She woke up with a headache. Her body was thus recuperating from the stress caused by yesterday's events at the store. She didn't feel like going through it again at all, but she knew this was only the beginning. Rafael was planning something, and she had no chance to defend herself. She didn't know what she had done to him in her previous incarnation, but then, being an angel, she could pretend to be brave; to face him, and now she wasn't particularly drawn to fight him. Even more so when she knew she was without a chance. Her only refuge could be Henry, who had disappeared without a trace, or Jack, whom she should trust, but was afraid to. Even though Samuel had convinced Alison that they were on her side, she still had some concerns. She realized that if Jack really wanted revenge, he would have done it long ago, so apparently he still cared about her. Even though she had stabbed him in the back, he still tried to protect her. And the fact that he was a fallen angel didn't make him unable to love her at all. She felt that the fact that he had gone to the side of evil had to do with her, and not because he had given up his feelings. If that had been the case, he wouldn't have cared what happened to her. He wouldn't have tried to protect Alison.
That's why she was sure there must have been a reason in it. At all costs, she wanted to recover her memories and remember what she had done to him.
Raphael was the perfect example of evil, as she could see from their first meeting. Now it was him she feared the most.
Should she really trust Jack?
She was frightened when a bright light flashed across the room, and a moment later he appeared in the middle of the room.
She was used to all these supernatural phenomena and was no longer impressed, but when someone appeared so suddenly, she got the impression that her heart would stop beating. Her mother used to tell her that people who are so afraid to have something on their conscience, and she was indeed a real example.
There was a reason she had so many enemies.
- Alison, you must leave town. - Those were the first words that came out of his mouth. She looked at him carefully and carefully wrapped the quilt that covered her short nightgown. She blinked her eyelids, and a grimace appeared on his face. An invisible force jerked the quilt the brunette was holding, and it flew to the other end of the room, so the girl shook out her eyes. - Don't play such a saint because you are no longer an angel.
Before she could bite her tongue, she gave him her initial response. She didn't know where there was so much courage in her, but I guess she stopped fearing him when she realized that he really didn't want to hurt her.
- If I wasn't a saint then my blood wouldn't have helped you," she muttered, and his eyes widened, evidently caused by shock. He rather did not expect such an answer.
- Now you look more like your old self," he whispered quietly enough that she was unable to hear him. She covered herself with the biggest pillow she had at hand, and Jack spoke up louder this time. - I won't explain to you why you should leave, but it's for your safety. I don't think you want Rafael to make mush out of your brain," he replied in a serious tone, then added more quietly. - And I don't want to lose you once again.
She stared at him for a moment, trying to comprehend if she had accidentally misheard. Did he really say that? Did he confess that he didn't want to lose her?
- After all, Rafael can get me anywhere. Won't I be safer here? - She asked, to which Jack immediately denied it.
- This town is the only place on earth where we can appear. This has been going on for centuries, but I won't tell you what the secret is behind it. You have to leave, and you have to leave tonight, before it gets dark," he said, then walked over to the bed and grabbed the girl's hand, forcibly pulling her off the mattress. - Change your clothes and get out of here. Rafael didn't keep his word to me, so he won't rest until he hurts you. You just need to be safe, so never come back here again, understand?
Disappointed by his words, she looked at him and felt her heart break into a million pieces. Along with the memories, the affection she had for him also returned. That's why it hurt her so much. She didn't want this to be their last meeting. Not now that he had returned to her some memories of the time when they loved each other so much.
- Should I just walk away and never see you again? - With this question she made Jack feel nailed down. He probably didn't expect her to say that. He thought that for her he was just a mere memory - the past, and that was not the case at all. Already at their first meeting, she felt the unusual bond that united them. Before he showed Alison the memories, her heart already remembered her beloved.
- Just leave," he ordered the brunette, then turned his back to her and added more quietly. - Your memories will be gone with the leaving of this place," he added, and then disappeared. Just like that, he vanished into thin air, leaving her with a cloudy head.
- My task is over. I freed you, so now I am unnecessary to you, right! - she shouted into the empty room, feeling like a madwoman. Besides, she had long since started acting like this since she came to this town.
If she told anyone about it, she would probably sit locked up in a mental hospital. No human being would consider her a sane person. Recently, she herself began to doubt her mental state.
*
Entering the kitchen, she noticed that something was wrong. Her grandmother stood in one place, incessantly stirring something in a pot, and her grandfather sat in silence, blankly staring out the window. They looked as if they were thinking intensely about something. They only woke up when she gave a grunt. She sat down at the table, watching them carefully. The grandmother forced a smile, and the grandfather grabbed a newspaper lying on the windowsill, pretending to be curious about something. The girl furrowed her eyebrows, well aware that something was keeping them awake.
