Tyler
I was sitting at the mystic grill, in a stool at the bar where my buddy Matt worked the day that everything changed. I'm not talking about triggering my werewolf curse, or becoming a vampire hybrid. My entire world shifted when a ghost re-entered my life.
I'm not old enough to drink, but Matt bends the rules for me and offers me a glass anyways. I don't touch it for a while, letting the ice slowly melt and leave condensation on the outside of the glass. We're the only ones in here. The Grill didn't normally have that many customers until nightfall so it was usually pretty empty during the day.
Finally, I lift the glass letting the cool rim of the glass rest on my bottom lip for a moment before tilting it back. My throat burns as the alcohol slides down but it's a nice feeling. The front door creaks open, and as I turn to see who it is, I almost drop the glass in my hand, gagging and almost drowning myself in my drink.
"Tyler," the girl who had just walked in grinned, pushing her long hair behind her ear. It had been a long time since I had last seen her so I placed my glass down and stood to greet her.
"Where have you been, Hailey?" I asked, embracing her tightly.
"Oh here and there," She shrugs, her brown eyes twinkling mysteriously. "Hey Matt," she waves to Matt who is collecting dishes from a table that had been used ten minutes before.
"Hey," he waves with his cloth before wiping down the table.
"Tyler," Hailey says suddenly, in a tone that makes my spine shiver. "Is there somewhere we talk speak in private?"
"Yeah," I nod. "What's this about?"
"I wouldn't be here if it weren't important," she told me.
"You guys can use the storeroom," Matt points us in the direction of the room behind the bar. Hailey doesn't speak until after we were alone in the room.
"I remember a woman," she says, fumbling around in her purse for something. "In all the photographs at your house? She always with you and a man,"
"Yeah," I nod. "My mother." It pained me to think about her, and angered me to think that I could never get revenge on her murderer.
"I came across a town, Beacon Hills. It's in California," she continues. "I saw a woman outside the high school there and I knew that she looked familiar so I took a picture of her when she wasn't looking." Hailey pulled out a photograph from her purse, holding it out so I could see. "Look familiar?" I feel like the alcohol in my stomach is about to come rushing back up. I can't breathe and I feel like my heart is going to explode. I don't know how, but I manage to speak.
"Yeah. That's my mom."