Research and spying filled the next week. Paul was getting sick of it. They weren't getting anywhere. A new plan of action was needed. It was time to go have a talk with his mother. She was in the front room watching some reality TV show. His palms were soaking in sweat. "Hey mom, we need to talk.”
She paused her show, “Yeah honey, what's up?"
She got up from the couch and the two sat at the dining room table. He had no idea where to start. "I know about the town. I know about the animal attacks being fake. I know about the weird vitamins. I know about vampires.”
"Wow okay. I'm a little relieved it was expecting something way different." his mom responded.
"Wait, what were you expecting? Never mind that. So you're not denying it or going to tell me I'm crazy?"
"More relieved Paul. You can better protect yourself if you know what's going on. Ever since Mr. Cruz died the town has been crawling with the supernatural world. We try to protect everyone, but I think we're failing.” Grace said. Paul noticed a sadness in her eyes. "So what do you know?"
“Vampires and witches are real. And are the cause of all the bad stuff here, even the E. Coli thing was not really that.”
There was a defeated look in his mother's eyes. She continued, "Yeah, we still haven't figured out what really happened. The people I treated did not die because of E.Coli, They were poisoned.”
Paul realized the adults in charge had no idea what was really happening. His mom had a question of her own, "How did you find out?"
Paul didn't even hesitate. "The Fireside Tavern. Mr. E and Noah are in that historical society and they drink there. I try not to eavesdrop, but I overhear them alot."
"That is why I suggested you look into colleges away from here. But that stuff is all over to be honest. I'm glad you were honest with me. I love you kiddo." Grace said.
The conversation ended. She hugged him and sent him on his way. Paul was a little freaked out at how easily that lie came. Maybe being a good liar would come in handy. It was surprising how much The Historical Society didn't know.
Paul had the bright idea to dig deeper into the town histories. It might be helpful to track the founding families of Autumnvale. He called Aiden and told him the idea. Aiden volunteered to go talk to his mother to see if she could steer them in the right direction.
Aiden's mother agreed to loan them some older journals she had access to. She was just happy Aiden was interested in history. They picked up the books and went off to the library. Hours flew by as they went through the books. When it was time to leave the sun was going down. In the car, Aiden got a text message from Thalia. “It read emergency at Delilah's.”
The pair raced to the car. Paul's foot hit the pedal. He was going way too fast. There was smoke rising into the sky. The realization of what was happening sunk in. As he approached, the flames were so high. Sirens grew louder as rescue services got closer.
There was someone screaming and crying. It was hard to make it out at first but it was Delilah. He ran up to see her on the floor. Zane was on the ground beside her trying to comfort her. Paul dropped to the other side of her and she clung on to him.
"She's in there Paul. She's gone. I just can't, just...I lost her too." Delilah cried.
Paul and Zane just looked at each other, frozen, without any idea what to say. The fireman pulled up. "I'll go talk to them. Watch her." Zane said as he walked.
Aiden knelt down to grab her hand. He had no clue what to say either. Water sprayed everywhere. It was getting tough to breathe because of the smoke in the air. He overheard one of the firefighters mention she had no chance the house went up instantly. Noah came running up with Mr. Everald.
"What's happening?" Noah questioned.
Aiden got up and pulled them aside and explained. Noah's face had anger written all over it. He went up to Zane and shoved him while shouting. Paul couldn't help but to think how selfish that was. Delilah was here literally crying on the floor and Noah was picking fights.
Mr. Everald helped her up and brought her to the ambulance so the medic could check her out. Everyone was shooed away by the teacher to give her some air and space.
A crowd had formed quickly by neighbors who were curious about what was going on. Soon the news van pulled up to capitalize on the latest Autumnvale tragedy. An hour would go by and the crowd dispersed. Mr. Everald was fighting with the sheriff when Paul's mom drove up. She ran up to Paul and hugged him. He explained what happened. She looked over and asked, "What are they fighting about?"
His mom raced over and Paul followed. "Settle down. What's with the fighting?" Grace asked.
Mr. Everald explained. "She wants to take Delilah to a group foster home because she is seventeen."
The sheriff seemed frustrated. "My hands are tied Fergus. She is still a minor. I can't just release her to her history teacher with no blood relations."
"She's not going with strangers," he replied.
The two started raising their voices at each other. Paul's mother interjected. "Stop it! Both of you. She can come home with me. I'm still registered as a foster parent. She can come with me and it would still be by the book."
This was a surprise to Paul. He didn't know his mom wanted to foster. They were walking away to go get Delilah when he asked her about it, "You're a foster parent?"
"Oh yeah. When you were little your father and I were thinking of adopting. So we signed up for it." she explained. He was so impressed with his mother. She always wanted to take care of everyone.
Paul's mother drove Delilah to their house. Paul followed in his car. When he arrived he waited out front for a little. His mind went blank thinking of what to say. Exiting his car he noticed a familiar face parked across the street. It was Zane. He walked up to him. Zane explained. "I'm just gonna wait out here for a little bit to make sure she doesn't need anything."
Paul was impressed by Zane. "If you need anything, call me dude."
As he walked in the house he found Delilah on the couch. "Your mom insisted on making up the spare bedroom." she said plainly.
He sat next to her. Delilah put her head on his shoulder. He could feel his hoodie getting moist. No words came out. His throat just got dry. They stayed like that until the room was ready and she went off to bed.
Paul walked up to his mother to ask a favor. "Hey Zane is outside waiting in case she needs anything. Can he crash on the couch?"
Paul's mom was hesitant. Before he knew it he was lying again. "His brother Noah is in your keep the city safe from the vampires group. So you know he's on the up and up."
