Coming clean was making Paul tense. Honesty is usually regarded as a good thing, however he’d have to tell Aiden that Rhea was actually dead. He texted Thalia. Her response was, "Give me a day or two.”
As much as he wanted to get it over with, he was actually okay with putting it off. To distract himself, he went Christmas shopping. Paul also texted Melissa to come along.
They meet at the food court. As she was walking up to him, he couldn't help but stare. Most people would be pissed she lied about being a vampire but he couldn't be mad at her. How do you even have a conversation like that?
Melissa ran up to him and kissed him on the lips. He kissed her back. She punched him on the shoulder. "I can't believe it took you longer than a week to ask me out again.”
"Ow! I was gonna call you yesterday but I got roped into guys' night." He explained.
The pair started to casually walk toward the first store.
"That was weird, Noah being nice." Melissa said.
"Well maybe he is being nice for Delilah's sake. For their secret relationship. " Paul replied. That was a mistake. He knew as soon as the words left his mouth.
Melissa immediately stopped in her tracks "What did you mean for Delilah's sake? What do you mean by a secret relationship?
"I don't know. He wants her to like him is all. And being friends is a relationship.” Paul lied.
"Paul Lisbon, You're not telling me something, you tell me right now.”
He caved, "That Monday I played hooky. I went to the movies and Noah was with Delilah and I didn't see anyone else. I mean she said she was sick so she obviously wanted no one to know. Which is weird is all."
"What!" Melissa exclaimed.
Paul joked, "I know scandalous."
The two continued on the shopping trip. Melissa helped him pick up gifts for his mom. He helped her pick out a gift for Aiden. Afterwards they stopped to snack on some cinnamon rolls. Overall it was a successful shopping excursion and a fun date.
Days flew by with no messages from Thalia. Until Thursday came along. Paul got a text message from her, “Aiden is gonna ask to explore the tunnels by his house, go along with it.”
Another message popped up almost immediately. It was from Aiden, asking if he wanted to come explore creepy tunnels Rhea found. Dread settled in.
He got a text with a location on where to meet them. He played along as best he could. Eventually they got to a tunnel with a light at the end. The three went towards it. There was Thalia sitting on a giant rock. The beating in his chest so fast.
"Hey gang." She greeted the three teens.
"Thalia, I didn't know you were going to meet us down here." Aiden stated.
Rhea walked over to stand by his sister. Thalia continued, "There's no easy way to do this so here goes. Aiden, I need you to know you were right. Something is up with my little sister. "
A confused Aiden looked at Paul and then looked at Rhea. "What do you mean?"
Paul could see the water filling Thalia's eye. She continued. "She's dead."
Thalia plunged her hand into the Rhea doll and ripped out the heart. Dropping it on top of the pile of earth it became. Without comprehending what happened Aiden ran towards where Rhea stood, dropping to his knees beside it. He picked up her shirt. His brain finally processed what occurred and he jumped to his feet and took a few steps back.
"She died in that werewolf attack. The same one Quinn walked away from."
"What the fuck is wrong with you. What even is all this?” Aiden screamed. He noticed Paul's calm behavior and got angrier. "You knew?"
Paul stayed silent.
"You knew, she was dead and you knew, didn't you." Aiden asked again.
Before Paul could try to calm him down, Aiden punched him. The side of his face hurt so much. He didn't know Aiden could hit like that. Aiden tackled Paul down. However Paul pushed him to the ground.
As he got up Aiden yelled. "What is your glitch lady? You had no right to do that. She was my best friend."
"SHE WAS MY SISTER." Thalia screamed.
The three were silent. It felt like it went on forever. Paul was going to have to be the one to convince Aiden. "Listen. She had her reasons for that. I don't know if it was the right thing to do or fully understand it but it's done. Thalia is here to figure out who did this to Rhea and what's going on. You're gonna help us because Rhea deserves justice and she was our friend.
Aiden sat down on a rock and began asking questions. The three of them shared information. Paul came prepared for this moment. He felt it made him lame but he brought markers, paper, and a bunch of other craft stuff. It was about to get confusing. “I think we need to settle down and make a physical timeline.”
Aiden picked up a marker and started writing, "Zane showed up to Autumnvale because he was born there in 1879. In 1898 he got turned into a vampire. He turned his brother and took it upon himself to also turn their older sister Elizabeth. Only Elizabeth didn't make it. That is what caused the rift between brothers." Aiden got up and taped a couple of pieces of paper to the wall. “I don't really know now what happened in between then and now.”
Paul chimed in. “Jump to modern day Zane and Delilah met and fell for each other. Rhea is attacked at Quinn's party, Marcos goes missing, and the gala attack." He taped papers on the timeline.
"Why did Noah attack Rhea the first time?” asked Thalia.
"Oh he said he was bored and it would mess with Zane," explained Aiden.
"I'm guessing that's the same reason he killed Marcos and killed that person at the gala." Paul said.
"Yeah, he really is a dick." Aiden stated. He continued explaining. “Delilah found out at Zane's birthday party that he is a vampire. And my sister was attacked and turned." Aiden wrote it down and taped it up.
Thalia asked a question, "Wait, was that Noah too?"
Aiden started writing. "No, that one was a vampire from their past. He thought Melissa was Zane's new girlfriend. Don't worry, that vampire was dealt with."
It was Thalia's turn. "The next major event is the town fair. Father Tivy used magic to disarm supernaturals. Other vampires help kill 5 people. Noah tracked down the priest and killed him.”
Paul spoke up. "This is when we start following Mr. E. What's his deal? I know he is a hunter; why did he return to Autumnvale."
"Oh well turns out he was friends with Delilah's father. Who, fun fact, did not actually die from an animal attack on a camping trip. Apparently he was onto something and someone wanted to shut him up. After he died Mr. Everald came back to help." explained Aiden.
