The Immortal Design (12 page)

   “So it wasn’t all just a very bad dream after all?” I asked. He stood up and went to leave.

   “No, I’m afraid it really isn’t John. Monsters do exist, and therefore so does the Order.” With that he left me to myself. I settled down in my own bed. It felt good to be back in my own surroundings after being in that lousy hospital bed for so long.

   I stayed in my room for the rest of the day. I had no desire to see anyone at all. I wasn’t sure who anyone really was and who I could truly trust. My parents had sent food up to my room. I ate like I hadn’t eaten in months, which technically I hadn’t. I showered and changed into some comfortable clothes. I was doing my best at getting back to something normal.

   I had missed out on so much in three months. School was going to be difficult. I would probably flunk out, I wasn’t sure where my credit standings were with the school. I had missed out on all of the parties. That part didn’t bother me very much. My cell phone wouldn’t stop ringing or beeping. I received calls and texts asking questions. I turned it off and refused to turn it back on. I just wanted to be left alone. I needed to get myself together. I had lost everything in that one day, including myself.

   I had never been a believer in monsters, psychics or anything supernatural. I had loved the story my ancestor had written, but I had never put any real faith in it. In one day everything I knew to be true, had turned out to be all lies. There really were monsters, psychics, and definitely things of the supernatural order. My ancestors’ book was a real life account of what he had went through in his attempt at riding the world of a monster. The woman he had helped save was Willa’s real mother and the monster he had destroyed was Willa’s father…Dracula.

   My best friend was now being held against his will by the monsters son, Willa’s brother. My father and his friends who had trained me my entire life were members of The Order of the Dragon. This was all too much to handle. I needed an outlet to vent my frustrations. I was still too weak to run so I hit the gym instead.

   I wasn’t set to go back to school for another week. I spent most of my free time in the gym lifting weights and trying desperately not to think about everything or anything. I wanted to hide from the outside world that was waiting for me. I knew I couldn’t hide from the world forever, but for at least a few days more I was determined to do just that.

   One day my father called me down to his study. I reluctantly went to see what it was that he wanted. He was sitting in his usual chair behind the desk. The room sent me into panic mode. It brought it all rushing back to the surface. The monsters, the fight, the gun shot echoed through my mind. I stepped back out of the room quickly. My father followed me out into the hall. He placed a strong sturdy hand on my shoulder and looked at me for the first time with kind eyes. It was as if he understood what I was going through.

   “We can talk in the living room. I understand that the study may not be the proper place to speak right now.” I nodded and followed him to the living room. I sat on the couch as he sat in a chair nearby. He studied me closely. “You seem to be gaining your strength back.”

  “I suppose so. There’s not much else for me to do right now, and I’ve had a lot on my mind, so I’ve been hitting the gym all day. It helps me think.” He smiled and went on with what he had to say.

   “How would you feel about staying out of school until after Christmas break? I checked and as long as you take the last of your required courses to graduate next semester you’ll be able to graduate with the rest of your class. They were willing to make an exception considering your circumstances.” I looked up at him and smiled.

   “Sounds good to me. I don’t think I am ready to go back to school just yet anyway. I don’t want to be bugged with a lot of questions about what happened. I’m not ready for that.”  My father shook his head in agreement.

   “You know you’re going to have to confront this before long. You can’t hide here in the house forever. You also can’t hide from those who are looking for you.” I knew who he meant, Willa and possibly her brother.

   “I know. I just don’t know if I’m ready to see her. Dad I thought I really cared for her. I thought I knew her. I had never felt that way for anyone in my life and it hurts to find out that she is not the person I thought she was.” My heart was breaking inside. I fought the tears that threatened to take over. I couldn’t cry in front of my father.

  “I know son. Your first love is always the hardest. It will be the one that will stay with you forever. So with that being said, you have a visitor.” I sat up straight and looked at him as if he were insane. Had he not just heard that I wasn’t ready to see anyone and especially not her?

   “Hello Johnathan.” I heard her voice and I couldn’t help but turn in her direction. There she stood. My Willa.

    “I’ll leave you two alone. I believe you both have a lot to talk about.” My father left me alone with a monster.

17.

   I backed away from her. I couldn’t believe my father let her in the house. He was supposed to destroy monsters like her not let them waltz right through the front door and offer his son up to them.

   Willa stayed exactly where she was. She seemed to understand my hesitation at her being in the same room with me. She was still the same beautiful girl I had seen on the street corner in her old beat up hearse. The same girl I had spent time with getting to know and learning about her family and her past. Willa was also still the same girl I stepped in front of to protect from my father and his henchmen. Regardless of all of those things, Willa was also a monster in disguise.

   “You look well Johnathan.” She spoke from across the room. She resembled a marble statue, frozen in time. Her snow white skin, the dark cascading hair that fell perfectly around her slender frame and those rose pink perfect lips. My heart began to beat rapidly beneath my chest. The flame I thought had vanished was still there. It was her eyes that made the difference. When I looked into her eyes, I did not see a monster. I saw the deep blue ocean warm and inviting. There was kindness, and sorrow hidden in the depths of that ocean that beckoned me to her.

   “Thank you.” I replied. I wanted to go to her. I wanted to wrap my arms tightly around her and feel nothing but love for her, however I was still worried that the monster in her would come crashing through and attack.

