At eighteen years of age, I'd had a lot of time to think about my life. What it would have been like if my mother cared enough to look after me and not hurt me? If she would have been different if our circumstances had changed.
The biggest question I had in my life was, what was my father like?
I never thought that I'd get the opportunity to answer that question. My mother never talked about my father, so I was left to assume that he was one of her clients.
When it came time to make Father's Day cards in school, I sat quietly and hoped that no one would look at me. I wanted to avoid their attention, to go unnoticed. They'd ask where he was and because I was embarrassed about what my mother did for a living, I said that he was dead.
I shouldn't have been embarrassed, and for a long time, I wasn't. It happened when I was almost eight. Somehow one of the older boys at the school found out what she did. Maybe he saw her, perhaps someone told him. I don't know how he found out, but he did.
The teasing was merciless, and the name-calling was horrible. They predicted that I would follow her path, and soon enough, I'd be trading favors for a little bit of cash.
At almost eight, I learned that I had an anger problem. After punching the boy in the stomach, he bent over, which made him low enough for me to give him a bloody nose. Once that happened, we had a ring of kids around us chanting fight repeatedly until a teacher intervened.
Then, they called my mother.
She was not happy when she appeared at the school office an hour later. I was given a scowl which I knew meant that I would get yelled at later. Waiting in the reception area was like waiting for the executioner.
It was a haunting memory of my mother and the headmaster when they emerged ten minutes later. His zipper was undone, and the tip of his shirt was poking through it. I knew exactly what had happened because the headmaster was always well-dressed. There was never a button undone or scuff on his polished shoes.
Aside from the fact that I knew how well he dressed, I'd already been given a good talking to in his office before he called my mother. He walked into the room dressed as he always was. I didn't make a habit of looking at crotches. After all, I was only eight. It was the look after their discussion that stood out like a neon light. To see him with a slight imperfection was, well, it was obvious. She'd bought him off with a freebie.
Having her as a mother made for an interesting childhood. As for the other parent, he was a mystery up until today.
After seeing the Nephilim in the kitchen, I was already a bundle of nerves. To make things worse, Niko's body was missing. I'd rushed in here to tell Brad, now faced with my father.
But Niko's missing body, the Nephilim that would not go away, and the vampires that want me dead, they're nothing now. Not when faced with the one person I never thought would appear in my home completely out of the blue.
"Well, isn't that interesting." the Nephilim whispered. "I guess it won't be long before we learn of your fate."
"Does it mean you'll be leaving?" I muttered under my breath.
The boy didn't respond, remaining quiet as Brad walked over to me.
"I know this is probably a really big shock for you, but how about you come over and say hello, at least? Mardyl understands that you will be apprehensive."
That's not the word I'd use.
Brad turned and walked back to the living room. I glanced at the Nephilim boy, who had a haughty smile on his face.
"Enjoy it while it lasts."
"Shut up," I said through gritted teeth.
My smile was fooling no one.
Crossing the room, I sat on the lounge as the man that claimed to be my father returned to his seat.
"Uh,"
"Mard is fine,"
Mard looked at me and hesitantly laughed.
"I know that this is not easy for you, and I'm sure you've got a lot of questions and things to say. All that I ask is that you hear me out so that you understand everything, then you may do what you feel is necessary."
"Sure."
I suppose I could grant him that much. Benevolent was surely my middle name.
"As you probably are already aware, I am a witch. I see you've got your friend as well. Mine has been hanging around for a few days now. You turned eighteen if you were wondering why they're here."
"Why not just end this when I was a kid?"
"They do not have the ability to find a witchling before their eighteenth. They've waited patiently."
The Nephilim boy now had a friend, a guy that looked like he was also in his late teens. Together they sat on the window seat with smug smiles and supreme attitudes.
Mardyl sighed heavily, sipping the coffee that Brad must have made him.
"I met your mother about twenty years ago. She was struggling with a revelation of a family secret, one I'm sure you know about, seeing as there are a lot of vampires hanging around the house. It took a lot for her to confide in a total stranger, but she sensed that I was not human. Witches tend to find socializing to be incredibly difficult. We have a lot of distrust for the world around us and for those who have survived, remember the past vividly."
His eyes lowered to the liquid in his cup, sadness creeping into his features. By appearances, Mardyl looked as if he was in his mid-thirties, but anything was possible when dealing with the paranormal.
I'd learned that vampires age incredibly slowly. Kannon said that his parents didn't have an exact figure, but they knew that Niko was likely to be edging close to a late three-figure age.
