Dread filled me as I waited for the answer. The air was still and quiet. The only sound was the hammering of my heart against my rib cage.“Kayla would never do that,” Silver whispered.Kayla kicked at the dust with her boots. “Vampires are meant to feed on humans,” she glanced at me. “I am no different.”“What just happened was a mistake, Kay. It wasn’t your fault.”“She sucked my blood…”“She was trying to remove the venom of that daemon dude and went berserk.”“Daemon? You mean demon? He has the eyes of those demons possessed in movies.”“If you get your answer from movies then you need some basic information.” Kayla walked over to me. The green contacts did a good job of hiding her red pupils. Her face was completely healed, not a single scratch was left. She stopped a few feet away from me and released a breath before holding her sweater against her nose. “Daemons are different from vampires. That guy you saw just now was a daemon, they are godlike. Some mythology call them demig
What a night.My dream was partially right. Vampires and werewolves live among us and I am possibly the only true human who knows about it. Among the threat of vampires we also have Daemons? Was that what Kayla called it?My laptop was in my bed, I sat and opened it and keyed that word. Multiple results came up on my screen and like Kayla said Daemons are godlike. Minor gods or smaller spirits. Well that doesn’t explain anything! It doesn’t explain the source of those daemons who nearly ripped my heart out or the origin of vampires and werewolves in WhiSare. Who would have thought that such a small town had a dark interesting secret?How long have the Storms lived in WhiSare and avoid suspicion?Logan was still downstairs with mom. No doubt he is trying to put her mind at ease. I know mom is worried, coupled with the grief of mourning Tessa she must be worried about me too. Guilt filled me. With the eminent danger of WhiSare’s secret dark side the last thing I want is mom’s heartbreak
“Here we are.” “Thanks.” I pulled out a couple of change and paid for my ride. Black lake street was quite the distance from the main town and the lake. Lucky I found a taxi to take me there. A harsh winter wind chased away the warmth of the sun that had settled over town yesterday. I hugged my jacket closer. Being this close to the lake area made it even worse. The ground was rugged. On either side of a single path that Silver told me about the previous night, sparse trees lined the sides. Not a single bird chirped or nested in the branches which would have seemed strange if all of WhiSare wasn’t like that. The path widened until I caught the glimpse of what looked like a garage. According to Silver, the garage was detached and beside it was the house. Gravel crunched under my foot even though I was trying to walk as quietly as I could. Says much about me if I think walking quietly will escape the attention of supernatural beings with heightened hearings. Still, it was worth the ef
The weather wasn’t the only difference between WhiSare and Down Hills. Where WhiSare was quiet and peaceful with friendly neighbors waving out windows, Down Hills was an edgy town with pubs at almost every corner. The road Kayla drove on led to the heart of town. The curbs were parked with people, trucks lined the streets and the front of every club. Leather jackets, fish nets, buckled boots, and skin-tight leather skirts made the outfits of the many party-goers that hung outside of open club doors. I recognized some people from school hanging around streetlights with flickering bulbs sharing liquor bottles and cigarettes. The town reeked of booze.“Down Hills is where people from school come to hang out. It’s a free town.”Free town was putting it mildly. Music blasted from the club while people danced carelessly close to the road.Kayla swerved the car multiple times to avoid drunken teenagers and adults who stumbled across the road without looking. She guided the car to another str
“Shit,” Kayla grumbled. Curious I went after her and found her standing in the middle of a fairly large sitting room with dimmed lights and overdone furnishings. It was devoid of life but an old tv played a recorded sex tape. “Yes, Leo,” the woman in the video mourned. A man with a full head of ebony black hair was licking his way down her body. “He’s not here. I can’t sense him,” Kayla said flatly. She bent to return the gun. My eyes remained fixed on the screen. The camera shifted until the face of the athletic-built guy going down on the woman came into view. “At least we know what he looks like now.” His eyes held an unholy glow that matched the sinfully handsome face. His jawline was sharp enough to cut glass. His eyes held the woman’s as she screamed and moaned in rapturous ecstasy. “Great. What good is his face if we don’t have him.” Kayla straightened and with her hands on her waist took a step back until she bumped into me. She didn’t move away like I thought she would in
Once dismissed by the Storms, I headed back to mom’s. I will much rather go with them to uncover the mystery behind the new development. But for once even Silver took Kayla’s side on this matter. Though she didn’t say anything, her bleak expression was enough confirmation of the dangers ahead. The death of Tessa was just a picture of a puzzle of webs and the fear of more deaths hung over our heads even though none of us said anything before we parted ways.Mom was waiting up in the sitting room for me. Her sweater was so huge she looked tiny in it. Her eyes brightened the moment I pushed the door open.“Where have you been?” she inquired.“I went for a walk, mom.”Her eyes followed me. She rose from her seat. I couldn’t contain the emotions inside me anymore. WhiSare was unsafe yet she and the rest of the townspeople knew nothing about it. I closed the distance between us and threw my hands around her. A few seconds later she was hugging me back. The tension in her shoulders dropped.
