“Yes, until tomorrow.” I hung up the phone, and walked back out into the garden. “Mom, would it be all right if I asked Isaiah to take me to the library over by Grandmother’s tomorrow?”
“Sure, I don’t see why not. Looking for another book to read already, Elizabeth?” she asked.
“Something like that,” I mumbled “Thanks Mom.”
Back in the kitchen I carefully dialed the phone, my fingers shaking. When Isaiah answered, I was relieved to hear his voice. “He called me just after we talked. He wants me to meet him at the Hyattsville Library tomorrow, at two. He asked if you would bring me.”
I heard Isaiah breath in sharply. “He wants me to bring you? So he knows about me, as well. That’s good that he wants me to come. I would never let you go by yourself.”
“Good! I’m very nervous about going. I told him I would come by myself, not that I wanted to,” I answered quickly, knowing that he would be upset that I even mentioned it to Jeremiah. “Mom already said it was okay.”
“Listen, Elizabeth, I’m on my way to your house now. We need to talk about this and decide what we want to ask this guy when we go tomorrow, okay? We can write questions down, and try to figure out why he called you.”
“Yes, that would be helpful. I’ll fill you in when you get here.” As I hung up the phone, I realized that part of me was looking forward to meeting Jeremiah, to find out more about the man who was living in Tucker Hill. Maybe he will have some answers for me.
I went back to my room to start organizing the notes I had made earlier as I waited for Isaiah to arrive.
When Isaiah arrived and we finally made it out to the back porch, I told him about Jeremiah being a descendent of the man who had built the house. “Maybe someone at the library told him we were doing research, and he thought he would be able to help with some of the questions that they don’t answer in the books.” I said to him, hoping he would agree with me.
“That could be. It just makes me nervous. Since the librarian doesn’t remember giving out your information, I still can’t figure out how he knew. It just bothers me a bit,” he said.
“Well, let’s not talk about it anymore. Can we just sit for a while, and chill?” I asked. When he looked at me I knew I had won the argument, for a little while anyway. I decided to tell him about Bess, and her fascination with the fae, to see what he thought about it.
“Bess loves to read everything she can about the fae. Have you seen many books about them? She believes that they really exist, you know.”
“She does?” He laughed. “I guess that doesn’t surprise me. She seems to want to believe in everything. Maybe we should invite her to go with us to the library to research that, too. Not this time, though,” he added quickly, when he saw my face.
“You aren’t making fun of her, are you?” I asked, anger overcoming me. “I won’t have someone belittle her feelings or beliefs.”
“No, of course not. I just love how the two of you are excited about anything to do with magic or supernatural things.”
I leaned back against the swing, feeling more than a bit annoyed about his attitude. It was almost like he was just humoring me.
Later, as I waved goodbye to Isaiah, I walked over to Stacy’s. I hadn’t heard from her the entire day. After knocking on the door, I heard her mother tell me to come in.
“Hello, Ms. Peggy. Is Stacy home?”
“No, she went to the movies with her sister earlier, Elizabeth. She was going to call you, but said she saw that Isaiah was there.” She smiled at me, with curiosity in her eyes.
I could tell she was going to start fishing for information on what had happened with Samuel and Stacy. “Oh, okay, tell her I came by then. I’ll see you later,” I called, as I hurried out of the house. I’m not getting caught up in that mess, I thought. I figured I would have to let Stacy know later that I hadn’t said anything to her mother.
6
Sleep came easy for me that night. I dreamed again about the house on the hill. This time, I didn’t have the fear that I’d had the first few times.
In my dream, I found myself walking down the long hallway on the second story of the house; back to what I knew was a bedroom. I went through the door, and there, sitting on the bed, was a young woman. She turned and looked at me, and my heart almost stopped. She looked so much like me that I felt like I couldn’t move.
I woke with a start, my hand reaching for the light by the bed. I flicked it on, and sat up, shaking.
