“Must you always be so dogmatic and unreasonable?” I lashed back. “We are here. What sense does it make to leave now? Just give me twenty minutes. That is all I’m asking. Please.”
Unyielding, angry eyes glared at me. There were no signs of compromise on his face. Why did these things have to be so hard? “We both know I will return to see her. I don’t think she’s dangerous, but it would be a hell of a lot better if you were here if she were.”
He raked his hands through his hair several times, tousling it. Cursing under his breath, he released his hold on me. “You are so frustrating!” he barked through clenched teeth. I was still staring at human blue eyes, so at least I wasn’t infuriating.
“I know, but I am not trying to be. It’s that horrible side-effect of being me.” I forced a smile. I inched toward the house. “If I’m not out in twenty minutes, or you hear anything suspicious with that freakish superhearing of yours, you have my full support to charge in and do your Beta thing and rip apart anything in your way. I know you would like that.”
I mouthed a thank you and watched as I slowly sent him into a panic attack—the kind only control freaks get when they are forced to give up a minuscule amount of power.
Walking backward, I kept my eyes on him until the corners of his lips turned up into a half smile. I smiled back, mouthed another thank you and walked to the door.
The dull unkempt stairs had little cracks in the concrete leading up to a discolored and dingy welcome mat. I didn’t have time to knock on the door before Gloria opened it with a smug expectant look on her face. The house may have looked like peppermint but it smelled like brimstone. Okay, I wasn’t sure what brimstone smelled like, but it smelled like something odd and unworldly—with a hint of lemon pledge.
“Come in, Skylar,” she stated, removing the small glasses that sat on the tip of her nose. Taking slow cautious steps, I walked into the house. I tried not to inhale too deeply. I really hated the smell of the house. She directed me to the kitchen where I took a seat at the small, cherry wood kitchen table. I looked around the small kitchen. Stainless steel pots and pans hung from an iron rack. Ceramic holders, filled to capacity with utensils decorated the kitchen. Charming decorative potholders with a fruit theme were neatly spread about the kitchen. A matching fruit-decorated apron hung near the stove and matching curtains covered a small bay window that opened slightly, revealing a small vegetable garden. Except for the smell of the house, it was the type of kitchen a grandmother would have.
“Would you like some tea?” she asked, keeping a watchful eye on my every movement.
My hands fidgeted nervously. Eventually, I clasped them together, forcing the appearance of calm. “No,” I responded in a nervous, low voice.
“How may I help you?” she finally asked, bringing her cup of tea to the table and sitting across from me.
“You said I went through the change. Did you mean my change into my animal-half?”
“Are you a were-animal, dear?” she asked, interested, but something led me believe that she already knew.
“Wolf.”
“Really. So the evolution has begun.”
“Will I change into something else?” I asked cautiously, fearful of the impending answer.
She thoughtfully sipped on her tea, but it was apparent she wasn’t considering anything. She was just withholding information. “Do you really seek the answers of what you are?” she asked, her eyes lowered, challenging me.
“Why wouldn’t I want to know?”
“Ignorance can sometimes be a beautiful thing,” she stated coolly, sipping from her teacup again, smiling.
“I’ve lacked knowledge too long,” I admitted. “I need to know everything, including why my sergence is off.”
She perked up. “So you’ve been read.”
“Not intentionally.”
“I ask you this with true sincerity. Do you really want to know what you are?” Leaning into the table, she watched my reaction carefully.
I inhaled deeply taking in the horrid odor of brimstone and lemon. “I need to.”
A smile of satisfaction marked her face. “Very well then. I will do this for you, and, in return, you will do me a favor”
It took a while for me to respond. I would owe her. My gut was telling me she wasn’t a person you wanted to owe a favor. I reached for my purse, “No, I will pay you. How much?”
The small smile on her face remained; it was pleasant but didn’t mask her avid curiosity. She wanted the information just as much as I did. “I will do this for you without cost or obligation,” she said.
