Descendant (8 page)

“Five years ago,” she said quietly.

I didn’t want to keep talking about them, since the topic was obviously upsetting for her. But what she was saying just didn’t make any sense. “They would have been over a hundred, and if they bought it before 1890, then…”

“They were way past a hundred,” she said. Before I could say anything to this we reached a tal door, which she gave three heavy knocks.

“Come in,” a voice called. Vanessa pushed the door open and stepped inside, and I followed. The room was well lit, thanks to the towering floor lamps in each corner and a crackling fire burning in the stone fireplace on the far side of the room. Beside this fireplace several armchairs were arranged, and in one of them sat a boy who stood up as soon as we stepped into the room.

He held a book, which he placed on the glass-topped table beside him before swiftly crossing the room to meet us. His features were unyielding, especial y his grayish-blue eyes which sat in the shadow of thin-rimmed glasses. A few feet in front of me he stopped, and my first-impression upon seeing him close up was that he must’ve been several years younger than me; he was taller, but his features were still young and boyish. He had wavy, shoulder-length black hair and wore a gray Pink Floyd t-shirt and baggy jeans so long they almost entirely covered his bare feet.

He extended a hand to me. “My name is Elias—although most everyone prefers to shorten it to Eli…” He articulated every syl able, giving his voice a proper sound that made him seem much older than he looked. His serious gaze continued to hold mine, and for a moment I started to feel uncomfortable. But then he grinned an impish little grin, and, relieved, I smiled back.

“It is so nice to final y meet you,” he said.

I took Eli’s hand and shook it as he continued to scrutinize I took Eli’s hand and shook it as he continued to scrutinize me from behind his glasses. When I released his hand, his grin faded and he put both hands behind his back and began to pace. Every now and then he would pause, look my direction, then shake his head and resume pacing. He kept this up for a couple minutes, and soon I found myself fighting the urge to laugh.

I was about to loose that battle when, thankfully, somebody cleared his throat loudly. My head jerked up. Kael and Will had apparently followed us in, and both now stood in the doorway.

“C’mon Eli—none of us are getting any younger here,” Kael said, leaning against the doorframe. “Do you real y have to make everything so dramatic?” Beside him, Will laughed, then moved from the doorway and made his way toward us.

Eli threw them both a disgruntled look. “Oh good, all of us are here…” he said with a touch of smugness in his tone.

Then he turned and stepped directly in front of me, and went back to studying. I shifted awkwardly under his gaze.

Thankfully, it wasn’t long before he spoke again: “I don’t sense much fear.”

It’s because I’m a crazy person, I wanted to shout. “…

Should I be afraid?” I asked instead.

Eli didn’t reply right away. Then, slowly, he shook his head.

“Oh. Well …good,” I said, attempting a smile that I’m pretty sure came out more like a grimace.

“Are you an open-minded person?” Eli asked suddenly.

“What?”

“We have a lot to tell you, and we need you to listen.”

The room was so quiet it made my breathing seem unnaturally loud. Or maybe it really was that loud. Because I think I was final y starting to panic.

“Of course,” I managed to answer in what I hoped was a steady voice. Of course I would listen. I was just waiting for them to start talking.

“How have you been feeling today?” Eli asked in a quiet voice.

“Are you real y asking about my health right now? Can we not just get to the point?” I said, my voice rising slightly. I think it came out a lot more rudely than I meant it to, but I was tired of waiting. When Eli frowned at my little outburst, however, I quickly added an apology.

“I’m sorry. But it’s just… a lot has happened, and I was hoping you were going to have some answers for me.

Everybody,” I shot a meaningfull glance at Kael, “…seems to enjoy changing the subject whenever I start asking questions.”

“I am trying to get to the point, actual y. Which is why I was asking—and I wil ask again—how have you been feeling today?”

“…Not the greatest,” I said. “But I’m feeling better now.

What does that have to do with anything?”

“It has everything to do with the situation you’re facing,” Eli said, matter-of-factly. “It is a symptom.”

“A symptom?” I repeated.

Eli nodded. “Alexandra—”

“Alex,” I corrected automatically .

“…Alex, I was told that, after you were attacked by that creature at the lake the other day, you made an incredibly quick recovery. Is this correct?”

I nodded slowly.

“And your arm, which should have been damaged beyond repair, is perfectly healthy today?”

I nodded again.

“May I see that arm, please?”

I gave him a curious look, but held out my left arm to him.

He took it gently by the wrist and examined it, then closed his eyes and murmured some words I couldn’t understand.

A burning sensation swept up my arm, and I followed his example and shut my eyes tightly. The burning was unsettling at first, but it wasn’t altogether unpleasant; it just felt like I’d stuck my arm in bathwater that was a bit too hot.

