I grab my tennis shoes that are near the front door and slip my feet into them, Tobias waits while Josiah and Caroline walk towards the shed. Tobias moves closer and grabs my hand before kissing my fingertips.
I brush my thumb over his lip, and he relaxes slightly before keeping a strong grip on my hand and pulling me with him towards the shed. Caroline lifts the roller door, just as I get there, and we all make our way to the back of the shed, which has an office behind the glass door. I noticed it the few times I have been in here, yet never actually went in. I didn’t need the reminder that my mother isn’t here any longer. That, I’m already painfully aware of. But I must admit that after talking to Caroline, I’m a little curious to see if there is actually anything hidden amongst my mother’s things.
As soon as I step in, the first thing I can smell is the old table my Grandfather made for my mother. I love the smell of lacquered wood, always have. I run my hand along the top of it, the wood feels smooth and familiar under my hand. My family spent many Christmas’s around this table, and it holds a lot of memories. It was my mother’s favorite possession and now mine, knowing what it always meant to her. Tobias starts opening boxes and Caroline waits along with Josiah, obviously feeling awkward about going through my things.
“You can start opening boxes, I don’t mind. It will be faster if we are all looking” I tell them.
They look relieved, but I can tell they don’t want to overstep. I grab the first box I lay my hands on, pulling it off the shelf and placing it on the table. Caroline does the same, coming to stand next to me and we start rummaging through the boxes.
I continue opening boxes, until we find every document stored in the room, my birth certificate and even an old phone, and address book of my mothers. When we finish stacking the boxes and putting them away, we stand around the old table, flicking through the various documents. Like I thought, my birth certificate holds no answer, just my mother’s name.
Josiah is turning page after page of a small hardcover notebook. It has a floral design on the front. Josiah suddenly drops the book and gasps, it lands on the table facedown. I pick it up and a photo falls from between the pages.
“What?” I ask, grabbing the photo and looking down at it. I don’t see anything wrong with the photo at all, it is just a photo of my mother with me, and some man whom I don’t recognize. I must admit, the resemblance between him, and me is uncanny, with his blonde hair and blue eyes we even have the same nose and lips.
Josiah shakes his head, “Do you know this man?” He asks, pointing at the photo.
I shake my head and Tobias walks over, peering over my shoulder and looking at the photo. I hear him growl and I look over my shoulder at him. His eyes are narrowed and have turned to pitch-black orbs. Caroline walks over and takes the photo from my hand, wanting to see what they are so bothered by.
She drops the photo, her hands go to her mouth. “It can’t be him,” she whispers.
I’m completely baffled, obviously they recognize the man in the photo. But I have no recollection of this photo even being taken and I’m around ten-years-old in it. I know if I had seen this man before, I would have recognized him.
“Can’t be who? Who is he?” I ask.
They don’t answer, just stare, Josiah picks up the photo and puts it in his pocket. Tobias ushers me out of the shed, his father has my birth certificate, not that it is going to do any good with the lack of my father’s name. He also takes the floral notebook.
“Who is the man, Tobias?” I ask, annoyed no one is answering my question. Tobias moves closer, putting his arm over my shoulder before turning to his parents, ignoring my question.
His mother, Caroline, looks nervous, and Josiah pats Tobias on the back before walking towards their car. He grabs Caroline’s hand, and tugs her along with him. Tobias walks me up the front veranda and we climb the stairs. As soon as his parents are out of view, I turn to him.
“What the fuck is going on Tobias, who is he?”
Tobias growls at my tone of voice, but I’m sick of no one telling me what is going on. “He is a member of the council. He is also the same man that turned Theo and his parents.”
“But Caroline said she has never seen the crazy vampire doctor again.” I protest. Did she lie or is there more to this story then she told me?
“Look, that’s all you need to know right now, my mother didn’t lie, we haven’t seen him since. He left the council before we even knew about it. We only found out he is a council member upon visiting the council for the first time. His photo is hung in their gallery. He went missing the year he changed them. We thought he had been killed by hunter’s because no one, including the council, has seen him since. But that photo proves he is still alive.”
“If he is alive, why is he in a photo with me and my mother then? And why don’t I remember meeting him?” This is all becoming too much and so god damn confusing.
“I’m not sure who he is to you, but my parents will find out. Shit, they forgot to take your blood.” Tobias walks inside and goes to the wine rack, he presses down on the wooden top and it springs open, the lid opening up to reveal a hidden compartment.
He grabs something out, it is a bulky phone. He turns the screen on and dials a number. I stare, dumbfounded. I thought they didn’t have a way of contacting anyone out here. Clearly, I’m wrong.
Someone must have answered because Tobias starts talking. “You forgot to take a blood sample.” I can’t hear the other half of the conversation, but I know he is talking to his parents. “Okay, I will bring her over on Thursday.” He says and hangs up the phone.
“You have cell service out here?” I ask, annoyed.
“It’s a satellite phone, on Thursday you are coming to meet the council, so they can run some tests.”