She laid her hands palms up on the table. “Give me your hands.”
I looked at them reluctantly. “What are you?” I asked. It was at that moment that I wondered what gifts she possessed that led my mother to seek her advice after my change.
“I’m a Tréase,” she stated proudly.
I hated that I didn’t know what it was because she seemed very proud of it. “What is a Tréase?”
“Give me your hands and you will find out.”
I hesitated for a long moment. Could she hurt me with just a simple touch? I wanted answers, so I pushed my fear aside and placed my hands in hers. Her hands were cold and as the minutes passed they tightened around mine, squeezing them to the point where it was uncomfortable. I stared in awe as she changed into a version of me as a child of ten. Two long braids hung down to my shoulders, my eyes a sharper green, my skin youthful and flushed. “Danielle called you a freak on the playground because you always beat everyone at sports and playground games. You were faster, stronger and more instinctive than them. Instead of embracing those attributes you chose to suppress them. You didn’t want to be different. Why is that, Skylar?”
“What child wants to be different?” I asked her, perplexed.
“Most strive to be the best. You were the best, and yet you suppressed your talents to the point where you appeared to be less than average,” she alleged in a disappointed voice.
“Because something deep in me already knew I was odd and that my abilities came from something unnatural,” I admitted to her so freely that it gave me pause. My feelings and thoughts spilled from me in such an unrestricted manner that it surprised me. “I hated that I didn’t feel like a real girl.”
“I wasn’t a real girl?” asked my younger self.
“You weren’t the way girls were supposed to be. You were too strong, your senses too astute, your ways too intense and your temperament too volatile for a girl your age. You weren’t the way girls were supposed to be. You were an animal trapped in a little girl’s body. Although the animal remained hidden, its ways were always present. Deep down I knew it was there,” I revealed. The girl smiled at me as she shifted into my wolf. The only thing that remained in human form was her hands as they held mine.
“I emerged, confirming that you were different. Did you believe you were the only one?” my wolf asked. Staring at it, I was astonished by its perfect replication of my wolf, right down to the color change from light gray to charcoal around my ears.
“You forever changed my life. I could never consider myself truly human anymore,” I told the wolf.
“Were you every really human? Deep down, you had to know that humanity was never in your reach,” stated the wolf as it changed into a human-shaped light. I turned my head; the illumination nearly blinded me. The heat off it warmed my skin like the sun. I basked in it, oddly drawn to whatever it was. It felt oddly familiar to me. Once my eyes adjusted to the brightness, I focused on it.
“Humanity comes hard to you. If it were indeed what you are—then you wouldn’t have to work so hard for it. You’re animal is only a small part of you, and yet the human part of you is unnatural,” said the iridescent light.
“It’s the part of me that’s most vulnerable,” I admitted.
“Because it’s the part of you that is the least true to who you are,” the light disclosed dimming as it spoke.
“What part of me
are you representing?” I asked, my face turning away as the light grew brighter.
“Your evolution, Skylar,” the iridescent figure responded.
“I’m going to become the sun?” I asked naively. That seemed highly unlikely.
The light shone brighter as Gloria laughed. “I am the part of you that the necromancer saw,” she admitted. “I’m your sergence, which is neither found in wolf, fae, elf, demon or vampire.”
“What does that mean? What am I?”
“You ask for the answer of what you are. This is all that I can provide. Your evolution depends on quite a few things.”
“Like what?”
Her only answer was torturous silence. The cryptic answers I was getting these days were becoming tiresome. The illumination was glorious and nonthreatening. I couldn’t understand why it would warrant a death sentence. It darkened for a second before changing into a vampire. Or rather what I would look like if I were a vampire.
