Blessed by Night

Chapter 137  Joanne & Anna

When Malachi arrived, he found Anna and Serana standing side by side in the parking lot. But of course, there were a swarm of flies buzzing around them. Malachi slipped through the group while uncaring of the men he bumped into and kissed Anna possessively. "Jeez, you sappy fucks just saw each other a few hours ago, how can you possibly miss her that much?" Serana was seeing so much PDA everyday that she was practically sick of it. What the hell was so fun about kissing and shit anyway!?

Malachi released Anna's lips and interlocked their hands together possessively. "You look good. Anyone bothering you?"

"If I said yes, what would you do?"

"Tear their heads off, what else?" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Suddenly the space that was swarming with guys before was cleared out in a matter of seconds. "I feel like I need an insulin shot..." Serana grabbed her bag and started to leave the cute couple behind when Malachi suddenly placed a hand on her shoulder. "You little junkie. You think I wouldn't notice you had my shades on?" "Well, y-you don't really wear em anymore so what's the harm, huh?"

Malachi plucked his glasses of Serana's face without even bothering to hear her flimsy reasoning. "H-Hey, why!?"

Ignoring her, Mal turned around and placed them onto Anna's face instead, enhancing her beauty even further. "How do I look, babe?" She asked. Malachi didn't respond and instead pulled out his phone and started taking pictures of Anna like she was some kind of runway model. Anna: "Are you going to use those to beat off when I'm at work?"

Malachi: "You know me so well."

Serana: "I am going to be fucking sick."

The trio resumed their walk to class and Mal finally got a chance to talk to give the girls an update on Rowan's condition. The girls also decided that it would be best to go see him as well, and Anna finally remembered the strange text that she'd gotten from her uncle. "Are you free after class, babe? I was hoping that you could take me to my uncle's place."

"Sure. It would also be a good time to tell him that we're dating and that you got blessed."

"And then you can make that poor bastard sick instead of me!" Serana said excitedly. The couple promptly ignored her as usual as they finalized their plans for later. Anna had never brought one of her boyfriends over her uncle's house before, so if she was honest she was pretty excited. She just hoped that he wouldn't make a big deal out of it and embarrass her unnecessarily. -

"Ah, hey kids. Glad you two could make it..."

"..."

Anna knew that she was hoping not to be embarrassed, but seeing her Uncle's seemingly distracted nature was a bit of a curveball. He could at least act like he was a little more happy to see them. All of a sudden, she felt Mal tense up for some unknown reason and wondered if there was just something in the air today that made men act weird. PG stepped aside to allow Anna in the house, but he stopped Mal by placing a hand on his shoulder. "Ah, kid... I'm real honored to have you in my place but today is..."

"I know." Mal said solemnly. "But she won't take it well, and I think you're going to need my help to keep her calm."

PG's eyes unconsciously widened as he realized that Mal knew a lot more than he should've. He was already so frazzled from today that he had no idea what to do, so he just let Mal inside in the hope that he would be able to keep a bit of the peace. PG's home was exactly as one would have expected. Everywhere one looked, the decor was focused on music in some way, be it posters or actual instruments. But what touched Mal the most were the few pictures that he had hanging up with Anna. Anna appeared to have been quite the rambunctious little girl, as every photo seemed to show her with missing teeth or covered in dirt and scrapes. But even then, her smile was the purest that he'd ever seen it. "Oh, hey. Who're you?"

Malachi felt the tension in his body reach new heights as he looked at the scene in the living room. Anna was staring face to face with a woman whom she didn't recognize sitting on the couch. Joanne was dressed in a nice pantsuit with a dark red color and a black shirt underneath, but Mal didn't need to be able to see her armpits to know how much she was sweating from this confrontation. "I-I..."

Anna tilted her head in confusion as she looked back and forth between the woman and her uncle. "What'd you do to this lady? Why's she acting like this?"

