A/N:
Date 6-20-17

Hey everyone! I finished typing this chapter in 1 hour and 30mins. That has to be a record! I was at 2000 words when it was exactly an hour since I started the chapter, then the last 30 mins I was distracted so it took a bit longer than it had to.

But wow, I can type fast. Anyway, I wrote this chapter earlier but didn't have time to edit it until now. That's why I didn't publish it right after I finished.

Word Count: 2555

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Chapter 32: Distressing Conversations

"Ivie! I need to talk to you!" Mrs. Sterling yells up to her oldest daughter.

Ivie freezes in the downstairs bathroom. She hid there to keep from getting caught when Lena was sent to her room because Ivie had been listening to their conversation.

With how harsh their mom had talked to Lena, Ivie did not want to go into the living room.

But Ivie would be grounded for not listening to her mom, so Ivie waits a moment to make it seem like she was coming from her room upstairs, then goes into the living room.

"Yeah, Mom?" Ivie says calmly as she sits on the couch near her mom.

Mrs. Sterling looks down at her hands in her lap and sighs, then gazes at Ivie with a sad smile.

"You didn't have anything to do with Lena and your father leaving, did you?" Mrs. Sterling asks softly, acting like normal even though she was just speaking cruelly towards Lena.

"No, of course not Mom." Ivie answers truthfully, wondering if that's all they had to talk about. Ivie hopes that's the case.

"Good. And your boyfriend Adrian... He seems like a nice guy." Mrs. Sterling says thoughtfully.

Ivie's eyebrows furrow in confusion, wondering where this is going. "Yeah, he's great. Why do you ask?"

Mrs. Sterling leans over from her seat in the armchair, placing a hand on Ivie's arm. "I just want what's best for you." She says with tears brimming her eyes.

"Mom, you don't need to worry about that. I know what I'm doing. I can make good decisions." Ivie assures her mom, even though she's been second guessing her relationship with Adrian since it began.

"I just have one question about him that I need a straight answer for." Mrs. Sterling says seriously, gripping Ivie's arm tightly.

"Okay. Can you let go of my arm?" Ivie exclaims in slight horror at the death grip her mom has. What is that about?

Mrs. Sterling releases Ivie's arm, which leaves a red ring of a hand print. Ivie rubs at it, but it doesn't go away. It fades a bit after a moment, but it can still be seen.

Mrs. Sterling is relieved that it didn't heal immediately, which means her daughter isn't a vampire or a werewolf. She had been concerned because the Kitsune is in town and Lena's boyfriend is a werewolf. Well, ex-boyfriend.

"Sorry hun. Now for my question." Mrs. Sterling says, pausing for dramatic effect like she usually does when saying something she deems important.

"Is Adrian human?" Mrs. Sterling finally asks, causing Ivie's heart to beat like crazy.

Ivie forces her eyebrows to furrow in confusion as she says, "Yes. Of course he is." Ivie frowns like she couldn't believe that Adrian would be anything but human.

But Ivie is freaking out on the inside. Her mom is so close. So close to finding out that the vampire she's been trying to kill is Adrian. And Ivie can't lose Adrian. She can't. Especially not to her psycho mother, who has been a hunter for years and Ivie just now found out.

Ivie now knows that she can't trust her mother, but she has to pretend to be on her side. At least for now.

"Oh, thank goodness! I'm so proud of you Ivie! You didn't fall for a trap like your sister did." Mrs. Sterling exclaims with joy, standing up and pulling Ivie into a hug.

"What do you mean?" Ivie pulls away, unable to stay in her mom's arms any longer. It makes Ivie's skin crawl.

"She fell for the filthy mutt. I couldn't believe it. But I forbid her to see him. Could you watch her at school and make sure he doesn't come anywhere near her?" Mrs. Sterling questions, giving Ivie the perfect opportunity to help out Lena.

"Yes. I will." Ivie says with a blank face, hoping she doesn't give away the fact that she's not going to keep Lucas away from Lena.

"Do you have magic? Can you keep him away effectively?" Mrs. Sterling asks Ivie.

Ivie freezes, unsure if she should tell her mom about the truth of what occured after the lightning strike.

"Yeah, I have some magic. How did you know?" Ivie asks softly, as if she's afraid to say it too loud.

