Tainted Love

3 - Ghosts of the Past

Walking down the corridors as I follow the blondish wolf, I start to wonder how many times I have come down this path before.

Not many people come to this section of the Academy anymore. These corridors were the first to be built and because of that they are a bit crude. The rocky walls are still visible, and they are not as wide as the ones from the rest of the facilities. It really goes to show how far our community has come.

I know there used to be another Academy for the supernaturals located in New York, but it was completely destroyed in the calamity 20 years ago.

Stories about it still roam our home and there are still ghosts of the past haunting the ones who were left behind. Many people died back then.

We now know that the woman responsible for the calamity was only trying to save her brother and end the curse that was upon them. Breaking the curse resulted in all vampires in existence turning into humans. That alone was a huge change in our supernatural community, but the most drastic change the woman named Amelia caused was the sudden awareness of all humans towards our existence.

Many have forgiven her for her actions and there is a shrine dedicated to her near our home, but many others still blame her for the difficulties we were forced to endure and for all the lives that were taken back then.

I am in between those two opinions, as many of the younger generation are. Having not been through the horrors our parents and older generation endured, it is hard to blame Amelia when we know her motivations were just.

A shrine was also built for all the ones lost back then, which is where I am headed to now. It is a simple memorial but with so much meaning and imbued remorse.

I must be the person who comes here most often. One would think I come here to pay my respects to these people that died a horrible death but I never met them. They died before I was even born.

I come here so often for a very specific reason…

Entering the room where the shrine is located, I need to take a moment to capacitate myself. I really don’t like coming here. The remorse and anguish are nearly overwhelming.

All the souls that were lost so suddenly so long ago are all still so confused. It makes it hard to think through their troubled emotions.

I have to focus on finding the one who has led me here. Taking another deep breath, I manage to see the blondish wolf and follow him through the amalgamation of standing stones, each engraved with a series of names of the people who were lost.

I have to stop several times while I follow the wolf as many other souls try to reach out to me, but their emotions are so jumbled, I can’t understand what they are trying to tell me.

Finally reaching the wolf, I notice he is standing next to a particular stone, and I know he is trying to tell me who he is.

Using his snout, he points to one of the names in the stone and I get closer to be able to read it.

“Aiden Carson” I mumble and just like that, the wolf in front of me transforms and turns into his human form.

His emotions are not as troubled as the others but when I see his human form; it is me who has to take a moment to process mine.

He looks so young.

He must have been way younger than me when he died, and I am only 19.

He eyes me attentively while I regain my composure and takes a step forward, raising his arm as if to give me something.

In response, I raise mine and he drops what looks to be a ring in my hand. I look at the ring confusingly for a moment but when I look back up, he is already gone.

I still try to look around to find him, but he has vanished only to leave me utterly baffled as to what to do with this ring.

Usually, when these souls come forward to contact me, they want me to do something for them. It is often hard to understand but I always manage to find a way to figure out what they want.

Not in this case, however. I have absolutely no idea. I guess I’ll have to figure out who Aiden Carson was before I manage to understand what he wants of me.

On my way out, I cross ways with Yara’s adoptive father. He is the mechanic of the Academy and the one who usually does maintenance on the unusual machines he comes up with. I wonder why he’s here at this late hour. There are no machines in this place.

“Hello, Mr. Lucas” I greet him politely.

“Alana” He says, somewhat surprised. He looks like he didn’t want to get caught coming here and I understand.

“I was just about to leave” I say with a slight smile. “Are you joining us for dinner?”

He may be the father of my best friend, but I barely know him. Him and his wife, Headmaster Charlotte, have been separated for a while now and he doesn’t join the rest of the people on regular gatherings anymore. He generally sticks to his machines. Yara still tries to get close to him by helping him with his work but from what she tells me, it seems he is a very reserved person.

Before he answers my question, he eyes me up and down and then looks at the big shrine. When he turns back to me, he has a knowing look on his face.

