It's hard to wait when you're anticipating so much.
I kept feeling that as I sat on my bed and stared out of my window. The nearby clock read that it was nearly midnight, bringing my anxiety even higher. The house was quiet, and I was sure my parents were at least getting some rest, but I still feared anything about this going wrong.
Coming home that afternoon had gone off without a hitch for me and Seraphina. Like she'd promised, my sister hadn't said a word about Lenore, or given any indication of us meeting with her. She also was good enough not to mention my fearful reaction out there for what we'd heard and sensed. I was glad of that. If she had, then I wouldn't have gotten the privacy that I had now.
I'd locked the door about half an hour before, and my plan was to claim that I'd forgotten I'd done so when I was changing if anybody questioned it. My window was also unlocked, and I wore my pajama pants and no shirt. I had been trying to check off everything I could think of to make this work. If it did, at least I could see Lenore again while we dealt with everything.
As the time ticked a little past midnight, I finally saw the white shape flying through the air. I opened my window as it approached, and although I couldn't smell anything from it, I recognized the owl as her. She'd made it, and she'd succeeded in hiding her smell.
Lenore flew through my open window, transforming back near my bed. There was a happy smile on her face as she saw me.
"I made it, and I was able to hide my smell." she boasted.
"That's fantastic." I smiled back, getting up with her.
Lenore wrapped her arms around my shoulders, "It feels like it took forever for this time to come. I'm glad I found your house so easily too. This area's much bigger than I thought." she continued.
"Like I said, we are pretty secluded, but it makes a lot of things easier too." I reminded her. I glanced around us, "So, what do you think now that you're here?"
"I think you've got quite an interesting room." Lenore answered. She let me go, walking around to look closer at my statues, "It's a big room, but this also a big house. I like your dragon collection too. They're really nice looking."
"Yeah. I first saw them as a kid when we went on vacation to the ocean, and I collect a new one every year when we go back there." I explained.
I sat on the side of my bed, taking in the sight of her in the moonlight that was coming through my windows. It felt strange that she was there in my room now, but I also really liked it. It was like inviting your girlfriend over for the first time without anybody else knowing.
"I've never gotten to see the ocean, but I've seen plenty of pictures, and it looks beautiful." Lenore commented.
"It is." I said absently.
Lenore stepped in front of me, a knowing smile crossing her face as she leaned down to me.
"You say that, but you sound like you aren't calling the ocean beautiful right now." she teased.
I returned her smile, "Maybe not."
"I think I'd like to be more comfortable too. I just got here, so I'm going to stay a while and enjoy myself in a real bedroom." Lenore continued.
She took a step back, unzipping the back of her dress and letting it drop to the floor, leaving her in only her lacy black underwear and bra. I felt like an owl staring at her hourglass figure standing there. Yeah, I'd seen it all a few times now minus those clothes, but it still didn't stop my heart from skipping a beat.
The bad part was that she was well aware of this too. There was smug smile on her face as she crawled onto the bed beside me and laid down on her back, resting her hands on her stomach.
"You do realize you're taking a lot of liberties with this." I managed to inform her.
"Maybe." Lenore shrugged, "But I'm very comfortable like this too, not to mention this bed's great. I haven't laid on a real bed in forever."
I gave in, lying down beside her with my head propped on my arm.
"Doesn't seem like it. But it's fine. I kind of like having you in my bed beside me."
Lenore giggled, "It would be nice if we could do this more. I've missed you so much in the last day too. I never thought I could miss someone that badly."
"I've been missing you too. Guess we really did end up with a bond between us, huh?"
I was now running my fingers over her body, taking in her soft skin and curves. My heart felt so content right now. She was back beside me. I wasn't going to lose her.
"Of course we did." Lenore responded, turning on her side to me, "I did let you have me. Isn't that how Foxes claim an Astarte as theirs?"
I didn't know that, but I wasn't about to tell her that. It wouldn't fit the picture of myself that I'd been painting for her since we'd met.
