Fiction/Paranormal
Revelations — Chapter Twenty-Six
When separate worlds collide
It had been one week since Zach had received the news that affected his entire life. The evening they’d spent with Emily’s aunt, who revealed who Emily’s father was, made him question everything that had been going on and why his wolf, who hadn’t spoken to him in a week, didn’t have hindsight into the circumstances before it got this far out of control.
Zach knew the pack had been searching for him, he could always pick up a slight scent of Jacob, Danny, and Adam, but they never seemed to come his way. Maybe they knew he was there but sensed he needed more time alone. He would have to go back soon, but he still had time since school was still on winter break.
He’d completely missed Emily’s birthday, he had everything planned for that occasion, but it got ruined by the news he’d received. Now that she’d turned eighteen, what kind of changes was she going through? Would he recognize her anymore? Would she still be the same? Did it really matter at this point?
“So, nothing to say for yourself yet,” Zach spoke out loud to his wolf, waiting for some sort of answer from his always-present other self. Once again, there were none. “At least you can hide away, I have to deal with this from a realistic point of view. Why did she have to be the one?” Zach walked farther up the steepest mountain in West Lakes, one that no human ever attempted, still trying to get far enough away from all the problems that were going on in West Lakes.
Emily hadn’t heard from Zach since he picked up and walked out of her house and life. Ever since her aunt decided to tell her who her father was and that he was supposed to be coming for her when she’d turned eighteen, Zach had completely disappeared; not even Jacob or Danny had heard anything from him.
She celebrated turning the big eighteen with Alex and Madison and wished that Zach would somehow show up and sweep her off her feet, but that never happened. The day came and went without so much as a happy birthday or even just a text message from him.
In a way, Emily could see his reasoning and why he wanted to be away from her, but how could he think that she was anything like her serial killer of a father? She still didn’t believe the whole supernatural tale her aunt Maureen had told her.
Emily was starting to question her aunt’s mentality right about now. Maybe she’d spent too much time alone and not enough time socializing with other people. It seemed all Aunt Maureen did for the past eighteen years was work, take care of Emily, and move around a whole heck of a lot. She couldn’t even tell Madison or Alex why Zach had left and the rationale behind it.
Jacob and Danny seemed to have some sort of idea that she was somehow involved with Zach just picking up and leaving, but neither said anything to her about it. Emily was prime suspect number one regarding Zach’s disappearance. She’d been the last one with him.
That day, when Emily’s aunt sat both her and Zach down for supposed sex talk that never came, would be forever burned into her mind.
“Emily, your father is Orfeo.”
As soon as those words were spoken that day, Emily’s past, present, and future changed. As soon as those words were said, Zach stood up and glanced from Emily to her aunt. His face was pale and Emily could tell he was trembling. He didn’t say a word to either of them, but walked out the front door, got into his car, and disappeared into the night.
“Who’s Orfeo?” Emily asked her aunt. “And what does he have to do with Zach?”
“Em, it’s a long story and I’m not sure you’re going to believe any of what I tell you, but everything I tell you here tonight is the truth.”
Emily shook her head and waited to hear what was so bad about this guy, who was supposedly her absent father of eighteen years, and what would make Zach walk away without any type of goodbye.
“Your father.” Her aunt stopped once again and took another deep breath. “He was the one who murdered Zach’s mother and his brother’s mate.”
Emily was stunned. No, mortified would be a better description of how she felt. The one who was supposed to be her father was the one who killed her boyfriend’s mother and Adam’s fiancée.
“How? Why?” Emily felt the tears that wanted to escape as she thought about the horror he had caused for Zach and his family.
“It’s not a pleasant thing to talk about.” Aunt Maureen wrung her hands together in frustration. “Orfeo and his family drained them of their blood and left their carcasses in the garden of their home for their mates to find them.”
Emily sucked in a deep breath with that horrific news. Zach had never talked about the murder, but to have your mother’s life taken like that and then left like a trophy was way beyond what she was seeking when she thought of daddy material.
“Em, I know this is going to be hard for you to comprehend, but keep an open mind and remember there are things in this world that most never believe as true.”
Emily nodded her head once again, barely registering what her aunt was saying.
“Your father, Orfeo, is the head of a family of vampires that stem from the ancient ones of Ambrogio.”
Emily stared at her aunt like she had just freakin’ lost her mind. “Vampires.” She repeated what her aunt had told her. Aunt Maureen shook her head yes that she was correct. “And let me guess, Zach and his family are werewolves and are in some big longtime interspecies paranormal feud.” Emily couldn’t believe her aunt wanted her to believe this bullshit.
