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The air was too enjoyable to leave the windows in the old truck up as I drove down the side of the mountain Joshua made his home on. He would be beyond pissed and might come looking for me, but I could cover my tracks and the honest truth was that if I didn't find the path directly leading to my father in a day or so, I would simply call him to me.
He would kill me or embrace me.
Our encounter on the beach in Florida troubled me. He wanted me dead, no doubt. The idea of his power weakening as mine strengthened made that part crystal clear, but that's not at all the offer he made me when we stood face to face. His words led me to believe that he was looking for a companion, an apprentice to take under his wing and teach everything there was to know about our shared gifting.
"I would rather die." I turned the radio on, hoping that it might help me release some of my thoughts, but it was no use. I worked through the memories I had from childhood, not remembering much other than the shitty foster care system I was in and the various families who picked me up for a week and turned me back in like a book they'd checked out from the library.
Anger burned through me. I didn't have a mother or father figure as far as I knew a year ago. Now I had a father, hell-bent on tearing me down or turning me into evil and a mother who showed up and saved us all only to leave again.
The only thing I had for sure was Rob and I wasn't too sure how he would react with me having taken off without a word to him. It was a chip in the foundation of our trust. I reached back and rubbed my back softly as the small wounds throbbed.
Why wasn't I freaking out more about the creature in my dreams and the manifestation of his attack in my waking world? I couldn't muster the response that should have been given due to my circumstances. I had more emotional energy invested in finding out who the creature was, validating his true existence and then seeing what he wanted with me.
My father was a Grollic, who couldn’t turn like me, but a dark winged beast? No. Just not possible. Right?
I drove for a few more miles before pulling over at a donut shop to get something to make me feel better. After a quick run into the shop, I got into the car and locked the doors. Holding the bag up to my nose, I breathed in deeply and realized my mistake the minute I did it.
My stomach jolted and I barely made it out of the car before throwing up violently. I held on to the large trashcan that sat in the parking lot, letting myself go, seeing that there was no one of interest around me. A sob left me as I finished heaving.
I got back into the truck and took a long drink of the water I bought. Rolling down the window, I pitched the donuts into the trash and turned the truck around, heading farther into Colorado. I just needed to get an hour or so away and then I could figure out where to go and how to locate Bentos.
Closer.
"Yeah. I know. Show me where closer is or shut up," I growled toward the passenger side seat where my backpack lay. I was losing it. It was a good thing it was only me there to witness it.
––––––––
The sun rose in the back window of the truck, the crimson and burnt orange painting the console of the car with its warmth. Serenity settled over me and I finally stopped at a rest area about three hours from Joshua's place. I got out of the truck and lifted my hand, stretching and groaning at the pleasure that shot through me from my simple actions.
I needed direction. I would be out of Colorado and into Wyoming before I realized it if I didn't figure out where my end goal was. Pulling my backpack out of the truck, I locked it and walked toward the forest. The sound of small animals running under the brush should have frightened me, but with all I had been through, it didn't even give me pause.
A soft billowing smoke lifted into the sky from a little way in the distance. A sense of adventure rolled over me and I walked toward it, not entirely sure what I was doing. My power was far greater than me and if I was going to start learning how to be this person that I was created to be, I was going to have to start following my instincts. They told me to follow the path to the cabin.
"What am I expecting? Someone to greet me at six o'clock in the morning? I'm going to get shot." I rolled my eyes and picked up my pace, my stomach having settled an hour before.
The trees rose up on either side of me, creating a canopy of shade. The sun worked to push through each break in the coverage and proved effective. I smiled despite my current situation. I would find Bentos or he would find me. I wasn't sure what we were supposed to do once I did, but hopefully him killing me wouldn't be the first course of action.
Was Rebekah with Caleb and Sara fighting? Was she really a Hunter? Yes. Without a doubt, which means someone had killed her when she was in human form. Was she an elder or simply had some portion of angel blood running through her veins? Too many questions and no one to answer them.
A twig popped behind me and I stopped, turning as a girl a few years older than me walked out of the forest onto the path. Her golden hair was thick and long, her eyes amber and filled with challenge. She was beautiful, but extremely intimidating.
"What exactly are you doing out here?" She licked at her lips and tilted her head.
What an odd thing for a girl to do... Grollic.
"I, um, saw the smoke stack and...”
And what? You thought you would just come find out who lives there and hang out?
She didn't speak, but continued to watch me.
"I don't know what I was doing. This sense of adventure has me walking down this path with nothing more than a bag on my back. I look like a jacked up version of Little Red Riding Hood." I smiled, trying to play off my knowledge of who and what she was.
"Well, your grandmother doesn't live down there. Mine does." She crossed her arms over her chest, her long sleeve flannel shirt looking far better on her than it would on me. Her jeans were tight and boots laced up to mid-calf.
"I'm so sorry. I'll just be on my way."
"No. You've come this far. There has to be a reason for it, so I'll walk the rest of the way with you." She moved up beside me and nodded. "Well, come on then."
Something was off with the situation. She wasn't at all happy to see me there in the woods outside of her grandmother's house. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I was almost positive she knew that I was part Grollic, or at least had been in bed with one. The smell would be apparent to another wolf. It was the first signal that trouble was headed their way.
"Where are you coming from?" The girl glanced over her shoulder as I began to have second thoughts about my actions.