"True. You did give me permission, and I do want to keep you with me from now on." I agreed.
"Trust me," Lenore kissed me, "you're never gonna lose me now. I'm yours forever."
It was easy for us to lose ourselves with this, and as always, my worries were thrown to the back of my mind. I moved over her, then pulled back a little and stroked her hair back.
"I still want you, but we need to be careful here. We don't want anybody hearing anything." I reminded her.
"It might be hard, but I'm sure we can be quiet enough." Lenore whispered.
That was enough for me. Less than two days and I already felt pent up, although I did halfway wonder if it was because she was there with me. Maybe this was all instinct because I'd claimed her as mine.
We spent the next two hours together, lying on my bed after making love, just talking and enjoying being together. Everything stayed quiet, which I counted as being absolutely great. I now had the time I wanted with her, and was even able to do it in my bedroom.
As four in the morning rolled around, Lenore finally got up and dressed. We shared a few long kisses goodbye, then she transformed into an owl and flew back into the woods.
I put on my pants and unlocked my door afterwards, heading to the bathroom. May as well get in a quick shower to clean off any lingering scents from our sexual encounter, just to be on the safe side. No telling if anybody would pick up on them later if I didn't.
The house was dark and quiet as I came out into the hall. Seraphina and my parents were still sleeping. None of them had any idea that Lenore had been there with me. A satisfied smile crossed my face as I thought about that. Yeah, this could work for now.
But as I came to the half open bathroom door, I inadvertently stopped. The memory of my dreams returned to the front of my mind, and all at once, I didn't want to go in there.
"Come on Sevee." I whispered to myself after a few minutes of standing there, "You're being stupid. This is your house. You grew up here."
This was enough for me to convince myself to move, and I opened the door and clicked on the light. I blinked as my eyes focused in that brightness, the bathroom I'd always known now around me. No, there was nothing scary about this place. It was like it always was.
I closed the door and stripped, then stepped into the bathtub and closed the curtain. The water was warm as I turned on the shower, helping me to completely relax. That was right. Home was safe, and I was still able to be with the girl I loved in secret.
After about ten minutes of relaxing in the shower, not to mention being sure that I was cleaned up, I turned off the water and stepped out. The mirror over the sink was steamed up, but I didn't pay any attention to it as I dried myself off. I wanted to go back to bed now. Maybe I'd dream of Lenore instead of having nightmares.
But as I finished getting dressed and began opening the door, a strange sound caught my attention. I stood still, listening closely. After a few tense seconds, I heard it again. It sounded like cracking.
My blood ran cold as that familiar feeling of terror crept up my spine. I wanted to run out of there, to get to my room and slam the door closed, but I couldn't move. The cracking sound came again, this time closer, and the air behind me became bitter cold.
Somehow, I managed to stand up a little straighter and look over my shoulder. Fear instantly swept through me. Missy was standing there, just inches behind me, staring straight at me.
The next thing I knew, I was flying out of the bathroom, my back hitting the wall so hard that the wind was knocked out of me and I swore I was seeing stars. I managed to raise my head enough to see Missy standing in the doorway of the bathroom, but she disappeared before my eyes could truly focus on her.
A door slammed open, and footsteps rushed out into the hallway. Before I could get my thoughts straight, my mom was kneeling beside me, a frantic look on her face.
"Oh my God, Sevee! What happened?! Are you okay?!" she cried.
Everything was coming back to me now, and I realized that not only was she holding my shoulders, but my dad and Seraphina were also there, looking just as worried as Mia.
"I..." I struggled to put anything into words. My head was throbbing from where I'd hit it against the wall along with my back, "I think so..."
"What happened Sevee? Can you remember?" Sean asked me as he knelt beside me.
Seraphina was still standing near us, but her attention was turned towards the doorway of the bathroom. I didn't miss the fear in her eyes, even in my own disoriented state.
