Chapter 4

My heart is racing as Daniel pulls up into the Jones driveway. I didn't know what to expect we would find; a haunted mansion, or some psycho murder house. But the house was just like any other house in town, two stories and painted white with a shade a blue on the trimming. I assumed the family in there were related to me in some way but I was hoping they weren't, since my dad had probably been with them longer than he was with me, they most likely acted more like him. Which wasn't a compliment, he was an asshole.

Daniel finally parks the car and turns to me, "Are you coming or not?"

I hesitate before answering then I notice the time, "its 9:30 p.m. Daniel, they're not going to up or want to deal with visitors. Let's just leave now."

He rolls his eyes, "You were the one begging me for us to stay in Bozeman for one night. Now all the sudden you want to back out when I respect your wishes? No way." He breathes out a sigh of frustration as he rubs his eyes, "So, are Rachel and I going or are you coming with us?"

I couldn't let an opportunity like this pass me by, what if I had family in that house? Grandparents? What if they weren't like Adam at all? And just a completely normal family who has their relative missing? What if they were in the dark about vampires and werewolves? I needed to know the other side of my family, my father's side, and the only way to do that is to keep my chin up and hope for the best.

With this newly found confidence, I get out of the car without saying a word and jog up the porch to ring the doorbell. The only light source is the porch light above my head, so when I look back and try to look at Daniel, I can't but I remember I have built in night vision and decide to use it. I needed to practice my new, alien powers. His express was concern for he didn't know what I was doing, he didn't know how this was going to turn out and neither did I.

No one answers the door, so I decide to ring the doorbell again following a light knock on the door. Again, no answer, so when I turn to give up and call it a night, I hear the door open from behind me. When I face the door, I see a blonde woman with a bob cut in a pink night robe. I told Daniel they were probably sleeping. "How may I help you?" She asks cautiously yet in a friendly way.

At first, I didn't know what to say. I just wondered how my father and her were connected since this was his house. I clear my throat and mutter, "Sorry to bother you but, is there an Adam Jones here by any chance?"

When I mention my father's name, she stiffens. "I'm sorry but he hasn't been here for… awhile. Why do you ask?"

I scratch the top of my head while trying to decide what to say to her. I end up deciding that telling her the truth was my best bet for her to tell me about my father, "It's just that, he's my father and I just needed to meet him." I remember the photo I had showed the cashier earlier, "Is this him?" I question as I hand over my childhood picture.

She gasps quietly, "That's him; no one's talked about him since he disappeared." The woman looks back up at me, "Would you like to come in?" She widens the door for me, encouraging me to come in; but I hesitate.

"My friends are in the car waiting for me, and it's late, I should probably let you sleep. Goodnight." I turn and walk down one step until she stops me.

"Wait," she calls out to me, "It's not too late, and your friends are welcome to come inside if they like." I look back at her and see her hand gesturing to inside her house, "Do you have anywhere to sleep tonight? If not, you can stay with us tonight."

I nod my head, "We were going to a motel near the interstate," I gently turn her offer, "But thank you for the offer."

Before I could turn to leave, she calls out again, "I'm not letting you waste your money when you can stay here for free." She waves for me to enter, "Come on in."

I sigh, wanting to leave but something kept pulling at me to enter the house. It was like something that I needed was in there with them. I also needed to know more about my father and what he was like, she would know more than I did. I finally nod, "Okay," I turn and signal Rachel and Daniel by motioning them over with my hand. "You don't have to do this."

She gives me a warm smile, "But I do, I can't just turn down Adam's daughter. He would want me to be humble."

I doubted that. Just then, Daniel and Rachel appear on either side of me, pointing to Rachel I introduce her, "This is Rachel, and that's Daniel." I forgot I didn't mention my own name, "I'm Lauren by the way."

She nods with a kind smile on her face, "I'm Katrina. Nice to meet you all. Now," she starts as she opens the door for all of us, "Come on in and we can have a cup of coffee or something." We enter her without any questions. I look around me, taking in all the shades of light blue and white. The inside looked like it belonged in a magazine, with the crystal chandelier and the grand staircase. The house itself didn't look like it would belong in a small town like Bozeman.

