Hello you lucky lot, 3 chapters in one weekend, Were spoiling you :P, Here is chapter 8
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Vanessa
Scanning the curious faces of the girls, Joyce took a deep breath and began her story. "I first met Vanessa at school. I was six or seven, I don't really recall exactly since it was so long ago. We quickly became friends, though. And just like Max and Chloe here, we were practically inseparable, causing our fair share of mischief." This admission seemed to surprise them all, most of all Chloe. "Don't look at me like that, I never claimed to be an angel."
"Guess we can all see where Chloe gets it from," Rachel added cheekily as she looked over at her friend. Max nodded in agreement, knowing all too well about her rebellious streak.
Smiling, Joyce continued. "At first Vanessa's foster parents were very protective of her and it took a while for them to trust me, but after a month or two they treated me like family. I guess things didn't really change until Vanessa's fourteenth birthday."
"What happened?" Kate asked, totally hooked on finding out what had happened. She wasn't the only one.
"I'll never forget that day." Joyce could remember it like it was yesterday. Her expression turned distant as she got caught up in the memory. "We were in her room playing. Her parents were absolutely against going out that day, which was a shame. It was a beautiful day, but they had promised to make it up to us the next day. Needless to say, we were a little disappointed, but by the end of the day we understood why."
She paused for a moment to build suspense, with Chloe sighing impatiently after just a second or two. "Come on, mom. We would like to hear all of this today."
"Alright, alright, I'm getting there," the older woman assured with a slight smile. "I remember going to the bathroom, leaving Vanessa in her room. When I got back, she was gone and her clothes were shredded all over the floor." That discovery had sent her into a blind panic, it would for anyone. "Of course, I freaked out. When Vanessa's mom found me, I was in hysterics as I told her what happened. Naturally, she had been waiting for it. She wasn't an Ahri herself but knew Vanessa was one. Never really did find out what happened to her birth mother." Over the years, both she and Vanessa had tried to track down information but came up blank each time. "All I know is, Vanessa turned up at a foster home little over two months old, with a necklace and a letter simply saying Ahri."
"Strange," Rachel mumbled under her breath. Missing, or dead, parents was starting to become a real trend.
Joyce nodded at the conclusion, acknowledging it briefly before continuing. "Vanessa's mom explained to me the best she could what Vanessa was, gave me her Auralite necklace. She then told me that when I found her to simply place it over her neck and then come find her. It didn't take too long for me to find her, hiding in the garden in a bush," Joyce glanced at Max and chuckled. "Like I said, like mother like daughter. It was fortunate she was in the garden, though. Vanessa's mom didn't realize clothes weren't part of the package when she changed back."
Both Rachel and Chloe snickered gleefully at this, while Kate tried to hide her blush in Max's fur.
"It was definitely an awkward moment," Joyce admitted, feeling the slight embarrassment from that time return. "Anyway, after that and a lengthy talk with her mom, Vanessa spent a lot of time getting used to having two tails. So many of her clothes needed adjustments, mostly her jeans. Took a while for her to get the hang of her orb, though… The number of times she broke something at school when someone annoyed her. Luckily, the first person to really annoy her was a vampire. He didn't appreciate it at the time, though. After that, nobody teased Vanessa to her face."
They would have been very stupid to after that incident. Vanessa had the patience of a saint, but if you pushed her beyond her limit, more fool you. That was a trait that had passed onto Max. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't hurt a fly. When threatened, either personally or if a friend was in danger, that was a whole different story.
Not wanting to evoke Chloe's impatience again, Joyce moved on swiftly. "As we got older, she became very popular with pretty much everyone, but she always wanted me at her side. She spent a lot of time in her wolf form too, mostly when we went hiking. Certainly saved my poor feet and I never complained about a free ride." She would be forever grateful for that. "Of course, it didn't come without a few incidents. I recall one in particular. We were out hiking in the mountains not far from here. At the time, we were taking a lunch break when we were attacked by a vampire from out of town… more specifically, he attacked Vanessa. Poor guy didn't stand a chance. We kinda felt sorry for him after Vanessa beat the hell out of him. Turns out, it was the first time he met an Ahri. The smell kinda took him by surprise and he lost control. After that, he actually became a good friend. Ended up moving to Japan after a few years, something about a building job."
Every now and then, she received an update on how he was doing. From the sounds of it, he seemed to be doing well enough for himself. At least someone from their past had come out the other side fairly unscathed. The same couldn't be said for her close friends.
