“Cerberus? The three-headed dog that guards the underworld?” I asked playfully.
I just couldn’t hide my grin at her reference. She started blushing and I loved the fact she was trying to hide her smile.
“And your hades?” I asked. She was laughing now and punched me in the arm.
“Shut up!” She yelled at me.
“Aww look you’re blushing.” I said smiling at her. She was enjoying this banter, but Jake butted in.
“So where are we going?” He said putting his big head in between us. I thought if I just whacked my fist up I could probably knock him out.
“Well we don’t want to stray too far from New Orleans, so we’re driving down to Mississippi.” At least we’ll be far away from here.
“But what are we going to do there? We haven’t got anywhere to go.” Jake said
“Yeah well our dad left a credit card, so we’ll be okay.” I hadn’t told anyone about this yet.
“Wait? You’ve got a credit card? You never said.” Evelyn said looking a little pissed.
“Well the pack I brought from home had a lot of stuff in it including this card and the pin. He said I’d need it one day, and now we do. Well that we would need it.” I was starting to stutter a bit and she knew it.
“We? Was my name on this letter?” She asked.
“Yes” I replied.
She waited for more, but I didn’t want to say anything with Jake here. He already knew too much.
“So, what did it say?” I could feel her eyes boring into me.
“Can we talk about this later?” I asked her as I tilted my head towards Jake.
“Hey!” He shouted in my ear. “Why can’t I know?”
“Show me.” Evelyn demanded.
“The notes in my pocket.” I said gesturing to the jacket I was wearing. She put her hand in my pocket and pulled out the crumpled paper.
Chapter 21
Aiden
To my dearest Aiden
You and Evelyn are only three weeks old now. I hope you never have to read this letter, but if you do know that your mother and I love you both so much. I don’t know how much you will understand when you read this, but you need to know you have to protect Evelyn. She is very precious, and you are stronger when you’re together, which makes you easier to find. I have left you more than enough money on this bank card. Use it if you must. Don’t let them get her. She is the future. Your future and your children’s future. I love you so much. I hope I have left enough help behind to take you both forward
Dad
“Why didn’t you show me this before?” Evelyn asked.
“I only found it when I bought the car. It was in with all the paperwork. I haven’t even gone through them all yet. There hasn’t been time.”
“You should have shown me sooner!” She snapped.
“Sooner? Like when? When you were getting attacked? When you collapsed? When you woke up covered in blood? When you went into shock after the shower? Or how about when you were swimming with Rottweilers at 3am?” I snapped back at her and it was the wrong move.
“I can see now I’m just a hassle.” She sulked.
“No, I didn’t mean that. I just meant the note might have confused things.” I said.
“Confused what things?” She asked.
I looked in the mirror at Jake. He looked at me uncomfortably.
“It doesn’t matter I’m not even sure what I’m talking about. I’m sorry.”
“Fine.” She replied sharply.
I started yawning. The fatigue was starting to sink in.
“Here. Stop the car.” Jake said behind me.
“What? Why?” I looked at him in the rear-view mirror.
“Because you look exhausted. Let me drive to Mississippi. You can both catch some zzzz’s back here and I can get away from all this slobber.” He had a point. I needed some sleep.
I pulled over and got out. When I jumped into the back so did Evelyn. I looked at her confused.
“I’ll sleep better with you.” She replied then snuggled up in my arms.
I could feel Jakes eyes on me, but I hadn’t done anything. It was her. Unfortunately for Jake, Ber had taken a liking to him and jumped into the passenger seat. They just looked at each other for a moment.
“Really?” Jake asked the dog. I was about to say he doesn’t understand, but Ber licked his face in response. “Ew.” Jake said wiping the spit off his face. He started the car and we were on our way again.
Evelyn looked up at me.
“Why am I precious?” She asked me, but I couldn’t answer her honestly. I knew why she was precious to me, but I didn’t know why he wrote that down.
“I’m not sure but I think it might have to do with what you can do.” I said pointing to the dogs. She looked over at them.
“But what exactly did I do?” She asked me.
“I honestly don’t know but we we’ll figure it out. As dad said we’re stronger when were together.” I said squeezing her tightly.
“But we’re easier to find.” She whispered. I heard her, but I pretended I didn’t because being apart wasn’t an option anymore. I felt her go heavy against me and knew she was asleep. I laid my head back and was asleep in seconds.
When I woke it was already late. Evelyn was now laying on the other side still asleep, so I hopped into the passenger seat.
“Hey, sleeping beauty.” Jake said smiling at me.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“Just coming up to Memphis.”
“Ok we’ll stop there and find a hotel. I think we all need a good rest.” I said looking back at Evelyn.
“Is it me or does she sleep a lot?” Jake asked quietly.
I hadn’t told any of them what had happened back home with the agents. I didn’t want to relive it again, but I trusted him.
“When we got home from the hospital I didn’t turn any of the lights on. I just put Evelyn to bed and went back downstairs, but I could hear someone outside. I just had a gut feeling it was them, so I went upstairs to get what we needed. I dragged her out of bed and we went to the panic room.” This was hard to go over.
