Read Origins (A Black Novel, #1) Online

Authors: Jessa L. Gilbert

Origins (A Black Novel, #1) (2 page)

BOOK: Origins (A Black Novel, #1)
8.49Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Obviously Dad has waited up for me tonight. And he has even felt the need to turn on every single light in the first floor of our house.

Flicking down the visor mirror to give myself a once-over before going inside, I take a moment to run my fingers through my tangled mess of hair in an attempt to conceal what my dad would undoubtedly call the ‘too much fun’ look. As I climb out I recognize a familiar looking black sedan parked at the curb in front of our house. What is
she
doing here? Planning to stomp in and confront Dad and his ‘visitor’, I fling the side door of the house open but stop when I hear their voices coming from the living room.

“I thought you said this wasn’t going to happen!” Dad says pointedly, his normally quiet voice raised.

“I didn’t think it would. It should have happened by now if it was going to. I thought she was safe,” said the second voice- a distinctly feminine voice with a hint of control and false comfort. Dr. Thorne.

It really is her. What is she doing here? What are they talking about?

Sensing they are having a conversation they don’t want me to hear I edge the door shut behind me as quietly as possible. Pausing to take off the heels Bryn had loaned me, I begin to ease tip-toed down the brightly lit hallway.

“If you thought it was too late for it to show up then what the hell was she doing still being tested?” Dad huffs in annoyance.

“Like I said before, Paul, we can never be too sure—”

“Obviously.”

“I know this is upsetting, Paul, but we’ll get through this. She will get through this.”

“What about Sera, Marissa? Did she ‘get through it’?” At the mention of my mom I lose all thoughts of being quiet and rush into the room, ambushing them both. “What about my mom?

What is going on? Why is she here?!” I demand, pointing at Dr.

Thorne accusingly.

“Adelin,” Dad says, startled.

“Why don’t you have a seat, Dear?” Dr. Thorne asks, patting the couch cushion beside her.

“I’m not going to sit down- not until you tell me what’s going on!” I say in defiance as I cross my arms over my chest, willing my eyes to harden as I flick my gaze between the two of them.

“She’s going to find out either way, Paul,” Dr. Thorne says calmly.

Dad takes a moment to contemplate that before sighing and looks up at me. “Have a seat, Adelin. Please.” Huffing, I take a seat on the small couch, making a point to sit as far from Dr. Thorne as possible.

The dark green cushions try to swallow me in their fluffy embrace and I struggle for a moment to maintain my rigid posture. “Marissa came over to tell me, in person, that your test results came back….” He pauses, uneasy, and glances at the floor before continuing.

“Positive.”

“Positive? But that’s good right?” I question, not wanting to believe what I knew he was trying to say.

“No, it’s not good.” Dad mumbles, eyes still locked on the floor.

“But— I don’t—” I stammer helplessly.

“Adelin, honey, look at me,” Dr. Thorne commands soothingly, waiting until I lift my eyes to hers. “It’s going to be all right. Yes, your test was positive- you have the disease- but you’re going to be fine.”

“Is that what you said to my mother before you killed her?!” I explode.

Chapter Two

June 6, 20 Years Ago

Oh, no, we're going to be late...again,
Sera thought.

What in the world was
so hard about being on time just once? What
could he be doing up there?
“Paul, come on or we’re going to be late!”

“Sera, calm down or you'll go into labor,” Paul said, smirking as he began walking down the stairs.

“Well, what took you so long?” Sera demanded.

“No matter, I'm here and now you're the one holding us up so let's get going,” he said with a laugh.

Together, the two walked out the door and to the green sedan parked outside. Gingerly, Paul helped a very pregnant Sera into the car and jogged around to the other side. Tonight was their four year anniversary and they were on their way to Sera's favorite restaurant to celebrate. Paul had called a month earlier to make the reservation, which they were now ten minutes late for.

They pulled up a few minutes later to Angelina's and hurried inside.

Once inside, the young girl behind the counter took their coats and led them near a back corner to a small table where she took their orders and whisked off. They sat joking and talking together, without a care in the world, until their food arrived. About halfway through their meals, Sera startled Paul by suddenly jumping up, a look of genuine concern on her face.

“What is it, Sera? Is it the baby? What's wrong?” Paul asked, worried.

“I'm fine, honey. No, it's not the baby. I forgot my purse in the car.”