“Em, it’s all true, honey. I’m sorry you had to find out this way, but that’s why Zach probably left without saying anything. And yes, his family comes from a strong line of shapeshifters, which they’d rather be known as. The last name Lovell means wolf.”
Emily stood up quickly and shook her head several times. “What you’re trying to tell me is that my boyfriend, who I’ve spent almost every day with and haven’t seen anything unusual about him, turns into a big hairy creature at night when the moon is full.”
Aunt Maureen rubbed her hands over her face. “I don’t think it’s exactly like that.” She glanced over at Emily, who was still standing by the bottom of the staircase like she was in fight or flight mode. “I know they turn into wolves, but I think it’s on a volunteer basis and not specifically on a full moon.” This wasn’t going as well as Aunt Maureen had wanted it to. Emily was looking at her like she thought she’d just about lost her mind.
“Great.” Emily started up the stairs toward her bedroom. This was the lamest excuse, reasoning, story, whatever anyone wanted to call it, that her aunt had ever come up with, and she’d come up with many of them before. “So, I’m going to drink blood and Zach will turn into a wolf. Looks like we’re going to be a great couple.” Emily continued up the stairs. “And, Aunt Maureen,” she yelled down when she got to the top. “I don’t believe any of it. If he killed Zach’s mom, then I can deal with that, but this whole vampire shit is just way over the top.” Emily walked into her room and slammed the door. Her only thoughts at that time were on Zach and what his feelings were at the moment.
That whole fifteen-minute life-altering event happened almost a week ago. Emily’s aunt Maureen tried to talk to her all week, but she wouldn’t answer the bedroom door when Aunt Maureen knocked. It was a lot of information to digest and now that Auntie was going a little insane made the whole situation more difficult.
Emily was seated at her desk, just staring at the blank screen on her laptop. She’d sought out different websites, trying to find out what her aunt could be suffering from mentally and she also satisfied her own curiosity concerning paranormal activity regarding vampires and shapeshifters, but no such site gave her any clear logical answer for either question.
A soft knock came on the bedroom door and Emily didn’t even have to answer it to know who it was. “Em, this was from your mother. She said to give it to you after your eighteenth birthday.” A white sealed envelope slid under the door and had the words ‘My Dearest Daughter, Emily’ written across the top.
The echo of footsteps going back down the stairs brought Emily back to the present. She was afraid to walk over and open up the letter, or whatever the envelope contained, as she knew it was from a parent she’d never met. Her mind willed her feet to move one footstep closer at a time as she walked from her desk to the door.
Although it was only about four feet away, it seemed like miles. Emily stood there in front of the door and stared at her name written in a fancy style of penmanship. After about thirty seconds of deliberation, she picked it up and unsealed it from the back.
My sweet baby girl. If you are reading this, then I know he hasn’t found you as of yet. I am speaking of your father, Orfeo Ambrogio, the one who I met, fell in love with, and thought that he loved me back.
I know as you read this you are probably questioning everything in your life right now. I know, baby, I did the same when I found out about who and what your father was. Please, just believe what your aunt tells you, she will never steer you wrong. Everything she is doing now or has done for you in the past was to keep you safe.
Your father will come for you once you turn eighteen, he will corrupt your mind until you join him in this centuries-old battle between those of the summer solstice and those of the winter. Fight him with all that you have, my dear daughter, don’t give into his lies as I did.
There will be others searching for you, they are not seeking allegiance with you but want only harm to come to you. I’m sorry for this troubled life and one that is not of a normal maturing young woman. You are strong, my dearest Emily, you will be able to do what is right.
Even though we will never meet, I will always be around you. I will be watching out for you from wherever it may be I end up. I love you now and forever.
Your mother, Cassandra Beauford.
Emily read the letter over two more times. This was the first time she’d ever seen anything from her mother except for pictures.
Why was this given to her just now?
Why did her aunt wait all these years to give this to her?
There was only one person who could answer these questions and the million more that were floating around Emily’s head. She picked up the letter from her mother off her desk and walked downstairs. It was time to finally listen to what her aunt had to say.
Aunt Maureen was standing by the window in the kitchen, just looking at the nothingness that was going on in the backyard. Emily cleared her throat and her aunt turned around at the sound. She glanced down at the letter in Emily’s hand, then looked back up at her with a curious expression on her face.
