I sat a moment wondering what her life must have been like if it was already that messed up. Did I really want to know about the darkness that filled her life? I wasn't sure but I had to know.

Suddenly, my phone began to ring in my jacket pocket across the room. I knew from the ringtone, that it was my mom, probably wondering where I was. I crossed the room and retrieved my phone from my jacket and answered, "Hey, Mom."

"Where are you? Your father and I are at your house waiting for you and you are not here. We had a date today to discuss Dru. Remember?" she sounded irritated and I knew she wasn't looking forward to this conversation. She never did like the idea that I was the chosen one to fulfill the prophecy with Dru. I'm not sure why but she never liked even talking about it.

"Well, Mom. That might be a conversation we can skip."

"What? Um, no, we cannot. We have to figure out where she is and…"

"I know where she is, Mom," I said, cutting her off. "She's here, at her house with me." Silence stretched over the line for what seemed like an eternity and all I could hear was the quiet crackle of the line. "Mom, you there?"

She didn't answer at first and I started to wonder if she was ever going to say anything. Finally, she said, "Um, ok, is everything ok?" She sounded worried and I knew that she didn't like this idea.

"Yeah, Mom, everything is as it should be."

"Oh, well then, I guess we can indeed skip that conversation." She laughed nervously and I knew something was on her mind.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

The line got quiet again than I heard my dad, "Adam, you're at her house?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, stay there. Your mother and I are on the way."

That was it. Before I could say anything, he hung up and I stood there a moment looking at my phone before I turned back to Abby. She was still sitting there on the edge of the bed looking dark and s.e.xy, looking at something, lost in her own thoughts. "Abby, are you okay?" She didn't answer. I waited a few seconds then called to her again. "Dru?" I said a little more forcibly than I meant to but it still didn't help any. I walked over and sat down next to her and took her hand, which was warm in my own. "Drusilla," I whispered.

Her head snapped up and her eyes met mine. "Sorry, I was walking down memory lane there." She giggled and I couldn't help but smile at the sound. "Did your phone ring?"

"Yeah, it was Mom. Her and Dad are on their way here," I informed her.

"Oh," her face dropped slightly. "Your mom's on her way? Does she know I'm here? You know, that I'm back?" she looked flushed as she asked.

"Yeah, and my dad, are you ok with that?"

"Yeah," her answer was clipped and short as she stood and walked over to the wardrobe and set her diary on top. I stood and moved toward her. "You know, your mother doesn't like me," she whispered softly.

"What do you mean?" I asked. I knew my mother had a problem with Dru but I didn't know why. Nor did I know that Dru knew.

"Well, she doesn't like the idea of you being in my world. And to be honest, a part of me doesn't blame her for it." She turned and looked up at me. "She was fine until you were born, then something changed. Maybe it was her motherly instinct to protect you. Maybe it was the fact that she didn't get a choice in the matter and that upset her." She paused and brought her hand up to my cheek. "Maybe it was that my world is dark, ugly and full of death. And you…" She smiled at me. "You're bright and vibrant and beautiful and so full of life. I was once too, but my life shaped me to be more cold, callous and calculated. The three C's as your dad always put it," she giggled. "I think she was just scared that my world would crush you. Turn you dark. Like me."

I stood for a moment taking this in. It would make sense. Every time anyone would talk about Dru, my mom would get irritated and snap at them. I think that is why Casimir and Lothair stopped coming by. I never understood the reasoning but this would make sense. Mom didn't want me to be cold. She didn't want me to have a hard life. But I would be happy with Dru, Abby. She was supposed to be my twin flame, though, to be honest; I didn't quite feel it, yet. I mean, she was beautiful and I was drawn to her. There was definitely a connection. It just wasn't what I expected it to be. I wasn't IN love with her, but maybe, I thought, I would in time, so I decided not to say anything and give it time.

Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

The doorbell rang and it pulled me from my train of thought. "There Heeerrrreee," Abby said in a creepy little voice like that little girl in Poltergeist. I gave her a look like, 'ha, ha, very funny', and we started for the door.

She paused at the door, almost as if she were preparing herself for a storm. I gave her a rea.s.suring smile and she opened it.

Immediately, Mom looked at Abby, then at me. "This is Dru?" she exclaimed as she pointed at Abby.

