by Livell James
He gets up from his seat at the bar and lets out a huff. “It’ll be my business if I have to help you protect them!” he mumbles as he slams his bedroom door. I’m sure my dad can handle those guys on his own, but Jonah always says he’s my protector. He doesn’t handle not being able to do that well.
“Haley, there really isn’t anything we can do to prepare him. He needs to tell them everything he can about what he remembers of his parents and what the Thompson boys have been doing to you two. The Elders will most likely want to keep you two here so you can be protected,” Dad explains.
“But sir, I can’t stay here. I have to work. I already only work two days a week. I can’t miss those days,” Austin says.
“Son, from what Haley has told us, you don’t have a place to stay, and you won’t be safe at the shelter. I can tell you that if they get their hands on you, it won’t be good, and without anyone there to help you, there’s no way you can fight them off. Not even a professional MMA fighter could take on the strength of three vampires. Hell, not even a team of professional fighters could have enough strength to compete with those guys. You’ll stay here. I will not have my daughter or you in danger. Understood?” Angelus says.
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. I’ll have Celina call your work and take care of things. If they don’t understand, I know plenty of people in the city and will find you another job. First, though, we have more pressing matters to take care of.” Dad’s voice seems to be getting deeper with every word he speaks.
I grab Austin by the hand and assure him that everything is going to be okay, and that my family will do anything they can to help him. Once I have my fingers locked onto his, I realized I was holding his hand like we’ve been dating for months. It felt right—like I was supposed to be here.
The tingle, the spark between us when we touch. It feels like this is where I’m supposed to be, where I’m meant to be. Like I’ve always been here. We lock eyes and my knees get weak. I feel like I’m going to pass out. Suddenly I feel my mom take my hand and pull it away from his.
“You two have no idea what’s going on here, do you?” Mom asks.
Here I am, standing in the lair of the darkest, largest man I have ever met in my life.
He’s informed me that I’ll be staying in the depths of the city until we can figure out what’s going to happen with the Thompsons and myself. He says they won’t give up until they’ve captured me, and that I need to be protected. That this was the safest place for me, for now.
I should be nervous and worried for my life at this point, but I’m not. It feels like this is where I belong, where I’m meant to be. Standing next to the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, in the living room of the vampire king and his wife. It’s as if I’ve always been here. I have to admit that the streets, tunnels, passageways—whatever you call it outside this door—did kind of leave me feeling uneasy, but not in here. Not with Haley and her family.
Why does it feel like I’m home? I don’t know these people at all, but I don’t feel like this is my first time here.
“Let’s get moving, the Elders are expecting us. Austin, remember to tell them anything you remember before your parents died, what the investigation turned up after their death, and the damage the guys did to your vehicle. It’ll feel as if you’re going before a court of law. They will ask you many questions,” Haley’s mom tells me.
They inform Jonah that we are leaving and make him lock and bolt the door behind us. We get out on the path and as soon as we do, Haley stops. It’s almost as if she stopped breathing for a moment.
“It’s your parents Austin, this is the last time I’ll hear them. They said you’re safe now. You will see the future soon. Find your destiny, son. Your dad says they can go peacefully into the other side now, but know they are never far away,” she tells me.
This is the point when I should break down and cry, but it feels like a strength has come over me. My blood feels like it’s rushing through my body, I feel a rush burning through my muscles, and fire in my throat. “What’s happening to me?”
“Austin, your eyes just changed colors three times. I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Haley says.
“Oh, my child I’ve seen this. We have to get to the Elders and we have to get there quickly. Austin, you’re going to feel some pains for the next few hours. It’s only going to get worse before it gets better. Haley, stay close to him and keep your hand on him. He needs your power,” Celina says
“Mom, what’s wrong with him, is he going to be okay? I’m supposed to be protecting him. What’s my power? Wait! I have a power?” Haley asked.
“Haley, for now you just need to keep your hands on him. That’s your power—staying strong for him,” her mom replies.
But that didn’t last long.
I can’t tell at this point if I’m getting stronger or weaker. It’s hard to stand on my feet when I feel like I’m floating. My jaw feels like it’s stretching, and my face is on fire. “Mrs. Devile, what’s happening to me? Am I dying? Is this why my parents left, are they taking me to the other side with them?” I ask her as I wrap my arm around Haley.
“You’re dying in a sense, but you will live forever,” Angelus tells me.
Then I black out, for what seemed like hours. When I woke, I was being carried by him. The man just told me I was dying and now he’s carrying me? Am I already dead? Is this just my spirit looking back at me? I tried to speak, but the words come out faint.
“Did I die?” I ask, finding the strength to look up.
“You’ll have to go through that pain a few more times Austin, this is just the beginning,” Celina says.
I feel like I’ve slept for hours. I look turn my head to the right and I’m staring Angelus in the face. “I think I can stand now; I feel like I have my strength back,” I tell him as he pretty much drops me from his arms. Thankfully my strength has returned and I don’t fall.
