The Beast Within (8 page)

“Oh yes, they’re just usually out at work.”

Recovering from the onslaught of welcomes, and choosing to ignore Mrs. Hayes last comment about her dogs, Connor looked around and gathered his bearings. To his left, the kitchen opened with glass cupboards that covered all available space. These cupboards held everything from pots and pans to mixers, deep fryers, toasters and other contraptions. Tearing his eyes away from the controlled disaster, he passed a hallway on his left, stairs on his right, and then entered the main room.

Much like the kitchen, the room was clean and even smelled like lavender. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined all the walls except one. The bookshelves were crammed full of every type of book one could imagine. These books looked anywhere from brand new to ancient. Perhaps Columbus used them to journal about his trip to the New World. The only wall that was unadorned displayed a huge window. In the middle of the room was a large rug, a small table, and two black, high-backed leather chairs. Mrs. Hayes sat in one of these chairs, smiling at Connor.

“Please, come, sit. We have so much to talk about.”

Void of a hat today, her gray and white hair shot in every direction but up. She wore a faded purple top, white pants that seemed as though they would fit someone twice her size, and black slippers.

Connor took a seat next to her. “My mother said you had a problem with the last delivery?”

Mrs. Hayes looked at him as though he was an alien, her light brown eyes full of reproof. Taking a commanding tone she began. “I thought you said you were ready? You try so hard to ignore the truth, the same truth that’s right in front of you.”

Chapter 7

C
onnor’s head swam. He knew
he had recognized the voice in his dream, it was Mrs. Hayes! But it was crazy to think she had power over his dreams.

“It’s not crazy, Connor. You already know.”

“Can you read my mind?”

“Heheh. I have plenty of abilities, but mindreading isn’t one of them. That expression on your face tells me all I need to know.”

Connor let go, willing to take a leap of faith into the unknown, “It was you in my dream last night, wasn’t it?”

“There you go. And?”

“And I want to know…” Connor hesitated. Taking a deep breath, he plunged ahead. “And I want to know who I am. Why have I felt this force inside of me my entire life? Who is my father? Who are all these strangers in town? And who are you? Why haven’t you said anything?”

Connor was shocked with his sudden outburst. He felt as though he had tried opening a water faucet and instead unleashed a fire hydrant. He didn’t mean to let it all out, but he did and it felt great.

“There you go, Connor,” Mrs. Hayes said with an approving nod of her head and a glimpse of yellow teeth. “Now you’re ready to know.”

“I can answer most of your questions but there are those you will have to answer yourself.” Mrs. Hayes stood up as she addressed him. She seemed taller somehow, younger, and that’s when Connor realized he wasn’t imagining her taller and younger, she was taller and younger!

Every muscle in his athletic frame tensed. Brown eyes wide, he stared as Mrs. Hayes went from stooped and old to tall and fiercely graceful. Her grey and white hair gave way to raven black. Her crooked yellow grin changed into a perfect smile and her clothes even transformed to a blouse with a plunging neckline and a fitted white skirt.

The woman who stood in front of him now looked as though she were a few years younger than his mother. The change in her appearance revealed her pendant as well. It was made of the same kind of metal as Laren’s, but a different symbol hung from Mrs. Hayes’ neck. A symbol Connor didn’t recognize.

Connor’s heart was beating out of his chest. Running a hand through his thick black hair, he forced his mind to believe the unbelievable.

“I know it can be a bit much the first time, but you’ll get used to the changing.”

“How did you do that?”

“Let’s just call it magic for now until you have a better grasp of our history. The why part is a bit easier. How old do you think I am, Connor?”

“I don’t know—before, I would have said in your eighties? Now, in your forties?”

“That’s very sweet, Connor, but in reality I’m closer to five hundred years old.”

Connor’s mouth dropped open.

“I have to keep up an aging appearance for public reasons. You can imagine if you had a neighbor who never aged. Good moisturizers and great genes would only be able to justify so many years. Acting crazy was just something I started for fun, but it worked perfectly; people left me alone and I could pretty much get away with anything I wanted, so I kept it up.”

“Okay.” Connor couldn’t contain himself any longer. He got up and paced back and forth from the kitchen to the window in the main room. “Okay, so let me get this straight.” He quickened his pace. “The woman I’ve known as long as I can remember as Mrs. Hayes isn’t a senile, crazy women? She’s actually a five hundred year old witch?”