I couldn't fight the urging inside of me that pushed me to put one foot in front of the other, but I wanted to. Rob wasn't here to save me if something went wrong. Neither was Joshua or Michael. I should turn around and head back the way I came. What was I thinking?
"I, uh... I'm just leaving Colorado Springs. I was visiting a friend."
"It's nice up there. Where are you headed to now?"
"I'm not sure actually."
She paused by the front door, the small cabin made of logs and beautifully quaint against the backdrop of the trees that nestled around it. "So you're running from someone."
It wasn't a question.
"Aren't we all?" I adverted my gaze from hers, the deep amber of her eyes leaving me without a question, as if I had one over what she was. Was her grandmother a wolf as well?
"I suppose you're right. Come on in and I'll get us a soda. Hopefully you find whatever you're looking for." She shrugged and pushed open the door, walking into the darkly lit house. There weren't many windows and the smell of baked apples permeated through the air.
Odd.
"Smells good in here," I spoke softly as we walked through a tiny living room.
"My grandmother likes to bake. She sends all of us after apples at a small fruit truck that parks from time to time at the gas station." She moved to the refrigerator and pointed to a rickety looking wooden table in the center of the kitchen. "Take a seat. I'm sure my grandmother will be of interest to you."
I sat down and nodded my thanks as she put a soda in front of me. Why did I let myself be dragged into these odd situations? I needed to know about my father and who I was, but what would this elderly Grollic be able to tell me?
Turning as I heard feminine voices, a picture in the other room caught my attention, my heart almost stopping in my chest.
I stood and walked back through the small opening, stopping by the mantle that rested over the fireplace. The large painting above the hearth was breathtaking and frightening all in the same moment. It was the image of the dark creature with large black wings, but maybe I was only making it as such.
The ink blot fashion the painting was done in could leave the onlooker with a few different ideas of what the picture could be. It was the image in my journal. I had no doubt.
I started to pull it out, but an elderly voice stopped me.
"Hello, child. I see you've taken an interest in my painting."
I glanced over my shoulder to find a frail little old lady with a walking cane and a friendly smile. My fears dissipated, though I wasn't quite sure if that was a good thing. Fear kept me on my toes.
"Hi. I'm so sorry to bother you and your granddaughter. I was at the convenient store up there and... Well, I'm not sure why I'm here. Just felt something pulling me closer, if that makes any sense at all." I gave a tight smile, hoping that I didn't sound like the creeper that I felt like all of a sudden.
"I understand more than you know." She smiled and nodded to the painting. "Tell me what you see."
"Oh," I mumbled and looked back up at the picture. The various shades of grey and black produced a beautifully horrific image. "I actually see what I would label as a dark angel or something like that."
"Interesting. Come sit and let's talk for a minute and then I'll let you be on your way."
"I would like that." I turned and tugged at the bag on my shoulder, the temperature in the room rising slightly. It was enough for me to notice it, but I seemed to be the only one.
We walked back into the kitchen and I couldn't help but glance back before sitting down. I picked up the soda and sniffed it. I figured if she’d poisoned it or drugged it, I’d be able to smell it. I highly doubted the girl would do that. I took a quick sip as she lowered herself into the chair across from me.
"Let me tell you an old wives tale about the picture. Would that be all right?"
"Of course." I sat back and glanced around, assuming that the girl was still around.
"A long, long time ago in these very woods lived a very powerful man. His magic was dark and his heart black as night. He was said to be the son of the oldest evil known to mankind." She rubbed her warped fingers on the table in front of us as my stomach tightened. "At night he would turn into a beast with fangs and claws, though some part of him wanted desperately to simply be human again."
"He was once human?" I asked, as if I knew who the man was she spoke of.
"Of course he was. We all were." The woman smiled and glanced back down at her fingers.
She knew what I was. Sort of.
The woman continued. "So one night he was confronted with his creator and the dark figure asked what the man would want if he could have one thing. Without hesitation, the man answered that he wanted to be all powerful. If his humanity was lost, then power would suffice."
"And the dark figure made him all powerful?"
"He did, but with all power comes great cost."
"What was the cost, and who was the dark figure?"
"The cost was that he would have immense power, but that it would wean in the wake of his seventh son's eighteenth birthday. The boy would then grow into the powerful being that his father was, leaving the father with one option."
"What?" I already knew.
"To kill his own boy." The woman glanced up, sadness in her gaze. "The dark figure was the creator of this wolf and his people."
"And what if the boy wasn't a boy, but a girl?"
"Impossible." The woman laughed, breaking the tension in the room that hung between us. “If the seventh child was a girl, we'd have a whole other set of problems. The end would be near."
"The end of what?" I took another sip of my coke as the younger girl appeared in my peripheral view.
"Of everything," the girl muttered and moved toward me. "All right, Granny. You know you need to rest. Come on and tell your new friend goodbye."
The woman smiled and moved to stand. I got up and helped her, needing to know something before she left me.
"Do you believe the story is real?"
"I know it is." The woman smiled and patted my arm. "Stay safe and follow your heart. It’ll not lead you astray where your father’s concerned."
I walked speechless to the front door, walking out and jogging back toward the car.
I needed to know more about the dark figure. I didn't believe him to be a figure at all.
He had to be a fallen angel, but how? Why?
