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Chapter Thirty Nine
Anna smiled warily at her friend, though put like that it was difficult to argue. She got comfortable and took a deep breath. "It really began when I was sixteen years old and started seeing the shadow men...
Holly didn't interrupt once, her eyes widening until they couldn't get any rounder. When Anna got to the point where she was going through the transition at the warehouse her friend's face drained of color but she still kept silent.
She brought her all the way to the scene at the mall then sat back feeling drained. "So now you know basically everything. I'm a blood sucking freak who fights demons and can leap long distances." She laughed a little and attempted to joke, "I hope we can still be friends."
Holly started to say something then closed her mouth and looked down at her hands. Her forehead was wrinkled, her eyes slightly unfocused as she attempted to absorb the information.
"This cannot be real," she finally said in a thin voice. She glanced at Anna, but her eyes were still unfocused. "I don't even believe in ghosts."
Will spoke up. "Actually, there aren't any ghosts."
Anna looked at him in surprise. "Really?" She asked, "How can you be sure?"
"Do you see them?"
"Well, no, but maybe that's something we can't see."
He shrugged. "The generations of my family have investigated all kinds of supposed ghost sightings, interactions, etcetera, and every time it was either bogus or related to demons, vampires, or the occasional Angel. When our bodies die our spirits go somewhere else, they don't stick around."
Anna thought it over and shrugged. "Doesn't matter I guess. Actually the fact that we rarely ever see Angels is more troubling to me."
Will shook his head, "I don't think the Creator is big on interfering. General consensus is that he keeps his presence in the world through people. Angels are basically a last resort kind of measure."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, they're not like us, they don't have free will. They are messengers who are occasionally brought in to fight the forces of evil. Period."
"Oh."
"If you want to be technical, the real warrior and guardian Angels of old were Vampires. They're the ones who were specifically put here to fight demons and protect humans. And I guess you could say that most of the ones around now are what we'd call Fallen Angels.”
“I thought demons were.”
Will shook his head, "Our legends tell a different story. One where the enemy of Creation tried his hand at creating his own species. You read about the four different species of demon, well supposedly they were his failed attempts.”
Anna looked at Holly who was struggling to take everything in. Her eyes were slightly glazed and she continued to periodically shake her head. Up until now the only thing she'd sort of believed in was a Creator of some kind.
"I keep thinking that I'm going to wake up any minute," she stated, her voice dazed. She focused on Anna her head cocked to the side. "Can I see your..." she used both hands and pointed to the sides of her own mouth.
It wouldn't be hard to spring them since she was climbing up on day three but the thought of Holly recoiling in horror made her pause. “I don’t want you to be afraid of me.”
Holly swallowed. “It won’t be real unless you show me.”
Which was not exactly reassuring, but it was too late now. If she hadn’t wanted her to know than she shouldn’t have told her, or made something up. She sighed and shut her eyes. It didn't even take concentration, they extracted almost instantly. She opened her eyes and mouth at the same time and looked at her friend with a slight feeling of dread.
Holly stared at her in awe. "No way. I really have to be dreaming. You can't be a vampire. There can't be vampires. There can't be...," She put her head down between her knees and began to hyperventilate.
Anna wasn't sure what to do. On impulse she placed a hand lightly on her friend's back and concentrated on calming her. After a moment Holly's breathing slowed and she leaned back up slowly. She looked at Anna nervously, then at the guys in the front seat. She was badly frightened and Anna wanted to take it all back.
"Holly, I know this is overwhelming and scary, but I'm still me, I'm not some evil monster. And Will and Josh spend their entire lives fighting evil and helping people."
Holly nodded slowly. "You saved my life," she said in a small voice. "I know you're not..not evil. I just, I can't wrap my mind around all of this. I don't think it's real. I just don't. It has to be a dream."
Anna nodded in understanding, “I wish you were there when the girls found out, it probably would have been easier for you to accept."
"Maybe....I could call Jenna," Holly said, mostly to herself.
Anna handed her the phone and watched her friend's shaky hand press the numbers.
"Hey!" Jenna answered.
"Jenna?"
"Holly! Are you okay?"
"I don’t….I don’t know. I can't shake the belief that this is a dream." Holly’s eyes watered.
“I can understand that."
"Everything Anna told me, what she is....how can this be real?"
Jenna sighed. "I'm afraid there’s no way to answer that other than it just is. And I know you can bend your mind to it Hol, in fact when you don’t ‘wake up’, you’ll have to, won’t you?"
