by Mandi Casey
Brianna looked shocked, as if she was pulled out a trance.
She leaned close to me and said, “Sydney, why don’t you go ahead if you want to go home? You should get some rest anyway since you have to get up so early. I’m staying here with Michael, so you don’t need to wait up.” She grinned at me, trying to give me that conspiratorial look as if to tell me that she was fine, not to worry about her, and she fully intended on spending the night, the whole night, with Michael.
I didn’t have the time or the patience to be nice about it. A person could only tolerate so much stress in one day, and that included dealing with werewolves and having to be the big sister who knew what was best for Brianna without being able to tell her why that was.
“Brianna, it’s time to go. Are you going to come home with me or not?”
The hurt look on her face told me my tone was too sharp. She didn’t know what was going on, and it wasn’t her fault my life seemed to be falling apart at the seams. She couldn’t do anything about what was happening. She didn’t know about Michael and his family, or that there were vampires and werewolves in the world that were now my responsibility to worry about.
“No, Sydney, I’m staying here with Michael, okay?”
Well, no, it wasn’t okay, but my gut instinct told me Michael and Blake would make sure nothing happened to her. At least for right now. They needed me. When whatever they wanted from me got out in the open, my little sister would hear about as much as was safe to tell her. For the moment, all that was going to happen was me going home and going to bed.
Disappointment weighed heavy on my heart. Brianna clearly liked Michael a great deal, but we were sisters, and to me that meant everything. She wasn’t to be blamed for wanting to stick around and enjoy her new boyfriend in the really cool club, instead of hanging out with me. All I felt like doing was wallowing in the pitiful existence that was fast becoming my life. Now wasn’t the right time to tell her about me being the Selected.
“All right, I’m leaving. I’ll be at the store all day tomorrow, so come see me before you leave town.”
Brianna’s shoulders relaxed, expressing her relief that I wasn’t going to argue about her staying. She didn’t understand her dating Michael and staying at the club wasn’t okay with me. The truth, exactly what that was, eluded me. If there ever came a time when the truth came out about the werewolves, and if their intentions were less than honorable, they would have to deal with me not playing so nice.
I hugged my sister in front of Michael. While her back was to him we had an interchange of words without actually saying them, If you hurt her, you will be hunted down, no matter how many of your scruffy friends you send after me. After that, there was nothing to do but leave.
As I headed out of the club, I had the distinct feeling Blake was watching me, but I didn’t see hide nor hair of him. I knew I should have felt grateful that he stayed away, but a part of me felt at a loss. Why would I feel like that? Who would want a scruffy werewolf anyway? Sighing, I thought of the way Brianna and Michael had moved together, practically making love on the dance floor. My sister wanted to be with a werewolf, that’s who.
Back at home in the kitchen, Aunt Judith asked, “Where is Brianna?”
“Aunt Judith, she’s fine. She was at the club with Michael. She’ll be okay. I’m confused about what he wants with her, but it seems Michael might actually care for her a great deal. Can werewolves be normal, everyday members of society? Can they have normal relationships with humans without telling them their secret?”
“Yes, they can, and they have for a very long time. Morris, the pack leader, is married to a human. Even though Morris’ wife does not carry the werewolf trait, he still passes it on to his three children. From what I’ve heard from my mother, Morris is a very caring husband and family member, almost to a fault.”
“So do you think Brianna is safe with Michael? Can they actually have some kind of a normal relationship?”
“We’ll have to wait and see. But having such a secret will be very hard to keep, especially since most of his family is up here in Kenosha. If they continue to develop and deepen their relationship into something serious, he’ll have to tell her. He won’t be able to hide his strong emotional reactions from her when the full moon nears, for they are bound to be together when he becomes angry or intensely happy. With little control of his reflexes and emotions, he will be less human and more wolf. She’ll see his eyes, and she’ll question him about it, or she’ll want to be with him the night of the full moon. He’ll only be able to give her so many excuses before she becomes suspicious and starts figuring things out on her own.”
“So the myths about werewolves are true? Michael will turn into a werewolf every time there’s a full moon?”
“Yes. Werewolves are not able to control their change. Save for one, Morris.”
“Aunt Judith, he’s going to hurt her. One way or another, Brianna’s heart is going to be broken. She wouldn’t listen even if we asked her to stop seeing him. She’s already love-struck by him. You should have seen the way they were at the club. They couldn’t take their eyes off each other. There were some seriously hot men and women around, and neither one of them even noticed there was anyone else there but each other.”
My head pounded. Kenosha was supposed to be a calm and relaxing small town where everyone knew each other, but it was turning out to be anything but.
“I know what you mean, Sydney. While they were here for dinner, it was obvious they were infatuated with each other. Michael does seem to care for your sister, but don’t ever doubt his loyalties and responsibilities to his pack will always come before anything else. It doesn’t matter what is going on between Michael and Brianna. That includes whatever the pack has planned for you, and his involvement in it.