Sighing lightly, Joyce pressed forward. "When we went to high school, we met a group of friends. You knew them well. They were your parents. Max's, Chloe's father and, yes Rachel, your parents too. We knew them well. Of course, we got a lot of attention. The boys certainly knew how to make trouble when we weren't around, but Vanessa was the unofficial queen of mischief. That illusion charm of hers got us in and out of so much trouble. Most of it was harmless, though," Joyce chuckled to herself at the memory. "It wasn't until I was… twenty-four, going on twenty-five, Vanessa was twenty-four, Rachel's parents moved up to Portland to work in the hunters' guild. Ryan and William also joined. So, for four days a week, they stayed in Portland, while I and Vanessa worked at a local cafe. Yes, the Two Whales. It wasn't the best paid, but it was fun and it paid the bills. We couldn't complain. It was around that time that Vanessa, myself, and shortly after Rachel's mom, Elise all fell pregnant."
"Wait, mom, are you saying Max has a brother or sister?" Chloe interjected. It didn't make sense. It couldn't be Max, she was just over a year younger than herself.
Joyce shook her head. "No, Chloe, Vanessa only had one child. A little girl you know as Max. I'll get to it." She raised her hand silencing her daughter, leaving her frowning in confusion. Kate could feel the confusion from Max, matching that of the blue-haired vampire. Was it something to do with being an Ahri?
With the renewed silence, Joyce proceeded to explain. "The day you were born Chloe, I and Vanessa were out taking a leisurely evening stroll down the beach. She provided the torch as always, while the boys were off on some mission for the hunters' guild. That was the night I guess all of this started. Or rather when it first started affecting us. We were attacked by half a dozen vampires." She smiled to herself, shaking her head slightly.
Max listened attentively, desperate for more information on her mother and her past. She had so many questions, very few of which had been answered. When they had been, it only led to more questions. This circle of endless confusion was starting to wear her down.
Smiling fondly, Joyce turned to Max. "Your mother didn't hesitate for a moment, Max. She ripped that stone off her neck and went to town on them. Even so heavily pregnant, not one of them laid a finger on me. Didn't even come close. Word of warning, don't piss off an over protective, pregnant Ahri. And certainly, don't threaten their pregnant friends." With that piece of advice given, she pressed ahead. "Once they were dealt with, I guess the excitement was too much for Chloe. I went into labor. Again, Vanessa didn't hesitate and carried me straight to the hospital. I'll never forget the poor doctor that tried to stop Vanessa entering, saying no dogs allowed… He was lucky all he got was a broken arm," Joyce chuckled. "I'm guessing Max here couldn't wait either, as Vanessa went into labor herself shortly after."
"Hang on... Are you saying Vanessa had Max while she was…?" Rachel trailed off, halfway between shock and amusement. This was a very interesting development.
The older woman nodded with a smile. "That's correct. The midwife said it was by far the strangest birth she had ever helped with. God only knows what the other mothers were thinking was going on, with me screaming and Vanessa howling the place down. Of course, your fathers did not show up until AFTER you were both born… typical.," she chuckled as Max looked at her, looking confused on hearing she was born to a LITERAL wolf.
"Hang on, mom. Max is eighteen, not nineteen," Chloe stated matter-of-factly.
Joyce shook her head a little, picking up the photo album from earlier and flicking through several pages. Eventually, she stopped and pulled out two slips of paper from behind a group photo of Vanessa, William, Ryan and herself, handing them to Chloe. Taking the papers, Chloe unfolded them. Seeing they were both birth certificates, she quickly went over the details.
Name - Chloe Elizabeth Price
D.O.B - 11th March 1994 23:55
P.O.B - Arcadia Bay General, Oregon
Mother - Joyce Price
Father - William Price
Name - Maxine Caulfield
D.O.B - 11th March 1994 23:59
P.O.B - Arcadia Bay General, Oregon
Mother - Vanessa Caulfield
Father - Ryan Caulfield
The dates and times left the young vampire stunned. They were literally born minutes apart. Rachel helped herself to the papers while Chloe took this new information in.
Before she could get assaulted with questions, Joyce began to explain the cover up. "Later on, it was decided to make Max a year younger than she was, but I'll get to that. Anyhow, I ended up breastfeeding the pair of you that night. Obviously, Vanessa couldn't. The boys were confused as to what was going on when they arrived. So while Vanessa went back to the park to retrieve her necklace, I explained what happened. She returned and changed back, ended up going home in a hospital gown much to her annoyance."
That brought an oddly amusing mental image to mind, the whole incident did, really. It just seemed so… absurd.
