Chương 126: 39 - THE FOURTH REDEEMER PT. 1

"Tyene, listen to me." Her mother's tone was uplifted, speaking in the way she did when disguising bad news as good news.

"It's been a while now since your father left us. I know you miss him, but you have to face the hard truth that he's not going to come back. But that's okay. We're going to be okay. I found someone new, who's going to help us out." Tyene was 14 at the time, a baby compared to who she was now. But she stared at her mother's face as it tried to look happy. She wanted to say all sorts of things, but she had no idea what "help us out" meant. Not until the man walked into the room.

He was middle-aged, battling with the greying of his neat blond hair. Athletically built for his age, with a face that looked like it never smiled. He didn't that day. He looked down at her like a piece of produce that was priced too high and said, "You can call me Mr. Corlander." She had already decided a long time ago to hate him. That's just how it was with teenagers having their lives uprooted. It started off as the typical, "you're not my real dad" energy.

But as soon as she saw his face, the coldness in it and the way he interacted with her mother- no love, just transaction- she knew everything was all wrong. She sat quietly at the wedding ceremony, spending most of it brooding by the beach. It was off on some special island in the middle of the ocean that no one had ever heard of. And yet there were still a thousand people. The affair was lavish and exciting, and she could be the news outlets reporting it as the wedding of any woman's wildest dreams.

But when her mother walked down the gold-studded aisle with a rock on her finger the size of her hand, she resembled someone who was content. Not happy. Satisfied. Like someone who had just finished a long, arduous job. Tyene knew the difference. Because she was conscious enough to remember the wedding with her father. Her mother smiled more then. It wasn't long after that when they completely moved into one of his houses.

It was a giant mansion with servants, multiple kitchens, several living rooms, a theatre, and all sorts of smart devices that Tyene didn't even know could be smart, like a couch that moderated its temperature whenever you got uncomfortable. There was always food created by the most attentive chefs to create the perfect diet. There was a bed, designed by scientists to make the perfect sleep. And yet, Tyene would eat processed snacks and sleep in her mother's bed.

Her mother put up with it for a few months, but at some point, the grace period ended, and she was now too old to sleep in her parent's bed.

"You can't do this forever. You're going to have to sleep in your own room eventually."

"But I don't want to."

"Don't be like that. Mr. Corlander went through all the trouble to put all your favorite things in there. You don't want to take his kindness for granted."

"What does it matter anyway? He never sleeps here. It's not like I'm taking up his spot."

"There's something you need to understand about him. Your stepfather has two marriages. One to me and the other to his work. His other marriage requires much more attention than I do."

"I'm not a kid. Just be real. His job is more important than us." Her mother sighed, out of energy for that day.

"Tyene, it's more complicated than that." It didn't feel more complicated than that.

"Mom, are you okay!?" Tyene ran into a bright room filled with people: police officers, lawyers, and people from Corlander Automotive. Her mother was sitting down in the middle of the room, bruises on her face as Corlander spoke quietly with one of the lawyers behind her. Tyene embraced her with tears in her eyes.

"It's okay. Everything's alright now." Her mother said, petting her hair.

"This is unacceptable." Corlander raised his voice at the lawyer.

"You need to tell me exactly how this happened." The lawyer wiped the intimidation from his face.

"Kidnappings aren't that uncommon. Especially in foreign countries. Based on her description of the kidnappers, they likely knew who she was and tracked her from the moment you all landed. Corlander slowed his speech.

"The amount of money this has cost me… if you don't ensure this never happens again, believe that I will recoup it from you personally." The man rushed out of the room, smashing his phone against his ear to do what he was told. Corlander then approached his wife and her daughter, stopping a few paces away from them.

"Are you hurt anywhere, Charlette?'

"A few bruises, but nothing that won't heal in a day or two." You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. He nodded.

"I'll have a doctor come visit the house. Until then, just tell the maids when the painkillers wear off." He signaled for the intern to come over. A dull-looking young man with dark hair, a slim figure, and pointed features.

"You'll have a police escort, but make sure they get home safely." The boy bowed politely when Corlander handed him the keys to his truck.

"You're not coming with us?" Her mother asked.

"I've been gone for weeks. Don't you think you should—""I have an important meeting to attend. German will take you home." He made brief eye contact with Tyene, who watched him like a snake in the grass. She remembered thinking, "He's still more worried about his money than his wife?" But she didn't say anything as she hardly ever did when he was around. They sheltered inside the mansion for about a week when a man appeared at the door to Tyene's bedroom.

He was dressed in military-esque riot gear, posture stiff as a telephone pole, and sharp shades even though they were inside. On his vest was a stitched name tag reading, CDR. Hobbs. Behind him was a girl, about her age, hair barely an inch long, with a tiny nose and a thin slit for a mouth. She stood with the same uptight posture, despite being half the man's size.

