Calling Carter.

(SILAH)
It was pretty cool meeting Alice and Tor. Surprisingly, we hit it off right away and I think I have two new friends. I tried to forget about freaking out earlier…

We were all crowded in the lounge – Luc eating the whole carton of ice cream – watching movies and eating popcorn (in Luc’s case, both at the same time) when I heard my name being called softly from the hall, where Layny’s study was.

I poked my head up, shifting in Carter’s lap to see better. Even though his friends had teased him, he hadn’t let go of me. In fact, he’d held me tighter. Aw, cute. “Silah,” Layny called again. I got up and wobbled my way through the people on the floor to speak quietly to Layny.

“Silah, honey, I have bad news.” She said, eyes grim and unhappy. My heart stopped for a second. The background noise suddenly got a lot quieter as people listened in.

“There’s been an accident at your house.”

I tilted my head to one side, concentrating on breathing evenly, getting enough oxygen to my brain. I needed that to work, because it felt like nothing else was. “What kind of accident?” I heard myself ask without feeling.

“Your mother… she took a fall. I just got off the phone with a friend at the medical centre. I told them I would let you know.” Layny said. Then, she hugged me and said, “Silah, it’s bad, there’s a lot of broken bones. It’s nasty.” I shuddered. I could not bring myself to hug Layny back, but she seemed to understand. She let me go.

Huge arms encircled me. “Don’t worry, Si,” Luc said, “she’ll be sweet. She’s your mum. She’s tough.” He held me, even I didn’t hug him either. I still appreciated the comfort.

“Where did she fall from?” I asked Layny. Our house was not a two storey; what could she have fallen from?

“The roof…” Layny said slowly. She looked troubled. “She’s still unconscious, they haven’t been able to wake her just yet. They think she might be in a coma.”

A coma. I felt myself start to shake. A coma. I did not feel numb. I felt fucking awful. The only constant person throughout my life, the only one who had stayed. She chose me over my father when he left, because she knew I needed her. But she had needed me and I wasn’t there for her. Oh yes, I felt awful.

“Are there any chances of her waking up?” I asked. I was asking necessary questions, one that I needed to know the answer to.

I needed to know if Mum was going to die.

“You will be staying with us for a while, that’s okay, right?” Layny continued. She was one of my Mum’s best friends, and I knew mum would definitely not mind me staying with her.

I gave a tiny half smile. “Of course, Layny, that’s perfect. Thankyou,” I added. I appreciated this, more than I could say. I couldn’t deal with this alone.

I didn’t notice Luc’s arms had disappeared until Carter hugged me tightly. He kissed my forehead, then my cheek. I turned into him and hugged him as tightly as I could as I felt myself start to shake even more.

“One more thing, Silah.” Layny said. This time her voice was shaking.

“Yeah?” I asked softly.

“They think it was suspicious.”

I felt the awful pain rise from my stomach to my throat. There was no need to guess who had done this. I knew. And I could tell from the look in Layny’s terrified eyes that she had a fair idea too. Little hands went around me and hugged me even tighter than Carter’s.

“I’m sorry, Silah,” Kala said. There were huge tears running down her cheeks. “I’m sorry your mum is hurt.”

“Aw, kid, it’s not your fault,” I hugged her back, “this stuff happens. And, if it is suspicious, we’ll deal with him.”

I felt Carter nod. He hadn’t let me go, just loosened his hold on me so I could hold Kala properly. I took a deep breath, but it was shaky, so I took another. “Right,” I announced calmly, “I wanna have a little chat with Caidan.” I said firmly. I still had the knife, and boy did I wanna use it.

“Si, I get to talk to him first,” Carter said smoothly, but I shook my head.

“Nup. If you do that there won’t be anything of him left to talk to.” I told him with a small grin.

“Don’t worry,” Luc growled, “we all wanna talk to this little cunt.”

“Luc,” Layny scolded, “how many times must I remind you…?” He had clearly been reprimanded more than once by her. She did it in a firm but teasing way. That was one of the main reason’s everyone liked her. That and she baked wicked cookies.