The shadows in my room were starting to get longer and darker as I sat up there that evening beside my bed and watched Lenore sleep. It had been a hell of a day so far, but at least I knew that she was alive.
Shortly after Sean and I had gotten back to Raziel's house, Gabrielle had told us that Lenore was going to survive, although it might take her a while to recover. She'd been attacked with something sharp, which they thought might've been a hatchet, and she had some pretty deep wounds to her back, shoulders, and right side. The one in her head actually was more superficial, which Gabrielle had told us was lucky for Lenore. If it had been as deep as the others, she might not have made it, even with what she was.
After a lot of discussion with her, Michael and Raphael, it was agreed that we could bring Lenore back to our house to let her recover. Well, considering the other circumstances, everybody felt like that was the best thing. I played it off, but I was feeling some embarrassment over being the center of attention for getting her pregnant. Damn if my activities hadn't gotten caught in the most awkward way possible.
But it all felt worth it too now that I was able to sit in here with her and know that she was okay. Not only that, but I didn't have to hide being with her anymore. Even with the circumstances, our family was accepting her.
The sound of a soft sigh brought me back to reality, and I saw Lenore's eyelashes flutter.
"Lenore?" I said softly as I leaned closer to her.
Her blue eyes slowly opened, and a grimace of pain crossed her pretty face before she turned her head to look at me.
"Sevee?" she whispered.
"Hey." I breathed. Relief swept through me. She was awake, "Are you okay?"
Lenore's eyes filled with tears as she looked at me, "Oh Sevee, I was so scared. I thought I was going to die, and it still hurts so much."
"It's okay now. I'm so sorry I didn't get there before she attacked you, but we were able to save you. You're going to be alright." I reassured her.
An overflow of emotions was going through me as I caressed her face, feeling the wetness of the tears flowing down her cheeks. This beautiful Astarte, no, this beautiful girl, she meant everything to me. I never thought I could feel love like this. This was so different than what I felt with my family. It almost scared me for how deep it was.
Lenore relaxed a little as I did this, slowly bringing up her hand to hold mine and closing her blue eyes.
"Have you been here all this time with me?"
"Yeah. I had to be here once I was able to."
"I'm so happy. I love you so much, and I wanted to stay with you."
I couldn't stop the chuckle from escaping me, "You picked a hell of a way to do it. You may as well have shown up here and told my family up front." I joked.
Lenore shot me a pout look, "You are not funny."
"Sorry," I apologized, "I couldn't help myself, and this has been way too heavy."
"Yeah, I get it." Lenore relented.
A few minutes of silence went by as she closed her eyes again. I kept her hand in mine, glancing at her midsection and thinking about what I'd learned. Did she know?
I had the distinct feeling that she didn't.
"Hey, Lenore." I spoke up.
"What is it?" she responded, looking at me again.
"There's something else that my aunt found that I probably should tell you. It's just the two of us, so I guess this is the best time."
Lenore looked confused. Great. She didn't know yet. There was no way she could've with that look.
"I guess. What's up?" she asked with some hesitation in her voice.
I decided just to be blunt about this. Drawing it out probably wouldn't help either of us, and I didn't want anybody coming in there and blurting it out before me.
"I guess you didn't know yet, and it shocked me too. The thing is, you were wrong about Astartes. I guess that other Fox didn't tell you everything. Anyway, my aunt's a doctor by trade and all, so she confirmed it pretty easily. You're pregnant."
Lenore stared at me, then tried to sit up, wincing as she did. I immediate moved onto the bed to hold her down.
"What are you doing?! You're going to hurt yourself worse!" I scolded her.
"I... I..." Lenore's eyes filled with tears again, and she slumped back on the bed, holding her face, "I'm so sorry! I really didn't think I could!" she sobbed.
Damn, I hadn't expected her to get this upset, even if it was more towards her own ignorance about herself. But it still made me feel bad too. Maybe I should've worded things differently, or eased more into it.
