Diary of An Unnatural (BOOK #2)

Home Is Where

Jane's POV

 

            I never felt like a truly had a home. Even as a human, my family moved around so much that I never even bothered unpacking my bags. I could still vividly remember the day my mother told me we were moving to America. Granted, I was furious. Moving throughout Europe had been enough but how to a completely different hemisphere?

            When I first arrived in the states--a little town in Florida right beside the beach, too sunny and warm for my taste--I kept my suitcase packed just in case Mother changed her mind again. But she didn't. And a year passed, so I unpacked my things and accepted the fact that we were bound to stay.

            A week later, I changed.

            So the place I almost called home became dangerous and a stranger's territory. I ran from it only taking the things I could grab in a minute's time. A family picture when we went to Disney World our first week in Florida. The old jewelry box my grandmother gave me on my thirteenth birthday. My beaten stuff-rabbit toy I had since I was a baby. A single blue thread from a woolen blanket. Only the sentimental things. Only the things I considered my own. They were my definition of home.

            Pulling up to the familiar antebellum home with the lights dimmed inside and the porch swing rocking the wind, set a feeling in my stomach. Never had I really thought about the fact that Jacqueline and Bernard's house was my home. It was the place where I could be myself, where the people I cared for sat beside me, full of laughter and love and hurt and anger.

            Val was the first one to say anything as we stepped out of the car. "My God. It's beautiful. To think something this exquisite is hidden from the world."

            Victor sidled around beside me. "You don't expect us to live in some second story apartment on Main Street, do you? We have to keep the history alive seeing as we're walking artifacts ourselves."

            Luke leaned over to me. "You know, I don't think I've ever really seen it from the outside. When I came, I was under compulsion. When I left, you sort of knocked me out."

            "Yes, sorry about that," I told him.

            "How long have you lived here?" he asked me. "I know at some point you were somewhere else--when you met Derek. And you changed in the eighties, so that would mean..."

            "Eight years," I said. "I met Derek around...2001, perhaps? So, yes, I started living year in 2004. After things went down with him, I traveled around for while trying to find my place. And then I discovered Bernard and Jacqueline. I met them at a charity event a town away. I only got in because I compelled the owner. They immediately recognized what I was and invited me to stay with them. I haven't turned back since."

            Luke nodded. "So you were the last one to join? Before Ava, I guess."

            "Yes, Victor was the first member of our little clan when he met Bernard during the Civil War. William came just a bit later. Angelina arrived around the thirties or so, I believe. But it wasn't like I was a Newborn or anything." I shrugged. "I always felt out of place. Bernard and Jacqueline had each other--they were smart and kind, and together they were almost something from a fairytale. Victor and Angelina were gross--always around each other laughing and pecking each other on the cheek. And William was the broody one in the corner making remarks whenever he saw fit. You see, I didn't have bond. Whoever changed me didn't have the connection. Neither did William. For a few months, I guess I thought that maybe we could make things easy and just get together. But alas, life doesn't work that way. It's never easy.