"Mom, Dad, I think she's here." she stated, her voice soft and shaking.
Sean immediately got up, rushing over to the bathroom and looking around the inside. The feeling was completely gone, but I noticed that he appeared to be smelling something. Now that I was coming back to my senses, I could detect it too.
It was the very slight scent of old, dried blood.
But with it, I realized that I smelled fresh blood too. I touched the back of my head, and saw blood on my fingers.
Mia noticed this too, looking back at Seraphina.
"Go grab me some towels Sera. I'm going to try to help Sevee sit up." she instructed her.
"Y-yeah." Seraphina managed to nod, going into the bathroom to get some towels from the rack.
Sean was sitting with us again as she did, helping Mia to sit me up straight.
"She's gone now, but I could smell something lingering in there." he was saying.
"We'll deal with that in a little bit. Right now I'm more concerned about Sevee." Mia told him. She turned her attention back to me, "Do you feel okay? You're not still out of it, are you?"
"No. I think I'm alright. My head and back just hurt." I answered her.
I as I looked at her, something else caught my eye. For the first time, I realized that there were also deep scratches on my shoulder. They looked like someone had gouged their nails into me and racked them down, but there were only three. My mind immediately flashed back to when Missy would point at me in my nightmares. She was missing two of her fingers, and it would've fit these wounds.
"You think you can stand?" Sean asked me.
"I think so." I breathed.
He put an arm under mine, and helped hoist me into standing with him. Mia stood up too, and we made our way to my room. A small part in the back of my mind felt nervous about them coming in there like this, but there was nothing I could do or say at that moment. I was still hurt enough to where I couldn't articulate that well.
Seraphina stood back near my door, looking around us pensively.
"What do we do now? If she can appear like that, then she can keep hurting Sevee." she was saying.
"It'll be okay Sera. She's not here now, and she probably doesn't have enough energy to reappear for quite a while. Most human spirits can't maintain it, no matter how strong they come off as." Sean reassured her.
Mia was sitting beside me, cleaning off the back of my head and checking it, "It doesn't look too bad, but I think Gabrielle should check you over, just to be safe. You've got some open wounds on your back that need attention too." she told me.
I took in a hissing breath as she touched my back. That burned like hell, and I hadn't even realized that I had those.
Sean peeked at my back too, "Yeah, we'd better call her. I don't want to hurt him any worse making sure nothing's in there. I can also see what I can put together to ease the pain while he heals. With wounds like this, I'm thinking it will be at least a week or so before it gets much better."
"Do you want me to call Aunt Gabby?" Seraphina offered. I had the sense that she was hoping for something to do to distract her from her fears.
Mia flashed her a gentle smile, "That would be great. Why don't you call your grandfather too? Just tell him that it's an emergency and he needs to come here right away." she instructed her.
"Okay." Seraphina agreed, hurrying out of the room.
Sean sighed as she left, running a hand through his black hair.
"We've got a real problem Mia. If she can appear and cause harm like this, then we need to figure things out much faster."
"I know." Mia agreed, "Michael and the others were working on it, but they said it would still take them a little bit of time because we really haven't had to deal with a spirit like this before. Just trying to banish Mom doesn't mean that it'll break her attachment to Sevee. Raphael said that it probably wouldn't even be possible to banish her with that."
"If they don't know, then what good was it for them to even talk so long about it?!" I challenged.
"Meeting up and discussing problems is always the first step. You know that Sevee, so don't take out your frustrations on your mother." Sean informed me.
"I'm not taking out frustrations on Mom. I'm sick of this. She's haunted me all this time, and now she just attacked me while I was wide awake!" I fumed.
"I said cut it out! Arguing with us isn't going to help you, now is it?!" Sean snapped back.
Mia immediately cut in, "Hey! Stop it! Why are you two arguing right now?!"
My dad immediately backed down, not able to face her.
"Sorry. I guess it's just the situation getting to me." he apologized.
