Chapter 7
Astra
“Um, sit down down I guess,” Gaidrian instructed. The room was obviously an office, and was decorated just as elaborately as the rest of the house. The only difference was that instead of being meticulously clean, it was cluttered with papers. Maps and diagrams were hung on every wall, and files stuffed with documents covered every surface. Gaidrian pulled a seat out for me and I sat down carefully, not wanting to knock anything over.
It was then that I noticed that we were not alone. Someone, a man, occupied the large chair across from me. He was quite handsome, with pretty pale blue eyes and a strong jaw. That, paired with the silky black hair that feathered his forehead, made me certain that he was related to Gaidrian in some way. Their resemblance was uncanny. He was the kind of man that you would never know how old he was, because he was fit to the point that he didn’t show the tell-tale signs of aging. But his eyes were another story. This man had the eyes of someone who had seen things and done things that only age could bring.
“Astra,” Gaidrian began, sitting in the seat next to me. “This is Richard Grayson. My… my father.” The man’s eyes never left my face, and suddenly an emotion that almost looked like pain crossed his face.
“Nice to meet you sir,” I said uncomfortably, discreetly scooting my chair closer to Gaidrian. When I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, he made sure not to meet my gaze. “I’m sorry… but… please, I just want to know what’s going on.”
“Just wait a moment,” the man, Richard, replied hoarsely. “Just... just let me look at you. Please.”
Weird…
“Dad,” Gaidrian said suddenly. “Maybe now isn’t the time for this.”
“No,” the man said, shaking his head. “No, she has questions, and we have answers.” Then he looked at me and nodded encouragingly.
“Alright, well… where to begin?” I sighed, slouching back in the chair. “What were those… those things that attacked me? What did they do with Jacob? Who are you? How did you find me? Where are we now? When can I go back? Wh-“
“One at a time,” Gaidrian chuckled nervously. “First off, I need you to just listen. This is all going to sound strange and probably crazy to you, but I need you to cooperate for a moment.” I nodded. “Okay. Those things that attacked you? Those were Nightmares. They were hunting you, and one of them took the form of your friend so that it would be easier to lure you away; your friend should be okay. They prey on humans and use their fears to torment them to the point of death. It’s like eating and drinking for them.
“As for me… well, I’m not like other humans. We call ourselves Nightmare Slayers, among other things. We control the shadows in ways that you can only imagine, and we fight the Nightmares. Right now, we’re in Westchester.”
“Westchester! As in Westchester, New York?” I exclaimed, jumping out of my chair and totally forgetting about all the other weird stuff that he’d told me. Gaidrian nodded. “Ohhhh no. Nonononononono. You have to take me back! I have stuff to do! Ballet practice, and school…and… UGH! Just bring me back to L.A.“
“I can’t do that,” Gaidrian said apologetically. “It’s not safe for you there anymore.”
“Why? Because of those things?”
“Yes! Well, no… it’s mainly because of what you are,” He ran a hand through his floppy hair, obviously frustrated.
“What do you mean? What am I?” I demanded. Neither of them answered my question. “You can’t do that! You can’t just drag me from one coast to another and then tell me nothing! You can’t!” The two of them looked at each other sadly. “What? What is it now?”
“You’re just like her,” his father choked, his eyes watering.
“Dad,” Gaidrian muttered. “Not now.”
“We have to tell her Gaidrian,” he insisted.
“Just like who?” I wondered. “Tell me what!”
“That you and Gaidrian come from the same womb,” Cain said nonchalantly, coming out of nowhere.
Gaidrian stood and spun around. “You know the rules,” he fumed. “If the room is occupied and the door is closed, then don’t open it.”
Cain raised an eyebrow and plucked another grape from his bowl, chewing thoughtfully. “I didn’t open the door.”
Gaidrian scowled. “It’s the same thi-“
“Oh my gosh, just shut up!” I practically wailed. “Sit down.” Both boys hurriedly plopped down into chairs. “Okay, all of you are going calm down, and answer my damn questions. Alright?” All three of them nodded. “Thank you. Now Cain, what did you mean by what you said before?”
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Should I, or do you want to?” The question was directed at to other to males in the room.
It was Gaidrian’s father who spoke. “I’ll do it.” The man turned to me and the expression on his face was something that I’d never seen before. It was one of immense regret and pain. “Astra,” he choked on my name. “I… you and Gaidrian… you’re…”
“We’re siblings,” Gaidrian blurted. I started at him for a moment before I started to laugh hysterically.
It took me a moment to realize that no one else was laughing. “Wait, seriously?”
This seemed to piss Gaidrian off. “Yes, seriously,” he huffed. “Is that a problem?”