"After that, Max and Chloe were pretty much inseparable," Joyce continued, remembering those peaceful years. "Eating, sleeping and playing together, up until they were about two. Me and Vanessa took turns feeding the two of you. Worked out quite well. It meant one of us got a rest every other day. Max spent nearly all of her childhood eating and sleeping in this house. We had Rachel and her parents come down every Christmas until your fourth birthdays. That was when things… changed."
The atmosphere shifted then to something much darker and more somber. Kate could feel the change better than any of them, negative emotions radiating from Joyce with such strength that she felt overwhelmed. Whatever she was about to hear next, this had not been a good time for Joyce.
Preparing herself, Joyce began to recall the events of that time as steadily as she could. "Turned out, the night we were attacked was part of a series of attacks. Ahri from all over the country were turning up dead. All apparently killed by vampires or a single vampire. We weren't sure exactly. Understandably, Vanessa was scared. Not for herself, but for Max. She was her number one priority. Hell, she was all our number one priority, after our own daughters obviously, but we weren't being targeted. The Ahri were."
It had been a shock to them all. Out of all the races, the Ahri were the most peaceful and well-loved. They rarely got into trouble and when they did, they solved it before it became too large an issue. That was why it had come as such a surprise to find out they were being targeted en masse.
Finally getting to the reason behind the conflicting birthdates, Joyce pressed on. "That was when it was decided to alter Max's birth certificate. She was still young enough, so she wouldn't really know. The hunters' guild took care of the legal side of it. The thinking was, whoever was hunting the Ahri wouldn't go after Max until AFTER her transition. Which, if they went by her birth certificate, she would, in fact, be fifteen and able to protect herself better. That buffer would hopefully give Vanessa time to teach Max how to use her abilities." They had put every possible plan in place to safeguard Max for as long as possible. "As an added guard, Vanessa and Ryan moved away for a year, leaving Max here with us. When they came back, Vanessa was using her illusion charm to hide her tails and ears. Most people around here forgot about Ahri Vanessa, for the most part. There were one or two friends who knew obviously, but they knew why she was hiding, so didn't say anything."
Of course, that hadn't solved the problem. Far from it. What it had done was give them all time. That was what they had needed the most. While it had come at great sacrifice, it had kept Max safe. Others… weren't so lucky.
To put it in context, Joyce clarified the wider problem in hand. "It didn't help the other Ahri around the country, though. As the years went on the number of Ahri kept dropping. Many thought they were just going into hiding. Only the officials knew the truth. The Ahri were being singled out and hunted. The worst part was, no one knows why. No group ever owned up to it, and no one could think of a reason. The Ahri were loved by anyone fortunate enough to meet them."
"I think Max is the first Ahri I've met," Kate admitted, now understanding the reason behind that. She had heard vague mentions of them before but never had a personal experience as far as she was aware.
"Me too," Rachel chimed in, with Chloe nodding to show she was the same.
With a solemn nod, Joyce returned to her tale. "The midwife that delivered you two was the first of our friends to be killed. It wasn't a big stretch to assume whoever did it was looking for Vanessa and Max. That was just a couple of weeks before Chloe's fourteenth birthday, before Max's true fourteenth birthday," she let out a sigh. "We were going to tell you girls then, after Max's transition, but it wasn't to be."
Things had taken a turn for the worse so quickly. None of them really had the time to process it all before something even worse had happened. A string of bad event after bad event. No amount of preparation would have made it any simpler. It had been out of their control.
"William was investigating the midwife's death when he was taken, tortured and killed." Her voice faltered, but she pushed through the sadness. Now was not the time for tears. "We know he didn't give up anything regarding Vanessa and Max. He took their secret to his grave. With this hitting so close to home, Vanessa and Ryan thought it best to go into hiding, at least until Max had transitioned. It was only meant to be for a few weeks. They waited until after William's funeral obviously. They knew how hard it would hit you, Chloe, but they had to protect Max and they didn't want me or you being in the firing line."
It had been a difficult time for them all, but it had to be done. They had all know it, not that it made things any easier.
Then, Joyce focused her attention on Rachel. "Last I heard about any of this was when Rachel's mother, Elise, was killed. I was so thankful that you had survived, Rachel. I didn't hesitate to offer to take you in, but the hunters' guild thought it best, to cut all ties for the time being. Whoever was after the Ahri knew about our connection to Vanessa." Swallowing hard, she came to the end of her explanations. "After that, I tried my best to carry on. On Chloe's birthday, I prayed for that phone to ring, or for Vanessa, Ryan, and Max to just turn up. And each day that went past I knew, I knew that was it, but I always hoped. Prayed. When I heard Rachel had started at Blackwell, I vowed to keep an eye on her. Luckily for me, Chloe took a shine to her, so that made things much easier."
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