Chapter 11
My hands were sweaty as I fidgeted them restlessly. I'd been waiting for over an hour now in the library and I was getting anxious; my nerves were off the charts. I sat down on the two seat leather couch beside Tony, who was silently watching me. I ignored him, glancing in every direction of the room. The multiple bookcases caught my attention for a short time. Then I scanned the ceiling's light fixtures, the leather couch and chairs, the floor length windows, the door and mouldings, the table, and then peered at everything all over again.
After wiping my palms on my jeans for what felt like the fiftieth time, I changed to cracking my knuckles. When Tony put a hand over mine to stop me, I began tapping my feet instead.
"Will you stop it!" he snapped.
"I can't help it! It's not every day you meet a man you thought was dead."
"Don't worry; everything's going to be fine."
"How do you know? Huh? Huh! You don't! What if he doesn't like me? What if he doesn't want to meet Mother? Then what?!" I was getting a little panicky.
He cupped my face in his hands and forced me to look at him. "What will that honestly change? Nor you or your mom have needed him; even if he doesn't want any part of your family, it won't matter."
I sighed. "You're right," but it didn't make me any less nervous.
I stood up from the couch and started pacing the room. Everything had passed so quickly since Gigi had told me about my grandfather. I'd spent the rest of the evening reading and rereading the papers she'd handed me. As per them, Nana had had a brief romance with Sir Nicolas - the name sounded obnoxious - when she was seventeen. Apparently they'd been together up until Nicolas was summoned back to England. He was a wealthy Lord there, and had made sure Nana had been well taken care of. That explained a lot since I'd never known where she'd gotten the money to afford her mansion. One thing just didn't make sense though; she'd always told Mother that he'd went missing in battle. Yet...
Arg! All this was so aggravating! I'd been so caught up I couldn't think of anything else! I'd barely even registered last night when CJ had told me Greg was going to bring her home since it was so late. Wait. I left CJ with...Greg? Oh shit.
I turned to Tony. "Did Greg come back home last night?" I asked.
"Yeah, he went to bring CJ and came back right after."
I sighed. "Thank God"
He frowned. "I don't think God has anything to do with us."
"Huh? Why not? Isn't he the one that you know... gave us powers and all that?"
He shook his head. "I have no idea who did, and I don't care."
That took me by surprise. "You're kidding, right? An organization that's been alive for years and you don't know from where your gifts come from?"
"That's not what I said; you're misinterpreting the facts" he gestured towards me with his hand. "What do you believe in? What is your faith? In all honesty, I mean."
"Well, God of course. We fight demons and look like angels; what else do you want me to think?"
He nodded absently. "There's nothing wrong with what you think. But, like you said, that's what you believe. I, for one, am atheist. I see no reason to worship anything when it won't do something for us in return" he spoke directly, making it evident that he firmly believed what he said. "Every Shifter has their own beliefs. You, Greg and Jason are all catholic; Ben is Buddhist. I even know a guy back in Italy who is an avid supporter of Greek mythology. Then there's Eric, a scientist friend that says we're just a late mutation from the Big Bang, or something like that." he rubbed his neck slightly. "The point is, it doesn't matter who or where you think we come from, as long as it's what you truly have faith in."
I considered that for a second. What he said made sense, after all. Who cared what you thought? It was your own values, period.
Just then there was a soft rap at the door, and it was opened slowly afterwards. Slowly, a man came into the room. As per his file, he was in his fifties, yet he hardly seemed so. He was of a strong build, like every Shifter male I had met, with pepper coloured hair and the same soft grey eyes that were my own. He wore a clean black suit, making him look like the Lord he was. He was a handsome man, even at his age. But there was something about his eyes and the way he looked at me that stung my heart; it was as though the burden of the world had weighed him down.
Tony got up and walked over to him. He extended his hand and the older man shook it. "It is good to see you again, Master Nicolas."
Nicolas bowed his head faintly to show his appreciation. "For me as well, Mister Blair"
"Then I will leave you two to your business" he glanced back to me and then back to Nicolas, leaning closer to the man. "Take good care of this one; she is dear to me" he whispered before leaving the room.
As the door shut, the two of us stood there, silently, not knowing what to say. He was the first to break the ice. "Hello Crystal" he spoke with a small British accent.
"Hello Sir Nicolas"
He chuckled. "You need not call me that; Nicolas will do."
