Sorry I didn't get a chapter posted yesterday, but here's one today.
Here, you will see that I'm TRULY NOT A HISTORIAN. As I've explained in my Bio, this is all fiction...imaginary...kind of like my bank account has millions of dollars just collecting interest...definitely imaginary.
So, here goes!
No copyright infringement is intended. SM owns the characters, not the plot. All mistakes are my own.
2/11/2021
Ghostly Double
Chapter 3
BPOV
My heart nearly ripped from my chest; I had to run. Fear and panic possessed me in a split second. There was no way I could stay and subject myself to what I was seeing. I felt like I was in a dream warp and I was the star of the show. It wasn't real; it couldn't be real. My mind had to be playing tricks on me or they were messing with my head, but the look on his face told me it was real.
My feet couldn't carry me fast enough. I didn't get very far because Emmett caught me, wrapping his hand around my mouth to keep me from screaming. He lifted me off the ground to keep me from running. "Shhh. . .Bella, please? Let me explain."
The desperation in his voice was pleading. He wanted to make me understand, but I didn't want to. I needed to get away. This wasn't real. I tried to squirm away, but his hold on me was iron clad. I screamed against his hand as kicked as much as I possibly could, but I couldn't get away from him.
"Please, Bella? We all owe you an explanation. Just give me a chance to get everyone together, and we'll explain." I shook my head; I didn't want to know. I just wanted to go home until he set me down on my feet and turned me to look in my eyes, "You won't scream when I move my hand."
It was like I had no choice but to agree, so I nodded my head, slightly. I, all of a sudden, wanted to know what was going on, so I did what he said and stayed quiet.
I watched as he pulled his phone from his pocket, and sent a text to someone. Who? I didn't know. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know, but something kept telling me I had to know. It was like I was hynotized and my self control was completely gone.
There was a rush of wind and Anthony was standing next to me with his hands on my shoulders as he began to speak to me. "You're gonna come home with us so we can explain everything to you. You won't cause any problems or scream."
I nodded because I had to; I didn't have a choice. My head answered before I could comprehend what was even being said to me.
It was only a few minutes before all four of us were in Anthony's car. Emmett drove with Jane in the passenger seat. Unlike me, she looked calm about the whole situation. My heart was nearly pounding out of my chest. My nerves were twitching to grab the door handle, and try to jump out. Jane didn't appear to know what was going on. It was like she was okay with what Emmett was doing to her. My mind was scrambling for things to scream, but the words weren't coming out. There was a block on my word filter.
We were quiet the whole ride. I could see Emmett glancing at me through the rear-view mirror. Anthony didn't speak; not touching me, which was not normal for him. He seemed as if he was afraid to get close; like we'd never had an intimate relationship.
When we arrived at their house, their parents, Claire and Marcus, were on the front porch waiting for us. They looked sad and taken aback. It was odd seeing them this way. They were always so happy with smiles on their faces. I still felt the need to run, but my feet took me to the steps and led me up. Marcus and Claire took me in their arms like they always greeted me; like none of this was happening.
My mouth stayed shut. I had so many things to say, but then again, I couldn't open it to say what I wanted to. I wasn't sure what they needed to explain. Was it to explain what I witnessed at school?
Claire hugged me again, "Hi, sweetheart." I nodded slowly as she guided into the living room.
I sat where Claire led me. My movements were automatic; almost like a robot doing what her master commanded.
After a few minutes, my mind started to become clear. Claire left me alone for a minute then returned with a glass of iced tea for me the way I like it. Then she proceeded to take a seat next to Anthony. He couldn't take his eyes off me; he had the same pleading look that Emmett had. I was more confused than ever.
Marcus was the first to speak. He looked me directly in my line of sight as he knelt in front of me, "Bella, we need to explain a few things to you if you'll give us a chance. Then we'll be glad to answer any questions that you might have."
I still couldn't speak, so I answered with a small nod. All my words were knotted in my throat.
"I'm not exactly sure what you saw, but I'm sure it was enough for my boys to bring you here." Marcus shifted to stand then took a seat on the arm of the love-seat next to Claire, "Could you tell us what you saw?"
I glanced at Emmett and Jane. I knew what my mind wanted to say and I wasn't sure if those words would come out the way I wanted them to or as accurate as they needed to be.
My voice was dry and raspy when I finally spoke, "I saw Emmett biting Jane's neck." I sat stiffly with my hands in my lap. "And he had blood all over his mouth and...and...and fangs."
Emmett sighed, sinking further into his seat next to Jane. Their hands were clasped together; for support, I was sure.
"Emmett, would you like to justify your reasons to Bella?" Marcus seemed to be playing mediator.
