Legacy of Secrets 01-Cursed Secrets (15 page)

“Because there are questions you could not answer. There is more to this story. Are you sure you didn’t know the man I found you with?”

“I told you I didn’t.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. You know him, Lia. He’s your father.”

“No, my father is dead.
You’re
wrong,” she said defiantly shaking her head.

“I am not. The man your mother married
believed
you were his biological daughter because she told him so. That man that you saw tonight was your
real
father. Was there anything that seemed familiar?”

“His eyes,” she whispered, fighting back tears.

“And what was familiar about them?”

“I can’t remember,” she shook her head and closed her eyes, “How?”

“How, what?”

“How were you able to do all this? How did we get here so fast? What else are you not telling me?” I felt her anxiety and moved to touch her, “Don’t. Just answer me,” she retracted her arm and stared into my eyes.

“I’m not what I seem. I’ve worked hard to live as normal as possible despite what I am,” she shook her head and sighed.

“Fine, if you’re not going to tell me I’ll go home and wait for him to come back. At least he might give me some answers,” she rose from the couch and I flashed in front of her, she gasped.

“Please sit down. I will tell you, but it’s a long story. You once told me you were more open to things you couldn’t explain. Can you promise you will be open to what I’m about to tell you?”

“As long as it’s the truth. If you lie to me, I’m gone. I won’t look back. You’ve lied too much already,” she stalked back to the couch and waited with her arms crossed.

“I’m a vampire,” I watched her face change from defiance to disbelief.

“Right and I’m Wonder Woman,” she shook her head and got up to leave. I let my fangs slide out slowly. She sat down hard, eyes wide. I retracted them and began again.

“I do not kill humans, although I do feed from them. Most of the time I try to use that as a last resort, but it is in my nature. I’ve never wanted to hurt you and I didn’t expect this situation to take such a turn.”

“How long have you been this way?” she whispered staring into space.

“A long time. Still, I’m rather young for my kind, not to mention the fact that I choose to live alone. I am unique.”

“Have you ever drunk my blood?”

“No. I would never have hurt you. I took precautions before we spent time together.”

“What type of precautions?”

“The drink I carry with me is an elixir to supplement the blood. I can last longer between feeding and it controls the thirst for a while.”

“Is that all?”

“No,” I hesitated, “I normally feed either the day before or a few hours before I see you.”

“Why?”

“If I didn’t, you might have gotten hurt and I couldn’t take that chance.”

“So, what else makes this a long story?” she fidgeted.

“My great, great grandfather founded this town during the gold rush. My family lived here ever since. My father built this house with his bare hands and the four of us lived here together. He was a businessman and often delegated chores while he was away. My mother worked as a seamstress and my brother was only sixteen, so many of the responsibilities fell on me. Mainly, we’d hunt and fish since we were so far outside of town. We couldn’t exactly get in a car back then and go to town.

“Anyway, I had to check some traps and left before anyone else was up. I trekked around the whole lake, through the trails, and back toward home. I happened across a woman about a mile to the east,” I stopped, trying to compose myself.

“Who was she?” She asked, intrigued.

“I don’t really remember what she looked like. I can only remember pieces. I know her name, Kali, then I went somewhere with her. The details from there are few; she held me somewhere dark for several days, possibly weeks, where I was used for food and pleasure. I remember brief flashes between the blood loss and sex. Some of it was pleasant; other parts were more than just painful.

“The pain consumes most of it. My body ached from fatigue. The blood regenerated between feedings was barely enough to keep me alive, but she didn’t hesitate to drink. The last thing I remember before waking up a vampire was my first taste of blood. She whispered something in my ear then forced me to drink,” I watched Lia chew her lip. The sorrow she emanated bordered on sickly.

“So she just took off?”

“I can only assume. When I awoke she was nowhere in sight and I was reborn. I nearly starved before deciding to feed on several bears. It tasted horrible, but the pangs of hunger subsided. At first I was petrified, but overtime I learned the proper way to live. I ventured back here in the sixties and stayed hidden in the woods.

“Our house still stood, but it was run down. It took a while to restore. I’ve lived here ever since,” I opened a bottle of scotch from the liquor cabinet.

“Would you like some?” I asked over my shoulder. She didn’t respond. I turned to see her staring into space with a pained expression, “Lia? Are you alright?”

“I’m not sure. All this time, you kept this from me while I spilled my guts to you. I feel almost violated. I told you that trust works both ways. I should be furious with you,” she whispered shaking her head.

“You aren’t furious?” I smirked.

“No, and that pisses me off even more. Everything you’ve said makes sense and it sucks that I can’t be madder. And yes, I’d like a double of whatever that is. I just need something to warm me up. I feel like everything’s been frozen inside me. Literally chilled to the bone, but I don’t feel cold. It’s so weird.”

Lia

I’d not even finished the sentence when he rushed to my side, faster than could’ve been possible. Careful not to touch me, he stared into my eyes. Flashing away and back again, he handed me a glass with a dark liquid. It didn’t smell like liquor, but it tasted equally as bad. I almost spit it out, but the look on his face made me force it down.

“When did you start to feel cold? Was it before or after that bastard showed up?”

“Um, I’m pretty sure it was during. I could feel everything still, as in all my emotions, but he stared at me for a really long time. Afterward I was completely calm, I was petrified and confused, but I had no rippling air or anything. I was completely exposed. I still don’t know what happened,” I recalled. I looked up at him and frowned. It was as if he was waiting for something to happen.

“What? Why are looking at me like that?”

