Resurgence

25

The Founder held his arms out and I just hugged him. I started to cry hysterically, like I just hadn't cried myself to sleep last night. He stroked my hair, saying nothing. Finally, I got it out of my system.

"What did you want to talk about?" He asked me.

"Did you know the truth about our ancestor's deal?" I asked him.

Alberto said nothing but then he sighed.

"Here, sit down." He pulls a chair closer to me. I sit in the chair and he offers me a box of tissues which I take.

"Where did you find this out?" He asked me, sitting back down.

"When the vampires tortured me, I died. I ended up speaking to a Nahua deity." I told him. "Huitzilopochtli told me the truth after that."

Alberto took a deep breath. "Well, I knew about that. I just wasn't planning on having that conversation with you just yet."

"How long have you known?" I asked him.

"Well, I've known since I was twenty seven." He sighed. "Your great-great grandfather was a complicated man. He was taken away from his parents to be raised by nuns at an orphanage. He never spoke of what the nuns put him through but I can only imagine."

"Why did he try to break the contract with Huitzilopochtli?" I see that Alberto is pouring some kind of liquor into a shot glass. He offers me one and I take it. It tastes like tequila but it goes down smoother and doesn't burn as bad.

"My father was a devout Christian man. Ibamos a misa every Sunday, my mother and sister had to wear their veils to church and we ate fish for dinner every Friday. I guess whenever Huitzilopochtli tried to reach him, he felt like he was sinning and prayed to the Christian God for him to leave him alone." Alberto spoke.

"What did you think?" I asked him. Alberto didn't strike me as the religious type.

"I used to believe. That was until He let my father die and I began to falter in my faith." Alberto took a deep breath. "Then to punish me, he took my beloved mama. That's when I stopped believing in together. I think you managed to avoid the prayer that your great grandfather placed on us by not being raised by us."

"That's why he contacted me."

"You remind me of myself when I was your age." Alberto chuckled. "I was brash and angry at the world for leaving me to my failures. I was only nineteen when I took the position as the Founder. My father had barely gotten the chance to teach me the ropes. I had to depend on men that I could not trust and learn my way of dealing with the government and the Hunters."

"That must have been hard."

"It was. But I learned."

"I want to pretend that I'm okay for everyone else but I'm fucking falling apart."

"I felt like that when your great-grandmother passed away. We have been married since we were sixteen. When she passed away, I felt like there was a giant hole in my heart that neither alcohol or my family could fix."

"I don't know what's happening to me. I almost beat a guy to death and killed him and it made me happy."

"Well, what did he do to you?"

"He tried to drag a drunk girl away to rape her and he called me a slur."

"Well, you did God's work for him. I bet that bastard won't do it again."

I chuckle. "Does it get any better?"

"They say time heals all wounds but you just get better at hiding your grief from yourself." Alberto sighed. "I learned that with my parents."

"I wish he was still here. I wish that I was dead with him."

"Yet, you're not. You're meant for something special, Erika. You just don't know it yet."

"How do you know that?"

"I don't. But if our ancestors' god spoke to you, there is probably a reason why."

"He just needed someone to take up the mantle of his champion again."

"Perhaps. But I used to have strange dreams of the future. I used to see a girl that resembled you in my dreams. I saw her as a ray of light. That's why I was so pissed when Karenina and Ivan put you up for adoption. I was worried that you might be harmed or hurt without your family to protect you. Thankfully, Karenina and Ivan picked a good family for you."
Wow, he cares about me. Maybe I was too harsh on him at first.

"Thank you. I should get going." I told him, rising up from my chair.

"You should. It was nice talking to you." Alberto spoke. I left his office and went to the main lobby where the others were.

"You good?" Jackson asked me. I nodded.

"Well, I guess that's the end of this. What a crazy night, am I right?" Kyra put her hands up.

"Agreed. I can't wait to get home." I told her. I realize I'm still in the blood splattered jacket and dress I was wearing earlier. Oh well. We leave and load up back into Karenina's SUV. Then Karenina drops us off at our homes. I walk through the door, hoping my parents aren't awake so they don't notice the dress. I don't want to explain what happened to them.

I yank off my clothes and change into my pajamas. I lay in bed, trying to go to sleep.

—---------------------------------

I was laughing while I ran. I was trying to get as far away from the carriage as I could. I was free at last. I was free to be with Aricame again and live my own life. I would be no one's bargaining chip and no man's wife but his. I continued my way downstream, following it in hopes of finding a town. Luck was on my side today, apparently. I couldn't wait to see him again.