Emmett cleared his throat, "Actually, Marcus, I was sorta hoping you could start at the beginning."
"I could do that." Marcus looked over at me, "Bella, do you have time or do you need to get home?"
I felt like the hold on me slipped away so I shook my head, "No, I'm not even sure when my dad will be home, if at all." I wasn't even sure if I wanted to stay with these people, but it was like fight or flight warring in my head.
"Okay. Do you wanna know what you saw? Or we can always pretend this never happened and go back to the way things were." I wasn't sure what he meant by that, so I looked down at my hands that were twisting my fingers together out of pure nervousness.
"I'm not sure. I guess I do." I slouched my shoulders, feeling like I had been defeated at a game I didn't know I was playing.
Marcus stood from where he was sitting and walked over to the liquor cabinet, pouring himself half a glass of an amber liquid. I had seen him drink before; it wasn't anything new, so I didn't question his actions.
He returned to his previous seat. He looked down into his glass before taking a sip. He then took a deep breath to start speaking, "In 1767, I was a forty year-old Rancher. We had. . ."
My eyes grew wide as saucers and my voice finally broke free, so I cut him off before he could continue, "Wait, wait, wait." I put my hand up. "1767? And you were forty? There's no way; that would make you. . ."
Realization dawned on me and my mouth dropped open, "Yes, 246 years old. Your math is very accurate," Marcus said, answering my nonverbal question.
"Um...I don't...Wha...how? I don't understand." Confusion filled me and I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out why Marcus didn't look a day over thirty-five. It just wasn't possible.
"I hope you'll understand everything once I tell you my story." I nodded my head slightly as I closed my eyes. I opened my hand toward him, giving him the go ahead to continue with his story. "I'm sorry; please continue."
"Okay, like I said, in 1767, I was a Rancher with more than a thousand heads of cattle and countless acres of farmland. I don't quite remember correctly, but I think I had close to 1,500 acres of property back then. It had been handed down for two generations before it was handed down to me. Luckily, I was fortunate enough to hire plenty of ranch and farm hands. My great-grandfather founded one of the first cities in the United States in 1670. Charleston, South Carolina was fast growing by the time my generation rolled around and he was the richest man in the town."
Marcus paused for a minute to take another sip of his drink, "Do you have any questions so far?"
"No, no. I just...I'm still trying to figure out the whole age thing."
Anthony still hadn't spoken a word. He sat as still as the others while Marcus pushed on with his story.
"All right, well, I had about fifteen ranch and farm hands that we provided room and board for. They were mostly passerby's needing to make a little money on their way to their next destination. Aside from those fifteen employees, there were another ten that lived in town with their families and would come into work every day. Except for Sunday's, of course. I gave everyone an option to take the day off to use it for religious reasons or to just spend it with their families. There were only a few that would actually take the day off. Things are so much different these days compared to back then. That's a story for another time, though." He paused and took another sip and a deep breath.
"There was one particular Sunday where everyone had taken the day off to go into town to volunteer with a barn raising after church. Except for one, his name was Demetri."
Marcus chuckled as he took another sip of his drink. "He'd been working with me from the moment I took over the land. Very vaguely, I remember he'd also worked there when I was a child. Anyway, we'd been working out in the field getting it all ready to get a new crop of cotton planted. We had gotten most of the work done, so we decided to get on our horses and do a property check. We were always checking the fences to see if any needed to be fixed." Marcus shifted, where he sat, looking a little uncomfortable.
"There was an area of the fence that was down, so we decided to fix it before we lost any of our cattle through it. When we approached it, the fence looked like it was cut instead of breaking from normal weather wear. So, Demetri got all the tools out of his saddle bag, and we got to work. Normally, mending a fence didn't take long, but we didn't have everything that we needed to fix it properly, so we improvised with the stuff we had on hand." Marcus sighed and stood up, walking to the large picture window.
He stood, staring out over the back yard for a few minutes before he continued with his story, "Demetri had always been a great worker. He was a part of our family. He'd always eat dinner with us, and he was always around. My kids called him Uncle Demetri."
I cut him off again, not thinking before I spoke, "You had kids?"
"I had three. And a wife, too - Elizabeth. We'd been child hood sweethearts. We married when I was seventeen and she was just sixteen. See, back then, it wasn't uncommon for kids to be married that young." He turned to face us, "We had our first son, a year later - Phillip. He was our pride and joy; the spitting image of me, right down to the cowlick, like mine." He pointed to the upper right side of his head, to the hairline of his dark brown, nearly black hair. It was very noticeable.