I wasn't so sure about that, but I let it go for now. I didn't want to tell either of them about those feelings of darkness I'd been detecting lately. It was enough dealing with this stuff, and I was sure we were strong enough to fight it and keep it from controlling our minds.
"Yeah, sorry." I added.
I took in another sharp breath as Mia placed the towel over my shoulder wounds to stop them from bleeding anymore. Damn that stung.
"I'm sorry. I know it hurts, but I'm worried about you bleeding too much. I think your head's slowed down now at least." Mia apologized.
As she spoke, Seraphina came back in with her phone.
"Hey Mom, Aunt Gabby wanted to talk to you real quick about what's going on." she said.
"Okay." Mia stood up, "Can you make sure Sevee's okay Sean? I'll be right back."
"Yeah. Go ahead." Sean agreed.
I waited until both of them were out of the room before speaking to my dad.
"Sorry about snapping at you." I apologized.
"It's fine." Sean responded, still holding one of the towels on my shoulder, "I shouldn't have done that to you either. This situation's really starting to get to us now, and all our nerves are frayed."
I listened closely, hearing the muffled sounds of Mia talking on the phone from my parent's room. Seraphina was apparently still in there with her too. Since they weren't in there, I decided to level with my father at least a little on things I'd been thinking about.
"Hey Dad, what's happening here? How come she's coming after me like this after so long?" I asked him.
Sean shook his head, "I don't know. It's strange to me too. As far as I've been able to tell, nothing has truly changed since you were very young and started dreaming of her. I could reason that it's from you being a teenager and maturing, but that doesn't feel like it would fit to me." he admitted.
A sinking feeling came over me as he said that. Something that had changed recently to make Missy able to come after me. Me being a teenager and maturing. Was it possible that this was all connected to my new relationship with Lenore?
But I knew I couldn't tell him that. He didn't suspect anything, and this situation was going to get much worse if he found out right now.
"Yeah, I don't get it either. All I want is for her to finally go away." I sighed, "But it's weird too. This doesn't always feel like it's just a spirit. It's like it's extremely dark at times too. Can a human spirit really feel that dark?"
"Not usually, and I agree with you that there's something more at play here. I felt that too when I went into the bathroom a few minutes ago, but it was like it was dissipating along with her presence. I want to talk to your uncle and grandfather about it. It might give us another clue." Sean responded.
I looked down, suddenly feeling a bit guilty. If this was connected to Lenore, as I fully suspected now, then maybe I should be honest with him, even at the cost of possibly getting beyond chewed out.
"Um, Dad, maybe I..."
I was interrupted as Mia and Seraphina came back to my room.
"Hey, Gabrielle's on her way now, and so's Michael." Mia told us.
"That's good." Sean nodded. He looked back at me, "Let's get you downstairs to the den. I'll make sure you stay steady."
I agreed, letting him help me up. Even though I was feeling stronger, I didn't completely trust myself on my feet yet. The back of my head was still incredibly sore. I kind of hoped that Gabrielle would let me lay down once she checked me over. Not only was I in pain, I was also feeling being up half the night.
Mia clicked on the lights to the den as we got in there, and Sean helped me to sit down on the couch. Seraphina sat beside me, letting me rest my head on her shoulder. I felt her rest her own against mine as I closed my eyes and tried to relax.
"It's okay now Sevee. Aunt Gabby will make sure you're okay." she whispered.
"Hey, I'm gonna go out and grab some herbs to get started on some pain medicine for him. I'll be back as soon as I can." I heard Sean say.
"Alright. Hurry back, and be careful out there." Mia responded.
I opened my eyes as Sean left the den, seeing Mia watch him go. She looked nervous, but was doing her back to hide it. I took in how her long blonde hair was slightly messy, and she was dressed in her burgundy nightgown and white robe. Now that I thought about it, Sean had only been wearing pants too. They must've been asleep and woke up when they heard me hit the wall. Now that I thought about it, Seraphina had looked the same. Her hair was tossled and she was wearing her nightgown.