PG opened and closed his mouth as he wracked his brain for an excuse and realized that he didn't have one. With nothing else to do, he decided it was best to just come clean. "AG... this is my sister, Joanne... she's your mother."

Complete and total silence followed for a full three minutes. Anna replayed the words 'she's your mother' in her mind so many times that she had inadvertently given herself a small headache. Her consciousness felt like it was beginning to flicker, and she stumbled backwards as all strength left her legs. Malachi appeared behind her in an instant and caught her without letting her hit the ground. His presence was reassuring enough that she was able to regain temporary control of herself and realize where she was. She had so many questions that she wanted to answer, but only two could jump out of her mouth at this moment. "W-What are you doing here...? W-Why did you even leave...?"

Both questions seemed like they hit Joanne right in the gut, and even though Anna hadn't said anything hurtful the tears were already falling. "I...I don't have any excuse but I...I try believed that I would be giving you a better life if I wasn't around. I was a mess who didn't know the first thing about being a mother and I just-"

"Did you think that you would be giving me a better life or could you just not be bothered to be a mother...?"

In all of the time that Mal had known Anna, he had never seen her this emotional. Not even when she was seconds away from dying. She was trembling within his arms, and clenching her hands so hard that the sound of her knuckles cracking was audible. "I wanted to try, you have no idea how badly I wanted to stay with you but... I was just such a mess and you were so innocent and pure that I didn't want to ruin you...!"

"How would you have ruined me!? By driving me to school!? Watching a few stupid ass cartoons with me on Saturday morning!? Was that too much for you!?!"

"I wasn't a healthy person back then, Anna! I could never have been what you needed me to be and I'm sorry!"

"Fuck your sorry! You abandoned me!!"

Malachi wanted to stop this somehow, but he wasn't even sure of what side to take. Anna's feelings were justified, as was her reaction. She was only a little girl, and she had to grow up with no mother or father to support and love her the way she always deserved. On the other hand, Malachi also felt bad for Joanne. She truly thought she was doing the best thing for Anna by leaving her with her uncle, and the fear that Anna would hate her for her decision had kept her away all these years. It was selfish. It was cowardly. But it was also human.

And for that reason Mal couldn't bring himself to hate Joanne for the things she had done. Joanne swallowed her nerves as she tried to calm her rapidly beating heartbeat and this foreboding sense of dread within her body. She had prepared herself for her daughter's wrath but now that it was here, it was worse than she had imagined. But she had no choice but to endure it. After all, this was her bed and now she had to lie in it. She had run away from her daughter before... and she would never do it again. "Anna... I may not have been around, but I have never abandoned you for even a single second. I-I watched you at all of your soccer games, I opened up a bank account for you, I-I even pulled some strings to get you out of juvenile hall a year early! I don't say these things because I want to throw them in your face, or because I'm seeking some kind of validation. I'm only telling you this because I earnestly want you to know that I have always loved you and been beside you, even if I couldn't be beside you!"

Anna wasn't so mad that she couldn't understand her mother's words or notice her sincerity, but she wasn't so easily moved. She couldn't be. This woman had brought her twenty two years worth of heartache and she wouldn't give her absolution with one simple apology. However, it did make her think of something. "That... accident I got in two years ago. They told me they were having trouble finding blood for me because I'm AB negative but then some mysterious donor showed up and gave that day.... That was you, wasn't it?"

Joanne wiped her face of tears and nodded slowly, confirming what Anna already knew to be true. Now... she didn't know how to feel. Her mother had abandoned her, but she had also saved her life. She had never tucked her in at night, but she had apparently been to every game she had in elementary school. This day was so confusing and exhausting that she desperately wanted to go and lay down. "I just have one last question... Why are you only showing up now?"

Unconsciously, Joanne glanced at Malachi out of the corner of her eye. It was a lightning quick movement that Anna never should have caught, but with her newly enhanced body and senses it was as easy as breathing. "Wait..."

She slipped out of her boyfriend's grasp and stared at him in complete shock. "You...knew?"