“Sydney, my mother had a lukewarm relationship with Morris. The werewolves handled introducing themselves to the Selected very poorly. Capturing her and not letting her go when she insisted didn’t leave a good impression. Maria Sky, your grandmother, preferred the friendships and affiliations the vampires gave her more than that of the wolves. Morris may be trying to rectify the past by approaching you in a slightly less aggressive manner. Don’t ever forget, both sides have their hidden agendas where you are concerned. You are not completely safe with either one of them. You and your family will never be safe if you choose one and spurn the other.”
“I don’t understand what they want with me. What is it they think the Selected is capable of doing for them, or why they think the Selected would want to?”
“Neither of them care what you want, Sydney. They only care about what they want and what they think they can accomplish by having you, the Selected, in their corner. You need to read the journal. Maybe there is something in there that will clear things up a bit for you.”
By hearing her say that, it finally dawned on me.
“Aunt Judith, have you read Grandma’s journal?”
She lifted her eyes to me and shook her head.
“I’ve read a few passages but not the whole thing. The words in that book are not to be read by me or anyone else who is not the Selected. That journal is meant for you to read and understand what my mother went through, what both the wolves and vampires put her through, and why she was closer to the vampires than the wolves. Before she died, she made me promise to make sure you moved to this city and begin to learn about your birthright. She made me promise to help guide you in taking part in your new life, your new responsibilities as the Selected. You have a lot to learn, a lot to decide. I’ll be here for you every step of the way when you need me.”
Aunt Judith said that my abilities needed to be triggered by having the saliva of a wolf in my system or by consuming blood from a vampire. Well, I could definitely check being bitten by a werewolf off my Selected list of to-do’s.
I took a deep breath. There was so much to learn. Grandma’s journal would be my focus tomorrow at work.
Chapter 5
The alarm clock screeched the local radio station’s version of a happy tune, painfully telling me it was time to get up. It didn’t matter what song was being played with the speakers placed so close to my head. It might be the best written, best sung song ever crafted, and it wouldn’t make me happy to have to get out of my warm, cozy, queen-sized bed with my favorite dark purple comforter. Mornings were never my happy time. A big cup of steaming hot coffee and a shower were the only things that made me feel human in the morning.
I groaned and slapped at the alarm clock until the off button terminated the offending song. I climbed out of bed and stretched my stiff body. Taking a big whiff of air, I smelled, nothing.
My heart sank. Aunt Judith hadn’t started her tea brewing. Either she’d left the house already or she was still sleeping. There was a lot we needed to talk about, but there wasn’t much time before the store had to be opened. Being in charge of the store gave me something to be proud of. Running the business was important. Letting my aunt down wasn’t an option. She entrusted it to me for safekeeping, and that meant a lot. My parents believed I was a disappointment to them, and that my life wasn’t going anywhere.
The morning went without a hitch. The shelves got cleaned, the stone charms were dusted, the large plants in front of each of the floor-length windows besides the front door were watered, the inventory was taken of, and what stocked needed to be filled was ordered to replenish the shelves. Only a few customers came in. None of them stayed long to browse. They seemed to already know what they were looking for and didn’t linger once they’d paid for their items.
I went behind the counter in the storeroom, heated my soup in the old microwave Aunt Judith had purchased at a garage sale a few years ago during one of my many visits, grabbed my spoon and bowl, and brought it to the register counter. Aunt Judith did make some delicious beef soup with vegetables that went along perfectly with the cold weather outside. After most of the chores were done for the day, I could finally get to the one that held both my fascination and dread. Read Grandma’s journal. I situated myself where I could see the door and began.
Morris told me he knew who and what the Selected was, and that he would hurt my family if he didn’t get what he wanted. Vampires and werewolves had an ongoing fight over the local area, and they weren’t going to give me a choice about becoming involved. Morris said because the Selected was able to sense the location of the vampire nests, he planned to use me to extinguish the vampires from the area while they rested during the day. Well, that was a terrible plan in my opinion, and no matter what the circumstances were, they wouldn’t get any help from me with murdering people. From what my grandmother told me, she befriended the wolves and only participated with the vampires’ formal rites when her attendance was required. My grandmother did the least possible for the vampires without causing trouble for her, or the wolves.
Being abducted by the wolves and told that they were going to do whatever it took to get me to do whatever they wanted, whenever they called, wasn’t exactly the way for Morris to set up a great relationship between us. At the time, the vampires had yet to introduce themselves, but that soon changed. Morris let me go home that night and told me the wolves would be in touch. It was pointless for me to try and run from them. He said there was nowhere to hide that he wouldn’t be able to find me. Those threats made me want to seek out the vampires and get their side of the story and how they felt about the Selected. My first priority was my family’s safety and my freedom. No one was going to make me a slave, and since the wolves felt entitled to terrorize me into submission, they had another thing coming. Regardless of my Selected abilities, they had a fight on their hands. No mangy wolf was going to tell me what to do. If they wanted me to be compliant, then there would have to be compromise on their end, too.
