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CHAPTER 34

BELLA

I waited as Jeff arrived with a chair and sat in front of me. I held my breath. Finally I was going to get my answers, and finally I would be able to understand something which would make sense of whatever in the name of hell was going on. Taking my hands in his, Jeff smiled at me. There was something in his eyes that made me smile back at him despite my impatience and anger. His joy was, infectious. More than me, he looked ready to burst.

"You have no idea how long I have waited for this day" he said. "Had I not been bound by the rules, I would have told you everything long time back."

"Told me what?" I asked in an impatient voice.

His smile glimmered. "Happy birthday Bella"

I couldn't blink. What? It was my birthday? Today? Really? I looked at the calendar hanging on the wall at my right. Fifteenth of June, yes, it was my birthday indeed. I had stopped celebrating my birthday or considering it special since the second I had had to leave my home. The day meant nothing to me except a cursed game of some supreme power who had decided to increase my sufferings by sending me on this blasted planet or granting me life in some way. From my transformation of a pampered doll who had always been bombarded with gifts on her birthday to a street thief, the day had lost its significance for me in that journey. A time had come when this particular date used to make me furious, but when Jeff had pointed out that he was actually grateful and for him, this date was like no less than a festival since I had been born on this day because of which he had found a true lifelong friend, I had stopped cursing it. Now, I felt nothing, neither happiness, nor sadness or any sort of anger. If Jeff wanted to be happy on this day, then I did not have the heart to stop him. That was why, I had started accepting Jeff's wishes on this day since my thirteenth birthday. And today, as I turned eighteen and became an adult, I did not exactly feel like jumping with joy. My birthday still did not mean anything to me.

"Thanks" I muttered.

Jeff's smile dimmed. "I know, this day does not hold any meaning for you" he said quietly "and you cannot be blamed for it either. But Bella, you will find out soon enough why this day is so important. Today you have turned eighteen and you developed your first legacy on the same day. This is a very good sign. Finally your stars are ready to shine down on us."

"You know that for me you are still talking riddles right?" I said coldly.

Jeff sighed as he accepted defeat. He really could not make me feel any happiness towards my birthday. "Fine" he said. "In order to make you understand I will have to begin everything from the beginning."

I waited.

"Thousands of years ago, there were five tribes which resided in the forests of Albania" he began. "Each tribe had its own specialty. The power gifted to those tribes from their respective gods was so great that it was impossible to decide which side was weaker and which side was stronger. Each tribe was devoted to its own god and the powers granted to that tribe were a replica of the powers possessed by its special deity. That is why the tribes had decided to name themselves with the power they had been bestowed with because they firmly believed that a name contains a lot of power. At times, merely saying the name is enough to instill fear in the hearts of your enemies. It was also a sign of their love and respect for their deity. Those tribes were Gaisras"

I gasped as the pendant around my neck became excruciatingly hot.

"Vanduo"

My hands tingled, ready to liquidize any second.

"Oro"

Suddenly, my head began to feel very light.

"Zeme"

My feet jerked and my legs started shivering.

"And Dvasia"

I felt an uncomfortable sensation in my belly, like my intestines had started moving to their own accord, trying to separate, or rather liberate, something within me, which had stayed locked for far too long.

Each name had sent a shiver down my spine. I felt as if I was coming to terms with what I should have always known. It felt like coming home. None of these reactions were making me afraid. They were surprising, but not scary.

"What do these names mean?" I asked, though I knew the answer already.

Jeff smiled knowingly. "These are the Lithuanian names for five elements. You know what they are."

I looked down at my hands which were still in Jeff's and remembered what I had been able to do today. He said that I had got my first legacy today. Vanduo. I had got my first legacy of water. So did it mean that I was a member of Vanduo tribe? I recalled the glimpses I had had in Edward's room when I had been trying to escape. They belonged to my mother's life. I remembered it now, when I was small, my mother often used to indulge me in water games. The memories were few and very blurred, but yes, my mother always used to call me her mermaid. That was her endearment for me.