Bess’s eyes flew open. “What’s wrong?” she said, jumping out of bed. “Are you okay? You look really upset.”
I made myself concentrate on slowing my breathing down. “I just had a bad dream again. I’m so sorry I woke you, Bess. I’m fine now,” I said, smiling at her.
“Are you sure? You’re shaking pretty bad.” She sat down on my bed, and took my hand in hers. “I’ll sit here with you for a few minutes.”
When I finally stopped shaking, I smiled at her. “I guess that dream shook me up a bit. You can go back to your bed now. Thank you for sitting with me. Goodnight, Bess.”
I switched off the light and closed my eyes, but sleep eluded me for the rest of the night.
When the first rays of dawn were coming through the window I got out of bed. I couldn’t wait for Isaiah to pick me up. I went to the kitchen and made breakfast for myself. I watched the clock, and when I knew it was about time for everyone to be getting up over at Stacy’s, I headed over to see if she was up yet.
I knocked softly on the door in case any of them were still sleeping. The door opened, and it was Stacy. She smiled when she saw me, opened the door and stepped outside. “Hey! I was going to call you this morning. Mom said you came over last night.”
“Yes, and just so you know, I didn’t say anything to her about you and Samuel, I could tell she wanted to ask.” I smiled back at her.
“Well, we are talking again. He was really sorry for not calling me. He said that he wanted to sort some things out. Elizabeth, I hope that we can work things out. I really, really like him a lot,” she said.
“I hope you can too, Stacy. Isaiah and I both agreed that we needed to stay out of it, and let you two handle things. Are you okay with that?”
“Yes. I knew that you would understand. I would never meddle in your business either. You know that, right?” she asked me.
“Of course I do!” I smiled at her, and gave her a big hug. “You’re my best friend.”
“You are mine, too! So, what are you up to today? Can we hang out?” she asked. I could hear the hope in her voice. “We really haven’t done much together lately.”
“We can, for a while. Isaiah is coming over this afternoon to take me to the library in Hyattsville.”
“Are you still doing that research stuff?” Stacy asked. I could tell by the way she said it that she thought I was being really foolish, wasting my summer.
“Yes, I am. Actually, we’ve had a bit of luck. We found someone who is one of the direct descendants of an original family of the early town.”
“Well, that’s cool, I guess. I just don’t understand why you are so hooked on this stupid house.”
I could see that she was already getting bored with the subject. I loved Stacy to death, but she didn’t like anything about history.
“So, tell me about the movie you went to see,” I said, easily changing the subject. I could think about all my stuff later. I would just listen as she rambled on about whatever silly thing her and her sister had gone to see.
I shook my head, and made the appropriate comments as needed. Stacy didn’t even notice that I wasn’t really paying attention. She went right on to the subject of the first day of school so quickly that she almost found me out.
“I know, I can’t believe that summer is almost over,” I added, just in the nick of time.
She looked over at me with a little annoyed wrinkle on her brow. “Did you hear anything I said?”
“Of course I did!” I said, trying to do m
y best imitation of looking hurt that she would even ask. “Oh, look, Isaiah is here!” Just in time. Whew, that saves my butt! I smiled at Stacy. “I’ll catch you later, okay?”
“Sure, tell Isaiah I said hello,” she called, as I headed out of her yard and back across the street.
Isaiah was getting out of the car when he saw me coming. He quickly took my hand. “Are you okay?” he asked, watching my eyes intently.
“I’m fine. How are you?” I looked down quickly, because he would know I was lying to him. I didn’t want to tell him about last night’s dream. I wasn’t sure I would ever share that with anyone—not even him. “I just have to get a couple of things out of the house, and I will be ready to go.”
“Okay, where is your mom? I want say hello to her before we head out.” Both his eyebrows were scrunched down. He looked so worried it made me sad.
“She is out back in her garden,” I called as I headed into the house and he headed to the backyard. I couldn’t wait to talk to Jeremiah. I wanted to meet this man who seemed to know so much about me. I had written some questions down last night to help keep my mind where it needed to be.