The heat faded quickly though, and was replaced by a tingling sensation which was strongest just below my shoulder.

“Open your eyes,” Eli said.

There was a strange indention in the skin just above my elbow. It was tear shaped, with rough, jagged edges that were glowing with a brilliant red light.

“What is that?” I said, my mouth dropping open slightly.

“What is that?”

“That is the reason you have not been feeling well today.

You were bitten, and it took the toxin some time, but at this point it is likely evenly distributed throughout your blood. As such, you’re starting to show signs of—”

“That…thing…poisoned me?” I interrupted hysterical y.

“Much to its dismay, yes,” Eli said patiently. “That thing—a werewolf—”

I inhaled sharply at the word ‘werewolf’, even though I kind of figured it was coming. I’d seen enough horror movies, heard enough stories to know that all the signs had been there. What else could that thing at the lake have been? Up until this point though, I’d been trying to convince myself that this whole thing was some horrible nightmare I was eventual y going to wake up from, mostly by repeatedly reminding myself that all those stories and stuff were just that. Stories.

But now here I stood, and hearing the word ‘werewolf’

spoken by someone else—even if it was by this strange, somewhat goofy looking little kid that I’d only just met—somehow made everything seem far too real to be a nightmare all of a sudden.

“From what I have been told about the incident…” Eli continued. I did my best to focus on what he was saying. “…

this particular wolf seemed more like it was out to kill than infect. Lucky for you, it succeeded only in infecting.”

I had to stifle a bitter laugh. “Oh yes, I definitely feel like the luckiest person in the world right now.”

“You could be dead,” Kael said with a shrug.

“Right,” I said, turning to him. “And being kidnapped by a bunch of werewolves is a much better alternative.” My voice was on the verge of cracking.

“Firstly,” Eli said as he removed his glasses and wiped them with the corner of his shirt. “I wish you would not refer to this as a ‘kidnapping’—it’s more of an intervention. And for your benefit, no less…” He replaced his glasses, frowning. “And secondly, you misunderstand. The creature that attacked you was, in fact, a werewolf. But we are not that attacked you was, in fact, a werewolf. But we are not werewolves. We are lycans…though in your defense, I wouldn’t expect a human to know the difference.”

“So…what’s the difference, then?”

“It’s mostly one of connotations, real y…but it is general y not a good idea to mix up the two in conversation.”

“Why?”

“Because both sides have a tendency to take offense when referred to by the wrong name,” Vanessa said. “The thing is, most werewolves and lycans don’t get along very well .”

She looked like she wanted to say more, but at that moment Eli spoke again.

“Kind of sil y, real y…” he said. He stared silently at Vanessa for several seconds, and it occurred to me that they were probably doing the thought speech thing Vanessa had done earlier. Whatever Eli was saying, however, he kept short.

“Anyway, to answer your first question—” he said, turning back to me. “‘Werewolf’ is a term you humans are probably more familiar with; it’s one name your kind gave to the vicious, bloodthirsty shape-shifters that have terrorized the human-race over the past few centuries. We lycans, on the other hand…” When he said the words ‘we lycans’, he stood up considerably straighter, and the pride in his voice became evident. “Are bound by an ancient pact that would not all ow us to harm a single hair on your head—even if we wanted to.”

“Okay so let me get this straight— you guys are…friendly werewolves, basical y?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Let me finish, Alex?” Eli replied. “Aggression toward humans aside, there is another major difference between a lycan and a werewolf—and that is the fact that one is born, while the other is created. We…” Eli paused and placed a hand on his chest, then gestured to Will and Vanessa. “…

and all lycans, are born with the spirit and the blood of both the human and the wolf within us, and are equal y at home in either form. Werewolves, on the other hand, are an unnatural mutation of our genes. They are often a danger to humans, and even their own kind, when in their unnatural beast forms. This is especial y true during the full -moon, when transformations become involuntary for most werewolves—much like suggested by the folktales and myths of humankind.”

“Right. Okay so… I was attacked by a werewolf, right?” I thought aloud. “But… it was in the middle of the day.

Definitely not a full moon, and it seemed like a perfectly controll ed attack to me.”

“Yes…” Eli’s brow creased in thought. “It is not that werewolves are incapable of voluntary transformation as well .”

“And,” Vanessa chimed in, “…unlike lycans, they are bound by no pact that prevents them from attacking a human.” Her lips fell into a frown as she spoke. “We’re still trying to determine just what the motivation behind that attack was, but it is entirely possible that the attack was simply for sport,” she said.

