“Lilly... why does this make sense to you? Did she ever do anything to you? Did she ever hurt you?” asked Gabriel.
“She never laid a finger on me but she did hurt me in other ways. She stopped my father from spending any time with me. She tried to stop him from loving me. Although he withdrew from me, he would never have stopped loving me, would he?” I said. A few more tears fell down my cheeks as I began to see Vivian in a different light. The truth hurt.
“Of course not, Lilly. You mean the world to him. I'm sure of that,” said Meredith.
“How did you know that Vivian is a witch? What did she do?” I asked, wondering how it had all begun.
Between them, the three explained how my father had met Vivian – at the hospital when I was born and that she had not left his side after my mother had died. My father, apparently, had changed instantly and it wasn't the kind of change that happens after the death of a loved one. It was an inexplicable change. A change that could have only occurred through some kind of skulduggery. In this case they believed that skulduggery to be witchcraft. And the person responsible was, undoubtedly, Vivian.
“She somehow stopped us from seeing you, and Jack,” said Wyatt. “We did everything we could to see you both but there was some kind of physical force preventing us from doing so.”
“We spent a lot of time at Serena's grave, hoping that we would see him there but he never appeared. Not once. That wasn't the Jack we knew. And before we knew it, we found out that Vivian was taking you both to England. When we confronted her, she became so angry, she threatened us. She said if we ever tried to come after her, she would... she would hurt you,” said Meredith.
“That's why we've never been able to see you or why we never tried to call you, sweetie. God knows we wanted to. We desperately wanted to but we couldn't risk it. We couldn't risk losing you for good. We managed to track down your address and wrote to you but we're sure that Vivian disposed of them before you ever saw them.”
“So you've not seen my father since my mother died?” I asked.
They shook their heads.
“That must have been so awful for you all... and now we don't know if we'll ever see him again,” I cried.
“We have no idea what has happened to him... or to Vivian, but I sincerely believe that they are both still alive. The fact that they vanished without a trace suggests more witchcraft though. We have been doing everything we can to find Jack and we have reason to believe that they are somewhere in Canada,” Gabriel said.
I asked him what they have been doing to try and track them down and why he felt they were still alive but before I could get an answer from him, Rose spoke instead and I certainly wasn't prepared for what she was about to tell me.
“Lilly, dear. When we asked you to keep an open mind... you're going to need that even more with what we're going to tell you, okay?”
Confused, I nodded worrying about what I was about to be told.
It turned out to completely change my view of the world.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The things that I had only read about in fairy tales turned out to be far from fantasy. According to Gabriel, these things were very real indeed... a secret world that I had no clue really existed until my family began to unfold the truth...
Werewolves, werecats, vampires, witches, ghosts... you name it, it existed within this world. A world that seemed so alien to me, that would soon become my everyday life.
I was told all about the fact that my father's side of the family, descendants of ravens (as I'd already been told but hadn't quite understood) actually had the ability to morph into the bird. Not just that, but my mother's side of the family had the ability to morph into cats.
“Okay... this is just sounding ridiculous... how is this possible? Surely you're joking with me now? How can a human being become an animal? It's impossible.”
Rose shook her head slowly and told me that it was very possible. She said that it was very real and that there was a strong possibility that I had the gift myself.
“W...what gift?” I asked gingerly, afraid of what they might say.
Gabriel and Rose both glanced at each other sideways, before telling me that it was possible that I had the ability to change into either a cat or a raven... or even both.
Clearly the idea was absurd to me and I told them so as I stood up abruptly and paced up and down the room shaking my head.
“Lilly, these dreams you've been having are the strongest indication so far that you can change into both animals. Remember you told me you changed into a mountain lion and a raven? Well, it appears that it is true. Your subconscious has been telling you so,” said Gabriel softly.
“Well, can you change, Gabriel? Can you?” I asked defensively.
“And what about you Wyatt? Meredith? Rose? We're all related... surely you can all change too?” I said, my body shaking as I spoke.
There was silence for a moment before Rose stood and took both my cold hands in hers. “I can, Lilly. I can change into a lynx. Your mother wasn't able to and sadly we never knew if Neleh had the ability as she died before she became of age,” she said softly.
I could tell she was telling me the truth by her eyes, those black eyes that became the brightest blue in sunlight. I remembered the day that I'd met her. She'd known I was there without even looking, her sense of smell and her sense of hearing were both incredible, just like a cat. I'd even thought she'd looked feline-like at the time. Her home was full of cats and they'd all gravitated towards her as if she was one of them.
It all made sense. What didn't make sense was the fact that I was one too. Could I really be? Could I really be able to change into a cat or into a raven? I felt as if I was dreaming. I even pinched myself to see if I would wake up. I didn't.
“What about the ravens? Which of you can change into a raven?”
“None of us here can, sweetheart. Your great-grandfather could though. He was a great man and a great raven,” said Meredith.