"Wow, Liza, it's great to see you, too," Abby said disdainfully, rolled her eyes and walked away.

My mother barged in after her and my dad ran after my mom, leaving me at the open door. I shut it and ran to catch up to everyone else.

When I got to the kitchen, where everyone was already talking, I noticed a change in both Abby and Mom.

"I'm sorry, Liza, but I can't stay away. Don't you see? Fate brought us back together." Abby was saying.

"Yeah, because of you!" my mom nearly yelled.

Abby stepped back as if Mom had just slapped her. "I couldn't remember anything, Liza! I didn't know! By the G.o.ddess, you really are infuriating!"

"Ha, are you going to walk out like you did the last time you said that?" Mom was yelling now.

"Yeah, you would like that wouldn't you?" Abby spat back at her.

"Actually, yes!"

At that, the kitchen went silent. Dad looked at me then at Abby then my mom. "Ladies, let's take a moment and calm down, shall we?"

"Calm down? This is partly your fault!" Mom yelled at Dad. "This is your family's curse and now our son is paying for it!"

"Don't you yell at him like that!" Abby intervened. "You knew before you married him, you knew what his family was. You knew what that could entail if you had a Garrett child. You knew before you got pregnant that there was a chance that your son could be The immune." Abby was angry now and her face was flush. She stopped and looked into Mom's bewildered face with fire in her eyes.

Silence came over the kitchen again but Dad had withdrawn, letting Abby and Mom work this out. I thought about interjecting but just as I opened my mouth to speak, Abby began softly, "Liza, look. Yelling and screaming isn't going to get us anywhere. This has been decided long ago. Before you, before me, this is how it is supposed to be." she motioned to me and herself. "I understand your perspective, I really do. A part of me doesn't want him in my world any more than you do. Maybe that's why the G.o.ds chose him, though; to bring that life and brilliance of himself to my world." She finished and I felt hope that maybe it was true. She continued, looking in Mom's eyes. "I know you're afraid that his life will be as hard as mine but I a.s.sure you, I won't allow it. I will protect him, Liza. Plus if the G.o.ds didn't think he could handle it, they would not have chosen him." She paused and glanced over at me then back to Mom. "I promise."

With that, Mom relaxed slightly. She looked deep into Abby's eyes and stepped toward her. "I'm scared, Dru. I'm scared for Adam. I know we can't change that and I know it isn't your fault. Nor is it yours, Honey." She glanced at Dad who was smiling now. "I know what your immortality cost you and I don't want it to do the same to Adam."

"I know, Liza. I will be the first to admit that I had lost touch with my humanity long ago. I was detached but it was the circ.u.mstances of my time here that changed me." Abby looked down at her fidgeting fingers then continued. "I'm different now. I have lived the last thirty years as a mortal human. My humanity is intact now."

Mom looked at me and I walked over to her and Abby. My mom reached out and took my hand and Abby's in the other. "I guess I have no choice but to accept the inevitable. If you are truly meant to be with Dru, Adam, then fate will make it work whether I accept it or not. But I do accept it and wish you the best. "

"Thank you, Liza. But it's Abby, now. Dru died years ago. I might have been her, but she is only a part of who I am now."

Mom smiled and chuckled quietly, "Of course, Abby," she put my hand on Abby's and turned to Dad.

"Now that that is squared away, Abby, you better come give me a hug for old time sake," Dad said as he stood up. Abby smiled a huge megawatt smile and walked over to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Welcome back, I missed you."

"It's good to be back," Abby said and she pulled back to look into Dad's face. "And I missed you, too. Both of you." She said as she looked at Mom and she grabbed her hand. "I'm sorry for what I said that night."

"No, don't apologize for that. We both said some things that we didn't mean. I just want Adam to be happy. So be it. Make each other happy." Mom said as she pulled Abby into a hug.

"Thank you, Liza," she whispered.

Dad and I sat at the table watching Abby and Mom in the kitchen cooking. The doorbell rang and I got up to go answer the door. Aunt Denise and Uncle Leiman stood outside and I greeted them with a hug.

"Your mom told us where you guys were. Is Abby here, too?" Denise smiled.

"Yeah, Abby and Mom are in the kitchen. Come on." I showed them in and we all walked through the living room, into the kitchen.