Paul laughed. Aiden and Thalia looked at him confused. "I don't know. I feel like we need to make a character list with motives and junk."
Thalia was not amused. "This isn't a story or a joke Paul."
Paul felt bad for laughing so he apologized. The group continued on. Thalia took a picture she was carrying and taped it to the wall. "Halloween. Quinn turns into a werewolf. Rhea doesn't make it. Three days later I came back to town."
Paul wrote that down and adhered it to the wall.
"The next couple of weeks I gather more intel, kidnap Paul, we spy on you guys.” Thalia added.
"Yeah Noah is super suspicious of you." Aiden told her.
"Yeah I know. He even convinced Beatriz to break into Rhea’s and Paul's rooms." she responded.
"You know about that?" Aiden asked. The other two shook their heads.
"Sorry, that was mostly my idea.”
Thalia walked up to the timeline. “Alright, we can fill in the tiny in-between bits later. It's late. Go home and start thinking of questions we need to answer."
They all left the cave. Paul was happy to head home but he wanted to work on the cave wall more. When he got home he printed out photos and more stuff to add. Now that he knew how to get there he could go back whenever he wanted. Paul was also relieved he didn't have to lie to Aiden. His next plan was to convince Thalia to tell all the others.
Going to school seemed so tedious. Math class was unimportant in the grand scheme of things. Cutting all the time wouldn't be helpful either. There were five more months till graduation getting held back for attendance would be stupid.
Paul was off of work this weekend. They all agreed to meet on Sunday in the caves to go through questions that all had. He went early to work on the cave wall. As he turned the corner he spotted Aiden staring at the wall.
"Hey guess we had the same idea." Paul said.
Aiden smiled. "Yeah I can get obsessive."
The two started adding details to the timeline. They were hoping that would show the bigger picture. A voice from behind them said. "Wow, that's a lot of work you guys did."
Thalia walked up to the wall and pointed at some of the photos, "Are those the vampires from Twilight?"
"Yeah if you read those are the guys who helped Father Tivy. Under it states their status as dead." Aiden explained.
"Okay that works. Now let's start on things we need to figure out. First, who killed Rhea?"
Paul added. "Was it random or calculated? Next question is, was turning Quinn into a werewolf planned or an accident."
"Well it seems to have something to do with the twins and something to do with Noah and Zane." Aiden suggested.
"Why do you think that?" she asked.
Aiden explained. "The vampires that came here seem to be targeting the brothers. A few of them are from their past. We found a photo of the twins at Tivy's place. The fair incident was not only an attempt to rid the town of supernaturals but an attempt to eliminate the twins."
"Why?" Paul questioned.
"That is a good question to add to the wall." Thalia recommended. She paced back and forth a little like she was thinking and then finally stopped. "I need to know more about Tyler and Beatriz."
Paul perked up. "Oh I know that the Benoit were the original magic family when Autumnvale was founded. After the Everald got kicked out of office the townspeople allowed them to stay but they had to bind their magic."
"Okay so more questions, why does Tyler have magic now? What about Beatriz? Why doesn't she?” Aiden asked.
"I might know a little. I studied a lot in school, if it is the same Benoit family. The lineage dates back to life at the beginning of civilization. The family was cursed to only have boys. Now the men have magic but nothing compared to the women." Thalia told the boys.
"So why is she here? Why does she exist?" Aiden said while he added the question to the wall.
"Well I think we need to chill until the new year. Just keep watching and doing research. Aiden, see if you can learn about the brothers' past more. If you say someone's out for them, you're probably right. Paul, see if you can learn about the twins' family." Thalia instructed.
She walked up to Aiden and handed him a little jar. She explained it was a way to communicate with everyone all at the same time from far away. All he had to do was hold it and his voice would pop into their heads.
Before Thalia could walk out Paul asked a question, "Why not bring in everyone else. Why is this still a secret?"
Thalia stopped walking and turned around. "I don't trust them yet. Especially Noah and Zane."
"Well yeah Noah I get but why not Zane or Delilah." Aiden asked.
She responded, "I know Zane seems well adjusted and like he is a swell guy, but he has more blood on his hands then his brother. Delilah, you can't trust someone in love like that. She'll do anything to protect them."
"Them?" Aiden questioned.
"It's pretty obvious." She replied.
The surprise on Aiden's face spoke volumes. Paul was relieved to not be a part of a love triangle. It did make him think of his own situation. There is no reason to get involved with a vampire. She'll live forever. What if she gets mad and eats him? The lovey dovey feeling he had when the pair were shopping was replaced with doubt.
All the secret meetings were put on hold because it was Christmas week. Apparently the people causing problems in town for whatever reason also took Christmas off. The town was peaceful.
Paul even participated in holiday activities like ice skating and going on the town Christmas light walk. That was his mom's favorite thing to do. You’d sign up in your area, people would visit to see your light displayed, and vote. It was a little lame but as long as it made his mom happy he would endure it.
The friends' Christmas Eve dinner came around and everything went well. There were a few weird moments but nothing too crazy. For Christmas day his mom and he went to visit his grandparents.
Paul was always excited to leave town. He loved visiting his father’s parents and it made him feel connected to his dad even though he never really got to know him. His grandparents lived in a small farm town two hours south of Autumnvale. They stayed there for the next two days.
It was still winter break so there was no school but Paul did pick up shifts at work. His savings account looked respectable for a high school student.
Life was going so well. It made him annoyed at the supernatural world for pushing its way into his world. Come new years the tavern was hosting a party. Paul went to celebrate with everyone. He was a little tense. Parties in Autumnvale tend to end terribly. Thankfully New Year's Eve went perfectly.