I stood and took a deep breath before I pushed her bedroom door open and stepped into the dark red and purple themed interior. She was curled up on her burgundy bedspread with her back to me, still in her beige trench coat. Her face was hidden by waves of her brown hair. I sat beside her on the bed and waited for her to speak.
“What’s going on Xoe?” she asked without looking at me.
I paused before speaking. I had a feeling that it was a mistake to let her in on everything, but it would also make life a little less complicated. “There are some things you need to know, but I have one question first.”
My mom rolled onto her other side and looked up at me with her honey brown eyes puffy from crying. She waited for the question, not saying anything.
Here goes. “Why am I named after him? If dad left before I was born, why would you give me a name so similar to his?”
My mom looked down at her bed and started tracing her finger across the subtle embroidery on her comforter. For a moment I thought she wasn’t going to answer, then she finally replied, “I’ll tell you the truth, then you’ll tell me everything?”
I nodded, then realized my mom was so intent on her bedspread that she didn’t notice. “Yes.” I replied as I lowered myself to sit on the bed beside her.
My mom took in a deep breath and let it out. “Your dad didn’t leave until shortly after your first birthday.”
My jaw dropped, she’d always told me he left when he found out she was pregnant. “What?”
My mom finally met my eyes. “And it wasn’t his choice, exactly.”
I crossed my arms and waited for her to elaborate.
She grabbed my hand, forcing it back down by my side. “It was in the early spring,” she began. “I took you to the park, and your dad was going to meet us there. We were going to have a picnic. It was still pretty cold out, so we were the only ones there. I had you in your stroller and we were waiting near the parking lot for your dad to show up. There was a man and he . . . he ran up behind me and grabbed my purse.” She paused, eyes staring as if she was seeing the scene played before her eyes. “I should have just let him take it,” she said quickly. “But . . . I don’t know why, I held on. He pushed your stroller over to distract me.”
When she stopped speaking I squeezed her hand a little tighter and waited for her to go on.
After a shuddering breath, she continued, “Out of nowhere, your dad appeared. He hadn’t pulled up in his car, he was just there. He righted the stroller and made sure you were okay. You had started crying as soon as your stroller was pushed over. Yet you stopped the second your dad got there, even before he picked the stroller up. You had been connected to your dad like that since birth. You never cried around him.”
“What happened after dad got there?” I prompted, noticing her subtle attempt to end the story.
My mom was silent for a moment, her face completely blank. Finally she went on. “He went after the attacker. The man just stood gaping at your dad, probably wondering where he had come from. When the attacker realized your dad’s intent, he turned to run, but your dad knocked him down and was just suddenly on him. I just watched. I didn’t know what to do. Your dad wrapped his hands around the man’s throat. I smelled this horrible burning smell.”
Her voice had faded so that I could barely hear her. I had to lean my head right by her face to hear what she said next. “A few seconds later your dad stood and turned to face me. He told me not to look, but . . . the man’s neck was just gone, reduced to ash.”
“Ash?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she mumbled. “I know it sounds crazy, but that’s what I saw. I tried to tell myself that my mind was playing tricks on me, but I’ve never been able to wipe the memory away.”
“What happened next?” I asked.
“I grabbed you out of your stroller and ran. It was stupid of me, but I didn’t even put you in your car seat. I held you in my lap while I drove home, then I went inside and locked all of the doors, only to realize that your dad was already inside the house. He had somehow gotten there before me. I told him to get out, that I never wanted to see him again. He had killed a man. Your dad left, but he said he’d come back once I had calmed down. As soon as he was gone, I packed a few things, took you, and left.” She took another shuddering breath. “Today was the first time I’ve seen him since that day.”
“So you left him because he killed a guy?” I prompted.
