Chewing on her thoughts, Gwen looked away and put the car back into gear and pressed down on the accelerator. The gravel crunched under the tires as they crawled along the single lane once more.
Aubree waited, sucking air into her lungs. She opened the window to let in some fresh air. It felt like the space around her was shrinking, the walls and the frame pressing into her like a compactor, crushing her, breaking her down. The fresh air opened the space up a bit, blowing loose strands of hair from her face as she inhaled the smell of the woods around them.
This was crazy. Everything was beyond insane—it was absurd! Stone couldn't be Gwen's father. He had to be only a few years older than her. And Aubree couldn't be the reincarnation of his soulmate. It was impossible!
When Gwen finally spoke, Aubree couldn't believe her ears.
"Age and time are about as meaningless to us as the distance between stars and galaxies in the universe. No one knows exactly how far away they are, nor can they even remotely conceive the distance that separates us from them. So what may seem as old to you is meaningless to us."
Aubree forced more air into her lungs as she listened to Gwen's words and trying to wrap her head around them. She didn't sound like the Gwen she knew. Gwen didn't talk like this.
Gwen continued, keeping her eyes on the road. "We live until we are killed, and the only way to kill us is by decapitation or ripping our limbs off one by one—a slower, more brutal death."
She paused, chewing on her bottom lip as her eyes continued to focus on the road ahead.
Aubree stared at her, too stunned to say anything. Only two thoughts continued to circulate around her head over and over. Holy shit, and what the fuck?
"My mother died about a hundred years ago—before the first World War," Gwen said. Her voice lowered to a whisper. "Papa has never been the same since."
Aubree continued to gape at her, her head still swirling. A new thought tugged on her mind, making her wince, but she didn't trust her voice to utter the question. Could she accept whatever answer Gwen gave her? She wasn't sure she wanted to know and was afraid to ask.
Gwen heaved a sigh, as if giving in and deciding to let whatever thoughts that had been filling her mind come pouring out. "So, if you must know, my twin brother, Gavin, and I are about three hundred years old. Our birth names are actually from the tales of King Arthur because my mom loved to read. You might catch Papa calling me Guinevere and Gavin Gawain because those are our real names. We only adopted Gwen and Gavin after my mother's death to try and fit in more with humans. Times change so fast now, we grapple to keep up with the advances in technology."
She took another deep breath and exhaled slowly. "If my brother, Arthur, was still alive, he'd be four hundred now. My mother would have been..." she trailed off. "Mamaw would have been around six hundred if she was still alive. Papa is about eight hundred."
Aubree felt like she'd been punched in the gut and the wind knocked out of her. Her eyes widened as she gasped for air.
This wasn't possible.
He wasn't just old. Stone was ancient!
She hung her head in her hands. This was too much for her to handle. This had to be a joke. Some sick, twisted joke, but why? Why would Gwen tell her this? It couldn't be true.
Betrayal and fear ensnared her heart and she whimpered as she curled up in her seat. It was too much for her to bear. Her heart couldn't handle anymore. She had just gotten engaged, been dragged through Hell in the grips of a vampire, had her heart ripped to shreds when she kissed Stone, and now she was being fed outlandish claims that somehow involved her and threw her life upside-down.
YOU ARE READING
Heart of Stone (Parts I & II)
Werewolf[COMPLETE] Some bonds can't be broken, even in death. -- He couldn't endure another heartbreak. "Accepting her would be a mistake," he said. "She's a human. I can't afford to have her blood on my hands." Gwen looked away, and he knew she saw the ima...
