‘Where did you get him? You can’t afford something like this,’ my father said; his arms folded across his chest
‘I found him,’ I lied. ‘He feeds himself, so it’s no trouble keeping him.’
‘Can I touch him?’ my mother asked.
‘Of course.’ I dragged her forwards so she was inches away from Hawthorne’s face. His tail wagged in a dog-like fashion.
Hesitantly my mother and father patted Hawthorne, who seemed to thoroughly enjoy the attention. He had been quite neglected over the last week, so I thought he would enjoy staying in Flamethroat.
It was getting dark outside now, so I lit the fire in the grate and sat down with my parents who recounted the night of their capture and what they had been doing since their release.
‘They took the three of us to Concord City, bound and blindfolded,’ my father said. ‘But once we arrived, Helena was taken from us. Your mother and I were left in a cell overnight and in the morning we were charged and released. We have a permanent criminal record now. We kept an eye on the Human market in the city, just in case. A few days later, low and behold, there she was, up for sale with the rest of the Humans.’
It was hard for me to hear this, but I wanted to know everything.
‘She just stood there,’ my father’s voice cracked. ‘Like a shell. We called out to her, but she didn’t even know her own name.’
Beside him, my mother began to cry silently.
‘Of course, we tried to buy her,’ he continued. ‘But we don’t have much money and she was up for auction. A dark skinned man bid for her and won.’
‘Martinez,’ I scowled.
‘You heard?’ my mother said through tears.
I nodded and Jack elaborated. ‘We visited The Realm Headquarters.’
‘What?’ my mother and father gasped in unison. I nudged Jack in the ribs and shot him a glare.
‘It was Avalon’s idea,’ Jack said quickly. ‘She posed as a Human and I took her there to be registered.’
‘Shut up,’ I hissed at Jack.
‘Are you mad?’ my father said. ‘Do you know what they do to Humans there!?’
‘Thanks Jack.’ I snapped. ‘We didn’t know at first, but we certainly do now.’
‘How did you get out of there? When they realised you weren’t a Human they must have arrested you,’ my mother said with wide eyes.
I glanced at Jack who looked guiltily back.
‘We, uh,’ I began. I didn’t think it would be wise to tell my parents the whole story. ‘Well, they just kicked us out.’
‘What? You weren’t charged?’ my father asked.
I shook my head, but they could tell I was lying.
Jack exhaled loudly. ‘We kind of threatened our way out.’
‘Jack!’ I scolded.
‘Threatened?’ my father repeated.
‘More like attacked,’ Jack said.
I closed my eyes and prayed for Jack to shut up.
My father pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. ‘That was very foolish. You shouldn’t have stepped foot inside The Realm-’
‘Well we did,’ I said. ‘That is how I found out where you were.’
‘You don’t know what it’s like at The Realm-’ he began heatedly.
‘Dad, it’s fine. Jack and I went to The Realm, got the information we needed and left. We can take care of ourselves.’
‘I was against the idea,’ Jack piped up.
Dad ignored this. ‘You can’t be so reckless,’ he said to me. ‘Haven’t you heard? The Realm is cracking down on Humans and Human-lovers alike. We are just as bad as Humans in their eyes.’
‘Me? Reckless?’ I said with raised eyebrows, ‘I’m not the one starting pro-Human activist groups.’
My mother and father glanced at each other wearily. ‘You saw the posters?’
‘Of course I saw them,’ I said. ‘How could I miss it?’
‘They were for you,’ my mother said with a sad smile. ‘We hoped you would see them and be able to find us.’
‘I did. Do you have many followers?’
‘A few,’ she replied. ‘There are many families that have Human relatives here who were carted to Flamethroat.’
‘So how do we plan to get Helena back from Martinez?’ I said eagerly.
‘Shhh,’ my father hissed, looking around the room. ‘Not so loud.’
‘Who is going to hear?’ I asked.
Jack shifted in his chair and my father’s eyes snapped to him.
‘This boy,’ my father said with a nod in Jack’s direction. ‘Is he trustworthy?’
‘Kenneth!’ My mother scolded. ‘Really! The boy is sitting right there. Don’t be so rude.’
My father ignored this and asked again. ‘Well? Do you trust him?’
‘With my life,’ I said, mildly offended.
Jack gave me a small smile, which I returned.
‘Boy,’ my father said. ‘Do you mind leaving us with our daughter?’
‘Dad!’ I said. ‘His name is Jack and he is not going anywhere.’
‘It’s all right,’ Jack said uncomfortably, getting up from his chair. ‘I’ll wait at the bar or something -’
‘No,’ I said flatly. ‘Sit.’
Jack did as he was told and sat back down.
‘She’s got you on a tight leash there, boy,’ my father said, but dropped his gaze when he saw my glare.