Haunting Shadows (Book 2)

Chapter 25

The light in the cove dimmed until all of it was gone. Andreas slowly became himself again, the raw pain of losing his brother once more starting to dim, replaced with more confusion that anything else. A blinding white light focused suddenly right in from of him and he had to shield his eyes to keep from going blind. The light burst out in all directions and Andreas opened his eyes again, slowly, hyperaware of his surroundings.

“Andreas,” a deep voice boomed over to him. Andreas’ body stiffened as his eyes fel on his next shadow. Great, they weren’t even giving him time to fully recover from seeing his brother before bombarding him with his next test. He was quick to shake off the sorrow and rebuild his walls, a talent that had taken him years to perfect.

“Dad,” Andreas answered, his voice steady as his eyes narrowed on the figure before him. He kept his memories carefully locked away, refusing to break down again. He survived Dylan’s visit; if he could accomplish that, anything was possible.

“You have been up to no good, I see.”

“I’ve always been up to no good, now just happens to be the first time you get to see it.”

“Andreas, son, what happened to you?” his father, Christopher Grigoli, said, his eyes pitying.

“How much time do you have, because that is quite a long list? Perhaps the better question would be what hadn’t happened to me,” Andreas answered, his eyes distant.

Christopher stepped closer and Andreas didn’t move. “You have been through a lot, more than most people your age and older, I understand that. But that is no excuse!” Christopher slipped back into his fatherly role as if no time had passed since the last time he spoke to his son.

“You’re right. It is no excuse. I’m just naturally evil. I have come to terms with that, but it seems no one else has. I’m not the one making excuses. I know what and who I am.”

“Always so damn stubborn.”

Andreas smirked. “You can preach me all you want, it’s not going to make a difference. I’m not going to change.”

“You already have! You didn’t used to be this bitter… you were a sweet kid, what happened to that Andreas?”

Andreas laughed, but it was a strangled, humorless sound. “Dylan was here, just before you showed up. And honestly, he has the most reason to be mad at me… to question me… but guess what? He was the only person who didn’t ask me what the hell is wrong with me or what happened to his brother. Because he accepted me like I am, his brother. You all could learn a lot from him. Stuck at five years old and he has more wisdom than all of us combined.” He surprised himself by being able to keep himself together as he recounted his brother’s visit.

“Dylan is too young to understand the magnitude of what you have done!”

“He’s always been a lot smarter than you gave him credit for!” Andreas’ voice rose as his father’s did.

“Is this about Dylan, or about you?”

Andreas narrowed his eyes. “If I wanted to talk about me, I would.”

“We both know that’s not true.”

Andreas threw up his hands in frustration. “You want me to say that I hated you growing up because nothing I did was ever good enough for you? That you made me question everything about myself while you were still alive? That you expected nothing of me? You told me I’d be a failure. Told me that I would never amount to anything. You gave me credit for nothing. As a child, how was that supposed to make me feel? Grateful? Let me guess, it was just your way of pushing me until I got better? I might be evil, but you cannot tell me that I’ve amounted to nothing. I’m the greatest sorcerer alive. One of the most powerful throughout history! People fear the mere mention of my name! And I accomplished that, not you. You always knew I could, but you didn’t want me too, did you? You envied the power I still had to unlock!” Andreas’ eyes had taken on a golden glow, not having change completely yet, as he regarded his father.