"M-Marcus." Rayne intuitively stepped back. The man before her, although family was effectively now a stranger. No longer the boy she remembered, but now a man of formidable size and for the first time in a very long time a curious self-preserving instinct awakened. The man stood before her could hurt in not only an emotional sense, but a physical one too. It unnerved her.

"Oh, I simply adore family reunions." Nicole reached around Rayne holding the phone in front of her face to grant her access. "Thank you."

Rayne blinked and turned, reaching out to grab her phone.

"Ah, ah, ah! I'm sending a message to your loved ones." She smirked.

Rayne caught her breath, sure she saw the devil himself in those icy blues staring back. "No. They can't find out this way." She stifled a sob. "Please—why are you doing this?"

"Why? You honestly need to ask?" She scowled. "It's simple. You took something from me and I'm now returning the favour."

A hand settled on Rayne's shoulder, having fleetingly forgotten Marcus was standing behind her. She turned to face him. "You can't be here. Leave. Right now!"

"I can't leave Sunshine, not until you hear me out." He stepped forward and scooped her into his arms.

Rayne stiffened. This was wrong.

"My oh my... don't you two make a cute couple." Nicole jested.

Rayne wriggled free, pushing him away. "No, Marcus."

Nicole pressed the send button before powering down Rayne's phone, popping it into her bag. "I expect you to keep to your word, Mr Winters."

He didn't look at Nicole; she was of no interest as his gaze remained on his sister.

Nicole sighed. "It's true what they say—three really is a crowd, so I will take my leave." Flicking her hair from her shoulder, she reached for her Gucci sunglasses and left Rayne alone with her estranged brother.

The disquiet thrumming through her veins was palpable, but she forced herself to stand a little taller. She was not the girl he remembered.

Marcus shifted uncomfortably on enormous booted feet. "Do you want to sit?" Motioning to the bench beside them.

Rayne didn't move, meet his gaze, or answer his question. "If you say you're here to talk. Then talk."

He smiled as his eyes swept over her petite form. "You look even more beautiful than I remember." Rayne visibly recoiled. "I've missed you so much, Sunshine." He stepped closer lifting loose hair from her shoulder. "I'd forgotten how silky."

Rayne swatted his hand away. "Don't call me that. I don't like it."

His eyes lowered. "Have you not missed me?"

She didn't know what to say. What did he expect her to say?

Marcus frowned. "It's mom."

She froze. A sick, aching dread filled her stomach. What would Dr De-Luca tell her to do? He would tell her to utilize her coping strategies.

One... two... three... four... five... six.   Rayne's head wouldn't cooperate. She tried hard to focus, but it felt as if she was trying to run through water. Her shame, her silence. Feeling a little dizzy, her brain clouded over, almost like nature's anaesthesia, to silence the past, numb the pain, anything to scrub away her history.

Marcus looked to his left, toward the water, before sighing and returning his attention to his sister. "She's dying Rayne. Mom's dying."

For a child to hear those words, one would expect them to tear strips from their hearts. Losing a parent was terrible for any child—at any age. But she felt nothing. How could she. The woman had detested her from her first breath.

You're a stupid, stupid, ungrateful girl. I feel nothing for you. I should have let you die. Get out of my sight, child!

Cruel harsh words that would haunt Rayne indefinitely.

He continued. "She is asking to see you before she dies." Sighing. "It's cancer, lung cancer which has spread to her brain." He ran his hand over the back of his neck. "We don't know how long she has left."

Rayne supposed he expected her to be upset or shocked. "And you expect me to go? See the woman that loathed my very existence."

"I get it—I do. I understand why you wouldn't want to see her."

"I very much doubt that. You were always the blue-eyed boy. You weren't hated from the day you were born. You weren't blamed for the death of our father. You weren't the one she blamed for what you did to me. You were loved—wanted." Rayne stopped, breathing heavily, she bit back the tears.

Marcus reached out for Rayne to jump back.

"No Marcus. Don't touch me!" Tears strained her eyelids, blurring her vision, but anger punched through her words.

"I loved you. Do you not remember?"

Her mouth squeezed as her brow tightened. "That wasn't love, Marcus. Don't stand there and say that to me. I'm not the weak, trusting young girl who you can manipulate." A heaviness swept across her chest. "It's taken years for me to see exactly what happened and the part I played." A flashback to the last night she had seen him passed through her mind. Pushing the dark memory away, she shook her head.

He looked taken aback, hurt by her words. "I'm sorry—I never meant." He stopped, holding his hands up in surrender. "I know I can't force you. But please Rayne. She is sorry. She wants to apologize, make peace."