“There’s more to this story, Lia. Most of it will be hard for you to hear, and I apologize for my hostility, but it is just as difficult for me to tell you. I want you to try to be open-minded and stay with me. There will be a lot of information I’ll be spitting at you and you’ll want to ask questions, but please try to keep your emotions in check. This is the only place we have to hide, so it won’t do us much good broken. No offense.”

“Um, okay. Can I ask you something before you start?”

“If you wish.”

“Is this conversation going to explain some of the things I asked you earlier? About me and Josiah and how you know he’s my father? Why you haven’t spoken to me in days?” I folded my arms and stared into the flickering fireplace.

“Hmm, I believe that is more than one question, but probably. Is there anything else you would like to know?” he actually sounded amused.

“Why did you tell me about being a vampire anyway? Isn’t that supposed to be like the biggest secret in the world to you guys?”

“I told you that story, to tell you another. Some things are probably about to happen that you’ll need to be prepared for and I am going to do my best to help you.”

“What sort of things? Why would I need your help?”

“There are things you didn’t know existed in this world. I can’t describe everything, but I will tell you what I know. The supernatural world exists parallel to yours on a much larger scale than you may think. Our main focus is to keep our secrets from the humans to avoid certain disasters.

“There’s a council that governs us, keeps us hidden. Everything that happens in my world has to be sanctioned by them. No being exists unless they say so and no one breaks the rules,
ever
. The reason I’m telling you, is because Josiah’s presence has, or soon will, awaken something inside you. He’s your father; you carry the were gene. One day, you’ll be able to shift. Once that happens, you’ll be bound to the council as well.

“But there are still some things we don’t know. The first is how your powers manifest. The second is that you’re well over the age when normal weres change. I can only assume it’s because you were never exposed to him, your blood is diluted because of your mother, and possibly your abilities.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. You mean to tell me I am going to turn into what he is? That’s impossible. That’s disgusting. That is just beyond disturbing. How the hell could that happen?” I was beside myself.

“Calm down, Lia, my windows are rattling. I promise, I’m going to do everything in my power to put it off as long as possible. Try thinking of something that makes you happy, I’ll get you another drink,” he zipped away.

A werewolf? Fear shot through me. How could I possibly find something happy to think about? Ropes of desire snaked their way into my mind as I remembered the night before he left. The fire in my stomach warmed me.

“Well, it certainly feels like you’ve calmed down, sort of,” he handed me the drink with a crooked smile, I blushed and frowned.

“I’m sorry,” I scooted away from him and bit back the rejection.

“Hey, don’t feel that way. I need to explain to you why I’m acting so…strangely,” he sighed.

“You mean why you’re acting like an ass?” I retorted.

“Yes, and I’m sorry. You need to understand that Josiah isn’t just a werewolf, he’s a hybrid,” he leaned closer, catching my eyes.

“A hybrid with what?” his eyebrows rose and the light bulb clicked on, “A vampire
and
a werewolf? How is that even possible?”

“That story is for Austin.”

“I’m sorry, who?”

“He’s going to be your teacher. I can’t trust anyone else to help you. He’s an extremely powerful sorcerer and a very good friend of mine.”

“So what does Josiah being a hybrid have to do with me?”

“You’ve heard the phrase ‘like father, like daughter’? The Council will assume you’ll follow in his footsteps, or at least be afraid you might. That’s also why I must distance myself from you. We cannot be linked romantically.”

“But you said you would have never bitten me, so why does that matter?” I challenged.

“It’s just how it has to be. I can’t,” he looked pained for a second, but his expression changed quickly. I nodded with a heavy gulp.

“Right, so go on with the story,” I said thickly, avoiding his gaze.

“They’ll want to question you about your father, your powers, whether you’ve shifted, and so on. If you were to go now, it wouldn’t work out well. Austin and I are determined to prepare you. The Council will summon us at some point to give us the opportunity to clean this mess up. In the meantime, we’re also going to try to gather evidence to bring Josiah down. He’s a bad man.”

“How do you know he’s bad?”

“Put two and two together, Lia. Think about his eyes and why they’re familiar. Think about the information you know from what he said to you tonight,” he searched my face.

My eyes squinted as images flashed through my mind. The eyes; I’d seen them before. But where? I searched through every recess trying to figure out what I was missing. I took a swig of the heavy liquid and shuddered when my eyes closed. Immediately I could smell, see, and hear everything as it played out in fast forward. All of the screaming, blood, growling, tearing and popping came on so fast I almost vomited. Then the eyes. I gasped and my hand flew to my mouth.

“He…he killed them?” I squeaked.

“Yes, it was him. He wanted to take you away then, but he couldn’t be sure you were his. The only thing he could do was run away. The beast who killed your parents was Josiah, exacting his revenge on your mother. I’m so sorry, Lia,” he placed a hand on my knee and I shook it away.

“Don’t, please. I’m already a wreck; I can’t handle your confusion, too. If he’s so bad why did The Elders let him live? I thought you said they control that sort of thing?” I spat.

“The truth is he’s an exceptional liar. For ages he’s been able to fool them into thinking he doesn’t kill people. Austin will have more details, but from what I’ve gathered hybrids were particularly vicious so The Council decided to extinguish them ages ago. Josiah likes to live above the law. That’s what I’m hoping we can put a stop to,” he moved away as he spoke, sensing my hostility.

“So what’s the plan?” I tried to stop my body from trembling.

“Austin will be here in the next few days. He’ll assess your abilities to determine what type of training you need. We’ll do some more research into your family; we need to know where your powers come from. We don’t have much time, so this will be rough.”