"Dad didn't die in a bar fight, did he." It wasn't a question really.
She paused, hands still holding the plate under the water.
"Of coarse he did." She resumes rinsing the plate before putting it in the drain then grabbed another one and started scrubbing it.
"I don't think that's what happen." You weren't giving in. You'd found your grandfather's journal. All the answers weren't in it, not the important ones. But it had been a start.
"John. I don't know what this is about." She glanced over her shoulder at you then stopped when she saw the journal in your hand. "Where did you get that?" Her voice coming out strangled.
You hold it up. "Dad's trunk."
"You went through it?" She turns off the tap. "You shouldn't have."
"I'm tired of being feed half truths and excuses."
Wiping her hands off on a dish towel she turns fully to face you. "Did you ever think maybe it was to protect you? You've read what's in there, I'm sure. How do you think you would have handled that growing up. Being told that the monsters under the bed were real."
"I think I would have taken it better then believing my dad had just abandoned me."
"He didn't-"
"I know what you've told me. But I also know that to a ten year old kid it sure felt that way."
Tossing the towel onto the counter, she shakes her head. "Your father didn't want you to have the life he had. He didn't want you to be a hunter. He wanted to give you the chance to be whatever you wanted to be. A choice that had been taken from him. He wanted to be a better father than the man who wrote that journal." She points at it. There's resentment in her voice as she mentions your grandfather. "You weren't ever supposed to find out."
"Well I know now."
"Just give me the journal, and forget about it. Go back to Stanford-"
"Look, Mom. If you don't give me the answers I'll go some where else to get them." You say as gently as you know how, while being as stubborn as you can manage.
You can see the struggle with in her. You know she's trying to decide how far you would push this. After a moment she looks defeated. Then you follow her lead and sit at the table.
She tells you there is real evil in the world, and not much good to be found in it. But to remember that it is there. You learn that there is more gray than either black or white. Even the best laid plans can fail. And that winning comes with a steep price.
Then she begs you to just leave it all be and go back to school. Be a lawyer, be a doctor, hell, be a fry cook at McDonalds, just don't be a hunter.
Sometimes you think about how better off you would have been if you had listen to her then, because later you'll learn that everyone has their dues to pay. And that lesson still leaves a bitter taste in your mouth.
A/N: Thank you Yammy1983 and Rebecca for the reviews. They were awesome. And for everyone else, please review! It encourages me to write.