Holly took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay.” She gingerly extended the phone out to Anna.
“It’s me, I’ll call you later,” Anna told her and hit end.
Holly was still pale and staring at her with a mixture of fear and awe, and Anna found herself wondering if this would be the time she found out what it was like to not be accepted
Before the depressing thought could take root, Holly’s mouth twitched a little. She started giggling and Anna smiled cautiously hoping she wasn't going into hysterics. It did appear that way after a minute when the giggles became uncontrollable, but then she started blurting things out and Anna started giggling herself.
"I can jus...just see you in a tight leather outfit and the little hat with the ears, Bat girl to the rescue!" Tears were squeezing out of the corner of her eyes, and it took time before she got it under control. She grinned and Anna returned it, relief washing through her.
"So, where are we going?" Holly asked, turning her attention to the guys.
Will spoke up, "Not sure yet, we're just headed north."
She sat forward through the seats and began asking Josh and Will questions about their lives. Both boys responded well to her, in fact the three of them were completely at ease within minutes of talking. Something about it struck Anna as odd. Not in a bad way, but in a way she couldn't quite put her finger on.
They drove all the way to Maryland before finally stopping at a bed and breakfast. They got two rooms, one for the boys, one for the girls, and all of them were exhausted as they climbed into their beds.
When Anna and Holly were settled Anna eavesdropped on the boys’ conversation in the next room.
"I like Holly," Josh stated, "there's something about her that makes me...I don't know comfortable I guess.
"Yeah, weird, I was thinking the same thing."
Anna looked over at Holly who was fluffing up her pillows. "So what do you think of the guys?"
Holly smiled, her eyes taking on a faraway look. "I like them. It’s strange but I already feel like I've known them forever." She blinked and shook her head, "Sometimes it's like that right? There’s just certain people you click with right away?"
Anna nodded. "I’ve only known them a few weeks and I already l
love them both like brothers, so yeah, definitely." Anna watched as her friend got comfortable under the covers, the odd feeling she'd had about the boys and her friend still lingering. But it was nothing she could define so she let it go and drifted off to sleep.
**
The following day the four of them headed into Annapolis, which was actually Will and Josh's birthplace. They couldn't call it their childhood home quite, since they had moved around so much when they were young, but they’d lived here until Will was six and there was a wistfulness about him as he pointed out some of the things he remembered.
They took a drive out of the city into a more suburban area and Anna was struck by how beautiful the scenery was. Fall was just beginning to peek its head around summer, and the air had that crispness to it, even though it was still relatively warm.
They pulled in front of a pretty little house up on a hill. "That's where we lived," Will said as he stared up at the place with a shadowed look in his eyes.
Josh cocked his head to the side and studied it. Since he'd only been three when they'd left he had only the vaguest of memories. "It's hard to imagine living in a place like this with dad," he stated.
"He was a different person when mom was alive."
"I wish I could remember that."
Anna listened to the brothers as she took in the breathtaking landscape. Surrounding the house were different varieties of trees and a perfectly manicured lawn that swept down to the street.
She glanced at Holly then peered more closely at the strange expression on her friend's face.
"What is it?" she whispered.
Holly shook her head slowly. "I have the strangest sense of De je vu," she whispered back. "I've never been to Maryland, but I swear I've been on this street before." Her expression was filled with wonder, and Anna's arms broke into gooseflesh.
Holly jerked forward through the seats, startling the guys. "I remember now, I dreamed about this place! I was walking down the road," she pointed forward, "from that direction and I passed this house and stopped. There was a woman on that porch," she indicated the boys’ old house," and she was holding a baby and staring out towards the woods with a worried expression on her face…how weird is that? Why would I dream about that?"
Both boys were staring at her now, and Anna shivered slightly.
"Do you...remember what the woman looked like?" Will asked in strained tone.
Holly furrowed her brows in concentration. "I think...yeah, she had long brown hair like mine only fuller and a little darker. Oh! And she was wearing a sun dress with little purple flowers on it!" She scrunched her face some more then sagged a little and shook her head. “Nothing else is coming to me.”
Will's face had drained of color and he swallowed hard.
Josh spoke up, "Mom had hair like that, huh?"
Will tried to answer but was having some difficulty. He cleared his throat loudly, the words sounding like he'd pushed them through a hole that was too tight when he responded. "She was wearing a dress like that the day she died...exactly like that."
