Love Before Loyalty

Chapter 3

I knocked on his office door before entering. He looked up from his work that was on his table, and said, “Please, have a seat.” I did as I was told and took a seat opposite him.

“I asked you here because I was curious about you and wanted to ask you some questions.” He told me, his attention now fully on me. I took a deep breath, and said, “Shoot.” He nodded and began.

“Alright. Where exactly in Asia did you come from?”

“The Philippines.” I answered, “Thus the surname Olongo.”

He only nodded before continuing. “Do you mind if we change your surname to Cullen then?” he asked politely.

“Of course not.” He smiled and commented, “Great.”

“So how did you find out about us?” he asked, genuinely curious.

“You face off with the volturi was quite famous. I had a friend that was a witness, and she told me what happened. She knows what I am, but is sworn to secrecy. If I knew such a thing had happened, I would have told her to just tell the truth, I am truly sorry about that.” I apologized. I was really sorry about that. I didn’t want anyone hurt.

“It’s alright. It wasn’t yours or anyone’s fault.” He consoled me. I just nodded in response. “Do you mind telling me about your life?” he asked, anxiously waiting for my answer. I contemplated on what I should do. I was taking away his granddaughter; the least I could do was tell him my partially true life story and answered his questions. I took a deep breath and nodded before starting.

“Its an incredibly long story. Lets start with my mother shall we?” before he could respond, I continued.

“My mother died giving birth to me, like the rest of us. What I managed to find out about her was that she was a native Filipino from Olongo Island. She lived in a small village with her family, her parents and her 3 brothers.”

“She was always the obedient type, always following what her parents say. But one day, she decided to venture into the forest there. I guess that’s where she met my dad. They fell in love; you know the cliché vampire/human relationship you read in books. Her family said that everyday, she would head out to the woods on her own, ignoring her family’s protest.”

“From what my father told me,” I said his name with disgust; “He wen-” Carlisle interrupted me. “You know your father? Didn’t you tell us that you didn’t’?” he asked curiously.

Crap. Well the cats out of the bag. Maybe I’ll just tell him. It’s the least I could do.

“Well, yes. I just thought if I told you, you wouldn’t let me join. I’m sorry. Let me explain. After getting my mum pregnant, my father ignorantly left her. He told her that his past was coming for him and he needed to take care of it before coming back and staying with her. Skipping ahead to when my mum was about to give birth to me, she headed to the forest trying to find my dad, or at least that’s what I think she was trying to do.”

“The earliest I remember is tearing her open,” I said as a tear dripped down my cheek, “I didn’t know how to survive. After the moment when I see the life drained from her eyes, my memory is blank, I can’t remember that part of my life for nuts. All I know is that when my father came back and found me a few years later, my body was already a body of a 17 year old. I was “wild” with,” I paused wondering if I should tell him. I decide to do it. “Everything around me was floating, due to my erm skill.”

“I can er…… use my mind to control the movement around me.” Without letting him interrupt me, I quickly continue my story. “I was like a monster in a teenage girl’s body. My father didn’t know who I was at first, but he just took me in, tamed me, and raised me. But one day, everything changed. He found out that I was his blood daughter, and that I killed the woman he loved. Something in him snapped.”

“He stopped. He just stopped. He didn’t feed or anything, he just sat, sometimes murmuring the name “Leelyn”. Which I assume is my mother’s name. That’s why I call myself Leelyn, in honour of her. The way my father talk about her was touching. She was the most amazing creature in the world to him, and me.”

“By then, I could read, write and control my skills fairly well. I would go out and feed once a month and survive on human food on the other days. I took care of him. I protected him.”

“What happened next, was terrible. He suddenly came alert, without a word to me he left, and fed and fed. 10 people died that day. When I found him he had gone insane. There was this wild spark in his eyes. I was gonna kill him that day, to prevent more people from getting hurt, but I couldn’t, I couldn’t kill the man that raised me. So I did the only thing that I thought off, I ran.”

I cast my head down in shame. Tears that I did not realize were there kept flowing. Carlisle pulled me into a hug and held me, like a father would. The thought made me cry even harder.

This much of my life was true. But I just neglected to tell him what happened subsequently. After 13 years on my own, he found me, pretending that he had his sanity back. I believed him. I mean who wouldn’t believe their own father.

That was the worst mistake I ever made.