Chapter Thirty

Forgotten

I was uncertain as to whether or not I should turn on the television. The thing I was worried most about was the news, and whether anything was still being said about the now two missing teenagers from Merit. I didn't know what was worse: the chance that it would say something about us or that it wouldn't. Most likely it wouldn't, which wouldn't make me feel too much better either way. After all, I didn't want anyone to quite forget about me. Then again, I did state that I had run away to my father. I sighed at that thought before looking from the television in the living room area, where the fireplace was doing its job at last, to Evanen, who still refused to allow me on my own.

After a moment, Evanen finally got annoyed by my staring at him. "What," he asked uncomfortably.

"I'm bored," I responded, when really I was becoming agitated as the days passed. November 20th seemed to be haunting over our thoughts even more now, so that it seemed everyone was so nervous about it that nobody was fighting anymore. Everything was at peace, and we all were just trying to stay away from each other as we prepared for the beginning of the Vampire Reign, and the end of human life as we all knew it. At some point, I wondered if maybe people expected a person in my position to be a hero and save my own kind... but I figured that would be the stupidest expectation a person could place on me. Hello, I'm Hailence, not Superman.

"Why do you always have to be doing something," Evanen asked irritably. "You should expect that you're going to live for awhile, so why must you do everything now? Take a break." This didn't make much sense seeing as, if you thought my way, I had been taking a break sense I had been stowed away here. I mean, it's not like I'm going anywhere or doing anything that would help me gain some life-long goal I'd had.

I scoffed. "I'm still bored," I responded bitterly, and stood up from in front of the dead television. I started to walk towards the kitchen, assuming Evanen would be following behind me, but not checking to see. When bored, food is your friend. So I pulled out an orange soda from the fridge - specially ordered by myself - and snatched some Doritos from the cabinet. I sat down on a stool next to the counter, opening both the soda and the Doritos, and continued to self-indulge myself into a point of some entertainment. To spice things up, I spun in circles around my stool.

That's when I realized the telephone stationed not too far away that I somehow had missed all this time. For some reason, I assumed the time when I had called my father had been a dream, and I never really took notice to the fact that Cecilian had handed me a phone after all. Then nobody ever called here, so that helped in wiping the idea of phone calls from my mind. But instead of looking at the phone in planning, I looked up, expecting Evanen to be nearby to stay around my personal bubble. Instead, he seemed to have not followed me as I had assumed he had. This caused an utter rip of hesitation because now I was separated between two things: to use the phone or not.

I didn't decide right off the bat. Instead, I kind of moved to a closer stool, and continued this until I had shuffled myself next to the phone in utter innocence. Then I started viewing over my pros and cons. For my pros: Evanen wasn't around, nobody had to know, I'd hear my dad's voice again, my dad would no longer think I hated him, and everything could be resolved right then without actually escaping. As for the cons, I had: Evanen is a vampire... he could hear me, it could get me in awesome trouble, I might slip that I wasn't here under my will, the cops could come, and I could doom everyone, my dad included with me. This was enough to make me consider that it wasn't worth it. But then I tried to think back to the last words my dad had ever said, and I couldn't actually remember what he sounded like anymore.

I picked up the phone as delicately as possible, looking at the numbers upon the face of it. I wondered if I would even remember my own phone number, but then that would always be branded in my head. So, as quietly as possible, I dialed each number carefully, trying as hard as possible to not make the noise too obvious to the ear. All the while, I kept looking around to see if Evanen was nearby, but he had stayed in the distance. Then I put the phone to my ear, my heart pounding furiously with adrenaline of my brave action. Plus, I was going to hear my dad again.

"Hello," An unfamiliar, female voice sang into the phone. The fact that some happy chick picked up my fathers phone made me pause completely, unsure as to if I had actually dialed the phone number correctly. There was a clear pause before the woman said uncertainly, "Hello? Anyone there? Hellloooo.."

