"They sound like vampires in many ways," I observed.
"Don't jump ahead of me," he said with a grin. "Larus and the Asrai talked at length about how to protect everyone from the Nagas. Some of the Asrai traveled deep into the woods in search of Atcen to help. The Atcen were rarely-seen creatures believed to be ogres that ate people at night while they slept. The Asrai were hoping the Atcen would be willing to eat the Nagas since they were half human. What happened next surprised everyone."
I was writing everything down as quickly as I could. I didn't want to miss a single detail.
"When the Asrai found a group of Atcen, many of them ended up falling in love. Beautiful faeries and ugly man-eating ogres," he said, shaking his head. "It still amazes me, and I've heard these stories since I was young. Although, it turned out that after the Atcen eat, they transform into handsome, intoxicating creatures. The Atcen and Asrai couples decided that before leaving the woods they would have offspring to help them fight the Nagas. Those children were the first vampires, the Fyrsturae. The name of the first one was Alrekur Vidarsson. You're his direct descendant."
"Did they have more children? Are you a descendant of his brother?"
"They did have another son, but I'm not of his line. The second vampire was born of another couple. His name was Halldor Falkursson. There were a total of nine vampires born of the two species. They were all Fyrsturae."
I nodded, taking it all in.
"The union between the faeries and ogres was an abomination to nature. A plague swept through their families and the Asrai and Atcen couples were killed. The vampire offspring survived the disease, although it did make them all very ill."
"Why didn't it kill the children?"
"Vampires can only be killed by stakes to the heart, sunlight, werewolf bites, and a few other things. Disease is not one of them. So the Fyrsturae survived and became even stronger. The fact that they survived that disease is thought to be why they, and we descendants, are stronger and can only be killed with the Populus Tremola wood stakes. That tree grew rampantly in the woods in which they were living in. Now, with so few trees in Iceland, the wood is very rare."
"There aren't any Fyrsturae alive anymore?"
He shook his head. "The last of them was killed hundreds of years ago."
"It sounds as though there are a lot more fascinating stories from that time."
"There are countless stories of feuding, warring, and loving. It'll take a long time to go through all of them. Believe me; we've barely scratched the surface of the surface. We could meet every afternoon until you graduate and not even get to most of it. We also have the prophecies, the rules of the royalty, and so much more to cover."
I sighed. "Will I ever learn all of it in time?"
He smiled. "In time for what? We're going to rule for centuries."
"That's true. It just feels so overwhelming right now."
He placed his hand on mine and I felt at ease, sensing that there would indeed be plenty of time to learn all that I needed to know. We smiled at each other, and Cliff asked, "Do you want to take a break?"
"No. I definitely want to hear more."
My mom came outside and said, "I made a snack. You two should come in, it's really getting cold. I don't know how you can sit out here and study. It even feels like it could snow."
"I guess we didn't notice," I said. "You know how I get into my studies."
"And I'll never understand it," she said, shivering.
"We'll be right in," Cliff told her. "Thanks for the snack."
As we sat with my parents and sister, sipping hot chocolate and eating popcorn, my mind kept wandering to the story of the first vampires. It was more than a wild story, it was my heritage.
"It's good to see that you're able to get back into the routine of your life," my dad said. "I was worried about that even though I know you're stronger than most."
"It really wasn't all that traumatic," I told him. "I got away and I'm doing great. I really want to put it all behind me."
"I don't see how I can ever put it behind me," my mom said. "Having a child missing is one of the worst things that anyone can go through. Once when you were little, I lost you two in the mall for about five minutes and I still remember every detail to this day. You being abducted for nearly a week was the worst experience of my life."
"It looks like it was more traumatic for us than it was for you," my dad said. "I'm glad that you're doing okay, and better yet, that you're here."
"I'm glad you're back too," Natalie said. "I know we fight sometimes, but you're my sister and I was really worried about you."
"I was worried about you guys too," I said. "I knew that I was okay and I didn't want you to worry, although I knew that you would. I wanted to let you know that I was okay, but I couldn't."
"We know; we don't blame you," my dad said.
"Maybe we should consider some family therapy," my mom said.
"What?" I exclaimed. "Are you serious? I'm back and everything is returning to normal. We don't need therapy. We just need time for everything to settle back down."
"I don't know if it ever will," she said.
"What will everyone think—is that what worries you?" I asked, knowing that appearances were everything to her.
She gave me a defeated look.
"Let's just give it a little time," I begged. "Once you realize that everything is back to normal, you'll feel better. I know you will."
"Maybe I should get going," Cliff said. "I don't want to intrude on your family time."
I begged him to stay with my eyes.
"What do you think of all of this, Cliff?" my dad asked.
"I was away at my family's cabin when all of this happened. As soon as I heard that Alexis was missing, I hurried to my aunt and uncle's house to see what I could do. I was very worried for her, though I know that it couldn't compare to the worry that you were experiencing. From the time that I've spent with her since she returned, she seems to be back to her normal self."
