by Aimee Ash
“We aren’t prepared enough, Kate; we should wait a few more days. We have to plan.”
“We’ll never be completely prepared. We’re only putting off the inevitable,” I reasoned, wanting the lies to be over.
After sailing for a while, I asked Jack to return to shore, telling him that I had an assignment to finish. I was getting good at finding excuses to avoid spending time with him.
As we strolled back to Jack’s house, the ring on my finger felt uncomfortable.
CHAPTER 29
When I awoke the next morning from the most awful nightmare, I was soaked in sweat. Everything had gone wrong with the adrenalization. Jack was dead. Seb was dead. I was dead. I jumped in the shower and tried to shake off the nightmare, but it had been too real.
Trying my best to remain positive, I headed over to Jack’s. Ethan let me in and told me that Jack and Seb were in the lab. I headed down the basement steps and upon opening the door to the lab, I saw Seb injecting himself. I ran over and snatched the needle away from him.
“What are you doing? Messing with this stuff is insane!” I said.
Seb stood up and I noticed purple liquid seeping out of several small holes along his arm. I watched in amazement as the holes healed quickly, leaving no marks behind.
“Calm down! He’s only injecting water into his arm, nothing else,” Jack said.
“Why?” I asked.
“I’m practicing before I inject you,” Seb said calmly.
Seb walked over to a table, picked up a needle, and flicked the end of it. Stretching out his arm, he injected himself again. Then Jack held out his arm and Seb injected him. I had to look away.
“Do you think we should tell Lindsey about this? I’m sure she’ll want to be involved. After all, this was her idea,” I said, folding my arms.
“We think it’s best that we don’t involve Mom. She’s under enough stress,” Jack said.
“Don’t you think she’ll hear the girl howling in the basement?”
“We have that covered. Mom is going to stay with her friend, Maggie, in Italy for a couple of weeks. She needs a break,” Jack said, draping his arms around my shoulders.
“We all need to go upstairs and pretend that everything’s normal until she’s gone. Ethan is still here and I suggest we don’t involve him either. We still don’t know if we can trust him,” Seb said.
We all nodded in agreement.
Usually, Lindsey would be in the kitchen tinkering with her fine china, laying the table with fresh muffins and pouring coffee, and humming to herself. But today, she sat in silence sipping green tea. I sat next to her and poured myself a cup, smiling at her, not knowing what to say. Fortunately, she broke the silence.
“Have the boys told you I’m going to Italy for a couple of weeks?”
“Yes, that sounds like a good idea. A vacation will do you good,” I said.
“I don’t want to go, but they’re practically forcing me to.”
“They just think you need a break,” I said, reaching for a cookie.
Lindsey’s jaw dropped. “Kate, please tell me that isn’t an engagement ring?”
“It only happened last night. We were going to tell you.”
“Kate, you’re not in your right mind. Jonathan told me about—”
“Mom, your taxi’s here!” Seb yelled. We heard a car horn and headed into the hallway.
Seb picked up Lindsey’s suitcase and carried it out to the taxi for her. Lindsey kissed her boys goodbye and slid into the back seat. We all waved her off and then headed back inside. Seb slammed the door behind us; he looked furious. I put my hand in my pocket, knowing why.
“Well, thanks for letting me know about the engagement; so considerate and stupid of you both.”
“It literally only happened a few hours ago, Seb. I had every intention of telling you, honestly,” Jack said, and smiled at me, which enraged Seb even more.
“This has gone too far.” Seb looked at me with disbelief.
“What do you mean?” Jack questioned.
“Nothing!” Seb said. I was relieved that he’d managed to restrain his frustration. We all needed to be as calm as possible for the adrenalization to be a success.
“Aren’t you going to congratulate us?” Jack asked Seb.
“Congratulations, I guess.”
“We should grab a snack before we head back down to the basement,” I suggested.
Seb walked into the kitchen and Jack and I followed.
I poured cups of coffee for all of us while Jack and Seb ate cookies in silence. I was about to suggest that we head back down to the basement when the kitchen door opened. Ethan walked through the door and he wasn’t alone; there was a man standing behind him, looking rather submissive.
