Mystery Child

Chapter Three

I wanted to run. I wanted to slam the door in the face of my father’s sister and run until I reached the end of the world. When I was young and I imagined meeting my father’s family it was never like this. 

    In my fantasy, my mom was still alive. My dad showed up on our front porch and my mom answered the door. They would embrace tightly and he would beg for her forgiveness for leaving her. I would come home from school and they would both be sitting side by side on the couch with their fingers intertwined. His eyes would light up at the sight of me and he would pull me in for a tight hug in which I would reciprocate. We would go out to dinner and talk. Slowly but surely we would all fix what was broken. We would eventually go to meet his family and they would greet my mother and me with open arms. I would finally have a dad. My mom would be whole once more. We would be a family. 

    In reality, my mom is dead. I am no longer a child that is so willing to forget the pain my mother and I were put through. My father is not the one at the front door. My father’s family are a bunch of vampires who don’t look that much older than me if at all, and I am a half-vampire who has to feed on animals to maintain my humanity. 

    My father’s sister, Alice, stared at me as I stood in the doorway in front of her. She scanned over me quickly but meticulously taking in all of my features. Listening to my breathing and my heartbeat. Smelling the blood flooding through my veins. She had wiped all emotion from her face as if not to let me know the thoughts in her head. After what felt like hours but was only a few seconds she looked me in the eyes. 

    “May I please come in?” She asked sweetly, flashing me an almost perfect smile. She smiled just wide enough to barely see her teeth. When I didn’t react right away the smile dropped and her head tipped slightly to the side in confusion. 

    The decision I made in the next few minutes could change how the future plays out. I could say no and close the door. Pray that she leaves and never comes back. Or I could let her in and we could talk. I could learn about my father. About the family, I had never known. I could figure out what I truly was. No matter how much I secretly yearned for the second option my stubbornness would never allow it. I hated the man who was my father. Hated the parts of himself that he gave to me. 

    My fist gripped the door. I made my decision. I went to close it. To tell the woman “No you can’t”. But a voice in the back of my head whispered and I found myself opening the door further. 

    “Sure.” My voice was barely above a whisper, but I knew she heard me clear as day. A smile came to her face and this time it was genuine. She stepped through the front door and gilded passed me gracefully. Once she was in the closed the door firmly and took a deep breath before turning towards her. 

    She walked through the house as if it were her own and eventually ended up in the living room. She stopped near one of the walls and examined it. It was the wall that my mom and Grandpa Charlie had dedicated to photos of me. Quickly I walked into the living room behind her. Making my way to the couch I sat and watched her once again. She carefully took in each picture that documented my life. A life her family had not been a part of. Once she was done taking in the pictures she looked back to me sitting on the couch. 

    “You look so much like Bella.” She said to more herself than me. It was like she was trying to fill the silence and convince herself of something. 

    “You know as well as I that’s not entirely true,” I called her out. It had been made abundantly clear by the whispers of the people around town that I had a striking resemblance to my father. My hair was the same copper brown as his and I had a very similar face structure to him. The only thing about me that was my mother was my chocolate brown eyes that were almost identical to hers.