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Chapter 51:
Father?! No, that couldn't be possible. Father...? No offense the man sitting in front of me, but he looked like he could be his great, great grandfather, give or take a great. I looked at Caleb to see if there was any signs that he was trying to pull my leg, but there were none. Caleb walked towards the other side of the room and grabbed two chairs, placing them in front of his father.
I slowly took a seat and examined his father further. I could feel his power radiating out of him though it was faint, like a whisper. It did not have the same presence as the rest of the parents. The verbal silence was tense between the three of us. I noticed Caleb looking everywhere other than his father. Gorman was now in the room with us, in the corner, keeping his distance.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Danvers," I said softly. "I'm Blair Salvatore." He didn't react at all. He stared at me blankly. I couldn't tell if he knew who I was or if he feared me like the rest of the family. I looked down at his neck, a clear tube coming out of his throat linking to another machine. I don't think he could talk even if he wanted to.
"His name is William Danvers the Third,'" Caleb told. "And he is forty-four years old."
"Forty-four?!" I gasped.
"This is the result of addiction," Caleb explained. "The power is so tempting and wants to be used, and when you give in, this is what happens. This is why we have to be so careful about our powers. They have consequences if they aren't used carefully."
"I'm sorry." It was all I could manage to say to him. To the both of them. I looked back at Mr. Danvers, trying my best not to react negatively to his condition. This was the reason Caleb always harped about power usage and why he was always on Reid to not use his powers for fun. For all we could know the same could apply to me and my powers as well. If I continued to use them after I was eighteen, I could age rapidly as well.
"I felt like I should tell you the truth about my family. Everyone else has been honest and the story most people know if that my father passed away sometime ago. I didn't want to continue that lie with you." I could feel the stress radiating from Caleb and the concern. He stared at the floor while leaning forward, resting his arms on his knees.
"Thank you for telling me the truth," I said reaching out to grab his hand. I gave him a small smile and looked over to his father. "Your son is great person and very kind. I feel lucky to be able to call him my friend."
I thought he should know, even if he wasn't able to speak to us. I wish he could speak to us, to Caleb.
"Thank you," I heard in my head. I looked back at Caleb and then at his father and then back to Caleb.
"Did you use right now?" I asked Caleb.
"No?" he answered immediately. "Why?" he asked confused.
"I heard a voice in my head," I said, unsure of what was happening.
"Lillian?" he asked, concerned.
"Lillian? Is that you?" I thought, even though it didn't feel like her presence in my head. There was no response. I shook my head letting Caleb know that it wasn't her. I looked at Mr. Danvers, who seemed as surprised as me.
"Was that you, Mr. Danvers?" I asked, cautiously.
"Yes...," a voice trickled in my head.
"Are you using?" I asked, mentally speaking back to him.
"No... It feels like you have linked us together to be able to speak. I feel your power connecting us."
My power? I wasn't using my powers. I didn't ask them to the surface and command them to do such a thing, a thing that I didn't even know I could do. I looked inward to sense my power, but it was already there. Open and in use. I didn't even notice that I was using it. It wasn't a lot of power. It didn't hurt to use it. There was no throbbing pain against my skull.
"It's a rare ability to communicate with one of the Covenant telepathically. It is said to be a gift to those on the path of death... or to use towards those on the path to death... I forget what the books says." Mr. Danvers whispered in my head.
Death? Path to death?
That's lovely isn't it....
Peachy...
"Blair? What is happening? Why are you silent?" Caleb's voice came from afar. I pulled out my head, like I was being sucked back into my seat.
"Your father and I are talking telepathically," I explained. "He says he feels my power connecting us mentally... something about one of us being on the path of death, which totally doesn't sound completely terrifying at all," I told.
"You're talking to my dad...," Caleb said, still stunned.
"Please tell my son, that I appreciate him and that I love him and his mother."
You would think that telling Caleb that his father loves him would make him happy but instead, he let out an irritated sigh and stomped out the room and down the stairs which was then followed by a loud slamming of the door. I swear I could feel the house shake.
"Thank you for letting him know for me," Mr. Danvers said. He seemed a little sad but there was some understanding to his sons reaction.
"I should probably go after him. It was nice to meet you, Mr. Danvers," I said getting up from seat. I gave him a little nod before starting to walk away.
"Blair, it was nice to see you... again. I hope you know that not everyone believes everything the Damnation says."
I turned back and looked at Mr. Danvers, feeling the connection fading away and my inner voice only being my own. I gave him a final smile before going after his son.
In Caleb fashion, he was staring off into the distance leaning against his car. I could sense he was sad and frustrated. He was hurting inside, and the pain was attempting to break to the surface. I waited a moment before approaching him to push away his feelings from myself and to give him some more space. It didn't seem like opening up was something he was used to doing.
"You okay?" I asked walking up to the car.
Turning to me, Caleb nodded his head side to side. I stood next to him looking ahead at the greenery he originally was losing himself in. "You'd think he'd learn his lesson on not using his powers," he sighed heavily.
"He wasn't using any powers. Surprisingly, it was all me and I didn't even know," I explained, hoping it was diffuse any new anger that was building in Caleb towards his father.
"Did he really say those things to you?" Caleb asked with a hint of fear.
"That he loves you? He did," I assured him.
Caleb let out a scoff. "How can he love me or mom, when he chose his powers over us? Mom drinks because of him, because she misses him, because he chose his powers over being with her and his family. He chose power over being able to spend time with me. How can he say he loves me when he didn't choose me?" His voice was hard and fill with disdain. He ran his hands through his hair roughly, trying his best to calm down, or more appear like he was unaffected by his father.
I could say a lot of things to Caleb. I could tell him that he has every right to feel the way he does. I could tell him that his father was weak and that the addiction controlled him rather than the other way around. I could tell him that from what he has told me, his father appears to have stopped using his powers. Whether it is because even one more use would kill him or his power is weak or because he wants to spend what little life he has left to be able to see his son, I'm not sure, but he was still here. I could tell him a number of things but I know none of them would help him with how he feels. It wouldn't erase everything that he has experienced with his father or his mother, watching both his parents fall into a dark hole of their own kind of abuse. It wouldn't erase any of his pain or justify their actions.
I slide next to him, sitting against his car. The sides of our arms pressed against each other and he felt like a rock, trying his best to wall up and not let anything else in.
"Parents suck sometimes," I said, leaning my head against his arm. "Or a lot of the time in our case," I added
"Yeah, they kind of do," Caleb agreed.
"If you ever need someone, I'm here," I offered.
Lifting his arm, he wrapped it around my shoulder, pulling me close into him. I wrapped my arm across him, hugging him back and he said, "Same goes for you, baby girl."
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Author's Notes:
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story! If you liked it, feel free to give this chapter a vote and/or comment. I would love to hear what you guys think, who your favorite character is, anything you would like to say! Again, thank you for your support. See you at the next chapter!