“Wow,” Riley said, watching them work with unconcealed admiration. “It’s like a James Bond movie.” He smirked at me, lightening the mood, at least for me and Caroline.
James saw my laughter and joined in. “Yes, I’m a man of mystery,” James said raising one eyebrow.
“In all seriousness though, we don’t know what’s coming. We’re going to head back to my parents’ home, although I’m not sure that’s the safest place. Mineral Point is definitely out until we can get eyes we trust on the ground; and most likely, Ariya’s house should be avoided as well. We know the Protectors will certainly be there at least. We can try to gather intelligence, maybe reach out to a few other Protectors that Nick and I have trusted in the past while we decide what to do next.”
“All we need to do is get to Audrey so we can end her. That should at least weaken whoever is with her long enough that we can start dismantling and taking down the ones who have been supporting her. The wolves are nothing, and most of the other vampires are nothing as well, at least to us. But who knows how much she’s strengthened since we left?” Nick said, trying to provide us with more direction and a common goal.
Caroline had already joined James and Nick at the table, so Riley and I got up as well. Both of us were eagerly trying to feel like a part of the team. We smiled knowingly at each other and the absurdity that we’d somehow know what to do.
“Right, we head home and immediately start gathering information on everything that has been happening in Mineral Point. Nick, we should still have a few reliable resources we can reach out to. Members of the faculty and others that we can attempt to get a read on.”
“I can help,” Riley’s voice said excitedly.” We looked back at him, surprised. “Helen’s sister goes to Kingsbrook. At least, she said she was planning to go there last time we spoke. I can ask Helen how she’s doing and if there were any wolf sightings or other strange things happening lately.” Riley shrugged as he laid out his suggestion.
“Ohhhh, Helen,” Caroline poked fun at him.
Riley knocked her hands away playfully. “Hey, it’ll make me feel useful.”
James nodded. “We’ll get what we need before we devise a smarter course of action and a travel plan to get back there. Then, I’ll personally take care of destroying Audrey and ending this.” He looked at each one of us individually as he spoke, finally resting his eyes on me, as if his words were a promise and I shouldn’t worry.
“Good?” he asked.
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement before we all stood up from the table. I resisted the urge to be a smart aleck and say “Break!” like we were coming out of a football huddle, and held it in.
James's cell phone started ringing. “Yes?” he said, stepping away from the rest of us.
"I thought you turned all of those off," I said, suddenly concerned about using cell phones if Marik could track us so easily.
"We're very resourceful. All of our calls will suggest we are somewhere else, not anywhere near here. Just like we were doing before." Nick smiled.
"You can really do that?"
"Yes, Ariya. I'm super smart." He laughed, which made me laugh and Caroline rolled her eyes.
“I guess we are in a Bond movie,” I joked.
I turned to look at James since he hadn't said much after replying with a curt Yes when answered the phone. I wished I hadn't looked at him. His face registered pain. Something was wrong.
“I understand.” Another pause. “As soon as possible.” He flipped the phone shut and set it down on the table before walking over to me.
"Ariya, please come sit down," he lovingly directed me.
Oh, gosh, what was it now? Slowly making my way to the bed, I sat down, facing him. What could possibly have happened now? He knelt in front of me and took my hands into his, resting them in my lap as I sat.
"James?” I asked but he didn’t answer. “You're scaring me," I whispered.
Everyone was watching us. I could feel their eyes boring through me although I couldn't look anywhere except between James's pained expression and the phone on the nightstand behind him.
"I'm here for you Ariya, we all are. Everything is going to be okay."
“What’s going to be okay, James?” Why wouldn't he get to the point? He picked up the phone again, punching in a number. After a few rings, he spoke again.
"She's here." Then he paused. "Yes, hold on." He only let one of my hands go and held onto the other, allowing me to take the phone.
"He… Hello?" I said with a shaky voice.
"Ariya, sweetheart, it's me."
