed, wrapping her arms around herself. Should she run? Should she stay until Zyn came to get her? She chose to run.
Flying, crashing, and slamming against things as she struggled to get away, Jamie’s lungs were working against her and everything was starting to blend, to blur right in front of her face. Crying out as something sliced at her cheek, she tripped over her feet and saw the ground coming go greet her face.
The fall stopped any movements she could have made. The trickle of blood that fell down her face was enough to traumatize her, but no more than the fact that, standing above her, was a creature as white as snow and as thin as a post. Her breath stalled in her lungs.
“Hmm...what have we here?” Jamie flinched at the chalk-on white-board sound that grated through her ears. The sound was cut off by a sort of...humming. It was the creature, she realized with horror. She could feel her eyes get wider with each second.
It bent down to her, and a chalky-white...appendage reached out and touched her skin. Ice shot through her body, and the thing pulled away with another hum. Her skin now