DemiDemonDarla

Chapter 8: A Mother's Confession

>>>>> The air was thick with the weight of the secrets that had been unearthed in the past few days. Darla sat quietly at the dining table, her fingers tracing the etchings on the golden bracelet she had found in the attic. Her thoughts were tangled, trying to make sense of everything she had learned. Her parents had kept so much from her—details about her childhood, about the strange occurrences, and now this bracelet with her name engraved on it, a relic she had no memory of but felt inexplicably drawn to.

Her younger brother Elyse had already gone to bed, and the house had fallen into a heavy silence. Martin was also asleep, exhausted after the emotionally draining day of confessions and revelations. Darla had thought her mind couldn't handle any more shocks for one night, but her mother, Eloisa, had asked her to stay awake a little longer, her voice quiet but urgent.

"There's something else," Eloisa had said, her eyes haunted with the weight of years of secrecy. "Something I haven't told anyone—not even your father."

Darla's heart skipped a beat. What could possibly be left unsaid? She had already learned that her life was not what she thought it was, that her existence had always been touched by something otherworldly. The symbols, the strange occurrences, the unnatural abilities she was beginning to sense within herself—none of it made sense yet. But if there was more, Darla knew she had to hear it.

She looked at her mother, who sat across from her, wringing her hands nervously. Eloisa had always been soft-spoken, kind-hearted, and gentle—a stark contrast to Darla's fierce and headstrong nature. Tonight, however, Eloisa's demeanor seemed even more fragile, like she was on the verge of breaking.

"Mom," Darla began, her voice steady but filled with curiosity, "what is it? What haven't you told me?"

Eloisa sighed, her eyes filling with tears as she looked down at the table. "It's about your conception, Darla. It's something... I've kept hidden for so long, I don't even know how to start."

Darla frowned, leaning forward. "My conception? Mom, what do you mean?"

Eloisa took a deep breath, finally lifting her gaze to meet Darla's eyes. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "It was the night of our honeymoon... the night you were conceived."

Darla sat back, confusion washing over her. What could possibly be unusual about that? Her parents had always loved each other deeply. She couldn't imagine anything strange happening during what should have been a joyous moment in their lives.

Eloisa's hand trembled as she continued. "That night... after your father and I had gone to bed, I felt something. It was like... a warmth, a soft touch that seemed to settle over me. At the time, I didn't think much of it. I was so happy, so in love. But after everything that's happened—after all the strange occurrences, the way you've been since you were born—I started to wonder if that night was more significant than I thought."

Darla felt a chill run down her spine. Her mother's words seemed to carry an unsettling weight, as though something deeply supernatural had occurred without her father's knowledge. "What do you mean, a warmth?"

"It was more than just a feeling," Eloisa whispered, her eyes unfocused as if she were reliving the memory. "It was like something—someone—touched me, but it wasn't your father. I didn't see anything. It was as if it came from nowhere... and yet, I could feel it. A presence."

Darla's pulse quickened. "A presence?"

Eloisa nodded slowly. "Yes. And after you were born, I couldn't help but think back to that night. The things that happened—your floating, your conversations with invisible beings—it all felt like it was connected to that moment."