"Jack," my mom said. "Cliff has only known Alexis for a couple of months. You can't compare what he went through to our experience."
"I didn't ask him to compare, Janet. I only wanted his opinion. It's obvious that the two of them have a special connection. If there was a reason to worry about Alexis, he would know."
"You think I don't know my own daughter?"
"Of course I do, but you know how teenagers are. She could be hiding her emotions from us, but she's not going to hide them from Cliff."
I sighed. "There's no reason to get upset, Mom. Nobody's accusing you of anything and I'm fine. If you lash out at dad, you're just letting the bad guys win. The best thing we can all do is to move on with our lives and be happy. Then we win."
"She's a smart girl," my dad said.
"Of course I am. Can we just agree to move forward and let that be our way to stick it to them?"
"We can at least give it a try. But I'm not going to put therapy out of my mind yet."
***
That night, Amanda called me on my cell phone. "Can I please come over and spend the night again? I know I was just over last night, but I can't be around my parents' fighting another minute!"
"Come right over. Do you need dinner?"
"No, I just need to get out of here."
She must have been on her way over already, because she rang the doorbell before I even made it down the stairs. My parents gave me a questioning look as I ran for the door.
"Amanda's parents keep fighting. I told her that she could stay here tonight, I hope that's okay."
My mom sighed.
"The more the merrier," my dad said.
When I opened the door, Amanda was standing there with tears running down her face. I gave her a hug and pulled her into the house. "Sure you're not hungry?"
She shook her head. "No, I'm not hungry."
I grabbed her arm and took her up the stairs to my room. "Do you want to talk about it?"
She threw hers
elf on my bed. "Everything is falling apart! This is the worst year of my life. Emma ditched us, you got kidnapped, and my parents are going to get a divorce. I can't take it!"
I sat down next to her and put my hand on hers. I didn't think I had the calming gift that Cliff did, but I hoped it would help anyway.
She pulled her hand away. "Your hand is like ice! And I'm the one who was just outside."
"Did you have the heat blasting in your car like always? There's a reason that everyone calls your car the sauna."
She glared at me. "Now isn't the time to make fun of me."
"I wasn't trying to make fun of you, sorry."
She started crying again. "I just can't take all of this bad stuff happening. It's too much!"
"Even though Emma joined the dark side, you still have me. Brooke is your friend and Clara can be your friend too."
"I don't see why any of you would want to hang out with me. The three of you are so gorgeous and I'm so…not."
"Amanda, you're beautiful! Besides, we've been friends for years. You've always stuck by me. You put up with my putting my grades first all of those times. Why wouldn't I stick by you?"
She sighed. "I don't know what to do. My parents decided they're definitely getting a divorce. You'd think that would be enough to get them to stop fighting, but now they're at it even more. Who gets the house, the condo in Hawaii, the dog, me. They just won't stop. I begged them to stop, but they don't care enough about me to. I don't even know if they noticed that I left to come here. I guess they'll call if they're concerned."
"They care about you. I know they do. They can't see past their own pain right now."
"They're parents; they're supposed to put their kid before their anger."
"If they could do that, they probably wouldn't be getting divorced."
"I don't want to go back home, ever. I can't deal with all of the fighting. It keeps getting worse and worse."
"Do you think that it'll get better when they aren't living together?"
"No, it won't. They're already using me to try to get to the other one. That won't get any better; in fact, I'm sure that it'll only get worse. My cousin's parents got divorced years ago and they put her in the middle all of the time still. That's what it will be like for me. I just want out of the whole situation."
"What…do you mean?" I hoped she didn't mean what it sounded like she meant. I tried to read her thoughts, but it was as if she was blocking me.
"I need to find a way out. I can't live like this anymore."
"Maybe you could be a foreign exchange student like Clara. You could get to experience a whole new country."
"You seriously think my parents would allow that? They wouldn't be able to use me to their own advantage anymore."
"Then you have to stand up to them. Don't let them treat you like that."
"What? I can't make them stop."
"You can refuse to be in the middle. Tell them to stop, say that you love them both and that you won't take sides. They're not being fair to you."
"I don't think that they'll listen."
"Seriously? They have no other choice. They need to realize that they need to stop being selfish and start acting like parents. Unfortunately, the only way it will happen is if you refuse to be used."
"I can't lose them too."
"They can't lose you, Amanda! If they keep pushing you like this, eventually one day they will. You'll be old enough to make your own decisions and walk away from all their drama. If you stand up to them now, you can probably save your relationship with both of them."
She shook her head. "What you're saying makes sense when you say it, but you haven't seen them lately. Not like this. They're not going to stop treating me this way." There's no way out for me.
Why did people always have to think the biggest stuff instead of saying it? I needed to find out what she meant by that.
"This is more than you should have to deal with and I don't like what I see. You're not yourself at all."