“Oh Yeah I remember now. I had completely forgot about it, did it all still work?” He asked.
“Yes, but it was a little slow booting up.” I replied.
“If it worked, then shouldn’t the police have come?”
“They did come but the agents shot them down.”
Jake looked at me in shock. “They killed the police?”
“Yep, two officers showed up they shot them dead. The issue then was that they knew we were in the house.”
“How did you get out?”
“Well there was no choice. They were calling in more men, but for some reasons there were wolves everywhere.”
Jake looked at me quizzically.
“Yeah don’t ask. Anyway, while they were outside I took Evelyn to the back door and told her to run while I spoke to them, but Evelyn being Evelyn got to the trees and stopped. The agents shot at me as I was going back inside the house, but she screamed. They knew she was there, so they forgot about me and went after her. She ran but they tricked her into thinking they killed me, so she went back. When I found her, her head was cracked open.” It hurt to think of her lying there dying.
“Oh fuck, what happened to the agents then?” He asked.
“I killed them.” I said flatly.
“Good.” Jake said. I was surprised by his reaction. “How did she heal so fast?”
“No clue. Her head was split open, so I took her to our fort in the wood. By the time we got there it was already closed.” I replied.
“Well she’s definitely special. She should be a doctor. She’d heal everybody.” Jake said half joking.
“You have no idea, but then she got attacked again in Michigan.” I said.
“It’s not your fault Aiden.” He said trying to comfort me.
“I keep saying I’ll always be next to her, but she seems to have a way
of getting away from me. I’m glad you’re here. I mean you’re no way faster than her, but she trusts you a lot.”
“Aiden I will love you both always. No matter what happens in the end I’ll always be there for you.”
Once we entered Memphis we stopped at the first hotel we could find. I got out of the car and went to the back and picked Evelyn up.
“I’m awake.” She said dreamily.
I laughed but didn’t put her down. She snuggled into me and went back to sleep. We walked into the hotel. When the desk clerk looked up she looked shocked, but I suppose, she was looking at two young guys with a young girl unconscious in their arms.
“Oh my! Should I call an ambulance?” She asked panicked.
“No, she’s not injured, just tired. Could we book a room?”
“One moment please.” She answered. I wasn’t surprised when she called a manager down.
“Hi, can I help you?” He asked us.
“Yes, we would like rooms for the night” I said. Wondering if he was actually going to look.
“I’m afraid we only have apartment rooms left and they come with four bedrooms, but we have called security. Obviously, this doesn’t look good.” He said.
Evelyn had started to realise she wasn’t in the car anymore. She almost flew out of my arms when she tried to roll over, but I managed to steady her.
“You ok?” I asked her.
“I’m fine.” She said looking at the receptionist and manager.
“The apartment room is fine and we’re happy to wait for security.” I said handing over the credit card to the woman behind the desk. Then the manager looked at Evelyn.
“Are you okay miss?” He asked her. I wasn’t concerned. It was good that they were making sure she was safe.
“Yes, I am. He’s my twin brother.” She said pointing at me. “And he’s my–”
She was pointing at Jake but wasn’t sure what to call him again.
“I’m her brother from another mother.” Jake gladly chimed in.
I could see Evelyn trying to hold back a laugh, he was so embarrassing. The manager was still looking at her, almost leering and I was getting pissed. I grabbed Evelyn’s hand and pulled her into me. She came over happily and wrapped her arms around me. She felt uncomfortable.
“Can you stop staring at my sister.” I said boldly. He stepped back a bit, apologised and walked away.
“I’m so sorry about him, he isn’t normally like that. I’ve cancelled security for you, it’s just procedure. Here’s your room key. You are on floor 65 apartment 2. Enjoy your stay. Check out is at 2.” She smiled and sat back down to her computer.
I looked at Jake like what the fuck is going on here, and he had the same look. As we walked to the elevator Evelyn was still clutching on to me.
“You okay there?” I said lifting my arm to see her face.
“I can still feel him watching me.” She whispered. I looked around but couldn’t see anyone.
“We’ll be in the room soon okay, I won’t let anything happen to you.” I said as I kissed her head.
Jake elbowed me, but I didn’t let go of her. Once in the elevator Evelyn seemed to relax a little.
“He’s still bloody watching me.” She said looking at the camera in the elevator.
“How can you tell?” Jake asked.
“Well when it happens I get stabbing all over my body like I’m being pricked by needles.” She seemed distracted when she said this.
Jake looked at me and mouthed. “what the fuck?”
I shrugged my shoulders at him, but I understood what she was saying. She knows if they start to lose control and her body warns her. I looked straight at the camera and just stared. I tucked her under my arm again.
“He’s stopped now.” She whispered, and I was glad otherwise I would find him.
Once we entered our room I think we were all a little surprised at how big it was. Who would need this much room? We had entered the living room and Evelyn ran over to the huge glass windows.
“Wow it’s so beautiful.” She said as she turned around biting on her thumb. She looked stunning.
“You can say that again.” Jake said but looking at her, so I elbowed him.
“Ow what’s that for?” He squealed.