I walked out the back door, and waved at Mom. “I’ll see you later,” I called.
Isaiah was already on his way back from saying hello. He turned, and waved to Mom as we walked out to his car. “I told her where we were going, and when we would be back.” He held up his hand before I could say anything “I didn’t tell her we were meeting anyone, I just wanted to let someone know where we were going in case.”
I looked at him. “In case of what, Isaiah? Nothing is going to happen. I told you, I have a feeling that everything is going to go fine.”
“I don’t know, Elizabeth, I just feel better that someone knows where we’re going. You can’t be mad at me for that.”
I reached over, and took his hand. “I’m glad that Mom knows. She’ll keep tabs on the time, and get worried if we’re late. I guess it’s good you told her.” I slid into the car and settled back on the seat, and went over the questions that I wanted to ask Jeremiah when we got to the library.
As we pulled into the library parking lot, I found myself feeling very tense about going inside. “I’m so glad you are here with me. I’m really nervous about meeting with this guy. What do you think he wants to tell us?”
Taking my hand, Isaiah smiled, and said, “Let’s go find out.”
We walked into the library, ready to face whatever we found inside. Glancing around, I noticed a man watching us from one of the tables as soon as we walked in. He motioned to us with a flick of his hand. I found myself holding Isaiah’s hand tighter as we walked towards him.
Jeremiah looked much different than I thought he would. It’s strange, how you get a picture of someone in your mind when you hear his or her voice over the phone.
He was a tall, thin man with broad shoulders. His hair was very dark, and was longer than what most men I knew wore their hair. His eyes were a golden brown. His face was almost the most beautiful face I had ever seen, even more beautiful than Isaiah’s. He had only small smile lines around his mouth and looked much younger than I thought he would. I had pictured him as an older man, with gray hair. This one thought seemed to unsettle me. I looked at Isaiah, and squeezed his hand again.
“Hello, Elizabeth,” the man said, as he looked at me.
“Hello Jeremiah. This is Isaiah,” I said, forcing a smile. As he reached his hand out to shake Isaiah’s, I had to fight the urge to pull Isaiah away from him.
“Isaiah, how are you today?” he asked in that silky voice. His eyes looked directly into Isaiah’s as he spoke.
“I’m fine, sir. How are you?” Isaiah was sizing him up, watching him to make sure he wasn’t going to make any advances or sudden moves.
“Good, now that we have that out of the way, I would like to talk to Elizabeth alone if you don’t mind. You can head over to that other table while we talk.”
Isaiah looked at me, and raised his eyebrow. “Elizabeth, are you okay with that?” Anger flashed in his eyes because Jeremiah had dismissed him so quickly.
“I will be, as long as you stay right where you can see me, please,” I whispered to him.
As Isaiah walked away, Jeremiah motioned for me to sit down. “We have a lot to talk about, Elizabeth. Some of what I have to say is going to seem impossible to you. I would ask you to hear me out from start to finish before you judge what I am saying.”
“I will try,” I replied, as honestly as I could.
“It is time that you knew everything about yourself, as well as Tucker Hill.”
“What do I have to do with Tucker Hill?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder to make sure Isaiah was still within sight.
Jeremiah sighed. “We have a long story to get through, so let’s begin. First, I have to ask you a question, Elizabeth, and I only need you to say yes or no. I know you have felt like you belonged somewhere else, maybe in another time?”
I looked at him, shocked that he would know that about me. I couldn’t speak, so I nodded my head, yes.
“Well, let me tell you the story. You don’t belong in another time, Elizabeth. You belong in a different world, a world that I have been hiding from you in order to keep you safe. You see, I am your real father.” He held up his hand before I could say anything, and said, “Please, let me continue.”
I rose from my chair, panic sending a course of adrenaline racing through my body. I wanted nothing more than to run to Isaiah, and leave this place.