- Are you all right? - She asked, and the older man looked out from behind the newspaper and smiled serenely at her.
- Why do you ask?
- After all, I can see that something is wrong. You look as if you are nervous and trying to hide something from me," she stated, and the grandmother stopped stirring and covered the pot. She looked anxiously at her husband, then shifted her gaze to Alison. There was definitely something wrong. Since she came here, they had never acted so strangely before.
- Your parents are on their way. They are driving here to take you home," she replied, and the girl looked at them with concern in her eyes. Before leaving, she announced to them that she would return alone when she felt like it. From the beginning, they didn't like the idea, as they had been at odds with their grandparents for many years. Alison didn't know what it was about until now, since she was only a child at the time, but it must have been something serious, since her parents still resented them. - They are unhappy that since you came here, they can't contact you. Every time they call your landline, you are not at home. They think we are lying and that you don't want to talk to them.
Why would she not want to talk to them? Her cell phone hasn't had reception since she arrived here, so it's no wonder they couldn't reach her, and indeed she was rarely at home trying to explain her revival.
- They have reason to be anxious and think we are lying. They are sure we told you something that should not see the light of day," Grandpa replied, and Alison shifted her gaze to him, smiling under her breath.
- So what? Do you have a secret from me? - She asked with a hint of amusement in her voice, and Grandpa looked meaningfully at Grandma, as if to make sure she could reveal it.
- It's not a secret, but a lie your parents have instilled in you since birth," he announced, and the brunette gasped. The smile disappeared from her face and was replaced by concern when she noticed the look on her grandmother's face.
- What are you talking about?
- That's what caused us to quarrel with your parents. They didn't want you to know the truth, and we favored not lying to you from the beginning. Now that they think you already know it anyway, there's no point in continuing to hide it," she said, wiping her hands on a cloth lying on the counter.
With every word they spoke, Alison became more and more anxious. She felt that her hands had become wet from nerves. She began to fear what they were about to confess to her.
- I'm sorry to have to tell you this to your face, but you are not their biological daughter," her grandfather confessed, and she felt like time had stopped.
She was petrified. She couldn't even blink an eyelid. With her mouth open, she stared at him, trying once again to replay his words. Had he just announced to her that she was adopted? That she had been lied to by her parents for so many years, thinking she was their real daughter?
That's not possible.
- Forgive us, Alison. We wanted you to know the truth years ago, but your parents didn't agree to it. - The grandmother tried to explain, but the girl was not going to listen to her. She was in such a state of shock that she didn't even feel when tears began to run down her cheeks. She got up from her chair and returned to her room with all her speed. Nothing could shake her more than the fact that a different blood was flowing inside her. She had experienced the truth about her strange past, but finding out that she was adopted shook her incredibly hard. What hurt her most was that her parents hid the truth from her. After all, the child had a right to know who she was. If they had told her ten years ago, she probably would have understood and would have been grateful for the love they gave her, but not now that she was an adult. What were they thinking?
Besides, she learned about all this from her grandparents instead of them. Did they still dare to hold a grudge against them?
She returned to the kitchen, and grandma and grandpa looked at their granddaughter with concern. They probably didn't want to tell her directly, but she appreciated that they had fought from the beginning to let her know the truth.
- It's not your fault. My parents were my guardians, and it was their responsibility to tell me that I was adopted. I am not angry with you, but I have a request. When they come here, don't let them in. I would rather not see them, I just don't want to," she replied, then went back into the room. She needed to cool down. Too many things had come crashing down on her head lately. Not only did she have a problem with her parents, but Rafael was pursuing her, and Jack couldn't leave her head. She was constantly thinking about him, even currently she wanted him to appear by her side.
*
Unfortunately, she was disappointed in her grandparents, even though she asked them, they still let her parents into the house. Her mother was the first person to rush into her room. She stood in the threshold and looked at her daughter with tears in her eyes. Alison didn't know if she wanted to take her pity, but she wasn't about to throw herself into her arms. She was angry with her. At her and at her dad.
- Talk to me," she spoke up, but the girl turned her back to her, snuggling her head into the pillow. - Alison, let's talk like grown-up people. You have to understand why we didn't want to tell you the truth.
- Anything would have been better than lying to me all my life," she whispered, biting her lip to keep from crying. She loved her parents, but this hurt her too much. And she didn't know what more. The fact that they lied to her or the fact that she was not their biological daughter.
- Believe me, in this case, the lie was less painful for you than the truth. Alison, you were not adopted in the same way as other children," she stated, and the girl wiped away her tears and immediately turned to face her, wanting to understand better what she was going to tell her.
- What do you mean?
The mother approached her and squatted at the end of the bed, trying to shake her hands, which the girl quickly retracted, hiding behind her back. She looked at her daughter with sad eyes, and the brunette turned her head away, unable to look her in the eye. She felt strange about the fact that she was not her biological mother. Suddenly, she felt as if a stranger was sitting across from her.