Jack stood up and approached the stranger. “Who are you?”
“Ethan, who’s this?” Seb asked, also standing.
Ethan was quiet. The man walked farther into the kitchen and then stopped.
“I’m Marcus Anderson. Your father.”
I couldn’t believe the Marcus Anderson who had abandoned his sons was standing there before us so nonchalantly. There was no way that he was Jack and Seb’s father: he only looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties. It just didn’t make sense; nobody aged that well naturally. If he was Marcus Anderson, why did he look so young? I was sure that everyone must’ve been having the same doubts. Jack moved closer to Marcus and eyed him closely.
“Our father abandoned us when we were babies,” Jack seethed.
“Jack’s right and I’d like to point out that what you’re claiming is impossible. You can’t be our father; you’re far too young. Who is this, Ethan?” Seb asked with a confused expression on his face.
Ethan came forward and stood next to Marcus.
“He is our father. Give him a chance. He knows he has a lot of explaining to do.”
“I think you’re the one who needs to explain first, Ethan. You brought him here,” Seb said suspiciously.
“When I was visiting Jonathan at the hospital after you all had gone to the cafeteria, he asked me to get his cell phone out of the pocket of his pants, which I did. He told me not to tell anyone that he was making phone calls, and then he asked me to leave. He seemed panicked, so I left,” Ethan said anxiously.
“Why would he be worried about making calls after he’d just had a heart attack?” Jack questioned.
I held up my hand. “Let him explain.”
“I knew I’d be breaching his privacy, but I didn’t leave. He’d made me suspicious so I stood outside his door. I heard him dialing and listened to his conversation, hearing every word he said. He was speaking to Marcus and told him to get to the hospital as soon as possible.”
“What! You knew this and didn’t tell us?” Jack interrupted.
“Why wouldn’t you tell us something so important?” Seb asked.
I wished that they’d both just be quiet and listen.
“Why would I tell you? You didn’t trust me and how did I know that I could trust you?”
“So what happened next?” I asked, trying to defuse the tension in the room.
“You guys took Lindsey outside for some air, but I waited, hiding out by his room. With you all out of sight, Marcus came to see him. He was wearing a doctor’s coat as a disguise, but I recognized his voice when he spoke to a nurse. He entered Jonathan’s room and I listened to them. What they said confirmed that Marcus was our father. Knowing what he looked like, and with Jonathan having his number in his cell phone, I left and went to join you guys outside. I didn’t want to cause any more stress for Jonathan, so I didn’t confront him. And half an hour later, he died.”
“What did Dad tell him? Tell us what was said,” Seb demanded, talking as if Marcus wasn’t in the room.
“Jonathan told Marcus everything about you, Jack, and all about the curse. He told Marcus that he was planning to adrenalize Kate in order to break the curse. But if he died, then he wanted Marcus to adrenalize her,
to save his sons’ lives.”
Ethan took a deep breath and we all sat open-mouthed. I couldn’t believe that Marcus was here to adrenalize me.
“Are you seriously telling me that for years, my dad had my biological father on speed dial?” Seb asked.
“It seems so, but I honestly didn’t know anything about Marcus until that day at the hospital.” Ethan looked for approval from his older brothers.
“Unbelievable! I can’t believe our so-called dad would keep our biological father’s existence from us.” Jack’s fists were tight.
Marcus stood up and stepped forward. I couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say for himself after neglecting his sons for eighteen years.
“Listen! There’s a lot to explain. I know that!” Marcus proclaimed.
“First, you can explain why you look only ten years older than us. Justify that and then maybe we’ll listen to the rest,” Seb said suspiciously.
“I’m almost fifty, but I haven’t aged since I turned thirty. I don’t know why. I can only think that it’s another side effect of the adrenalization.”
“How can that be possible?” Seb asked.
“Sebastian, everything about us is impossible,” Marcus reminded him.
“Are you telling us that once we’re thirty, we won’t age?” Jack questioned.
“That’s what happened to me. I’ve no idea if the same thing will happen to you boys.”