She agreed. Paul went outside to Zane's car. “Hey man, my mom said it would be cool if you wanted to crash on the couch." Paul told him.
Zane declined the offer at first stammering around the reason he shouldn't. Paul interrupted him."I know what's going on man. I can invite you in. Just don't make me regret it.”
The vampire exited his car and followed him up to the door. As Paul turned around Zane stopped him. "We're gonna have to have a talk later on but are you sure you wanna do this?"
Paul paused for a few seconds. Did he really want to invite a vampire into his house?
"Yeah. Come on in." Paul said, confident he wouldn't regret it.
When he awoke, the only things Paul could feel was sadness and pity. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like for his friend. He couldn't imagine losing two people he loved in less than a year. And he couldn't imagine this being an accident. With everything going on Paul would bet his money on this being deliberate.
The next couple days were just depressing. Paul's mom let him stay home for a couple days to process but on Wednesday he was back at school. Delilah on the other hand stayed in that room for longer. Paul's mom took off work just in case Delilah needed anything. Zane stayed on the couch. Everything in that house seemed to pause. Each of the three would spend time checking in on her and bringing her food even though she wouldn't eat. It was impossible not to be worried.
It was Friday when someone from the fire department dropped off a box full of stuff they salvaged. There were some photos and some jewelry. In the box was a letter. Paul didn't know much about it but he was told it was a letter her aunt Sophia was saving for when Delilah turned eighteen. After that Delilah would come out and rejoin the world.
That Saturday was a memorial service for Sophia. Melissa took up the duty of planning it so Delilah wouldn't have to worry. The body was too badly burned to justify putting it in a casket so it was cremated. Paul was expecting Noah to make a joke in bad taste; something to do with how she was already mostly there might as well finish the job. Thankfully he knew better.
Paul decided to walk outside and get some air. He sat down on the bench and just breathed. On the bench he was joined by Zane
"Time for the talk?" Paul asked.
"Time for the talk." Zane confirmed.
"I've known for like five weeks now. Aiden also knows I know." Paul explained.
Zane seemed a little annoyed. "That long? Why didn't you say anything sooner.? Also, who told you?"
"Thalia, Rhea's sister. She kidnapped me one day and asked me to keep her informed." Paul admitted. He got up and looked down. "I agreed because her main goal is to find out who killed Rhea."
"Killed her sister?" A very confused Zane questioned.
"Ah yeah. Thalia is a necromancer. And she made the Rhea you're seeing now. She called it a golem. It has Rhea's heart in it. Rhea is dead. The thing you're seeing is magic.“
"Seriously? What else do you know?" Zane continued in his line of questioning.
"The E. Coli incident was really Father Tivy who was trying to get rid of supernaturals or anyone with the potential to be, hence Quinn's dad. That also had something to do with the twins. Oh your brother killed the priest. Quinn is a werewolf. Did I miss anything?" Paul said.
Zane stood up from the bench and laughed a little, "Noah tortured the priest too. But yeah that's most of it. I think that about wraps it up."
Paul had a question of his own. “Why is Sophia dead Zane?"
His face got serious, "Vampire. We had thought we killed all the ones from the town fair but we missed one. He's a guy from our past. He realized the fastest way to hurt me and the fastest way to hurt Noah, kill Delilah. Sophia was just an accident. She wasn't supposed to be home."
For some reason that was worse. Paul now understood why Delilah was taking it so hard. Grief can weigh you down. Grief and guilt, that can pull you under. Paul couldn't help but blame Zane. If he just stayed away from her she wouldn't be in this mess. However, that wasn't completely fair to him. Autumnvale apparently is a monster magnet.
"Okay last question for now, why all this secret and lying. Why not come together?" Zane asked him.
"I know that's what I want. It took me a bit to convince her to tell Aiden. According to her, your brother is a killer and a douche. She doesn't trust him because of the blood on his hands. That's the reason she doesn't trust you." Paul concluded.
"She is not wrong. Not just about Noah he is a killer and a jerk. But I haven't always had the control I have. There's innocent blood on my hands. Even Sophia's blood is on my hands. Now imma do what I need to stop this so I can have the quiet existence I need. No more people we care about get hurt. Our first task is to get our groups together." Zane said.
Before Paul could respond a voice came yelling from the house it was Noah, "Hey lovebirds, it's time to clean up."
Paul laughed at this. It definitely broke the tension and seriousness of the conversation. Zane must have felt the same way because he laughed too.
"He really is dick!" Paul said to Zane.
The two went back inside. Melissa and Quinn were stacking chairs. Paul decided to go help. Noah was drinking in a chair doing nothing, especially not helping. Mr. Everald came up to the group. “When is Delilah's birthday?”
“March 14th” Paul and Melissa replied at the same time.
“Do you think your mom would foster her till then?” He asked.
Paul responded, “Oh yeah. Without question.”
Noah overheard this from his chair and chimed in. “No need, I have a plan.”
Quinn laughed. “Yes because your plans have gone stellar in the past.”
“We go down to wherever we need to fill out paperwork to get legally declared as an adult. And if we can't. I have a special chat with them.” Noah suggested.
Paul knew exactly what he meant. Compelling did seem like one of the cooler parts of being a vampire. Then he had the thought of how many of them use it to eat and kill people. He wondered how many people have died at the hands of Noah and Zane.
After he left Quinn's house instead of going home he went back to the cave. He stared at the wall, hoping to have a eureka moment. There was no such luck. He thought about his current situation. He was just a normal high school student thrown into a world with people and things faster and stronger than him. How did the universe expect him to keep up with it all? He laughed. Noah's nickname for him made more sense now than ever.