"This girl is Vienna. She's being brought on as your personal protector. She will serve you however you like, but her prime directive is to make sure that no harm comes to your physical form."

"My physical form?" Tyene twisted her lips.

"That's right, ma'am." Tyene looked the girl up and down. She never met her eyes as they never seemed to look back at her. Only up in that stiff, attention pose that military people were known for.

"A bodyguard, huh? She doesn't look very intimidating."

"She's trained in three different martial arts and has trained with my own special forces. She's capable. But your parents thought a girl your own age would blend in better so that you don't have problems at school."

"How thoughtful…" she said sarcastically.

"But you can send her back. I don't want protecting. I'm not some asset that needs to be guarded 24/7."

"It isn't my job to care. If you have a problem with Vienna, then you take it up with your father."

"Stepfather…"

"Stepfather, ma'am." When Tyene didn't argue anymore, the man left them alone. Vienna stood at the door like a statue until Tyene told her to stop and come in. For a while, neither of them said anything. Tyene sat on her bed, expecting another monologue of someone explaining how her life was going to work now. But for what felt like the first time, the person in front of her didn't say anything.

"What's your deal even?" she asked.

"I'm here to serve, my lady."

"You already sound like one of Corlander's drones."

"I apologize, my lady."

"Eww… I hate you already, too. Listen. The police said it was just some random foreigners, but I'm not stupid. I wouldn't need protecting if my stepfather didn't have so many enemies. Good people don't have to worry about their family getting kidnapped at school." Vienna said nothing, making Tyene realize that any conversation with her was going to be a dull one. She spoke to her mother about it later.

"It's for your own safety," she said.

"I'm not worried about my safety."

"But I am. Please… just put up with it for me. I have one too. If I can, then you can."

"I guess."

"Plus, it'd be nice to have a friend your age. That way you have someone to rely on… when I'm not around."

"Why wouldn't you be around?" Her mother never answered. Though reluctantly, Tyene let the bodyguard follow her around wherever she went. School, band practice, drama club. Everywhere. It wasn't like she had a choice of it anyway. The girl even pretended to be a student in every one of her classes, and she groaned whenever the teacher called out for Vienna Misling.

She would always sit in the back of the classroom so that all the other kids were in her vision at all times, and she had clear access to the doors and windows. But she never said anything or spoke to the other kids. None of them liked her. Tyene didn't blame them. She didn't like her either. It was like everyone could sense that she was a doppelganger among them. The eyes knew she was a kid like them, but the brain activated a danger system whenever she looked at someone with those cold, dark eyes.

The other kids figured out that she was attached to Tyene. It wasn't hard, as they had all the same classes, and she followed her around like a Rottweiler on a chain.

"There's Tyene again with her ugly little ghost," one of the girls had said.

"Why don't you shut the fuck up?' Tyene mouthed off. She was always known for being a bit crabby around everyone, but that response had more bite than she intended.

"Are you gonna let her talk to you like that?" One of the other students whispered in the girl's ear. The girl stood from the cafeteria table.

"Everyone knows you don't belong here, and now suddenly you're the richest bitch in the school. And now you think you're entitled or something just because you have a gold-digger whore mom." This, of course, led to a physical altercation when Tyene punched the girl in the face. A fight broke out as the kids watched a mauling. Not from Tyene. Not from the bully either. Tyene and Vienna sat uncomfortably in the principal's office for what felt like an hour.

One of the teachers spent a long time lecturing them about how fighting in this establishment was undignified and gave them a bad image. And another pretentious spiel about the discipline that separated them from the animals. All the while, Tyene sat perfectly content watching Vienna, whose face was solid stone.

"They can't keep her around after that. This'll get her sent away for good." She thought. The teacher received a phone call.

"Hello… yes, I am… But you don't understand, she broke both of the girl's arms. I can't just… Yes, sir… I apologize for the inconvenience." The teacher put the phone down and looked at both girls.

"You two go back to class."

"What?" Tyene reacted.

"You heard me. The situation is resolved." Tyene growled her discontent before grabbing her backpack and running out into the hall. Vienna, of course, followed her. But as soon as they were out of sight of any teachers, Tyene pushed the girl against the wall.

"I hate you, you know that. Everyone here hates you, too. And by extension, that makes them hate me. From now on, I don't want you to be seen anywhere near me. I don't want anyone to know you're associated with me. In fact, I don't even want to see you. It's better if I don't even know you're there." Vienna didn't react at all to the violent shoving. Her face didn't even change. She only nodded in understanding and walked away.