Chapter 21-Answers
Three months. That’s how long we had been gone from home, but in Circe’s realm it was only a matter of days. My parents had been hysterical when Zilla and I showed up bloody and bruised on the doorstep. They asked us where we had been, but we were both so exhausted from the trip that we couldn’t answer. We were sent to my room, our wounds attended too and then we both slept for at least another week.
When I finally woke up with Zilla curled next to me, the moon was casting shadows all around my room. My parents were both snoring away in chairs next to us so I slid out of bed as quiet as a mouse and tiptoed to the bathroom. I had just finished brushing my teeth when there was a light knock on the door and my mother stepped in. She looked uncertain as if she were debating whether or not to hug me so I walked over and embraced her. The comfort of her arms made the past few days, or months in her case, feel practically non-existent.
She cupped my cheeks in her hands and tilted my chin up. “I am so glad you’re home safe and sound. Your father and I expected the worst when you didn’t come home right away. If you’re not feeling up to it you don’t have to tell me yet, but I really want to know what happened to you.” There were tears in her eyes and I felt mine well up in response. I told her as much as I could remember about the dreams, the magick, Circe’s realm, the polong’s, Thanatos and even Cole, though I left out his name and just called him an asema. I also was very careful to leave out the parts about Draven. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye again and I had made a promise I intended to keep. I told her about what Circe accused her of, at which point she seemed to stare off into space.
“Is it true?” I asked taking her silence for guilt.
“It is,” she said carefully.
“I don’t understand,” I said fear building up inside me. I felt like I didn’t know her again. How could she ever do such a thing to innocent people?
“It was a very long time ago, sweetheart.”
“I need to know,” I said urging her to continue.
“I met Kaine when I was a young girl, about your age in fact. He was handsome with sparkling green eyes and wispy blonde hair. He was a catch and everyone knew that, but for some reason he chose me. We moved in together and planned to start a family. Then one day, we were doing adult things in the bedroom...” I interrupted her. “Mom, I know about sex, you don’t have to sugarcoat it.”
She grimaced. “I’m sure you do, but that doesn’t make it any less awkward.”
I sighed and she continued. “Anyway, we were having sex, as you so bluntly put it, and he asked me if I wanted to try something new. At that point I was madly in love and would have done anything for him so I consented. He pulled a knife out of a drawer and cut a slash across the palm of my hand, then he had me do the same. It continued on until we realized how out of hand it had gotten. At some point I had managed to cut him so deeply that before I could get him to a hospital, he died.” The mental picture was enough to make me shudder. I put an arm around her shoulder for comfort.
“I was devastated and I spent months lying around in bed hoping and praying that I would share the same fate. I finally got out of bed to get something from the store and a bunch of guys attacked me. I fought back with everything I had and managed to kill or maim every last one of them. Afterwards I just felt so relieved and that’s when I started doing it on a regular basis. I choose carefully though, making sure it was only people who had karma coming their way. A few months later someone from Thanatos’ realm came and scooped me up. I had no reason to live so I figured I might as well join his team. He made me an immortal and every few days I would be given an envelope with a picture and a location of someone he wanted taken down and I would do it. It kept me busy enough to distract my thoughts from Kaine, who I missed dearly.”
Hearing of her talk of Kaine made me think of Cole and my heart felt like someone stomped on it. I reached for my wrist, the one he bit without my permission and saw the marks were gone. I hoped my parents never caught a glimpse of them because that’s something I could live without having to explain.
“Then one day I met your father, he was one of my assignments, and we fell in love. I knew I couldn’t be with him and continue on with what I was doing so I went back, denounced my position and ran away. Then we had you and I knew that he would come after us, he was never happy with my choosing someone else when he had made his intentions clear.”
“Is it true that you enjoyed killing people?”
“Yes. There was a brief time where it was the highlight of my day, but now I think back on it and I am so ashamed at what I’ve done. It’s something I’m going to have to live with long after you and your father have passed.”
“Are you going to go back to Thanatos after we are gone?”
“No,” she said firmly, “I have already done that and I know in my heart it was the wrong path. I won’t choose that life again.”
“I love you,” I said hugging her again.
“I love you too. Now, I have some questions for you if you don’t mind,” she said changing the subject.
I shrugged my shoulders. “Sure.”
“Circe’s realm, Nephoxi, how did you say you got there again?”
This was another thing I was sort of vague about, I didn’t want to tell her about Viale, but I suppose it couldn’t do any harm now could it? “We recruited a polong named Viale to escort us. He took us to the Syn-Wood Forest and from there we entered a portal to Nephoxi.”
“How were you able to recruit Viale? Polong’s are known to only do bidding in exchange for blood.”
My hands started shaking as she eyed me suspiciously. I could tell that she knew there was something I wasn’t telling her. “My good looks of course.”
She tried not to smile, but couldn’t help herself. She may know I’m lying, but she didn’t seem to press the issue. “Is he the one who also led you back home then?”