“Oh,” Paul breathed. “I'll go get it for you.”

“No, no. I'm fine. The walk will keep my legs from going to sleep.

Sitting like that for too long isn't good for me, I don't care what the doctor's say.”

“Be careful and hurry back. Love you.”

“I love you too, and I will be right back,” Sera promised as she hurried away.

There it is!
Sera thought as she caught sight of her purse on the front floorboard.
Exactly where I left it. I am such a ditz.
She shut the door before turning and heading back towards the front of the restaurant when suddenly the parking lot light shut off, sending her into a world of darkness. Caught off guard and unable to see, she stood there, dumbfounded.

What in the world? I can't see a thing. I hope I don't trip.

Suddenly, a shape began to solidify in the blackness in front of her, followed by a voice.

“Hello, pretty lady. Need some help?” the silhouette called.

Thank goodness.
“Yes, please, if you wouldn't mind. Do you have a flashlight or something? I can't see anything.”

“No, but then again, I don't need one. Here, let me help you. Take my arm,” the voice replied close by.

A face appeared in front of her, seeming to come from thin air.

Shocked, Sera automatically took a step backward.

“Well, well,” the husky voice chuckled. “Dinner…and a snack. I didn't realize you were pregnant. What a good night this turned out to be.”

“Please,” Sera stuttered, suddenly very afraid. “If you could just help me back to the front of the restaurant, my husband's inside waiting.

Please.”

“Oh, I'm afraid that's just not possible any more, not in your state. I didn't know tonight was going to turn into such a good night for me.

I thought I'd have to go out after I was done with you to find someone else to fill me up, but, since you're with child this is really all I need. What an exquisite night. I'm so lucky to have found you out here, all alone. It's been decade's since I had such a delectable treat! I'm really going to enjoy this,” the once handsome stranger sneered, advancing into full view. His face seemingly grotesquely contorted, teeth bared. “You, on the other hand, are not.” Before Sera could scream, the savage beast leapt at her, attacking her throat with its teeth. She could feel the warm blood flowing out of her gaping wound, but could not feel the pain itself.

Oh my God. I can’t feel anything. I must be in shock. I'm going to die,
aren't I?

She tried to scream for help but only a feeble squeak spilt out, barely audible, from her mouth. Her eyes began to fall shut on their own accord and her limbs grew heavy, numb.

Paul?! Oh God, my baby! My Adelin! Help!!

Then the world shifted into blackness and her along with it.

Chapter Three

May 30, Present Day


A
delin,” Dad chides, startled by my outburst.

“What?! You know I’m right!” I shoot back, defensive.

“Adelin,” Dad says more forcefully, his face grave. “If not for Marissa, then things with your mother- and you- would’ve been a lot worse. I would have lost you both.”

I turn to face Dr. Thorne harshly. “Thanks for killing my mother so I could live.”

“Adelin!” Dad chokes, appalled.

“Well…..” I trail off.

“Adelin,” he repeats, softer. “There’s something else you need to know.”

“What, that I only have twenty-four hours to live? Why don’t you just let her kill me now to save me the suffering?” I spit out sarcastically.

Dad sighs deeply, taking a moment to close his eyes and steel himself before continuing. “Your mother’s alive.”

“Bull—”

“I know this is hard to believe, but it’s true. Your mother is alive.”

“What about the disease? I thought you said it killed her?” I demand, angry.

“It’s….complicated,” Dad mumbles, looking to Dr. Thorne for help.

“How complicated, like the disease didn’t kill her but she didn’t want me around so she left?”

“No, Adelin, your mother loved you- loves you- more than life.”

“Then what, where is she now? Why isn’t she here, with us?” I choke out, tears beginning to sting my eyes.

“We, all of us, Marissa, your mother, and I, decided it would be better this way. There were….side-effects from the disease…..” Dad trails off, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

“So, you decided it would be better for me to grow up thinking my mother was dead?!” I spit harshly. How could he have kept this from me?! Didn’t I deserve to know my mother was alive? My whole life I had thought she was dead, now I know she just left me.

“It was dangerous for you to know.”

“Yeah, how so?” I scoff.

“Adelin, it’s not your Dad’s fault,” Dr. Thorne cuts in. “If you want to be angry at someone then be angry with me. I’m the one who did this.”

“Marissa….” Dad warns.