Emily waved the piece of paper she was holding. “So, I read it.” She rubbed her hand over her face and brushed back the hair from her eyes.
Her aunt nodded. “And?” It seemed she was questioning Emily about its contents instead of the other way around.
Emily shrugged. “I don’t know what to make of any of it. It’s either you both had serious mental issues or there’s more out there than I know about.”
Aunt Maureen had a small smile on her face. “Well, I’m sure my physician and employees can assure you that I don’t have any type of mental problems that would cause me to create such a story.” Then her face took a more solemn look. “So, I guess you can conclude that your other theory is the more correct one.”
“How? Why? I just don’t understand any of it. And this,” she waved the letter again, “doesn’t explain much of anything.”
“Your mother gave that to me a week before you were born.” Her aunt sat down at the kitchen table and Emily followed. “It was then she explained everything to me, and as you think right now, I thought she’d completely lost her mind and was completely bonkers.” Aunt Maureen reached across the table and squeezed Emily’s hand. “Em, it’s all true. There are things in this world that make us all question our sanity, but in the end what we are told to believe and what is the actual truth are two completely different things.”
“So, I’m supposed to be some type of vampire princess or something and have this desire to drink blood from other people?” Emily shook her head. There had to be some other logical reasoning behind all of this.
Aunt Maureen let out a short little chuckle but was stopped short by Emily’s look of disapproval. Maybe this wasn’t the most opportune time to laugh. “You’re not a vampire princess, maybe something close to it, but I don’t think they have those types of titles.” She was going to laugh again, but Emily’s death stare told her it still wasn’t a good time. “Your father, from what I’ve heard of him, is quite high in the rankings and has a lot of followers.”
“So, he’s like the head leader of some group of vampires.” Emily still couldn’t believe she was asking about vampires. This stuff was all supposed to be fairytales… nightmares…or exotic fantasies, but not part of her normal life.
Aunt Maureen nodded. “I’ve only seen him once and that was at the hospital right after you were born. He told me he would be back for you when you came into your powers at the age of eighteen. That’s why we spent so much time moving around.” She let out a deep sigh. “I was hoping he would never be able to find us.”
“He knows where I’m at?” Emily glanced out the window to make sure no one was hiding in the shadows.
“That I’m not sure of. I’m guessing he has an idea where you’re at, but not the specific location.” She reached across the table and grabbed a hold of both Emily’s hands. “I’m not letting him take you. He took my sister’s life and I’ll be damned if he’s going to take you away from me.”
Emily looked at her aunt and saw that she had tears in her eyes. She got up off her chair and went around the table. “I’m not going anywhere.” She leaned down and hugged her aunt and kissed her on the cheek. “I just need to know everything that you do, okay?” Aunt Maureen nodded, and Emily sat in the chair that was next to her. “The letter said someone was out to do me harm, who was my mom talking about?”
“From what I found out, this centuries-old feud is between the vampires and the shapeshifters, each group wants to see the other side dead. The only matter I have a concern with now is why haven’t the shapeshifters tried anything as of now?”
Emily saw that her aunt had a puzzled expression like she was in deep serious thought. “And who are the shapeshifters that are supposed to be coming for me?” Emily knew, or well, her aunt had told her, that Zach’s family was supposedly of that descent, but still had a hard time wrapping her mind around the whole notion.
“That’s what I don’t understand.” Aunt Maureen was becoming more confused by the whole subject the more she thought about it. “If Zachary and his family and friends all are from the same pack and Orfeo had killed their mates, then why haven’t they tried to harm you?” She looked at Emily questioning that maybe she would know the answer.
Emily didn’t know what to think regarding that bit of information. “So, what you’re trying to say is that Zach should or he does want to kill me.” Emily cocked her head to the side as she thought about what her aunt had told her. “And what you’re saying is that everyone, well, those who hang around Zach and his brother, are shapeshifters too?”
Aunt Maureen frantically shook her head no. “That’s where all the information gets distorted. See, everyone thinks that shapeshifters can have both boys and girls, but that’s where they are wrong, they only have boy offspring.”
“So, Zach and his brothers are shapeshifters, and probably so are all their male friends. Then, what about the girls who hang around them?” Emily was totally confused right now with all these facts or maybe just assumptions that her aunt was spilling out.
Aunt Maureen shrugged. “I don’t know what they are. But they have to have some type of mystic entity somewhere along their genetic line or the shapeshifters wouldn’t feel attracted to them as mates.”