Jack walked over to the cutlery drawer, took out a small paring knife, and handed it to Marcus. I knew we wouldn’t believe anything he said until we had solid proof that he was who he claimed to be.
Marcus willingly took the knife from him and cut the palm of his hand without hesitation. He lifted his hand up for us all to see; purple blood seeped from his skin. We now knew that however bizarre his story was, he was telling us the truth. He was Marcus Anderson: Jack and Sebastian’s biological father.
Jack and Seb looked at each other with wide eyes, but Ethan seemed excited. I guessed he was thrilled that he’d found his father, but I wasn’t sure that I could say the same about Jack and Seb.
“See! Now he’s proved it. He’s here to help you, so you’ve got to believe him!” Ethan said.
“I know this is a lot to take in. I understand that it’s hard to comprehend me being your father, but it’s true. Everything I’ve told you is the truth,” Marcus declared.
Jack walked over to me. I didn’t know what to say to him; I didn’t know what to say to anyone anymore.
“Kate, we need to talk.” Jack took my hand and was about to lead me out of the kitchen when Seb stopped him.
“Where are you going?” Seb asked. “Our father has finally turned up and you’re leaving?”
“Let’s get one thing straight, Sebastian. Marcus Anderson means nothing to me.” Jack grabbed my waist and practically carried me out of the room.
“Wait! Marcus can help us. This mess might finally be over,” Seb tried to reason.
I followed Jack outside, knowing that whatever he was about to say or do wasn’t going to be good.
“Jack, where are we going?” I asked wearily.
He walked so fast that I had to run to keep up with him. He was obviously furious about something.
“Kate, can you hold on for one more day? I need to get some answers from Marcus before we adrenalize you. I need to know that he has good intentions. After all, we just met him and I’m not convinced yet that he’s our father.”
I agreed to wait one more day, but with or without Marcus, I’d be adrenalized. We could do it ourselves.
“Let’s go back and talk to Marcus. We’re all in this together, and you can’t just walk away from it, Jack. It’s time to face reality.”
Jack calmed down and agreed to talk to Marcus. But when we got back, the kitchen was empty. Noise was coming from downstairs, so we hurried down the steps. Jack pushed open the door to the lab with such force that everyone turned and looked at him. Marcus walked over to us and Jack pulled me closer to him.
“Jack, you’d better sit down. Marcus has something important to tell you,” Seb said.
Jack refused and said, “Go ahead, Marcus. What’s so important?”
“There’s something that you and Kate must understand. Look at me; I haven’t physically aged since I was thirty. I have no idea if I ever will. You have to understand that we’ll never die.”
Jack laughed. “Are you seriously telling me that we’re immortal?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know? Just because you haven’t aged, it doesn’t mean that you won’t die,” Seb said.
“I know we’re immortal because I tried to kill myself after Alissa died. I slit my wrists, but the wounds healed. I ran in front of trucks coming down the road at high speeds, but they just pushed me into the air and I always landed safely. I swallowed a cocktail of pills, but that didn’t work either. I didn’t feel any physical pain, but the emotional pain was unbearable.”
Alarm bells began to ring in my head. If this were true, then how would I explain to my family why I hadn’t aged? I’d outlive everyone I knew and after a decade, everyone that I knew would be dead. Everyone looked stunned as the reality of immortality set in. I wasn’t adrenalized yet, and could still have my freedom.
“We’re already living this life, boys; we have no choice. But Kate, do you want to live forever?” Marcus looked at me, but I didn’t have an answer.
“This isn’t right, Jack. You have to tell her not to do it,” Seb said as he walked closer to me.
“She has her own mind. Of course she wants to do it. She loves me. This is her decision and I’ll stand by her.”
“Kate, this is serious. Do you want to live forever?” Seb asked me.
Again, I couldn’t answer. I just prayed that this new information wouldn’t push Seb to expose our secret. If Jack found out that I didn’t have any feelings for him, he’d die, and every lie I had told would have been for nothing.
