Indignation (11 page)

His phone vibrates. He answers it as he closes the small portal hidden between the glasses of the mirror.

“Julian?”

“What’s going on Miranda?”

“Gabriel knows. He has heard that you told Alyssa the truth about your fall.”

“I don’t think she remembers.”

“That is not of importance. He has a meeting with the God. They are deciding on plans of action towards her.”

“What are they planning on doing to her?”

“I do not know Julian, but it must be life changing. The God never conducts a meeting without importance.”

He runs his fingers through his hair, a habit he’s learned from Alyssa. “What do I do?”

“Nothing. All we can do is wait.”

He paces back and forth. How will he stop the form a punishment for her? What will they do to her?

Alyssa feels a tug on her arm. “Wake up, Aly.”

“Five more mintues Brady.”

She can feel the covers being removed from her body. “No, now get up.”

She opens her eyes reluctantly. “Why are you waking me up?”

“Jim and I are going to go out.”

“Boys night out? Why am I not invited?” She groans from the florescent light being turned on by Jim.

“We don’t want you to come with us.” Brady shrugs.

She throws her purple flower pillow at him. “That was mean.”

“Don’t mind him.” Jim says. “We are just going out for ice cream with some of the guys. You have to stay here.”

“I want ice cream too.” She stands up. She disappears into her closet to change into her faded blue jeans and a light purple flannel shirt. She slips her feet into black heeled boots and makes her way back into her room. “I’m ready. Let me get my purse and we can go.” She quickly searches for her small black handbag.

“Umm… Alyssa?” Brandon calls out to her.

“Yeah?”

“You can’t come with us?”

“After all these years of being around the both of you, I think we can stop calling this ‘boys’ night out’ thing and call it ‘Jim-Jam, Brady’s, and Aly’s night out’. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”

Jim laughs. “What Brandon is trying to say is that you can’t go with us.”

She frowns. “Why not?”

His clear blue eyes don’t blink away from her purple ones. “Because your parents are waiting for you downstairs. They want to talk to you and asked Brandon and I to leave so you can do just that.”

“My parents are here?” She asks. She looks at Brandon for confirmation. He just nods his head at her. “Did they tell you what they wanted to talk to me about?”

“No.” They both simultaneously say.

“Okay. Well, have fun and bring me back-”

Brandon interrupts her. “French vanilla ice cream with-”

“Pecans as a side topping, not an actual topping.” Jim finishes.

She laughs at how well they know her. “I love you guys.”

She leads both men out the door. She hears her father calling out to her from the dining room. She quickly grabs a glass of water before she finally makes her way to them.

“Dad. Mom.” She greets them with a smile. “The guys said you wanted to talk to me.”

“We do.” Dev Pike, her father, answers.

She observes her parents silently. They seem older than they were the last time she’s seen them together. Her father has his faded brown hair cut short, and his hazel eyes just bring out his smile somehow. She can clearly see a few wrinkles appearing below his eyes. He overall is in perfect space for a man who’s in his late thirties. Her mother, Emily Pike, has her usually fashionable suit on. Her amber eyes are faded, but they still match her amber hair. She doesn’t have wrinkles, but you can clearly see the makeup that’s covering the bags below her eyes. She still doesn’t look a day over thirty. If she actually tried, she could look her age. She guesses that it helped that her mother had her when she was only seventeen.

Alyssa takes a seat next to her father since her mother is on the other side of him.  They both stare at her. Their eyes trying to tell her something, but has no idea what it can be. She still has the feeling of betrayal from them. Her father cheated on her mother for years with his sectary, Mila, and her mother just worked so much that she didn’t even see her for months’ time. They both are a terrible example of parents, but she still loves them.

“What do you guys want to tell me?” She asks. Her mind is surrounding on the different topics that they could possibly what to talk about.

Dev is the first to speak. He clears his throat. “We’ve got a call from Gabriel. You may not know him, but he’s sort of… someone important.”

“Dev, let’s just tell her. He told us to. We have to follow orders.” Emily says to her husband.

Alyssa stares at them confused. “Orders? Can you explain what you’re both talking about?”