She walks us past the kitchen which looked brand new and never used. Katrina leads us into the dining room where there was yet another chandelier but this time, colors were gray and black, matching the gray tile. "You can have a seat in here. I will get you all coffee."

We give our thanks as she steps out of the room into the kitchen. Taking our seats at the rectangular table with Daniel on my right side and Rachel on my left, "No funny business, and don't ask her anything about my father."I quietly inform both Rachel and Daniel.

Daniel frowns, "Why not? It's the reason why we came here." But Daniel ignores my wishes and calls out to her, "So, Katrina, how do you know Adam?" Daniel inquired. I immediately smack him in his arm; it must have a little too hard since he clearly shows pain in his expression. Daniel looks at me, confused. But I don't say anything, just grin to myself, he deserved it.

"Oh, well…" She sounds uncomfortable with the question, like I knew she would be. "I'm married to him, I'm his wife."

I knew it, that bastard moved on to someone else. Why wasn't my mom good enough for him? She was perfect to me, and seemed way out of his league. But now he's gone again, does that mean he moved on to another woman?

"So… you're technically Lauren's stepmother?" Rachel asks. I give her a dirty look, and just like Daniel, she was confused by my behavior. I thought it was rude to be asking these types of questions so soon, when they just met the woman.

Katrina comes back with empty mugs and places them in front of us. She looks to me and slightly nods her head yes, "I guess so." She leaves the room for a moment to bring in the pot of coffee and pours the liquid into all of our mugs. When she is done she looks to me and takes a seat across from me, at the head of the table, "So, what did you want to know about your father?"

"Anything you want to tell me is fine." I smirk, trying to get rid of the heaviness I feel in the room.

"Well, your father never told me he had a daughter with another woman. I don't know exactly what to say." She pauses and thinks to herself for a moment before she replies, "Adam was a very incredible man, he was the local doctor that everyone loved. That's how we met in fact; I'm a nurse over in the hospital. Anyway, he was the type of person that always thought of others before himself. Adam was the most selfless, kindest, most caring man I ever met."

I stay silent, taking in her words. She looked so sad and unsure of what to do. She must have been completely out of the dark just like my own mother and me. I could easy spare her the pain and suffering my mother and I had been put through these past 12 years. But I wasn't about to expose her to any of this, no matter how much I wanted to lay her worries to rest. "When did he disappear?" I ask, trying to sound like I didn't know anything.

"About 2 months ago," Katrina informs me gravely, "One day, he went to work and he didn't show up all night. I tried calling him but he didn't pick up and I eventually called the hospital and they said he wasn't there. That's when I reported him as missing to the police; there has been no trace of him since." She sighs, "I'm sorry you came here to meet your father when he just recently turned up missing."

An unfamiliar voice breaks the brief silence, "Whose father?"

Everyone's eyes go straight to the source of the voice, to the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room. Standing there in her matching Pokka dot pajamas was a girl who looked to be no older than 11 or 12 with dirty blonde hair pulled back into a messy ponytail with breath taking blue eyes that looked tired.

Katrina rises from her seat and rushes over to the girl, "Hayley, what are you doing out of bed?"

Hayley looks over to Daniel, Rachel, and I. "I heard talking, from voices I didn't know."

"It's nothing to worry about sweetie. You can go back to bed now," Katrina tells Hayley sweetly reassuring her that we weren't here to harm her or Hayley.

Hayley gives us one last glance before she obeys her mother's suggestion, going off to bed. When Katrina knows she's out of the room, she apologizes, "Sorry about that was my daughter, Hayley. She's a good girl."

"It's fine." I can't help but wonder if she was a part of Adam like I was. She seemed a little bit older than she should have been if I'm thinking about the time frame correctly. Maybe Katrina had her with another man earlier; after all, Hayley looked nothing like Adam either. "Sorry to ask but, is she Adam's… daughter?"

She stares down at her coffee, and utters the words that I knew I would hear but dreaded them, "Yes, she is."