"Hey, it's okay. You don't need to cry." I comforted her as I laid beside her and held her.
Lenore did her best to calm down, curling up in my embrace. I had the feeling that it was painful for her, but also comforting.
"I really didn't know." she whispered.
"I believe you." I reassured her, "And it'll be okay. We can take care of them, and my parents said that they'd help us where we need it."
"You'd really want this? But you're still fifteen. You should have so much more ahead of you before you had to settle down with a family." Lenore reasoned.
I shrugged, "Yeah, I know, but I already felt like my life was so mundane that it was a waste of time. Well, outside of nightmares and all. Besides, I kind of like the idea of being a dad now. It's been growing on me."
"You are one interesting guy." Lenore sighed.
"I like to think I'm unique."
Silence fell over us again as we laid there. I slipped a hand downwards, resting it on her lower belly. I was still processing that my kid was growing in there. I wondered how long we'd have before they were born. Even Gabrielle didn't seem to know the duration of an Astarte's pregnancy.
Lenore giggled, "Are you already trying to feel them?" she teased.
"It would be nice, but it's a little early." I responded, smiling in spite of myself.
She turned onto her back, pushing the cover that was over her down.
"Maybe, but you are a Fox, so maybe you can hear them in there." she suggested.
She was right, and I couldn't resist trying. I moved and pressed my ear to her abdomen. I couldn't believe it when I did. Even though it was a tiny sound, I could hear the quick beats of a heart in there. That was them. I was sure of it.
"It's so tiny, but I can hear them. I can hear their heart beating." I told her softly.
"At least they're okay. She didn't kill them." Lenore sighed.
I sat up again, watching as she relaxed against my extra pillow.
"Hey, do you remember what happened out there? Did you see her?" I had to know.
"Yes." Lenore confirmed, not bothering to open her eyes or move. I noted that she now had her hands over where I'd heard the little heartbeat, "I heard something strange out there, and I got scared that something was coming after me, maybe even Anari. But it didn't feel like him, and when I went out there, I couldn't see anything around. There was just this cold, scary feeling, like something evil was hiding out there. Then I heard something behind me, and when I turned around, this mutilated woman was there, and she had a hatchet in her hand. I tried to run away, but she hit me with it, and it hurt so much. I got to the side of the house and she was in front of me, and all I remember was her holding it up to hit me. Then I woke up here with you."
"I saw the blood where you were trying to run away, and I came there because I sensed that she was after you, but I was too late. I'm sorry." I apologized again.
"I'm not mad at you. You still saved me, and so did your family. I'm grateful for that." Lenore reminded me.
I was about to say something more to that when there was a knock at my door. I immediately recognized the sweet smell as coming from my mom. She must've come up there to check on us.
"Come in." I called.
Mia opened the door and stepped into my room. She looked relieved as she saw Lenore looking at her.
For her part, Lenore looked astounded. I guess she hadn't seen my mom until now. Not that I blamed her. I'd always proudly declared that my mother was a beautiful woman.
"Hey Sevee, I was checking on you both." she greeted me. She came over to the side of the bed and gave Lenore a pleasant smile, "I'm so glad to see that you're awake too. How are you feeling?"
"I... I think I'm a little better. It does hurt a little." Lenore managed to answer.
"This is my mom, Mia." I told her.
"You're Sevee's mom?" Lenore said, sounding like she was in disbelief.
Mia laughed, "Trust me, I've gotten that one a lot in the last few years."
"I didn't think you'd be this surprised. You have seen my sister, and her and Mom do look a lot alike, even if she has red hair and Mom has blonde." I pointed out.
"Yeah, I can see that." Lenore agreed, "But I think you look more like your dad."
"You've seen Sean?" Mia inquired.
"Only from a distance. I wanted to see where Sevee lived, so I flew here as an owl to check it out, and I saw him outside. I knew who he was because him and Sevee look a lot alike, even if he has black hair." Lenore explained.