Apologize? Rayne had coveted her love and acceptance for years, craved it to the point only hurting herself could take the need away.

"I promise if you come with me to see her—give her peace. Then I will bring you right back home. And you will never have to see her or me again. If that's what you want."

Could she do this? Rayne had searched her mind, her heart for answers to why her mother hated her so, but Dr De-Luca had often warned she might never get the answers or understand her mother's reasons. Would an apology or explanation make a difference now?

Marcus drew in a long breath. "I think her illness had made her examine her life and her mistakes. She wants to make it right."

Rayne's mind flitted to Nathan and Jaxon. Jaxon would have expected her home by now. And what message had Nicole sent them? "My phone?"

"She took it—Nicole."

Rayne's shoulders sagged. "If I do this—You promise to bring me back if we leave now." Rayne quickly calculated. If they left now, it would take a good five hours to get there. Adding in the drive home, she could be back in New York by the early hours.

"Do this one thing and, yes, I will bring you back home."

Should she go? Would she regret it, if she didn't go? Her mind was made up. "Okay, I'll go with you. But I need your phone. I need to make a phone call first."

Marcus dug his phone from his pocket and handed it to her. Rayne had never memorised either mobile numbers of Nathan or Jaxon. The next best thing was to call Suzanne on her direct office line and leave a message for Nathan.

Turning away from Marcus, Suzanne answered on the third ring. "Nathan Knight's Office."

"Suzanne, it's Rayne."

"Hi Rayne. How—"

Rayne interrupted. "I'm sorry I don't have time to talk. Could you please tell Nathan that I have to go somewhere to deal with a family emergency. And tell him not to worry I will explain everything on my return. If you could also pass the message to Jaxon too?"

"Yeah, sure Rayne—is everything okay?"

"Yes, and thank you Suzanne."

"No problem Rayne. See you soon."

Rayne ended the call, returning his phone. "I'm guessing you're parked nearby?"

He smiled. "Yes. Follow me."

Rayne was torn. Her gut screamed—Run. But a dark part, the part that had been sheltered from the light, wanted to take away the power of her painful memories, wash away the filth that was still there, ate away at her soul in those quiet moments when she felt alone.

~ ~

Nathan arrived back at the apartment; an ominous feeling swept across his chest as he found Jaxon sorting through some paperwork in his study. "No Rayne?"

Jaxon frowned. He'd felt something was off too. "I got a text message not long before Suzanne called me." He threw his phone toward his brother. "I've tried to call her more times than I can count. But it's switched off." He pushed his chair out and stood. "Something doesn't feel right. Suzanne said Rayne sounded weird on the phone. And I thought she wasn't in contact with her family?"

Nathan yanked at his tie as he read the message out loud. "She's going shopping—Don't worry?" He read the message three times, lost in thought. Rayne never went shopping alone. "What—Did you say something?" he looked at Jaxon, having not caught what he'd said.

"Something doesn't add up Nate. And why didn't she call me? I know she would have trouble getting hold of you—" he paused. "I have a bad feeling."

Nathan agreed. "Suzanne said she rang from an unknown number. I've tried to call the number, but it goes straight to voicemail." He pulled out his phone, throwing Jaxon's back to him. "You try Rayne and I'll try this number again."

Jaxon shook his head. "Nothing."

"Same," said Nathan, frustrated. "She had her appointment today with Dr De-Luca, he would have been the last to see her. I'll call him, see if he can shine any light on this."

He quickly flicked through his contacts, putting his phone on loudspeaker so Jaxon could hear too. "Fuck!" It went to voicemail, but Nathan left a message asking for him to contact him when he heard this.

~ ~

Almost six hours later, Rayne stepped from her brother's car and stretched her aching limbs, having only stopped once to take a bathroom break and grab a coffee. She shivered although it wasn't cold, never thinking she would return here to Winchester, where she grew up, until they moved her to a foster home in the next town over.

"Are you sure you don't want to grab something to eat before you see her? You haven't eaten all day." He looked at her worriedly.

The last thing Rayne could stomach was food. She looked towards the imposing hospital building but kept Marcus in her line of sight, watching as he stretched out, rolling his shoulders. They had hardly spoken on the trip down. Rayne pretended to be asleep for most of the drive. "I'm fine. I just want to get this over with."

Marcus nodded his agreement.

Heading inside the hospital, they sighed in and walked towards her room. There was no turning back now.

The door was slightly ajar as Marcus pushed it open to step inside the dimly lit room.

