A Dark Knight

17. Family Truth

"No offence Payton, but when you say things like that, it's kind of creepy." said Kelsey.

"But it's the truth!" he protested.

"So is the creepy part!"

He sighed and motioned for us all to follow him back to the house. He said that we need to clean up after the fight and that if he wanted, we could go swim in the lake. The two sides that had been fighting just a few minutes ago were chatting as they headed towards the lake, except none of them even looked at me. I didn't care.

"Jade, are you coming to the lake?" Kelsey asked when I didn't follow the rest of the group.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a few minutes. I just want to check something." I told her. She nodded and went off with the others. The only ones left in the house were Payton, Niall, Jake, Emma and Eve who were all still nursing Charlie's head.

"Payton, can I talk to you in private for a moment?" I asked.

"Sure!" he said, shrugging. "Why don't we go in here?" He pushed me slightly, into a small room with a table and two chairs. He lit a candle and told me to sit down.

"Tell me about the wolves." I asked. He winced as if the memory pained him, but he told me anyway.

"Alright, where to start...... It will be easier to understand if you believe that I'm your brother...... 

 It happened when you were about six years old... Father took us on a walk. We were going to walk along the Boyne and have a picnic on the beach. But when we got there, ships were docked and men ran at us with knives. Father stood in front of us to protect us but the men weren't interested in him. They wanted young slaves. They killed him and came at us but..... they also didn't want you because you're a girl. They picked you up and went to cut your throat but you started kicking and screaming and they dropped you. You banged your head on a rock and didn't move. I thought you were dead.   

That's when the wolves came. They attacked the men and one of the wolves dragged you into the forest. Some of the men were killed, some were injured but most of them got back to their ship. I was dragged onto the ship as well." 

He stopped taking so I asked him, "I was told Lord Jay killed him. How come I don't remember this happening? Why don't I remember you?"

"Lord Jay did kill him. He was one of the injured men that got left behind. I think you lost some of your memory when you banged your head."

"But I remember Father teaching me things. He built things for me." I showed him my grappling device.

He pulled one out of his cloak. It was exactly the same as mine.

"I have one too. I don't know why you don't remember that day or me or how you got home, but it might come back to you over time."

"I remember waking up in the forest. But I was close to home. When I got home, Mother seemed really surprised to see me. She hugged me and cried for ages. But I didn't know why."

"That was probably that day." Payton said sadly. "The wolves probably brought you home."

Nobody spoke. I had loads more questions but I didn't see how Payton would know the answer. But I was sure of one thing. Payton was my brother. After he showed me the grappling device I knew that he had been telling the truth.