Asking Questions
1482 Words
Jonathan POV
I groaned as I heard the rest of my family getting up for the day around 9 a.m., flopping over in bed and pulling the blanket over my head. I had barely slept the night before because the thing in my head would not shut up. A - what did it call itself? A Lythan?
'Lycan,' it snapped. 'And I'm not an it. My name is Damien.'
'Sorry, I didn't get much sleep because of someone yammering in my head,' I retorted. 'But that's ok, because maybe I can start taking some crazy pills soon and shut you up!'
He sighed. 'You do not need so-called crazy pills, Jonathan. And don't call them that, it's insensitive. Besides, they don't work for Lycans anyway.'
'So you're saying I'm pretty much stuck listening to you all day?' I snapped. 'Wait, what I doing?? I'm not only talking to the imaginary voice in my head, I'm arguing with it. I've officially gone crazy.'
He groaned. 'They warned me you would be a stubborn one. Just like Ki- I mean, your father.'
I stiffened. 'My father? He's not stubborn. Mom is, but he's usually not.'
'Not Tanner,' he replied. 'I don't mean the human that raised you. I mean your actual biological father. Sebastien.'
'My father's name is Sebastien?' I asked.
'You didn't know?' he responded. 'What have the humans told you about them - your biological parents?'
'Just that he and our mother were homeless and could no longer care for us,' I replied. 'We never asked for names and they never told us.'
'So get them to tell you their names. Sebastien and Havannah,' he said. 'Maybe then you'll believe that I'm not some imaginary thing inside your head, but an actual sentient being.'
I considered for a minute. 'Good idea,' I finally stood up beside the bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a plain green t-shirt. Then I strode out in search of my parents. I had questions for them.
Jameson POV
I woke up feeling exhausted, as if I hadn't slept. The voice - Donovan, it called itself - had talked to me all night long. Nothing I did had blocked him out. Earplugs, AirPods, nothing worked.
'Maybe I did that because you weren't listening to what I was saying,' Donovan snapped.
'And why should I?' I snapped back. 'You're nothing but a figment of my imagination.'
'I'm not, Jameson,' he insisted. 'I'm real and I'm here. If you would ask Jonathan, you'd see.'
'I'm not asking him s**t,' I said irritably. 'I'm not having my brother thinking I'm crazy!'
'And that's exactly what he's saying to his own Lycan,' he said with a sigh.
'And you know this how?' I demanded. 'You know what, never mind. I'm done arguing with the voice in my head.'
I did my best to block him out and shoved the blankets off of me, stretching my muscles when I stood up. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a plain green t-shirt before stepping out into the hallway. I immediately spotted Jonathan coming out of his room and we both had to chuckle. We were dressed identically - again. We tended to do that a lot, and we both figured it was just part of the twin connection.
I noticed he looked as exhausted as I felt. His hair was tousled, and there were slight bags under his eyes.
"Bro, you look as tired as I feel," I told him. "You couldn't sleep either?"
He shook his head. "No, I was....nothing. I just....I couldn't sleep."
I was silent for a few seconds. Should I tell him? I opened my mouth to do just that, then closed it again. I couldn't do it. It would be my luck that he'd heard nothing and would tell our parents I'd lost my mind.
"Where are you headed?" I asked him instead.
He sighed. "I've got some questions I want to ask Mom and Dad. I-I heard something about our biological parents and I want to see if it's true."
I raised an eyebrow. "Who do you know that would be telling you anything about our biological parents?"
He hesitated for a second. "That's not important. If it's true, I'll let you know. If not, then it's nothing to worry about."
I shrugged, curious but knowing my brother wouldn't change his mind. "Ok. Let's go find Mom and Dad."
Jonathan POV
I was so close to telling Jameson what was really going on. And being that he looked just as tired as I felt, I wondered if maybe that voice was right and he'd been dealing with the same thing. Well, maybe Mom and Dad's answers to my questions would clear some things up.
Together we descended the stairs - no banister sliding this time - and found Mom at the stove in the kitchen, making bacon and eggs, while Dad sat at the table behind her, his nose buried in the newspaper. My dad had to be the only person I knew that still got his news from the newspaper and not online. Sarah was nowhere to be seen. I remembered she had to work that morning to be off in time to help Mom with the party.
We both went and kissed her cheeks, Jameson on her right side and me on the left. "Morning, Mom," we said at the same time. We both went and flopped at the table beside Dad. "Morning , Dad." Again, both of us, at the same time.
Mom looked over over her shoulder at us and smiled, indicating our outfits. "Morning, boys," she replied. "I see some things will never change."
Dad merely lowered his paper, smiled at us, and went back to reading.
I took a deep breath. "Mom, Dad, I have some questions for you."
Dad lowered the paper again, and Mom looked back over her shoulder.
"What is it, son?" Dad asked me. "You know you can ask us anything."
"What do you know about our biological parents?" I asked.
They both looked surprised. Jameson had asked questions about them here and there, but I was never really interested. In my mind, they had given us up and didn't deserve any of my time.
"Why do you ask?" Mom asked me. She expertly flipped the eggs and then the bacon onto plates, then carried them over to the table where there were already plates, silverware, and tall glasses of OJ already waiting.
I shrugged, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. "Something I heard about. I was just wondering if it's true."
"What did you hear, and from who?" Mom asked.
I shrugged again. "Doesn't really matter who," I said evasively. "I think it might have just been someone messing with me."
'Hey!' protested Damien.
'Shut up,' I snarled.
"Jonathan?" Mom was peering into my eyes. "Are you ok?" I noticed Dad looking at me thoughtfully, but he didn't say anything.
I nodded. "I'm fine, just a little tired. So, do you have the papers somewhere nearby?"
Mom nodded. "In our bedroom. Wait here." She walked away, and a few minutes later came back with a thick stack of papers. "This is everything," she said. "From the forms your parents filled out when they gave you up to the forms we filled out to adopt you."
She handed me the stack, and Jameson peered over my shoulder as I looked at each paper. And then, there it was right in front of me. "Holy c**p," I whispered. Mom and Dad didn't seem to hear me but Jameson did. We've both always had really good hearing.
'Part of being a Lycan,' Damien said.
I ignored him.
"What is it, bro?" Jameson asked me.
I pointed a shaking finger at the paper I was looking at. There were their names, in black and white. "Their names," I said. "Sebastian and Havanna Dellion. That's what.....that's what the person told me. Well, I mean, they just gave me their first names, but still."
'He changed the spelling and changed the last name just a little,' Damien spat.
I heard my parents and brother gasp. "Who?" Mom demanded. "Who told you that?"
"I-I can't tell you just yet, Mom," I replied. "Please, just trust me. I need to confirm a few other things before I let anyone know."
Mom sighed. She knew how stubborn I could be and that I wouldn't tell them until I was ready. Little did she know, that might be never.
I flipped over to the next page, where the adoption agent had signed off on the adoption.
'Arthur!' Damien hissed. 'He DID do this, and the b****rd even had the b**ls to sign his own name!'
I looked at the adoption agent's name. Arthur DeLyon.
'So?' I asked. 'Who's Arthur?'
'Your uncle,' he said flatly. 'You weren't given up. You were kidnapped.'
- Writer