"Hey, I'll be alright." I reminded them.
"I know, but it doesn't stop us from worrying when you're hurt." Mia responded. She came over and knelt in front of me, "What happened up there? Did she just appear when you were getting ready to use the bathroom?"
"No. I woke up sweating and decided to take a shower. Everything seemed normal when I did, but when I went to walk out of the bathroom, I felt it get really cold behind me, and you know the rest." I explained quietly.
Yeah, the woke up sweating thing was a lie, even if I had felt sweaty before I'd gotten into that shower for other reasons. I didn't want to tell my Mom about Lenore though, and Seraphina didn't know she'd be coming there, so it was better this way.
"What else can we do Mom? The wards didn't work to keep her away." Seraphina stated.
"I know, but maybe your grandfather can think of something else for us to try." Mia suggested.
"Yeah. Maybe." I muttered.
It wasn't very long after this that Gabrielle showed up. She wasn't alone either. Michael and Sara had come, along with my uncle, Noah's grandfather Raphael. Looked like he had decided to come see what more was going on too.
"They don't look too deep Mia, so I don't think I'll have to stitch them or anything like that, although they should be cleaned and bandaged." Gabrielle was saying as she examined my back with Sara.
"Sean was going out to find some herbs so that he could make him some pain medicine too." Mia informed her.
"That's wonderful. He'll probably need help with the pain for the next day or so." Gabrielle responded.
Raphael and Michael were standing nearby, and listened as my mom began explaining everything that had happened to them. Both looked very concerned as she finished.
"We need to work quicker with all of this. It's definitely escalating fast." Michael sighed.
"It's odd though." Raphael said, "Obviously this has been occurring for quite a while under our noses, but why escalate now? Did something manage to give her more of a hold in this world?"
Yeah, no surprise here. Raphael was always a critical thinker, just like my dad. Michael was too. He just did it more to himself at first. He liked to be sure about things before he voiced them.
Michael also was thinking along the same lines, "I agree that there has to be more of a catalyst for all of this to step up so much in such a short time. Perhaps it's from Sevee actually acknowledging that it's been happening." he suggested.
"Could be, but I'm not that sure." Raphael responded quietly.
I stayed quiet, although my mind was putting two and two together rapidly now. It had to be my relationship with Lenore. I was sure of it now. Somehow, Missy was using it to her advantage in attacking me.
This kept me distracted as Gabrielle cleaned up my back and shoulder. It all made sense when I really thought about it. I'd been tormented my entire life by nightmares, whether they were from Missy or possibly connected to Annabelle. Adding to that, I never felt like I fit in anywhere, even within most of my own family. I'd always been too smart and blunt for the other kids when I went to school, and although the girls liked me as we got older, it was more for my looks, which made me despise them.
All of this through the years had led to my feelings about my life. Yes, I should've had an ideal life, and in a lot of ways I did. Yet as I stated before, it felt like such a waste of time to me. If I couldn't fit in anywhere or feel like I had anybody outside of my family who truly cared for me as me, then what was the point of even being here?
Lenore became the point from the moment I met her. I was happy being with her, even before she became my lover. She understood me, she loved me for who I was. She became the center of my world before I even knew it.
But if Missy wanted me to suffer like she did, then she would hate the love I'd found, and do whatever she could to bring me back into the misery I'd always known.
I was brought back to reality by Mia's voice. She sounded as frustrated as I felt.
"There has to be something else we can do to stop her now, even if we don't know why all of this has stepped up. Sean and I did everything we could think of to make sure that all of this house was secure, and she was still able to get past us. Something has to give Dad."
"I know, and I have had a thought." Michael reassured her. He looked at Raphael, "You mentioned to me earlier that there could be an anchor holding Missy to this reality. If that's the case, how likely would it be that we could figure out what that anchor is?"
"What do you mean an anchor?" I asked him.
