A normal life

Chapter 17: Charlie

Chapter 17, Charlie

When I heard a woman's voice that I didn't know my body moved on instinct as I placed myself between this mysterious woman and everyone else in the group. Something about this woman set me on edge, it even put my creature side on edge and there was only one thing that had ever done this before. An ancient, a creature that had been alive for centuries or even a millennium. For someone so old she didn't even show any of her age at all, her hair was chocolate brown that was wavy and reached her knees not one strand of grey hair. Her skin was so pale that I was sure that she hadn't been in the sun for years, she was around Maylin's height maybe a little bit taller meaning she would reach my shoulder but what gave her away from all of this were her eyes. They were blood red, a red that only ever belonged to one creature, not even a Blood pixie could claim that eye colour because it belonged to the vampires.
"I seem to have startled you, I apologise seeing as that was not my intention" assured the woman, her voice just as angelic as she looked.
"Just who are you? And what are you doing down here in the archives?" I demanded not taking my eyes off her but I knew that Eric, Kieran and Shawn had grabbed Maylin, Derek and Sally's arms ready to run if it came to that.
"Oh how careless of me, my name is Angeni and as you seem to have noticed I am one of the ancients and I am also a vampire, as to why I am here in the archives is because this is my home" smiled Angeni holding her hands up showing she meant no harm. Just because she was friendly and showed she meant no harm doesn't mean that I was going to lower my guard around her but we did introduce ourselves to her.
"You must be the guardian of the archives that my Grandfather warned me about, he never mentioned that you were a vampire" Derek said as he stood in front of Sally to protect her.
"That is correct so long as you do not destroy my archive or books then you have nothing to fear from me seeing as I have my blood lust under control" said Angeni and I relaxed a little bit. If she had been chosen to be a guardian of the archives the council of creatures would have had to appoint her meaning she would have been tested to be sane, stable and in control. Sometimes if a creature got too old they became unstable and would lose control of themselves.
"You're one of the ancients? Then you must have seen a lot of things come and a lot of things pass by as well, correct?" asked Maylin. I opened my mouth about to warn her to be careful seeing as Angeni could kill us all but then I saw it. The fire in her eyes along with desperation, it was the same look she had when our clans clashed in fights. It was a look that I knew meant that she couldn't be talked down from her choice. That was when it actually hit me, everything she had done and was doing was to stop the fighting between our clans so that no one else died and she was desperate enough to even risk her life for it.
"I am and I have, I can tell you are seeking answers of some sort seeing as you took the time to come here when most have forgotten the archives so information is hard to come by, perhaps I can help you out or point out the books you would need to read" smiled Angeni.
"Until recently I thought I was human but then I found out that I wasn't human at all and I have been told that I am the next head of the Aven clan who is feuding with Charlie's clan, the Wolven clan" explained Maylin to give her some background.
"I am aware of the two clans and of their rivalry as much as any other creature knows about it so what exactly is it you wish to know?" Angeni questioned. 
"If you know or if you could point us towards the books about it, could you tell us what you know about the war or even why the war started to fight?" enquired Maylin.
"And why do you need such information? And if I do answer what will you do with the information that you gain?" Angeni curiously replied.
"I want to find out so that I can put a stop to the fights, to stop the injuries and death to both clans along with other creatures and humans" revealed Maylin.
"Very well, follow me this is a rather long story so I would prefer to be comfortable" said Angeni and we followed her through a door that she had to have come out of. 