Dev clears his throat again, obviously the topic is a struggle for him to discuss. “We have something to tell you Alyssa. It’s something that we have hidden very well through all these years.” He turns to Emily, who nods to him to continue. He turns his eyes back to his daughter. “Emily and I are not your birth parents.”

Alyssa’s eyes widen. That was the last thing she would have thought they would tell her. “You aren’t my parents?” She asks them. She’s more confused than anything at the Moment. She shakes her head in denial. “What are you saying? I’m adopted? Oh, God.” She can feel her tears sting her eyes. She’s adopted? But why would they hide it from her? Why would they pick now to tell her? One question popped into her head that she repeated to herself, mentally. Who are her real parents?

“Alyssa, don’t jump to conclusions. We are not your parents, but we also didn’t adopt you.” Emily tries to explain.

Alyssa tilts her head in confusion. Her tears are still running down her face. “Then you picked me off the street? Or-” Her heart accelerates at a specific case scenario. “-you picked me up from a dumpster? Am I a dumpster baby?”

Dev shakes his head. “Emily told you not to jump to conclusions. Listen to her.”

Alyssa nods as Emily continues. “We didn’t pick you up.” Maybe they kidnapped her? It was recently in the news that a woman kidnapped this girl and had the girl pass as their daughter for over two decades. “Before you even think about it, we didn’t kidnap you either.” Alyssa lets out a sigh of relief. “We- you were given to us by someone that’s very… powerful.” She finishes.

“Can you just tell me who my real parents are? And why you are telling me this now?” Her parents weren’t the best, but she always seen them as her parents. Now she can’t help, but feel the feelings of abandonment. Her own birth parents didn’t want her enough to keep her and gave her off to people that didn’t even know how to be parents.

“Fine.” Dev takes a deep breath. “We got a call from Gabriel telling us that Julian has told you something. Gabriel didn’t expect for it to be so soon.”

“Julian? What does Julian have to do in his? And who’s Gabriel? “

“You might find this strange.” Emily tells her.

“The two of you are useless.”

Alyssa turns toward the entrance of the dining room. There stands a man with a vicious look showing clearly in his dark blue eyes. His dark hair isn’t too long, but long enough to cover his forehead. She turns to her parents in confusion, but they both have their heads bowed down.

She turns back to the stranger of a man. “Who are you?”

“I am Gabriel, the Authority Elim. I come here as a representation of the God.”

“I-”

A familiar blonde woman appears from behind Gabriel and walks toward her. “Alyssa, I know this must be hard for you to understand, but just listen to us.”

“Miranda?” She asks the woman. She’s almost positive that this woman is the one from her dream. The one she thought her mind created.

“I am Miranda. I am an Elim, and the Adviser Elim of the God.”

“Am I dreaming?”

“No. This time you are wide awake.”

Gabriel takes a step towards her. “I have an understanding that Julian has mentioned the events of 1567.”

She shakes her head confused by this entire situation. “I remember the numbers, but that’s it.” She lied. She is starting to remember Julian’s words the previous night before. He said that she stabbed him to death, but that can’t be possible. Could it?

Miranda takes a seat beside her. “Alyssa, this world is full of creatures that humans are too blinded to see what is in front of them. They are real. Vampires, Werewolves, Fairies, Yuxas, Sirens, Angels, even the Underworlders. They all exist.”

“I still don’t understand. Things that like don’t exist. It’s fictional that Hollywood, and books make up for entertainment.”

“Permission to speak?” Dev asks the Elims.

“Permission granted.” Miranda encourages him to speak.

He turns to Alyssa. His eyes show years beyond his own. “No, they do exist and we are one of them.”

Alyssa’s eyes widen in horror. “What are you?”

“We are Keepers. We are mortals that help those unnatural creatures hide themselves from any mortal’s eyes. We are the only group of humans that see the Immortals for who they are. We are the only ones that can tell who is human and who is not.”

“You’re telling me that you aren’t my parents. So you’re telling me that all these magically creatures exist. Do you really think I would believe that?”

Miranda taps on her shoulder to get her attention. “We imagined that you would have wanted some form of evidence, so we have prepared for it.” She smiles lightly. “Vampire.”

