Hallows: Black Death

You Really Are My Daughter

Pierce The Veil- I'd Rather Die Than Be Famous

B.B.:

I get up and go into the library to find my notes at my desk. No one stops me or says a word. I didn't want to say any of that to them. I want to tell them that I care and that I want them to get along but the truth is that it doesn't matter right now. None of it does. All that matters is this. My sister. She's been in purgatory for two years now. I need to get her out of there. She needs to come back. I can't do that with this many distractions. Four of them.

Slowly, they all begin to come over and take a seat around the room. James moves the couch around so that it's facing my desk. My dad is the only one that sits directly in front of me. Nat looks around the room and decides she doesn't care and takes the seat next to him. They're talking about her dad. My dad's nephew and the hellhound lineage. I told him that I'm working on getting her the Phantom Estate and other assets by her birthday. It's all right on schedule.

"Okay," I sigh.

"Wait," Victor stops me. "I've got something to say,"

"What?" I ask annoyed.

"You're lying," he states. I sit back and humor him. Of course, I'm lying, you beautiful i***t. "You don't like feeling vulnerable. If these other assholes are cool with letting you get away with this s**t, f**k them. I don't care. But you're not going to do this s**t to me, princess. It's a yes or no for me. Do you want to be with me or not? It's that simple.

"I don't care what you do with your other boyfriends but you're not going to play games with me. I don't do s**t half-assed. If you're going to be mine. You're going to give me what I want and it's not just s*x. I'm invested in this. Completely. I'm all in and I want to know your answer,"

"Right now?" I ask.

"Right now," he nods.

"No," I answer. The others look at one other, their eyes wide. Nonstop is playing now. "If you want the answer right now. The answer is no. I don't want to be with you or anyone else. I don't want a boyfriend. I have more important s**t to do. Lucien and Carson, we have history. I know them. I don't know you. I want to know you. I want to work my way into it but not right now. I have a lot of s**t on my mind,"

"All right," he nods. "It's a no for me as well then. This is the last time I ever ask,"

"Perfect," I nod.

"B.B.," my dad starts.

"Don't. You wanted resolutions. This is it. Whether they hurt or not. This is where I'm at right now. I told you to shut the f**k up and you didn't listen. Listen to me now and just shut up, dad. You're only going to make things worse for all of us. Just shut. The. f**k. Up. Dante. That's all you have to do right now,"

"Okay," he puts his hands up in surrender but the look on his face makes me want to put my hands around his throat and squeeze with all my might to see if that keeps him dead.

"Anyone else?" I ask looking them over with disinterest.

"f**k," Damian sighs. "That hurt my feelings and I'm not interested in this race in the slightest,"

"If we're done. I'd like to show you what Delilah set up for me. Are we ready to talk business?" I ask.

"Aye," everyone else agrees.

"Great," I rub my temples. "Uh, I have to get something from the backyard. I'll be right back,"

I grab the book where she hid it in a plastic bag. As I'm walking inside, I see a s**t ton of crows all over the yard. I turn to look at them to find that they're all staring at me. They all feel very different. It's weird that I can tell what crows belong to what murder. They all have different auras and I know that if I focus, I can tell what aura belongs to what boy. I roll my eyes and walk back inside.

A laugh works its way out of me as I rip the plastic open. I look down at the journal to see that it looks like it's made out of actual skin. Human, skin. I sigh choosing to ignore it and hold it up for the others to see. Stacy and Natalie stand up with their mouths hanging open.

"What the f**k?" Nat blurts out.

"Let's set some ground rules," I shake my head. "If it looks like it's made of human skin or it moves on its own, don't f**k with it. Can we all agree on that?"

"Aye," they all nod.

"We'll call it the Nope rule," Dylan smiles.

"Okay, well. We kind of have to f**k with it right now because Delilah is a f*****g cunt," I toss it on the desk not wanting to hold it anymore. "Okay, all of it is connected. Tobias, the toad, the stones. There are six in total. Delilah firmly believes that these stones make up the tomb of Lilith. The first bride.

"If she's right, I believe the other reapers are going to try and use all of us to open the tomb to try and end the curse. However, I don't think this is a curse. If it were, a lot more people would be affected by the stones. Not just certain bloodlines.

"I believe we're maybe descendants of the first bride. The fragments of the stones didn't curse our bloodlines. If that were the case then it would show up in our blood but it doesn't. I want to look into that later. Anyway.

"There are fifty-four of us in just this region. The tomb itself connects Cali, Oregon, and Nevada. They've built a house over each stone totem. Each stone is a different element. Ours is the heart of it. Without our stone, they can't move past the last step in whatever they're doing. But they are starting to move. They're going to start by taking over the towns around us starting with Hellbourne, my guess is that they chose us to go first as their biggest threat,"

"Why do they need to take over the towns?" my dad asks.

