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 slight smile playing 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 with 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…or nightmares…or exotic fantasies, but not part of her everyday life.
Aunt Maureen nodded. “I’ve only seen him once, 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.” Aunt Maureen reached across the table and grabbed 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 gave her aunt a hug and kiss 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 shifters. Each group wants to see the other side dead. The only matter I’m concerned with now is why haven’t the shifters 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 shifters that are supposed to be coming for me?” Emily knew, or well, her aunt had told her, that Zach’s family was 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 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 shifters too?”
Aunt Maureen frantically shook her head no. “That’s where all the information gets distorted. See, everyone thinks shifters can have both boys and girls, but that’s where they are wrong. They only have boy offspring.”
“So, Zach and his brothers are shifters, and probably so are all their male friends. Then, what about the girls who hang around them?” Emily was perplexed 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 shifters 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 shifter 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 shifter 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 really 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 shifter 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 to 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.
Aunt Maureen continued, “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.
“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 like 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 tiny grumble when she saw the confused expression still on Emily’s face. This conversation was getting more challenging as it went on. “See.” She turned to face Emily and give 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 need the iron found in the blood. Without it, they die.”
“There are 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. Since her aunt used IVs to give it to her all the other times, the idea of drinking blood was even worse. A vitamin would be an easier solution instead of having to have human blood.
Aunt Maureen shook her head. “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 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 at the moment.
Meet the Author
Izzibella Beau is an aspiring writer currently residing on a farm in the U.S. She is married and has 34 children; 3 biological, one pot-belly pig, and 30 canines. She earned a bachelor and master degrees in criminal justice from Saint Leo University. She also has many graduate hours in the disciplines of teaching and public services.
Ms. Beau has several books available on Amazon and many works in progress. She loves interacting with readers and other creative artists. She can be found on various social media sites including, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Clubhouse.
Outside of writing, Ms. Beau enjoys reading, taking long walks, playing with all her children, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. She is an animal lover and will contribute a portion of her royalties to animal rescue and shelters nationwi
Revelations (Separate Worlds Book 1) Page 16