“What are mates? Are they like husband and wife?” Emily’s thoughts went to Danny and Alex and how they always seemed connected.
“A mate is supposed to be one that a shapeshifter is automatically drawn to. They can’t be away from them for too long and always have to have some type of physical contact with them, like the ones who are holding hands and lovey-dovey with each other.” Aunt Maureen reached over toward Emily and rubbed her arm and hand, showing her what she meant by the comment. “They are lifelong partners and would be willing to die for one another, but the shapeshifter is very protective of his mate and would stand up to anyone that may harm their female.”
Emily remembered back to the day that Zach had come to her rescue with Jacob and his friends in the hallway, it was even before she and Zach had become an official couple. Zach had tossed Jacob up against the lockers and was aggressive with him for just that little bit of confrontation. His excuse was that they had an argument earlier that morning and it just carried over. Now, Emily wondered if there could be more to the story than that.
“Do you think Zach and I may be mates?” Emily was still having a hard time getting used to being considered someone’s mate. Being a couple, a partner, or a girlfriend she could handle, but being a mate just seemed so animalistic.
Aunt Maureen scratched her forehead. “You know, I’ve never heard of such a thing. It would be a rare thing for a shapeshifter and a vampire to become mated, especially in your case.” Emily raised her eyebrows to question the last comment her aunt made. “Not that I meant anything about you or that something is wrong with you, but in your case, they are supposed to be hunting you not falling in love with you.”
Emily cast her eyes down to the ground and let out a deep sigh. It was becoming harder each day to be without Zach. It seemed she had finally found true happiness, one guy who made her feel complete, and as quickly as it came he was gone. “I only have two more questions for now.” She glanced back up at her aunt, whose smile seemed to show compassion for the way Emily must be feeling right now. “How do you know all of this and why don’t I crave blood if I’m supposed to be some sort of vampire creature?”
“First off,” Aunt Maureen gripped hold of Emily’s hand, “you’re not a creature. You’re a beautiful young lady who just happens to have other abilities, which we don’t know what they are just yet.” Emily rolled her eyes and motioned for her aunt to continue. “I know all of this because of my business and clientele.” Emily tilted her head and furrowed her eyebrows as if trying to figure out what her aunt meant. “You know my business involves blood and helping those who need it, right?” Emily nodded her head yes. “Well, the people I service are different from what you would normally find in a hospital setting.”
“They’re vampires, aren’t they?” Emily didn’t wait for her aunt to finish her explanation.
Aunt Maureen bit down on her lip and looked everywhere except directly at Emily. After several long seconds, she finally gave her the answer she was searching for. “Yes.”
Emily threw her hands up in the air. “Oh my God, this just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Do I know anything about my life, has anything you’ve ever told me been the truth?”
“Well, technically you never asked about who my clients were, so I never misled you on that.” Emily just shook her head. “And as I’ve said and also what your mother knew to be true, everything we did was to keep you safe.”
“Okay, whatever. I’ve had enough for one day.” Emily pushed her chair back with her legs and stood up. “What about the blood?” She turned and asked her aunt one last question before leaving the kitchen.
Aunt Maureen rubbed the back of her neck. “The blood you’ve had to have since you were little for your anemia.” Emily nodded her head. “Well, that blood was from my facility.” She rubbed her face in frustration and let out a little grumble when she saw the confused expression still on Emily’s face. This conversation was getting harder as it went on. “See.” She turned to face Emily and gave her full attention. “Most believe that a vampire takes blood because they like the taste or like the kill. Well, some do, but that’s not always the case. All vampires have to have the iron that is found in blood, without it they die.”
“There’s vitamins, why can’t they just take those?” Emily wrinkled her nose in the thought of either having to take those big vitamin pills she’d seen at the pharmacy or the thought of drinking blood since her aunt used to use an IV to give it to her all the other times. But a vitamin would be an easier solution instead of having to have human blood.
Her aunt shook her head no. “Vampires can’t process vitamins like a human. They wouldn’t get the iron they need for survival.”
“So, they come to you so they don’t have to personally take from a human.” Her aunt nodded her head yes that she was correct. “I’m going to go upstairs for a while. But um…thanks for all the information.” Her aunt smiled, a real genuine smile like she was happy that Emily wasn’t still pissed off at her.
Emily walked back to her room with more questions than answers.
Are you looking for the beginning chapters? Click the link below for the early chapters of Revelations.
