We shall meet again... Sebastian
These words echoed repeatedly as Sebastian slowly gained consciousness. He tried to remain still, hoping the image of the beautiful Angel would remain behind his closed eyes. But she faded gradually, her form becoming lighter and lighter until she was gone. He was left with her last words...
We shall meet again... Sebastian.
She knew his name.
He cracked an eye open, taking in the dim environment. He was in his room and his mother must have drawn the blinds to keep out the harsh sunlight.
His bones creaked as he tried to pull himself to a sitting position, his hair spilling forward over his shoulders. His shoulders were stiff and he winced in pain as he put pressure on it. He was shirtless. There were two thick wraps of material covering the sides of his back. The pain he felt when he moved them told him he was injured. His mouth throbbed, like something had broken out from it forcefully. His slender fingers were a bit swollen. In fact, his entire body ached. The house was quiet. Where was his mother?
He struggled a little and got up from the bed. His pants had been changed from the grey one he wore the previous day to dark ones. He walked up to the large wall length mirror and he recoiled at his reflection. He was sheet white. Utterly pale. His eyes had large dark circles around them. Green and blue veins were visible at the corners of his eyes. The only stranger thing was his hair. His hair had grown an inch longer and was darker and richer that it was before. It was all so bizarre.
"What happened yesterday?",he asked himself. The last thing he remembered was taking a lantern and a dagger and going towards the west river. And then pretending not to notice the men that had been creeping up on him. He remembered climbing up the oak tree beside the river. The sharp pain slicing through his back.
And then nothing.
The rest part came up blank.
He didn't remember what happened next, nor what caused the pain he felt. Had he been attacked? But he had been the only one up there in the tree. How then had someone else creeped on him and attacked him without his knowing? And why didn't he remember the rest events of the night? Had he been knocked unconscious? How did he get home? Where was his mother?
Thousands of questions went through his mind with no answers. He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, moving it away from his face. He would just wait until his mother returned, then maybe she would have answers for him.
His stomach rumbled hungrily. He hadn't eaten since the previous night and now he was starving. It was strange how hungry he felt.
He emerged from his room and headed towards the kitchen. Just as he predicted, his mother wasn't home. She must be in aunt Beatrice's house, he thought.
There were freshly baked pancakes and doughnuts and the aroma made Sebastian's mouth water. He took a plate and loaded it with food, eating as he stood there.
Suddenly his head snapped up. He could hear footsteps. Approaching footsteps. He stopped eating and walked out of the kitchen. He went to the door and opened it, stepping outside into the bright sunlight. The woodlands was deserted. Birds chirped in their numerous mass and the cool breeze brushed over the grasses and vegetation. The neighbours who lived nearby had all gone out to their different places of work so it was extremely quiet. The footsteps kept approaching. He could hear it so clearly. Snatches of conversation reached his ears also but he couldn't make out the words.
"This is strange indeed",Sebastian said. He was perplexed. His hearing had enhanced greatly that he could actually hear the movement of the squirrels in the surrounding trees. He could hear the snorts and grunts of Thunder, his stallion that was in the stable behind the house. The buzzing sound of bees as they hummed and searched for nectar, the flapping of the wings of a bird as it flew past, the high-pitched call of a raven. So many sounds.
A thought suddenly occured to him and he rushed inside the house, forgetting his food and going back to his room. He stood before the wall length mirror and turned sideways. The wounds he had were on either sides of his back, at the far ends. He loosened the cloth used in bounding the wounds and his breath caught.
The wounds on his back were healed. Totally healed. But that wasn't what amazed him. It was the shape of the wounds that made him astounded. They slanted outwards, wide and long. Just like the one he had seen on his mother's back.
These weren't knife marks. Or dagger marks. Something had torn out of his skin, something large and powerful. He remembered the angel in his dreams. The one he saw in the forest.
He remembered her words.
'You're one of us.... you must know who you are...'
And she was an Angel.
It only mean one thing to Sebastian.
The wounds on his back were made from wings tearing out from his back. He knew that now. He had been so blind not to understand it. Now he did. The reason why the Angel in the forest couldn't erase his memories, the reason why he kept having those strange dreams, the reason why he had those strange wounds on his back, the reason why the Angel kept saying he was one of them.
He was an Angel.
The realization hit him hard.
He was an Angel.
He sat on his bed confused. It didn't make sense. Why then did his mother have the same markings on her back? Was she an Angel too? Was that why he was one? Had his father been aware? And why couldn't he remember what occured last night? What happened to the men that wanted to kill him? Who sent them?
There was only one way to find out.
Try to make the wings emerge.
______________________________________________
Evaleen had gone straight to Beatrice's house at dawn. Now she sat in Beatrice's living room, one hand propped on her chin in deep thought. After struggling alone to drag her unconscious son back to the house, she was exhausted. But she hadn't been able to sleep a wink. Her mind was a hive of activities.
Sebastian was a.... she didn't even know what he was. She remembered the day Cyrus had shown her who he truly was years ago. It had been a cool afternoon in the woodlands and they were in their secret hideout, where they met to have some time together. And that day, he had confessed to her that he had demon blood in him, born from the strongest bloodline of Demon Kings. Evaleen remembered staring at him as if he just told her a very bad joke. Cyrus saw the unbelief in her eyes and decided to prove it to her. He stood in front of Evaleen, hunched his back and his wings had broken out from his back, tearing through his shirt. Evaleen had been shocked to see the large bat-like wings emerging from his back, to see his eyes glow an eerie emerald and his fangs elongate. She remembered being so shocked and speechless at the sight. It had taken days for her to get used to Cyrus being a Demon. But still, she had accepted him the way he was.
And now her son was just like him. She couldn't say the word out loud. She just couldn't get used to the fact that her son was a Demon, like his father. One thing bugged her mind though. Sebastian didn't have demon wings. His wings were different. Large powerful black feathers. And this made it all the more confusing. She didn't know what to tell him when she returned to the house.
Beatrice emerged from the inner room with Nicklaus beside her.
"Let's go Evaleen",she said.
"Beatrice I can't do this",Evaleen said tiredly. "I can't tell Sebastian what happened, or what he his. He's going to have so many questions".
"You can't keep this from him Evaleen",Beatrice said. "You already kept his true father a secret from him. You should at least tell him this".
"If I tell him, he's going to inquire if Carl was one",Evaleen said. "And when I say no, he's going to ask why he was like that. The questions are going to be so much. I can't let him find out the main truth".
"Evaleen this is for your own good, and his",Beatrice said. "If he finds out from someone else, he might never forgive you".
"Sebastian would understand why I never told him",Evaleen said stubbornly. "He will know I was only trying to protect him".
"Protect him from what?",Beatrice asked in annoyance.
Evaleen didn't have an answer to give her and she sighed.
"Wait outside for us Nicklaus",she said to her son.
After Nicklaus was gone, she sat beside Evaleen and placed an arm over her shoulder.
"I know how hard this is Evaleen",she said softly. "Trust me, I do. But keeping it from him will only hurt him in the end. He must know why he's...why he's not human. He needs to know his father is the King".
Evaleen was quiet for a while. She heaved a deep breath and let it out slowly. She made up her mind.
"Alright",she said. "I'll tell him everything".