Discern (Discern Saga, Book #1)

by Samantha Shakespeare

  “I don’t know,” Alec said, shaking his head.

  “I know we both agree that this plan has ulterior motives, but it’s best if we focus on keeping the ones we love safe,” Andrew suggested.

  “Do the others approve of the plan?” I asked cautiously.

  “Yes, they do. Alec and I are the only ones that believe there are other reasons for this plan, not just to rid the world of mortals. Something more sinister,” Andrew revealed.

  “I have to admit, until now, I was a little skeptical about Andrew’s stand on this plan, but after doing a little research and now meeting you, I have to agree with him,” Alec sighed.

  I had gathered from a few of Alec’s comments that Andrew was not well liked amongst his siblings. “Are the others not fond of you?”

  “No, not all. I’ve always had different ideas when it comes to how we use our powers. My temper was once easily controlled, but after your death, my thirst for bloodshed and destruction increased. I rarely listened or convened with the others on any decision, which created another rift amongst us. Abrielle was the only one that had compassion or empathy for me, but she was a part of your death, and that made her an enemy. I was basically alone in my feelings and thoughts, until Alec and I were teamed up here in America,” Andrew explained.

  “How does the plan work? How exactly will you destroy mankind?” I asked, a little apprehensive.

  “We work with the governments around the world giving them false information. Getting them to turn against one another, insuring mankind’s destruction. This would make our creator, Hadicieus, realize that mortals are incapable of being left unsupervised; essentially giving us the authority to rule once again,” Alec explained.

  “I told you I was evil,” Andrew sighed. He placed his head in his hands and flopped down on the bed.

  “Not this evil.” I began crying.

  “I tried to tell you,” he whispered. “Since the day I saw you again, I have dreaded this happening. I don’t want to do this, but I have no choice in the matter. None of us do.”

  “Is this true?” I asked Alec, who still stood leaning against the tall, dark dresser.

  “He speaks the truth. None of us have control over this. There are some of us that look forward to this day, but only because they’ve always believed our parents’ lies.”

  “Why do you not have any control?” I asked, shaking my head.

  “Our parents decide our fates and missions. If we do not oblige, then they would convince the creator to slaughter us,” Andrew scowled. “And if I died, that would leave you unprotected,” he said worried.

  “Won’t I die anyway?”

  “When?”

  “When the plan is enacted.”

  “You’ll be spared and taken to a place where nothing can harm you,” Andrew assured.

  “What about my dad?” I gasped.

  “He’ll be protected, too.” Andrew’s look was pained.

  “Why does this have to happen?” I asked, trying to stop crying.

  “It just does, Haley,” Andrew said. “If I could stop this, I would,” he whispered.

  “Does my existence not change how the plan might work? If souls really do reincarnate, then wouldn’t they just continue coming back?” I questioned.

  “If all souls reincarnated then yes, they would return, in which this plan would eventually backfire on us,” Alec agreed.

  “When does this all happen?” I asked.

  “Less than a year,” he sighed.

  “So soon?!” I shrieked.

  “We have no choice—the date has been set,” Alec replied sullenly.

  I closed my eyes trying to register everything. All I could see was my mother. She stood at my bedroom door with her small, but thick golden book ready to read me a bedtime story. It wasn’t the usual kid’s book about the moon and the stars or monkeys jumping on a bed. No, this was a story about mythical creatures tearing their families apart because of greed.

  I rarely paid much attention to the actual content of the book. I more enjoyed listening to her voice and how excited she would get about particular parts. To her, the stories were magical, but to me the book paled in comparison to the magic of her existence. Sadness spread as I realized other children would have their mother’s ripped from them, as I did.

  I wanted Andrew to feel my misery. Feel the pain that his kind would cause taking mothers away from their children. “I remember this little golden book that my mother read everyday. She’d been reading it since she was pregnant with me. She read that book many times. She was so interested in Greek Mythology and the twelve Olympians.” I spoke frantically.

  “Haley, I’m so sorry,” Andrew whispered, extending his hand toward me.

  “No, don’t touch me.” I reacted angrily. “She absolutely loved reading about that time in history. She always said that she rooted for the eight children, because if they would’ve known they had the power to change things, maybe the outcome for the world would have been different…” I stopped mid sentence. “The book was about you,” I murmured.

  “What book are you speaking of?” They both asked simultaneously.

  “It was some fictional journal of Zeus’s. I never paid much attention to it, because I believed it was imaginary at the time,” I explained.

  “A journal?” Andrew asked excited.

  “I do believe so.” I tried to remember back.

  “That’s impossible.” Alec straightened from his casual stance.

  “Do you still have the book?” Andrew asked eagerly.

  “Yes, it’s on my bookshelf,” I answered, remembering I had barely been able to squeeze it in between all my romance novels.

  They both looked at one another and nodded. Both pairs of sparkling green eyes stared down at me.

  “I guess we’re headed to my house,” I assumed.

  They both nodded.

  18

  The Journal

  “My father might be home,” I said, realizing he could be in harm’s way.

