Contract Bound [Old Draft]

Chapter Seven

Belinda's eyes narrowed. "Are you not human as well?"

Corina smiled. "No."

Her father placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's about time you knew...Mostly everyone in this station is a Slayer."

Belinda stepped away. "W—What?" She remembered the stories in the books in the library—slayers were powerful warriors who protected the humans from the creatures of darkness.

They were a myth.

Her mother cupped her face. "Darling, it's true."

Belinda shook her head. "We're humans."

"Your mother and you... you're both humans, but I'm not."

She stared at her father in disbelief. "Why didn't you tell me before all this madness—"

"He is forbidden to," Corina said. "When our children turn eighteen, we tell them everything, unless they are chosen. It was part of the peace treaty signed long ago."

Belinda couldn't believe anything she was hearing. When her mother grabbed her forearm, she allowed her to lead her back into the office. After taking a seat on the chair across from Corina, Belinda started at the folder in front of her.

All her life, she had known about those who lived within the forest...why was this so difficult to accept?

"Now that no one questions that you're truly in danger and need our aid, it's best you know everything." Belinda placed her hand with the bracelet on the desk and Corina smiled. "I know what you want to know and yes, I gifted that to your mother so that it would protect you...not only from those who dared hurt you but also from witch magic and the vampire compulsion."

"What else does it do? Like you said...it's best I know everything," she said.

Her mother was the one to speak. "You have to understand that all I wanted was to protect you...I didn't want you to end up like the others...It—It also prevents you from getting pregnant."

Belinda's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "W—what?" When she lurched to her feet, she sat back down, noticing the world was beginning to spin 'round and 'round.

"I think it's best we go home—"

"No," she interjected her mother. "I want to know everything—I don't want any more secrets."

Corina slid the folder closer to her. "Do you trust Fane?"

"Yes. He is not the one you are looking for."

"Open it and then tell me what you think."

When she did, she tried her best to look unfazed by the many names of those who had died in the hands of Fane.

"Fane is no good guy."

Belinda met Corina's gaze. "He never claimed to be, did he?"

"How can you know that many have died at his hands and still believe him to be innocent?"

"It's obvious that whoever is behind all the murders wants both of you to turn against each other. Fane would never harm someone innocent."

"I've heard he was capable of killing his own brother." Belinda stared in utter disbelief. "You didn't know? Fane murdered his twin a year before he met you."