"Mom!" Abby squealed and nearly skipped to Aunt Denise wrapping her in a hug. Aunt Denise wasn't actually her mother but she had been Abby's mother in law for three years. Still she loved Aunt Denise just the same.

"Happy Birthday, Abby." Aunt Denise stated.

"Ah, thank you, Mom. It's definitely been a strange one."

"Tell me all about it." Aunt Denise looked at her and they had headed over near the stove, where Mom was. Uncle Leiman came to join Dad and me at the table. We sat there listening to the ladies talk.

"So, is there a reason that we are celebrating here? Whose house is this?" Aunt Denise asked.

"Well, Mom," Abby started. "It's mine. Well, it was mine."

Aunt Denise looked at Abby then around the room. "What is going on here? What do you mean by was yours?"

"Well..." Abby paused; I think she was sorting through her words trying to figure out how to say it. "Mom," Abby began as she turned to look at her fully. She took her hands in her own and continued, "I'm not exactly who any of us thought I was, not even me," she paused and swallowed hard before continuing. "In my past life I was a woman named Drusilla. I was an immortal woman. A warrior. The Champion of the G.o.ds." Abby raised her hand up as to signify G.o.ds in the sky, or in this case, I knew Mt. Olympus. She paused and took a deep worrisome breath then quietly started again. "On this day, in nineteen eighty-three, I died. Dionysus, G.o.d of many things, including resurrection, gave me the gift of rebirth and I was reborn as Abigail. I had no memory of my life before as Dru until I was about twenty. I always thought of them as my imagination running amok. That it was just a story I was making up in my mind. But it wasn't. It was my life."

Aunt Denise stood a moment, silent, "And Adam? What is his role?"

"Adam," Abby glanced over at me then back to Denise. "Adam is to be my twin flame. The man I was truly destined to be with for all of eternity."

"What is a twin flame?" Denise asked.

"Let me explain it like this. A soul mate is someone with whom you connect with in mind, body, and soul. You can find more than one soul mate in a lifetime for that reason. But a twin flame is rare. You have one twin flame. One person that throughout eternity truly completes you. Through your lifetime, however many there may be, there is that one person you endeavor to find. Adam is meant to be mine." She finished sweetly with calm truth in her words.

We all sat silently as if waiting for something to happen. Aunt Denise first looked into Abby's eyes then to me. She walked away from Abby and past Mom. She continued to the large gla.s.s doors that connected the kitchen to the enormous indoor pool area. The pool area was fully enclosed with more gla.s.s on three walls. Beyond the back wall of gla.s.s, was about forty-feet of gra.s.s before it fell off of a plateau. The bottom was about fifty foot below.

A small laugh started from Aunt Denise, and then it got bigger. She turned to us with a smile and started, "Let me get this straight, after all of these years you're telling me, a month after Josh pa.s.ses, that you are some immortal woman thing that was alive for hundreds of years and died the day you, Abby, was born. This is your house and Adam, my nephew, Josh's cousin, is the man you were supposed to be with originally." She stopped talking and laughed hysterically.

Mom put the mixing bowl down and began walking to Aunt Denise. "I know how it sounds, Denise, I really do. I sort of freaked out the first time I heard all of this, but believe me, what Abby says is true." Mom stood directly in front of Denise. "Trust me, as your sister, trust me. Abby is telling the truth, she is what is called a Kethra, an immortal. But she's not dangerous or crazy, I promise. And Adam…" Mom's voice trailed off. "Adam was meant for Dru long before he was born. I'm still at a loss as to why she died and came back as Abby but," she looked back at Abby then returned her gaze to Denise. "I am sure there was a reason. Seems as though everything does happens for some reason."

Denise keeps smiling, but she stopped laughing. "So you knew?" she asked looking at Mom then Dad. "Did you, Leiman?"

"No!" Uncle Leiman nearly shouted in shock.

"No, Leiman never knew. I never told anyone outside the Garret family." Mom explained.

"So you knew Abby before she died and came back?" Aunt Denise asked as if not believing what she was hearing.

"Yes, I grew up with Dru, not Abby, in my life. They are different women all together. But I did grow up knowing Dru and knowing that my family was different. We were immunes, protected by Dru." Dad answered this time.

"What's an immune?" Leiman chimed in to my dad.

"Well," he began but Abby started for him, obviously more prepared to answer the question.

