Page 5 of The Monsters Within

I didn’t look at her while I was eating the food. I didn’t want to lie since she saved me from the scary man, but I had to do what Mom said. Always.

“My brother was with me.”

“Where is he?”

I shrugged again. “He went to get us food but didn’t come back.”

I put the french fry on the plate. My belly was hurting now. I didn’t want to eat anymore.

“How long has he been gone?”

“Two days. I think. It got dark twice.”

“That must have been scary.” I nodded, but still didn’t look at her.

“Well, would you like to come stay with me? I can help you find him. That’s kind of what I do. Help people.”

“Like Wonder Woman?” I finally looked at her. She didn’t look like Wonder Woman with her blonde hair, but Wonder Woman killed bad guys.

Valhalla laughed and shook her head. “I’m not quite that good.”

But she was that good. She killed the scary man. He was bigger than her and probably stronger. Boys were always stronger than girls. That’s why Mom went with the man. He was stronger than her.

Maybe if Mom had been strong like Valhalla, she could have killed the bad man. Then she would still be with us. And I would still have my brother.

“Did you like living with Valhalla?”

I shrugged. I didn’t know how to talk to her. I was used to putting on my fake smile and making small talk. But everyone knew now. I couldn’t hide anymore.

“Tell me about your favorite memory from living with Valhalla.”

I narrowed my eyes at Dr. Jefferson. “Favorite memory?”

“Yes, I am sure you have many. Tell me one.”

This was harder than Dr. Jefferson knew. There weren’t very many because the memories weren’t real. The only real fond memories were from before I turned fifteen. The four short years I had where I didn’t have to share Val with Amber.

“My first birthday with her. Val spent every evening talking with me when I went to live with her. She wanted to learn all about me. I didn’t know then it wasn’t real interest.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Do you know what we do? The Nyght Nymphs?”

“I do. I’ve heard the stories. Though I’ll be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure they were true. I’m glad to know they are. What the Nyght Nymphs do is very important, and I wish there were more of you.”

“Well, when we rescue someone, we spend time getting to know them. This helps us figure out the best place to put them. We want their new lives to be the opposite of what they’ve been living. It’s the best way to hide them. That’s what Val was doing. She was asking me questions to try to learn who I was and where I came from.”

“How do you feel about that?”

I took a deep breath and looked for Cash. He was talking to King. Were they talking about me?

“It wasn’t until I got involved later on that I realized what she was doing. By then I was already...” I let the words trail off. I didn’t know how she did it, but she almost had me telling her how it happened.

No one could know that. It was bad enough they knew I was doing it. But if they knew why, Cash really would think I was a kid.

“You were already hurting yourself?”

I nodded.