The Return to Willow Lake - 2

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me, Hallie?” Masato sounded pissed after I’d fessed up to him, “I knew something wasn’t right, but you kept insisting everything was okay!”

“Masato, please,” I begged, I couldn’t stand for him to be mad at me. I could tolerate Alica, Emmett, or even Zach being mad at me, but not him.

“I didn’t think it was a problem until I was sat there wanting to feed on every damn drop of blood in that room! I’ve never felt that before, that level of bloodlust. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I’m confused, and I’m terrified.”

Masato looked at me, his annoyance fading and turning into one of concern as he ran his hand through his hair. “What’s going on, baby?”

“I don’t know, and I wish I did. Zach thinks it’s all the stress of everything piling up and using so much magic.”

“Have you spoken to Alicia or Emmett?”

I shook my head, “Not yet, I will, though, tonight. I fucking fed on my brother Masato, the guilt is still killing me.”

The incident had been a few hours ago, and until Masato had returned from work, I’d been laid in bed, crying. I was exhausted and confused; I’d bitten and fed on my twin without even the smallest hesitation.

Masato stepped forward, wrapping his arms tight around me, “It’ll be okay.”

“How? I don’t want to become like the ones who killed Eric and Mr. Walton.”

That was what scared me the most, falling victim to the beast that I harbored inside me. The very same creature that laid in the Vampires who opted to turn off their humanity, or simply had none.

“That won’t happen, baby, we won’t let it.”

“You can’t say it won’t happen, Masato!” I pulled away from him, sitting down on our bed and placing my face in my hands. “What if my Witch half is losing out to the Vampire half of me? Think of how long I’ve gone, keeping that half of me buried, trying to deny the fact it’s inside me and just keeping it away. What if the chains I’ve tamed it under are breaking? What if I lose control completely?”

“Hallie, baby, listen to me.” Masato kneeled in front of me and brought his hand to my chin, cupping it softly.

“You’re a Davenport and Davenports sure as shit never let anything win. There’s a reason Davenports have been the ones to lead for as long as we’ve existed. It’s not just because your powers are stronger. And you, Hallie?”

He paused for a moment, his eyes honest and sincere as he brushed a loose piece of hair from my face.

“You’re not only strong in terms of your capabilities. Mentally and emotionally, you’re the toughest person I know; it’s one of the reasons I fell in love with you. You have Zach, Alicia, Emmett and me, right here with you. When you’re not feeling your best, we’ll be your power. Finish your exams; you can use Zach and me to feed so you don’t end up in that situation again. Then, I’ll take you to prom, and we’ll escape for a few days. Just you and me, somewhere quiet to unwind.”

“I don’t want to feed on you or Zach.”

“You won’t be, we can bag it up, or stick it in a cup. But we’ll figure this out, okay?”

I looked at his eyes, innocent, full and honest, all the love in the world behind his dark brown orbs. “I love you.”

“And I love you, no matter what happens, I’m right here with you.”

“Have you spoken to your Dad today?”

Masato sighed and nodded, “Yeah, he’s uh, he made a decision. He’s ready to go, he said he’s in pain every day, and he’s getting weaker by the day.”

My heart broke as I watched Masato’s face soften and sadden, his head falling as it hung like someone had placed a tremendous weight upon it.

“What did he say?”

“He wants me to fly out there, and he wants to will me the last of his powers.”

My hands clapped over my mouth as I took a sharp breath. “No, no, Thomas can’t do that.”

“I told him that, but he’s insistent. Hell, he was going to will them to me without me even knowing! It took me one hell of an argument to even get him to agree to let me see him one last time. Although I don’t know if I should leave now with what you’ve just told me.”

“No, you need to go, Masato, please. That’s your father, and your Mom is going to need you. Maybe you should see if your Mom will come back with you? She can come live with us.”

Masato shook his head slowly, “No, she already said she’s planning on going back to her family in Japan. She’ll come to visit us every summer, but she thinks that would be for the best. And honestly, it might sound horrible, but I don’t want her coming here. Not with all these attacks and everything else going on. She can’t protect herself the way we can.

I sighed heavily, knowing he was right. We could protect her by all means, but Mei was just a simple human. Despite her abilities to use the earth, herbs, and natural energies to cast minor spells, she’d stand no chance against the supernatural.

I also knew she deeply missed her home in Japan; she had siblings over there and her mother. Her pagan covern was still there too. “Are you okay about that? I mean-”

“Yeah, it’s what will be best for her. Her decision I came to terms with instantly, Dads, though? Not so much. The second he wills me his powers-”

“He’ll die.” I nodded, finishing off his sentence.

That was one thing we were able to do, to end our life before it came to a natural end. A parent, could will their powers to their child, but it would kill the parent instantly.

What it meant for the child was effectively a battery recharge. Whatever power Thomas had left, would transfer to Masato. He’d be a little stronger, and it would replenish Masato with whatever life Thomas had remaining. At my best guess, it wouldn’t be much, though, a few months, maybe a year.

“I guess I hate the thought of him opting to go before it’s natural. Almost like he’s opting to commit suicide because that’s basically what it is.”

I shuffled forward on the bed a little to wrap my arms around him, “It’ll be okay, when are you going?”

“Tomorrow morning. I’ll be gone a week, so I can help Mom pack things up for her to move back to Japan. I’ll be back the day before prom. Are you sure you’re going to be okay, though, baby?”

“I’ll be fine. I only wish I could come to say goodbye to Thomas with you.”

Masato chuckled, “No, he was adamant about you not coming. He doesn’t want you to remember him the way he is now. He doesn’t want his special Daisy flower to have to watch him die. His words.”

The words caused me to smile a little, although it was fleeting, “What are we going to do, Masato? All these attacks, my bloodlust, your Dad, it’s all just a mess.”

“I don’t know, baby, but we’ll figure it out, I promise. I’ll make sure I store up some blood for you before I go, so it’s not all falling on Zach. He needs his strength too.”

I pulled away, just enough to allow me to press my lips against his. “It’ll be okay.”

“Yeah.” He nodded, giving me a small smile, although I could see the doubt in his eyes, Masato was as uncertain as I was.

I wanted to believe everything was going to be okay. I longed to think that everything would work out and settle down. I wished to be able to feel that we’d all get through whatever was going on.

However, I couldn’t deny the feeling I felt in the pit of my stomach, that we’d not even seen the worst of it. Something horrible was about to happen that none of us could prepare for. A war was about to break loose, and it would be one that would change everything. Forever.