I looked up at Jeff who was patiently waiting for me to comprehend everything.

"So I'm a descendant of Vanduo" It was not a question.

Jeff nodded with a smile. I sighed. I was having mixed feelings. I had always been on my own, even when I had been able to see the word from a better perch. I had had only one friend in my childhood and I had never been particularly interested in spending time with my parents as they had never been there for me. And when I had lost everything, I had convinced myself that the life I had been living till the age of six had been an illusion. That had made it easy for me to bury my curiosity about my family tree or any information related to my background. Once, I had also imagined that maybe I was adopted. The extravagant lifestyle of my parents must have refrained them from having their own children and so just to continue their family line or maybe to show the world their highly charitable side they had adopted a girl who unfortunately was me but then, I myself had had to get over this theory because I looked a lot like my mother. I resembled her so much that sometimes I just had to look at myself in the mirror to remember what she looked like. Everything was the same except my eyes and nose. Those two I had got from my father. Knowing that I was their child and yet not receiving any love from them had hardened my resolve to stay away from feelings.

But the truth was, in a far corner of my mind, there had always been a longing, a curiosity to know about them. My parents. My history. My background. Who was I? Who were they? Why hadn't I ever met my grandparents? Did I even have any? Whenever I had asked mother about them, she had always replied that I should not ask so many questions as they could get me into trouble. She had forbidden me from asking questions, but she had never said that they were dead. And my father, he had never been around much to talk anyway.

And today, on my eighteenth birthday, after having got my first legacy, I could not deny that there was something which my mother had passed onto me. Something that hadn't just been hers but had belonged to my ancestors. This was the real connection. This was a bond which I could not ignore, a thread which tied me to my ... family.

"What about my father?" I asked to divert myself from the thoughts which were making me highly uncomfortable. I felt ... good, I guess, in a way, maybe even happy, but it was nothing worth celebrating. But my curiosity about my father had increased too. I did not have any memory of him ever displaying any super powers, still I knew he wasn't human because had he been a human, he wouldn't have disintegrated when my mother killed him, or maybe not, because Jeff had sworn that it was not my mother who had killed my father.

"I'm getting to that part. There's still a lot you need to know" said Jeff. "Because all the tribes knew that when it came to strength and each of them was very powerful, that is why, they were living with an agreement of peace. No tribe interfered in the business of other or got into unnecessary fights. They had the idea that war would ultimately cause the destruction of all which they knew could be avoided. So they maintained a respectful distance from each other. Except for the Elders, who were the heads of their tribe and met every year to renew their contract of peace, common people were forbidden from seeing other people of other tribe"

"But that's just stupid!" I almost yelled. "Why forbid someone from meeting others just because they did not belong from the same ... group? This is worse than caste system!"

A slow but warm smile came on Jeff's face. "You are a lot like him" he said.

"Who?"

"Your great-great-great-great-great grandfather. He raised the same question, and had used the same words, except there had been no caste system at that time, but this was something similar"

I shut my mouth at that. Because again I was confused about what to feel at finding that I had something similar with an ancestor of mine. Questioning the system, going against it, call it whatever. Both moves highlighted the side of rebellion. And that was something I had in common with my, leave it. It should not be surprising but well, it was just, really weird.

"The man who raised this question, your ancestor, needless to say, he fell into big trouble because of this" Jeff chuckled. "Everybody tried to tell him to stay quiet but he was not the rule-following kind"

My stomach churned. Another similarity.

"He did not budge from his opinion and sure enough, he was arrested and taken to the court of Elders. When he was asked the reason behind his, radical point of view, his answer shocked everybody."

"Why? What was it?"

"The ultimate creator and destroyer of everything ... love"

I made a face at the word even though my insides jumped uneasily as Edward's face came in front of my eyes. NO! WHAT WAS I THINKING?!