“No, he wasn’t. After we got to Circe’s, he took off and we never saw him again.”
“Then how did you manage to get back?” she asked curiously.
“Actually, to be honest, we were lost for awhile.” I remembered our trip home, how we sloshed through the heavy undergrowth just trying to stay alive. Every path we took seemed to lead us in a different direction than the one we needed to get back to the portal. It felt like at every turn we were either going in circles or being attacked by some wild animals.
“So how did you find your way out?”
“A moonbird,” I said recalling its snowy white form swooping down and speaking to me.
“You saw a moonbird?” she asked in awe. “How did you know about them?”
“Yes. I didn’t, but when it got close and landed on my hand I felt it talking in my mind and so I asked what it was.” I couldn’t tell her about Draven and the moonbird he sent me the night Garbage was killed.
“What else did it say?”
“It said that to find the way out I only needed to follow it to the portal. I tried to ask who sent it, but it didn’t respond.”
She nodded as if accepting my answer and sat quietly. She hadn’t asked me anymore questions so I figured she was done. I wondered briefly if she knew any information about the lost cities or this Odwalla Bodeip that Circe mentioned.
“Hey mom,” I said pulling her out of her thoughts.
“Yes?”
“How much do you know about the lost cities? Viale said that Nephoxi was only one of five and that they knew of two others Limchae and Eylaik.”
She pondered for a moment. “I have heard of the lost cities, but not much else. From what I understand, they are a myth that was created to keep the populace from feeling hopeless. Keep the moral up, that sort of thing. Although, now that you’ve been to one the others must be out there somewhere.”
“What about someone named Odwalla Bodeip? Does that ring a bell?”
“Why are you asking me this? Is ther
e something you’re not telling me?”
“No,” I said trying to sound convincing, “it’s just a name that Circe mentioned while we were there and I wondered if you had heard of it before.”
She paused for a moment, but said, “Yes, I have heard that name before. It was back when I lingered in Thanatos’ realm. I only ever heard that name in passing though, so I’m not sure who that person is or where they reside.”
“Okay,” I said defeated. Draven and I were going to have a lot of work ahead of us to figure out what to do now.
“I’m going to keep you safe now,” she said pulling me closer. “I promise that your father and I are going to do everything in our power to make sure you’re well protected. We won’t let Thanatos or anyone else take you away from us again.”
“Thanks mom,” I said snuggling closer to her.
She kissed me on the forehead and led me back to the room where my dad was waiting with open arms. I clung to him as tightly as I could, making sure to mentally imprint this moment into my brain. Zilla rustled awake and I went to lie down beside her, our faces pressed closely together. I heard the door open and shut and knew that my parents had left the room to give us some privacy.
“How are you holding up?” I asked brushing a strand of hair back from her face.
“I’m alive,” she said fighting tears, “but I feel like I should be dead. You saved my life Callie, I don’t think I could ever forget that.”
“I’m just glad that it’s over and you’re safe now.”
“I wish it were that easy,” Draven said appearing out of nowhere and startling us. I felt my pulse quicken and managed to take some deep breaths to calm me back down.
“Don’t do that,” I said scolding him. After everything that happened, what made him think it was okay to just pop in like that and scare the crap out of us?
“Sorry,” he said remorsefully, “I’ll try to make my presence known better next time.”
“Good,” Zilla said sitting up, “now what is this business about it not being easy? I thought it was over now.”
I know killing Circe was only part of the problem, but I couldn’t help thinking this might be something separate from that. As if confirming my thoughts Draven looked at me sadly.
“What is it? Just spill already,” I said getting frustrated.
“Don’t panic yet,” he said trying to calm our nerves, “but when a person is fed on by more than one polong, the chances of a change occurring is significantly higher.”
“What do you mean a change?” I asked jumping off the bed.
“I mean that after what happened to Zilla, there is a chance she could turn into one of them.”
“You’re kidding right?” Zilla said flippantly. “There’s no way, I would be able to feel something like that by now.”
“Actually, it takes a few months for the vampirism to set in and there is no telling which form it will take since there are several different types out there.”
“You’re lying,” she shouted angrily. Zilla burst into tears and I tried to comfort her as best I could, but ultimately she pulled away. “I need to go see Locke. He must be very worried about me by now.”
I didn’t want to hold her back, but I didn’t know if she was well enough to leave. “Are you sure you’re up to it? Do you feel okay?”
“I’m fine, I just need some time to think and stuff,” she said gathering up her things.
“Well get this all figured out,” I said hugging her. “Don’t worry, I promise we will be here with you every step of the way, whether you change or stay the same I will love you regardless.” I hoped my words lifted her spirits in some way, because I meant each and every syllable. She was my life line, my best friend and confidante. There was nothing in this world that could take that away.
“Thanks,” she said reaching for the doorknob, “I’ll text you when I get over there.”
“Okay,” I said as she took off. I prayed everything would be alright, but I knew it was going to be a long few months of nail biting until we knew whether she was infected or not.
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