Present day in the human realm.
Bella opens her eyes and finds herself in her bedroom with her father and mother on either side of the bed. She tries to sit up but her mother stops her from doing so and lays her head back on the pillow. She is no longer wearing the dress she wore for her party. She is wearing grey sweatpants and a black sweatshirt. Her mother must have changed her when she fell unconscious.
"How are you feeling honey?" her mother asks.
"I am okay Mum what happened?" Bella asks.
"Sweetheart, there is something your mother and I need to tell you but we need you to keep an open mind okay." Her father says.
"Okay, I am listening," Bella responds.
"Your mother and I are not from this world. We are from a completely different world where magic exists."
"You mean like witches and wizards." Bella interrupts. She thinks about what her mother told her about everything being easy with magic.
"Yes, even witches and wizards. As I was saying, your mother and I are from the magical world. We are both Guardians of our world and our job is to make sure that all magical creatures are safe. Guardians are chosen before they are even born and are called upon when needed. The seers make sure the guardians are groomed in a certain way. I met your mother when I was fifteen years old, and she was thirteen. We were inseparable from the first day we met." Her father says with a smile on his face and then he continues.
"Back then we didn't even know that we were mates until I turned eighteen. I waited for two years for her to turn eighteen and learn that we were mates which she did. We came to the human world thirty-five years ago when war broke into the magical world. We found out that the resistance called the Brotherhood had found a way to make the Guardians powerless, and so to protect ourselves we decided to flee here where we can live peacefully. It was so hard for us to leave our home behind but we had to. It was the only way for us to survive. When the war ended some guardians decided to go back home but I, your mother, and a few of our friends decided to stay here." Her father explains.
"Why are you telling me this Dad?" Bella asks.
"Because I want you to understand who we are and who you are." Her father tells her,
"What do you mean who l am? Am I like you and mom?"
"Yes, in some way, you are like me, and your mother. "
"Some way?" She asks.
"Yes, I am a werewolf and warlock, and your mother is a werewolf?" Her father tells her.
"What am I?" Bella asks, looking at both her parents.
"You are a quad-breed, my love." Her mother says holding her hand."You are a werewolf, a witch, a dragon, and a pure-blood vampire." Her father tells her.
"You are joking, right?" Bella asks.
"Honey, we are not joking. What we are telling you is the truth." Her mother says.
"If I am a vampire then why don't I drink blood?" Bella asks them.
"Because your mother cast a spell on you, the spell made your supernatural side weak. It was cast on the pendant we always tell you to wear. But now the spell is breaking slowly. When she left you with us she told us that the spell would break Before you turned twenty-five. We thought we still had time to tell you who you were before the spell broke." Her father explains.
"Are you telling me that you knew who my parents were all this time?" Bella asks.
"Yes, my dear we knew your parents. When your mother came to us for help she was already in labour. She gave birth to you ten minutes after she came to us. She left you with us because she wanted to protect you from the people who were after her." Her mother says trying to touch Bella's hand but she moves it. Bella can see hurt in her mother's eyes but decides to ignore it.
"I can't believe I have been living a lie my entire life. Since I was a little girl you always told me to tell the truth, Father. But you have been lying all this time. How can you do this to me? Every time I brought up the topic about my biological parents you always avoided answering me. I even started feeling bad for asking you about my parents." Bella says
"Honey, I wanted to protect you, The people who were after your mother are very dangerous. We wanted you to have a normal childhood without worrying about anything." Her mother says with tears in her eyes.
"You should have told me, Mom, I deserved to know. And please don't tell me that you had no chance. If you truly wanted me to know you would have told me. But instead, you let me find out like this. You Let me believe that my mother left me."
"We were going to tell you today at breakfast. We wanted you to have fun with your friends before you found out about all of this." Her mother says. And then she continues "We were scared yesterday when Cilia told us that she found you lying on the floor of your bedroom in a trance." Bella couldn't believe that Cilia told her parents that she fainted after promising that she was not going to tell them. Does it mean that Cilia knew about everything?
"Where is Cecilia?" Bella asks.
