Blood And Secrets

8| Scaredy-cat.

Confusion spread across Emily’s face as she asked. "Know what?"

“Who are the people who tried to kill me?" Angel asked, her gaze fixed on her mother.

"I don't know what—" Emily trailed off and cast a quick glance at Jake. "What is she talking about?"

He took his hand to his temple and scratched it as he replied to her. "Elijah and Delia."

Fear gripped her at the mention of those two names. The names of the people who turned her Angel into a vampire. Those were the names she never wanted to hear again, but they were back, trying to kill her daughter as if turning into a vampire wasn’t enough.

"Who are they?" Angel asked, her gaze darting between her mom and dad. "Why are you refusing to tell me?" Her gaze was now fixed on her dad. "Why did they turn me into a vampire the night I was born?" She asked.

Jake blew out a sharp breath. "Angel, we’ll explain it to you when the time is right."

"No!" She exclaimed, raising her voice as she demanded, "I need to know now!"

She needed to know everything. She was the one who was turned into a vampire; she was the one who couldn’t live a normal life like she desperately wanted to. She was the one who would’ve been burned alive if Damon hadn’t saved her. She needed answers as to why it was like that. And until she got an answer from her parents, she wasn’t going to relent.

"Angel, no. Not now." Her dad stood his ground.

"I need to know now." She countered. "If Damon hadn’t saved me, I would have been burned alive while tied to that tree."

"Your ring would have protected—" Jake's voice trailed off as he glanced at her finger and realized the ring was gone. "Where's your ring?" he quickly asked.

"As you can see," she lifted her hand, wiggling her fingers, "they took it. Do you still think I don't deserve to know why I almost died?"

Jake raked his fingers through his hair in frustration as he started pacing up and down the room, a torrent of thoughts coursing through him.

Those bastards! As if turning her into a vampire wasn’t enough, they tried to kill her.

He was chill about the situation at first because he thought she would have survived the sun. But upon knowing that they took her ring with them and left her there to burn to ashes, he was enraged.

"Dad!" Angel called, a frown creasing on her forehead as she gazed at her dad. She needed an answer, and he wasn’t giving her one.

"Dad!" She yelled again when she didn’t get any response from him. This time around, he stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her.

"You should get some rest." He pressed his lips together, forming a thin line. "I'll go get another ring for you from Seraphina."

"Dad!" Angel yelled. She still wasn’t hearing what she wanted to hear.

At that point, she could feel herself going crazy as frustration coursed through her entire being.

Jake sighed, his gaze fixed on her eyes. "Your eyes are red." He observed.

"I know." Angel retorted. "I just drank your blood and Mom’s. Human blood. So, I know what my eyes look like right now."

She was well aware of how a vampire's eyes changed based on their diet. Red when they fed on human blood, yellow or honey-golden when they fed on animal blood, and black when they were hungry. She knew it all. What she didn't know was what they were hiding from her, and she wondered why they kept her in the dark.

"Please tell me why I almost died. Is what they said true? Were you a vampire hunter? Did they try to kill me out of vengeance? Tell me something. Please!" She spluttered.

"You shouldn’t worry yourself about it. I would take care of everything." He muttered before turning on his heels and dashing out of the room, leaving her without the answers she craved.

She flicked her gaze to her mom, who was now her new target. "Mom. Please tell me something."

"Your father said he would explain when the time was right." Her mother muttered.

"Mom. Please." Angel begged.

They suddenly heard the sound of Jake’s car rattling, and Angel raised a brow. "Where’s he going?"

"He probably wants to go and get another ring for you from Seraphina." Emily said.

"Mom." Angel persisted with her demand. "Tell me."

Emily inched closer to her and wrapped her arms around her, completely ignoring her daughter’s demand. "I am glad you are alive, my baby."

It became clear that her mother wouldn't tell her anything either, no matter how much she pleaded. With frustration clawing at her chest, she pulled away from her mother's embrace, retreating to her bed.

"Goodnight," she mumbled, draping the blanket over her body and completely concealing herself within it.

"Goodnight, my Angel." She heard her mother say, and that was followed by footsteps and the sound of the door opening and closing.

A few minutes later, a knock sounded on the door, and it was swung open almost immediately.

"I want to sleep." She groaned, but quickly yanked the blanket off her body and sat up when she took in the scent of the person that entered and realized that it wasn’t her mom.

It was her brother, Taylor.

"Taylor." She called, her eyes narrowing. "Why aren’t you in bed, sleeping? What are you doing here?"

"Are you okay?" Was the first question he shot at her.

She shrugged. "Yes, sure."

"I am glad." He sighed and inched closer to her, confusion masking his features.

"What’s that look?" She asked.

"I don’t know." He replied, sitting beside her on the bed. "I was really worried about you. You were brought home unconscious by a strange guy, and now you look okay like nothing ever happened to you, and that—" He trailed off and gasped.

"What is it?" Angel quickly asked.

"Your—" He pointed at her eyes, his gaze fixed on them. "Your eyes are red."

"Oh…" She moved closer to him, contorting her face into a witchy expression, causing Taylor to instinctively jerk back. "Are you scared?"

"No, I am—I am—not." He stuttered, and she playfully smacked his shoulder.

"They are contact lenses, you dumbass." She laughed, falling back onto the bed.

He grabbed a pillow and threw it at her. "You scared me for a second. You looked like a witch."

"It's not my fault you're a scaredy-cat," she sneered, throwing the pillow back at him.

A pillow fight quickly erupted, filling the small room with laughter.

"Come to think of it." Angel muttered as she threw a pillow at him. "If I were actually a witch, or vampire, or any supernatural being, Would you have loved me less?"

"First off, I don’t love you." Taylor threw the pillow right back at her. "But if you were any of those, I would have chased you out of this house with silver or whatever repels supernaturals."

The smile on her face faded, and she suddenly stopped throwing pillows as realization washed through her. She would never be accepted by her brother if he found out her true nature, and that would be incredibly painful.

"What?" Taylor asked when he noticed the change in her contortion and she quickly threw a pillow at him.

"Go to bed." She sighed sharply, feigning exhaustion as she tumbled on the bed. "I am tired."

"I win," he beamed, tossing a pillow at her.

"Whatever." She groaned and draped the blanket over herself.

The next thing she heard was his retreating footsteps, and as the door creaked open, he threw another pillow at her, causing her to jerk up and glare at him.

"Loser." He stuck his tongue out before slipping out of the room and shutting the door.

Angel shook her head and collapsed back onto the bed. He might be the most annoying person on earth, but he was her brother, and she loved him to death. She couldn’t imagine him finding out about her true identity and staying away from her. She couldn’t let that happen. She had to protect her identity at all costs!