“And my dad?” I said, suddenly recal ing the conversation with Sera. “Was it a werewolf that…that attacked him too?”

I couldn’t bring myself to say the word ‘kill ed’. “It kind of seems like they’re targeting my family, don’t you think?”

“That idea has occurred to us, of course. But we do not know all the details yet, Alex…” Eli said quietly.

His inconclusive words made me angry, and I had to take several deep breaths before I trusted myself to speak again. “Okay. So that’s it then—that thing bit me, and now I’m turning into some shape-shifting monster?”

“Not necessarily,” Eli said.

“What?”

“What?”

“That is why we have brought you here—intervention.”

“Intervention…?”

“I told you that you were lucky you had only been—to use your word—‘poisoned’, remember?”

I nodded.

“Very lucky, in fact, because there is an antidote, which is almost always effective if administered in time. You do not have to become a werewolf. In fact, we insist that you do not.”

“What?” I said again. “An antidote?” That’s not how it worked in all the fairy-tales I’d ever heard. In fact, I’d already started cringing at the thought of gruesome transformations and uncontroll able, beastly urges.

“Your first shift would take place tomorrow night under the light of the full moon. But as long as we give you the antidote before sundown tomorrow, you wil remain human.

If not…”

“…I become a werewolf?” I finished.

“And our enemy. Something I would much rather avoid so…”

“Enemy…?”

“Yes. You would be unstable, a monster we would have to eliminate for the sake of the other humans in the area, and for our own safety.”

My first instinct was to agree. In fact, I almost started to nod in agreement as I thought to myself—“when can I take this antidote?” But for some reason, I didn’t voice that question out loud.

“And there’s no chance I wouldn’t be a bloodthirsty monster?” I asked.

Maybe I just hadn’t properly wrapped my head around this yet, but for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to immediately reject the idea of becoming a werewolf.

Crazy? Yes. But the thought of being able to fight back against what was destroying my family—the thought of being able to protect Lora, and Mom, and not to mention to avenge Dad…wel , I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t appealing.

“…You would be a danger to yourself, to everyone around you. To your family,” Eli said, looking worried.

“I could help my family. I could protect them,” I said, talking more to myself than anybody.

“If by protect them you mean slaughter them in their sleep,”

Will said dryly. I turned to him, mouth open in a horrified gape, but he just shrugged. “I’m just saying, Alex—it could happen. If you don’t let us help you, then this time tomorrow night you won’t even remember who you are. There’s no telling what you might do.”

Vanessa nodded in agreement and placed a hand gently on my shoulder.

“Maybe,” I said, shrugging her hand away. “But maybe not.

Werewolves learn, right? I mean, they learn how to voluntarily transform and all that, so there must be some level of conscious thought—”

“That takes years to achieve. Some never achieve it. You would be—”

“I don’t care!” I shouted. “Obviously, my family isn’t very safe now, are they? Your little protection league didn’t stop my dad’s death, and it barely stopped mine. And what about right now? How do I know my family’s safe right now?”

“There are several of us monitoring—”

“But is it enough? And how do I even know you’re telling the truth about any of this? How do I know I can trust any of you? Have you found out who killed my dad? Have you done anything about them?”

“Alex—” Vanessa began timidly.

But I didn’t care to hear any answer she had to give me at the moment. “No? Okay then. So you’ll forgive me for not automatically rejecting the idea of becoming something capable of fighting back myself.”

“It’s not worth it,” Kael said suddenly.

I jerked my head toward the doorway. I was a little surprised to see him still standing there. “Excuse me?”

“I said… it’s not worth it. Even if you could controll yourself, even if you could protect your family, get back at whoever killed your father, whatever—what wil you do after that?

There’s no undoing this. After you transform, that’s it. You can’t go back to your normal human life—even if you wipe out everyone that’s threatening your family. You’ll spend the rest of your life—your long life— a monster. It’s not worth it.”

“Maybe I think it is,” I said defiantly, even though his words had caused the doubt in my mind to swel to double its size.

“You’re not capable of rational thought right now.

Understandably so—”

“You don’t even know me...” I said. “Don’t tell me what I’m not capable of.”

His eyes narrowed, and mine did the same in automatic response. “Fine,” he said. “Do what you want.” He left the room without another word.

And watching him go, leaving that room suddenly seemed like a great idea.

“I’m going to get some fresh air. I need to think,” I said.

Without waiting for their objections, I headed toward the door Kael had disappeared through.

“Please do not go far, Alex,” Eli called as I approached the door. “If you real y are…a target… then it would be unwise for you to be wandering off this close to a full moon.”

“Whatever,” I responded, fully aware—but not caring— that I sounded childish.