Sera wobbled out, Axar hanging across her shoulder, into the bright mid day sun. The sun's rays creating dimension in her jewel colored maneuver as it captures the light with her movement. After I had disposed of the unbearable Barima, I ransacked her room for a blouse I wanted for Sera. I discarded Seraphine's bloody sweater afterwards. It took quite a bit of coercion to get Sera into the now dead woman's clothes. The idea of it making her more remorseful.

As she donned her cloak of shame, and her new pouty demeanor, I worked on Axar in his dream world. Twisting thoughts and snipping things to fit just right. I need his outburst and tantrum to be perfect when he wakes. I want Sera helpless, isolated and weak. I need to break her down just enough to relent to me. I want her to want me again, to depend on me. I have to regain her trust.

She lays Axar softly onto the backseat, teetering a little as his body messes with the balance of hers. I lean across her back playfully and wrap my arms around her, pinning hers to her side. I bury my face in her neck and sigh.

"Nox. We need to ho home now. Let go." She tries to shimmy out of my hold, but instead creates an exhilarating friction between us. I walk with her still in my hold to the hood and push her over. She scrapes my shin with her boot. "Stop it! I'm on the nerve of a nervous breakdown. I'm some sort of fucking creature that just killed and ate a woman, infront of a kid who is sleeping in the back. I'm not banging the demon man who manipulated me into giving him the thing on the birthday I was cheated on. Can you think of nothing else but feeding and sex?" She rambles as she throws elbows behind her trying to break herself loose.

"No. It's what I was created to do. It's what I am, what you are part. I never manipulated you. You..." I turn her to face me. "Manipulated yourself. You can't control what you are, and though we remember things differently, I remember seeing you dark eyed and slinging yourself at me. Completely out of control. Embarrassing. Pardon me for taking you up on it." She shoves me away and bolts into the car locking the doors. It's then I realized she had snatched my keys.

She backs out and floors it, leaving me behind as I curse and fume. Well that fucking backfired. I take a few moments to calm myself before I will transport into the car. I picture the passenger seat in my mind and curse a out the energy I'm going to lose. I can't believe she ditched me. She knew I would catch up, but the fact that she left me is infuriating. I focus again and within moments I am sitting in my car, Seraphine driving white knuckled on the steering wheel. I raise my hand to pat her thigh and she draws back a fist.

"Anything that touches me gets lopped off. I'm not fucking with you."

"Literally or figuratively?" I mock.

"Both. I'm sick of your little mind games. I was thinking, you watched me kill that woman and you could've helped me. She stabbed me and tried to hurt Axar. You really were being honest when you called me a pet. That is exactly how you think of me. Like a mother fucking goldfish! Expendable! You allowed us both to be in danger. In fact I think it was your plan all along. That woman was jealous from the moment she laid eyes on me. Why? Why was she jealous? What did you do to that woman?" She grits through her teeth. Refusing to even look at me. She has me on the ropes, while she might not understand how to read minds and energies yet her intuition is viscious.

"Pull off. It's my car. Shut up and switch me seats. I'll drive my car and you can sit here and think about the disrespect you give to the one who is trying to help your unstable self learn not to be a serial killer. I can't believe I ever found you interesting enough to follow. I should have let you alone. You'd have been back with your cheating boyfriend, getting shit on at work, and starving daily until you get hone to scarf your twenty five cent ramen garbage." I mean none of this, but I need to rattle her. Sera isn't a confident woman, she's an avid overthink with anxious ticks. I want to exploit her lowest moments.

I smile as she pulls off to the shoulder, getting into the back with Axar and refusing to speak to me. I'm pleased with the turmoil in her minds as I put the car in fear and head towards our home. I decide to wake Axar, as he's the most valuable pawn in my hand of mental chess with Sera at the moment. I will Axar awake, retracting my order of sleep from his mind and he stirs.

"Sera?" He says tentatively as he stretches his limbs and opens his eyes.

"I'm here. Are you ok?"

"No. No I am not!"

"What's wrong?" Sera asks nervously, checking him over and he snatches his hand from her.

"You know what is wrong! I just met a banshee, another like me and you messed it all up. You murdered my only opportunity to learn about what I am. Why would you do that?"

"She stabbed me! Axar, she was going to stab you. I didn't mean to hurt her, but certainly did us. You know how you want to know more about being a Banhee so you can control it? Well, I want that too. For you and for myself. It is scary when you don't even know what you are or what to do. I never meant for any of that to happen."

"It did happen though. You might be scared, but at least you got to live! You are what's scary."

"She stabbed me. Do you even care about that? I'm your mother now. I brought you in and I've given half of all my world possessions to give you what you have. I was only protecting you." Sera pleads trying to get him to understand.

"No, I don't. You are not my mother! You never will be. You gave half your crappy stuff to get me crappy stuff. Big whoop Sera! I never asked you for any of it."

"Axar! Please I-"

"Next you will turn on me. You'll eat me. You aren't even fit to be around kids."

"Axar just listen-"

"Get out! I don't want you around me and I don't ever want to see you again. You are evil! Just get the fuck out. "

"Please. Please. I'm sorry. I swear I-" I widen my eyes as Axar slaps her hard across the face as she sobs. I must have really convinced him. Too easy.

"GET OUT!" He bellows, and Sera looks to both of us. Her big innocent eyes are redden and puffy. Tears stain her face accompanied by the red handprint.

"Very well." She whispers, and the unthinkable happens.

She thrusts the door open and leaps. Traffic blows behind us as she gains her footing and sprints past moving cars with inhuman grace and speed. Traffic slows as people gawk and reach for phones. I whip the car around in a "U" turn as I frantically look for a place to pull off. Having found it, I leap out into the grassy area and take off after her. I cannot teleport, for I have no idea where she is going. I can't read her mind as she's too far away.

I follow her scent and sounds in her general direction, but I can't get close enough. I push with everything in me, but I can't get close enough to her. With her adrenaline and her fresh kill pumping through her veins, as well as the knowledge that she's not fully human, her body is pushing itself to bounds it always had yet never realized. She zips through the tree line and I keep pushing. I have to have her. I need her! I can't fathom the thought of returning empty handed, but I'm exerting everything within me. I never felt a high, a power and contentment like I have when she's near me. When i feed.

"Seraphine! Please. I'm sorry. I lied. It was my fault. I did plan this. You were right. Axar wasn't in his own mind. Sera!" I overtly beg. How will I find her if she leaves? What will I do? What about Axar? Where would she even go? To her home? "Sera!" Birds fly into the crisp blue sky as I duck into cover of the trees and hammer on until I have little strength left. I come to a stop finally, realizing I left Axar alone in the car. Using him backfired, but he remains the only pawn I have left. My only connection strong enough to sway Sera, hopefully.

My hands are shaky, and I head to ny car restless and defeated. And so so hungry. Even more empty. Just last night I had managed to somewhat patch the bridge between us, and today I have set it ablaze with my own stupidity. My chest hurts, my head spins as I drag myself back. Every step away from her is physically painful. I've got to find a way to find her, to keep her. I have to have her back. I blink to clear my eyes. They feel weird now, along with everything else, knowing that she might be untraceable. My brothers words swim like that insufferable red fish in my head, as well as all of Sera's.

Only three things are certain now. One is that I have to feed, however disappointing it is. Two, I will need help finding Sera. Three is that once I have her again I must bind her to me. I have to make sure she can never leave and suffer me again like this. Her absence and Barima's chilling words have shaken me to my core. I need to have her back as soon as possible.