"In order to explain that, let me start at the beginning. Kethra were created to be immortal warriors and a.s.sa.s.sins about twenty-five hundred years ago. We were created to kill our creator's enemies who were men. 'An army of man's greatest weakness'," she stated like she was reading it from somewhere. "Our blood is poison to any man because our blood attacks what makes a man, a man; his 'Y' chromosome." Abby let out a small breath with a smile. "An immune is different. Over two centuries ago, a woman named Eleanor Garrett was with child and Lena was her midwife. She was having extreme trouble in her final trimester and her life and the life of her unborn son were in danger. Lena, the woman that I loved for three hundred years and was a fellow Kethra, came to me to discuss the option of turning Eleanor for her and her child's sake. When Eleanor agreed, Lena bit her, turning her.

"When a Kethra bites a man, it kills him but if a Kethra bites a woman it will turn her into a Kethra, as well." Abby paused. "When Eleanor's new Kethra blood pa.s.sed to her unborn son, it created a sort of bubble around his 'Y', protecting it. Over these last two centuries, I have watched over the Garrett family, generation after generation, keeping them safe. Adam is the last in that Garrett family lineage." She finished and went silent as everyone took in the information.

Dad already knew all of this so he just sat there quietly looking at Uncle Leiman, who furrowed his eyebrows as it all sunk in. His expression was pa.s.sive and not angry in the least. Mom had gone back to mixing the batter that she and Abby had started for the cake, a normal concentrated look on her face. Aunt Denise took in a deep breath and looked down at the ground. She turned back to the window and peered out in the distance. I realized then that everyone's attention was on her. We were all waiting for her reaction. We were silent; it was Abby who broke the silence.

"Mom?" she waited but Aunt Denise didn't answer. She just stood there, looking out of the window. "Mom, talk to me, please," Abby nearly begged and I heard the pain in her voice. At that, Aunt Denise turned around and looked at Abby.

"Show me," Aunt Denise said. "Show me what you are. Show me what a Kethra really is. I want to see it."

"Are you sure?" Abby asked shakily.

"Aunt Denise," I called. She and Abby both turned and looked over at me. "It's not bad, she isn't dangerous, and she's still… Abby." I said trying to ease the tension. Abby called her fangs and Aunt Denise looked. Her face turned pale as she stared at Abby. Her mouth fell open and her eyes were wide at the realization of what was being said was real. She looked at me and Mom. Her hands came up to her mouth as she whispered, "It's true." Her brows furrowed and she said, "I thought you said you're a Kethra? Not a vampire. You look more like you're from some vampire movie."

"Yes," Abby said. Her fangs making her speak with an accent. "It is a common misconception, but vampires do not have fangs. We do. Most images of vampire that mortals have, originated from Kethra. But it's not the truth."

"What do you mean?" Aunt Denise asked.

"Well, vampires do drink blood. They are cursed with the thirst, Kethra on the other hand, eat and drink just as a mortal does. I am half human. Vampires are undead where I am still alive; fully alive. I have a beating heart, like you. Vampires have cold, still hearts. I am more different from vampire than I am from you." Abby finished, still looking into Aunt Denise's eyes.

Aunt Denise looked at me again and I slightly bowed my head to confirm what Abby said was true. "How long…have you…been a Kethra?" she hesitantly asked Abby, as if not really wanting to know.

"Since last night, I realized who I was, what I had been and accepted what needed to be done. A friend had a vile of my blood, given to him by Ares, and he turned me last night. We decided that it was time to have a family reunion, he went to collect his, and we're still not all here, yet," she motioned around the room. "I spent the night in my old bed, organizing my thoughts and got up this morning ready to explain," she smiled sweetly. "Later, once everyone is here, we will have Q&A."

"But for now, we have a cake to bake." Mom chimed.

"Oh, well then, let's bake us a cake. Abby, you relax. You shouldn't have to bake your own cake on your birthday. Especially, when you got two old birds that can do it for you." Aunt Denise said with a smile as she rubbed her hands together. She walked over to join my mom, while Abby started toward me.

Abby blinked and her fangs were gone in the instant. Her eyes that had been an electric blue that glowed returned to their normal, beautiful gray blue. "Well, that went well," I kidded her as she took a seat next to me.

"Actually," she started and looked over at the women who were busy at the counter. "It did," she smiled at me and I knew everything was going to be fine.