It is no secret to anyone what I can do. I have no shame that I can talk to these spirits, so everyone already knows why I come here on my own so often.

Taking a closer look at him, I notice how much of a mess he is. His beard has not been shaven in many weeks, he has deep dark circles under his eyes, and I swear he is looking way thinner than the last time I saw him.

“Ah, I see” He says. “I won’t be going to dinner. You can go ahead”

I silently nod, a bit disappointed but then something in the back of my head tells me that I need to ask him something.

“Do you know who Aiden Carson is? Ah… was?” I say.

He looks as if he was struck by lightning. The shock and disbelief in his eyes are so apparent that I take a step closer to him to try to comfort him somehow.

“Y-You saw Aiden?” He asks me, his voice raspy as if he is holding back tears.

“Yeah…” I answer still worried over him. Carefully, I place a hand on his shoulder and squeeze, knowing he is in pain.

It is something I have come to realize through the years. No matter how long it has been, people who lost someone close to them never completely let go. Some hold on stronger than others but the trauma is always there. With time, I managed to learn how to deal with these people. Everyone is unique but physical comfort is always something that helps.

But it seems comfort is not what he wants right now, even though he needs it. He shoves my hand away, albeit gently, and I notice the deep frown on his face.

“Aiden has no reason to come back now” He firmly states. “You must have confused him with someone else”

“N-No, I’m pretty sure that was him” I say. “He pointed me to his name and-” I’m interrupted before I can go on.

“It must have been someone else you saw” He continues. “Aiden died far too long ago and had no regrets when he did. I know. I was there”

I don’t know how to respond to this. I get that this Aiden must have been someone important to Mr. Lucas. I cannot imagine what it could have been like to watch him die in front of his eyes.

“I’m sorry” Is all I can say.

“Please, just leave” He says and I am far too stunned to reject his suggestion.

I immediately leave and quickly walk away from the haunted memorial. This is going to be a difficult one. I still have the ring in my hand, and I have no idea what I should do with it. I guess it has something to do with Mr. Lucas, but he is not in the mood for me to press any further.

I decide to leave it at that for now, as I place the ring in my pocket. Unless the blondish werewolf decides to pester me into solving things faster, I have no idea what to do next.

“I knew I’d find you here” A gentle voice says and I lift my head as I walk to see my beautiful mom, Anastacia.

She approaches me and hugs me, always knowing when I need a good embrace. I dig my head in her beautifully braided long brown hair that she keeps to the side. Suddenly, I feel so tired. I always forget how exhausting it is to go to the shrine.

She gently strokes my back like she always does and I feel her lips on my forehead.

“Did you manage to help them?” She quietly asks.

“Not yet” I mumble. “This one is difficult. I have no idea what he wants”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out” She assures me. “Now…” She says and she parts from me so she can take a look at me.

Her deep blue eyes gaze at me with motherly affection and I feel a smile creep at the end of my lips. It feels so good to be loved to this extent, even if I am not her biological daughter.

“Your hair is still soaked” She tells me, petting my cheek.

“Yeah… I didn’t have time to dry it up” I say.

“Well, we can’t have that” She says. “Wouldn’t want you to catch a cold. Come on”

She wraps her arm in mine and starts leading to her and my other mom’s apartment.

“But aren’t we late for dinner?” I ask her as we walk.

“Dinner can wait a little bit” She says with a smile. “Besides… It’s been so long since we had a family dinner at home”

My eyes immediately light up. “Mom came back too?” I ask and she laughs at my excitement.

My other mom, Cyla, is usually out on missions with the HPS group helping them to gather rogue supernaturals and keeping peace outside so the hostilities between supernaturals and humans are kept in check. She doesn’t come home regularly, even when other members of the group come back from their assignments.

“We can have sushi!” I shout, getting even more excited at the idea. “I can ask Felix to get us some fresh fish!”