She must've masked her scent when she did that, or my father probably would've noticed her. Maybe I didn't give Lenore enough credit for that stuff.
"I like to think so too. Sevee's turned out as handsome as he is." Mia agreed. Her attention then turned to me, "Actually, I also came in because your dad wanted to talk to you, and I thought it would be better if I sat in here with Lenore to make sure she's okay."
I didn't completely buy the making sure she was okay thing, but I went with it. I betted Sean was already working on us speaking to Michael and Raphael in private about this family curse. As for my mother, she was probably hoping to talk to Lenore and get to know her now that she had the chance.
"I figured that, but it's okay if you're gonna be in here." I responded. I stroked Lenore's forehead before I got up, "Just relax. I'll be in the house and Mom's right here, so nothing will hurt you here."
"Okay." Lenore breathed.
Mia sat down on the bed beside her, squeezing her hand, "It's okay Lenore. I promise I'll keep you safe."
I did feel a little more secure about things as I left that room. At least they accepted Lenore, and I knew that my mom would be gentle with her. It was obvious to me that she already liked her just by how she was looking at her.
But as I closed the door, the one to Seraphina's room opened, and she peeked out at me.
"Hey Sevee, do you have a minute?" she requested.
"Only a minute. Dad wanted to talk to me." I told her.
She stepped out of her room, standing in front of me. I noticed that she looked nervous, and she kept her voice down as she spoke.
"I get that there's been a lot of bad stuff today and all, but I wanted to ask you about Noah. You were visiting with him today before Lenore was attacked, right?"
"Yeah. He asked me to come over. But why ask? You got to see him after that." I pointed out.
"I know." Seraphina sighed, "It's just... I've been worried about him. He hasn't been himself lately, and I thought that maybe he talked to you about what's been going on with him."
I thought about telling her some of the truth, but decided not to yet. If this curse really was affecting us more and more, it might be better if she stayed in the dark for now to keep her safe. It hadn't really touched her or Mia yet.
"He's alright. He was just venting to me and telling me that stuff's been feeling heavy on him lately with his wings and all." I lied.
Seraphina frowned at me, "Liar." she accused quietly, "I know he had to have said more than that."
"What the hell Sera?" I sighed, running a hand through my hair, "You ask me this and then call me a liar? What gives?"
"Because I know there's got to me more happening here. It's like there's times now where he isn't Noah, and the Noah I've always known wouldn't have said something to me like he did earlier."
"Hold up. What did he say to you?"
I didn't like where this was going. That familiar chill was creeping up my spine, like I could sense that it tied in with this darkness.
Seraphina looked around us, then pulled me closer so that she could keep her voice in a whisper.
"He said that he loved me Sevee, and he wants me to be with him."
"What?" I heard myself say, my eyes widening in disbelief.
No way, that didn't sound like Noah at all. Yes, he loved Seraphina, but it was the same love he had for all of us. We were his family.
Seraphina had tears in her eyes as she stayed close to me, holding onto my shirt with fisted hands.
"What's happening to us Sevee?" she whispered desperately, "None of this is like our family. It's like something trying to torment us and rip us apart. It's so scary. It's even worse that when he said that, I felt like I wanted to do that for a few seconds, like it would've been exciting. What's happening to him, to me?"
My heart sunk as she said all of this. Now we definitely needed to do something right away. If things continued like this, then my sister and cousin were going to be drawn into something that could end up damning them.
"It's okay Sera." I comforted her as I hugged her, "I know it's scary right now, and it's not you or him doing this. Just trust me, okay? Me and Dad and Pop will make this stop, and we'll get Noah back to who he really is. I promise."
Seraphina managed to nod, although she didn't let go of me. I decided to let it slide for a bit. If Sean came up there he'd obviously see that my sister needed me, and I never turned her away when she did.
It took a few more minutes before she finally pulled back to face me again, her face stained with tears.