My hair was curly and extremely long, draping limestone-colored skin so pale it was almost transparent. My eyes were a brilliant cross between vermillion and titian. I swallowed hard as the taste of blood filled my mouth. Its flavor didn’t disgust me as it should. Instead it brought me pleasure—immense, irrefutable and intense pleasure. The viscous fluid satisfied my palate in ways I never thought possible. I was experiencing bloodlust for the first time and it bothered me that I wasn’t repulsed.
“How does it feel?”
“Unsettling.” I admitted.
“Would you like to taste it again?” the vampire inquired softly.
I didn’t respond for a long time. The vampire smiled expectantly, waiting for an answer. Reluctantly, I nodded my head once. I had to taste it again. The vampire smiled wider, exposing its teeth, which had turned crimson from the blood that dripped from them. The thick, savory fluid filled my mouth again, sliding down my throat, satisfying a longing that dwelled deep in me. Unable to fight it any longer— I gave into it. The smell, the taste, sent me into a euphoric state. Its appeal too strong to deny.
“Can you embrace it, Skylar?” asked my vampire-self.
“No,” I closed my eyes imprinting the feel and taste to memory.
“How does it feel to enjoy the taste of blood, to be roused by the smell, enticed by the aroma?”
Embracing the thought, I inhaled the alluring aroma of blood that filled the room. I didn’t answer. It was unsettling how much I enjoyed the feeling. As I gave into the lust, I imagined myself a vampire. An existence where I craved blood, not just for my survival but because of the unquenchable lust. The type of existence that would cause me to murder without hesitation just to experience the alluring taste again. I knew me and my weaknesses. I would not be able to control myself or deny the lust. Easily, I could become the most horrid creature ever known. My weakness would become society’s burden. The were-animals would inevitably kill me for my horrid actions, and I would deserve no better fate.
“I’m not a vampire,” I stated softly. I hadn’t answered her question, refusing to give her the satisfaction of the truth.
She nodded once, then morphed into a dark creature the color of charcoal. Its underlying skin was a thick leathery texture. Its eyes opened to expose an abyss of darkness instead of pupils. I was plagued by an amalgamation of emotions—mostly fear. They loomed over me, forcing me to feel each one with undiluted intensity. I felt them all, and then I saw it. True evil in its rawest form stared back at me. I trembled as its gaze bore into me; I clenched, fighting against its overpowering force. This form of evil isn’t just felt, touched, seen; it devours you.
“Can you embrace this side of you? If you can’t now, you will learn to because it dwells too deep to be ignored. Its power is so strong that you will succumb to it at some point.” Its voice was a carbon copy of my own. A horrific sound escaped from the creature and something reached forward—a tail. It touched me. I jumped, clumsily snatching my hands away from it as I crashed to the floor bringing the table with me. My movements were awkward as I moved to my feet and lifted the table. Gloria, now in her original human form, smiled at me.
“What the hell was that!”
“Skylar, they are all parts of you,” she admitted genially.
I shook my head wildly. “That wasn’t any part of me.”
“I showed you nothing but truth. It was you who came to me desiring to know what you are. I gave you the answers,” she stated firmly. “That’s what’s in you. Based on your life and the choices you make, that is your evolution,” she stated, her voice soft and knowledgeable.
I searched for the right words, but I couldn’t find any at that moment. That disgusting thing was not me and could never be. What choices would I make to turn me into that monster?
“Skylar, I think you should go. I hear your wolf coming, and he doesn’t sound happy.”
Good. I wanted to leave, and this gave me the perfect excuse for an exit. I backed out of the kitchen. “Thank you,” I stammered, but it didn’t sound genuine, probably because it wasn’t.
“I will see you soon,” she stated confidently.
I am pretty sure you won’t.
I nearly crashed into Ethan who was quickly approaching as I rushed out of the house. “Let’s go,” I coaxed trying to pull him with me in my hurry to get away from the house. I wasn’t sure what made me think he would be that easily redirected or that I could pull him with such ease. He didn’t budge, forcing me forward into him. He took hold of my shoulder firmly as I trembled against him.