"We mean something that her spirit's attached to. While she has formed an attachment to you, she also had to be attached into this world when she died, which would've been nearly two years before you were born. For that, I believe that her attachment would have to be to an object. There's been many cases of human spirits doing so, and if you can find the object, then you're one step closer to releasing that spirit from this reality." Raphael explained to me.
"That makes sense, but how much was left for Missy to attach to?" Seraphina wondered. She was standing near Mia now, looking like she was trying to think hard about what she might've known that could help.
Michael let out a long breath, "I do have some things from Missy's home stored in my attic, but there's not much there, and I've never felt anything odd from them to think that there's an attachment with them."
"Neither have I, and I did keep some of Mom's things too, like her jewelry and some of her poetry journals." Mia added.
Gabrielle finished putting a bandage over my shoulder, "We should've felt something from the start if it was any of those items, so it probably is safe to say that they're not it." she told them.
"Then what would it be? What else could she attach to aside from me?" I asked them.
"Well, there is something that I was thinking about right before you called me." Raphael admitted.
Now he had Michael's attention, "What was it?"
"We both know that Foxes tend to have a lot of tricks up their sleeves when it comes to humans, especially ones they would target as victims. While I don't know a lot of details about those things, I have heard through the grapevine before that some Foxes know how to keep souls tethered for them to devour later. Given that Flint was killed that day shortly after he killed Missy, I believe it's entirely possible that he did such a thing with hers. The only issue would be finding out how he did it and what he could've used to hold it, considering he's not around to tell us himself." Raphael explained.
Sara immediately perked up beside me, "If that's the case, then we should contact Musket. He knew Flint pretty well, so he'd probably know if Flint did those things and how." she suggested.
"Do you know how to do that?" I asked her.
"Yes. After everything that happened back then, Musket decided that it would be better for me to be able to contact him when I needed to. I'm glad of it too. It makes me feel a little more at ease." Sara answered.
My mind immediately flashed to what Lenore had told me and Seraphina. There was a double meaning in her words. She was also talking about being able to find out about my father's twin. I was sure of it.
But I didn't say anything about that at the moment. If anything, I wanted to ask Sean first. He'd probably be the one to give me a straight answer.
"If you could do that Sara, then it would definitely help us out here." Michael requested.
"Yes, please. We need to help Sevee." Mia added.
The agreement was made, and we moved on to make sure that I was okay. Gabrielle was able to patch me up, and Sean returned shortly afterwards with what he needed to make medicine for me. We went over the plan with him, and he completely agreed. If there was a tether holding Missy to this world that Flint had made, then Musket would be the most likely one to tell us what it could be.
After everyone left, I ended up lying back on my bed, trying to get some sleep. The medicine Sean had made for me was kicking in, and I was able to finally relax my body. I hoped it would last for a while. I really needed the rest now.
As I suspected, I wasn't left alone in there either. My father had decided to stay in there with me, and was currently sitting back in the desk chair near me. I peeked one of my eyes open to see him. He was sitting there with his arms crossed and eyes closed, his breathing a bit deeper, although I was sure he wasn't asleep.
The door was closed, and I couldn't pick up my mom or Seraphina being around the second floor. I wondered if they'd gone out to meet more with the rest of the family in an effort to figure this all out. Either way, this was good for me. It gave me some alone time with my father to ask a few things that had been bugging me.
"Hey, Dad?" I spoke quietly.
"Yes?" Sean responded.
He opened his eyes as he spoke, remaining where he was.
I chose my words carefully, "I know this might be a really bad time to bring this up, but I've been wondering about something for a while, and since it's just us, I wanted to ask you about it."
Sean looked thoughtful as he regarded me, "I suppose it's alright, and I wouldn't deny you anything you want to ask me, even if I can't always give you a straight answer." he responded.
"Yeah, I know you wouldn't. But it might be a hard thing to talk about." I warned him.