"So, naturally, when I met someone who was just as lost as I was, I found the company quite reassuring. Your mother also found the information about her future to be overwhelming as well. As a Corbin by blood, she was a rare creature. I'm sure you're eager for as much information as I can give, Evelyn, and I'm also certain that the vampires outside know little of the old world. I hope that I can give you the information you need and desire. I know that time is of the essence, so I came here as soon as possible. When my new friend turned up, I knew what had happened. It is unfortunate, but I understand why your mother hid you. I am not upset with her."
"How did you find me?"
"The Nephilim, they speak to each other."
"Quite frequently," the boy added.
The other one, he remained quiet. I wish my pest would remain quiet too.
"You said my mother was rare."
"You are too, Evelyn. This goes back to a time when born vampires were all that existed. They had no idea how they came about, what their origins were, or even how they would continue. Stepping out into the world, the vampires watched as humanity emerged. They learned how humans procreated and looked at their own lives. They wondered where their opposite was."
"They were all male?"
Mard nodded at Brad.
"They were. Something that you will note as you delve further into the world of vampires is that they are always one gender. If they are born into this life, they are born male. These vampires, they could see how to create another generation, and they figured out how to make babies, but they lacked the other side of the equation. Then out of nowhere, one of them decides that he would try his luck with a human female rather than creating a vampire out of a human and then breeding with her, which had been the norm for a very long time. Finding a lovely human lady, the vampire does his thing, and nine months later, a pretty little lady pops out. That pretty little lady was your grandmother."
"You're saying that after all those years, not one of them thought to try humans?"
"Oh, they tried, but they always turned the woman into a vampire first. The difference in this situation was the woman Beatrice was not completely human."
Niko's wife wasn't entirely human. Well, he certainly knew how to keep me interested.
"So, what was she?"
"Have you ever heard of a shapeshifter?"
"Yeah, Niko mentioned that they died out at the time of the plague."
"That is what they would have you and the world believe. They actually fled and hid. Their adventure across the world began in England. At that point, they splintered as a group, and now they are spread across the world. Beatrice came from a notable family, not overly wealthy, but they certainly had a good reputation. Not that it would matter today, but back then, it meant a lot."
I sighed heavily as I looked at Brad with weariness on my face. His uncertainty matched mine. Returning to Mard, I had one question at the moment.
"What am I, witch, human, vampire, now shapeshifter?"
"I am a pure-blood witch. That makes you half-witch. Your grandmother was half vampire, half shapeshifter. I believe that your grandfather was human, so yes to all of them. Does it matter?"
I gestured to the pair sitting on the window seat.
"Pay no attention to them. If the Nephilim actually cared, your great-grandmother and grandmother would have been destroyed by them. I know for a fact that is not the case. Unfortunately, I am the issue in this scenario. Witches are powerful, and there are some that would rather we were dead as a race."
"Do you know Andross Drohman?" I murmured.
Mardyl looked at me with interest.
"Yes, a vampire I hoped to never see in real life. The stories are bad enough."
"I killed him."
That made him sit up with a smile.
"Did you? May I ask for the details?"
"You want to know if I got my witchiness on?"
Mard nodded, eagerly waiting.
"Well, I did, but don't ask me how I did it because I have no idea."
"All the more reason that we find a path to each other. I know it won't be easy for you, Evelyn, but you must learn how to hone your skills. If you don't, then you're a risk to everyone around you. I have acquired the house across the road with the expectation that you will need my help. If you don't want that, then those two will have a lot more to say about your life than mine."
Leaning forward, Mard put an envelope on the table.
"Those are what I have from the time that I had with your mother. I can't say that we had a good relationship or that it was healthy, but I cared deeply for her. She wrote to me a few months after leaving, advising me that she couldn't remain in the town any longer and it was best that we parted ways. Understand that she was wise to make that choice, Evelyn. I wanted her to remain with me, but the vampires are always drawn to the witches. It was only a matter of time before she was found, and it was in her best interest to get as far away from me as possible. Likewise for you, though I suspect that the vampires in this town are already frothing at the mouth."
Brad shifted forward, a curious frown on his face as he set aside the empty cup.
"How so?"
"What do you mean? Did you not understand what I was saying when I said that, as a Corbin, she is a rare creature? You are too, though I think they're not smart enough to figure it out."
Looking at the confusion on Brad's face, I was of the opinion that we weren't smart enough to figure it out either.
"Okay, lay it out because you've got me stumped," I muttered.
"You two are Corbins. You are vampires, and please, none of that half and quarter nonsense. The blood of all runs through your veins. You are vampires. You just don't feed like ones because of the other beings within you. As for the other vampires and their interest in you, that would be because you two are the only vampires that can create females."