Uncontrollable

Chapter Forty-Four

I nodded and followed the casually dressed healer out of the room and into the hallway. I felt out of place in such a pristine location, as if I was dirtying everything I touched.

Everything seemed calm around me, contrary to what I'd expect in a magical hospital. It was hard to imagine that people weren't always getting hurt when there was constant battles among different groups of magicians.

"They're gonna be in this room," the healer explained, pointing toward a door we'd arrived at, "but I must warn you; your father seems a little bit emotionally unstable."

"He's been locked up and tortured for who knows how long," I exclaimed, my face flushing red. How ignorant was this healer? Of course he was emotionally unstable. It would be a miracle if he wasn't.

"I was just letting you know in case you didn't already possess that knowledge," the healer answered, raising his hands in defeat.

I rolled my eyes, and opened the door. Inside, three metallic tables filled the small, clean room. There was a few feet of free room to stand at the bottom of them, but there was no where else to go besides that. Filling the clear cabinets were syringes, cylinders, and different colored liquids. I wasn't sure what they needed them for as they had magic, but I didn't feel like finding out. The slight scent of blood hung in the air, but for the most part it seemed as if my family had been cleaned up.

My mother laid on her back on one of the tables, but my father and brother were sitting up on their's.

The moment I walked in, my father's face sharpened in anger. My brother stared at me as if I was a foreign person, although I couldn't help but feel the same way toward him. All our lives we'd been split up; we didn't have any other choice.

"This is your fault," my father said immediately, straightening his back. My brother look mystified at my fathers accusation and began to get off the table.

My father's hand shot out to keep him in his spot.

"Don't go near him. Your brother will kill you if you get any closer."

"I will not," I shot back, taking a step toward the both of them. "I understand that you have been locked up and tortured by other wizards, but I would never do that to you."

"Of course you wouldn't. If you think that's all it'll take to get me to trust you, it's time for you to go take a large breath of reality. I won't endanger my family once again by allowing your species near me or any of us."

My heart pumped faster and a lump formed in my throat. Was this really what the people who tortured him worked into his brain? Did he truly believe his own son will kill him if given the chance? It nearly destroyed any hope at regaining a normal life I had. Magic had pushed all of us past a point of return; our family had been broken into too many pieces to put back together without distortion.

"Ryder?" my mother's voice muttered from the table she was sitting on.

"Mom," I breathed, walking over to her and staring down at her face, "I'm so glad you're okay."

Bruises littered her face. Her torso was bandaged, revealing no bare skin. Blood clotted where the cloth covered her wounds. Her eyes were barely open. They were a sickly variation of gray.

"Thank you, Ryder. I'm so glad you finally figured it out. I always knew you'd find us," she whispered, her voice sounding strained.

I decided I'd leave out the part that I stumbled upon them by accident.

"I just wish I could've done it earlier," I answered. Despite the bruises and scars that would last long after this was over, my mother was alive and that meant more than anything else to me.