by H. D. Gordon
The old lady smiled then, long lost beauty flashing briefly across her face, and sat back in the recliner. “Hello, Alexa.” Her sharp gaze fell on the others and she nodded to them in greeting. Beside me Jackson shifted. The woman just smiled, and then turned her attention back to me.
I swallowed. “We were hoping you could help us. My mother left your number on a letter.” I had explained this over the phone but I didn’t know what else to say to fill the silence that seemed to be suffocating me and my companions.
When she just continued staring, I opened my mouth to try again but she beat me to the punch. Her eyes locked on me and I had to work to hold her gaze. “So much pain…
you carry so much pain.”
My tongue felt thick in my throat; it was obvious who she was talking to.
“Yet, you don’t show it,” she continued. “That’s the Warrior in you. You carry a fire inside of yourself, even though it burns you. You refuse to let it out in fear that it may destroy others.” Her eyes flicked to Nelly, then returned to me. “You fear it may destroy you in doing so because you can’t seem to control it. Still, you try. Why, Alexa? Do you know why?” I dropped my gaze and studied my hands, a million thoughts flying through my mind. Was this woman crazy? What was she even talking about? But, as I replayed her words in my head, it occurred to me that maybe she wasn’t really that far off.
I spoke before I really knew what I was going to say. “Because… if it were up to me, I’d never let her get burned. I’d keep it as close to me as I could.” She nodded in understanding, as if she had known what I would say even before I did. I wondered if she was some kind of witch. Honestly, at this point, I wouldn’t have been surprised if there was a unicorn tied up in the back yard.
“I’ve been called worse,” she said, as if replying to my thoughts. I must have looked shocked, and embarrassed, because she waved her hand in dismissal. “But, no, I’m not a witch. I’m just good at Searching people. Not unlike our Nelliana.” She gestured toward Nelly.
“Though I’m afraid her gifts surpass my own. I’m Olivia, and I believe you’ve already met my granddaughter, Akira.”
Akira’s head jerked up, she smiled and gave a shy wave. Again, my lips curved up and I waved back. Then, she hopped up off of the floor and ran over to me, pulling herself up into my lap. I was startled, but I repositioned myself so that she could sit on my knees.
I tilted my head so that I could see Olivia, she was smiling. “I believe you have some questions for me,” she said.
That was an understatement; I didn’t know where to start. I thought for a moment, and picked the question that had been bothering me since all of this began.
“What am I?” My voice came out in a whisper, so I was surprised when Olivia answered.
“You are of ancient blood. A perfect mixture of all the physical strengths of all the races. What we once knew as Warriors. That’s what you are, the last one who carries the physiology to be called a true Warrior.”
She looked like she thought this was an honor. I wasn’t so sure. “So… there’s no one else like me? I-I’m the last of a dying race?”
Olivia seemed to be choosing her words carefully. “Yes and no,” she said finally.
“There are no others that have your unique blood, but at the same time you have a little bit of all the races in you, just not enough of any one race to be categorized as one of them. But yes, you are the last known of your kind.”
Oh, wonderful, I really was a freak. I guess that explained a lot.
“Does that mean that I’m part Searcher” I gestured to Nelly, “and part wolf,” I glanced at Jackson, “and part… part whatever else there is? And if my race is supposed to be great warriors, why am I the only one left?” I was rambling, but really, could you blame me?
“Because there are those that see your kind as a threat,” Olivia replied. “There is a hierarchy in our world, and those that head this order have never taken kindly to competition.
You can see why they would see your kind as competition. Nonetheless, Warriors used to be an abundant race. Your people defended and protected all of us and most were grateful. However, some were not. When your numbers started increasing, a council of our leaders passed a decree that your kind should be put into slavery for fear the Warriors might betray them. Not surprisingly, your people refused to take this treatment from the people they had so long protected. They revolted… and then they were hunted into near extinction. Some survived, you are proof of that, but they retreated into hiding, living among the humans. Those who were not found by our kind were hunted by those that they had once hunted: the Lamia. Your mother among them, but Diana was there when they came and she managed to get you to safety, though she was unable to save her sister-in-law.”