She breathed in and seemed to mentally gather herself before she explained. “That was only part of it. I mean, I was of course horrified by that fact, but I also feared the consequences of your dad’s actions. What if there was an investigation? A dead man in a park with his throat burnt away would raise more than a few eyebrows. Plus, I had to wonder what else your dad had done that I didn’t know about. Maybe if it was just me I would have stayed to find out, but I felt I was protecting you. I had no idea what else he might be capable of, or if he was even . . . human.”
Okay, I just had to ask. “What did the police think...you know, when they found the body?”
My mom shrugged as a few more tears fell down her face. “I checked the papers for months. The body was never found. That fact alone helped me stay strong in my decision.”
I raised my eyebrows in question.
“Your dad must have gotten rid of the body,” she explained. “He could have covered up so many other things. I’m not sure I really ever knew him at all.”
I felt a little sick thinking of the Dan incident, and how I could actually relate to what my dad had done. I couldn’t really throw stones at someone for being involved in covering up a murder.
Not noticing my reverie, my mom wrapped up her explanation. “And that’s it, that’s why you never knew your father. As time passed, I stopped thinking about him as much. I focused all of my attention on you.”
It was a lot to take in, but it made sense. I finally knew why my dad had left us, or, I guess, why we left him. “Were you guys married?”
“No. We had planned on it. We had a date set and everything.”
“Oh,” I replied. So he hadn’t run scared when my mom dropped the news of her pregnancy on him. He had planned to stay.
My mom sat up and leaned her back against her headboard, then put her arm around my shoulders and drew me over to sit right beside her. She gave her body a shake and settled back in, as if casting away the residue of her past experience. I wished I could do that.
“Now,” my mom said, “your turn.”
“Okay,” I began, “not really sure where to start.”
“Start with why your dad was here. He is gone, isn’t he?”
I laughed. “Yeah, he’s gone, for now.”
My mom let out a nervous chuckle. “Good. Now explain.”
I turned toward my mom to give her direct eye contact, so she’d know I was serious. “Dad’s a demon.”
My mom squinted her eyes in confusion. “I’ll admit, the man has his faults, but calling him a demon is a little harsh. I’ve come to terms with the fact that what he did to that man, he did to protect us. Even if I can’t fully accept what he did, or even understand how he did it, I know why he did it.”
I sighed. “No. I mean he’s actually a demon, like a magical . . . being. You said it yourself that you questioned whether he was even human.”
My mom raised her eyebrows at me skeptically, but her eyes were uncertain. Her face slowly fell into worried lines. “The combusting appliances?”
I nodded my head and pointed a finger at my chest. “Half-demon.”
“I don’t understand,” she replied. “I mean I do,” she went on. “I of course always suspected something of your dad, ever since that day. But a demon? Like from Hell?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know the exact details of where demons come from, but think less like Heaven and Hell, and more like legends and monsters.”
My mom held a hand up to her eyes and shook her head. “This is ridiculous. Your dad is not a demon. He�
�s obviously filled your head with nonsense.”
“I am a demon mom,” I argued. “I’d light something on fire right now if I were actually able to control it.”
She suddenly looked angry. “Stop it, Xoe. No matter what he told you, you’re not a demon.”
“I am!” I shouted, feeding off her sudden anger.
There was a crashing sound behind me, followed by a woosh of flame. My mom screamed, and I hopped off to see the lamp that rested on her bedside table shattered, with its remnants somehow aflame. I grabbed a pillow off her bed and snuffed out the flame, then turned back to my mom as I tried to regain my breath.
She stared at me in awe.
“I told you so,” I said sullenly.
She started crying again. “I’m losing my mind,” she muttered.
I sat back down on the bed and hesitantly touched her shoulder.
She slumped beneath my touch, and seemed unable to meet my eyes. “I’m going to need some time to process this,” she said finally.
I almost left it at that, but I figured it would be better to get it all out now . . . better for me at least. I took one of her hands in mine. “There’s more.”
My mom whipped her head around to face me again. “More?” she asked hysterically.
