11
"I need some answers." Anastasia managed to find Simon after nearly a week without her medication and that weird, overwhelming feeling with everyone's blood. "Why are you so convinced I'm a vampire?" she hissed.
Simon, needless to say, had been surprised when Anastasia nearly cornered him outside while he was raking leaves. After the whole altercation between them, Simon was staying back, hoping he wasn't overstepping a boundary. Derek, on the other hand, had been keeping a very close eye on Anastasia. She'd catch him watching her closely—whether it was at their mealtime or whenever they passed each other in the house.
"Vampires don't even exist." Anastasia's brows furrowed.
"There's a lot of things that you don't understand," Simon said, his voice quiet. "Derek and I grew up knowing things most people wouldn't even believe in."
Anastasia crossed her arms over her chest. "That still doesn't answer my question."
"OK." Simon sighed, running a hand through his hair. "If you've had any time to think over what Derek and I told you, then maybe you've had time to consider it. Vamps are real—so are a lot of other things."
"What 'other things'?" she interrupted.
"Witches, sorcerers, half demons, necromancers, and yes, werewolves." Simon's face held a seriousness that made Anastasia's gut twist anxiously. "There's a world out there that's hidden behind this one—the Human world."
"You grew up believing in that?"
Simon hesitated for a moment before nodding. "My father is a sorcerer," he borderline whispered. Anastasia noted the hesitation and look of slight grief that spread across his face at the mention of his father. "I'm a sorcerer. That's how I grew up."
Anastasia swallowed thickly, studying Simon to see if he was lying. She really wanted to believe he was, there was no way what he was talking about was real. "So if you're really a sorcerer," Anastasia said slowly, trying to keep her voice steady, "what did you do to get stuck here?"
"That's the thing," Simon murmured, "nothing about Lyle House makes sense."
"How so?" Anastasia would've been lying if she said she didn't notice the little things about Lyle House that didn't quite add up. Like Liz—the poor girl had been gone for a while and not a single adult has mentioned her. No one's been told whether or not Liz is OK; when a good time would be to call her; whether or not she could come back. Then there was the fact that it felt like all the adults were hiding something.
"This isn't just some place to send mentally ill kids." Simon's face returned to its seriousness. "There are other supernaturals here."
"Supernaturals?" Anastasia quirked a brow at that, pursing her lips.
"That's what we're called."
"What makes you think this place is harboring 'supernaturals'?" Anastasia asked, using air quotes near the end.
"You and me; possibly Liz; Chloe, definitely; and...Derek." The hesitation returned to his voice at the mention of his brother.
"You're throwing Liz and Chloe in here too?" she hissed.
Simon swallowed thickly. "Listen, Lyle House isn't some place to put kids who've messed up," he whispered, "it's a place that's doing something to supernatural kids. Haven't you wondered why no one's been able to get in contact with Liz? Chloe's been asking for her since she left and she hasn't been able to call her."
"Can you prove it?" Anastasia interrupted.
"What?" Simon's brows furrowed for a moment.
"I don't care how you do it or whatever—just prove something to me so I know it's real."
A conflicted look came across Simon's face. He could tell Anastasia wanted prove and answers immediately, but he just wasn't sure how he was going to do all that. He was already trying to give her the best answers he could possibly conjure, and it didn't seem like enough. Holding up his hand, Simon muttered something too quiet for Anastasia to hear.
For a split second, Anastasia thought she saw something flicker in the palm of his hand before it quickly dissipated. Anastasia's eyes flickered to Simon for a minute, watching intently as he muttered something under his breath again and another flicker of light appeared on his palm, only it continued to struggle in his palm for a solid two minutes before dissipating.
"What was that?" she said, her voice curt.
"A spell my father taught me." Simon's eyes flickered to Anastasia for a moment. "No special effects."
"So you're saying you're doing magic?"
"I don't know if I'd call it that, but in a sense, I am."
Wrapping her arms around herself, Anastasia swallowed thickly.
"I don't understand why you're suddenly taking such an interest in this," he muttered, gripping the handle of the rake in one hand.
"Oh trust me, I'm still not sure," she said with a humorless chuckle. "But I've been seeing some weird crap since you and him told me about...this."
"Weird crap? What're you talking about?"
Anastasia tried finding the words to explain what she meant, but she struggled to find them. She didn't want to admit that what she was experiencing could possibly fall under the umbrella of Simon's...supernatural experiences. Anastasia grew up believing stuff like that only existed in fairytales or horror books and movies. So why, all of a sudden, did it feel like everything she read about in horror books was coming to life?
Author's Note:
Hopefully you guys liked this update. I tried to keep it interesting and there might be more mentions of the series in the next couple updates, since it's mostly been about what's happening with Anastasia and whatnot. Let me know what you guys think.
I own nothing in the DP universe, it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong.
If there are any suggestions on what could happen in future updates, please let me know. If there are any ideas or suggestions on possible OC's that reviewers would like added to the story, leave a review or a PM.
Leave a kind and helpful review, please.
Thank you.
Susan Strong