When I finally gain my ground to stand, we’re in front of a huge structure that’s been carved into the stone, with large columns across the front. It looks like a courthouse you would see on TV, only it’s a little more ornate. Just like with the lairs, there are no windows. Large double doors stand in the middle. We walk up to the door and Mr. Devile grabs the copper snake shaped handles and opens the door.
When the door opens, the inside is breathtaking. Even more ornate than the outside are the details in this hallway. Shiny marble floors, paintings and statues line the way. It’s at least fifteen feet before we reach another set of doors, and these aren’t quite as tall as the ones before. Celina and Angelus each grab a handle to open both doors at the same time.
We enter a large chamber with marble benches in half a circle pattern from front to back, and the floors and walls are also covered in marble. At the front of the chamber is a large marble podium. I think we would call it the judge’s bench in my regular world. Soon after entering, the voice of a women speaks.
“You finally made it. Bring him forward. I was only able to see him once before he was taken away from us.”
What does she mean by saying before he was taken from us? I have to wonder if she’s talking about me. Angelus and Celina take seats in the first row and they nod for Haley and I to go forward toward the bench.
As we approach, an older woman maybe in her sixties rises from her seat behind the podium. Beautiful grey hair flanks her face, and she has skin which is the color of caramel. Her eyes are just as icy blue as Haley’s. In her right hand, she holds a staff covered in beautiful jewels.
“Oh, Austin, my child. I see you have begun your change,” she speaks.
Haley pushes me forward and takes a step back to sit with her parents. Standing before her, I feel like I’m being judged but I’ve done nothing wrong.
“What do you mean, I have begun my change?” I ask her.
“I’ll explain it all when the Elders enter the room, Austin. I have to be sure to leave out no parts.”
Another
short black-haired lady soon enters the room from the door to the left.
“Eva Davenport,” the grey-haired lady announces.
Soon following her were two guys who look almost the same, one maybe older than the other. They were both bald with beards and the same golden eyes as the lady who entered before them.
“Jareth and Drake Davenport.”
“I would like for you all to meet my grandson Austin Johnson,” the lady announces. “Austin, I’m Athena. Your grandmother.”
My face feels frozen. I want to speak, but the words won’t come out. This lady just called me her grandson. How is this possible? I thought my grandmother was dead. My father took me to her grave.
This must be a dream. It has to be. I have to be stuck in a dream.
“Come closer, Austin,” the shorter lady tells me.
“Bring Haley with you,” her brother speaks up.
Haley looks to both of her parents for the okay to come forward, first to her father, and then to her mother, and I watch as they both nod with agreement.
She joins me as we step up onto a small step just in front of where the Elders now sit. The lady who calls her herself my grandmother stands beside them to the right of the bench. The sister sits in the middle, with a brother on each side.
“Austin, you must listen and listen carefully. We were hoping this wouldn’t happen until after you met with us and we had taken care of your problems with those asshole brothers,” the man on the right says.
“You have been lied to. Your whole life is a lie. As harsh as this may sound, it’s the truth,” the man continued.
Followed by the sister. “Your father was a vampire, Austin. He went on the run with you and your mom when you were eight. Am I right?” She looks to the grey-haired lady.
“You were seven, Austin. You turned eight a few months after you guys left New Orleans. I searched for you, but somehow, he disguised the scent every time I would get close,” the lady said.
“But my father told me you were dead.”
“Your father always rebelled against me, Austin. Once he turned from dhampir to full vampire, there was nothing more I could do or say to change his ways. He went rogue for a while before meeting your mother. Once he met her and they had you, he decided to hunt and kill his own kind, dragging you and your mother along with him.”
“You were always left with a friend or a neighbor, or so I am told, while they went out to do their deeds. The grave you visited was my mother’s grave, your great grandmother. I am sorry you’re just hearing all of this now, but it’s finally time, now that your father is no longer here to cover the lies. You too are a dhampir, Austin. And I’m afraid to tell you this, but you being around Haley has set your testosterone into overdrive. You’ve started your change into vampire,” the old lady tells me.
I turn to run after that. All I want to do is leave this place and never look back. My head is spinning from all the information, and I can’t process it as panic overwhelms me.
I just can’t be in this room anymore.
I watched as Austin’s face froze in a mask of fear. A moment later, he turns and bolts out of the room. My first instinct is to follow him, and I start to until one of the Elders speaks up.
“Let him go, he’ll be back shortly. He has nowhere to run, and besides, he has no idea where he’s going,” Drake tells me as he walks back to take his seat on the bench. Looking over to his sister, he says, “Now tell her what’s really going on and why she’s here.”
As Eva hesitates, looking like she’s searching for words, I think back on what happened on the way to the chambers. When Austin put his arm around me, his eyes turned green, ice blue, and then grey. He started shivering and asked if he was dying. I knew what was happening once he started shivering, but I played it off and told him I’ve never seen this before.
Just about the time I realized what was going on, my father speaks up. “You’re dying in a sense, but you will live forever.”