  “Scout it out,” Andrew ordered.

  “Oh, no!” I exclaimed, shaking my head vigorously.

  “He’s just going to go to your house to look around, and he’ll come right back,” Andrew explained.

  “What if he kills him?” I hissed.

  “I’m not going to kill your father,” Alec chuckled darkly.

  “Neither one of you are on my good side right now,” I vented. “And what if he sees you wandering around the house?”

  “I won’t be visible to the human eye,” Alec smirked.

  “Another ability?” I scoffed.

  “Yes.” Andrew spoke. “He’ll be back in two minutes.”

  “Fine,” I pouted.

  Alec quickly vanished.

  “Haley,” Andrew said softly.

  “What?”

  “I know you’re upset, but there are things that I cannot control.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” I choked.

  “If you knew of our plan, you would’ve never given me a chance.” His voice cracked.

  “What were you going to tell me when it was all happening?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t think that far in advance. All I cared about was gaining your approval and making you mine.”

  A large slam interrupted our conversation. Alec appeared.

  “So?” Andrew asked.

  “I don’t know if he’s home,” Alec glowered.

  “Why not?”

  “I can’t get into her house.”

  “What do you mean?” Andrew asked confounded.

  “It seems her curse, or excuse me blessing, doesn’t allow me to enter her residence either.” Alec leaned up against the wall, disappointed.

  “You stay here. Haley and I will grab the book and come right back.”

  “No, why don’t both of you stay here, and I’ll retrieve it.” I stood up, straightening out my shirt.

  “Too dangerous,” Andrew disagreed.

  “Fine,” I huffed. Fi
ghting him was pointless. By the time I drove all the way home, he would already be there.

  He gently pressed our bodies together. I felt no electrical sparks, as I was too upset to enjoy our touch this time. I closed my eyes. Our bodies lifted and dropped within a few seconds. We now stood in my room. This had been a place Andrew and I had never been in together. I looked at his face.

  “I guess I’m the only one your blessing allows to enter,” he grinned.

  “It’s your curse,” I said snidely.

  “Blessing,” he corrected.

  “Curse,” I disagreed.

  “Whatever,” he said, rolling his eyes.

  I almost giggled hearing a powerful creature say ‘whatever’ in such an immature way.

  “He isn’t home.”

  “How do you know?” he whispered.

  “The television is usually blaring when he’s here.”

  He flew over to the bookshelf on the opposite side of the room. He ran his fingers along each book. “Wow, you are fond of mortal/immortal love stories,” he grinned.

  “Oh yeah,” I blushed.

  “Vampires,” he muttered.

  “What about them?”

  “Weak.” He glanced back at me.

  “They’re real?”

  “Not anymore,” he grinned devilishly.

  “I don’t want to know anymore,” I said, shaking my head.

  “They were experimental, not meant to last as long as they did,” he said casually.

  “I don’t want to know,” I repeated.

  “I just don’t want you to think I’m keeping any secrets from you,” he sighed heavily.

  “I’m not sure why we’re getting this book.”

  “You’re not?”

  “No, just because it’s about you guys, doesn’t mean it’s real, does it?”

  “I’m not sure, but our father did write in journals and had two of them stolen by mortals that mysteriously gained entry into his palace. We were always told never to open them if found. But our parents lied so much, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were something make believe,” he exhaled deeply.

  “I never read the book, as I couldn’t read the language in which it was written. And I barely paid attention when my mother read it to me,” I sighed heavily, thinking about how excited and horrified my mother would have been to discover that they were real and living amongst us.

  I joined him and began running my finger along the books beside him.

  “You said it was gold?” he asked, looking through the books.

  “Found it!” I exclaimed. I pried the worn book from in between the others, nearly pulling out a few along with it.

  Andrew eagerly reached for the book. I placed it in his hand. Carefully sliding his hand across the front, he examined the cover. He inhaled deeply before opening it.

  His crystal irises swiftly scanned each page. He rapidly flipped through the pages. The book was thick, nearly four hundred pages long. His expression never wavered—very stern and focused.

  He slammed the book shut. “I should’ve known,” he growled.

  “What?”

  “Alec needs to see this.” He hastily pulled my body into his. “Close your eyes.”

  I obliged. I was surprised at how normal his way of traveling was beginning to feel. My feet hit the floor, and we were now in his kitchen. Alec sat impatiently tapping his finger on the dining room table. “You took long enough,” he fumed.

  Andrew slammed the book down in front of him. “Read it,” he demanded.

  Alec reached for the book. My eyes widened as fire blazed from the book. I screamed. Andrew immediately ripped it from Alec’s charred hand.

  “W-what happened?” I asked stunned.

  “It seems as if anything that you own or possess is protected by my blessing,” Andrew grinned widely. If he was attempting to hide his excitement, he was doing a poor job.

  Alec’s hand began rapidly healing as it had before. “So strange,” he murmured. “I guess you’ll have to hold the book,” he said frustrated, glowering at Andrew.

