The Return to Willow Lake - 2

“Hmm, that is very interesting.” Thomas hummed as his head nodded slowly while he tapped a long finger to his wrinkled chin. “Perhaps my father had been right.”

“How so?” I looked at Thomas questioningly.

“Well, while you had been in exile, he always said how he wondered if you two shared some for of supernatural bond. He said he imagined an invisible rope between the two of you, which meant while one lived, so did the other. If one died, then so did the other. And seeing you now, and hearing how Zach died when you had and came back as you had, I think it’s highly possible. Only Zach came back as he was before because he lacked having Vampire blood in his system upon death.”

“It does make sense.” Masato agreed.

“In my coven, twins were always believed to have a bond beyond any other. Of course, we’re not supernatural beings like yourself; however, the theory does exist.” Mei nodded.

“So, what you’re saying is, if I die, Hallie dies too?”

“It’s possible, although now she’s a Hybrid, there’s no telling how the Vampire half of her would play into it. There would be no telling if she were to be staked if you would die too. Or if you died, she would too. It’s all very unknown with you two. You break every known thing about our history and coven. So, anything is possible.” Thomas’s shoulders shrugged before he sipped the tea from his shaking hand. “But, I would imagine yes, the bond is still there, so it’s highly likely.”

“Yeah, well, let’s not find out, please. So, if you two could keep yourselves alive, that would be great.” Masato chuckled, although I could tell he was trying to hide the small flash of fear in his eyes.

Before, he knew I was that much harder to kill, being a hybrid. However, now, if Zach, who was still technically human, died, there was a chance I’d die too. And Zach was far easier to kill than I was if an enemy learned of our bond, it put us both at substantial risk.

“So, what’s Willow Lake like now?” Thomas asked after a moment of silence.

“A world away from what it once was.” I sighed deeply as my shoulders drooped, “It’s a concrete jungle now, Tommy. And they hold some of our old things they’d found when digging the damaged ground up. Nothing significant, thankfully, but equally, it angers me. Those are our books, our trinkets, and they’re holding them as if they belong to them. However, we can’t exactly go and claim them.”

It still bothered me the Lester brothers kept our things locked up, and there was no way to retrieve what was rightfully ours. I’d tried to think of ways to retrieve them, but beyond risking revealing ourselves, or breaking the law, I came up with nothing.

“No, sadly not. I guess as long as you hold all the essential things, that’s what matters. How are Emmett and Alicia? They didn’t come with you?” Thomas raised his eyes to me with a questioning look.

“They’re good, same old Emmett and Alicia. Emmett couldn’t get the week off from work, plus they’re investigating. Something’s going on, but we have no idea what.”

“Care to share?” Mei asked, brimmed with curiosity as she poured some more tea into our cups.

I took a breath and began telling them everything that had happened in Willow Lake. Mr. Walton, Eric, and his friends and the conversation we’d overheard.

Thomas snorted, “Please don’t take this personally, Hallie, nor aimed towards Emmett and Alicia. Vampires, for the most part, are careless creatures. Most do not care; they simply care they feed, and there have been fights between clans for many millennia. Two groups I’d encountered were at war with each other over property, and who had control of what territory. So if there’s three clans and a two Wolf packs nearby, it very well maybe just a struggle between themselves.”

I nodded, “Yeah Emmett and Alicia said the same thing. However, they felt it’s best to see if we could find anything out. After Mr. Walton and Eric...we didn’t want to run the risk in case there was something more.”

“No, no, of course not.” Thomas shook his head while waving a hand, “I think they’re quite right to want to make sure whatever is happening isn’t anything to do with yourselves or the town.”

“Yeah, well, let’s just keep our fingers crossed; it’s not.” Zach sighed. “On another note, it’s been really good to see you again, Thomas.”

“And you, Zachariah. I am so glad you survived too. Sadly, I think you three are all that is left. I’m almost certain the Williams family nor the Edwards survived. The Williams boy was much too young, only a toddler, and I know his mother did not survive. Even if he had, a wee toddler never would have survived out on his own.”

“Yeah, and sadly, I know the Edwards didn’t survive.” Zach’s eyes cast down as he held the cup tightly in his hands. “Dad tried to save Jacob to allow him to escape, but he barely made it a few feet before one took him.”

The memories of that day haunted him as much as they had me, if not more. I never said anything, but I knew he had nightmares sometimes.

I’d wake at night feeling something was wrong, and I’d hear Zach whimpering, tossing, and turning. Sometimes he’d cry out for our parents, sometimes for Sam and it broke my heart every time. He’d seen far more than I had that day, and even I was disturbed by it at times.

“And I watched as Sam...got torn apart by that Wolf. There was a small group of them there too, waiting on the outskirts.”

“Do not blame yourself, boy.” Thomas reached over and placed his hand on Zach’s, giving him a sign of comfort, “Your family did everything they could. I am only sorry for what happened to your parents, and that I was too young at the time to help.”

Zach lifted his head, shaking it softly from side to side, “No, I’m glad you got out and safe. I guess after as many centuries as our coven had existed, we’d eventually have to die out somehow. These days, it’s so much harder to be who we are. The modern world is far busier, nosier, and too populated for us to survive without massive risks to ourselves.”

“Yes, I think you’re quite right. That is why not many Pagan covens exist now.” Mei agreed quietly. “They do, but they’re kept extremely small and very quiet. It’s difficult for any supernatural being to exist and go undiscovered. The humans haven’t got their crazy idea’s about Wolves, Vampire’s, and Witches out of thin air.”

“That much is obvious.” I scoffed as my mind instantly turned to a certain woman back in Willow Lake. “Our new history teacher gave me a book to read. She’s very much into the mythology side of history too and well, while there are some very wild theories, a lot hold truth. There are some clear accounts from humans who’ve witnessed these things.”

“While once we ruled the earth, now the humans do, and I cannot argue with that.” Thomas acknowledged, “We supernatural had our time; it’s time to allow humans to live on without the fear of the supernatural being real in time.”

We all hummed our agreement and remained silent before Masato stood up and smiled. “Right, who’s hungry? I’ll cook us up some lunch.”