Mrs McClain placed her hand gently on Juniper's shoulder, and within the blink of an eye, they vanished from the graveyard, followed by Rafa and the rest of the group. Then one by one, they reappeared in the living room of the McClains' house. The air shimmered as the teleportation portal of each of them collapsed.
The room was quiet. Juniper noticed that a few things had changed about the living room. The colour of the Drapes were different and they had a new television. But what really drew her attention was the mountain of parceled gifts and flowers sitting on the table.
She violently shrugged Mrs McClain's hand off, jerking her body away like it burned. Her eyes brimmed with fury as she looked at her mom, a glint of betrayal shimmering in her shade of purple. She took a step back and turned slowly, scanning each and everyone in the room, her gaze cutting through them like sharpened ice.
Rafa, Amron, Sabrina, Esmeralda and Sarafina? She gave an angry grunt as she glared at them, making them feel slightly uncomfortable.
"So, you lied to me," she said, turning to each one of them. Her voice laced with pain and anger. "Everyone of you lied to me, especially you—" she pointed at Mrs McClain, her voice cracking. "You made me think I was alone with these powers! I felt like I didn't belong anywhere, like a freak! All these years I've wondered who I was, what I was, trying hard to hide my powers—yet all this time, you all knew?!"
"Juniper, you need to—"
"Don't you dare tell me what I need to do Sabrina!" Juniper snapped, sending Sabrina a nasty glare before she could even finish that sentence. "We haven't been friends in a long time. Don't pretend like you care now!"
Sabrina's mouth shut, and her lips tightened with guilt. Amron looked away.
Then Mrs McClain stepped forward. Her eyes were still calm, but her brows were knitted in concern as she watched Juniper explode her feelings.
"Yes, you're right!" She blurted out, capturing Juniper's and everyone's attention. "We lied. I lied. About you, your origins, your dad—"
"My dad?" Juniper frowned.
"And everything else you thought you knew," Mrs McClain's fell on Juniper. "But we did it for a reason, Juniper."
Juniper's brows furrowed. "Wait, wait, what? You lied about my dad too? What possible reason could you have to make me feel that alone?!" At this point, her eyes began glowing purple, and a slight tremor started shaking the house. "You made me feel like some…some abandoned abomination for seventeen years. Why?!"
Her voice boomed when she asked that. Amron raised his hand casually, capturing Juniper's attention.
"Uh, well, technically…we've been here since the middle ages, so you're more like almost two thousand years old."
"What?" Juniper's glowing eyes frowned.
Everyone else in the room collectively groaned. Esmeralda and Sarafina facepalmed.
"Bro…" Rafa muttered. "Read the room."
Juniper blinked, her mouth half-open.
"What?" she asked again, turning to Mrs McClain. "Wha—what does he mean by that?"
Mrs McClain exhaled, rubbing her nose bridge for a second as she tried to think.
"What you need to know first and foremost is this—" she replied, gesturing with her hand. "You're not a freak Juniper. You're not an abomination that needs to hide herself from the world. I am so sorry if I made you think that way, I was just trying to protect you."
She sobbed a little, trying hard to hide her tears from the others. Juniper's eyes suddenly stopped glowing and the tremors stopped too.
"Protect me from what, mom?" She asked, her voice shaky this time.
"Bounty hunters," Rafa replied, clearing his throat as he pretended to look around.
"Warlords," Sabrina added.
"Don't forget the Avinths," Sarafina concluded.
Juniper frowned looking at each one of them.
"Why would all those people be after me?" She asked.
"Because you're the Princess of a planet called Vilomia," Mrs McClain blurted out. "And your life has always been in danger."
At that the room went quiet, save for the quiet whoosh of the breeze blowing. Juniper's breath caught her throat. A Princess of another planet? She was an alien? Well that figures. But why was her life in danger?
Before she could ask the question, the sound of the doorbell rang through the house, making everyone freeze and tension rise in the room, slicing through the silence like a blade. Mrs McClain turned to the hallway of the front door, her eyes narrowing. Sabrina stepped forward cautiously.
"Should I—"
Mrs McClain held up her hand. "No, I'll handle it."
She was about to walk closer to the door when the door handle bent and the door was pushed open, with the voice of Lisa filling the room before her actual presence.
"Mrs McClain!" She called, walking into the house. Reggie whispered behind that what she was doing was basically breaking and entering. "Mrs McClain!" She called again, waltzing into the living room, pulling Reggie along. "You're gonna tell us where Juniper is right—"
She froze as her eyes fell on the bunch in the living room.
"What the hell?" Reggie said, staring at all of them.
Mrs McClain folded her arms, raising a brow as she stared at them. But their eyes were not on her.
"Juniper?" Reggie asked when his eyes fell on her.