“But how?” David questioned his father.
“The letters he will send should serve as grounds for finding him. I’m sure you will receive more. Until then you must not keep your distance from us. We are the only protection you have against those creatures.”
“I want to drop the charges.” I told David as he drove me home.
I was upset over the fact that Gabriel had been a victim of those things just as I was.
“No.” David clenched his jaw. “You will do no such thing. He could come after you again.”
“He’s a victim, David.”
“I don’t care. He’s not well and he might never be. Those monsters don’t just leave a person. They haunt them… writhe within and around them until they aren’t aware of their own names. They’re like a disease that makes people lose their sanity.”
“Are you talking about possession?”
“It may very well be the case.”
“You have to help him, then. You and your family have to help him,” I begged. “It’s not his fault he did this to me.”
“No,” David said sternly. “Over my dead decrepitated body.”
It hurt to frown at him, but I did. I didn’t talk for the rest of the trip home.
I sat on my bed looking at my bruises in the mirror. A strand of hair I purposely clipped there covered the stitches on the side of my head. I could see some prickly hair growing back on the bald spot around the wound.
The dark circles under my eyes were now a yellowish hue. I tapped the bridge of my nose. The swelling had gone down some, but it still hurt a little when I breathed.
I took the herbal remedy—a cream—that Nyx had prepared for me and rubbed it on the bruises as she had suggested.
During the weeks to come I thought a lot about Gabriel in that psych hospital. While he was in there incarcerated, I was being made paranoid by the Chios family and Claire.
Nyx and Claire would spend a lot of time together now. Friendly gatherings were now held at either my house or the Ebony Estate with at least two of the Chios members always present. David left me only at night, but I knew he sat atop the porch roof watching me. He would never admit to it.
It took a month, but the swelling on my face finally went down, and the bruising was completely gone. I didn’t need surgery to readjust the bridge on my nose thanks to the healing techniques of the twins.
I was suspicious of everyone and perturbed by my own paranoia. Not even prom was fun.
Nothing weird happened for a long time, that is, until the end of May.
I arrived at my house with David the day before my birthday and four days before our graduation. My mother was waiting for us on the porch.
“I don’t want to be rude, but can I talk to you in private, hon?” Claire asked.
“Sure,” I said following her to the kitchen.
“This came for you today.” She handed me a sealed envelope.
“It’s from
him
.” I looked at the stamp that read “Athens”.
Claire nodded. “Yes.”
I carefully ripped open the side of the envelope. I slid out the letter that was inside and unfolded it. The letter contained a cashier’s check for $25,000.
I proceeded to read the letter
Dearest Daughter,
I hope that you are well and happy to be graduating and coming to the age of adulthood. I send my warmest congratulations on both.
Enclosed you will find a check that you are at liberty to spend as you wish. I am not trying to buy your acceptance, but rather deliver to you what I have not been able to give you in my absence.
I have made arrangements for monthly deposits in your name at the bank located on the north corner of the intersection in your town. Your account will always be funded, as I will provide for you while you are enrolled in university.
I have not yet decided when I should present myself to you personally. I hope that you understand that I am fearful of both you and your mother’s rejection.
I bid thee good tidings.
Best Regards,
S. Leumas
“This arrived today?” I asked her.
“Yes,” She said clasping her hands. “What is it?”
“I think it’s a birthday and graduation present.”
“What?” Claire was unaware of the check.
I held both papers out to her.
“Read it,” I told her.
“Oh, em, gee!” She said jumping up and down. “He wants to see you! He wants to see
me
!”
“What’s wrong with you?”
“He’s the love of my life, Isis.” She whispered.
“What about The Judge?”
“We’re not exclusive,” She said smelling the paper. “It’s his scent. Mmmmhh!” She closed her eyes.
David walked into the kitchen. “Are you okay?”
Claire hid the letter behind her back. “Fine, thanks.”
“Just checking,” David said walking into the living room again.
Claire turned to me and smiled. “You can buy a car for college.”
Then the light bulb in my head clicked. If this letter was postmarked in Athens, it meant my father was there now. David and I could leave right after graduation—that was only a few days away. I would go on a manhunt. But would my mother go for it?
“Actually,” I started, “David invited me to Greece. They have a house there but I know that you…”
“Go.” She didn’t even let me finish.
“Huh?!” I was dumbfounded.
“Go, Isis. That’s always been a dream of mine for you and you’re all grown up. You’ll always be my little girl, but you’re not that little anymore. I trust you. So go. You have the money.”
“You’re not kidding?” I was agape.
“Go!” She waved the check in my face.
“David!” I screamed from the kitchen jumping up and down with my mom. “We’re going to Greece for the summer!”
May 30
th
was my birthday. I had a quaint reunion with the Chios family, all of my best friends, and mother at a restaurant that evening.
I was excited to think that in a few days I would be standing on the other side of the world on international grounds.
With shopping for clothes to take on the trip and making arrangements for graduation and college, it seemed like there just wasn’t enough time.
I also had to think about my supposed transformation. I had to find my father and soon. I needed to know why David and I weren’t changing into anything different and he might be the one that held the answer to that.
The night of graduation David surprised me with flowers and a set of new luggage. I was so excited I couldn’t sleep. I found David sitting outside my window in the A.M. hours before sunrise.
“Hi,” I said peeking out the window.
“Hello, my lovely.” He smiled. “You caught me this time.”
“Come inside,” I asked him.
He stared at me, thinking about it.
“Just this once… please?” I asked again.
He stood from the side of the window and crossed into my room. He wrapped me in his arms as he caressed his lips on mine. I let his hands wander down my spine and to my hip.
“Can you believe we’ll be together for two months as of tomorrow? I don’t have to share you with anyone.” He bit my lip.
“I’m so excited,” I said to him.
We watched the sun come up from my window. The sky looked absolutely beautiful with its scarlet, gold and blue hues.
Today was the start of a new me. I was a young woman betrothed to the man of my dreams.
Epilogue
At the departure gate, I said good-bye to my mother who was more excited than I was to be going on this trip. I wished she had accepted the offer to come along. She said it was the start of my adult life and that she could not interfere.
I took my seat by the window. David sat next to me with a mile wide smile on his face.
“If I could, I’d kidnap you again,” he joked.
“I’d let you,” I smiled.
The seatbelt sign came on before the pilot started his welcome announcement. I looked at David and held his hand tightly. We were on a journey to find the man who was my father.
I took out my journal while David slept. I turned it to the interior front cover and wrote.
I
am
both
more
than
human
and
less
than
human.
I
am,
by
some
miraculous
act,
still
alive.
This
is
the
story
of
my
first
love,
the
story
of
my
former
life,
and
the
story
of
my
new
birth
.
.
.
as
Creatura.
* * *
David was still fast asleep. I looked in my compact mirror to fix my makeup. The pupils of my green eyes had grown thin and long, like that of a serpent. I looked at a passenger that was seated across the aisle from us and hissed, before I attacked.
Only the Beginning