We Will Be Together For Never

[27] Confession

The place that Jordan had in mind was, in fact, a simple dead end. All of the houses we passed were sinister, their lawns incredibly overgrown and many of their windows boarded up. The motorcycle's quiet roar seemed incredibly out-of-place in this somber atmosphere.

"Where are we?" I asked softly, pulling off my helmet and resting it on the motorcycle seat as I looked around.

"This street's been abandoned for a while. There were some underground gas leakages that made it into the houses' basements. Super expensive to repair, but we're safe up here."

"Oh. Okay." I glanced around. It was oddly fitting - these people, too, had been forced from their homes by a terrible event they had no hope of controlling. Now, I was about to explain a similar story in front of the ruins of their lives.

"What did you want to tell me?" Jordan asked casually, leaning back against his vehicle.

I took a deep breath. "It's...it's not a happy story."

"That's okay. Mine isn't exactly cheery, either."

"Okay, but...uh...this is kinda on another level. Just...please don't leave until I'm done?"

Jordan stared at me for a moment in utter confusion. "Tamara, I'm not going to leave." There was something so firm in his slightly incredulous voice that it made me feel even worse about deceiving him for as long as I had known him.

"My parents didn't die in a house fire when I was four," I started. Jordan sucked in a small breath of shock and I almost gave up then and there - but I had to keep going. "In fact, my parents - and my little brother - are still alive. I'm the one they think is dead."

"They think you're...?" Jordan's eyes widened as a realization hit him. "Did Roger kidnap you?"

"What? No!" I sighed. "Please, just let me explain this."

Jordan nodded, but he continued looking incredibly tense.

"I had a wonderful childhood. I was this nerdy, geeky little girl who wanted to do something important when she grew up, like cure cancer or some crap like that. When I was sixteen, though, everything changed."

I noticed Jordan's brow furrow and knew what he was thinking: wasn't I sixteen right now?

"I was on a bike ride through the forest near my house when I wasn't paying attention and crashed into a tree, of all things. I fell off of the bike and hurt my leg pretty bad. I left the bike and started making my way back towards my neighborhood - really slowly, 'cause of my leg - and that's when...he grabbed me. This...this huge man." I pressed my lips together, shaking my head. "I never even knew his name.

"I...I expected the worst, of course. I had heard the stories of what happened when girls were kidnapped. I - I almost wish he had just killed me right there." My voice wavered and a tear slipped out of my eye.

"He bit me. He grabbed my hair, forced my head to the side, and bit my neck. I started bleeding so badly that I was weakened even further. He was able to drag me through the woods and to this cabin-like house."

"I was locked in that house for months. And during that time, I...I started to change. Physically, mostly, but of course mentally as well.

"The only time the man ever laid a hand on me was to beat me. I healed supernaturally quickly from those beatings, though, so he upped the intensity." My hand made its way to my lower back, feeling the thin, sharp scars that protruded there.

"He also...trained me. I had to go through obstacle courses, run a certain distance at a certain speed, all sorts of insane crap." My voice was laced with fury towards my parent vamp, more tears rising to my eyes. "I got insanely strong insanely quickly. It was terrifying. I didn't understand why I was the way I was. Why I was so powerful.