"Thanks Sevee. Sorry about that." she apologized.
"It's fine sis. I get where you're coming from, and I mean it. We'll take care of this and make sure we can get back to how we were." I reassured her.
"I hope so." Seraphina sighed, a soft smile crossing her face, "Oh, before I forget with all of this, congratulations too."
I huffed, shaking my head, "I don't know if that's the right word, but thanks anyway."
"It'll be fine. Besides, I like the idea of being an aunt."
She gave me a quick kiss on my cheek, then headed to the bathroom to clean herself up.
I let out a long breath, trying to pull myself together before heading to the stairs. Damn it all. We had to do something. We just had to.
I could smell that my dad was in the dining room as I got to the bottom of the stairs. He wasn't alone in there either. Michael and Raphael were with him. Looked like this was it. He'd gotten them there to talk about what I'd told him.
I steadied myself mentally before walking in there. For as much as I would never turn Seraphina away, her words had shaken me a little. I also decided that it would be better not to say anything to them about it. We had enough to deal with, and Seraphina was aware enough to probably keep away from Noah when she could now.
The three were sitting at the dining room table as I walked in there. I took in the sight while I joined them.
Lenore was right to be startled by the appearance of my family. People from the outside looking in would never have known that Michael was my grandfather. He didn't look much older than my parents.
While I didn't usually offer opinions on how others looked, I always found him to be a incredible man. His hair was golden blonde, and he had vibrant blue eyes. He was also a very good looking man, around as tall as my dad and with both a lean and strong build. I couldn't say it was surprising at all that Sara went for their relationship as easily as she did, nor that she had no hesitation in marrying him when he asked her.
His older brother Raphael was a lot like him, both in height and build, although he was slightly taller, maybe an inch or so. His blonde hair was also lighter, more like Raziel's and Noah's.
But the most striking thing about him were his blue eyes. They were still vibrant like Michael's, yet the blue was deeper, darker. I wondered why that was. The rest of the Renaldis all had lighter blue eyes, reminding me of the sky. Well, my mom had one and Noah's were ice blue.
"There you are Sevee. Is everything okay?" Sean asked me as I sat down beside him.
"Yeah, it's fine. Seraphina just wanted to talk to me for a minute. I think she's still shook up with everything today." I explained. It wasn't exactly a lie. I just wasn't telling them which part had shaken her up.
"No one can blame her for that." Michael sighed, "It certainly has been a lot to deal with all at once."
"Very true." Raphael agreed. He seemed stoic like he always was, but I noticed that his eyes looked tired. He must've been hiding how much he was worrying.
Sean nodded, sitting back in his chair a bit more, "Yes, but that is also why I asked you to come here to talk to us. I realize that we may be getting into some things that shouldn't be my business, but I am concerned now that they might play into all of this." he told them.
"That's an interesting way of starting this conversation Sean, and I can't say that it's like you to say such things." Raphael noted.
"Not at all." Michael agreed, "Go ahead and tell us what's been on your mind. It must be important if you're putting it this way."
"It is, and like I said, I do apologize if I'm prying into family affairs from the past, but I have good reason, and I'd really appreciate it if you both would be honest with me. I'll explain why as well." Sean continued.
"Whatever you want to talk about is fine Sean. We don't consider it prying, and you are part of our family." Michael informed him.
"Yes, I know you say that, but this is going into things that I'm sure you would prefer not speaking about again." Sean responded. He seemed to think about where to begin before continuing, "To start with, Sevee and I have done some serious heart to heart talking about everything that's been going on, including the fight that we got into earlier this afternoon. I'm sure that Mia told you about at least a portion of it."
"She did. She was still pretty upset when she came inside, but it seems like things have blown over, thank God." Michael confirmed.
"I'll take it that your fight has something to do with what you wanted to talk about." Raphael noted.
