With trembling hands, I slowly unfolded the slightly yellowed piece of paper that I now held in my hands.

Time seemed to stop as my eyes fell upon my mother's handwriting. My breath hitched, and I could feel a lump forming in my throat already.

Taking a deep breath to prepare myself, I began to read.

Dearest Fabian,

By the time your eyes wander this page, some of your memories will have returned and I will be gone.

No, you misunderstand. I will not be dead, at least not yet. If my visions are correct, I will be have been captured by vampires, vampires from the same family as those who stand at your side.

I can almost see the confusion written on you face as you read, my child. I'm sure you know by now that I am not your birth mother, but what you certainly do not know is that I see can visions of the future. Except my own.

That may sound interesting to you, but I cannot control what I see, and sometimes knowing the future of your loved ones is a burden near impossible to bear.

I saw them coming for us, the vampires. But before I discuss that, I shall start at the beginning- finding you.

You may well have remembered some of what I have to tell already, but I am almost certain there are still gaps for me to fill.

We quite literally found you on our doorstep, in that disgusting blue hospital gown. You were unconscious, and our doctor found traces of a tranquilizer in your bloodstream. We knew immediately where you had come from, and took you in as our own.

As you may well know, there was another little boy before you, Lukah. You were both from the hospital, and both wished to return. However, your reasons were very different.

You wished to return to save all the others who were going through what you had gone through. You knew you were once a human, and despised the scientists and doctors in the lab for 'ruining the lives of so many' and 'destroying their futures', as you put it. Your intentions were noble.

On the other hand, Lukah was grateful to them for changing him as drastically as they did. He was their first success, the first breakthrough. At first, he hated them too. The constant examinations, the screams of others, the injections. But when he discovered the power he now held, he developed a sick fascination with his own change, and the changing of others.

As he grew older, he began to ask more and more questions. Quickly growing frustrated at our inability to answer, he left, heading back to the lab. I'm afraid I do not know what became of him after I left, but if he's still alive and you happen to meet, be cautious.

He often talked of wanting to make the human race stronger, via the programme he went through as a child. I fear that he plans to start a mass scale human transformation programme, although I cannot be sure.

But the real purpose of this letter is you, Fabian. I need to explain why I did the things I did. I hope now you have aged, you will understand.

First of all, there is the issue of your memories. I suppose you wish to know why I sealed them away, am I correct? Oh, how you hated me for it at the time. Trust me, the guilt still gnaws at me, my child.

You would awaken in the night, terrified and screaming. You'd kick anyone who got too close, and sometimes we'd find you'd sleep walked out miles into the forest in the night. Heck, we had to lock you in your room at night, just to keep you safe! Sometimes, you'd hallucinate, too. Yelling at empty space to stay back, crying in your room at night that you were sorry for leaving everyone behind... your suffering was too much for everyone to witness.

You were also terrified of bright light, something we never quite managed to eliminate, although you got better with time, and the loss of your memories.

I suppose you want to know how we ensured your memories didn't return after the initial injection of dipothemine. Well, we just put it into the water tanks, and made sure only you drank from the kitchen tap.

It pains me to write this, knowing that the next few years of your future will be filled with loneliness and grief, and that there's nothing I can do to change that future for you unless I allow you go be captured, too. But I cannot do that, not when I see two kind vampires in another vision of your future, ones who will truly care for you, as much as it scares me to admit. The sole thing that brings me joy is knwoing that at least by the time you're reading this, the worst of you pain will be over.

You probably still think the leap abandoned you, don't you? But as I briefly mentioned, that's not true. Let me start at when I knew the vampires were coming for us.

Well, one night I had a vision of them coming and taking everyone in the leap as a prisoner, including you. And days later, when we heard them coming, I was ready.

Even if I could save only you, I was going to do it. So I gave you a sedative in your sleep, and covered you in a strong smelling lotion to mask your scent.

I knew if they found out you an artificial shifter and were unable to shift properly, they wouldn't want you. You'd be killed and drained instantly. However, I knew the rest of the leap would be safe enough, even if their lives involved becoming pets for vampires, there was always a chance they would end up with a compassionate vampire, or manage to escape.

See, the vampires like to keep leopard shifters as 'pets', because of our particularly potent blood. They also think we're cute in leopard form, for some reason. But if it keeps our family safe, the reason does not matter to me.

Anyway, we covered you in lotion and hid you in a blanket underneath your bed. I knew that we didn't stand a chance against their numbers, and that if we all surrendered, they were less likely to thoroughly search the house, and you'd be safe.

We all gave ourselves up to the vampires willingly to save your life, my dear Fabian. Don't feel bad, you had no say in the matter and we decided as one. Anyone who didn't wish to do the same was free to leave. I hope you'll forgive us all for leaving you all alone. Don't come looking for me- I've either been sold on, or will be killed soon. It's very unlikely that any vampire will want a middle aged mated leopard shifter though, so my future isn't looking too good.

Again, I'm sorry for all that I put you through, I truly am. I hope now you understand why we did what we did.

Oh, and if those who are now standing by you are reading this, take good care of my boy. I do not blame you for what your family did, but if I ever hear that you've hurt him, I'll hunt you down, whether I'm dead or alive.

And Fabian, remember that I love you, and will always love you.

Best wishes,

Mother x

The letter slipped from between my fingers, swaying gentle in the air before it quietly landed on the concrete floor. I couldn't form words, I couldn't even move.

"Fabian? Are you alright?" Chase asked, whilst Zion casually picked up the fallen letter and began to read.

I only broke down into tears after the question had been asked. It was almost as if it had triggered my tear ducts to function again- over effectively.

I grabbed Chase's shirt and pulled him close, tears now streaming freely from my eyes as I screamed until my throat was raw.

Why did they give their lives for me?! They sacrificed the peaceful, happy lives they had, just to save mine! And I was just an outsider that was playing house...

When I could scream no more, I began to sob quietly again, balling up Chase's shirt in my fists. I felt my body shudder, but I didn't try to suppress the change as I usually would.

Instead, I welcomed it, giving myself completely to my grief, allowing it to tear me apart. There's nobody left to love me, anyway. Nobody truly cares, and nobody ever did, except her. And she's gone.

I was just a number in an experiment, until she gave me a name and a reason to live. And now I'm just two vampires' pet. They never understood me, they never cared for me. They just want me for my blood, and I was so desperate for somebody to notice and care for me that I believed every sweet word they said!

I'm too weak to shut down the experimentation lab, so what's the point? What am I living for anymore?

I'm broken.