The vampires came to me the very next night at the store before it closed for the day. The second the vampire walked through the door, my body shivered and every nerve fiber went on alert. He went over to the only customer in the store. He spoke too quietly for me to hear what was said to the woman, but she put down the incantation guide she was looking at and headed right out of the store. Vampires are able to easily control human minds, giving them directives the humans think are their own. When she was out of the store, he came over to the counter and extended his arm to offer his hand in greeting.
He introduced himself as Ronan, the leader of the vampire’s second in command. Ronan looked sophisticated and debonair in his black suit and tie. For a dead guy, he oozed a dark sexuality that took my breath away. I hadn’t had such a deep-rooted attraction to a man since the time when my husband was alive.
We sat in the store until far past closing time and talked. He spoke about vampires, the werewolves, and me. He said Kieran, the leader of the Kenosha Vampire Coven, had sent him to introduce himself and to offer me their service. Coming to visit in a non-aggressive manner was quite different from the wolves’ approach.
Vampires need human blood to survive, and there is no alternative. They strictly monitored their numbers to ensure the demand didn’t exceed the supply. Rogue vampires were out there. They didn’t belong to the coven, and they didn’t follow the rules. Ronan said his coven asked the Selected to help find those rogue vampires who kill humans mercilessly, the rogues that did nothing to conceal their presence in the area from the local media. The rogues were given the chance to repent, to join the coven, and agree to change their ways to preserve and protect humanity. A small smirk was his only reply when I asked what they did to those who refused.
Morris wasn’t entirely right when he said the vampires’ only goal was to exterminate the wolves. The vampires did want my help, but they wanted it for more than just finding the wolf dens. The vampires, from what Ronan told me, only wanted to monitor the wolves and the rogues of their own kind. There was no real way to be sure who to believe. Who was telling me the truth? It was obvious they both thought they were in the right.
To my granddaughter, there are many things you need to know, and hopefully some day we will be able to sit together on a beautiful sunny day and talk about everything that has and will happen. But if that is not to be, you will have this journal to help you along your way. You will inherit many things from me, along with your ability to sense the presence of both the wolves and vampires. The vampires will not be able to control your mind like they can other humans. Your family members, however, are not immune to them.
The purpose of writing this journal for you is to help you make important decisions that will not only affect you, but all humans in the area. There are humans who are aware vampires exist. These humans are addicted to the high they get when they donate their blood to the vampires, and the addicts will do anything to make sure nothing and no one interferes with that. They would, and have, sacrificed their own children in order to stay in favor of the vampires. Some are aware of the Selected and will see you as a threat to them. The addicted humans will try to get you out of being in the vampires’ favor. They will never be able to understand the abilities of the Selected are far more essential to the vampires’ existence than their willingness to give their blood freely to them. Vampires will take the blood of humans, regardless if the participants are willing or not. However, it is more convenient to have the human’s cooperative and eager to be at their beck and call.
Ronan gave me a necklace and told me to wear it at all times. He said it was a symbol given by Kieran to signify and warn all those who would harm me, and now you. The necklace is in the safe in the storeroom in the back of the store. One day you will find your rightful place in being the caretaker of my precious store, and of being the Selected. You, my granddaughter, have great adventure and great peril waiting ahead of you. It is up to you how you will choose to live the life of the Selected. Just know this. No one is ever truly on your side. They have their own goals to achieve, and they will, whether you choose to help them willingly or not.
There are those you will learn to care about, and those y
ou will learn to stay away from. But neither side is completely safe for you. Some believe the Selected cause more problems than they’re worth, and they should be controlled and imprisoned.
The telephone numbers below are to both Morris, the pack leader of the werewolves, and Kieran, the coven leader of the vampires. Those two men are the decision makers for their people, and most of the time, their word is followed to the last letter. But there are those that choose not to always heed their leader’s directives, whether it’s because they have their own political aspirations, they don’t trust you, or they think you shouldn’t be able to walk freely around the city and be able to communicate with their enemies. Vampires and werewolves will be watching you closely to see if they think you are betraying their own kind.
Be careful who you talk to and what is said. Your actions can be used against you, and there are some who will create such situations that put you in danger and in doubt. From experience, I’ve learned there is no one you can truly trust. Family members can and will be used against you if someone so chooses. Watch your loved ones. Be aware if their behavior changes. That is a big clue someone may have tampered with their minds.
I closed the book, tucking it under the countertop where my bag was, and went into the storeroom. The drywall that hid the safe slid easily to the side, and the safe door sprung open after I punched in the combination. The safe stood about four feet tall. On the very top shelf was a black velvet box, the flat rectangular type you see in movies when a man gives a woman a necklace. With the box in my hands and the lid open, a note card attached to the inside caught my attention.
To my granddaughter, wear this necklace, and never ever take it off. You are loved. Be well in all your future endeavors.