Sean nodded, "Yes, I believe so. During that fight, it seemed that something was trying to influence Sevee and I, and nearly succeeded. The only reason it didn't was because Mia managed to break its hold with how she intervened. I wasn't sure of what to make of it right afterwards, but when I talked to Sevee about it later, he related to me how the same thing almost happened between him and Mia the other day." he explained.
That one had both of their attentions focused on me.
"You and Mia also had something try to influence you?" Raphael asked me.
"Well, I think it was just me, but yeah, it felt like the same thing. I was telling Dad that it was like this darkness was gripping my mind, and I could hear it telling me that I was stronger than her, and that I should put her in her place and hurt her. It took all I had to stop it and go back up to my room. It really scared me that I might lose control and do something like that. But that's not me. I know it's not. I'd never want to hurt my mom." I told them.
"No, it most certainly isn't like you at all." Michael agreed. He looked back at Sean, "And you experienced the same thing in your argument with Sevee today. You feel like something has been trying to influence both of you. Do you think it has something to do with Missy's spirit?"
"In a sense, yes, but I also believe there's a lot more to it now." Sean confirmed.
"Really? Can you elaborate on these suspicions?" Raphael inquired.
Sean glanced at me, "Well, to start with, I give a lot of credit to Sevee and Noah for being intuitive enough to realize the connections that could be here, and to Sevee for being honest with me about those suspicions. When he explained them to me, things did feel like they fell into place, even if some pieces of the puzzle are still missing." he told them. He leaned forward a little, resting his hands together on the table, "While I realize that these are things you may not wish to think anymore about, it is important that I ask. To start with, do either of you have any recollection of your grandmother, Annabelle?"
Michael and Raphael looked at each other.
"I can't say that I do. But I was very young when she died too." Michael admitted.
"Mine is very limited. She died when I was close to five, so I do have hazy memories of spending some time with her, but that's about it." Raphael added.
"I could understand that." Sean nodded, "There is a reason I ask too. I remember you telling me before that your father was the oldest child born to Annabelle and the Angel who created this family with her. He also had two younger siblings. But none of them had their blood awaken, so they didn't turn into full Nephilim, correct?"
"That's correct. Our father never explained why that was, although I have always suspected that he knew." Raphael confirmed.
"It certainly seemed like it, and I do remember that it always bothered him, even if he tried to hide it from us after we changed." Michael agreed. He looked back at Sean, "You believe that there may be a connection to that with what's affected you and Sevee?"
"Yes. In fact, the more Sevee talked to me about the possible connections, the more I believe he's correct." Sean verified. He looked at me, "Why don't you explain those connections again?"
"I'll try." I responded, "The thing that caught me and Noah was that it felt like a pattern when we thought about things that have happened in the family, even if we don't know all of the details behind them. I know that Annabelle was a childhood survivor of the death camps in the second World War, and then that Angel she married ended up being sent back to the Heavens, but no one knows why. Then there was the thing about your dad and his brother and sister never changing into full Nephilim, even though they were the most direct descendants of that Angel. That was the first part that got our attention."
Raphael nodded, looking interested now, "Sounds like you both thought this through very well. What else did you feel fit in with everything?"
"Well," I hesitated. Did I really want to bring up the suicides of their mom and sister, and how it might've tied in with Missy's death? Well, it wasn't like I had a choice, "I know this is gonna sound horrible to talk about, and you can get mad at me if I'm wrong or shouldn't say this. The thing is, it seems like there's also been a lot of mental issues that followed our family too, and three of them caused deaths. Your sister and mom, they killed themselves, right?"
The room became very quiet as I said this, and I hoped that this conversation wasn't about to be ended because of it.
Michael finally let out a long breath, like he was pulling himself together inside.
"You know Raphael, we can't avoid talking about this forever." he said quietly.
"I'm aware, and maybe it is time to do so." Raphael acknowledged.
"You don't believe it was coincidence either, do you?" Sean noted.