"She is in the guest room, she wants us to talk to you before she does. Honey, I want you to know that we did all of this for you. Don't be mad at Cilia for not telling you about all of this. We made her promise not to tell anyone, especially you." Her father tells her.
"Cilia knew?" Bella asks.
"Yes, I knew Bella, I have known what we are since I was five. My parents and yours told me not to tell you for your safety. Please don't be mad at me." Cilia says going towards Bella.
"Don't come any closer, You have been lying to me CIlia. You are supposed to be my best friend, the one person that I trust to have my back always. But you are not that person Cilia. You have betrayed me just like everyone else." Bella says with tears in her eyes.
Cilia looks at her friend's condition and feels her heartbreak. She wanted to tell Bella about everything a long time ago but her parents told her not to, Now she is losing her best friend and there is nothing she can do about it.
"Bella, I am sorry that you had to find out the truth like this. You and I are connected by our magic. I am sure your parents have told you about the guardians and their purpose. I am your guardian Bella and my purpose is to protect you from anything and anyone and that's what I have done since we were kids." Cilia says.
"I don't want to hear your excuses, Cilia, If you truly loved me you would have told me about this a long time ago. How do you expect me to trust you ever again? You are not just a friend to me, you are like my sister and you betrayed me"
"Bella, please try to understand, I had no choice." Cilia pleads.
"We all have choices when it comes to people we care about. You had a choice Cilia You just didn't take it." Bella says getting off the bed.
"I know this is too much for you, honey, but I promise you that everything will be okay." Her mother says
"Nothing will be the same again mom, I am sure you know that," Bella responds as she goes into the bathroom to freshen up.
"Just give me one more chance and I promise I will never hide anything from you," Cilia says, taking a step to Bella.
"I told you not to come close to me," Bella shouts, making the house shake with force.
"Bella, calm down, you will end up getting hurt." Bella closes her eyes and takes deep breaths. The shaking stops making every sigh with relief.
"I am going to take a shower, I don't want to find any of you when I come out." She says as she closes the bathroom door.
Bella looks at her face in the mirror and notices some changes. She has always had very smooth skin but right now her brown skin looks more bright and the color of her eyes has slightly changed. They used to be dull brown but now they are bright brown. Bella finds herself smiling at the young woman in the mirror. She could hear her parents and her best friend saying something about increasing the protection around the house. No matter how much Bella wants to be mad at them she knows deep down that they did everything for her good.
As she is about to start removing clothes to take a bath, she feels a sharp pain in her head. It's like someone is pricking her with a lot of needles. The pricking suddenly stops for a few seconds and then they come back again this time stronger than before. Bella holds her head with both hands. She tries to be strong and not make a sound but the pain keeps on getting worse and she cries out. She looks in the mirror and notices that her canines have become long. Her iris looks golden as if it is someone else looking back at her.
A few seconds later the bathroom door opens and her parents come in, they find her lying on the floor holding her head.
"Bella sweetheart what happened?" Her mother asks, sitting beside her on the floor. Bella just looks at her mother with tears in her eyes. The pain is so much she can't even manage to say anything.
"Bella, Auntie, what's wrong with her? Why is she holding her head?" Cilia asks as she gets into the bathroom with her parents behind her.
"I think her powers are coming at the same time and are causing her headaches. We should do something before she loses, control " Bella's mother tells Cilia.
"I am sorry Regina, we could have been here earlier but the weather was bad. We had to wait for an hour before taking off from Mansa." Says Mrs. Mwape, Cilia's mom.
"It's okay Rita you don't have to apologize. I am glad that you are here now." Bella's mom says hugging her friend.
Another wave of pain comes this time all over her body, making Bella cry in pain. Her bones start to break and the pain grows making it hard for her to breathe. Her skin is as hot as fire. Bella looks on as fur starts to come out of her skin. Bella remembers the words her mother told her to say, and she says them.
Her father, Cilia's parents, and Cilia start to say something in the language she does not understand. While her mother kneels in front of her in tears. Whatever her father and the others are doing is working because Bella starts feeling less pain and loses consciousness after a few minutes.