Free The Last Alignment: Cry of the Scorpions by Nathaniel Stewart

new place while
some of her previous art buyers donated money for the cause. In
time, Hallie got her gallery up and running and before she knew it,
she was the owner of one of the top urban art galleries in Arizona.
The best part about it to Hallie was the fact that she did it on
her own with the help of people who cared about and loved her and
without O’Ryann. All of the money that she had received over the
years for child support was put into an account and remained
untouched; she decided that saving it for Awbrey and Andrew was a
better option than having her ex-husband contribute in any way to
their new lives. They were soon able to move out of Oren’s house
after Hallie purchased a home of her very own, and after getting on
her feet and gaining the ability to sufficiently support herself
and her family, Hallie finally cut all ties with O’Ryann for the
most part and even gave up his last name. He was still allowed
visitation, but that was a privilege that he seldom used; he missed
countless birthdays, Christmases, Thanksgivings, and essentially
every major event that happened in his children’s lives. Ever since
they moved from Oren’s and became completely independent of
O’Ryann, Awbrey never really saw Hallie cry unless she was
exceptionally happy, so she was heartbroken that her strong,
persistent, and courageous mother had been shedding so many tears
recently and she couldn’t wait to find out why.
    “ Is no one going to answer
me,” Zander asked, bringing Awbrey out of her train of
thought.
    “ I don’t know if,” started
Natalye, but she was interrupted.
    “ We would like for you all
to come to the living room. Please,” Kate said standing in the
entrance to the kitchen with her hands folded in front of her.
Awbrey felt her heart sink.
    “ We’ll be right there,
Grandma,” said Hudson, quickly getting up from the table and
walking over to Awbrey. As soon as Kate left he whispered, “Do you
think this is it?”
    “ Must be,” Awbrey
responded, still staring at the place where Kate was just
standing.
    “ Dude, that was
your grandmother ,” Zander said in amazement. “Wow.”
    Awbrey grabbed Hudson’s hand and proceeded
to leave the kitchen. As nervous as she was to find out what was
going on and why there were so many people in her grandmother’s
house, her present feeling of wanting to choke and drown Zander at
the same time overtook everything else.
    “ I’ve only been around
that dude for two hours and I already want to punch him in his
fucking mouth,” Hudson whispered. “I can’t stand guys like
him.”
    “ I know,” Awbrey
whispered, “but I think the breaking of his jaw is an honor that we
need to leave to Androse.”
    “ Well, if he doesn’t knock
some brains into him soon, then I sure as hell-”
    Hudson stopped talking.
    When they walked into the
living room there were three groups of chairs. On the left side
closest to the front door were four seats where Marcel, Regina,
Hallie, and a black man that Awbrey didn’t know all sat looking
dispirited. To the right, five were seated: Sylvia, Kate, Oren,
Charles, and an older woman with brown hair and green eyes who
Awbrey also didn’t know. And in between, front and center of those
two groups, were five chairs all perfectly lined up. Awbrey took
the one on the far left and Hudson sat down beside her. Androse sat
beside Hudson and then Natalye beside him. After a few seconds,
Zander lazily walked in, observed the scene, and then slowly took
his seat at the other end. Complete waste
of sperm and egg , Awbrey thought sighing
loudly.
    “ First of all,” stated
Oren, “we want to apologize to the five of you for keeping you all
in the dark. Please understand that we have reason. But, to the
parents,” Oren said looking to the four adults to her right, “I
wish to apologize to you all as well from the bottom of my heart.
You have all been through this before, and now you are forced to go
through it again with your children as