"Anyway, sorry, I got off track." He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the pane of the window, "As I was saying, Demetri had never done wrong by me or my family. He never gave us any reason to not trust him. Like I said before, he was family." Marcus shook his head, seeming to clear his thoughts, "When Demetri climbed up on his horse to pull the wire tight enough. . ."
He trailed off, sighing heavily, "What we didn't expect to happen was the wire snapping loose from the fence. There was so much force behind it breaking that it was like a whip; it slashed across my neck, hitting my jugular. I didn't even know what happened until I felt the pain. It was like a blow torch to the whole left side of my neck. Blood was pouring out of me quicker than I could react, but Demetri had other plans to help save my life." He chuckled. "Next thing I knew, Demetri was crouched over me, biting into his wrist and forcing me to drink his blood from his wound. He kept telling me to drink and that everything would be okay. I didn't fully comprehend what he was doing, so I just did what he told me to do. It all happened so fast, but before I could recollect what I saw, I had passed out from the pain. It was a pain that I'll never forget; even to this day." I couldn't take my eyes off of Marcus as he started pacing back and forth with his hands in his pockets before he finally sat down.
Then, I looked at him quizzically, "What happened after you woke up?"
Everyone was still quiet, letting Marcus do all the talking, "I wasn't exactly sure. I woke up in my bed with Elizabeth sitting next to me. She told me I was out for about six hours. She kept giving me weird looks, some of concern and others, of fear. She kept glancing over her shoulder like she was expecting someone to come into our room, but all my family was already with us. I was told that Phillip, Daniel and Joshua were just arriving back from town when Demetri pulled me from his horse to carry me into the house."
I should've been confused by his bizarre story, but I was actually understanding all of it for the most part. I just couldn't figure out why Demetri did what he did and made Marcus drink his blood.
"Marcus, why'd Demetri make you drink his blood?"
He gave me one of those looks that most people make when they're about to tell you something that's supposed to be entirely unbelievable. "Well, I was startled awake, expecting excruciating pain, but I just felt like I had a nice long nap. I expected to be covered in blood, but I was clean and comfortable. There wasn't even a mark on my neck where the wire slashed me."
My brain began to flip through pictures of hypothetical people with their thoats sliced open and blood everywhere.
"I know what you're thinking," he conveyed, looking at me skeptically, "I was wondering the same thing and apparently, Elizabeth must've known what I was wondering because she got up and told me that she'd get Demetri. When she said his name, the image of him forcing his bloody wrist into my mouth, flashed through my head. I honestly didn't know what to think. I had so many scenarios running through my head. My first thought was that he was some sort of Voodoo doctor or even a witch. Actually men witches are called Warlocks, but I didn't find that out until later in life."
I was confused again, "Wait. . ." I put my hands up, scrunching my face and shaking my head, stopping him before he could continue, "Witches and Warlocks?"
"Yeah, well, that'll come later. I wanna finish telling you the rest of what happened, but before I do, I think we should take a break. Claire, would you mind making everyone some snacks? I could help you."
"Oh sure, honey. I think that's a great idea." They excused themselves from the living room, leaving me with Emmett, Jane, and Anthony in silence, to head for the kitchen.
Emmett and Jane excused themselves next, heading for the back porch, and I got up, making my way to the bathroom.
I used the toilet, and while I washed my hands, I splashed water on my face. I stood, staring at myself in the mirror, trying to figure out what I was getting myself into. I wasn't even an adult yet and already dealing with a very far fetched story. I guess I wasn't giving myself enough credit, mentally, to cope with what Marcus was telling me.
I stepped out of the bathroom, and Anthony was waiting for me with his hands stuffed into his pockets. He looked at me pointedly, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
I felt like I couldn't deny him. The urge to go wherever he was, was insistent, "Sure. You wanna go up to your room or out front?" No matter what was going on, I still felt comfortable being around him for some reason.
We started walking down the hall, his hand on the small of my back, "I think out front will be fine."
We continued walking, passing Marcus and Claire. Anthony signaled with his finger to give us a few minutes alone. Marcus gave a single nod of his head while Claire looked worried.
Once on the front porch, I wasn't sure if I should sit or stand, so I chose to stand, and lean against the banister.
Anthony stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking a little nervous, "I just wanted to let you know that whatever Marcus tells you, my feelings for you are genuine, and I'm hoping that you'll stay a little longer after he's done."
"You have to tell me what's going on? Honestly, I'm feeling a little spooked, right now." He sighed heavily, and dropped his head, looking at the porch under our feet, "You want me to wait until Marcus is done, don't you?"
He looked up at me, pleadingly, "Please?" Was all he asked. I figured he was already beating himself up inside over the secret that he's been keeping from me.