"Yes," I suddenly said in a hushed voice. "Is Bart Truit there?"

"Oh, hold on a minute, darling," the woman sang, now back to her chipperness as she called into the distance, "Bart, honey, phone!" I was now completely confused as to why there was a woman answering my dad's phone, happy as a clam, in the house of a depressed father, abandoned by both wife and daughter. And then I was confused, wondering why she called him 'honey'. But then, she called me darling - I hate pet names - so it could be just some bad habit she had.

There was a sound of shuffling, and then a gruff, but energetic voice said, "Yes, hello?" It was definitely my dad, but I had expected some desperate answering or maybe a bit of grief behind that voice. Instead, he seemed just as chipper as the woman. This made me hesitate even more, and I heard him mutter something to the woman, who responded, "Oh, she's a slow talker, dear. Be patient."

I felt like punching her just by the sound of her voice. But then I focused on my father. "Dad," I said quietly, now absorbed in this conversation. There was an awkward pause, where both of us didn't say anything. I waited for something, such as warm greeting or bullet questions, but nothing came for a long time. I began to wonder if he'd hung up or died.

"Hailence," Dad said bluntly, calling me by a name that he never usually used before. It kind of hurt. There was more silence.

"I'm sorry, Dad," I told him sincerely.

"What do you want," He asked harshly, "You need money or something? Is that why you called after all these months?" There was the sudden sound of questioning behind him, and I could hear the woman asking what was going on. And that's when I heard her quietly in the background say, "Oooh, is that my future step-daughter-". I felt like my heart was fallen to my feet in shock. All this time I had been worried that I had drove my father into insane grief, and he meets some bouncy woman instead, just as happy as can be without me?

"No, Dad," I responded to his questioning. "I just-"

Before I could say anything, he interupted with, "What happened to Bart, huh?" This was not the dad I remembered. I suddenly heard someone clear their voice, and I froze. Then I slowly looked up to see Evanen sitting across from me with a death look upon his face. I bit down on my bottom lip, caught redhanded in the act.

"I've got to go," I said quietly to dad, who could probably care less now. But before he could say anything, I hung up the phone, and held it out to Evanen, who snatched it from my hand angrily. Then, without struggle, he snapped the phone in half and crushed it between his hands. I thought this was a bit much, but I didn't much care that he destroyed any contact with the outside world. Nobody was apparently missing me anyway. Evanen spent a good moment glaring at me bluntly.

"So what'd you tell him, huh? Tell him where you are? Maybe a little story about vampires," Evanen asked seethingly.

I scoffed, "That's ridiculous, Evanen. I didn't even..." And I burst into tears, which I believed to be induced by those female hormones that seemed to be egging on tears during stressful times more than ever. I wasn't sure how that would convince Evanen that I merely said 'hello' to my dad and didn't give anything away, but then I wasn't exactly thinking about that either way. My dad, the only family member who was there for me, now hated me. He called me Hailence. Whatever happened to Wynnie? Whatever happened to Wynnie?!

For the first time ever, Evanen moved around the counter, sat closer to me, and pulled me into his arms in an embrace. It was actually shocking, but then maybe being around a human so much was teaching him not to fear tears. Still, I believed him to be at least partially confused, and felt a bit oblidged to inform him as to the reason behind the sudden rush of emotion. Well, he could have assumed it was just homesickness, but then no one quite knew what type of conclusion Evanen would come to.

So I tried to suck in the sobbing, and gave myself a moment to gain a breath. And I said, "My dad... hates me. And he's replaced me... with some... bimbo." Add sniffles between each, and you get how exactly like a child I had become. Then I started crying some more at the pain behind the realization that I was lost here forever. Even if I did get away, my own dad wouldn't want me, and my mom... where is she?

"I know," Evanen comforted. At least, that was the first impression I got, but when I took notice to the fact that this was Evanen, I thought twice. Normal people say 'I know' as in they understand... but Evanen would only say 'I know' if indeed he knew.

