Cullen - Origins [English Version - FINISHED]

Chapter Fourty-One

- Hello, Elder.

He swallowed weakly, unable to answer the Holy Mother. His hands were shaking and he had to make a huge effort not to scream in rage and terror. What was she doing here ? In his plans, she should never have been in the same place as him, when he hadn't even had time to fool the police in his own way. Gritting his teeth, he glared at her.

- Who are you ? Said the sheriff.

Elder had noticed his fist clenching his gun a little tighter. This tick betrayed his distrust.

- Oh, didn't dear Elder tell you about me ?

What a viper's tongue, Elder mused. What is she playing at ?! He too was nervous. Completely anxious, even. This time, he was in a very bad position. For if being the accomplice of the Holy Mother had been a mistake, becoming her enemy was an even more dangerous game.

- So you're in league with him, the sheriff said, pointing to the principal. I suppose you're the one who acts in the shadows while he's making eyes at you from the front ?

- Let's go, let's go, rebuked the woman in the white coat, from your mouth it seems that I'm the one doing the dirty work for my boss.

Elder's heart missed a beat. What the...

- On the contrary, I'm the boss here. Explained the Holy Mother. Elder is only financing the project and giving us land for our... Experiments.

- We ? The sheriff quipped.

- Yes, me and my assistants. I am a researcher, a scientist. They call me the Holy Mother.

She's revealing everything ? Elder choked. He was completely lost. Why tell everything, when she had insisted that the offices be sealed off, that everything be hidden from the police ?

- You said that Alice and Astrea Cullen were mortal dangers for us all, why ? The sheriff replied.

- I said it because it's the truth, the Holy Mother replied. A truth that most people would rather forget, or simply not believe. She added in a light tone.

Elder didn't relax his jaw, convinced that she would tell on him at some point. She would never forgive him for disobeying her, and he knew she already knew. But how ? Had she suspected him the instant he left her a few minutes earlier ?

- What do you mean ? Asked the sheriff, still on the defensive.

From the look on his face, it was obvious that he didn't believe a word she was saying, as he had just moments earlier.

- These people are not who you think they are, began the Holy Mother.

- Are they ?

- They're supernatural creatures, supposed to stay in children's books. Except that they are real.

To Elder's surprise, the sheriff suddenly seemed to believe her.

- Wolves ? Like the two we found ? The sheriff asked.

- No, although they exist, too. I'm talking about creatures that are much more evil and cruel. Vampires.

A silence followed his statement. Elder glanced anxiously at the man next to him. How would he react ? Was he really going to believe what the Holy Mother said, and was this woman going to get away with it ? He didn't think she was going to get away with it...

The sheriff was still standing there, staring at the woman with a forbidding look.

- It's ridiculous, he finally said.

- Are you sure ? The Holy Mother replied.

She's got it all planned out, it's like she's reciting a text she learned by heart. Elder observed sharply.

- The pale complexion of the Cullen family is quite significant. Reiterated the woman. They only come out when the sun is hidden, and I'm sure you've never seen their teeth.

As she gave her arguments, the sheriff paled visibly. Elder wondered what he could be thinking of that made him look like that.

- Their supernatural beauty must not be foreign to you either, if I remember correctly, you live in the same town. Asserted the Holy Mother.

Andy Elder would have put his hand to cut that she gloated internally in front of the discomfited air of the sheriff. Rushing footsteps startled them. A couple approached them, staring at the sheriff.

- Daddy ! We haven't found any trace of the girls, but we may have found where they are trapped! exclaimed the girl as she walked towards the sheriff.

The statement seemed to snap him out of his silence and he turned to his daughter and looked at her as if he had never seen her before.

Having seen vampires more than once in his life, Elder noticed at first glance that the sheriff's daughter was a vampire. So was the boy. The boy's behavior disturbed Elder : silent, he stared at the Holy Mother with a horrified expression, anger in his eyes. At least, the director thought, if he decides to eat her, we'll be rid of her for good. The sheriff's voice drew him out of his thoughts.

- Bella, he said, addressing the young woman in front of him, you're... You...

He couldn't finish his sentence, his arms flailing.

- What do you have Dad ? Bella asked, her eyebrows furrowed, obviously worried.

Elder, who like the others was following their exchange in silence, was surprised. This girl was a vampire, and yet she was standing in front of three humans, and for the moment she hadn't made any attempt to kill them, drink their blood, or anything else. She seemed a far cry from the Holy Mother's usual portrayal of vampires: cruel, evil, monsters without a shred of mercy.

- Bella, said the father, you are... Tell me you're not...

- What ? What, Dad ?!

Increasingly alarmed, she clung to his right arm. Seeing that the sheriff could not answer, the vampire, silent until then, opened his mouth to whisper with a gentleness that disconcerted Elder :

- He knows, Bella.

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