"Mom? Mom, what's wrong? How did you get James’s number?" I quivered in fear and anticipation over why my mother would have been on the phone without a clue as to the reason why.
"I've been trying to leave you messages, I didn't know you wouldn't have a phone. I wasn't sure how to reach you." Her voice cracked and I heard a muffled noise.
"Mom? What happened? What’s wrong?" I asked again, growing more hysterical as I tried to control myself with a drawn-out response.
"I'm not sure how to say this, but baby, your father. He… He’s…”
Pure terror coursed through me as she gathered herself.
“He’s hurt real bad, Ariya. I don’t think… that is, the doctors, well, they don’t…”
“Daddy?” My voice quivered and I trembled as tears welled in my eyes and I strained to listen to what my mom was trying to tell me.
“He was bitten by something, sweetheart. I… I think you know by what.”
My head jerked up and my eyes met James's. He reached out to comfort me, but I pushed him away and stood up, crossing the room before I began pacing.
Werewolves had visited my parents’ house!
"Mom, I… um… I don’t know what you’re talking about. How would I know what he was bitten by?” At an utter loss for words, I was trying to comprehend my father being injured and possibly dying. That was one thing, but having my mom act like she knew something more than she let on was nothing less than alarming.
"Sweetheart, I know everything. That conversation, however, has to be postponed for another time. I want you to come home now. He's struggling and he needs you."
"No! He's fine! This isn't funny. He's fine, Dad’s fine. Nothing is wrong." Sobs escaped from me despite my sincere attempts to repress them. I was rapidly failing to hold on or be strong anymore, and I could barely hear what she was saying. I fell to the ground as hot, unending tears streaming down my face.
"You need to come home. James will take care of it. It'll be safe here."
This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening! My dad couldn't have been bitten by a werewolf. That meant he would soon become a werewolf. It wasn't possible. They had Protectors! They were taken care of. This couldn't be true.
"Mom! Mom, what was he bitten by?" I didn't know what else to say.
"A werewolf, Ariya.”
“Werewolves aren’t real,” I murmured, realizing everything I ever thought about my mom was untrue. She knew much more than she ever let on.
“Everything is going to be all right. We'll see you soon. We can talk then, okay? I love you, baby girl."
"Love you, too." My reply came out quiet and garbled by the tears I unsuccessfully strove to choke back.
I hung up the phone and stared at it in my hand. I didn't understand. Where were their Protectors? James promised me the bloodline was always well looked after.
Marik. Marik was here. Following up on his son's movements again, instead of doing his job! Now my family, once again, were the ones who paid. He would pay now! I hated him.
“Where were her Protectors?” I screamed. Obviously, I couldn’t blame my vampires, but there was no one else to yell at. “You promised me that they would be protected, James. You. Promised!”
I eyed the door and decided in that moment to leave them all and their pity stares. I walked out of the room, slamming the door behind me. A chorus of voices started, but I refused to
stop. Let the werewolves come! I'd kill every one of them.
I couldn't stand the idea of bringing anymore people pain. Now, my own father was involved. And my mom? Did my mom really know about all of these things? When did she first learn about the paranormal realm? After my dad was bitten? Or before? Did Marik feel guilty about leaving them for no good reason?
I ran down the stairs on the opposite side from where we entered and cursed loudly. It was something I didn't do very often. I tripped, mid profanity rant on the bottom stair and fell to my knees.
Arms wrapped around me from behind, lifting me back up to my feet. It was Caroline. Not James or Nick, but Caroline. My other family. I screamed again before breaking down and sobbing into her shoulder.
"It's okay. It's going to be okay. Your dad is really strong. He'll be fine.” She rubbed my back as I continued crying. Eventually, she let me go but continued to try to calm me with her words.
After what felt like an eternity, the tears began to fall more silently and the sobs ceased.
"I can’t take it anymore, Care. I have to end this. I have to end this before anyone else gets hurt." I straightened up, wiping my eyes.