Okay, just had to say it all, then get out. She could deal with the information how she wanted. She’d just have to get over it . . . ri-ght. “Lucy and Max are werewolves,” I said quickly. “And Jason’s a vampire. Okay bye.” I got up to rush for the door, then realized that my mom hadn’t let go of my hand.
She yanked me back to the bed. “What did you say?”
I smiled nervously and tried in vain to free my hand.
My mom turned frightened eyes to me. “Are they . . . dangerous?”
“No,” I answered quickly, feeling relief that she was readily believing me this time, then corrected myself, “well, not really. Not any more dangerous than I am.”
“N-now,” she stammered, “when you say, um, vampire, what do you mean?”
I shrugged wanting nothing more than to run out of the room. “Like, well, I actually mean vampire. Think Dracula with a few minor tweaks.”
My mom lifted her free hand to press against her eyes again. “I don’t see how that’s possible. I mean, you and your . . . father, well, that’s one thing, but a vampire? I’ve seen him in sunlight, and he doesn’t look dead. I’ve seen him eat food.”
I squirmed a bit at that. I didn’t like to think of Jason as a dead guy. Me squeamish? Never. “Well, he did kind of die,” I explained, “but it’s not like he’s actually dead, and he has no problem being in sunlight.”
My mom suddenly removed her hand from her eyes and turned to face me. “Please don’t tell me that he drinks your blood.”
I cringed, yet another thing I didn’t like to think about in regards to Jason. “Animal blood actually,” I corrected. I decided to leave out the part about him sometimes drinking blood from blood banks.
My mom was looking in my direction, but seemed to be staring past me. “Well that’s reassuring. Have you ever seen him drink it?”
I shook my head, confused. “I’d rather not.”
“Well then how do you know he’s a vampire?” she countered, meeting my eyes again.
Oh. I sighed. She was in the second stage of denial: grasping at straws. “He is,” I confirmed.
My mom’s face crumpled back into worried lines. “And . . . werewolves? How can little Lucy be a werewolf?”
“She got scratched,” I replied matter-of-factly.
“By what, er, um, who?” she asked skeptically.
“It’s not important,” I blurted. “He’s gone now.”
“Define ‘gone,’” my mom ordered.
“He’s gone,” I said with meaning.
My mom shook her head quickly. “Nevermind. I don’t want to know. Is that everything?”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Yeah, that’s all. So do you believe me?”
She was silent for several second before answering. “I believe that you believe what you’re telling me, and I believe that you just set my lamp on fire, but I can’t believe anything else. I just can’t.”
She loosened her grip on my hand and stared off into space. “I’m going to have more questions about all of this stuff you think you know, but that’s about all I can take for now,” she said numbly. “We’ll talk more later.”
I got up to leave, feeling defeated, but relieved that I’d at least tried to tell her. I paused at the door and turned to face my mom again. “I, um, still have some pain killers from when I broke my arm. I didn’t really use them, but they’re supposed to knock you out pretty good . . . ”
My mom raised an eyebrow, lending expression to her otherwise blank stare. “Why didn’t you take them?”
“Um,” I began, not really sure how to explain. “I kind of healed a little faster than I let on.”
My mom’s mouth formed into a little o of understanding.
“So, do you want them?” I asked again.
She kept her gaze straight ahead and answered, “Yes please.”
Chapter Six
As soon as my mom was dead to the world, I headed to my room, utterly exhausted. What a day.
I opened my bedroom door to find Jason patiently waiting on my bed. He’d probably come in through the window. I walked in, shutting the door behind me, then plopped down beside him on my dark green comforter. As soon as I sat, I let my back fall to the bed, swinging my arms over my head with an exaggerated sigh. Jason followed suit.
We stayed lying silently with our legs hanging off the bed, and that’s a lot of legs, with me at 5’8”, and Jason at 6’2”. Suddenly Jason spoke, “I saw Brian outside.”
