5 | Before I Go

Seaside, California September 4, 1994

Scott

MONTHS flew by in a blink of an eye. With it, the house slowly regained its original beauty. I rebuilt the porch, this time with sturdy nails that should last another century. I still had the bulk of my inheritance from my parents, and with that, I was able to hire help to get the place back into shape. The house still stuck out like a sore thumb though.

It was just a few short weeks ago before everything came together. The pink bathroom tile was now thankfully eradicated. We kept the dark wood paneling on the walls. Adelaide had her cousin Laura come in and help with the decorative tastes of the house. Now all I could say was that nautical and blue threw up everywhere. Adelaide loved it, so that was all I cared about.

Ever since we came here, we've settled into some form of normal. A mundane life.

But it has been just what I always wanted.

I just got back from my evening run; the weather just started to turn bad as I walked into the doorway. Adelaide was sitting in the living room, a blanket wrapped around her as she watched the television.

She turned her head and smiled, "Just in time for Jeopardy, how was your run?"

I hung my wet coat up on the rack behind the door and pulled my shoes off.

"It was nice before it started raining," I replied.

I slumped down onto the couch beside her and wrapped my arm around her as she scooted closer to me.

Adelaide rested her head against my shoulder. "These people know nothing of history."

I glanced at the television, seeing Alex Trebek asking the contestants about some books from the 17th century. Interesting topic, though I knew hardly anything about that time. Adelaide would, she lived through all of it.

We watched Jeopardy till it was over. Adelaide then went into the kitchen for some reason. So, I started switching through the channels mindlessly; nothing interesting was on. Then I heard a drawer being opened, I hoped she wasn't trying to cook something again. She was amazing at everything she did, except cooking.

"Everything okay in there?" I called out jokingly. She didn't reply.

The sound of a car engine getting cut off sparked my attention; it sounded like it was in our driveway. I kept listening, I could hear the footsteps of people coming up the driveway.

The hell? We were not expecting any company tonight.

Adelaide sped back into the living room, brandishing a very large knife. She glanced at me, her expression frantic. I jumped up from the couch confused.

"What—"

"Do not answer that door," she ordered as she stepped in front of me, the knife shining from the light in the living room.

My fists clenched as they got closer. We both stood in silence as the porch creaked and the individuals came right to the front door. They were vampires; old ones at that. I could feel the air tense around us. Almost how I felt when I saw Claire and Adelaide for the first time. Which in fact, I'm sure it was her sister outside.

"Sister, you know a door will not stop me," I heard Claire drawl.

Speaking of the devil.

Adelaide hissed under her breath.

The front door flung wide open on its own, only to reveal Claire who did not look pleased.

A man was beside her, he eyed me with surprise then looked at Adelaide. They were drenched from head to toe, the pouring rain outside didn't seem to bother them one bit.

"So, this is what you have been doing these past few months," he said to Adelaide.

"Who the hell are you?" I remarked.

The man glared at me. "Her father."

Oh, joy.

He set his attention back to Adelaide. "You need to come with us."

"Like hell she is," I snarled, pulling Adelaide behind me. "Get off my porch."

Claire hissed, taking a step forward but her father grabbed her by the arm and restrained her. Claire glared at him, then ripped her arm from his grasp. "Sister there is nothing you can do to stop this. Besides, it's only temporary."

Adelaide sped in front of the doorway in a flash then spat, "It is wrong Claire!"

"It is a necessary sacrifice," Claire reasoned, "One we and our coven must make to protect us all."

"I will not do it," Adelaide snarled, "You can do it and have blood on your hand's sister. I know every single evil thing that goes through that sickening mind of yours."

"My daughter, we have already begun the transition," her father said solemnly.

I could hear Adelaide gasp in disbelief. She just let the knife drop to the floor in defeat.

What the hell is going on?

I looked to Adelaide who gazed at me with that same sadness that she had four months ago.

"Adelaide, what is it?" I coaxed.