   “Your father thought it would be good for you to learn the truth about me. I agreed. I’m here to tell you my story if you would like to hear it and hear it from me, not from a book and not from my horrible wretched brother.” She waited for my reply. It was what I wanted. More importantly, I felt it was something I needed to know. I needed to hear the truth from her so that I could work on healing my own issues. Slowly I walked to one of the large chairs and took a seat.

   Willa took my place on the couch. “Go ahead. I’m ready to hear it.” I said as she made herself comfortable. Taking a deep breath she began her tale.

   “As you know by now, my mother was Willahmina Harker. She had been bitten by my father Dracula, or Vlad if you like. That is his real name by the way. While she was in her transition period my father had taken her to our ancestral home high in the Carpathian Mountains. A virtual stronghold, almost impossible to penetrate. Under his spell, my mother thought herself to be in love with him. They made love and I was conceived.” She paused in her story briefly. There was a sadness in her eyes. “Your ancestor and Mina’s fiancé along with their friends tracked them down to the castle. Once they found the two, they fought for my mother’s mortal soul. I believe you know this part of the story all too well, as it has been written and recorded by Bram Stoker himself. My father died and the curse on my mother was lifted. She was returned to her humanity and her soul was saved. It was only a few months later that she and Johnathan Harker married. She knew that she was with child but she was unsure of who the father was.

   Johnathan loved my mother deeply and cared little if I was his or Dracula’s. He would raise me either way as his own.” Tears began to spill from her eyes as she continued her tale.

   “After I was born it was obvious that I was not Johnathan’s daughter. I was weak and no amount of food or diet would help. Your ancestor came and performed tests on me to see why I was not growing as a normal child would and why I was so unhealthy. He had determined that I in fact was part vampire. This was all new to him and he was unsure of how to handle me or the situation. You see, although my mother was part vampire at the time of my conception she was still mortal and had her soul, and when I was born she was fully human.” Willa paused and watched for my reaction to the news of how she had come to be. I still wasn’t sure what she was.

   “I am both vampire and human, but more vampire than human. I lack most of the abilities of pure vampires. I have the sun allergy and silver does make me weak but it will not kill me as it would a real vampire. I do not feed like a vampire. Mr. Stoker realized that I needed regular blood transfusions to keep my vital organs operating normally. I go to the hospital three times a week to receive blood transfusions, I am officially diagnosed with a severe case of anemia. It is rare but there are others like that, of course it was just the cover story. I still do not age like a human. I age very slowly, I am over 200 hundred years old, but at heart I am really just a teenager like you.

  On the day my mother died, my father Johnathan contacted Mr. Stoker. He could no longer bare to have me in his presence. Of course the Order knew of Dracula’s youngest son Mihial. They had been tracking him for a very long time. Stoker sent word for him to be captured but not harmed. Once the deed was done he met with Mihial in his prison and made him an offer. He was to take me and raise me, if and only if he kept to himself and no longer preyed upon humans. Mihial agreed to the terms and that night I was taken back to the place where I was conceived. Mihial made sure I got the transfusions I needed and schooled me in the ways of the vampires, but my human nature longed for more. I no longer wanted to be hidden from the world. So I left and I came here. I sought out the family of the man who had saved me and my mother. I found you. I had not intended for Mihial to follow me however. I love my brother very much like a father, but he had begun to revert to the old ways and I wanted no part of it. Do not get me wrong John, I have a strong dislike for your ancestor for killing my real father, but if it was not for him I would not be here today or worse I could have turned out to be a real monster like him and my brother. Do you know the name by which I call him? Ce Rau?

   It means little evil one. That is what he truly is. He has no human soul left, he is full vampire and he cannot be saved. I have counseled with your father and I am fully prepared to help put an end to my brother’s business here and to help you save Pete, that is if and only if you will accept me.”  Willa sat silently on the large plush couch waiting for me to reply. I let her story sink and thought it over. I had a few questions for her of my own before I made my decision.

  “If what you are telling me is true, then why would my Great-Great-Great Grandfather write it as a fictional story? Why not just let everyone know that vampires really do exist?”

   Willa laughed at my question. “John do you not see the flaw in your theory? Look at how you are acting in light of our own situation. This is the 2000’s and when all of this took place originally they put people away in horrible places for a lot less than claiming that vampires are real. You remember the character Renfield from the book yes?” I nodded.

  “He was your ancestors’ best friend. After my real father had been killed, Mr. Stoker went to visit him in the asylum. Renfield told him not to tell the tale and told him of the horrors he endured while he had been locked away. He told him to make it a false tale to save him from being thrown in the same place. He listened to his advice and took it. He portrayed himself as Van Helsing.”

  That did make sense. It made perfect sense. The real journal was safely hidden in my own room. I had almost forgotten that it was there and I bet if I went and retrieved the journal and read it now, the tale of Willa would be included in the journal. I guess I should have read it three months ago. I could have been better prepared to handle what was coming.

   “Okay. I believe you. Thank you for being honest with me, but I have one more question for you. Are you willing to allow your brother, the man who took you in and raised you as his own flesh, to be killed by the Order so Pete may live?” Tears spilled freely from Willa’s eyes.

   “If that is what must be done for this to end, and for me to be with the man I love then my answer is yes.”

18.

   I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. Of all the crazy things I had heard over the last four months that had been the craziest. Willa was willing to sacrifice her own brother to save my best friend. “You love me?” I asked bewildered. Willa lifted her eyes to mine and through the glossy tears I could see that the person who sat before me was no monster. She was just a girl who had a very unfortunate past. It was no more her fault for being who she was then it was mine for being who I am.