"Trust me Sevee," Sean sighed, "there's not much more that's going to be harder on me right now."
That one hurt, but I did my best to push the feeling back. At least it was peaceful right now.
"I get that, and for what it's worth, I'm sorry about all of this." I apologized.
"There's no need for that. None of this is your fault, and even if we wish you'd told us a long time ago about those nightmares, we do understand where you were coming from with it. You've always been very strong willed, especially when it comes to dealing with things on your own."
"Yeah, can't deny that one."
Sean sat up a little straighter, "That said," he continued, "I have been concerned about other things too. I'm not as dumb as you and Seraphina may take me for. I'm well aware that you've apparently made a friend from the other side of the Veil, and you seem rather intent on continuing to visit with them."
Crap. I betted he'd caught onto Lenore's scent at some point, even if it had been faint. But I could still play this off. He wasn't being accusing or anything, so I didn't have to tell him what she was yet.
I slowly pushed myself up so that I was sitting on my bed, "It's not that I was trying to hide it from you. I know how much you've always worried about that stuff with me and Seraphina, and you're right about it. I get that there's a lot of dangerous things on that side. But seriously, this one isn't. I know she's not. We've known each other for a while, and she's really become a good friend to me." I explained.
"I see." Sean didn't look convinced, "That said, I don't recognize what scent she has, and it has concerned me. You said it yourself; I worry very much about you and your sister, and even if I am willing to take your word for it that your friend isn't out to hurt you, you do realize my position in needing to be certain about such things. Even innocent creatures can attract dangerous ones."
"You're right, and I've been really careful about it. I swear."
Sean let out another long breath, "I suppose." he relented, "While I will be keeping my eye on this, I also can't deny that you do need friends, and having ones on the other side isn't all bad either. Anyway, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about now? Is it something to do with your friend?"
"Kind of." I nodded, "The thing is, we were talking a while back, and we got on the subject of your dad. They told me that Sage is still really famous within the Veil, and a lot of creatures still talk about him a lot."
"Yes, that seems to remain the case from everything I've ever known. But I can't say I recall you ever being that interested in knowing much about him. Has that knowledge changed your mind?" Sean asked me.
I shrugged, "Kind of. But I was more curious about something else they told me. I know this is really personal and all, and I don't want to ask Grandma because I don't want to upset her, but do you know how Sage died?"
The room became silent as I said this. I watched Sean, wondering if I should've left this part alone. While he didn't look upset, he did seem taken back by the question.
"Well," he finally answered, "I only know what we were told, and to be frank about it, I've always questioned parts of it. I'm going to take it that your friend said something that's caught your attention with it."
"Kind of. They did say that his death involved one of the rulers. Out of curiosity, which ruler was it? Do you know?" I probed.
"I do. It was supposed to be the Northern ruler, the Dog they call Jekia." Sean responded.
"A Dog? Are they all Dog types?"
"No. Each of the leaders is a different type of creature. That's just how things worked out. I've never seen them myself, but I have heard that Jekia is a Dog, the Southern ruler is a Phoenix, the Western is a Chimera, and the Eastern is what they call a Mixed Breed. I believe he is a mix of Siren and Dragon."
"Do you know their names?"
"Only Jekia's, and that's because he is the leader of the Veil that extends to this area."
"I see."
Sean got up, coming over to sit beside me, "Anyway, the past is the past, and even with what's happening now, you shouldn't concern yourself too much with it. Whether what happened to Sage was the truth or not, we simply have had to accept that he's gone."
"I guess." I reluctantly agreed.
"Besides," Sean continued, "I'll feel better too once this is done. You also should introduce me and your mom to your friend sometime too. It'll make us feel better about them."
"Sure. I could do that."
Yes, I knew that the day would come where I'd have to introduce them to Lenore, but I didn't believe it would be anytime soon. I also decided to drop asking my father about anymore with our family or his past. It was enough to deal with the stuff with Missy. I just hoped that when it was over, everything would end up working out.