Diana was my Mother’s name, so what Olivia was saying made no sense. Unless…
“She was my aunt? That’s impossible, she raised me. She was my Mother!” My voice was shaking. My cheeks heated and fists balled. And when my left eye twitched, I dragged a trembling hand across my damp forehead.
Nelly’s voice cut in, almost inaudible. “It’s true. She’s telling the truth.” I whipped my head to the left to face her. She had tears streaking her face and for the first time ever, I refused to feel sorry for her.
“You knew about this? You knew and you never told me?” I couldn’t keep the venom from my voice. I felt instant and utter betrayal.
“I couldn’t! We just wanted to keep you safe… to let you have a bit of normalcy before you had to face a world that would try to destroy you! You have to trust me, please, trust me, Alexa. We did what we thought was best.” She was pleading now, tears flowing freely down her cheeks, and normally, I would have forgiven her without any question. But this was not normal.
I scoffed, and my voice came out a pitch deeper than normal. “Trust you? How can you even ask me that? I’ve always trusted you and now I find out that you’ve been lying to me for my entire life! How can you expect me to trust you? How can you say that about our Mother? How can you even pretend that I had some sort of normalcy when I had to train every day of my life to be a killer? And now I find out that that’s what I’m made for- killing! How can you sit there and tell me that any of this is okay?”
I was seeing red. All red. Red hot lies. Red blood spilled as a result of those lies.
And, Nelly’s red face as she admitted to those lies. I slammed my eyes shut, trying desperately to envision the color blue. Seeing only red, darkening and darkening into a near black-Just then, something warm and soft touched my cheek. A beautiful, glorious rainbow exploded behind my lids. So exquisite and lacking in only one color. I almost raised a hand in attempt to capture it. But as the colors settled over me, so did my right mind. Peeling my eyes open, I looked down to see that Akira was resting her hand on my face. I had forgotten I was holding her. The possibilities of this fact horrified me so greatly that I was almost afraid to draw in air.
Where her hand was touching my face, I felt a seeping cold sensation; much like medication through an IV, and all red thoughts disappeared. Incredible calmness washed over me. Finally deciding I could move without risk of breaking her, I brought my hand up to cover hers with my own.
“Akira,” Olivia chastised, “Don’t-“
“She needs it, Gram,” Akira interrupted. “Let me take some of it away.” I was still staring in stupefied wonder at the strange girl in my lap, but I assumed Olivia agreed to whatever Akira was going to do because she didn’t remove her hand from my face.
Let it go, Alexa. It was Akira’s voice in my head and my mind felt too muddled to truly consider it. My eyes seemed involuntarily locked with hers . Let me take it. Let it go and let me take it.
I felt a cold, pulling sensation on my mind that seemed to reach all the way down to my core; like exhaling, exhaling all the way through to my soul.
I clasped her hand and removed it from my cheek. She gave me a look that said she didn’t approve, but didn’t fight me.
“No.” My voice was much stronger than I had expected.
She smiled that adorable smile and tugged my hair so that my ear was close to her lips. “Sometimes you have to allow others to hold onto that for you,” she whispered. “You’ll be no good to anyone if you refuse to let it out when it comes so close to breaking you.” Then, Akira hopped off my lap and walked stiff-backed over to where a small vase of flowers was resting on the window sill. She grabbed the vase and spun around in a circle, launching it at the wall. The vase shattered into pieces. Marching over to the remains, she stomped and stomped and stomped on the helpless plant until it was beyond revival or recognition. Then she returned to her toys.
I turned to look at Olivia, hoping she wouldn’t punish the little girl. As weird as it was, I felt like I understood why she’d thrown the vase. Hell, a few seconds ago, smashing a vase wouldn’t have seemed like a bad idea.