“I know you weren’t talking about the view.” I said.
“Look I would never come onto her, but she is beautiful there’s no denying that. I know you can’t.” He said looking at me slyly.
I looked back to Evelyn. He was right there was no denying it. She was perfect.
“Aiden, bud. I’m going to sleep. I’ll see you guys in the morning.” He headed towards one of the bedrooms, but Evelyn ran over to him and flew into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her, so she didn’t fall.
“Thank you so much for everything.” She said to him.
“It’s my honour.” He said bowing to her.
She started laughing, but when he curtsied I almost fell on the floor. He turned and went in his room then and Evelyn came bouncing over to me. It was nice to see her so energetic and happy.
“Well you don’t look very tired.” I said to her.
“I’ve been asleep all day.” She replied.
I thought now might be a good time to show her the photo of mom and dad as we were alone.
“Want to see something interesting I found?” I asked her a little more excitedly than I should have. She eyed me curiously.
“Okay?” She said unsure.
I grabbed my bag then her hand and took her over to the couches where we sat down. I got the photo out and showed her. I could see her face light up.
She put her hand over her mouth. “Oh my god that’s mom and dad? They look like they’re at one of the photo shoot places.”
I turned the photo around and she looked confused. “1900?”
“Yeah apparently that was taken 117 years ago.” I said, but she laughed.
“No way it’s a joke obviously.” She looked at it again.
“I thought that at first, but seriously if you look at photos of mom, did it ever look like she aged?” As I said it I could see Evelyn thinking back.
Her eyebrows furrowed as she realised I was right. “So, what they are vampires or something?”
“I don’t know but whatever they are, we are as well. Look what you can do. There has to be something more going here than we know.” I said but she was starting to look pained. “You okay Evee?” I asked.
“Stop calling me that! Ugh this is all so fucked up! Why didn’t they just tell us instead of all this confusion? I feel like I can’t cope anymore.” She got up then and ran to one of the bedrooms. I tried to follow but she locked the door.
“I’ll be next door if you need me.” I said to a locked door with no response.
It felt like she was slipping away from me. She’d been through so much in a short time. I wondered how much more she could take before she goes mad. I opened my door and walked over to the window. I was glad from here I could see the car and the only way in. I could also see the mutts standing guard staring up at Evelyn’s room like they were listening making sure she was safe. I turned back and closed my door. I lay down on my bed and tried going through everything that was happening, but I was asleep within seconds.
I woke a couple of hours later and looked at the clock. It was only 2 am. I could feel lust rearing its ugly head again and I pictured Evelyn when she was moaning in her sleep. I could almost feel her body against mine and I wanted to lose control. I took a deep breath and sat up, but I saw something move in the darkness and when my eyes adjusted I could see Evelyn sitting on a chair by the desk. She was staring at me hugging her legs with her head cocked to the side resting on her knees.
She asked me quietly. “Tell me what happened to dad.”
Evelyn
I turned and locked the door behind me, and then I fell to the floor. My feelings for Aiden were growing and I didn’t want to pretend anymore. I wanted him to let go with me, to trust hi
mself with me. But I knew what he was doing was the right thing. He was always holding back. It was me that kept slipping up. I felt ashamed of myself. Disgusted that I started touching myself thinking of him. I felt so confused and alone. We were stronger together, but that could mean anything. I seemed to attract danger and I was putting that on everyone I loved. They were getting dragged down with me. Then seeing how mom and dad looked at each other in that picture. I knew I looked at Aiden that way. I needed to leave. I had decided on the way here when I woke up and heard Aiden telling Jake about the agent hitting me and the pain it was causing him. It would hurt him at first, but he’d get over it in time and maybe have a shot at a real life. Before I left I wanted to know something and I wanted to look at him one more time. I looked in my bag for something to wear and all I found were shorts and a strappy top. I knew I couldn’t wear outdoor clothes as I didn’t want to arouse suspicion. I put them on and repacked my bag with what I needed and left out jeans and a hoodie to put on quick before leaving. I unlocked my door and walked across to Aiden’s. I opened the door, but it was pitch black inside except for the light from behind me. My heart was pounding as I walked in and I saw him asleep on top of the bed. I went over to the desk and sat down on the chair, pulling my knees into my chest. Watching him was giving me butterflies in my stomach. I’ve never wanted anybody before, and now I wanted his hands all over my body. I wanted him to take me and kiss me all over. I couldn’t stop fantasising now. I just let it run wild. There was no point. He didn’t need to know.
As I was picturing it I could see him stirring. He mumbled my name and I felt a pulse of pleasure deep down. He was waking up and he looked straight at me.
“Tell me what happened to dad.” I asked.
He nodded and gestured for me to come sit on the bed with him. When I didn’t move he came over, picked me up and put me on the bed. He sat next to me and put his arm around me. I almost felt I was glowing with happiness. Nothing made me feel like this, until now.
“You want to know what happened to dad?” I could hear the lump in his throat as he said it. I started to cry a little “Hey Evelyn its ok. I’m sorry it’s just hard to talk about. Come here.”
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