"Because I knew you and Lena would get it sooner or later. It's a long story, but the magic is in your blood. It's usually different for each kid in the family, so what type of magic can you do?" Mrs. Sterling seems curious, so Ivie decides to go along with this conversation.

"I can control vines." Ivie says quietly, leaving out the fact that she can become a completely different insane person at night.

"Great! So you can protect Lena at school from the werewolf." Mrs. Sterling says with a grin.

"Yes." Ivie replies hesitantly.

"Now I forbid Lena from using her magic as a punishment for dating something so evil." Mrs. Sterling says.

Memories of Lucas surface in Ivie's mind of the times that she'd hung out with him or gone to one of his football games with Lena, Jerica, Vanessa, and Selynn.

The thought of Lucas being evil is absolutely ludicrous. Ivie almost laughs out loud as her mom continues talking.

"Now what about his brother? He has a twin, right? Is he human?" Mrs. Sterling questions.

"Yeah, Mason is human." Ivie lies without regret. "Lucas was the only one bit by the wolf." At least Ivie knows that last part is true. Lucas was bitten by the rogue Alpha, but Mason was scratched so deeply that it turned him too.

"Okay. You just watch out for your sister. I know you were sort of friends with them, but I forgive you for it because you're going to protect Lena. So I won't ground you for knowing the demons. That would be absurd." Mrs. Sterling says with a scowl.

Ivie personally thinks this whole talk is absurd, but she keeps her mouth shut.

"Thank you, Ivie. You can go back to whatever you were doing before." Mrs. Sterling dismisses Ivie.

Ivie wastes no time getting out of there and hurrying to her room.

Ivie doesn't know how she's supposed to deal with all of this. Ivie has to talk to Adrian about what he's been hiding, make sure her mom doesn't find out about Adrian being a vampire, make sure her mom doesn't find out that she's not keeping Lucas from Lena at school, and try to help Selynn with her zombie situation.

Ivie sometimes wishes life would go back to the way it was before the rogue Alpha bit Lucas and Mason. Then maybe Ivie's life wouldn't be so complicated. She'd be oblivious once again.

But Ivie was bitter and hateful like she used to be around Lena. Like it or not, and Ivie really doesn't like it, becoming vine girl had made Ivie better in a sort of twisted way.

Ivie's thoughts are interrupted when she hears her door slowly opening.

"What did Mom want to talk to you about?" Lena asks in a whisper from the doorway.

Ivie sighs in exasperation, choosing whether or not to tell Lena to go away. Ivie is not in the mood to rehash what happened.

But Ivie doesn't have to because their mom calls to them. "Girls! Come to the living room." Lena rushes downstairs because she was supposed to be downstairs in her room.

Lena was going to just text Ivie asking what happened, but Ivie would probably have a lot to text.

Ivie comes downstairs a little slower than Lena did so she'll arrive after her sister.

Ivie enters the living room, stopping in the middle of the room next to Lena and across from their mom, who's sitting in the armchair again.

"I forgot to tell you two, your father is going to be out of town for a few days for work." Mrs. Sterling announces with a small smile.

Ivie's first thought is, "Huh?"

Lena's first thought is, "What did she do to Dad?"

"When is he leaving?" Lena asks, crossing her arms in anger at her stepmom.

"He already left. It was urgent." Mrs. Sterling waves her hand dismissively, but Lena doesn't buy it.

"When did he leave?" Lena repeats slowly, barely able to keep from yelling.

She could've sent him away or locked him up for helping save Lucas. He doesn't deserve to be punished for that.

"Last night." Mrs. Sterling says while narrowing her eyes at Lena.

"You didn't even let him sleep?" Lena bursts out, not caring if she gets in trouble. She's already in a truck load of trouble.

"It wasn't my decision, Lena." Mrs. Sterling replies sternly, crossing her arms, unconsciously mirroring Lena.

Lena ignores the denial. "He helped save an innocent life! And you punished him for that? How insensitive could you be?" Lena hisses out furiously, her fingertips sparking as she uncrosses her arms and holds her fists at her sides.

"Watch your tone! You should never speak to your mother that way." Mrs. Sterling snaps.

Ivie looks between them wide eyed, wondering why Lena thinks their mom did something to their dad. Why would she do that?

"You're not my mother!" Lena retorts, regretting it when she remembers that Ivie still doesn't know about that. But Lena keeps her face in the angry frown it had been before.