Rayne peeked around him to see her mother, whom she hadn't seen or spoken to in over ten years. Rayne always thought the ageing of any woman was a great blessing, and she had only ever wanted her love and acceptance to enjoy the wisdom of experience that mothers passed down to their daughters.

Age on this occasion had not been a blessing. In a bed lay a woman much beyond her age of fifty-three. Skin and bones, pale as ghost, her face lined by the storm that ravaged her tiny body. Rayne swallowed, unprepared for the shocking visual of her frail mother.

"Mom," whispered Marcus.

Blue eyes fluttered open and warmly welcomed her son. "Marcus." She drew in a shunted breath.

"Mom, here let me—" He rushed towards his mother's side and helped her sit up, adjusting her pillow. She clasped one hand to her chest, coughing, holding a tissue tightly in her weak hand.

"Look Mom, I've found her. I found Rayne." He stepped away to give her an unobstructed view of her daughter.

"Yes, I can see you did." Her voice was meek and unsteady. "I want to speak to my daughter alone."

Rayne's heart was beating almost outside her chest. Did she want to be alone with this woman?

Marcus kissed the top of his mother's head. "Okay. I'll grab a coffee. Can I get you anything?"

"No, I'm good, Marcus."

He straightened her bed covers and turned towards Rayne. "Do you want me to get you anything, Sunshine?"

Rayne gritted her teeth, digging her nails into her palms.

He walked toward her. Stiffening as he placed his hands on either side of her upper arms. Rayne flinched. "Don't look so worried. You'll be just fine."

Was he serious? She didn't feel just fine. She gave him a tight smile as he released his hold and left them two alone.

"Come closer." Her mother beckoned.

Rayne counted out six small steps.

"Well, look how you turned out. Always was the pretty one?" She coughed, the tissue in her hand now smeared with blood. She looked at Rayne. "My death will come soon enough, child."

Rayne felt an emotional indifference to her words. Which was a blessing. She needed it as a valid form of defense from the emotional and physical abuse she'd suffered at the hands of her mother. "Marcus said you have something you want to say to me?"

Silence built a barrier between them as the unease within Rayne continued to build. She would not stand here a moment longer. She had travelled hours for nothing. Turning to leave, her mother broke the silence.

"I wanted to feel different when I saw you, but I don't." Her chest rattled as she spoke.

Turning back to face her, Rayne didn't understand. "What do you feel for me?"

"The same."

The same? "You're not sorry—are you?"

"Sorry? I've got nothing to be sorry for."

"You wanted to see me one last time... just to reinforce how much you hate me?" They had duped Rayne into coming here. "For you to hate me mother, makes me think there must have been a time that you loved me. Did you ever love me?"

She studied Rayne. "I loved you until you were born. Then I cursed you every day since."

Old wounds opened up, splintering her thoughts. "How can you blame me for the accident—I was a baby?"

"I don't. I never did."

Rayne shook her head. "Then why—what is it?"

Her mother coughed. "I didn't want a girl. I could never love a girl. And you brought nothing but pain from the moment you were born. First, your father and then what you did to your brother."

A fire-seed of anger burst from Rayne's stomach. "I spent years wishing for a different outcome for my father. But I did nothing to Marcus. And I will not stand by and let you say that I did. He was five years older than me—five years! I was a child."

"That day I found you two... together," she croaked, sucking in her hollow cheeks. "You were every bit the whore I knew you would be. A child of sin. And you corrupted your own brother." She raised her hand, pointing her frail finger. "God is the only one who can wash away your filth, my girl."

"I was fifteen!" she cried out.

Dr De-Luca was right. She had been naïve to believe her mother could have changed. "It is not I who is evil mother. I did what any human being would do—I was desperate for love. And your beloved son made me believe that his love was something good, and I punished myself for years believing it was my fault." Rayne stifled a sob. "You both stole my childhood."

"How dare you blame your brother," she spat. "You tempted him, whore! Marcus was a good boy." Her mother wheezed; her breath short as she gasped for more breath.

Rayne's world swirled; her vision blurry. Swallowing a lump of repressed pain, a tear slipped down her cheek. Angrily wiping it away, she would not cry in front of this woman. She had cried too many tears, and nothing she could do or say would change her opinion.

It had been a huge mistake coming. But she could right that wrong. She could leave this place and never look back. Turning on heel, she fled the room, ignoring the calls from the wicked dying woman.

Quickly she headed towards the exit. She would find her own way home. Confess the truth of her painful childhood to Nathan and Jaxon and pray they would not turn away from her... love her still.