I pulled away from him in offense. "What do you mean 'you know'," I asked suspiciously.

Without even considering making some excuse to get away from female rage, Evanen merely stated, "I've been spying on your dad, remember? I've known about his 'bimbo' for awhile now. I figured if ever you said something in concern of your dad, I'd tell you the good news that he's getting along just fine without you. See, it is good news, right? Now no one needs you, and you can stay here forever." And he smiled happily. I narrowed my eyes.

"You... it's your fault he hates me... you.. you asshole," and I screeched angrily before stomping off towards the stairs, leaving Evanen behind with a bit of a stunned expression upon his face. I started up the stairs, but before I got halfway up, Evanen appeared in front of me in a flash. He grabbed my upper arms to stop me desperately, and I sulked.

"What do you want, huh," Evanen asked, trying to hold back his anger. I continued to glare at him. "What? You want me to go kill your dad's girlfriend? I'll go do it right now. Is that what you want?"

I scoffed, "No! Stop killing people for no reason!"

"Then what," he yelled, "What do you want? What can I do to make you, Hailence, happy to be here?"

I felt the rage boil furiously in my gut, and I yelled right back, "How about you go away!?" Evanen glared at me for a moment, and then he seemed to accept this request. He shoved me bitterly to the side, causing me to stumble a bit before landing on my butt and bumping the back of my head against the wall. I pushed myself back to my feet, watching him storm down the stairs and out the door. "Yeah, real mature," I screamed right after him, rubbing the back of my head. It wasn't long before I heard a car start and drive off into the distance.

I almost sniffled before heading back up towards what I assume I would be stuck calling my room seeing as I was sure that my so-called dad probably reformed my old one back at my use-to-be home into a nursery. I opened the door, not quite paying attention any longer to my surroundings, and shut it behind me before heading straight towards the bed. Before I could reach it, a shadow in the corner of my eye made me hesitate. I stood still for a moment, and then swiftly turned my head to face it in dread.

Drewdon's yellow eyes peered at me gloomly, as though being in the spot he was at the moment was the last place he wished to be. Without waiting for a response to his presense, he said, "If you scream, I'll be forced to silence you." I could have possibly gulped loudly at that point, but I was pretty sure I wasn't planning on screaming. Maybe whimpering.

I built up courage enough to blurt, "Why are you here?" Drewdon moved more into the light, so that he seemed even more towering than before. He didn't look changed. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail that rested on his back, and he still seemed dressed business-like. The fact that he was in this room just disturbed me, especially seeing as I chased away Evanen. At this thought, I was reminded quite suddenly of the necklace I still had placed about my neck. So as Drewdon stepped closer, I backed up, and reached my hand around the rose of the necklace.

"Don't call that imbecile," Drewdon suddenly said dully, noticing my grip on the necklace.

With a frown, I responded, "Why not? Don't think I didn't forget that time you nearly killed me."

"Calm down," He ordered, and it rushed into my thoughts. I almost smiled at how pitiful an attempt it was as I easily pushed it away.

"I am," I answered.

"I just want to ask you a couple of questions," Drewdon stated, and the back of my knees hit the side of the bed, causing me to sit down. Now Drewdon looked even more towering. Though, I was sure this was how he preferred it: the human as low to the ground as possible so that he, the most powerful vampire, would tower over them like a God. Drewdon suddenly stepped back, grabbing a chair, and placed it in front of me to sit down in it. This startled me because now he was no longer a towering figure, which conflicted my assumption. Once he was settled, which was quite sudden, he stared at me with those creepy yellow eyes. "What happened to Katha?"

I bit my bottom lip. I thought this whole thing was over with already. "I don't know... she ran away, didn't she," I replied innocently.