“And?” I prompted. Brian was my next-door neighbor after all, there was nothing unusual about seeing him, and Jason knew I didn’t like to talk about him.
“He said you were with some guy that disappeared into thin air.”
“That was my dad,” I answered. “So Brian actually talked to you?”
“Yes,” he answered plainly, but didn’t go on.
“Well?” I urged. “What else did he say?”
Jason cleared his throat uncomfortably. “He said to keep that weird stuff behind closed doors.”
“Why that little . . . ” I began.
“What else has happened since I left you at Lucy’s?” Jason interrupted.
He was right to interrupt. I had to avoid getting mad . . . for now. Once I had control of my powers though, Brian had a thing or two comin’. I pushed Brian to the back of my mind and gathered my thoughts to explain things to Jason.
I took in a deep breath. This would be a long speech. “Well, Lela’s still in town, along with another werewolf, which has somehow resulted in me becoming the leader of a werewolf pack. My dad, as you know, showed up at my front door, shortly followed by my mom, who, of course, was a bit shocked. My dad says that we’re all in danger, because someone is abducting and killing supernatural beings. I finally had to fill my mom in on everything. Well, everything except the possibility of abduction. She’s got enough to worry about already.”
Jason turned his head toward me and raised his eyebrows. “You told her everything?”
I nodded my head while still lying down, making my hair go static-y from my bedspread. “Yep, all about my werewolf pack, vampire boyfriend, and demon dad.”
Jason cringed. “Does she hate me now?”
I shrugged, not able to care too much right at that moment. “She was kind of in shock I think, and I don’t think she believed me about most of it. I accidentally blew up her lamp, so she had to at least believe me about my powers. Only time will tell how she’s going to take everything.”
Jason nodded, then grabbed my hand and gave it a tight squeeze. “And she never knew what your dad was?”
“Well, she suspected something, and that reminds me of my other news. My mom always told me that my dad left before I was born. Turns out,
he stayed past my first birthday, and he didn’t choose to go. My mom and I left him. Of course, I still hate him. He could have at least tried to find us, rather than just accepting my mom’s decision.” I hesitated and glanced at Jason when I realized I was babbling.
I scooted over to lay my head on Jason’s chest and he wrapped his arm around me obligingly. “You have had quite a day,” he said softly.
I sighed. “Tell me about it.”
Jason chuckled softly and began stroking my hair. “Now, how on earth have you become the leader of a wolf pack?”
I got started on that confusing explanation, including a brief rant on the existence of Nick. We talked things over for several hours, then at some point I fell asleep. I woke up underneath my comforter with my head on one of my yellow pillows. I could feel the press of Jason’s body against my back.
“Morning,” he said, as he sensed that I was awake.
Jason doesn’t sleep. It’s a vampire thing. He stays over a lot (unbeknownst to my mom), and usually lies with me all night. I once asked him if he ever got bored and he admitted that I talk in my sleep a lot. I let the subject drop before he could tell me all of the likely embarrassing things I say.
I rolled over to face him. “I better check on my mom.”
He nodded. “I am going to stop by my apartment. Do you want me to come back afterward?”
“Well duh.” I answered.
Before I knew it, he had kissed my cheek and was out the window. I realized I was still dressed in my burgundy sweater and jeans, with my hair plastered to the side of my head. I decided to take a quick shower before I faced my mom again.
Once I had dried off and fixed my hair, I dressed in black jeans and a long-sleeved v-neck shirt that was so dark a shade of blue, it almost matched the jeans. My clothes represented my mood perfectly.
I walked out of my room and down the hall to my mom’s door. I knocked once.
No answer.
“Mom?” I called.
Still no answer.
I waited a moment more, then twisted the knob and walked in. My mom’s bed was made and she was nowhere to be seen. I left her room and went downstairs to check the rest of the house. Empty. Her car was gone from the driveway.
The Xoe Meyers Trilogy (Xoe Meyers Young Adult Fantasy/Horror Series) Page 20