"You live under my house, so it's my rules. Go to your room." Mrs. Sterling demands as she stands from her seat.

As Lena goes to her room, feeling electricity running through her hands looking for an outlet, she's never wished more than right now that she was 18 and could leave.

~*~

"What did she mean?" Ivie asks after getting over the shock of what just went down.

"Honey, she's just angry." Mrs. Sterling says with a forced softness to her voice.

"No, you didn't deny it. She said you're not her mother. And if you're not her mom, then you're not my mom. Why would she say that?" Ivie demands to know.

Mrs. Sterling slumps back into the armchair, putting a hand to her temple like she's exhausted. But Ivie isn't going to let it go that easily.

"Ivie, there's a few things that I need to tell you." Mrs. Sterling admits.

Ivie sits down on the couch away from her mom, mentally preparing for the worst.

~*~

"We need to go after him! He could be tied up somewhere dark and being tortured!" Lena texts Lucas this after explaining what happened, and the fact that her dad is missing.

It took Lucas awhile to answer Lena's text because he was at football practice and didn't see it until he got home around 4:30pm.

"He could really be gone for work though." Lucas responds hesitantly, not wanting to believe that Mr. Sterling's wife would have him kidnapped.

"But he might not be. She's a liar, and I don't trust her. She's not my real mom, remember?" Lena texts back, thinking of when she told Lucas at lunch today about what her mom told her before she went to go save Lucas.

That was when her mom confessed about their family history and how Lena's dad was married to another woman before their current mom.

"She did raise you, so she is your mom. But I get why you're angry. Maybe she's just really misguided and she'll return to normal." Lucas texts to Lena, hoping he's right for Lena's sake.

"Yeah, maybe you're right. I'll wait it out and see." Lena texts to Lucas just as her mom knocks on her door.

"Lena? It's me." Mrs. Sterling calls from behind the closed door.

Lena quickly deletes all of the messages between herself and Lucas.

"Yeah?" Lena calls out in a bitter tone as she puts her phone down silently behind her lamp, hidden out of view.

Mrs. Sterling opens the door, coming into Lena's room slowly, as if she's afraid Lena might attack her. Lena can only wish for that.

"I'm coming back to take your phone in five minutes. You have until then to say goodbye to anyone you need to. Assuming you didn't already." Mrs. Sterling says emotionlessly before turning abruptly and leaving the room.

Lena grabs her phone as soon as the door closes, sending Jerica a quick text. "Hey I'm grounded and my mom is taking my phone now. I'll talk to you tomorrow at school."

Then Lena texts Lucas. "My mom is taking my phone now. This is the last time we can talk until tomorrow at school. I wish she didn't ban us from seeing each other. Now we have to sneak around."

"I wish it was different, but we can figure it out. I believe in us as long as you do." Lucas texts back immediately.

"Good, because I do too. I'll miss you, even though we'll see each other tomorrow." Lena texts to Lucas, feeling heartbroken because they're not allowed to date anymore.

Just the other day Lucas was talking about them hanging out more and going out on dates. Now Lena can't have that. Their lives were supposed to go back to normal, but it's all ruined now.

Lucas texts back, feeling the same way Lena us. "I feel the same."

"Bye for now." Lena texts, hating that this feels like a forever goodbye.

"Bye." Lucas replies.

Lena deletes the messages and changes her password to make sure her mom can't get on her phone.

Lena decides to call her dad to see if he's okay. "Hello?" He answers on the second ring.

"Dad! Are you okay?" Lena exclaims quietly into the phone, making sure her mom won't hear the phone call.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Didn't your mom tell you I'm on a trip for work?" Mr. Sterling asks.

"Yeah but I didn't believe her. And she's not my mom." Lena replies coldly.

"Right. Well she's not lying about this. I am working, although she was supposed to be the one gone. She changed the plans." Mr. Sterling says in a slightly bitter manner.

"Do you have to listen to her?" Lena questions, wondering why her dad doesn't fight back somehow.

"This is an important job. I'll be back in about a week. I can talk to you on the phone at least once a day." Mr. Sterling tells Lena.

"She's taking my phone away in a few minutes." Lena responds angrily.

"Just hang in there Lena. You're strong. I love you." Mr. Sterling says.

"Alright. Love you too." Lena says as she hangs up.

Then Lena shuts off her phone to conserve the battery until she gets it back.

It's going to be a long week.