CHAPTER 10 My Father

Blood. All I could see was blood. My vision shrouded in crimson.

"Jessie! Jessie!"

I jolted awake with a long, frantic gasp.

He pulled me into a tight hug, his hand gently caressing my hair.

"All these dreams you've been having have been worrying me."

"It's nothing. I'm fine. Just nightmares," I reassured him.

"I heard about what happened yesterday."

I remembered my emotional outburst from the previous day.

"Why did everyone have to lie to me? Did you know about it too?"

He released me and met my gaze, his face heavy with guilt.

"Why didn't you just tell me, Dylan?"

"I guess it was foolish of me to think I could hide it from you. Even in the past, you sensed that I was different."

"What do you mean?"

"We are creatures of the night. We are vampires."

I was left speechless. Vampires? I didn't know how to react or what to say.

"That's why Audrina called me Aithne at the event."

I furrowed my brows in confusion. What did he mean?

"Dylan was my name when I was human. When I was changed, my name became Aithne."

"And my mother? Is she like you?"

"Your mother belongs to our kind, but she's from a different coterie. I don't know her story."

"What about my father?"

"He's not like us. He's in a psychiatric facility."

"Why? What happened to him?"

Dylan appeared uneasy as he answered, "He began to abuse you after your mother's supposed death."

"Then why would she fake her own death and leave me to suffer in pain?"

"That, I do not know. To find answers, you'll need to meet with her."

"Can I meet my father?"

"You want to meet him?"

"Yes."

"I..."

"Please?"

"Okay," he reluctantly agreed.

"How did you know that she was your mother?"

I lowered my head in shame.

"I sneaked into the locked room."

"What?"

"I thought I might find some answers in there."

"It's alright."

"Really? You're not angry?"

"I couldn't bear to be mad at you," he said, pulling me into another comforting embrace.