But she didn't even reply, she just walked past me and went upstairs. I stared after her dumbfounded then turned to her fucked up family.

"What the fuck did you do to her!" I yelled.

"Stay out of this if you know what is good for you boy," Claire hissed. She turned to her father, "We need to go, Adelaide will come soon."

"Just fucking tell me what you did!" I shouted.

I picked the knife up then sped out the doorway and pinned Claire to the wall, the knife pointed right against her chest.

I saw her father in the corner of my eye lurch for me, but Claire pushed me off her roughly and then ripped the knife from me. She chucked it somewhere off into the yard.

Claire held up her hand to her father. "Do not mind him," then said to me, "I admire your valiant effort to protect my sister, but there is nothing you can do."

What was with this bitch?

"Claire, take the car and go on ahead, I will catch up with you shortly," their father interjected.

She scoffed, "Talking to him will do no good, he will not listen."

"Can you get the hell off my porch now?" I retorted.

Claire sent me a glare but then complied. We watched her sulk over to their car; it was a new black Mercedes.

How fucking fancy.

After she was finally gone, I crossed my arms and leaned against one of the porch's posts.

Their father put his hands into his pockets and stepped closer to me, "I should have introduced myself earlier, given the circumstances. I am Francis."

"Nice to meet you Francis, now cut the bullshit," I hissed.

What he said next broke me.

"They both are going to die. Tonight."

I stood in front of that door for what felt like a century. Adelaide had locked herself in our bedroom for the last hour since her father left. The door wouldn't budge, even when I tried ripping it off the hinges. She sealed herself in there with magic.

"Adelaide," I repeated as I have a hundred times to no avail, I rested my head against the door in defeat, "Please just let me talk to you."

Adelaide was doing something; I wasn't sure what. It almost sounded like she was writing something down. A drawer opened then closed and her footsteps came closer to the door. I stepped back, tensing as I saw the doorknob turn with a creak.

She slowly opened the door; her eyes were bloodshot from crying. She felt everything I was thinking at that moment. The confusion, the anger, and most of all, the overwhelming amount of sadness of losing the one thing that kept me wanting to live. I didn't wait for her to say anything, I walked right past her into the room, noticing she already had a duffle bag full of her belongings in it.

"Scott I—" she began then stopped herself, a sob escaping her. I felt a ball well up in my throat, my eyes watering once more.

"Did you know this whole time?" I asked, my voice cracking. Adelaide put her head down and continued to sob. I took a step closer to her, "Adelaide—"

"Listen," she began her eyes welling up with more tears. "My sister and I came up with a way to protect our family, I just didn't think it would involve something like this."

She stopped then glanced up towards the ceiling and took a deep breath as if to calm herself.

"Then don't fucking go through with it!" I yelled then grabbed both of her shoulders, "All of this is insane—"

"It is already too late, I can already feel her," Adelaide breathed. "I have to protect her, protect them all from this."

She went from being horrified to now wanting to do whatever her family forced her into?!

"Who are you talking about?" I choked. Gripping her more firmly I pleaded, "Adelaide you can't do this. Please don't do this."

Adelaide grabbed onto my arms and gently made me release her, "I realize now that I must do it, please understand why I have to go."

"Understand?!" I exclaimed, "Adelaide none of this shit makes any fucking sense!" I turned away from her.

Ever since I met her, for the first time I had felt happiness. She gave me the will to keep on fighting. Yet now I was about to lose her, did she understand what it would do to me?

I didn't care if it made me seem selfish, she was now ready to go off and die. She stopped me from killing myself all those months ago, only to now have our positions reversed. Now I was going to stop her. She appeared in front of me, her eyes pleading.

She gripped my arm and pulled me closer to her, "Scott please listen to me," she choked out, then put both of her hands against my face gently, "These last few months have been some of the best days of my life. And I am so sorry I dragged you into this hell of mine. I never wanted any of this to happen. I have lived for a very long time. I must keep my descendants safe. It is my wish to keep you safe." She began to cry again.