On the other side of the door was a lounge room with enough space to have a large fireplace, three four person couches, two three people couches and one, one seater chair. Once we sat down Angeni served us some tea and cookies before sitting down looking lost in thought.
"Around three hundred years ago was when the fighting started but before that both of the clans were partners, the leaders were much like brothers. That all changed one day though when a large earthquake hit a nearby human village, it was horrible almost all of the houses were gone and humans were dying everywhere" Angeni sadly recounted taking a sip of tea.
"That was what sparked a rift between them, the Wolven clan used their Naga forms to help the humans get away from the danger and start to rebuild a new village but the Aven clan wanted nothing to do with the humans. After that slowly they drifted apart until the Aven's took it too far and started to attack humans that wandered onto their land. To them humans were nothing but slaves that should follow orders. Well the Wolven clan disagreed and wanted to co-exist with humans so they fought for the first time physically, then one day while the strongest were gone from the Wolven clan the Aven clan attacked the Wolven clan. It was a blood-bath that no one saw coming so it devastated a lot of people" Angeni continued as she held back tears.
"You lost someone" Sally said her normal happiness disappearing.
"Yes, my childe was married to a Wolven Naga and they were taken from me, after that night the Wolven clan wanted revenge so they attacked the Aven's back and became trapped in a bloody cycle of war" finished Angeni of all things that I was expected to find it was nothing like this. It was shocking and horrifying but if that was how I felt, it was probably nothing compared to what Maylin felt. I couldn't even begin to think of what she would be feeling or what she was thinking seeing as her clan was the one that started the war. Looking at her I saw that she looked to be in shock but at the same time horrified and distraught.
"Maylin? You okay?" I asked walking over to her, careful not to startle her.
"This is all our fault, if the Aven clan didn't....How could they actually do something like that?" whispered Maylin looking sick as she had lost all colour.
"It's not your fault you weren't even born back then, not even your great grandparents were born, you couldn't have stopped it" I comforted.
"I know but all because of my ancestors hundreds if not thousands of people are dead now, most of them innocent humans or innocent creatures that have nothing to do with this war" Maylin said, tears gathering in her eyes. My heart nearly stopped at seeing her tears, it was like it physically hurt me. Doing the only thing I could think of I grabbed her and pulling her into a hug tucking her head under my chin glad that we were the only ones sitting on this three seater couch.
"This is in no way your fault how could it be your fault, I mean you didn't know anything about this world until three months ago if anything it's both clans fault for letting this go on for so long" I exclaimed glad to finally be able to hold her but right now I had to focus on calming her down. Just holding her in my arms though made me remember the mission that I had been given from my clan.
"I guess you're right but why? Why do innocent people have to suffer for it?" Maylin asked looking up at me that made me blush a little.
"Because creatures are stupid like that, thinking that they are top of the food chain when they really aren't" chirped Eric making Maylin blush and pull back while I scowled at him.
"Yeah I guess they really are" said Maylin and I realised that something else was worrying her.
"What's up? From what Charlie has told us, you seem down" said Kieran.
"Sure you didn't get a good answer to your questions but you found out the truth like you wanted, didn't you so what's up?" asked Shawn. 
"Now that I know the truth about the start of the wars, I know that the elders have been lying to me about a lot of things it makes me wonder what else they have been hiding, not only that but they told me they were only young at the time so they are hundreds of years old" said Maylin making us go still. If they were hundreds of years old they were nearly ancients meaning that if they were hiding something and wanted to go after Maylin we would have a hard time with them not even the Wolven elders were as old as that.
"We will just have to search for what else they have been holding back and it doesn't matter about their age for now" I encouraged her with a smile glad she wasn't crying anymore. No matter how much I tried I couldn't get rid of my feelings for her which made me get pulled in two directions. I could tell Maylin about my feelings and hope she felt the same towards me or I could do as my family wanted and kill her. Thinking back to Madame Rosa's words I realised that if they were truly my family then they would be behind me and support our relationship even if it was with our enemy.
"Hey Maylin" I called seeing as she had moved to help Angeni clean up the tea and cookies. First I was going to tell her about the mission and then if she still wants to see me then I can tell her about my feelings.
"What is it?" Maylin asked and I could feel everyone's eyes on us.
"Do you mind if we talk? You know in private?" I requested breaking out in a sweat getting nervous.
"Sure" replied Maylin as we headed out back into the room that joined the two archives.

"There is something that I need to tell you and I can understand if afterwards you want to hit me and never want to see me again" I said as I paced back and forth.
"I'll be the judge of that, just talk, don't worry about anything else for now" she said with an encouraging smile, I guess it was her turn to encourage me.
"You have to understand that in my family, I am the third born son so I had to fight for everything that I have, the only thing that I have ever wished for was for my families approval instead of their scorn" I explained to her.
"Because of that any mission or order they graced me with, I followed down to the letter hoping that they would show any sort of affection for me" I told her hoping to drag the conversation out seeing as this could be outlast conversation.
"They ordered you to get close to me and kill me didn't they?" Maylin asked with a sad smile.
"Yes....But I can't do it, I have tried to squash everything that I feel for you but it isn't possible, I can't hurt you, I don't want anyone to hurt you let alone myself" I told her and to my horror I felt tears running down my face.
"It's okay Charlie, I understand when my adoptive parents were alive while they loved me and I knew that they were rather strict so I strived to impress them much like you strive to impress your family" Maylin said reaching up and wiping my tears away.
"You're adopted?" I asked once I got my emotions under control, she had mentioned it before but I hadn't really been paying attention.
"Yeah I didn't realise until I started having these weird dreams and the elders told me my parents bound my creature side but the bind is now coming loose" explained Maylin.
"Maylin, I think-" I started having worked up the courage to tell her at least until the door opened.
"You're the heir of the Aven clan correct?" Angeni asked, seeming to just realise and I knew that our moment was gone now.
"Yeah at least that's what I was told I'm not sure if I can trust them after what we have just found out" said Maylin.
"Then your Robin and Nathan's daughter, I thought that you had died along with them when they were killed" said Angeni hugging Maylin shocking us seeing as the others had their heads stuck out of the door. Maylin's parents had been killed and somehow Angeni, who was an ancient vampire, knew them.
"You knew them" stated Maylin in shock.
"Of course I knew them after all I was Robin's godmother, other than my childe they were my lifeline that kept me sane as I aged, it never occured to me that you would still be alive" said Angeni with tears in her eyes. Just when I thought that the world couldn't shock me anymore today it throws this curve ball at us. I quickly looked towards Maylin who seemed to have frozen and I couldn't help but hope this wouldn't push her over the edge.