“What about my father... could he?” I asked suddenly thinking that perhaps that's what happened. He escaped Vivian by changing into a bird, but apparently I was wrong because according to Gabriel he was never able to either.
“We usually find out around the age of 17 or 18. If it hasn't happened by the time we're 20, it tends to mean that it's not going to,” said Wyatt.
I wondered if it had happened to Jo but they told me she was still 'innocent' as they put it. However she was fully aware that it could and she has had some dreams to indicate that she may well have the raven 'gene'. And Cormac? At fourteen, he too was still too young, apparently.
“But we're practically the same age,” I stuttered.
“With you, dear, it just seems to be happening sooner rather than later,” said Rose.
“After all, you have already demonstrated an intelligence beyond your years, according to the high school that is,” smiled Gabriel.
“Does the rest of the family know about all of this?” I asked and was told that they did. It was our family secret that had to remain a secret in order to protect us all.
“To protect us from what... or who?”
It was then that I found out about the predators and other creatures.
In the past, the werecats and the ravens were enemies, but over the years they have formed a strong bond – mainly due to the friendship between Gabriel and Rose. However, elsewhere in the world they continued to hold a strong dislike for one another. This sounded quite natural to me.
“So what does this make me,” I thought aloud, “if I have the genes of both within me?” I said as I struggled to understand what this would mean.
“Honestly, we don't know. You appear to be the first of your kind Lilly. Well... the second after Neleh but we don't believe she ever changed,” said Gabriel.
Sitting down, I took a deep breath to try and calm myself, and then my imagination began to run riot.
“So what other predators do we have?”
It turne
d out that werewolves were not particularly fond of ravens or cats. Generally speaking though, we didn't have a problem with the vampires as they tended to lust after pure human blood. There have been times far in the past when we were the victims of the blood suckers, as Wyatt described them, but they were not too fond of the way we tasted, apparently. Well, that was a positive, I supposed.
I laughed aloud as it sounded so ludicrous. The others laughed with me, momentarily, but it didn't last long. Again there was silence as I tried to take in all these stories that sounded so far-fetched that they were hard to comprehend.
I took a moment again to think of my father and Vivian and, as if reading my mind, Meredith crouched down to the tin of photos and rummaged through them, clearly looking for something in particular. She found what she was looking for. It was a picture of Serena and me at the hospital and to one side, was Vivian.
“This is the only photograph we have of Vivian, and the only photo we have of you,” she said as she passed it to me.
Vivian looked much the same as the last time I'd seen her. The only real difference was that she had a long deep gash on her cheek. It looked fresh.
Up until a few months ago, the last day I'd seen her, she had kept her hair the same way – a blunt bob in a deep red colour with never a single hair out of place. Her piercing blue eyes stood out menacingly, belying the innocent sweet smile that curled from her lips. It was the only time I'd ever seen her smile.
It was the first time that I could see her for what she really was. Pure evil. If only I'd known before. Perhaps I could have done something. Perhaps I could have stopped the spell she maintained over my father.
Again, as if reading my mind, Meredith spoke up, “There's no point in thinking about what could have been, Lilly.”
“How do you always seem to know what I'm thinking,” I asked, surprised.
“Just one of my special talents,” she said with a wink, before changing the subject to Vivian again.
“When Vivian first met your mother, she was the sweetest person. Obviously we found out later that it had all been an act. She was clearly after your father the whole time. She was weaving her way in. And when Serena died, it was her perfect opportunity to pounce and that's exactly what she did. She needed to get to know your father before she could cast her spell. Sadly we weren't quick enough to prevent it from happening because we had no idea who she really was.”
“She was obviously a very good actress,” added Rose.
“But how did you know that she wasn't who she said she was?”
It had turned out that Vivian had managed to get a job at the hospital as a nurse, whether she was qualified or not wasn't clear. Regardless, it wouldn't have been difficult for her to obtain all the necessary paperwork – she was a witch, after all. My family believed that was where she first saw my father and there that she decided she must have him. She clearly didn't care that he was madly in love with Serena and that his second daughter was about to come into the world. All she cared about was having him for herself.
“It was when your father acted like we were strangers, followed by Vivian threatening us – and you – that we started to suspect that there was something darker going on, so we started to try to find out more about her. It took us a long time but we managed to find out that she wasn't who she said she was,” said Wyatt.
The real 'being' behind the 'perfect' Vivian was a far cry from the beautifully manicured and perfectly made up woman I had thought I knew. An evil monster was a better way to describe her. Although her look said she was an attractive mother, in her 30s, the truth was frightening.
It took a number of years but Gabriel had managed to track down a coven of white witches in north-western Canada and they knew exactly who she was.
Vivian was just one of many aliases she had used over the years. And she had existed in this world for many hundreds of years and in order for her to continue to be young and beautiful, she needed a man. But not just any man would do.