"Fine, but I can't promise I'll stay, okay. I don't want to give you false hope." And I really didn't. All of it depended, solely, on what Marcus told me.
"Okay. I just. . ." he shook his head, "Never mind. Let's get back inside."
This time, Anthony sat closer to me. I could see the hope pouring from him, and it almost broke my heart. At that very moment, I couldn't have sympathy for him. He had been keeping something from me since the moment I met him.
Once everyone was settled in their seats again, with drinks and snacks, Marcus cleared his throat for everyone's attention, "Are we all set?"
With a firm nod, I especially, was anxious to hear the rest of the story.
"Okay, where'd I leave off?" Marcus roamed his mind for a split second. "Oh, yes . . . when I was thinking Demetri was a witch or something unbelieveable, I realized I wasn't in any pain." His phone started to ring, but he silenced it, "Elizabeth returned a few minutes later, after she left the room, with Demetri following her. He looked like someone ran over his dog. He looked so sad, and I felt sorry for him the moment I laid eyes on him. He didn't come too far into the room, though, staying by the door while Elizabeth took her seat next to me, again. He didn't beat around the bush about anything and came right out, and said that he was a . . ." I guess he was pausing for effect because it was a few long seconds before he finally said, "...vampire."
My heart sank to the ends of my toes. He had to be joking. They were playing a trick on me. "Vampire? Is this some sort of sick joke? There's no such thing, and for crying out loud, it's not even April Fools."
Marcus shook his head slightly, "I can assure you that this isn't a joke. I thought so too, until he extended his fangs for me to see."
"That's just . . . that's too hard to believe. You only read about stuff like this in stories. I don't know what all of you are playing at, but . . ." Then I remembered seeing Emmett's fangs when he pulled away from Jane's neck.
When Marcus stepped forward, I got up and darted for the front door. I needed to get away from here as soon as I could, but I didn't make it very far before Anthony grabbed me by the tops of my arms, and looked into my eyes. I was shaking, and scared to death, "Bella, sit down and listen to what Marcus has to say."
I listened, my body moving on its own accord, and returning to my seat without any argument. My body had a mind of its own.
Marcus came closer to me. I wanted to get up and run for it, but it was as if my body had bricks sitting on it, "Bella, please just listen. I'm being completely truthful with you. Look. . ." He opened his mouth just enough for me to see two of his front teeth extend down to sharp points.
I jumped back, nearly falling over the side of my seat. I wanted to run as fast as I could, away from this place, and never look back, but I looked around me, seeing that everyone was still seated. They were looking at me for a chance as I pushed myself further into the chair. I didn't know why, but I felt a little safer completely huddled in the corner.
I needed to get my breathing under control, to calm myself down before I had a panic attack. It took a couple of minutes, and they let me have it, "I don't...this doesn't seem real." I tried to sound nonchalant, but it came out as a nervous laugh.
"I know you're probably freaking out a little. Believe me, I didn't know what to think at first, either. My first instinct was to freak out, much like you, but I looked at my kids, and my wife. They were all focused on me, and I couldn't figure out why they weren't as alarmed as I was. My wife noticed, right away, that something was running through my head, so she explained that Demetri told them all about what he was, and that all he wanted to do was live a simple life. Which was understandable because that's all we wanted, too, but back then we never had any trouble. We got along with everyone. We had great business relationships with the people in town, so I knew Demetri had to be telling the truth about not wanting to harm anyone. We were his family, and I felt relieved that he didn't want us for his dinner. I was fine with it; fine with everything. My family looked content and okay with it, too." Marcus got up from his seat, and went to the liquor cabinet again, refilling his drink. "He told us all about rogue vampires that roamed around and made sure we knew how vicious they were."
"Did you ever meet any?" I was beyond curious, now.
To say I was still stunned, and nervous, would be putting it mildly, "A few here and there, but Demetri eventually went on to explain how he started working for my great grandfather on that very ranch. I had so many questions, and he did answer them, over time." He walked over, and took his seat next to Claire. He crossed one leg over the other, giving me a few minutes to register all the information he just shared with me.
"We all took the news rather well. We had so much trust in him; we didn't care that he wasn't human, so I asked why he forced me to drink his blood. He simply answered that I would have died. That I have a wife, and kids to raise, and they needed me. Then he explained that his blood healed me. It does the same for him. If he got cut, he was healed within a matter of minutes, but what he failed to mention while he was explaining stuff to me was, that if you were to die while you still had vampire blood in your system, you would turn." He sighed, and gave me a small smile.