“Hmmm, hmmm.” Mrs. Hayes cleared her throat.

Connor stopped his pacing. “You’re not a witch?”

“We prefer ‘sorceress,’ and you can just call me Morrigan.”

“Morrigan? As in Morrigan le Fay the wit—” Connor caught himself. “The sorceress from King Author?” Connor gave her another look of disbelief.

“Connor, please, let’s not be ridiculous.” She feigned a smile. “I’m not that old.”

As crazy as it sounded, Connor was beginning to accept his new reality. “So, where do I fit into all of this?”

“Well for that we’ll need a history lesson.” She clearing her throat. “Since the beginnings of mankind, there have been those individuals possessing more than just the normal set of abilities or skills. Call it what you will—natural selection, mutation, chance—but a select few have stood apart from the rest.”

“Every people or race has their own name for these beings. The Germans call them “The Rulers” or “der Herrscher,” the Irish—your ancestors—chose the word “Roghnaithe” which means “Chosen,” and in ancient Rome, the Latin word was “Beastia” or “Animal.” The abilities these individuals possessed closely related to many of the abilities found in animals; heightened senses, increased speed, and strength. Another bonus for these select few was the aging process. We still age, but at a much slower rate than our human counterparts.”

She paused in her lecture. “Following so far, Mr. Moore?”

Connor nodded. “I think I should sit down for the rest.”

“Probably a good idea,” she agreed, pausing long enough for him to take a seat.

“Now, with time, these gifted ‘people’ recognized their superiority and banded together forming clans or families. Soon these families began vying for power and rank; it didn’t take long for war to break out and humans were dragged into the mix. The war was so devastating to every side that only Five Families survived. These remaining Five Families called a truce and created a Council and a list of rules to abide by to ensure a war of this magnitude would never occur again.”

Morrigan walked over to a bookcase and produced a rolled up scroll. It was cracked and dusty but still legible. She carefully unrolled it and handed it to him. “Please read it out loud.”

Connor gingerly took the scroll from her and cleared his throat. “The Law. One. We will remain hidden and value discretion above all else. Two. Under no circumstances will one Elite kill another. Three. Under no circumstances will any Elite kill or enslave a human. Four. Elites will not turn humans or mate with them.” Connor gently placed the scroll on the small table next to his chair.

Morrigan continued, “Since the signing of the Law, the remaining Five Families agreed the best way to avoid confrontation was to separate themselves and assign regions for each of their clans. The known world was split into five territories; Asia, Africa, The United Kingdom and the remaining two families agreed on dividing Europe.”

Connor raised his hand, unsure of the best way to interrupt a sorceress.

“Connor, put your hand down and just ask me,” she said, half laughing.

“Oh, thanks. You didn’t mention North or South America, or Australia.”

“When the Law was written and the known world divided, those countries hadn’t been discovered, but we’ll get into that.”

“Now, there have, of course, been instances of disobedience and breaking of the Law, but these have been dealt with quickly and severely by the Council. Almost every major conflict in history has been due to the breaking of one of these four Laws. In 1692, the breaking of the first rule led to the Salem witch trials. A few Elites thought it would be fun to show off to the human population. World War I started when one member of the Five Families killed a member of another family over a land dispute. In 1939, World War II started because Adolf Hitler broke the third rule about killing and enslaving humans.”

“Wait, are you telling me that Adolph Hitler was an Elite?”

“Yes, I am. Oh, yes, and of course the American Civil War in 1861. There was a group of Elites that thought they could turn humans and create their own army so they could claim a nation for themselves.”

“What do you mean by ‘turn’?”

“Only pureblood members of the Five Families are born with these abilities. Those who are of mixed blood, or half-blooded, still have the Elite gene, but they need an extra ‘push’ to reach their full potential.”

“Extra push?”

“Yes, if you’re not pure-blooded, the gene will lie dormant unless you are bitten by a pure-blood member. In a sense, this kickstarts the process and your dormant abilities will be very alive and very real.”

“What if an Elite bites a human? Does it work the same way?”

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t. The normal human body wouldn’t have any way to respond. They would eventually die.”

Connor nodded, then ventured a guess on his own. “The physical manifestation of being an Elite is different colored eyes, isn’t it?”