“What happened?” His voice tight as graphite eyes stared back at me. He looked as though he were ready to charge into the house.
“I fell out of a chair.”
“You’re lying. What happened?” he challenged with a frown.
“I fell out of a chair,” I repeated, pulling away from him. He allowed me to slip from his grasp. He continued toward the house, while I moved in the direction of the car.
“Ethan, I simply fell out of the chair. Can we go please?”
I continued toward the car, hoping he would follow me. He looked at the house and then at me, hesitating for a long moment. Eventually, he followed me back to the car.
The distress was hard to hide as I sat back in the seat. Still riled from leaving the scene without further investigating, Ethan was having a hard time keeping his attention on the road. I had been running from the truth for so long that I felt the need to own what Gloria showed me, if she was showing me truth, they were all parts. But I couldn’t. The ghastly demon thing that she showed me had me searching for a new place of denial.
“What happened?” Ethan finally asked.
“Nothing.”
His jaw tensed. “Don’t lie to me. If you don’t want me to know then just say so,” he stated stiffly.
I let my head drop back against the headrest. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
He bit back his questions, “Did you find the answers you wanted?” he asked.
“I hope not,” I responded with finality, hoping to put an end to this conversation.
CHAPTER 7
It had been two days since the debacle at the Tréase’s house and I could go another lifetime without seeing myself as a vampire or that other horrid creature. Since Joan’s departure, with the exception of Steven, I was ignored. Steven was gone, not only was he the pack’s angel-faced member but he was the University of Illinois’s mysterious and often absent engineering student. This week, he had several tests and couldn’t miss classes.
I hadn’t heard from or seen Josh since the incident with Nathan and was surprised to find him leaning against the doorframe of the room. He lingered at the door for a long moment, looking past me at the charming autumn view outside. The sun was setting; the wind gently blew the leaves of the tree into a whimsical dance. When his eyes met mine, they were heavy, solicitous. It made me suspicious—no scared.
I slid the journals under the covers out of sight, waiting for him to ponder his thoughts long enough unt
il he felt compelled to enter. Over the past two days, I wanted him to help me decipher some more confusing points I found in the journal regarding my birth. With the distressed look on his face and the worried haze over his eyes, now wasn’t a good time.
“What’s the matter?” I finally asked, realizing he needed a little nudge to get it out.
“I need your help,” he admitted finally, walking into the room. Josh always seemed to saunter as though walking were too trite for him. But now his gait was lumbered by fatigue.
Staring at his tightly woven hands, he took a long breath. “I need you to come with me to meet with a source,” he stated with a frown.
“Okay.”
He looked surprised that I agreed so quickly with so little information. “If there were any other way, I assure you I would not have come to you,” he stated in a soothing tone. I doubt it was to comfort me. He seemed like he was in need of a comforting word or two.
“Josh, I will do whatever is needed in order to end this.”
“It’s risky isn’t it?” I asked after a long silence. Of course, he wouldn’t be in this mood if it weren’t.
“Magic will be involved. Very strong magic.” For some unknown reason, my mind jumped to scenes of the Sorcerer Apprentice from Fantasia. I envisioned shooting stars and dancing brooms, but based on his sullen voice and the look on his face, it wouldn’t be anything of that sort. Still, the idea of dancing brooms and shooting stars brought a small smile to my face, and, these days, I took what I could get.
There was more to it; he looked uncomfortable, troubled. “You don’t like this source,” I acknowledged.
His lips curved slightly in a poor attempt at a smile. “I don’t like vampires,” he admitted.
We were going to see a vampire! I wasn’t sure how optimistic I was about that. If he were betraying his seethe to help us, could he be trusted. If he weren’t part of the seethe—how could he be of any help? It wasn’t as if they were advertising their intentions to anyone who happened to inquire.
Moon Tortured (Sky Brooks Series Book 1) Page 15