As he passed out, Dad swooped him up into his arms and carried him the rest of the way. He walked at least another four blocks with Austin in his arms. No sooner then we approached the chambers, Austin’s head popped up as if nothing happened, and he fell from my father’s arms and stumbled to his feet.
When we entered the chambers, we were met with a beautiful older lady who claimed to be Austin’s grandmother, and then the Elders entered the room, calling me to join Austin at the bench. I had no idea what any of this had to do with me or why I was called before the Elders. I knew they would question me, but I didn’t think it would be before speaking with him first.
They began to tell Austin his whole life story, and that this lady was really in fact his grandmother. They were pretty much saying his father lied to him his whole life.
Eva stands from her seat, bringing me back to the present, the look on her face saying she found the words she searched for. “Haley, have you two noticed anything strange when you get close to each other? Like a spark, maybe a source of energy that ignites between the two of you when you touch. Your eye color may become clearer or even appear to be darker. Have any of these things happened over the past few days?”
“We think you two are fated, bonded mates destined to be together from birth. It’s been shown in all of the card readings I’ve done, and seeing that Austin has started his change before death just proves that it’s fate. You being his one true mate has caused him to change. Other than death, it’s the only way one can go from dhampir to vampire.”
His grandmother comes down to stand in front of me and places her staff upon my forehead. “You are gifted, child. You can hear things from the other side, but you can’t see the things that are happening right before your eyes.”
I have no idea what to do at this point. Austin has left me standing here, taking all of this in on my own, and my parents are just sitting there like none of this is even happening. Do they not even give a shit that I was just told I was the true mate of a guy I just met yesterday? Wow, this isn’t shocking news at all for them. Is this why they sent me away from the city?
I feel as if they have been keeping a lie from me, and now I want to run out of the room myself. But in the end, I decide that staying here is maybe for the best. Maybe having a mate isn’t a bad thing. Having someone to share my life with, someone to share the empty apartment—it can only enhance my life. I can’t see it taking anything away from it.
And what I knew of Austin so far told me he was a good guy. So, no—I wasn’t going to run just. Not yet, anyway.
“If I’m his one true mate and that’s the reason for his change, then why am I not changing?” I ask, confused.
“It’s not the same for all dhampir kind, Haley. You can feel his power and his energy. That’s how you know you’re his mate. The only person who can feel the energy of another is that person’s only true mate. The force between the two will only get stronger, and the bonds will not be broken—even if this love between the two of you has been tainted by his father. The Devile and Johnson families have never seen eye to eye, but fate has chosen otherwise,” Drake says as he stands.
“Well, look who decided to come back and join us,” Jareth said as he also stood, joining his brother as they walked to greet Austin, who just came back into the room after being gone for about twenty minutes.
“Come join us, Austin,” Drake says as his sister comes to stand just in front of me, joined by Austin’s grandmother.
“Take her hand Austin, and turn to face her,” the older lady says.
The moment he touches my fingers, I feel a bolt of energy as his power source raged through me. I look into his eyes and they’re the most amazing shade of blueish grey that I’ve ever seen. The hair on my arms stands on its end, and I’m left without words. Speechless felt like an understatement in that moment.
“You see that, Haley? You feel it? That’s how you know he’s your one true mate. The one thing your parents tried to protect you from by removing you from the Other World.
Yes! Another daywalker whose vampire laid dormant until this day. The day his one fated mate changed his life forever,” Eva tells me.
The Elder brothers each put a hand on mine and Austin’s shoulders, pulling us apart.
“The two of you must try avoid any further contact until Austin’s change is complete, and then you two must mate. The mating of one’s true mate causes the unbreakable bond to be complete. This bond will be the only way Austin will ever be safe and no longer in danger from the brothers,” Eva tells us.
My father then steps forward and places his hand on my forehead. “This isn’t what I wanted for my daughter. I wanted you to have a life outside the Other World. To live freely in the world above. Not to be fated to some homeless kid living in the streets,” he says, looking over at Austin with a smirk on his face. “But after meeting this guy, I knew nothing could change what has to be. It’s fate, and your mother and I knew it was happening days before you came to tell us he was the one. You have my blessing. You two will stay with us until we’re sure Austin has completed his change.” He finished talking about the same time Jareth starts to speak.
“We’ll find the Thompsons and deal with them accordingly, but I’m sure if they know you two have been to see us, they’ll be on the run for a few days. We know their routine all too well. You should take Austin back to the lair now and let him rest. The days ahead will be hell for him.”
Austin’s grandmother steps up to me, once again placing her staff on my forehead.
“You take care of him, my child. I have great things waiting for the two of you. And you’ll need me once Austin shares his full energy with you. Your powers will become unbearable. I’ll be the one to help you control them,” she tells me, removing her staff. She steps over and places the staff just the same on his forehead.
I turn to see Austin’s face frozen with every little expression, making me realize he hasn’t said a word. He is literally speechless.