Running with Shifters (completed)

PART TWO Chapter 15 Isadora

PART TWO

Chapter 15

Four months later

Isadora

"Nothing but taxes in this one!" Eli hollers from across the room and I nod, returning to ruffling through my own box. Nothing but taxes in this one either. Taking the few steps over to where Lin is I sit on his knee and lean against him, suddenly and inexplicably exhausted, as he wraps his arm around me.

"Don't give up hope. There's got to be some signs of them, we just have to keep looking." He strokes my hair and I nearly fall asleep right here. He has no idea how comforting he is; if it weren't for him I probably would have given up and stopped searching the same day we started.

Unfortunately Mrs. Remus had no idea about the old friend of Rom's dad, so we've spent the last four months looking for any signs or traces of my family, going through the town hall records and church basements of any towns we come across. Most everything so far has been similar to what Eli just found: tax reports, birth and death records, land records, occasionally with the odd cook book or some such thrown in a random box.

Apparently the Corvus' were somewhat nomadic because I know they came from Scotland but yet can't find any references to them or their whereabouts.

After a few minutes of sitting with him I hear someone open the door to come down the stairs. I look around and no one else seems to have noticed. Steps start down the stairs and Eli, the closest to the door, looks towards the door just as feet appear. In an instant I'm up and at the door, daggers hidden in the waistband of my jeans for quick access.

Before long the man's head clears the doorway and he looks around at all of us, confusion on his face before anger sets in. "Who are you kids and why are you trespassing on private property?" He has a strong Scottish accent and an extremely deep, intimidating voice. He's also unusually tall, towering over Eli by a few inches (which is remarkable, considering he's nearly a full head taller than myself), appears to be in his early-to-mid thirties, and has unusually defined facial features. His hair is a dark auburn color and is held back by a ponytail at the base of his neck.

His eyes sweep over us and I notice they're red. That's kind of unusual, most vampires try to cover them with contacts. His gaze rests on me and suddenly he freezes, taking a sudden involuntary step back as if he just got shocked. He snaps out of it when Lin takes a threatening step towards him and I hold up a hand to stop him, accidentally revealing one of my daggers I'd instinctively palmed.

"Once again- who are you and why are you here?" His voice is now even more threatening and everyone actually looks slightly afraid, Meg going so far as to move aside her coat to be within reach of her sword's hilt. It's now February so she can actually wear it around without being looked at strangely. While I on the other hand have to be reminded to wear even a sweater, seeing as how the cold doesn't bother me.

I see her move to grip the hilt and hold my hand up to stop her. Unfortunately the unknown vampire catches both of our movements and turns back to me. "You. You seem to be the leader so tell me who you are before I take drastic measures on these trespassers."

I balk for a second at my assumed leadership and then regain my composure, moving both daggers to my left hand and holding my right out as I introduce myself. "My name is Isadora Corvus. You are?"

I watch his expressions as I wait for him to answer and am not expecting to see the look of confusion that's quickly replaced with such unrestrained happiness. Before I can react (which is really saying something, considering) he's scooped me up in his arms and is now crushing me against his chest, whispering "it is true, it is true." Just as quickly as he attacked me he lets me go, squeezing my shoulders as he beams proudly down at me. "Well why didn't you say so sooner?!"

Everyone just stands where they are, just as shocked as I am, as we wait to see what he does next.

He seems to just remember everyone standing around us and he looks around at the badly-lit, cobweb infested church basement in the middle of nowhere where he found us. He makes a sound of realization and starts trying to guide us across the room and away from the door. No one moves and he looks at me, slightly perturbed, and I nod to them as they slowly start to follow us.

He leads us to the only wall not built with floor to ceiling shelves and presses a combination into a stone that I thought just had random moss growths on it but that now appear to be buttons. There's a rush of fresh air and suddenly the wall opens up to reveal a tunnel. Lin and I are the only ones not surprised, having dealt with the Complex before, and we follow the stranger down the barely lit tunnel.

I don't know what it is but something about him just seems trustworthy. Even if my intuition proves to be wrong we have more than enough people to take him down (not that I couldn't do it by myself, without the daggers). Remembering the battle on the runway, a jolt of guilt washes through me and I try to squelch it by focusing on where the tunnel might lead.