  Andrew agreed. He held it wide open. Alec began scanning through the pages with his eyes as Andrew turned them. Their swift ability to read was incredible. His expression was the same as Andrew’s had been—stern and focused.

  “What do we do now?” Alec asked angrily.

  “We must share this information with the others,” Andrew replied.

  “That’ll surely cause more issues,” Alec said, shaking his head.

  “We have no other choice.”

  “Give me a few days to come up with something,” Alec suggested.

  Andrew appeared irritated. “Come up with what exactly?”

  “A plan. We can’t just show up with this book. The others would fight us or tell our parents—except possibly Holden and Dagan.” Alec stood from the table and began pacing.

  “Did you not read it?” Andrew asked scathingly.

  “Yes, but what if it’s just a trick?” Alec rebutted.

  “A trick?” Andrew questioned.

  “Yes, a scheme—conjured up by our parents—to get us to disagree and fight amongst ourselves, weakening our abilities,” Alec explained.

  “What about Haley? Is she a trick? Or the fact that you can’t touch the book,” Andrew scoffed. “Was it not just an hour ago you were defending this exact same issue?” he questioned hastily.

  “I don’t know, Andrew. It does seem a little anomalous that she possesses the book and it has the same powers as her. I need a few days to research this. We can’t go disrupting things right before the war. They’ll be watching us very carefully in the next few months, this I can guarantee,” Alec warned.

  “That’s exactly why we must strike now,” Andrew demanded.

  “You’re so hot tempered and irrational,” Alec stopped pacing and glared at Andrew.

  “I have a lot riding on this new information. It could free us from their control.” Andrew glanced down at me.

  “I know. We will be free one day,” Alec said with resolve. “I must go and figure this out. Whatever you do, please do not show anyone else this book until we agree upon its authenticity.”

  “Okay,” Andrew agreed reluctantly.

  “Haley?” Alec said softly. “It was nice meeting you. I’d shake your hand, but I’ve endured enough pain for one night,” he grinned.

  “It was nice meeting you, too,” I smiled uncomfortably.

  Alec nodded and disappeared.

  Andrew closed his eyes for a second and then quickly came to my side. “Are you okay?”

  “Earlier while I was in your closet, I was worried about things like missing a class or never graduating college, but those are insignificant concerns compared to the fact that the world is scheduled to end.” I stood motionless as I spoke. “How could you do this?” I began sobbing.

  He embraced me. “It isn’t me,” he whispered. “I’ll stop it from happening, even if it means I no longer exist.”

  “How?”

  “The book,” he replied.

  “What did it say?” I asked, wiping the tears from my face.

  “That my whole existence is basically a lie.”

  “How so?” I asked, watching his eye color darken from green to black.

  “As I told you before, there were other immortals and half-immortals once living along side of us. We all coexisted with one another, and even though there were many battles amongst our kind, we never went against the order of things. It was simple. The creator was just that—the creator—the strongest of our kind, and the parents were our creators. Our parents never had any other immortal children, besides us. But the frivolous reproduction of some of our kind was beginning to anger the creator.”

  “The book says otherwise?”

  “Yes. It was our parents that wanted every immortal besides themselves destroyed, not the creator. He eventually agreed to it, and the slaughter began. With only the eight of us left, we were told that our lives were spared because we had
n’t disobeyed. The other immortals had broken rules, and we were to be on our best behavior or else this would be our fate, too.” His voice cracked as he closed his eyes, recalling that memory.

  “That’s why it’s so crucial for you to obey now?”

  “Yes, even with your disappointment in this revelation of our plan, I would still obey these orders so I could be with you,” he said softly, gazing into my eyes.

  “I see.”

  “I’ve had suspicions over the past thousand years or so that we’d been lied to, but the others, besides Alec recently, had always disagreed with me. They swore I was just blood thirsty and wanted revenge for Alexandria’s death. While it was true that I wished nothing more than my father to die for what he had done, I knew something wasn’t right. It always felt as if they despised us, but at the same time could do no harm to us.”

  “Why was that?”

  “It was just a feeling,” he shrugged.

  “Why were your lives spared?”

  “Because they couldn’t destroy us, not even the creator could. The book, of course, doesn’t explain the reasoning behind this phenomenon because it’s unknown. Apparently they’ve tried several other times as well.”

  “So this is good news?” I asked unsure.

  “If it’s true, and it seems to be authentic as the content inside would only be known by an immortal, then this would mean no harm could come to us.”

  “So the plan can be stopped?”

  “I’d like to believe that; however, the author of the book also states that they believe our creator didn’t really try to kill us, but spared our lives as a reminder that each choice we make has a consequence,” he sighed.

  “I understand.”

  “So, if we set out to kill our parents, then we’d just be destroyed by the creator in the end. In order to behold our true powers, the author also states that all eight of us would have to come together and be unified—and the possibility of that is slim.”

  I gently stroked the back of his hand. “I don’t need to know anymore if this is too upsetting.”

  “It’s disheartening, but the book gives hope that was once lost.”

  “If the book is real, then wouldn’t your father have searched for it?”