Drewdon peered at me with disbelief. "I know she didn't run away," He stated darkly, "Now tell me the truth. What did you and Evanen do to Katha?" This happened to be another one of those orders which tried to latch onto my thoughts, but I pushed it away without too much effort.

"Nothing. I thought she ran away," I said defiantly. There was a definite pause in which Drewdon himself seemed mentally startled by this response. But then I wouldn't have expected less seeing as I had ignored his order after all. He seemed to have come to a conclusion, and he leaned back a bit in thought.

"Stand up," He suddenly ordered, and I shoved it from my thought quickly. Then I just looked at him, still defiant. "Smile?" I almost did because of the question form, but I kept the order at bay and glared at him instead. For a moment, Drewdon just looked at me. Then he smiled himself, which was a shocker because I didn't think someone like Drewdon ever actually smiled unless it was because he had a mass amount of people before him to kill. It made me extremely nervous. "So, Evanen has taken an immense liking to you, a human. He even taught you how to fight away mind control. I wouldn't have expected that." I shrugged, and he stopped smiling.

With a suddenly dark look, he continued, "Don't think you'll survive after the Rising. I don't care if Evanen wishes you alive or not, you're dead even if I have to be the one to do it."

I became suddenly angry, and I snapped, "Good! I'll be counting on it!" And I glared at him furiously. Actually, I wouldn't say that was too smart of a thing to be counting on, but it was becoming annoying that I now had a list of death threats from vampires. If you're going to do it, do it. But then, there was a great length of silence that was so awkward that the tension burned my ears. I felt like I was having an anxiety attack. Soon, I was sure I was going to squeak out an apology so this whole moment was finished with already.

"Don't get in the way," Drewdon suddenly warned.

With the most sincere feeling I could muster, I responded, "I won't." It came out sounding completely innocent and slightly hurt, which I hadn't meant to sound, but it seemed to stir some sort of confusion that was brewing behind Drewdon's eyes. It did seem to satisfy his worries, though. I assumed they had to do with me suddenly feeling oblidged to save the world, but sadly I'm not cut out for that type of work. Feeling a bit more courageous, I suddenly bursted questioningly, "Why are your eyes yellow? Or is that some sort of... vampire.. thing..." I already regretted asking it.

Drewdon peered at me thoughtfully for a moment. "Why do you want to know," he asked bluntly.

Suddenly, I broke into a wide smile. Apparently someone didn't know me at all. "I happen to be the most curious human being in the world," I answered sincerely, though I admit, I used a bit of a hyperbole there. "I can't help it. I know how Evanen, Mikel, and Katha came to be vampires, and Evanen gave me a good bit of information about Cecilian, but I don't know anything about your story. In fact, no one does..."

Drewdon suddenly looked a bit dark, as though my curiousity irritated him, but I held tight to where I was. "My eyes are yellow because I was blind," He stated dementedly, "When a person is turned, every bad damage to their body is undone, which includes wrinkles, disease, missing fingers, and apparently blindness. That was back in 1657, when I was just some pitiful blind human crawling on the side of the street. Then I was turned, and my sight came back..."

"And you were recruited, right," I asked, remembering something about a 'vampires-shall-rule' breeding. This remark startled Drewdon.

"That is none of your business. What do you care, anyway. You're dead," he responded, and seemed to be done with what short of a life story he had decided to tell. He stood up, moving to leave.

"We killed Katha," I admitted, and pointed at the burn spot on the ground. "Evanen was mad because she traded me off to Sir Trenton, so he killed her. Well.. had me kill her. And I don't know what he did with her remains." I guess I was kind of hoping he would freak out and kill me because I didn't feel much fear when he turned to look at the spot on the ground. Just admitting to being a murderer, now of two people, sort of bothered me, and I was becoming far too exhausted to worry about living at the moment.

"I thought so," Drewdon responded, and he left. For a moment, I stared at the door, and then I accepted that that was all over, and I laid back on the bed. At the time, I sort of wished the Rising was already here.