Chapter 12 - The Beast in Reveal

After the ferocious parade of crows from the Kaplawa Beast Clan for Phoebe's planned ritual, the child had been unconscious and stayed in the hospital for days. She surprisingly woke up one late evening after a blaring trumpet disturbed her sleep.

Phoebe pressed her hands into her ears as her eyes squeezed nervously, "Mom, my ears hurt. Who is blowing the trumpet hard?"

Amelia rise from her chair and hugged her daughter, "There is no trumpet sweetie, no loud noise at all. Maybe you're just having a nightmare.

As soon as Phoebe woke up, Martha noticed the physical changes from Phoebe. Her eyes turned blue when she chills and begins to turn gray when her temperature rises,  her dark brown eyes are at their best color when the weather is as fine as the warmth of the spring season.

The fine hair that turned to be bushy from Phoebe's arms and legs begin to reveal her beast features. Even at an early age, her pearly white complexion manifests blue and green veins in her body and it is starting to show off the powerful attributes of an immortal creature.

The child's luscious velvet black hair is slowly turning into warm brown with blonde streaks all over, but her brows and eyelashes seemed to grow two inches from the day she was hospitalized. 

Martha peeks from the bathroom as she overheard Dave's divulgence to Amelia about his real being for the first time after a talk with the doctor and she felt pity for Phoebe.

"What is happening to Phoebe, Dave? What kind of disease does she have? Even if the doctor said that maybe she has progeria but I do not believe him because she still looks like a baby to me, it's just that..." Amelia sobbed while holding and stroking Phoebe's veined arms.

"I have to tell you this Amelia, I have a blood of a beast, I came from a Beast Clan." 

"What? This is not the right time for your nonsense stupid jokes Dave!"

"But I am telling you the truth, I want to have a normal life that's why I decided to live in the city, but my relatives are haunting me, everywhere I go they are reminding me that Phoebe is the last descendant of our clan and that she must undergo..."

"Wait, what? What are you talking about Dave? What clan? And how come my child got involved in your gibberish tactics? Is this your foolish reason to get Phoebe away from me?"

Dave grabbed Amelia's shaking arms as she strongly stares at him, "No!  Please listen to me. I am a beast. I plead for my freedom from King Angus because I want to live as a mortal. I want to be human. I hate my life, Amelia! Being a beast and a gay in our family is like living in hell. Barbwires are all in my brain, squeezing every part of my being."

"I can not believe what I'm hearing right now, not even in my wildest dreams that the books that I have read can be real. You tell me, did you just use me for your freedom?"

Dave bowed his head with hesitation, "Yes, at first, and no because we had Phoebe, and unbelievable as it may seem, and even though I know she is the only way to finally have my freedom being a mortal but... her blood is my blood, my freedom is her bondage and I cannot bear that."

"What do you mean? My child will be a slave?" Enraged Amelia interrogates Dave at the top of her lungs.

"Phoebe must undergo a ritual of becoming a part of the clan officially. A ritual that will turn her into a half-bodied female beast that will have the same powers and strength as the other beasts. If I offer her to King Angus and be a princess to the Kaplawa Beast Clan, she will be immortal and I can have the freedom of becoming a human. Call it a sacrifice but she will benefit from being a princess, it will be an honor for our family."

Amelia cries endlessly while shaking her head in disbelief. She denies everything she hears. She thought that Phoebe does not deserve this kind of life and that Dave is a curse to their lives.

  

An unexplainable feeling of confusion, empathy, and anxiety towards Phoebe's physical transformations and Dave's revelations brought Martha's heart into a promise that she will stay by Phoebe's side no matter what happens and protect her at all cost.

Little by little, she discerns why her emerald amulet lightens up whenever Phoebe is near her. She now realizes that the child's strong eyes and soft heart are a gift to the wonderful world of unknown creatures. 

Phoebe, as a product of a mixed breed of a mortal and immortal, possesses the greatest power to defeat both creatures, the highest immunity power that she alone can have. 

But because she is half-human, she can be emotionally weak like any other human being. Her weakness can be an opportunity for others to defeat her.  

Though hesitant at first because Dave does not want Phoebe to be involved in a war of beasts and werewolves but for him, his freedom and his clan's victory must come first.

Dave suggested that he should stay at Amelia's place for a couple of days to protect his daughter from another possible threat from his uncle. He finally realized that being a responsible father to Phoebe is a product of his change.

Confused Amelia is still in disbelief and disagrees with Dave's idea to stay in her place with her daughter but he insists to be with them and Amelia is left with no choice.

Martha finally interrupts their argument, "Amelia, this is the perfect time that you and Dave be reconciled for Phoebe's safety. The child needs a father, a mother, she needs to be safe and loved. No other element can hurt her because of your presence, our presence, our pure love for her will be her shield."

"But I couldn't even imagine waking up in the morning with his disgusting sight and I do not believe about your beast thing. You cannot fool me anymore." Amelia stressfully points her finger to Dave and keeps her eyes away from his direction.

"Amelia, this is not for you, my stay would be solely for Phoebe, stop bringing your pride to the table. I will find a bigger place for us to stay, but it won't be any farther from your place."

Martha packs Phoebe's things and the phone rings, Amelia immediately answers with a strong shift of emotion.

"Oh hi, Gela! I've been waiting for your call, is everything alright?"

"What are you saying? I should be the one to ask you that, is everything alright with your daughter? I will understand if you can't come with me to an open house."

"No, I'm fine, my daughter is getting fine. She's in the recovery period now and everything is going well. We are doing well. We are preparing for Phoebe's discharge. As you were saying, when is this open house? Is it from the village that we were eyeing?"

"Who are you talking to?" Dave jerked his head anxiously.

Amelia did not bother and Gela surprisingly whispered, "Wait, is that Dave? Are you back together? Does he know about your plans?"

"No and yes. No, we are not back together and will never be getting back together and yes he knows about my relocation plans. So you're saying...?"

"Yeah! And can you believe it, across the model house is a vacant house and lot that is near a stream, which seems very laidback living if you decide to settle there, you know like living in a countryside."

"Wow, I can visualize how Phoebe and I will have an afternoon snack by the stream, and I plan to put up a mini cafe beside my house."

"By the way, the caretaker said that the vacant house and lot have been occupied by many, but nobody was able to stay there for even a week, can you imagine that?"

"Hmmm... did you ask him why?"

"Well... he did not give me a definite answer, he told me that a family once occupied that house and their son have been paralyzed since the day he fell into the stream, another bachelor was able to occupy the space but did not specify his reasons why he left."

"The place is not meant for them Gela, because... it is meant for me." Amelia gleamed with excitement.

"But I wonder when the caretaker told me that the house has been haunted. For years that when it is unoccupied, the huge tree and stream behind it would be dry and lifeless, but once a resident occupied the space, the stream magically displays a clear gushing of water and the leaves of the huge tree unbelievably turns green and bold."

Amelia puzzlingly looks at Dave and suddenly wants to believe him about his true being.