“That’s Moira’s cousin Leroy.” Kelly pointed to someone in the crowd. Standing beside a huge burly man was a mid-schooler way taller than most middle schoolers, his gray pullover hoodie hung on his lean frame. He stood awkwardly, waiting for the man and woman who bore a striking resemblance to Moira, to finish greeting the bereaved family. After a while, he looked over and saw Cara and Kelly waving him over. His brows shot up but he strode slowly to meet us.“Hey, Leroy. Is Moira still holed up at home?”His raised brows lowered to a frown. “Moira isn’t home,” he said in a low voice that was once again way too deep for someone of 12 or 13.He glanced at Liam and Jeff his eyes now wide with questions. My heart fell to my stomach. I held my breath to calm my beating heart but I couldn’t shake the fear that my suspicions are right. Moira is not just missing. She has probably fallen victim to the danger under WhiSare’s calm.Leroy’s eyes darted in my direction and he tilted his head sligh
“Uhm guys I need to take a leak.”My heart was beating with anticipation…and was that excitement coursing through my veins?Four pairs of eyes turned to look at me.“Yeah, okay, just be careful, there might be some wild animal on the loose.”“Sure,” I replied quickly and hurried off in the direction of the tunnel before anyone could suggest peeing at a closer distance. My eyes went up, searching through the sparse trees on the cliff for any signs of movement. Maybe Silver or Kayla was up there trying to get my attention.My phone rang again. I picked it the call.“Follow my directions, Pretty boy. Climb the cliff and turn on your right.”Stones and twigs crunched under my boots as I ran up the steep surface of the cliff. Loose stones ran down the slope. I took my steps carefully to avoid drawing the attention of any of the crew down the lake. The view from the top of the cliff in broad daylight was breathtaking. Over the horizon the woods stretched out, below it was the lake and at th
EPILOGUEAnd just like that, every Daemon crumbled to dust, screaming and screeching like dying birds.Ashterah's chain fell lose and I rose immediately, running toward Kayla and my child. Kayla was crying crystal tears as she hugged me, her hands tight around my neck.My son, when I looked down had gone to sleep. But his venom, his blood had been the secret to killing Ashterah. Starlight knew this and let it happen even though it meant the death of her mother.Cara crawled out of the corner crying. She was holding my mother and Logan had his arms around both of them.Camila was nowhere to be found although later when we searched the damage we found her limp body, bloodied.Later when we cleared the rubbles there were a lot of questions to answer. Mom had to answer the questions about my birth. Cara needed answers to my identity, my child with Kayla. There was so much to know. Some many questions to answer but most importantly there was healing. Will I tell you everything went back
A crack in my neck was the only noticed I got as the side of Dad's palm connected with my neck. Mom's wail grew louder. She ran for Logan who tried to step in between me and Dad but Dad's attack was swift. He easily sent the force of his hand through Logan's chest sending the larger man flying into the wall.Logan sputtered blood. Mom screamed and ran toward him. Camila lifted herself and went to a far corner of the room where she sank to the floor in tears. Dad stepped back from me. "You are a Mergant whose powers hasn't finished manifesting. Do you think you could easily hurt me, Shawn. I've been fighting against all sorts of creatures for mankind for years. You think a few venoms flowing through you will make you defeat me?"He laughed.I raised my hand to my neck to see that my neck was still intact but the force of that blow was so bad that my vision was still blurred. "Your powers are manifesting, boy. You are a combination of human, hunter, daemon and vampire. Have you wonde
"We are in a lot of trouble."I nodded. It hadn't been easy to send Cara off and it sure as hell would not be easy protecting everyone if Sam, Gabe and the rest of their vampire hunters club get in the way of this battle. "First things first," I said. "I need to go to my Mom. If Cara knows I'm here, it won't be long before Jeff hears about my arrival. Eventually, word would get to my Mom." The disadvantage of a small town. "I need to leave now before that happens."Everyone agreed that was the next best course of action. They also agreed that taking Kayla was good too. The Storms had a sedan in the garage with tinted windows. The plan was simple. I go in and reunite with Mom then figure out how to present the lie about Kayla.If I was human anymore I would be sweating buckets but the only since of my anxiety was the tap of my index finger against my thigh as Silver loaded the trunk of the sedan with my things and Kayla went to the front passenger seat. As soon as the car was loaded,
"We can't turn her away can we?""She's seen us already, the car is outside. She knows we are here.""She's here to see me," I said getting up. If I had a heart it would be racing heavily. How can I meet her now? It's too soon."Maybe I can tell her you're not here," Silver suggested.I was really considering that but right at the moment, Cara pressed the bell again and this time she peeped around the glass door. "I know you're there Shawn. I saw you."I exchanged glances with Kayla and Silver. She's seen me already. There's no point hiding now. I nodded at Silver who came to stand in my path. Felicia had risen too and was standing in front of me defensively. "Are you sure?""You've see how I am. I have enough control where people are concerned. It's not like I'm going to suddenly attack Cara of all people.""Maybe not," Felicia said. "But all she needs is to look at you to know something is different about you.""Not if we act normal."Cara rang the bell again and this time she pre