I nodded. "Crys is fine too"
Another silent moment passed. He clasped his hands together and decided to speak. "Forgive me, I simply do not know what to make of you. Until seven days ago, I knew nothing of your existence. And now I find myself in Jacqueline's home, with her granddaughter...my granddaughter."
"This isn't her home anymore" I stated.
"Yes, I'm sorry. I wish I had been able to see her one last time before her death."
"Then why didn't you? Why did you leave her in the first place?"
He sighed. "My father had just passed away and I was to return to England to take up his place. I asked Jacqueline to come with me and she declined. We'd been together for some time then, so I promised to come back for her. Except, I didn't." he looked on the verge of tears. "My status gave me obligations I could not refuse. I was forced into an arranged marriage and therefore could never be one with your grandmother. I did the next best thing I could; I sent a trustworthy friend to aid her in any way she needed, and she was to ask for assistance if ever she had need of it afterwards. She never did. She never even told me I had a daughter." Tears rolled down his cheeks.
I tried not to gap at him, but it was hard. Of all the scenarios I had played in my head, this definitely hadn't been one. He honestly hadn't know about Mother, there was no doubt in my mind about that. I couldn't help but feel bad for him. "What happened between you and her is strictly between the two of you. You can't change that, so there's no use in beating yourself up for it." I took a few steps towards him.
He wiped at his eyes. "I must agree with you" He paused and looked at me tenderly. "You look just like her, you know"
I had to smile at that. "I only knew her when she was old, so I'm not sure I should take that as a compliment."
He laughed softly. "No. I do mean when she was your age."
I smiled. "Then I'll take that as a kind word." A different thought crossed my mind then. "You do know what I am, right?" I asked.
"Indeed. I was quite intrigued when I could no longer Shift, yet none of my kin owned up to the act. It was easy to put the pieces together when dear Gertrude spoke to me a few weeks after... And might I add that you have caused quite the sensation among the Masters."
"Really?"
He gestured affirmatively. "Even the wives have been in an uproar. They've been saying that Shifters will finally have some real brain power" he smirked and I laughed. He looked at me curiously. "You are quite the little mystery, I must say."
"Then I guess we'll need some time to get to know each other."
He smiled widely, lighting up his entire face for the first time. "I would enjoy that immensely."
"Well, I, um, thought you would like to meet my mother as well. My parents should be home by now, and although she doesn't know about you yet, I'm sure she'll want to hear from you." I hope.
"Splendid idea" he opened the door for me and we walked out onto the hallway. We made our way downstairs, grabbed our coats, and headed outside. Cold wind slapped us, forcing us to almost scream to talk.
"I can cook up a spaghetti for supper if you'd like, or maybe a fettuccini would be better?"
"Do you have pizza?" I nodded and he smiled. "I have not had pizza in years. Just that will do"
"Sure, I can do that." And so we walked to my house - surprisingly, he had no problem with walking in the cold weather -, discussing as much as our chattering teeth could handle. When we finally got to the house, I noticed my parents' black Mercedes was parked in the entrance.
"I have to warn you; they don't know about Shifters; I haven't told them. And I don't think they should know." I walked towards the front door and stopped just before opening it, turning towards him.
"It is as you wish; although I strongly suggest you tell them."
I nodded. "I'll think about it." I opened the door and we went into the warmth of the house, Abby greeting us excitedly. We removed our coats and walked further into the house. "So this is my home" I gestured at all the surroundings. "Please, sit down for now, I'm just going to speak with my parents." I left him in the living room with Abby.
I hoped Mother would welcome him; he was a good man, a gentleman, I could tell. I'd be damned if she would shut him out of our life. I would convince her to give him a chance, no matter what.
"Mother? Father?" I peeked into the office and found it empty. That left only their bedroom. Approaching the room, I could hear soft classical music being played. The door was closed though, so I knocked lightly. And knocked again. Finally, when they didn't answer after the third knock, I opened the door.
The first thing that hit me was the odour. I hadn't even completely opened the door and I could smell how much the room reeked! Had they been doing drugs? No, that's not like them.
I fumbled for the light switch, not being able to see anything in the dark of the room. They'd probably decided to take an afternoon nap; they did that sometimes. Finally I found the switch and flicked it on, finding a horrifying sight before me.
My parents, laying on the floor in a pool of blood, dead.
that's like two or three times now that people think of something that was going to be mentioned later! Kind of funny. But yeah, it's going to be talked about later...
Hmm... I did ctach two grammatical errors
Nah, it can happen, but so far I've thought of the details, so it'll be for later on that I'll need it!