“Yes, eye color distinguishes the Elites when they’re in their normal human form. Each eye color is specific to the family in which they originated. When they show their true identities, their eye color changes—yellow, black, red, orange or white—and their fangs protrude. These traits have led to names like vampires or werewolves throughout the years. If people only knew—the truth is so much more frightening.”

“Laren and her brother are from an Elite family, and so is Randolph, right?” Connor knew the answer to this question but he had to ask it anyway.

“Yes, Laren and Lu are descendants from the Roman family; Randolph from the German.”

Connor saw all the subtle hints now—how tense Laren had been right before they even saw Randolph at the Italian restaurant, how fast and strong she was, how she had smelled Randolph on Connor when he met her for her surprise run and blamed it on allergies.

“So, why are they here now? I thought they had their own lands. America wasn’t part of the agreement.”

“Exactly. Boy, once you’re willing to accept the truth, you’re all in, aren’t you?”

Connor gave a sigh of relief. “As crazy as it sounds, even with all this new information, it feels good to finally get some answers. It’s like somehow I always knew there was something more.”

Morrigan nodded. “North and South America, as well as Australia, weren’t in the initial land agreement and that’s exactly why they’re here. As soon as these new countries were discovered, every family claimed them as their own. Meaningless treaties were signed but they have all been broken. Each family has their own agenda with what they plan to do. Not one of them has been so bold as to break one of the four Laws, but I fear that time is coming. Negotiations are failing and every day we’re getting closer and closer to violence.”

“Okay, but what has any of this to do with me?”

His phone went off. The familiar jingle of Katie’s personal ringtone met his ears. He almost ignored it, he was so caught up in the recent revelation of history, but instead he gave Morrigan an imploring look.

“Well, go ahead. It already interrupted us.”

Connor mouthed the word, “Sorry,” as he answered the phone. “Hey, Katie, what’s going on?”

“Connor, Connor, I need you right now! It’s so bad!” She sounded hysterical.

“Wait—hold on—what happened? Where are you?”

“I’m home. Randolph had some man over to the house last night and he—he wasn’t normal. Connor, I saw him. He wasn’t human!”

“Stay there. I’m on my way. Just stay put.”

“Hurry.”

Hanging up his phone, he jumped to his feet and headed for the door.

“I’m sorry, I have to go. Something’s happened to Katie.”

“Yes, I know who Katie and her family are, but there is still so much you don’t know.”

“I have to go. She needs me.”

Morrigan seemed to weigh her options. “I know I’m not going to talk you out of this. Go to her. But be careful, Connor. You have a very important role yet to play in all of this. Here.” She grabbed a pen and paper out of what seemed midair and scribbled down a number. “You call me if you need any help.” She handed him the phone number. “And Connor?”

The way she said his name with such intensity and importance caused his mind to stop racing and he gave her his full attention.

“Your mother doesn’t know about any of this. Let’s keep it that way.”

He nodded, said a hasty good-bye over his shoulder, and was out the door and in his truck in seconds. Connor turned the key, heard the engine catch, and stomped on the gas.

The sky was angry, darker now than it had been that morning, and Connor knew they were hours away from a downpour. The pickaxe, still in the back of his truck, rattled in his truck bed and slammed back and forth between the two wheelwells as he whipped around corners.

Connor ignored the noise as he replayed all the new information over in his head. Laren wasn’t normal, she was an Elite. It all made sense now. She was here on behalf of her family trying to negotiate a peaceful end to the land dispute in America. How old was she then? If they aged at such a slow pace, she could be hundreds of years old. And what was she doing with him? It was a Law that Elites couldn’t be with humans. Why would she even have bothered with him?

These questions, along with many more, ran though his mind. He was actually surprised he had taken in all this new information so well. Soon he was pulling up to Katie’s family estate and what he saw shocked him.

The black gate was in shambles. The left side of the fence was bent outwards like a bulldozer had hit it from the opposite end, and the right side of the gate had broken off its hinges completely, lying face down on the driveway. The sun emblem that was usually on the front gate was nowhere to be found.

Connor drove over the broken piece of fence and up the long driveway to the main house. The grass on either side of the driveway was torn and ripped. Had he not been there the previous day, he would have refused to believe the lawn could have been ruined so completely in less than twenty-four hours. Chunks of grass had been ripped out, holes had sporadically appeared over the landscape, and long gashes that looked like claw marks were everywhere.