"There's nothing I can do about it. They're getting a divorce, and they don't care how it affects me. They just keep yelling at each other and using me to send messages to each other when they're not yelling. I might have to move, I might not. My whole life might be ripped out from under me and I have absolutely no say."
"Yes you do! Refuse to get involved in their immature, selfish games. You came over here instead of sticking around there tonight. You're stronger than you think."
"I feel weak and I can't take much more of this. I don't want to."
"Then you need a plan. Like how I always had my plan to go to a college far away."
"Had? You don't anymore?"
I wanted to smack myself. I couldn't tell her that my plans had changed because I was going to be ruling the vampire world. "Well, you know with everything that's gone on the last few months, I've been rethinking a lot of things."
"At least you have options."
"You have options too! Just because you're not freakishly smart like me doesn't mean you don't have talent. You're very smart, very pretty and you can do anything that you put your mind to."
She shook her head and a single tear ran down her face. I just want to end it all.
I stared at her to see if she was serious. She couldn't truly thinking about ending her life, could she?
"Amanda, by this time next year, we'll be seniors. The world will be ours for the taking. You can get into a college far away from here and get a degree in anything that you want. Never step foot back in this town again."
"No, Alexis. That's you, not me."
"Yes, it's you too! You can do and be anything that you want. Let's do something to get your mind off of everything. Maybe talking isn't the best thing right now. What sounds like fun?"
"Nothing."
"You're not going to make this easy on me. Wait right here."
I got up and went to Natalie's room. If there was anything fun going on in Delphic Cove, she would know about it. Her room was dark; she was already wherever the action was. I went to Clara's room. She was sitting on her bed reading her Kindle.
She looked up and smiled. "I'm such a sucker for these romance novels. It's fun to imagine—for those of us who don't have two guys fighting for us."
I rolled my eyes. "Is there anything going on in town tonight? Amanda came over and she's a mess. I need to distract her. Now."
"I did overhear Natalie whispering to herself about a party in the woods near the junior high."
"It's not a junior high party is it?"
She laughed. "No, it's a high school party. Let's go."
I went back to my room and told Amanda that we were going out to get our minds off of everything.
"I don't want to be around people," she said with folded arms.
"Then don't talk to anyone. Enjoy the fresh air."
"I don't have anything to wear. I can't go out looking like this."
"Pick out anything from my closet. I'm not taking no for an answer!"
SIX
Clara, Amanda and I walked into the woods like we owned the place. We definitely looked the part and I thought Amanda was feeling better, although I couldn't get into her thoughts once we had left the house.
The woods were buzzing with life. Kids from school and other people I didn't recognize were crowding the paths as far as the eye could see. Music was coming from several directions, and the smell of alcohol was unmistakable, even over the bonfires and other types of smoke filling the air.
I saw Natalie with Braydon and his friends. They were smoking on a little bridge. I had thought that they were going to stop seeing each other—what were they doing together publicly? Did he change his mind and decide to stop the whole secret girlfriend thing?
It didn't take long for people to notice that we had joined the party. We were quickly pulled into a group and had several people talking to us, offering us snacks and drinks. I was nervous as I held a bottle in my hand. I'd never been to a party like this before. I looked at
Amanda and I could tell that she felt the same way. We were both life-long rule followers.
Clara pulled us aside and whispered, "Come on you two, just drink. Relax and have fun. That's why we're here!"
We joined the group again and stood closer to one of the bonfires. Amanda and I made eye contact, and then as if reading each other's minds, we both took a sip at the same time. Before long, we had warmed up and were talking easily with people around us. I smiled when a cute guy with long hair and beanie started to flirt with her.
Feeling the need to stretch my legs, I whispered to Clara, "Keep an eye on Amanda. I'll be back."
She rolled her eyes. "She doesn't need a babysitter, and it looks like she's doing just fine."
"She's going through a hard time and this isn't her scene. Promise me you won't let her get into any trouble."
"I promise. Where are you going?"
"I just need to walk around. I'm feeling too antsy to sit by the fire."
"Interesting."
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"I think that you sense something going on. Do you want me to come along as backup?"
"No, I'm okay. I'm only going to walk around, and it's crowded here. I doubt that the Moretti's are out there waiting for me."
"Call me if you need any help."
"Sure thing."
I walked along the paths, stopping to talk to people along the way. I was beginning to think that people believed that just by talking to me, their popularity status would go up a few points.
My ears picked up some sounds from along the path. I followed them and found a group of people in a little clearing about a quarter of a mile below the party. I walked silently through the trees until I was about a hundred feet away, then I climbed a tree and focused on the people in the group. There were several guys from the football team and a few girls from the volleyball team. I didn't recognize most of the people; they must have been from Delphic Cove's other high school.
I focused on what they were saying and couldn't believe my ears when one of the guys with his back to me started talking. Mr. Foley! What was the new teacher doing at the party? Couldn't he get in trouble for not turning everyone in for the drinking and pot smoking?
The Transformed Box Set: Books 1, 2, 3, 3.5 Page 40