The Jeep bounced on loose rocks and uneven ground, sending stones flying in the air as Silver navigated the trail that led up to the Storms house.Unsurprisingly, Felicia and Jared were waiting outside. As soon as Silver brought the car to a stop in front of the garage, they half ran toward it. And then came to a stop when they saw Cleopoda and Phoenix sitting in the third seat at the back.Their eyes were wide."Goddess!"Hold your greeting, Cleopoda told them as she stepped down from the Jeep to the ground. "I have come to save your lives not to be praised."Phoenix on the other hand was not so amused. Felicia and Jared didn't seem to keen to talk to her too. They passed Silver a wary glance full of questions which Silver promised to answer later. There were other pressing issues.Like Kayla.Felicia was the first to notice it even before she stepped out of the vehicle.Her jaw dropped and she looked around for explanation. "You are... pregnant? How?"Then her gaze caught mine and h
The plan was set, the only thing remaining to do was it's execution and we needed to that as soon as possible. Soon which meant the next day. Silver and Miles left toward midnight to head back to the guest house to get our things while Cleopoda and Phoenix went behind closed doors with their husbands.As for me, I spent the night in Kayla's room, watching her - well lie still. Her skin was pale against the white sheets. A tray lay on a bedside table and it in were six blood bags, three of which were empty. Kayla barely opened her eyes but sometime before we finished the meeting downstairs, Cleopoda had brought the blood and Kayla had taken three at a go.That tells me something. The baby was hungry - very hungry. Unlike me. After transformation there were no pangs of hunger. Sure, I reacted to see blood and being around humans but that was all. Maybe this child is a little more normal than I am.I left the window where I had been standing, keeping watch of Kayla, and made my way towar
Her voice was hoarse, very throaty with pain. Her face was a grimace, a mask of pain but every time anyone tried to go close to her, Kayla would shrink back, worried that we would try to hold her down to tear the lump in her belly away from her even though it was obviously killing her. In just a few hours her skin had taken on a gray tone, looking dried and shrunken to her skin.Silver was more forceful with trying to get Kayla to see reasons with why we had to get rid of the child but I stood in her way. The last thing I wanted was for her to hurt Kayla in the process of trying to save her."Take it easy, Silver," I told her, pushing her back from Kayla.Her eyes sparked anger at me. "That thing is killing her!" She screamed."I'm fine!" Kayla argued but her voice was weaker. Cleopoda had run to the room with Silver but she withdrew to get something. Maybe to call the others.Silver's gaze softened. She clutched desperately to my shirt, "Shawn you have to do something," she whispere
We got upstairs together when Kayla stopped, turned around and put a hand on my chest."I meant what I said, I'm keeping this child. I don't care what it is - monster, human or vampire. I'll keep it. You don't have to feel responsible...""I want to be responsible for taking care of it with you. We made it together. It wouldn't be fair if I just up and skipped off - not that I am ever going to do that." Camila came to mind and I took Kayla's hand off my chest to hold between both of my hands.Her eyes encouraged me to explain further which I did. "I did that before. I made a mistake once, slept someone I wasn't supposed to. My stepmom to be. I was worried about getting her pregnant or getting caught. The last thing I wanted was my father getting to know the truth and if j had stayed any longer, he would have known. So I did what I had to do, I packed my things, took off and came to WhiSare. I was a coward but right now, the new me doesn't want to be a coward anymore."She smiled, her
To say that everyone's jaw dropped is an understatement. One thing I'll say for sure is that the same look of disbelief was etched into every facial feature. That is, until Kayla stood up, pushed her chair back and revealed the bump.Silver nearly fell out of her chair. Same with Miles. Neither of them could believe what they were hearing. And seeing.And so I too because in an hour Kayla's belly seemed to have grown a little more. She noticed this too and turned worried eyes to me. I took her hand in mine to let her know that I was there with her every step of the way. The only people who didn't seem too shocked were Octavius - well, in his case as you have gathered, few things surprise him and he barely shows his feelings in his expressions. He's also a man of few words. And Phoenix. But it looked more like she was angry than unsurprised which in itself was surprising. "H-how?" Silver muttered. She could barely even get the words out. It's the second time since I've known her that