Rise of the Witch Queen

Unbelievable Truths

I sighed, rolling over, attempting to stretch out only to find that what I thought was my bed was some guys arms, and we were in the back of a town car. I looked up to see Lucases arms wrapped around me. I scrambled away from him, realizing that I was covered in blood. Then my memories of the whole night came crashing down on me.  I remembered everything from Jace, to the alley, and Kenna's boyfriend's head leaving his body.

"What the hell is going on" I shrieked, trying to get as far away from Luke as I could.

He shushed me like he was trying to soothe a wild animal. "It's ok" He reached towards me. When I flinched away from him, I could have sworn I saw a pang of hurt cross his face. "You're safe now. I'll explain everything as soon as we get somewhere safe".

"No," I said as forcefully as I could manage. "I almost got killed by some crazy impossible beast, and you chopped off its head, and I'm still covered in its blood, and I want to go home. So I think I deserve some god damn answers now!"

He sighed, "I know you do darling, and you do deserve them. I'm just not the one who should be telling those truths to you. However, we are going to someone who should be giving you those answers."

"None of this makes any sense," I sobbed, clenching my fists in my hair. I took comfort in the cold buttery smooth leather of the town car seat. Since I was probably insane anyway, I let my tears flow freely down my face. Luke stroked my hair, and I didn't have the energy to fight him. Either none of this was real, or all of it was, and honestly, at this point, I couldn't decide which option was more troubling.

Eventually, the town car pulled up to an apartment building, and Luke helped me out of the vehicle. With the adrenaline fading from the encounter in the alley, I was starting to feel the extent of my injuries. My wrists were bruised, my head was pounding, I was reasonably sure I had damaged a couple of ribs, and I just ached all over. "Luke, why are we here?" I asked as we entered into a ladened marble lobby of what appeared to be an upscale apartment building.

"I figured after the night you've had that, you might want to be around family," He said as we entered the elevator. I had a million questions coursing through my mind, but I couldn't manage to vocalize any of them before we reached the penthouse. As the doors opened, a man stood looking, waiting for us, looking as anxious as I felt. As I studied his face, he seemed familiar somehow. The longer I looked at him; I realized that he seemed familiar because our features mirrored each other. We both had curly blonde hair, high cheekbones, a pronounced jawline, and slightly upturned noses. While our builds were vastly different, it eas clear that we are somehow related. To my surprise, the guy before me broke down in tears before hugging me fiercely. "Charlotte, I can't believe your still alive," he half sobbed before releasing me.

"No offense," I said, not wanting to be rude. "But I have no idea who you are."

He sighed sadly, leading us into the kitchen with slightly warmer tones but still maintained the modern feel of the rest of the house and had windows that looked out onto a walled-off terrace. "I'm so sorry we had to meet this way," the owner of the apartment said, "I guess technically speaking we have met, but I doubt you remember it. I am your older brother William Jacob Harrington. You were stolen the night our parents were killed. Everyone believed that you were dead, me included."

"I just..." I said, trying to come up with something to say. I didn't even have the words to communicate my confusion.

"I know it's a lot, but please just let me explain," He pleaded, taking my hands while I sat down on a barstool. "I will say I don't know who separated us or why, but When Luke saw you at that ballet competition and wasn't able to find you in our directory, we decided to investigate further. The results of that investigation revealed that you are my long lost sister," he said, looking at me hopefully.