With the reality of immortality sinking in, all eyes were on me. I knew if I decided not to go through with the adrenalization that Seb wouldn’t think any less of me. I wasn’t convinced that Jack was of the same mindset.
“Kate, think about this. Honestly, if I had the choice, I can’t be sure that I’d choose to live forever. It’s fine if you change your mind. We’ll find a way to deal with the curse,” Seb said.
He was so selfless. I smiled at him, floored by his concern; he loved me enough to sacrifice his life for mine, and stood before me offering his unconditional love.
“Nothing has changed in my mind. I still want to do it. I said I’d take all the risks and I will—every one of them, the known and the unknown,” I answered.
“This is crazy, Kate. You deserve to live a normal, happy life. Don’t do this to yourself,” Seb begged.
Jack glared over at him. “Seb, give it a rest. She’s made up her mind. We’ll be quite happy living together—forever.”
“You’ll be living together forever, but remember that Kate won’t be able to give you children. After what happened to Alissa, it’s too risky,” Marcus reminded us.
Jack walked over to the wooden box again, unaffected by what Marcus had declared.
“Jack, I think you need to take this a little more seriously. Did you hear what I just said?”
Jack looked over at Marcus. “You tell us that you’ve tried to kill yourself, but to no avail, yet you insist that our mother died giving birth to us. How does that make any sense?”
Jack began rifling through the wooden box. I couldn’t believe that he didn’t believe Marcus; you only had to look into his eyes to know that he was telling the truth.
“Jack, it’s natural for you to be in denial, but I can assure you it’s true. Your mother died in front of Jonathan. I was too weak to be beside her and I’ll never forgive myself for that.”
“Marcus, if you want to believe that, then go ahead. But I don’t believe it,” Jack said.
“What about my mother? She ga
ve birth to me and survived,” Ethan said.
“That’s because Shelly wasn’t adrenalized, Ethan,” Marcus answered.
Jack stood up, holding the small, tattered book, and turned to Marcus. “None of this makes any sense and, just to mention it, how could you be so incredibly selfish? You say you loved us. You had two sons who needed their father, two responsibilities, and you tried to kill yourself.”
“Alissa is dead, Jack, and I wasn’t fit to raise two boys alone. I gave you both to Lindsey and Jonathan for your own sakes; they could give you the life you both deserved.”
“You gave us to them out of guilt for cursing Lindsey.”
“I feel terrible for cursing Lindsey, but I wouldn’t have given you up if I could have raised you. I’m sorry for letting the three of you down.”
“It’ll take more than an apology for you to make up for eighteen years of abandonment,” Jack said.
“I know. And if you give me the chance, I’d love to start making amends.”
“You can make amends by helping us find our mother.” Jack turned his back on Marcus to retrieve the other tatty book from the wooden box.
“Jack, you have to stop this nonsense. There is no way your mother could possibly be alive. If there was any hope of that, I would search to the end of the earth to find her.”
“Please don’t tell me what I should and shouldn’t believe. I have every right to believe that my mother’s alive.”
Marcus’s eyes glazed over as he spoke. Seb noticed this too. He looked over at Jack, trying to warn him to back off. Either Jack hadn’t seen Seb’s warning glare, or he may have not cared. He stared back at Marcus, walking closer to him.
“She’s dead, Jack!” Marcus yelled, a purple tinge appearing in his eyes. “She’s dead and there’s no question about it!”
Jack stood with me firmly tucked behind him, telling Marcus to back off, when Seb walked over to us.
“No, I’m going to find my mother and prove that I’m right!” Jack yelled.
Marcus lunged at Jack. Seb tried to pull them apart but with such force between them, he was struggling to control the fight. I intervened, but Marcus knocked me down and I slid across the floor, hitting my head on the corner of the door. Wincing, I felt my head and noticed that I was bleeding. Seb tore off a piece of his T-shirt and placed it on my head. Jack and Marcus stopped fighting when they saw me lying on the floor. Jack rushed over and picked me up while scowling over at Marcus. I held onto him and endured the pain in my head as blood trickled down the side of my face. But it wasn’t over; Jack was going to get the last word.