Raphael shook his head, "No. We've never, ever believed that. To be blunt about it, the three of us have always hoped that leaving it in the past might prevent it from repeating, but sadly, it feels like it hasn't worked with what's happened in the last thirty years."
So they suspect that there was more to this. At least they were willing to talk to us now.
Sean was determined to probe more into it. He leaned forward a little more as he spoke.
"There certainly seems to be a dark pattern in things with our family. Not only were there the suicides of your mother and younger sister, but Missy also developed a severe mental illness that lasted for years before she died. I wonder now if some sort of dark curse was laid on your family that influenced all of that."
"We've always suspected that might have been the case." Michael confirmed, "I completely agree also that it probably started with Annabelle and whatever happened back then. There were also signs of it long before what happened to our mother and Noel."
"What kind of signs?" I asked him.
"Things much like what you were describing with your arguments." Raphael answered. He remained poised as he continued, "When we were young children, our parents had many problems between each other. They developed after our sisters were born, and started out as small and meaningless. But by the time we moved to Los Angeles when I was five, things between them became almost unbearable. Mom and Dad were constantly arguing over almost everything, and at times couldn't even be in the same room with each other. As you'd imagine, our home life began to feel like a nightmare as we grew up, and we were often left alone with me in charge of my younger siblings, even though I wasn't even ten years old."
"So it was literally tearing the family apart back then?" I stated.
Michael nodded slowly, "Yes, and it did almost succeed. Our mother was at her wits end with all of it, and even though they didn't talk about it afterwards, I believe they were getting ready to divorce. But before that could happen, Noel was kidnapped from our backyard while it was just us there. There was a particularly nasty fight with my father that night, and afterwards, it was like the darkness over our family was broken. Well, with our parents. It seems now like it passed onto Noel after she was found and brought home."
"And this darkness was what brought about her and your mother's suicide years later." Sean surmised.
"Yes. After a lot of turmoil from it, our mother ended up hanging herself in our parent's bathroom. It was actually during the time that Missy and Raziel's mother Maya were pregnant with them. Noel killed herself about two weeks later." Raphael confirmed.
I'd already heard enough. It was hard knowing what I'd experienced so far. Hearing how it had torn apart my great grandparents and killed family members was too much.
"Okay, so how do we stop this? Let's say it is a curse. How do you break one like that?" I spoke up.
"That is the million dollar question. A lot of it depends on what has brought about such a curse. Looking at when it probably originated, as much as I hate saying it out loud, this one was probably placed by a Fallen. Of course, that also will make it that much harder to figure out how to lift it. Michael and I have looked for those answers for years now, but haven't been able to figure anything out. There don't seem to be many who understand much about the Fallen or want to." Raphael explained.
Sean sat up a little straighter, "Yes, that's true. Trust me, I've seen where they don't like talking about them. A lot of them believe that it invites them when they're spoken of. But there is one creature who would probably know enough and share his knowledge with us. The only thing is that I may need your help and backing for us to talk to him."
Michael and Raphael looked very interested now.
"Really? Which creature is this?" Michael asked him.
"The one who killed my father. The Luna Dog and ruler of the Northern Lands in the Veil, Jekia." Sean responded.
"Jekia?" Raphael actually looked surprised, "You would know of a way to talk to him?"
"I believe it's possible. Between Musket, myself and Manake, we have enough contacts to maybe request a meeting. It might take some time, but we have already contacted Musket about Missy's hold to this world, so it at least puts our foot in the door for such a thing." Sean answered.
"Anything that'll make this stop now." I breathed.
"It'll be fine Sevee." Michael reassured me, "We're going to do everything we can here, and your father's right. This is at least a start."
I knew that he was right, but there was so much at stake here now, especially since I knew that Lenore was pregnant. If we didn't solve this soon, then I had no doubt that things were only going to get worse, and I feared that we'd end up losing more than just a few of us this time around.
It may end up destroying our entire family.