- My heart is breaking at the thought of having to tell you this, but since you've already learned the truth: me and Dad don't want to lie to you anymore. - Alison glanced at her uncertainly, and she wiped away a tear running down her cheek. - Before we adopted you, your grandfather found you aside a forest road, where he went looking for kindling wood. You were only a few days old and wrapped in a blanket.
Terrified, she looked at her mother, who cried even more.
So this was the painful truth? Alison was a baby that someone just abandoned in the woods?
- No one knew where you came from or why you had a rosary hanging over you. The police didn't get to who your parents were. It certainly wasn't anyone from the town. My dad and I were living with my grandparents at the time. We couldn't have a child, and when I first took you in my arms, you were so fragile and innocent. Even then, I knew I was unable to give you up. I and Dad came to the conclusion that we wanted to take care of you. We believed it was a miracle from heaven that it was Grandpa who found you. - She tried to stop crying, but it was harder than she thought. Finally, she couldn't stand it, and the woman approached her and hugged her tightly. She did not push her away. Currently, she needed her mother's care. She and her father were the ones who took care of her when she was abandoned by her biological parents. She should be grateful to them.
- I'm sorry, sweetheart," she whispered as Alison cried her eyes into her shoulder. - I'm sorry we hid the truth from you for so long.
*
Although she still felt sorry for her parents, she decided to go home with them. She had used her grandparents' hospitality for too long, and she still couldn't find a job. Besides, Jack wanted her to do this. He asked her to leave so she would be safe. Maybe he was right? I guess this was the time for her to put the past behind her and start living again now that she had been given a second chance. She may have been an angel in her previous life, but she was reborn to live as a human being. She was no longer the former Alison. Furthermore, she was not an angel who had hurt others to now suffer for the mistakes of her previous life. It was time for her to put it all behind her. And even though she was still thinking about Jack, she knew it was better this way. She realized that by staying here, Rafael would destroy her eventually. It was a matter of time because so far, he was having a great time.
The man took the suitcases and carried them to the car, and the girl said goodbye to her grandparents. She was sad that she had to leave them again, but she was grateful to them for the time they had given her.
Leaving the yard, she was sad. She had become attached to this place, despite all the things that had happened here.
She still did not speak to her parents. Somehow, it was strange for her to talk to them after all she had learned. I guess they noticed this because they finally let up, and there was an awkward silence in the car. The man turned on the radio, which was playing very quietly so as not to drown out the navigation.
She stared blankly out the window, still thinking about Jack. She knew she would never see him again. This made her heart suffer increasingly with each passing moment. Was this what true love was? Was this why she couldn't fall in love with any boy because her heart had always belonged only to him?
She snapped out of her musings when she noticed that her dad had turned off the main road. She looked back to make sure he was right and froze when she saw the road in front of her where it all started. Furthermore, she couldn't let them go back that way.
- Daddy turn back, please. We can't take this shortcut. This road has been closed for many years," she announced, and her father looked at her in the mirror.
- It may have been closed, but it is open again. Navigation led me this way, as it is much closer. When we drove to pick you up, we used the main road, that's why it took us so long," he replied, and her mother looked at her closely when she noticed that she had become nervous.
- Are you all right? You've turned very pale," she stated, and the girl clenched her fists and suddenly exclaimed, unable to let it happen again.
She understood this time Jack was not the threat.
- Turn back, for God's sake!
The mother looked indignantly at her daughter.
- Alison, calm down. I know you're angry with us, but you can't act like this. What about respect?
- You are supposed to turn back! - She shouted again, and the father got nervous and wanted to break, but couldn't do it. He began to press his foot on the pedal; however, the car kept going. Suddenly, there was a thick fog on the road, and the brunette felt herself getting faint. She remembered perfectly who was a fan of this phenomenon - Rafael.
- Something bad is happening to the car. The brake doesn't work whatsoever. - The man panicked as his wife fixed her frightened eyes on him.
Alison felt tears gathering under her eyelids. It began.
- I asked you not to go this way. I asked. - She whispered while her father was still trying to stop the vehicle, as the fog was so thick that nothing could be seen in sight. The car, however, instead of slowing down, began to accelerate. - Dad do something, please," she added through tears. Mom reached out to her, taking her hand and squeezing it tightly - Dad, please.
Then everything began to happen as if in slow motion. The man lost control of the steering wheel and went into a skid, and Alison felt something separate her from her mother, and a moment later she heard only a terrifying noise - the crack of the car crashing. Her head spun, and she felt herself landing in someone's arms. She lifted her eyelids, looking at the indistinct silhouette that embraced her tightly, not intending to let go. Then darkness came.