“I’m sure Felix would be delighted to help, but we don’t want to pull her away from her family at dinner time” My mom says. “But don’t worry. I have it all figured out”

It’s not long before we arrive home, our home, and I get to see it with my own eyes. Mom Anastacia has the table set with all our favorite foods. Sushi, cobbled apple pie, pizza and even chocolate. It may not seem like a good combination, but we love it! Especially if the pizza has banana in it, which it has.

Yara is already there, waiting for us at the table. She usually joins us on family meals, since her mother is always so busy, and her father is… well… always absent. I am already drooling when a most missed figure emerges from the bedroom.

“MOM!!” I shout and run to her, embracing her tightly.

It’s been months since I last saw her, but she still looks the same. She wears her blonde hair short and her blue eyes twinkle when they look at me lovingly.

“I missed you so much, sweetie” She says, hugging me again. “What have you been up to?”

“Nothing much” I say.

“Have you finished what you went out to do?” Yara asks me with a knowing smirk.

“Not quite” I say. “It’s a difficult one”

“Who’s the victim this time?” She asks and I hesitate to answer.

“It’s ah… It’s your dad…” I tell her, a little afraid of her reaction.

She looks at me, obviously trying to keep her expression stoic.

“Oh” She mumbles. “Ok”

I suppose that is as much of a reaction as I can get out of her about this.

“Who’s hungry?” My mom Cyla asks, realizing the awkward moment.

“Me!” I exclaim, taking my seat at the table.

“What about your wet hair, young lady?” My mom Anastacia says with her hands on her hips.

“Pleaaaase, mom” I pout. “The food is gonna get cold”

My mom Cyla chuckles and pinches my cheek.

“It’s alright, Annie” She says. “We can dry her hair after dinner and then we can braid each other’s hairs like we used to”

My mom Anastacia sighs in defeat. She knows she can’t say no to my mom.

“Alright, as long as we don’t get late to the announcement” She says.

“Yeah, it will be fine” Mom Cyla says. “They won’t announce the new kid without me anyway”

“Who is the new kid?” Yara questions, as my moms join us at the table.

“We don’t know for sure” Mom Cyla says. “We found him in the forest, and he was in a rough shape. We think he was raised by wolves”

“There are more werewolves out there?” My Mom Anastacia asks.

“No, no, actual wolves” Mom Cyla explains. “He clearly has no understanding of human interactions. The only reason we found him was because there were reports of a flood at the local village when there hadn’t been raining in weeks.

“Poor child” Mom Anastacia says. “You said he was living alone in the woods?”

“Yes, and he probably hadn’t eaten anything in days” Mom Cyla says. “We assumed he was the one who caused the flood because he was guarding the corpses of a pack of wolves very closely. They were killed by the local farmers for killing their sheep recurringly”

“Could it be that the wolves were his family?” I ask.

“We think so, yeah” Mom Cyla answers.

“It doesn’t make much sense, though” Yara comments. “A wizard living in the middle of the woods with a pack of wolves”

“It’s more common than you think” Mom Cyla says. “After the calamity, many children were left on their own. I suppose this one was found by the pack when he was very young and they just took him in as one of their own”

“I guess they thought of him as a cub who needed protection” Mom Anastacia says. “I’m just surprised he managed to survive the harsh conditions”

“Growing up as a wolf…” Yara mumbles. “Must not have been easy…”

“It certainly wasn’t” Mom Cyla says. “But he’s here now and we are going to take care of him”

We all smile at that remark and start talking about all of my mother’s adventures outside of the Academy while we eat a earthy meal.

While we eat, I allow my thoughts to drift back to the wolf ghost I saw today and what he could possibly want with this ring he gave me.

I don’t know why I was chosen to bear the burden of helping these lost souls, but it is something I have been doing since I was a little girl. I never questioned it or wondered why I was the only one who could do so.

I simply accepted it and learned to deal with it.