Twisted

Chapter 9

"The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future." -Theodore Roosevelt

~~

Elijah takes a seat in a chair situated in front of the tattered book. He motions for me to sit in the chair next to him. I scan the room once more, longing to see what else might be in this room, but instead settle in the chair next to him.

Elijah quickly flips the book open, small particles of dust flying from the pages, and slides the book between us. It looks as if the page has been handle many times throughout the years. There are multiple small tears along the page and the corners are yellowing from handling.

'Cei blestemați' is written in calligraphy across the the top of the page. I stare intently at the words, wondering what the words mean and why Elijah has turned to this page.

"The cursed one," Elijah's voice is haunting, making a chill run through me. "This book explains who we are. Who you are."

"But I'm not..." I start, but Elijah quickly cuts me off by raising his hand.

"Please just listen, Elyse. You will understand when I am done."

I nod, not knowing what else to do or say.

"This book speaks of the original vampires, the elders known as the Melvorik. Originating in Romania as bloodsucking creatures of the night. Cei blestemați or the cursed one, as they were called by humans and other creatures because they believed it to be a curse." Elijah's eyes glaze over as he speaks. "The blood that runs through our veins is cursed, it's what makes us what we are. That is how I found you."

I attentively watch and listen to Elijah, not daring to say a word, as he pauses for a brief moment. He appears to be remembering something, lost in a train of thought. His eyes darken, almost becoming a shade of black.

Finally, Elijah's eyes return to their normal purple hue and he turns to look at me. "We were able to walk in the sun, contrary to some of the fairytales you may have read, but fear of discovery made us creatures of the night for thousands of years. We began walking in the day, as a way to make us less noticeable to the humans that wish to kill us."

Elijah pauses again and I can't hold back the question burning within me. "We?"

Elijah brings a hand to his temple and makes a swirling motion with his fingers, as if massaging away an ache. "Yes, Elyse, we. I am an elder. I belong to the Melvorik."

I draw in a shaky breath. I want to ask more questions, but something in the back of my mind tells me to stop. To let Elijah speak.

"Once we made our way into society, once we ventured out in the day, we had to be careful. This meant the elders had to split up in order to better watch over our people. To enforce rules to keep us safe. There are eight elders, each ruling over a certain part of the world. I reside over North America." Elijah speaks with pride.

"Does the crown belong to you?" I ask, referring to the gold crown I had seen on one of the many shelves in the room.

"It belonged to my beloved." The sadness within his voice makes me want to reach out and comfort him, but I hold back.

"What happened?" I ask, but quickly wish I hadn't.

The look that appears on Elijah's face is a mixture of sadness and anger, but anger seems to dominate. "She was murdered. There are many people who wish to harm us in this world. We call them Reapers. In trying to get to me, they kidnapped and murdered my beloved, Sable. And I wasn't able to do anything to stop them." His voice cracks at the end, pain lacing every word.

Reaching out, I grab his hand and immediately his emotions run into me. I realize his guard must be down, allowing me to easily grasp on to each and every emotion. His sadness is intense and all consuming. Remembering how he was able to take away my fear, I focus on taking away his sadness, hoping to take away some of the pain.

Suddenly, his sadness takes over me. I pull my hand away, and the emotion stays with me. Elijah gasps, realizing what I have done. At first, I thought he would be angry that I took away his heartbreaking sadness, and I prepare for the verbal abuse that will follow. It's nothing I haven't dealt with before. But it never comes.

Instead, Elijah stands up and begins to pace. "How did you do that?"

"I-I remembered how you took my fear with Benjamin and I.. I thought I could help take away some of the pain. I just focused and..." I trail off, not knowing how to explain what I just did. Elijah had done the same thing to me, shouldn't he know how to do it?

"It took me a century to learn how to do that. One hundred three years to be exact, Elyse." Elijah continues to pace.

It takes me a moment, but when his words finally sink in, my mind begins to spin. I place my head in my hands, trying to steady myself. "Then how did I just do that?" I practically yell.

"I don't know, but we need to find out fast. You mustn't tell anyone of this. Not even Sara." I sense a hint of fear in his tone, but hope that I am just imagining it.

Elijah returns to his position, sitting in front of the book and turns the pages once more. He eventually settles on a page. His finger trails over some words, before he stops and turns his gaze towards me.

"What?" I demand, knowing that he found something.

"It can't be.." He mutters, more to himself than me.

"Elijah, what is it?"

"Sara mentioned a legend, involving a vampire named Ilaria. I had thought the name sounded familiar, but the thought of a vampire mating with a werewolf was absolutely odious. Simply unfathomable." Elijah speaks with disgust, as if the mere thought of being with a werewolf is ghastly.

"The Obsidian Moon alpha, Brecken. She said he was fated to Ilaria," I recall Sara saying.

"So you were listening. I thought you might've been. I didn't recall when she spoke of the legend, but there were originally nine elders. A woman named Ilaria was one of the original elders, a Melvorik, but she disappeared over a century ago. No one knew what happened to her," Elijah explains.

"You think the legend might be true?"

"She was strong, Elyse. Stronger than any of the other elders, stronger than me."

"But what does this have to do with me?" I ask the question, but fear I might already know the answer.

"Sara and Benjamin believe you are a werewolf, as to them, you have the scent of one. But I have detected cursed blood within your veins. If this legend is true..." Elijah pauses. He stands, before walking to a large window.

"If the legend is true, then what, Elijah?"

"Then you could be both. A hybrid."