Olivia looked like she’d been expecting this, and really, she probably had. “Feeling better?” she asked.
I nodded. “Akira?” She jerked her head up, an angry expression on her face.
Then, she took a deep breath and relaxed her face.
“Yes?”
“What-what did you do? What are you?”
She giggled. “I’m a Searcher, and I took it away from you. There was too much for you… too much for even a Warrior to carry alone.”
I didn’t have to ask what it was. I knew. She’d taken away the effects that the events of the last couple of days had left me. She’d taken away the hurt and pain and anger I always worked so hard to keep hidden. She’d seen into my soul. I felt oddly vulnerable and…
grateful.
“Thank you.”
She winked at me and returned her attention to her toys. I was starting to fall in love with this child.
Beside me, Nelly and Jackson were completely silent. No doubt they were confused, and I felt no need to explain things. It was petty, but I felt smug about the fact that, for once, I wasn’t the one in the dark.
Olivia was waiting for me to continue, so I took a deep breath, deciding to ask the only question that really mattered. “Okay, so the Lamia found us. They’re probably still hunting us… What do we do now?”
“Now, you rest. You look like you haven’t slept for days and you will need your strength for what is to come. Tomorrow, you head for New Jersey,” said Olivia.
“What’s in New Jersey?”
It was Jackson who answered me; the first time he’d spoken since our arrival.
“Two Rivers… Two Rivers is in New Jersey.”
Chapter 15
Olivia gave me and Nelly the spare bedroom and provided Jackson with a pillow and blankets so that he could sleep on the couch. I got to take a shower and it was the best thing I had felt in days. Returning to the bedroom, I found Nelly waiting for me. I had kind of been hoping that she would have fallen asleep already; it was part of the reason I’d taken so long with my shower.
I pulled the towel off of my head, grabbed a hairbrush from my overnight bag and began running it through my hair, pretending not to notice Nelly staring at me.
“Can… can we talk?” She asked, after a few moments.
I blew out my breath and went to sit by her on the bed. “Yes, I mean, I’m still mad at you, but I think we should talk.”
“I’m sorry, Lex.” I raised an eyebrow at this. “Really, I am really, really sorry,” said Nelly.
Looking into her beautiful, hazel eyes, I could tell that she really meant it. I wasn’t sure if I could completely forgive her yet, but I could recognize the fact that she needed me right now. She had been right about one thing; we were all each other had left, and we needed to stick together. Honestly, I probably needed her just as much as she needed me. Besides, holding a grudge against people I love has never been something I was good at.
I pulled her into a hug and felt her relax against me. I should have known she wouldn’t go to sleep if she thought I was mad at her. “Just don’t lie to me again, okay? I guess I kind of understand why you did before but I have to know that you’ll be truthful with me from here on out,” I told her.
She sat back and looked me straight in the eyes. “I promise. I promise I will never lie to you again.”
I gave her a skeptical look and smiled when she looked alarmed. “Okay, I believe you. Now I have a few questions I need you to answer, and remember, you promised you’d be honest with me.” I had learned the big stuff from Olivia but after a couple more exchanges, she’d insisted that we needed our rest. I hadn’t argued because, truth be told, I felt like I could keel over at any second.
Nelly looked like she didn’t really want to agree, but I knew she would keep to her word. She gave a small nod and I took that as my go ahead.
“What are you, Nell?” I seemed to be asking that a lot lately.
She hesitated, then said, “I’m what’s called a Searcher. Similar to what Olivia and Akira are. I can see into people’s heads. I can touch them and know what they truly are; what they feel in their heart. That’s why we are called Searchers. I can search souls.” She paused before adding, “And I can make people do things. I can force my will upon them.” I gave a low whistle. “O-kay, well, that’s… good to know. What did you mean when you said ‘similar’ to Olivia and Akira? What’s different about you?” She looked away and I waited for an answer. When it didn’t come, I took her hand and gave it a small squeeze. “Look, Nelly look at me. I don’t care what you are. As far as I’m concerned, you’re my little sister and there is nothing, nothing that will ever change that.