"They're going to try to isolate all of us," Carson says. "That makes sense,"

"They have all the stones," Luce sighs.

"No, they don't," I held up the stone in my hand. "Delilah had me make this two years ago. Weeks before she died. Except, this isn't the stone I made. This isn't epoxy. This is the real thing. The one the toad has is the one I made. Terra had it with her without knowing this whole time. She gave it to me the day of the blood drive,"

"Holy s**t," Carson huffs. "She went in deep,"

"Yeah, she did. All she got was information. These names, they're the names of the targets we need to protect. We need to divide and conquer. She said something about gathering the Fallen. Does that mean something to you guys?"

"Yeah," Carson nods. "The Fallen is our organization. There are Twelve of us. We all have a region we take care of here in Hellbourne. Delilah split us up to make moving product easier, filter our girls, and ensure everyone's safety in enemy territories,"

"Okay, I need names and crews. Twelve isn't enough we need two more," choosing to ignore that this is the first I am hearing about this. He said-nope.

"I can help," Victor raises his hand.

"Me too," Rodrigo agrees.

"Alright, one of our names has been eliminated and we need to ensure that whoever is up to take the town is someone we can trust,"

"Who?" Stacy asks. "None of us are old enough to run for mayor,"

"Yeah, our age is the issue," Dylan laughs. "Sit down, Stacy,"

"As much as I know I'm going to regret this, I have an idea," I say.

"No," my dad shook his head. "You are not bringing that motherfucker into this. This is our business,"

"We can use him for this," I cross my arms over my chest. "Everyone knows Espinosa. He has the experience and the credentials for this. He's not just some ass hole cop,"

"I've told you-"

"You're not even going to be here when all this s**t goes down," I cut him off. "You're already f*****g dead,"

"You are not going to bring David back," he roars standing up so fast the chair tips back and slides across the room. "I will f*****g kill him, B.B. You want to test me?"

"You can't kill him," I scoff. "If you could you would have done a really long time ago,"

His hand reaches for me. I'm expecting it for the first time in my life. I raise my hand and his fingers interlock with mine. He pulls me into him spinning me around so my back is against his front. I lower my body forward pulling him to me and pull as hard as I can. His body rolls over mine and he lands on the floor in front of me. His other hand comes up and grips my hair. I put my boot on his throat and push down not letting him take me down.

"Let. Go," he groans as I push down on him.

"You let go first," I shout and he opens his hands. He's back on his feet again and I take a step back panting feeling the sharp sting on my scalp where he gripped my hair.

"You took combat lessons?" he growls.

"Mom made me take them before I went into high school," I try to catch my breath. "I should have told you this sooner but I trust Espinosa. He's been there for me from the start. Not you and sure as f**k not mom. I love him. The only reason why I did what you asked is because I was scared of what you might do to him,"

"Is that right?" he nods. His eyes are full-on demonic right now. His skin is completely drained of color.

"I don't know what he did to you, dad but he's never done anything to me. I've continuously hurt him and he-"

"He comes back," he nods without meeting my gaze. "It's not because he cares about you, dumbass. He wants something from us. Espinosa killed Anthony and Kelly Daniels,"

"What?" both Luc and Carson stand up.

"He killed Joselyn McCarthur and my mother," he adds. "I let him in on our secret and he betrayed us because he wanted to be with your mother,"

"A mortal can't kill one of us," I shook my head.

"No, a mortal can't kill us. Not without a weapon," he goes over to the bookshelf by the entrance of my lab and reaches behind the books. He pulls out a leather bundle holding it up before he begins to unwrap it. "This is called the spear of Gabriel. It's a holy relic. There are dozens of little trinkets like this that can kill one of us. The reason you were born prematurely is because David stabbed your mother with this.

"We have a Hallow organization. A worldwide organization. Did you think no one was going to notice? Espinosa is a f*****g Hallow hunter and this," he holds up the spear. "Is his f*****g weapon of choice," he puts it back in the leather piece and shoves it against my chest. "Do you still love him, B.B.? He still your replacement daddy?"

"Dad-"

"Save it," he growls and begins to walk away.

"I'm still going to bring him in," I say and he stops. "It doesn't change anything in fact, it just works out better in our favor,"

"You'd set up someone you love as bait?" he turns around with a smile on his face.

"I'd set you up for bait if it meant bringing Delilah back," I place the spear on the desk.

"Look at that," he laughs throwing his arms in the air. "You really are my daughter,"

I think that's the greatest insult he's ever paid me.