Beyond the Pack’s Law: My stepsister or nobody else

Hayley’s POVText property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“No!” I screamed as I headed for the stairs.

“Hayley, get back here!!” Mom screamed after me, but I didn’t stop.

No, they were lying; they had to be lying. There was no way it was real; I wasn’t going to believe it.

I stopped at Aiden’s door and pounded on the wooden frame aggressively.

“Aiden! Aiden!! Aiden!!!” I called out but got no response.

Out of frustration, I pushed the door open and stepped inside. Everything looked normal, yet my heart was pounding rapidly in my chest.

“Aiden?” I called out again, but there was no answer.

He wasn’t in his room, but that wasn’t a big deal. He could have just gone out for a stroll or gone with his friends. It didn’t mean anything.

I sank into his bed and soaked in his scent.

Everything is going to be fine, I told myself as I fought the voices in my head that wanted to believe my mother’s words.

“He’s gone.” She had said

But he wasn’t, was he?

I got up from the bed and noticed something was off. Aiden’s room was clean. I’m not saying he was a slub or anything on a regular day, but his room was extra tidy in a weird way. No clothes were flung on his chair, and no books were left open.

Speaking of books, I could not see any of his books lying around. At that point, I was really starting to panic. I rushed to his closet, and the sight inside was the last straw. I felt what was left of the resistance I left in me wash down and seep away.

The closet was empty; all his clothes and shoes were gone. Shit.

I looked around, but all his personal belongings were gone. I could feel all the warning alarms in my head go off.

“He’s gone.” The words echo in my mind.

I rushed back downstairs; mom was right there, sitting on the couch. She had that smug look on her face, like she knew I had finally accepted what she said.

“Why?” My voice came out cracked and weak.

Her lips straightened, and her face turned serious.

“I warned you.”

I could feel my eyes go watery. What had she done? I wanted to scream. My brain was racing for an explanation.

“Please, what did you do to him?” I walked closer to her with pleading eyes.

She didn’t look like she was touched by my predicament; her eyes went through me, and her face remained unchanged.

“I didn’t do anything to him.”

“You’re lying; he said you threatened him last night.” I flared up instinctively; she was lying.

“Hayley, I didn’t do anything to him, and this is for your own good.”

“I’ll report you; I’ll call the police. His dad will never forgive you.” Now I was the one spewing threats.

“You want to report me to the same man who took him away?” She said plainly.

“His dad took him?” I was shocked.

That didn’t make sense; if his dad took him, did that mean he and my mom were no longer together?. No, if he did, Mom would be an emotional mess right now, not this calm.

“Yes, it’s the best thing to do for both of you.”

“I’ll take care of it.” That’s what Aiden’s dad said this morning when I eavesdropped.

Was this it? Taking care of us?

“Where is he?”

“He’s safe, and he’s fine. He’s just going away for a while.”

I sat beside her and reached out for her hands, pleading, “Mummy, please, I’m begging you.”

“I begged you first, Hayley. I didn’t want to have to go this far, but now it’s done.”

“Please, I’m sorry. Okay, I’ll stop. I’ll let you and his dad be together peacefully. Just tell me where he is, please.”

“If that’s true, then you won’t be affected by him not being here. Show us you can control yourselves, and he’ll be on a plane back home before you know it.”

What? On a plane, just how far away had they taken him just to keep us apart?

“A plane?”

“Yeah, I don’t think he should have landed by now, though; it’s kind of far, if you ask me.” She said it absentmindedly.

I wanted to strangle her. I pulled out my phone and tried calling Aiden for the hundredth time, but there was still no service or reply. Maybe that’s why the call wasn’t going through; he was on a plane.

But how quickly had they been able to get him on a plane, and how long had they been planning it? I ran back to my room, seeing that my mom wasn’t going to be of any help, and called my friends.

When I was done briefing them on what happened, they were panicking just as much as I was.

“What are you going to do?”

“Sending him away, isn’t that too much?”

“I’m so sorry, Hayley.”

Their words were falling on deaf ears, mostly because I was sobbing like crazy and panicking. I didn’t know what to do. There was no way I could get through to my mom. She was a very stubborn woman.

There was only one person I could try to get through to-yes, one more person.

His dad.

I managed to pull myself together; all hope wasn’t lost yet, and I could still try to convince Aiden’s dad that he could let him come back.

I waited patiently till it was around the time he came back from work and went to sit on the front porch waiting for him.

I guess he understood what I was doing because the moment he came out of his car and spotted me, his face went grim, but he looked concerned.

“Hayley, what are you doing outside?”

I was freezing cold, and I guess he could tell from the way I was shivering.

“Please, dad, where is he?”

He looked away and sighed.

“It’s for your own good.”

“Just tell me, please. Tell me.”

“Australia.” He finally answered.