"Do you think I would still want to be here if you died?" I asked, dejected. Did she not realize how I felt about her after all this time?

"Forgive me," she whispered as she moved her face closer to mine.

The moment her lips pressed against mine I was sent into darkness.

When I woke up, I knew she was gone. The last meaningful thing in my life was plucked out as fast as it came. I have been told repeatedly that I couldn't do anything to stop Adelaide from sacrificing herself for reasons she couldn't say straight to my face. I got up from the floor, then remembered something.

That drawer.

I pulled it open, only to find a letter written by her in the hour she spent up here before she left. With it, came the words she never had the strength to tell me to my face.

The truth to everything.

I threw the letter back on the table and sped down the stairs, everything was the same. It was like Adelaide was never even here. I went to the other side of the room and pulled a drawer open that contained files and junk. But there was one thing, a photo that we took together not long after we got here. It was the only thing proving she was ever here.

I slammed the drawer shut and flew down the stairs without thinking. In the next second, I was flinging the door open and running. So fast that everything around me was a blur.

For hours I ran. I searched this entire wretched town, yet I couldn't find a trace of her.

It was just about sunrise when I went back to the house.

Feeling completely defeated, I sagged against the siding of the house till I contacted the floor of the porch. The damn thing still creaked like it wanted to break again. I felt a slight breeze go by me that snapped my attention back up from staring at the floor.

A man who looked familiar appeared before me, his dark blue eyes looking at me with sympathy.

"I am sorry for what you have endured; you are not alone in your grief," he said.

"I know you," I whispered in astonishment. A dim memory came flooding back, one where I was with Seana somewhere, "You're Orion."

"Yes, we briefly met many years ago in Paris," he murmured, "My niece was wreaking havoc as usual. You however did not seem to enjoy it as much as she."

"You never told me you were Seana's uncle," I remarked. "You appeared out of nowhere that night and lectured me on how to not expose what we are. You should've been telling her that."

"Due to unfortunate circumstances, my niece and I have no contact with one another. But given the fact that you are a part of my sire line, as is Seana, I keep tabs on her progeny," Orion said through narrowed eyes.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"To make sure that my wife and Adelaide's sacrifice will not be in vain, I believe she left you a letter did she not?" Orion clarified, "Before my wife's death, she warned me what Adelaide might do."

Why did I have the oddest feeling he was here to finish what his wife wanted to do all those months ago? So, I lied.

About half of it.

"She did," I said softly, "Telling me to take care of myself, to keep on living like she always wanted me to."

Orion sighed but made no move to do anything. Perhaps I was wrong but knowing these people they were very unpredictable.

"Then my son," Orion smiled, "Live well for her sake."

Just as the sun broke through the horizon, he was gone.

Seaside, California February 2005

11 Years Later

For the past decade, I remained in Seaside, keeping to myself. I did what Adelaide wanted me to do; I lived. I traveled to places I had never been from time to time and learned things that I never thought I would. Such as some new fighting styles, which was always fun.

What wasn't fun, however, was my snooping neighbors who started to realize I wasn't getting any older. All I did was compel them to not even say a word to a soul. Keeping the supernatural a secret was one of my main priorities. I would've moved, given the fact that I probably shouldn't stay in one place for too long.

I only stayed because of that forsaken letter. The reason was, that something was supposed to happen soon, but she couldn't tell me exactly what. How did she know all of this? Her sister Claire and her ability to see premonitions.

She told me I'd find a family again, with who I had no idea. My uncle has passed recently, his son having predeceased him. I was the last of my family to still be alive.

Lately, there has been a string of recent murders and people going missing. Having gone to the crime scenes, it was no ordinary murder. It was done by something supernatural. One night I found a mauled werewolf in the woods, their body completely in shreds.

I noticed that there was someone else's blood mixed in with the werewolf. A scent that was all too familiar to that of my maker.

Seana Kane, you finally show your face once more.