He chuckled. "As you can tell I learned the hard way because as ironic and unbelievable as it sounds, the next day, literally, we were out doing a cattle drive with the 1,500 heads of cattle so we could check the females for pregnancy, and believe it or not, I was trampled to death. My horse got spooked, and threw me off. I landed right in the middle of their path, and when my horse got spooked, so did they. What's weird is, I remember dying. I remember the pain as the cows crushed my skull, and broke nearly every bone in my body." Marcus stopped talking as recollection crossed his face. I was sure his memories of dying were hitting him like a ton of bricks.
"So, you really are a vampire?" I asked, nervously as I looked down at my hands and picked at my cuticles.
He simply answered with, "Yes."
My heart was beating a mile a minute, but I knew I needed to ask, "And I'm guessing that everyone else here is, too?"
Emmett spoke up next, "Not Jane." Confusion crossed my face as I looked up at him, "She's my feeder. We can compel any humans to forget."
"Forget? You mean, you could suck me nearly dry, and make me forget what happened?" I shook my head because this was sounding so much like the mythical stories I had read about numerous times, as a kid and just recently.
I stood abruptly and gave Anthony a death glare with my hands perched on my hips. "I swear to God, Anthony..."
Emmett scooted forward on his seat, to the edge, "Look," he started, cutting me off just before I ripped my bofriend a new asshole. "We do it to cover us so no one finds out. I could have easily compelled you, but Anthony would've put a wooden stake through my heart."
"Have you done this to me? I swear, Anthony, if you've done this to me…" I shook my head, again and turned away from him. "I've seen all of you eat food, and drink sodas. I thought vampires only drank blood?" It was obvious there was more to them than just being blood drinkers.
Marcus got up, and walked closer to stand in front of me, "It's hard to explain it if you don't live like we do. We're like a super hero, sort of. We eat human food, drink sodas, and we can even use the bathroom, but blood is what gives us the sustenance to stay alive. It's like a disease we have to live with. We can go close to a week without it. During that time, we eat burgers, fries and pies." He smiled at his attempt at a joke.
A small smile appeared on my face from his joke. It was lame, but it made me relax a little, "You're comedians, too?"
"It was lame, huh?" He scrunched up his face at me.
"Yes, but don't quit your day job," I simply stated, smiling at him.
"I'll keep that in mind." He turned from where he was standing, "I'm sure you have tons of questions. Did you wanna take another break? We can play twenty questions afterward, if you'd like," he suggested. I looked at the clock on the wall, noticing we had been here for nearly three hours. I wasn't sure when my dad was due home, but all I needed to do was give him a call, and let him know where I was.
Claire stepped in front of me as I leaned against the wall. I was still looking at Anthony. I was trying to figure him out all at once. "Sweetie, would you like to stay for dinner? Marcus could call your father if you'd like?"
"No need to. I just have to give him a call to check in and tell him I'm staying for dinner." She pulled me into a hug. She still felt like the same Claire that I've known since Anthony and I got together.
I did stay for dinner, and my dad didn't have a problem with it because he wouldn't be home until late.
I grilled Anthony as if he were being held for questioning in the police station. He admitted to compelling me a few times, but it wasn't for anything too serious. He promised he would never do it again because now I knew all about them. I still felt close to him regardless of the situation. I still loved him regardless of all of it.
Tons of questions were answered. I learned everyone's true ages. Anthony was actually 120 years old. I had to push that number out of my mind. I had a repulsed feeling at first, but as I looked at him, he definitely didn't look like he was a day over the seventeen years of age, when he was turned.
When we were alone he told me all about when he was changed, and that it was his choice. He had been living with terminal brain cancer, and Marcus was his doctor. He said his mother had pleaded with Marcus to save him, but she didn't know the consequences that were being used to save him. All she knew was, Marcus was saving his life. I felt like I had no choice but to trust him.
After some alone time with Anthony and we were back with the others the stories went on. It turned out; Claire was older than Marcus, but only by a few years, making her 249 years old. They explained how they met in Ireland in 1901, and had been together ever since.
Emmett was the youngest of them all. He had just celebrated his 96th birthday the month before.
I kept playing everything over and over in my head. I had a boyfriend that was 120 years old, and I was sixteen, measly, years old. I suppose it was nice enough that Emmett and Anthony were changed while they were still teenagers in order to be able to pass for high school students.
My biggest fear, by the end of the night, was being compelled, again, by any of them. I didn't know if I would ever know it, but I hoped that Anthony kept his promise and never did it again. But somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew it was something I'd never know. I accepted who they are too easily and stayed calmer than I should have. Maybe I was the one that wasn't normal.
I just hoped nothing ever changed between us.
Y'all have a great day. I'm sure I'll post more tomorrow. I'm off to bed.
Steph