She needed a man who possessed unusual powers like werewolves, werecats, ravens, halflings and so on. Which is why it was strange that she latched onto my father, apparently, because he had never shown to possess any such powers. He had never been able to change into a raven, so why choose him? It was a question neither Gabriel nor the witches could answer.
Could she have mistaken him for someone else? Could she have wrongly thought he had the powers? Could he really have had the powers but not told anyone? Not even his closest family members? Although unlikely, it was a possibility.
Feeling sleepy, I tried to stifle a long yawn but struggled. Meredith noticed and said, “It's getting very late. We should all get some sleep, especially you Lilly. We know this has been very hard for you to take in – especially all in one evening. Why don't you go to bed now and we'll continue our talk in the morning?”
The thought of my comfortable warm bed was appealing, even though I had a strange feeling that my sleep would be particularly fitful that night. Now that I knew the truth about myself and my family, my subconscious would undoubtedly go into overdrive. I was afraid of what images would materialise in my head.
“Don't worry, Lilly, we will be here for you all night. We'll know if the dreams start. Try and get some rest,” said Meredith kindly as if she had read my mind again.
All four of my family members gave me long hard hugs before I headed to my room. I knew they would continue talking well into the night.
As I tried to sleep, things started dawning on me about Vivian. Now that I knew she was evil, so much more started making sense.
I remembered the many times that she had prevented me from being alone with my father. Come to think of it, as long as I could remember, I had never had any time with him at all. Vivian had always ensured that she was there... always. It had never occurred to me to be a problem because I honestly thought she was my mother. I had never known anything different.
I guess for a long time I had thought all mothers treated their children the way she had treated me. Up until I had met December, I had nothing to compare it with. Of course now, when I see the way Meredith is with Cormac and the way Sonya is with Jo, I knew that she was about as far away from a real mother than anyone could possibly be.
She had not once praised me for doing anything right. She had scolded me for the slightest thing and she would lock me away in that tiny little room called my bedroom for hours and hours on end. The real reason I had spent so many years with no friends, the real reason I never watched any television, the real reason for my lonely existence was entirely the fault of Vivian. How could I have not seen it before? I could have rebelled. Why didn't I rebel? I honestly didn't know. Maybe deep down I knew there was something evil about her. Perhaps deep down I knew that either me, or my father, would end up getting hurt or worse.
There was something niggling me as I forced my eyes closed and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. It was something about my father. I knew there was something hidden in my subconscious that might help me understand but it just wouldn't come to the surface of my mind. As I eventually slept, my dreams were more like repressed childhood memories than real dreams but they were obviously things that I needed to remember to help me move forward.
I was a little girl, perhaps six or seven, locked in my bedroom. I heard gentle footsteps outside the door... someone was tiptoeing. The handle turned slowly and the door was pushed open before my father appeared silently as always. He was acting like he didn't want to be heard and he kept looking behind him to make sure he was alone. He put his finger to his mouth to stop me from speaking and then he produced a large hardback book which he handed to me, again placing a finger on his lips. I knew he wanted me to keep it a secret so I hid it immediately. I put it under the bed until later that night when I knew they would both be sleeping. When I looked up, he was gone.
I later remembered that this wasn't just a single memory. This had happened many times over the years. Each time, he crept in silently and stea
lthily, handed me a book and then disappeared. The books were always similar. They were all either fairy tales or books with supernatural themes.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
When I woke up the following morning, I knew what it was that had been niggling me.
My father had been trying to tell me that I was in the middle of my very own supernatural fairy tale. He was trying to tell me that he was trapped, that Vivian was the evil stepmother and that there was danger. Everything now fell into place. Everything I had been told by my family the previous night had been true. I had just needed my father to confirm it and he had in a way by allowing all those memories to flood back in a dream.
I felt more alive than I ever had and I was ready to face the world. More importantly though, that morning I had the overwhelming sensation that my father was still alive and I wanted to do everything possible to find... and help him.
I had obviously slept for quite some time because after I had showered and dressed and walked into the kitchen, everyone looked as though they had been waiting for me for a while. Clearly they were unsure as to how I would be after all the news of the previous night had sunk in but they smiled when they saw that I looked positively happy and refreshed.
“So, when are you going to show me how to change into a raven... or a cat?” I said, breaking the ice with a smile.
Gabriel smiled and said, “Now Lilly is truly home.”
I felt more at home then than I ever had and it felt so good to be surrounded by such loving family members. Real family. I had a real family. A family who had finally revealed the truth about who I am. No more secrets. No more lies. This was the truth and I was accepting it.
I wondered who else knew of our secret... whether it was a curse or a gift I didn't know but I would in time. Was it just my immediate family or did friends know who we truly were too? It would have been wonderful for me to be able to confide in my dear friend in England, December, but I feared I could not. My mind then drifted to Oliver and Ben. Would I have to hide my true self from the boy I had fallen for? The boy that made my heart leap just at the mention of his name?
When Darkness Falls - Six Paranormal Novels in One Boxed Set Page 118