“No, it’s just… seriously? Do you understand what you’re saying? What that means to me? How is that even possible?! As far as I’ve known, my mother was a druggie who dropped me off at the doorsteps of Child Protective Services. So if that’s the kind of family that you live in now, count me out.”
“Don’t speak about my mother that way!” he snapped, getting all in my face. “You don’t understand what she’s done for you. All the sacrifices that she’s made… you ungrateful little-“
“Gaidrian, silence,” his… our father instructed. “She has every right to be angry and confused.” The man turned to me. “Please, just let us explain everything. It’s not what it seems like.”
I took a deep breath and sat back down in my chair. “Go ahead then.”
He ran a shaky hand through his inky black hair. Hair that was the exact same shade as Gaidrian’s… and mine. “When the two of you were born- you’re twins by the way, in case you didn’t piece that together. Anyway, when you were born, your mother had enemies. Enemies that wanted to use her gifts for evil. They had been silent for months, and we had begun to think that they had just… given up. It was foolish and naïve of us, but we didn’t suspect that they’d plant a spy.” He sighed shakily. “Which is exactly what they did. We knew that this birth would be different from normal ones, because of her powers. We knew that going to a hospital would be out of the question. So we… we decided that it would be a home birth, and we interview nurses who were retired, and midwives… and hired the two most trustworthy ones to assist Alfred who, among other things, is a retired doctor, and basically a member of our family. He is the one who helped birth the two of you. Because of your mother’s… differences, we decided that it’d be best not to risk using any technology, because the radiation might cause difficulties.
“We had no idea what to expect, so it goes without saying that we didn’t know that we were having twins. We didn’t even know that you’re mother would ever be able to conceive. And when we found out… we were just so happy. It was like nothing could go wrong. We were in such a good place. Your grandfather warned us to stay on our toes, and we should’ve listened, but… well, we didn’t.”
“My grandfather?” I asked.
“Yes,” he nodded. “My adopted father, Bruce Wayne. I was orphaned as a young child. You’ll meet him soon, but that’s a story for another day. Anyways, your mother had a … difficult pregnancy. It was painful, to say the least. When she went into labor,” he winced at the memory. “I don’t think that I’ve ever heard her in so much pain before. It killed me. But suddenly it was over. She had given birth to a son. A healthy little boy. When Alfred brought him out to me, I was ecstatic. But then Alexia screamed again.” Alexia… my mother’s name is Alexia. “One of the nurses, the real one, came out, raving about how the other woman had simply disappeared. Alfred went back in to check on Alexia and it turns out that she’d gone back into labor.” He glanced up, looking me in the eye. “She had you.”
“But that still doesn’t explain how Gaidrian ended up with a life of luxury and I ended up in a rat infested home for the unwanted,” I snapped.
“Oh Astrella,” he said sadly, using my full name. “You’re not unwanted. Never think that.”
“Well what am I supposed to think?” I raved. “Some of the kids at least had the luxury of knowing that their parent were dead, and that’s why they were in an orphanage. The only thing that I knew was that my parents dropped me there because they didn’t want me.”
“That’s not what happened!” he said defensively. “That woman, the spy, she ran off and told them. She told the people who tormented my wife that we had a son. And we knew that we probably only had a matter of hours before they came for the both of them. But… they didn’t know about you. We could save you. We left immediately, and travelled to the other side of the country. We left you on that doorstep, and Alexia put a block in your mind so that you’d never see the Shadow World. Not until it was safe for us to come for you.” He paused, then said, “But it was never safe.” I was practically speechless, and when I finally found my voice to say something… anything, the door burst open and a short, bubbly red-headed girl flounced in.
“Hey guys, the movie was awesome and-“she paused and took in the solemn atmosphere, then her gaze locked on me. “What is she doing here?”
“Kali, maybe you should come back later,” my father sighed.
“Already gone.” The door slammed shut behind her.
“Who was that?” I wondered.
“Not important right now,” Gaidrian said. “We just want you to understand. Don’t hate us. Everything that our parents did was to protect you.”
“I… I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it.”
“Alright then, I guess… I guess we can answer any questions that haven’t already been answered,” he suggested.
“Well, I have many,” I said. “But there’s one that really bothering me right now.”
“Shoot,” he encouraged.
“Well, if you’re my father, and you’re my brother,” I pointed at Richard and Gaidrian in turn. “Then where is my mother?” They all looked at each other, and the two that were apparently related to me said nothing. It was Cain that finally spoke up.
“That’s the thing. That’s why we came for you tonight,” he said finally. “We don’t know.”
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TADA!! Cliff hangeerrrr!!! xDDDD WELL WAT DO U THINK! IS IT GOOOOOOD??? DO U LIKE ITTT?? COMMENT AND VOTE! its longer than i usually write lol.