Nothing you or anyone else can tell me will ever take away my love for you. Search me… or whatever, if you have to. You know I mean it.”
She drew a deep breath, and then her words seemed to tumble out of her mouth. “I don’t have to Search you, I know you’re telling the truth. Just don’t judge me, okay?” I nodded and she continued. “There are three different types of vampires and each race has its own set of abilities. The Searchers you already know about, then there are the Brocken vampires, they are the soldiers of our kind, strong and fast and excellent fighters. The last kind you also already know about: the Lamias. What makes the Lamias different from the others is that they are part demon; condemned souls that chose to stay here on Earth to do as much damage as they can until they meet their second and final death.” I picked my jaw up off of the floor and raised my eyebrows so she would continue.
This time, she closed her eyes when she spoke. “What makes me different is that I am half and half. Half Searcher… and half Lamia.”
I balked before I could stop myself. This had to be some kind of joke, but as I stared at her, waiting for the punch-line, I realized she was serious. “You’re serious?” I had to ask. “How is that even possible? How can you have half of a condemned soul?” She peeled her eyes open and looked at me like she was surprised I hadn’t grabbed my sword and cut her head off. “I’m not entirely sure,” she said, slowly. “The closest I can figure is that my real mother was a Searcher and she died and turned Lamia while she was pregnant with me.”
“How does someone ‘turn’ Lamia?”
She looked startled that this would be my next question, but answered me anyway. “Only women can turn and it usually occurs when a young woman dies an untimely death or her soul can’t find peace. It is said that the soul then chooses to stay, reanimating the corpse. At least, that’s what the texts say, no one is really sure.”
“How did they find us? I mean I doubt they just suddenly thought, ‘hey, I bet they’re staying in a little po-dunk town in Missouri’.”
She looked ashamed and I couldn’t really figure out why. “Because, Lamias are drawn to their own kind, they hunt in packs. And because even humans can become Lamia, their numbers grow much faster than that of any other supernatural race, and apparently, the blood of a supernatural is much more powerful, so naturally, we are their prey of choice. It was only a matter of time before they found us, and
now that they have, they won’t stop hunting us.”
I fell back on the bed and draped an arm over my head. “Oh, okay, so just imminent death from demon-possessed bloodsuckers, an ever-growing population of the bastards and some kind of beacon that you subconsciously put out to drawn them in. Anything else I should know?”
She shut off the light and plopped down beside me. “Oh, yeah, did I mention that Warrior blood is their favorite?”
I laughed out loud, though there was no humor in it. “No, I don’t believe you did.”
Chapter 16
I fell asleep almost immediately after that, my body’s need winning out over my mind’s urge to stay up. And much to my delight, I woke up feeling fresh and rested. I also awoke in a pretty good mood, considering the circumstances.
I took another quick shower because I was unsure as to when I would be able to again. Jackson, Nelly and I were loading our things back into the SUV as we were getting ready to leave. Olivia and Akira stepped out onto the porch and we thanked them for their help. As I was heading back to the car, Akira jumped off the porch and ran toward me. I scooped her up in my arms and gave her a hug.
“I’m going to miss you, Alexa,” she whispered.
“I’m going to miss you too,” I replied, because I really would.
She pulled back and looked at me with those big, brown eyes. “Remember what I said, okay?” I nodded. “Will you come back and visit us sometime?” She asked.
Looking at her adorable little face, I wasn’t sure if I could refuse this child anything. At the same time, I didn’t want to lie to her.
“I’ll try,” I told her truthfully.
She kissed my cheek and I thanked her again, then, we hit the road. It would take us about nine hours to get to New Jersey from Ohio and once again, I was anxious to get there before the sun set. The location Olivia had given us could only be found by using coordinates of longitude and latitude. Thank goodness for the GPS.
“Does anyone know what we’re walking into?” I asked, once we were on the highway.