“Paul, she needs to know,” Dr. Thorne says, waving her hands dismissively at my dad. “Would you rather she found out on her own? No, I didn’t think so. Adelin, the side-effects your dad was talking about, they’re not normal. That’s why it was dangerous for you to know until now.”

Bewildered, I sit silently before calmly asking the question they are both waiting for. “What side-effects?”

Dr. Thorne levels her gaze at me before speaking. “Your mother is not ‘normal’ anymore. She is what we call ‘Immortal’, like me.” My gaze flicks back and forth between the two of them, trying to gauge if they’re serious or not. Dad sits silently in the high-backed armchair on my right, his face impassive while Dr. Thorne continues looking at me placidly. “Immortal? You can’t be serious?!” I burst.

“Honey, we’re not joking. Marissa is telling the truth,” Dad replies, unaffected by my outburst.

“Is this some sort of joke? Wait….have you two been drinking?” I ask, eyeing them both suspiciously, suddenly reminded of our last New Year’s party.

“I thought this is how you’d react, so, I’m prepared to prove it,” Dr.

Thorne says, standing. I sit quietly, confused, while she walks out of the room. My confusion only deepens when she returns a few moments later holding a large, shiny kitchen knife in one hand. The light in the room bounces off the blade eerily as she raises it and brings it down, hard and fast, across her open palm.

What the fuck?! I watch in horror as a smooth gash appears, instantly swelling and overflowing with blood. She raises her mutilated hand in front of her chest to give me a better view, which causes several crimson drops to splatter down on the thick beige carpet at her feet. My eyes are transfixed, frantic, as the blood flow seems to ebb and then stop completely as the tear in her flesh heals itself shut. I blink several times, unsure of what I had witnessed.

When I look again, the only evidence of the cut is the drops of blood staining the carpet.

My brain, unable to process what I just saw, begins to calculate the odds of getting my cell phone and dialing 9-1-1. I have no idea what I would say. Help
, there’s a crazy person with a knife
? Or even if I would be quick enough to place the call before she attacks me.

“Still don’t believe me?” Dr. Thorne asks, smiling grimly. She glances down at my purse, where my cell phone waits, then back up at me. “How about this then…..you’re afraid if you do believe me then that would mean your mother chose to leave you.”

“What are you now, my psychiatrist?” I snap. “Dad, come on, you can’t be serious,” I say, glancing at him.

He looks back and forth between the two of us, a weary look on his face, before climbing to his feet. “I’m going to make a pot of coffee.

You two can sort this out.”

Was he really going to just leave me in here with some lunatic holding a knife?! Sensing my unease, Dr. Thorne places the knife carefully in the center of the small coffee table. Maybe it would just be easier to play along? Just long enough until I am able to get her out of the house so I can reason with my dad….. “I know what you’re thinking, Adelin….” Dr. Thorne trails off.

“Fine,” I exhale, throwing my hands up in a gesture of defeat. “You can read minds. You’re Immortal. What else can you do?”

“What about this?” In the blink of an eye she disappears from the couch and is standing, elegantly poised, at the opposite end of the room. Unable to suppress it, a gasp escapes my open lips.

“What the fuck! How did you— What are you?” My eyes narrow as I try to make sense of what I just witnessed. Did she really just do what I think she did? Maybe it was the light playing tricks on me or she moved when I blinked….

“I told you Adelin, I’m an Immortal.”

“So, what, you’re a vampire?” I question uncertainly as I glance uneasily towards the kitchen where Dad is hiding. Does she really think she’s Immortal? Really?! I can’t believe my dad would leave me alone with a complete psycho. “Look, I don’t know what you’ve been smoking but there’s no such thing as immortality- everything dies.”

“What do I have to do to make you believe me?”

“Um….can you fly?” I ask picking the first thing that comes to mind.

“No.” She answers simply.

“Do crucifixes hurt you?”

“No.”

Damn, there goes that plan. I was really looking forward to hurting her, at least a little bit. “What about garlic or holy water or sunlight?”

“No, no, and no.”

“Then what
can
you do?” I ask frustrated. I’m sick and tired of playing this game with her.

BOOK: Origins (A Black Novel, #1)
8.49Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Loving Her by Hutton, CM
Soul Food by Tanya Hanson
Stay by Julia Barrett, J. W. Manus, Winterheart Designs
Her Wanted Wolf by Renee Michaels
The Changeling by Christopher Shields
The Malcontents by C. P. Snow