A man with a long coat appears. He looks normal. Then he takes out the small rat he’s been hiding behind him. With a blink of an eye his fang retracts and pierces through the rat’s fur. He squeezes the small critter. He then takes out a napkin from his pocket and wipes the blood off of his lips. Before Alyssa has time to comment, the vampire disappears.

“Shifter.”

A beautiful young girl with red hair appears. She can’t be more than fourteen of age. She stares in wonder as the young girl turns herself into white tiger. She disappears like the vampire.

Alyssa closes her eyes. “I’ve had enough. I get it.”

“Open your eyes, Alyssa.” Miranda’s calm voice reaches her ears.

She does as she’s told. “What does this all have to do with me? Who are my real parents?”

“Alyssa, you do not have birth parents.” Miranda explains. “You’re not human either. You were created by a pair of powerful beings.”

“How is that possible? I must have parents. Someone just can’t make a human being.” Alyssa says.

The blonde Elim holds her hand in comfort. “Long ago in summer of 1565, the God saw how powerful a king had become. This king was king of many kingdoms who were very powerful and higher in rank than any of past history. With one word the king would convince everyone to do as he would say. The God saw what was happening. They worshipped the king more than they worshiped him. Of course, the God took a plan of action. No human could have defeated the King. No creature or semi-gods could defeat the king either. He made a decision against nature with the help of a witch and made a woman with beauty, and a heart of dark. Her strange eyes came with her beauty. The God knew that if he sent this woman down to the king. The king would fall in love with her. When he does, then she could help the God bring the king down and cause his fall from his power. You see the God knew that the king always wanted someone to share his bed that was not just another creature, goddess, or human. He wanted a woman created for him. Just for him.

“The woman was told to win the king’s heart and then kill him with the Dagger of Selene. She was to love him and kill him, that way the humans would be able to see that the only powerful one was the God and only him. Of course, the woman was made to follow orders, but the God didn’t count on a spell a witch casted during the creation. The woman would die along with the king, but they both would come back. They both will remember what happened and find each other once again. But there was something much more than love. You see that woman has the blood of a witch and the God. She has the power to do great damage. The king on the other hand is still powerful, but he can only be strong with her. She completes him.

“There is a war being foreseen by the Oracle of Daphnia. A war between the Followers, Underworlders, and the Heavens’ Followers, and Elims. This war could destroy both the underworld and the Heavens. It can eliminate the other. That is very dangerous for both worlds. When the Oracle explained this to the God she had the image of the king and the woman the God and the witch created for him. The definition is still unclear, but it is there.” Miranda finishes.

Alyssa looked at her still confused. “What does that have to do with me?”

Gabriel slams a mirror in front of her. “The woman is you and the King is Julian.” Her eyes widen in horror. “Take a look at your past.”

Alyssa holds the heavy mirror between her shaky fingers. The mirror shows her reflection then it changes to a black screen. The mirror vibrates to life as a clear image is set. That’s when she sees it. A woman straddles the naked man’s back. Her fingers run up his back with a gentle caress, so full of affection, so full of love. The only object that ruins the passion of the lovers is a dagger that appears in her hand. The mystery woman holds the dagger high in the air with a dramatic pause. Within seconds, she has the blade come down with no mercy. It pierces effortlessly inside the man back, which was the backside of the heart. The man twists his body, but finds no strength. He tilts his head towards his lover. His black eyes showing the love he has for her. Her eyes never leave his until the last dim of life leaves his eyes. Her face is covered by shadows. She stands with the dagger dripping with fresh blood. The betrayer takes a step toward her victim. The betrayer’s eyes. Those eyes she knows so well. Eyes that stare back at her when looking in the mirror. Alyssa fears the truth, but there it is. The evidence is clear, the truth is out.

Alyssa abruptly stands in shock and drops the mirror. It shatters on the floor. Those eyes of the woman had no mercy on her killing. Those eyes of the man who trust his life in her hands. It’s her and Julian. She killed Julian. Realization is hard on anyone, but she always stood strong. Alyssa isn’t strong anymore. She lets her cries be heard. She screams in agony. No one stops her. No one helps her. For the first time in her lifetime, she now knows the truth.