"Then?" I asked hastily. I needed a distraction from my stupid thoughts and I needed it NOW!

Mistaking my impatience for my excitement and curiosity, Jeff continued. "Your great grandfather was one of the most powerful men in his tribe, who had a really good control on his skills. He was an important man, whom people loved to listen. And popular too, he was the most helpful person who never said no to anybody."

"In short a complete opposite of me" I said dryly. Was that annoyance I felt at finding a difference?

"You actually have a lot in common with him Bella" Jeff grinned. "I'm sure that with time you will find out"

I rolled my eyes. "Then? Who did my g ... I mean, who did he fall in love with? And what was his name?"

Jeff shook his head. "I cannot say the names. That might lead to certain ... complications"

"How come saying a name can make everything complicated?" I was baffled.

"The old legends always have some power Bella" Jeff said patiently. "And no matter how much people evolve or become modern, some things are meant to be respected for the way they were and still are"

"Let me guess. My" I took a deep breath. Calling any person except Jeff as my own was an alien concept to me as I had never joined myself with anybody in a really long time. With Alice it had been different because she was not related to me by blood, and same went for Jeff too but this, this was different. This was something I could not deny. "My great grandfather" I said after a minute "fell in love with someone from a different tribe. Right?"

Jeff nodded.

"And so the cliché tale continues" I rolled my eyes. "Falling in love with the person from a different tribe was a blunder which could not be accepted so it caused many problems for him but he was a stubborn man who did not give a rat's ass about the rules. He left his tribe, or maybe he got banished, went, got his girl and blah, blah, blah. Am I right?" I said everything in one breath.

"You make it sound easy but in reality it was damn painful and the difficulties your great grandfather faced, you cannot even imagine them"

"But that's the gist, isn't it? My great grandfather broke the first rule and so one thing led to another"

Jeff smirked. "You don't sound too surprised"

"As much as I hate to admit this, I can understand him" I said in a quiet voice. "I and rules have never been able to stick together" Especially since I arrived in Durango. I had broken every rule in my survival guide since the moment Edward had stepped into my life.

"So you think he did the right thing?" asked Jeff.

"How does it matter? My opinion will not change the history."

"It won't" he agreed "but at least it will tell you how much you are ready to accept it"

"I wish I had it in me to empathize with him, but sadly, I don't feel even sympathetic towards him. I'm a rule breaker myself, but still I think it would have been better if he had stuck to the code of conduct set by his tribe. If anything, it would have saved us the trouble of living a garbage-like life."

"Bella, every disaster in history has occurred because someone was just following orders"

"Is this a romantic heart I'm hearing?" I asked sarcastically.

"I would prefer the term acceptor." Jeff said modestly though his eyes were twinkling. "I have accepted my history. You should do it too."

"Yes, and the day I will do that, pigs will start flying"

"This is not you who is talking but the pain and anger which you have suppressed in yourself for all these years" Jeff said gently.

My hackles rose immediately. "Complete the shitty story" I said through gritted teeth.

"So like I was saying" Jeff continued, unaffected by my reaction "your great grandfather was asked to make a choice, between his clan and his love. He chose love and you guessed it right, he was banished from Vanduo."

"Which tribe did my ... his love that is, which tribe did she belong to?"

Jeff's eyes fell on the locket and my blood turned cold. He did not have to answer.

Gaisras. My great grandmother had belonged to that tribe. Fire and water, two completely contrasting elements. I looked at the sun. It meant fire, and my legacy was of Vanduo. I was water.

"Somebody has said rightly. History repeats itself" he said quietly.

"IT WON'T!" I screamed and stood up with a jerk. "NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, I WILL NOT LET IT HAPPEN! NOT NOW! NOT EVER!"

"Bella..."

"I DON'T WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING ELSE!" Wrapping my hands around the locket, I was about to pull it off my neck when I heard the sound of a terrible crash.