Omen City: The Monsters (Book One) - [Twilight Fanfiction - Spin Off Series]

Chapter Two- Rush Of Emotions

  Previously:

  "Mom?..." Cera's voice slightly shook with concern and curiosity. 

  "Cera... there's things you don't remember about him. Things I never wanted to tell you." A frown went across Serena's face as she looked down. 

  "Serena, she needs to know." Alistair said in a tone that seemed to be on the 'simple as that' side of things. Cera glanced at him only to quickly look back to her Mother. 

  "I know." Serena took a deep breath as she turned towards Cera. "Cera, your Grandfather's name is Joham. And I'm sorry to have to tell you this but... Joham is not a good man. If he comes here... compared to Aro..." 

  Cera slowly blinked at this. "Is he just as bad?" 

  "No... he's worse." 

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  Now..

  Chapter Two- Rush Of Emotions

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  "He's... worse, how is he worse?" Cera asked, staring at her Mother in shock. How could anyone in her family be worse than Aro Volturi? It made no sense. Her Mother was good, too good in fact which made it all the more confusing for her. Serena had her eyes tightly closed by now, she had no idea how she could explain this to her daughter.

  "He... my siblings and I were born for the purpose of his experiments and curiosity for hybrids. He raised me, watched my growth. He shared no interest in watching Maysun's growth as he had already seen mine, so I in turn raised her. Our brother Nahuel was raised by his Aunt who he turned and because... he couldn't stand the ways of Joham, he stayed away from him. Our youngest sister, Jennifer, was raised by our Father. He kept her close to avoid the same thing happening with her that happened with Nahuel. Cera...." Serena sighed, opening her eyes as she looked at her daughter with concern. 

  "He's the reason why...." She trailed off, exchanging a glance with Alistair who frowned but remained silent. Cera felt slightly on edge, she was wanting to know what this 'reason' that her Mother spoke up. Her hands reached down beside her and gripped each side of the wooden chair, it slightly sounding as if it would crack beneath her hands the more tense she felt from the possibilities of what he had done.

  "Mom... tell me." She finally said, she could see how hard this seemed for Serena, but she was losing her patience on the subject, especially if he was dangerous.

  "When you were still young... Joham came to see us, secretly of course. Without my knowledge he... he tested venom you. You became very sick and it didn't leave you for days. Carlisle took a sample of your blood and had found traces of venom in your blood stream, he said your wolf side reacted to it but because of your vampiric side.. it only made you deeply sick. I told Joham to never come near us again and that was the last that I saw of him. I'm afraid with his sightings in Seattle he may come here." 

  Cera blinked, taking in this information. Her own Grandfather had tested on her? Possibly knowing how it would make her feel? All of it seemed to make sense now. Why Serena was so on edge anytime Cera was near any vampires who were not as... careful, as Serena would have liked. Why she was concerned if she went hunting with vampires and why she was so on edge around The Volturi. 

  "...Can it kill me?" Cera asked quietly out of sudden thought. And if others knew how venom affected hybrids like her, would they use it to their advantage? 

  "Cera..." Serena felt sick at the idea, she never thought it could but there were so many unknown possibilities. 

  "Can it kill me?" She repeated, looking at her Mother. 

  "We don't know.... I would like to think its not a possibility but-" 

  "But you still don't know." Cera spoke quietly before her Mother could finish speaking. It was purely sad to her that this was even a possibility. That it was a possibility for any hybrid with part wolf inside of them. It was dangerous and yet, there was nothing no one could do. If Joham returned to see them, what would he do? Would he try to use more of this venom on her or other hybrids? 

  Would he even go to such means to try other tests on her family and even friends? Her Mother wasn't nervous for nothing, this wasn't a simple matter to overlook. "We told the pack this morning, Jacob and Renesmee know as well. Cera, I do not want you going anywhere alone, and if you see him, I want you to run." 

  She blinked some and felt confusion as her eyebrows pushed tightly together. How would she know it was him if- the sudden thought stopped as a picture was pushed in front of her. The picture showed her a man in his early to mid forties, short brown hair with stubble across his face. His eyes were a piercing red that held so much intensity, that Cera flinched. Even from a photograph, the man's whole demenor spoke in volumes. It was obvious from his posture in the photograph that he was confident in himself, that he wasn't someone who simply gave up, and that he got what he wanted or worked for. 

  Cera realized that she had only seen part of this picture, for the rest of it showed it was actually a family photograph. She saw her Mother standing next to Joham, smiling bright as she held her child in her arms. Cera frowned at this, this was when he had visited them...

  Cera pushed the picture away from her and stood, suddenly losing any appetite that she once had. There was a rush of emotions that she simply could not handle at this moment, not even her Mother could help her with this. It felt like too much for her to handle, especially her time with The Volturi being less than a year in the past to her. Those feelings were still there, plaguing her, constantly putting her on edge. 

  She had thrown herself into learning to fight, even though she before couldn't stand the idea of sudden violence. She had thrown herself into using her power to practice in anyway that would mean to be defensive for others or for herself, no matter how much she disliked each act of it. She had been forced to change in a way she wasn't sure that she liked, she was still scared that she could become far more different than what would be acceptable in her eyes.

  And what would that mean for her family? For Nathan? What if she only proved Sulpicia Volturi right and she did have a part, although hidden, that could be like them? She couldn't stand the thought of it, and Joham's presence being so close did not help matters. She did not want to see him, she didn't want any part of this, any part of these things that connected with him. But yet, it was being forced to her because he was returning close to them once more. 

  "Cera?" Alistair spoke up then, noticing how little of breaths that she took, how panicked she seemed to be becoming. She blinked and looked at him, a blank expression covering her face as if it was a mask. He was holding Serena's hand in comfort and he reached across the table, taking Cera's in a gentle manner. 

  "I know you are scared, Cera. You have had so much to be fearful over, but there is one thing that we will do and that is protect you no matter the cause or length. I have not been with you and your Mother long, but I will not let harm come to either of you." There was a serious aspect to his tone that reached his eyes. It was a look that Cera had grown familiar with throughout her life around the other vampires or wolves around her. She held no words of her own to say, but she nodded to him to let him know that she heard what he had said. 

  She softly squeezed his hand in notion to say that she believed him, at first she wondered if he knew this and almost frowned at herself for not saying the words aloud, but Alistair smiled warmly at her in a silent reply that yes, he understood. Tears welled in her eyes from her emotions, there was too much fear, thankfulness, and even anger swirled within her. They seemed to create a deep pit in her stomach that felt empty, yet full at once.

  Cera briefly closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. If Joham did come to see them, she had to assure herself that he wouldn't get far. The Wolves, her family, even Nathan's family and The Cullens would not allow it. They would be safe. She had to believe that they would be safe, no matter the cause.