Caroline watched me steadily and stared at me before she nodded.
"I know you do, Ariya. I'll help you."
"I'm serious." I paused before asking, "Are we alone?" and looking behind her on the stairwell.
"Yes, I basically fought James to the door, and told him to work with Nick. They have to figure out how to get home and now they finally realize that you need that more from them and I can provide the comfort for now,” she smiled briefly. “So go ahead and say whatever you’ve been holding back since we left the castle.”
As I suspected, Caroline knew I had something I didn’t share. "I'm the one who has to finish off Audrey. Ingrid was at the palace. In Ivan's room. I wasn't alone. Ivan had a vision and he knew my name and told her that I would fix everything." All the information came out of my mouth like vomit, spewing towards Caroline.
I hesitated. Could I trust Caroline to know that I was the last one in the bloodline? I paused, debating for a moment while she stood motionlessly watching me. If I told her the whole truth, she'd never allow me to get hurt, but I had to have an ally.
"He said that I could end her. He saw it. It was me, not the boys, not you, only me. Ingrid gave me the spell," I informed her.
Caroline nodded and looked at me for a long time without saying anything.
“I’m not lying. Ivan saw it happen in a vision. Ingrid told me what I had to do, and stressed that it was the only possible way.”
We sat in silence. Caroline looked around, thinking about something that remained unspoken. Finally, she ended our silence. "I understand, but they can't know.”
"No. No, they can't," I agreed.
"Okay." She nodded, resigning herself to becoming my ally. I’m sure it felt as impossible to her as it did to me. “Were you safe? I mean, in the vision, did you do what you had to do and stay safe?"
The best lie of my life needed to be told at this moment. Technically, it wasn’t a lie, so I held onto that aspect when I replied, “Yes,” I said, smiling. “Yes, I did it.”
Ingrid and Ivan told me as much. My safety was not guaranteed, and almost certainly, my life would end, but they would go on. I had to convince her she was the only one who could help me. “Ivan said I stopped the evil. He said I destroyed it and saved everyone.” I watched the reaction on her face.
She took what I said in, trusting me. Caroline understood. I knew she would. Even if Ingrid hadn't assigned me the task of finishing Audrey off, I'd want to do it. After all, this was my fault. She hurt everyone and now she had the gall to go after my dad. I fully intended to pay her back for that. I was the only one who could.
"Let's get you home." Caroline grabbed my arm again, taking me back to the bedroom.
James took me from Caroline's grasp the moment we entered the room. He was the only one there.
"Riley and Nick are giving you some space and loading up the car. We're leaving tonight. I'm so sorry." He put his forehead against mine.
"It's not your fault. I’m sorry I yelled." And it wasn't his fault either. It was Marik's fault. I would tell him as much the next time I saw him, which was a matter of hours now, however long the flight was.
“I don’t care about that, Ariya,” he soothed.
“Did you know?” I asked, pulling back to look at James again. “Did you know that she knew anything?”
“No. I had no idea. I’m sure she’ll explain everything and things will finally make sense. I was just as surprised as you were at hearing that.” He rubbed my back as he spoke, not faltering for a moment while he comforted me.
“We will get through this and keep you and your mother safe. The doctors could be wrong. And if anything happened, now that he was bitten…”
“I could save him,” I quietly whispered into his chest. Of course, I thought about it the moment I heard he’d been bitten. I, alone, possessed the ability to save any paranormal creature, after all. But my father’s life would be forever changed.
“Ariya,” James sighed into my hair, gripping the nape of my neck with his hand. “You’re not alone.”
I lifted my face to see his and in it, I saw everything I’d ever need. I glimpsed everything I could have ever wanted and I squeezed my arms around him tighter. “I love you.”
“I love you more than you’ll ever comprehend, Ariya,” he replied before cupping my face in his hands and kissing me.