They all fell silent and Will put the car in drive, coasting slowly down the road, darting looks at Holly in the rear view. "Was it just the one dream?"
Holly frowned. "I don't know. Actually, I think I might have had the same dream more than once because this road is so familiar, like I've walked it a bunch of times."
"Before you leave I want to give you my number, in case you remember anything else." He told her.
She nodded. "Of course."
There was a whole lot of silence for the rest of the day. They ate together in a restaurant in Annapolis making small talk then strolled the streets of downtown. Anna had the feeling that Holly was straining to recall something further. She commented to Anna that the city also felt familiar, though it was just that, a feeling.
When evening came Holly announced it would be best for her to head back to school the next morning. She had a couple of tests the day after and wanted to be prepared.
As they pulled into the long driveway of the B&B, Anna took the place in, something she’d been too tired and distracted to do the previous night. It was a very attractive English Tudor style home located on the Chesapeake Bay.
There was a covered porch at the back of the house with comfortable lawn chairs facing the bay and the four of them settled into them. The water reminded Anna of home and she'd just begun to feel melancholy when her phone rang and yanked her from it. She dug around in her purse and glanced at the number. Jenna.
"How's Holly?" she asked right away.
“Good, like the rest of you she accepted it." She glanced at the girl in question. "She's flying back to North Carolina in the morning."
"Nice...where are you guys?"
"Annapolis."
"Maryland? That's only like a four or five hour drive from here, have you given any thought to coming for a visit?"
"I thought there was no rush?"
"There's not, but I really want my aunt to tell you the story of the other Faerians."
Anna's brow raised. "Other Faerians?"
Josh overheard and looked at her in question.
"Have I sparked your interest?" Jenna teased.
"Um, yup! Let me talk to the guys and call you back."
"'Kay, later."
Anna pressed end and filled the guys in.
Will lifted a shoulder,"We've got nothing else going on and I'm curious about that aunt of hers anyway. Other Faerians, huh? Do they mean a group of us hanging out somewhere?"
"Hmm. Maybe, but there was something about how she said it...do you remember how you seemed certain she wasn't one of us because she doesn’t possess the gift of healing or the physical characteristics?"
They brothers nodded.
"Well she may not have power to heal, but she has visions. Even when she was younger trusting Jenna's intuition has always been a thing with us, right Holl?"
Holly inclined her head in agreement.
"And then there’s her aunt, who is actually her great aunt and somewhere around eighty years old, except she looks much younger and obviously she's also gifted with sight. So by Other maybe she means another line of them or something.”
Will frowned a little. "I would think we would have heard of it. Maybe they're a line of something other than Faerian, which is entirely possible."
Anna shrugged. "Well we won't know until we get there."
"Alright, let's head up there tomorrow," Josh said.
Holly had been quietly listening to the exchange, but she interjected now. "Make sure you call me and fill me in, I'm curious about it now too."
"Of course." Anna started to say something else but a lick of fiery pain hit her in the gut, reminding her she'd gone a few days without sustenance. “Will? Can we go up to your room?" She put a hand against her stomach and winced.
Will's brows popped. "Oh shit Anna, why do always push it? Come on."
They headed inside and Anna heard Holly ask Josh what was up.
"Um, well she's a vampire."
There was a pause. "Oh. Right. Didn't really think about that. So, she bites you just like in the movies?"
His voice was amused as he answered, "Depends on what movies you mean."
"You eavesdropping?" Will asked as they entered his room.
She flushed guiltily.
"That is such a cool ability, I really wish I had it."
"It is, but it can borderline on invasion of privacy."
"Nah. If you were a mind reader I'd agree, but people should always be careful of the things they say out loud. If they're not, it's their own fault."
"Glad you feel that way."
He grinned. "Don't worry, I don't say anything aloud I need to hide from you."
She laughed. "I'm going to have to bite you for that.”
“Ohhhh, knee slapper,” he retorted as he dipped his head.
**
It was a fairly short drive from Maryland to New Jersey and the trio arrived in the early afternoon having left just after seeing Holly onto her flight.
Jenna threw open the door with a smile stretched across her face and two enormous dogs flanking either side of her.
Will eyed the giants warily and Jenna laughed.
"Don't worry they're friendly," she turned towards the inside of the house, "Harri can you call the beasts?"
"Dominique! Angelique! Come!" A smoky voice commanded and the dogs went bounding off.
"Come on in! I'm so glad you guys came!"
Generously created for me by @son-of-satire