Bianca February 28th 1989
Struggling against Xavier's grip, I try to get away from him, but the more I fight, the tighter he holds.
"Stop," He orders, but I refuse to obey him. "Bianca, stop and listen to me!"
Listen? He was trying to strangle me and wanted me to hear him out. Was he out of his mind?
"Bianca, I'm not trying to hurt you," Xavier insists, but I don't believe him. How could he think I would when he'd done this? "I will let you go if you swear to me that you won't make a sound or try to run back upstairs. Do you promise?"
That was it. He was crazy. Xavier expected me to stay quiet while he did whatever he planned to do. I'd worried about Corey, but I should have been watching out for Xavier.
It's the quiet ones you've got to worry about, right?
"They will kill us if they hear you," Xavier whispers in my ear. "Do you want to die?"
That makes me stop. No, I didn't want to die, but who were they? Oh gods, if Xavier was an Entit'a like Raidne thought, then maybe he thought the voices he heard in his head were other people!
"Promise you won't make a sound," Xavier repeats, only this time, there's more of a plea in his voice. "I'll let you go if you promise and mean it."
I don't want to, but I don't have a choice now. So, I nod my head adamantly to show that I agree.
Xavier slowly uncovers my mouth and moves so he can put me on his bed. My hands rubbed my neck where he was holding me, and grateful Xavier hadn't squeezed so tight I couldn't breathe.
"Why are you doing this?" I demand, keeping my voice low. He doesn't answer me, walking to the door and locking it, and there's a finality to this that scares me to my core.
Was he going to kill me? No, he probably wouldn't do that here. That only left one other option and somehow scared me even more. Was Xavier planning to rape me?
"I'm going to tell you a story," Xavier whispers, sitting beside me on the bed. "Will you listen?"
"Yes," I tried to scoot away from him. If Xavier kept talking, it might buy me some time, and he wouldn't get a chance to hurt me.
"Alright," he breathes and looks at the door. "There was a girl who ran away from home. She made a friend, and since she had nowhere to go, she took the offer to come and stay in this house."
Was Xavier telling me my own story? Why was he doing that?
"The girl got lots of attention, her friend spent money on her, and everyone treated her like a princess," Xavier rubbed his hands together. "She thought her life was safe now, that she had nothing to worry about because she had everything she thought she wanted."
"Why are you telling me this?" I shake my head. "I already know this story."
"You need to hear it," Xavier insists. "Please, let me finish."
"Okay," I sigh, pulling my nightgown further down. "Go on."
"The girl started feeling strange," Xavier muttered. "The parties, money, and high-class lifestyle stopped being fun anymore."
Running my tongue over my lips, I don't understand why he'd done any of this, but I don't know what else to ask.
"When the girl turned of age, she met a guy, and they felt a pull towards each other that the girl couldn't understand. You see, the girl didn't know what a mate was," Xavier looked up at me, and my eyes widened. "She didn't understand that she was destined to be with her soulmate."
Now I understand that the story isn't about me. So then, who was Xavier talking about?
"The girl tried to leave, but she didn't know what she'd gotten herself into, and her friend refused to let her go. So, he locked her in the attic, forced her to accept him as her mate, and did terrible things to her."
Xavier swallowed hard, the story becoming more complicated for him to tell.
"Her soulmate tried to save her, but he wasn't strong enough to fight the monster who'd held her captive for so long. Finally, the girl realized she'd made a mistake coming here, finally understanding all the things that made no sense before."
"You're talking about your mother and father?" I whisper, my hands trembling as acknowledgment sinks in.
"Yes," Xavier nods. "But I'm also talking about Brian."
"What?" I sound more anxious than I should, but the story only got more unbelievable as Xavier told it.
"My father tried to save my mother," Xavier took my hand. "He couldn't free her, but that didn't mean they didn't defy Brian at every chance they had. When she got pregnant with Corey and me, they assumed we were both Brian's offspring, but I'm not."
"How is that possible?" I demand. "You're identical twins."
"We're not," Xavier smiles sadly. "We only look that way because of what our mom was, sometimes when you have children. They take after one parent more than the other. All three of us took after our mom."
"So, no one knows you're not Brian's?" I find that hard to believe.
"They didn't," Xavier sighs. "When we were born, they allowed my mother to leave the attic, using Corey and me as the chains to keep her under control, and it worked. At least they thought it did."
"Why couldn't she run away?" That mystifies me. "What was she?"
"You don't know where you are," Xavier shakes his head mournfully. "You have no idea the monsters you're living with."
"I don't understand," I confess, feeling the outside chill in my bones.
"This isn't your fault," Xavier assures me. "The same way it wasn't my mothers. You can't know what you're walking into. How could you? It's obvious you don't even know what you are, that you have power in you."
Xavier thought I didn't know about the supernatural world. He must think today was the first time I'd awakened anything inside me. That's why he was talking to me like he was.
Of course, I'd never used magic here or told anyone what I was able to do. Whatever he was. He must have sensed Raidne.
"What happened to your mom?" I ask, not ready to tell him the truth about my situation.
"Stephanie killed her," Xavier's lips make a thin line, and I hear the resentment in his tone. "The pregnancy didn't go well."
"How is that Stephanie's fault?" I asked, uncomfortable with blaming an infant for that.
"She drained her," Xavier relaxed his shoulder, looking up at the ceiling. "My mother died because my half-sister took her life to strengthen her own. It's why she's as powerful as she is."
"Stephanie doesn't have any powers," I bite my tongue, realizing I've let the cat out of the bag.
Xavier gives me a sharp look, and I know it's too late to lie.
"I guess you're not the only one with secrets to tell," I mutter, looking away from him. "I'm... I'm a witch."
"No," Xavier shakes his head with a scowl. "You're a hybrid."
"Yes," I agree with him. Threading my fingers together on my lap. "What are you?"
"Like you," he shrugs. "A hybrid. So, you know about our world?"
"Yes," I suck in my bottom lip. "Does that mean whatever's going on is my fault?"
"No," Xavier glances at the door. "It's still not your fault. They're good at what they do. You couldn't know."
"You said they were monsters," I shift nervously. "What does that make you?"
"A prisoner," he laughs dryly. "Like you, only I was aware of it. You weren't."
"Why don't you leave then?" I glare at his callus attitude.
"I can't," Xavier's fingers dig into his side. "They learned I wasn't Brian's after Stephanie learned to talk. Her first words were 'not kin,' and they stuck me down here."
"That doesn't explain why you didn't escape," I protested. "Why didn't your real father help you?"
"The dead can't help the living," That stays between us, and I don't know what to say. "My father died the same day my mother did. Brian shot him out of the sky."
"But, then, how did you know about the owl?"
"My mom and dad are cursed," Xavier turns to face me. "Everything they do here is designed, so you never leave them, even in death. Your soul is bound to them forever, and there's nothing you can do about it. So when Brian buried my mother, he trapped her soul here, and the same happened to my father because they were mates."
Run away before you share my fate. Those were the words Maria had told me outside. The mournful way she'd stared at the owl before she'd sunk back into the ground.
"You're bound to them?" I look directly into Xavier's eyes, and for the first time, I see that they aren't the same color as Corey's. Instead, they were a violet purple that reminded me of crystals.
"I'm bound to my brother," Xavier nods. "I have to go where he goes. Stephanie made sure of it. So I would be his protector."
"What are they?" Something in my heart tells me Xavier isn't lying, and Raidne isn't afraid.
"We're in the house of the Shurakai," Xavier tells me regretfully. "And the princess has chosen you to be her mate."