My Hockey Alpha
#Chapter 126: Romeo and Juliet

Nina

My door swung open. Enzo's eyes went wide as he looked at something behind me, and when I turned, my own eyes widened too. My mother was standing in the doorway, her nostrils flaring angrily and her eyes full of fiery fury, and she was holding a baseball bat. Before I could stop her, she rushed at me and then, for some reason, she put herself protectively between Enzo and I.

“I know who you are and why you're here,” she snarled, her voice low and angry. “Get away from my daughter before I kill you.”

My mother pointed the baseball bat at Enzo, poised to strike. Meanwhile, he stood in front of her with his hands held up in surrender and a confused look on his face.

"Mom," I pleaded, grabbing her arm. “It's okay. This is just Enzo. He's a friend of mine.”

“Bullshit,” she snarled, prodding him with the baseball bat and causing him to back up against the window. “I'm doing exactly what your father told me to do, kid. What more do you people want?” "What?" Enzo said, confused. “I have no idea what you're talking about, Mrs. Harper. I'm only here to talk to Nina."

Suddenly, my mom let loose an angry noise that almost resembled a roar and brought the baseball bat up above her head. She swung it hard and fast toward Enzo with all of her strength, but he was too quick and dodged it, causing her to hit my desk instead and send my old high school textbooks flying.

She tried to hit Enzo again, but missed that time, too. She then lunged for him again, this time managing to hit him on the shoulder with the bat. He barely flinched from the impact, but then let out a yelp and rolled to the left as she almost hit him again. They began to circle the room like this, with my mother repeatedly trying to hit him with the baseball bat and Enzo dodging this way and that in order to avoid her frenzied attacks.

All throughout this scuffle, I screamed for her to stop.

“Mom!” I shouted. “What are you doing this for? Enzo has nothing to do with his father!” I finally managed to grab the baseball bat and was somehow able to wrench it free from my mother's shaking fists. By that point, Enzo was halfway out the window. His face was wrought with a mixture of confusion and regret as he climbed out the window and back down the tree to the motorcycle, but I was too preoccupied trying to pin my mother down and get her to calm down enough to explain what was going on.

I had my arms wrapped tightly around her in a bear hug, pinning her arms down to her sides. I heard the sound of the motorcycle engine rev, and then heard it fade into the distance. When it did, I finally released her.

Without hesitation, she suddenly sprung into action and grabbed my suitcase. She shoved it in my hands, then ran out of my room and across the hall to Taylor's room. I chased after her as she flung the door open -- Taylor was already awake, but was still sitting in bed with a confused look on his face -- and watched in horror as she grabbed his suitcase out of the closet and began to stuff clothes in it.

“Mom, please,” I begged, dropping my suitcase on the floor as my chest heaved from the anxiety of the whole situation, “you have to explain to me what's going on.”

“That boy is Richard Rivers’ son, isn't he?" she asked.

“Yeah, but--"

“I knew Richard in college. He's the reason why your brother is like this.”

"Wait, what?" Taylor said, throwing his blanket off of his legs and clamoring out of bed. “What are you talking about?”

“I'll explain everything in the car,” my mom said, shutting and zipping Taylor's suitcase. “We have to get to the airport. Now.”

Taylor and I both watched in abject shock as our mother bolted out of the room and practically flew down the stairs. We exchanged confused looks before I ran after her. I followed her to her room and stood in the doorway, my eyes wide, while I watched her shoving clothes and family photographs into her suitcase.

“Mom,” I said as calmly as I would, trying to hide the fact that my voice was quivering, “I really think you're overreacting. Can we just sit down and talk about this?”

“There's no time,” she said. “Richard will stop at nothing to get what he wants. And now he sends his son to intimidate me?”

My mind wandered back to the things that Richard had said to me in the hockey arena... He'd said that he knew where my mom and my brother lived.

"Did he threaten you?” I asked. “Because of me?”

My mother was silent for a moment, frantically shoving things into her suitcase, before she finally answered. “...Yes. He told me that he wanted us to leave the country, or else he was going to come after your brother and I. That's why I bought those plane tickets; I was going to call you just as you called me. I'm sorry I lied to you, but I didn't know what else to do. But I don't want you to blame yourself, honey. It's not really about you or whatever it is that Richard led you to believe; it's a decades-old vendetta that he has against me.”

“Why?”

“I fell in love with the wrong person in college,” she said. “Taylor's father. Richard was not only jealous of our relationship, but he also felt like I was a traitor for being with someone who was in his rival clan. He had a witch lay a curse on Taylor before he was even born.”

“So... That's why...” My eyes widened.

“Yes,” she replied. “That's why your brother is sick, and why I never took him to see any doctors. Because they couldn't help him. I found a witch, but she could only do so much, and her potions were expensive. But maybe, in Europe, we'll be able to find someone better.”

She finished packing her bag, then turned to face me. Her shoulders shook with fear and anger, and in that moment, she looked so small. “Are you coming with us or not?” she asked as tears streamed down her cheeks. “Is it going to be me and your brother, or that boy?”

I was still standing in the doorway, and when I looked up at the stairs, Taylor was standing at the top. He was wringing his hands nervously, and looked more frightened now than I'd ever seen him before. I couldn't leave him like this; I promised, when we were kids, that I would always protect him. By staying with Enzo, I would only be putting him in more danger. I knew that my friends would understand; I wasn't so sure if Enzo would understand, though, but I knew that I had to choose my family first.

"Okay," I whispered, nodding solemnly as I blinked away the tears that were beginning to form in my eyes. “I'll go with you.”

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