The entire trip was a somber one. Everyone continuously checked up on me, asking if I needed anything and reminding me that I wasn’t alone and everything would be okay. Once Audrey was gone, sure, everything would be okay. Until then, it seemed like things would probably get harder and harder.
James parked the car in front of my parents’ house. I had no clue what I was about to walk in on. Would my dad be in wolf form? Was the injury more than just a bite? Was Marik here? How much did my mom really know? Dozens of questions kept drifting through my mind and I shook my head, trying my best to ignore them.
"Ready?" James squeezed my hand and I nodded.
The others stayed back in a separate car, allowing us to get to the situation first.
We walked in through the garage and I called out, "Mom?"
She came around the corner and rushed me, giving me a hug and crying.
"I’m so glad you're safe." She was clutching onto me as if it had been years since she had last laid eyes on me.
"I'm fine, Mom. I’m fine. Where's Dad?"
"Resting in the living room."
Walking past her, I quickly hurried through the kitchen and dining room, heading back to our living room. The TV was on and my dad was propped up in his favorite blue recliner.
"Daddy?" My voice cracked as I looked him over. His arm was in a sling but otherwise, he looked fine. He had a lot of beard stubble, but he often got that if he forgot to shave for two or three days at a time.
"Hey, baby girl." He smiled and a tear came out of my eye. "Hey, none of that.” He scolded, lovingly. “I'm fine, Ariya. Freaked out maybe, but fine," he said gruffly.
"Have you…” I started, but struggled. “Do you know what’s happening to you?” I wasn’t sure how much he knew, or the situation here since it happened.
"No, apparently, I have a couple of days before I turn. Or at least that’s what I’ve been told. So, uh, you know about all this... this stuff?"
I could only nod, since words ceased to have any meaning to me at the moment.
He cleared his throat. "Are you…" He raised his eyebrows, most likely because it was hard for him to ask if I had become a monster.
"No, I'm just me." I tried to smile but the corners of my mouth fell back down a moment later.
"Maybe it will be cool? Or at the very least, not so bad," he chimed calmly, and I was sure he was only trying to make me feel better.
"Cool?" It did bring a smile to my face. My family was c
omprised of some very optimistic people. My dad thought it might be "cool." He always wanted to make everyone around him feel comfortable and happy, regardless of how he felt inside.
"Yeah, maybe it will be, Dad." I said, patting his leg. “I love you.”
"I love you, too. I'm a little tired. Your mom's incessant attention has prevented me from getting even a few hours of sleep. She keeps checking on me every five minutes. Don't tell her that, though." He smiled at me and I knew I was being dismissed.
"I'll be out here if you need anything." I kissed his cheek and headed out to the kitchen.
James and my mother were sitting at the kitchen table and she was drinking some tea. I was about to bombard her with millions of questions. I longed to understand how she could possibly have known what was happening, but I noticed Marik emerging from the shadows in the back yard, which altered my mission immediately. Storming towards the door, I angrily flung it open before making my way to the edge of the fence where he was standing.
"Are you happy? You asshole! This is: All. Your. Fault!" I poked at his chest with my finger. I hadn't felt this angry since Audrey imprisoned me against my will.
"Ariya, you need to calm down this instant! You’re acting very childish," Marik responded, as if I were no more than a temporary bother to him and had no right to feel furious.
"Don't you dare talk to me like that! You should be ashamed of yourself! As much as this is my fault, it's yours, too." I shoved into him, feeling out of control and hurting. Not a good combination. A nudge from my subconscious suggested that I try to act like an adult, but I shoved that nugget of advice right out of the way.
"You're the reason my family keeps getting hurt. Why? Because you refuse to trust your son. James does everything right. Things always go wrong whenever you interfere. You got my grandmother killed; you're also the reason your father is dead; and now my father is doomed to becoming a werewolf. I hate you!" I shoved him one more time but he stood there, utterly devoid of emotion. Turning on my heels, I was still storming when I got back into the house.
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