CHAPTER: 7
1330 Words
Tanya sat down hesitantly beside Alex on the sofa. He then continued, "James is your real father."
"My uncle James?" She shook her head in disbelief and started to laugh. "That is impossible. Is this some sort of prank or something?" she asked Alex.
"Think about it, Tanya," he said.
And she did. She thought hard, picturing Mark and Adriana in her mind. She didn't look like them at all. Her father was dark-skinned, tall and there was no resemblance between her father and her. Tanya and her mother may have shared the same dark hair and light complexion, but well the resemblance ended there, everything else about them was different. Tanya's head was spinning, this was way too much.
"Relax," Alex whispered, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It is going to take some adjusting to, but in time, it will all make sense. I promise."
"If you are telling the truth, then why didn't James say something before?" Tanya didn't want to believe him, but the further she thought about it the more sense it made. She wanted to cry, to scream, to escape. This was all too much for her in one single day.
Alex continued, "James had to wait. It was not safe until now." His blue eyes were serious again and there was no sign of the warm smile that he often wore. "Have you ever read about the Vampire and the Vampire Hunter?" he asked Tanya.
Why was he suddenly changing the subject? What did this have to do with anything? Tanya had no idea. She nodded slowly, recalling reading about it while in middle school. She supposed he was trying to distract her.
"Tanya, the world is not as simple as it looks. My mother's ancestors were Vampire Hunters. Her real father was executed by the Vampire Prince. So, do you understand how this is contradictory?"
"Yes..." She muttered. "What does this have to do with anything?"
Alex stared out of the window behind them. The water rippled elegantly, the bright moonlight reflected upon the lake's surface. "Coincidences sometimes are not simply coincidental," he said.
The cake. The cake was not coincidental? Her head was spinning very badly now. "What are you trying to tell me, Alex?" She gasped trying to breathe.
"Calm down," he whispered.
"Are you trying to tell me that you are a vampire hunter?" Tanya asked him.
"No. I am not a vampire hunter, at least not exactly," he replied.
"Not exactly?" She eyed him suspiciously.
"I have some...er, special abilities. Nevertheless, I am definitely not a vampire hunter," he said.
"I think you have a bad case of sleep deprivation or something, Alex. Or you are...I don't know...this is insane."
He smirked. "I don't sleep. It isn't necessary for me."
"What?" She laughed, knowing she must still be asleep and suffering from bizarre dreams brought on from the stress of yesterday's events.
"I will explain that another time," he said.
"I should go home..." She blurted out suddenly. "This is all lies. This is all wrong. This is all crazy...you are crazy Alex."
The last words really stung him. "I am not crazy. Neither are you. And you are in no condition to be driving right now. You can stay here, Tanya."
"Here?" She shouted, bewildered at the turn of events. "Would you want to stay in some stranger's house after they told you your parents weren't who you thought they were for the past eighteen years, and then told you he had special abilities?"
Alex frowned, and his eyes reflected the sadness. "Honestly, I probably would not, if I didn't know all of this was true."
Her mind was full of questions and worries, but soon they all seemed to fade. A sense of calm filled her and she felt completely at ease in Alex's presence. "What are these special abilities, you claim to have anyway? And how do you do them?"
"That cake." He smiled sheepishly. "I can make things materialize like that."
"What? How?" Tanya asked him.
"It is a long story, Tanya." He leaned back on the couch. "Your mind will probably not be able to handle everything right now. I will tell you more tomorrow."
"I can handle it," She insisted, although she knew it was a lie. In fact, she was almost certain she was somewhere on the highway, unconscious in her flipped vehicle and her mind was wandering into madness as she slowly slipped away, because this was impossible. This was not real.
Wake up, Tanya, wake up! She thought to herself as her mind raced almost as fast as her heart.
"I won't tell you any more until you have rested," he said firmly. "Would you be more comfortable sleeping on the sofa or in the guest room?" Alex asked her.
She wanted to decline both options and yell at him, that she would prefer sleeping outside in her car, but instead, she found herself agreeing to sleep on the couch.
"Good choice. There are many more dangerous things out there to you than me," Alex said to her.
It was true that he had not hurt her yet, and he had ample opportunity while she napped earlier.
She didn't object to him helping her stretch out across the sofa, nor did she notice him leave the room to fetch a blanket and pillow. She had to admit that this was comfortable, warm, and much better than struggling to sleep in the red Hyundai Elantra car.
"Goodnight, Tanya, sleep well," Alex whispered as her eyes fell shut uncontrollably. Sleep overcame her quickly as she silently hoped she would wake up in her familiar bed to find this had all truly been a dream.
There was that familiar tugging again. Her dreams were full of wonder, a strange boy named Alex, her Mom abandoning her...this time she was more eager to wake up. She was startled when she found herself on a white sofa identical to the one in her dream, or what she had hoped was a dream. She screamed, pulled herself away from the comfortable couch, and ran towards the tall white doors.
As the doors slammed shut behind her, she fell to her knees on the marble stairs. Her red Hyundai Elantra was gone. She fought the urge to scream again and felt a sudden blast of cold air from behind her.
"Good morning." The silky, sweet voice of the boy from her dream filled her ears.
She rose from the ground and thrust herself at him, her palm prepared to smack him across the cheek, but he was too quick. He gripped her wrist tightly and pulled her arm downward. "There is no need for that." His voice was tense. "For your kind information, Your car is not gone. It is in the garage."
Her eyes fell on the garage to the left of the house, and she sighed with relief. He released her hand. "I will admit, it wasn't easy getting it there, as I have limited experience with operating vehicles...however, I managed, and I assure you that your car was not damaged in the process," he said and looked amused at her expression of alarm. "While we are out here, though, why don't we drive over to Jame's business? There are many things he needs to explain to you, and the sooner you know, the sooner you will understand everything," Alex suggested, his voice calm and gentle now.
"I don't want to go there," Tanya replied stubbornly. If all of this was true, she did not think she was ready to face reality. James could not be her father.
"You will have to eventually, you know," Alex said calmly. "And somewhere, deep down, you want to."
"What does it matter anyway? It is not like it will change anything," she said.
"It will change a lot of things, actually," he stated. "You will feel better if you go."
"I highly doubt it," Tanya replied.
- Writer