“Please, hear me out. Your mother, the one who is raising you, is not your true mother. Your mother was a lovely woman named Sara. We fell in love, but it was a forbidden love. We secretly got married, and she became pregnant with you.
“We couldn’t let anyone know. A child between a human and one like me is something that does not happen often, and usually ends with the mother’s death. I did everything to save her. She wanted you so badly, and she told me that no matter what the cost to her you had to be born. I vowed to her that I wouldn’t allow anyone to take you from her.
“When you were born, I knew that I had to protect you from my world. When she died, I took you and I went to a human hospital. There, I found the woman who has raised you. She had just given birth to a baby girl who’d died. The doctor hadn’t told her and the human man yet, so I placed you in the nursery, and made the doctors and nurses forget about the child who’d passed. I took that child and buried her. I have been watching you ever since.
“They have done a wonderful job raising you, to this point. I visit the grave of the little one that died. I grieve for her, since she has no one to do that.” He sighed. “You know how recently you have been drawn to doing research on magic, vampires and Tucker Hill? Well, you are being drawn to the house because you’ve been feeling the magic that is in you. The longing to know has awakened, so it was time for me to come to you and tell you about this.” He looked at me with eyes that were full of hope and sorrow.
I was standing there looking at this man, my heart pounding in my chest. I didn’t know if I should run or sit back down and listen to the rest of his story. “Why do you think you’re my father? Why do you keep saying human? Why would you give me away and not allow the doctors to tell them about their child?” My mind was racing, trying to understand what this man was saying.
Jeremiah sighed. “I say human, Elizabeth, because I am not.” He glanced up again at my face. I knew he could see the confusion in my eyes. “I’m what you have been researching: a vampire, a creature of magic, of the night. Your mother was human. We didn’t know what you were going to be, more human or more vampire. I wanted to protect you from the others of my kind, from prying eyes, and minds trying to pick you apart. So, I found humans to love and protect you while I waited until the time was right to come to you.”
“Do you really think that I believe any of this? How do I know that this is true? You expect me to believe that vampires exist, for real?” I asked him. I was feeling like
this was a dream; it was something that my mind was making up because of all the stuff I had read. “If vampires exist, you have to be bit by one to become one.”
He smiled. “Something that humans made up. Yes, some become vampires by being bit. Some are born from two vampires. It’s not true that we cannot have children with our own kind.
“Your kind is rare. Most stories made up by humans about children born of a vampire and a human are made up to protect women who have a child out of wedlock, or by a lover that they don’t want their husband to know about. That’s why your mother and I were so afraid. My family knew of no half-vampire, half-human children, only in stories told by the old ones.
“I loved your mother, and she loved me. Part of me died, that night when she died.” He laughed, a sad laugh that did not touch his eyes, a laugh that was filled with longing and sorrow. “But it consoled me to know that I had you. That one day I may be able to let you know about me, and the other part of your life. You have a large human family, and I don’t want to take that away from you, but you need to know about this part of your life, too.”
“So you’re saying that the dreams I’ve been having, and the desire to find out more about vampires is because I’m part of that world?” I looked at him as I said these words, and could see in his eyes he was hoping that he had convinced me in the short time we’d been talking. I didn’t know what I believed, but I knew that I would have to go to his home. “Would you take me to Tucker Hill so I can see the inside of the house? I have been dreaming about it, and walking the halls in my dreams. When I wake, it’s like I have actually been there before.”
“I live in the house, and have for many years. We left a long time ago when there were some murders, and the town started looking at our family. We tried to keep to ourselves. We’ve always been different than the others. It wasn’t us killing, Elizabeth, but we left so nothing bad would happen to anyone. When things settled down, I came back and made a life again. Tucker Hill is my home. That’s where I fell in love with your mother. When everything happened I wanted to place you here, close by. I knew that I could keep an eye on you.”
Magic and Shadows: A Collection of YA Fantasy and Paranormal Romances Page 180