November, 2018

"Anjea?" I repeated.

She nodded with such enthusiasm, like it was something she was most proud of. Like it was something that was self-explanatory.

"I'm afraid I'm not... well-versed enough on all of my mythical creatures," I said when she didn't rush to explain.

But Marli merely rolled her eyes. "Mythical," she scoffed. "Yeah, sure. Anyway, Anjea are what are often referred to in modern literature as 'fertility spirits'. But we're really more than that. We locate spirit or soul—however you want to look at it—of the deceased, reform them within our being, and eventually place them in the wombs of pregnant people we pass by so that the person can reincarnate."

"You... find souls?" My heart winced as I immediately began to wonder if someone picked up Ben's.

She nodded, a warm soft smile colouring her face as she evidently saw who I was thinking about.

"Does... every living being have a soul?" It felt as though I was pleading at this point. But I had to know.

"Of course. Why?" Her eyes narrowed, suspicion clouding her gaze.

But instead of answering her question, I asked another. "Even vampires?"

The joy slowly slipped off her face, pain beginning to mar her expression.

And any hope that was brewing in me that there'd still be a life after death for him quickly evaporated from my body.

"Why do you ask, Ol?" she hesitantly replied. "Did you meet one?"

My teeth gnawed at my bottom lip as I wondered how was best to reply.

"They can't come back from the dead," she quickly added. "They can't hurt you if they're gone, okay? You don't need to—"

"He'd never hurt me," I quickly interrupted her, anger starting to fill every fibre of my being at the fact she'd even suggested it... as though she could know who we were talking about in riddles.

"Who—"

"Just because the books said vampires were hunting my kind doesn't mean they're all monsters," I added before she could go on.

"Hey," she replied, hand extending between us, "I never said they were monsters... but you can't say they aren't danger—"

"They aren't."

"Olivia... you read the exact same books I—"

"Ben wasn't dangerous."

The final puzzle slipped into her place on her face as her eyes turned solemn. "Ben was a mutation?"

I nodded. "And Erica and Jayce were witches. And Ivan, Loren, and Drake were vampires..."

"And Lukas?"

My lips pursed together.

"I know you and your bestie had a fall out, but—"

"Vampire and witch," I said, because that conversation was easier than going back to our complicated history.

"I see..." was all she said.

As her eyes turned to the floor, and the screech of birds began to grow deafening, eventually I mumbled, "They were my friends. They'd never hurt me." Though the lie tasted bitter in my mouth. Because what did Lukas wipe from my memories? What truths would I never know?

"I'm sure," she whispered... but then her head snapped up suddenly, alarm filling her eyes.

"What's—"

Though before I could question, she asked, "Wait, Ben was a vampire?"

I nodded before cocking my head to the side, wondering why this suddenly was—

"But you met him before you transformed."

"I did." The crease between my brows was starting to become overly painful as I tried to figure out where this conversation was heading.

Was there something about him being a vampire that was important to my original question?

And was she ever going to tell me if they had souls?

"How could he touch you? You wouldn't have been able to control the zaps until—" she finally asked.

Relief flooded me as I realised this was what had her perplexed. But the echoes of pain were quick to follow as the memories roared in of our first touch, of the undeniable connection, flooding through me as I remembered our hearts tying together in that library so long ago... "We were bonded," I whispered ever so quietly.

She faltered, processing the new news slowly. "Straight away, though? Like... surely you wondered why he flinched whenever you touched—"

"The first time we touched, the bond formed... But he kind of... avoided touching me before that."

Her brows furrowed as her arms crossed over her chest, but before I could ask her what had her so puzzled, she said, "Well, that explains it then."

"What?" I laughed with no humour. "My inability to move on?"

She shook her head. "The reason why I kept sensing a spirit hovering over you."

At once, heat slammed my body as my eyes began to sting and the anticipation grew in the seconds she wasn't talking. Surely this is a dream. Surely...

But as my inner battle raged on, Marli continued to speak, oblivious to my growing hope. "I was convinced that maybe it was your dad. I mean, I always sensed him around your mum, but I wondered if he had attached his spirit to you now that you were back as a way of him watching over you? Family spirits tend to linger when they're still worried for their loved ones. Not once did I think it would be Ben though because it takes a really strong relationship to keep a spirit attached to you. I mean, don't get me wrong, I knew you and Ben loved each other and all, but for a spirit cling on to the point they'd cross water just to see if you're okay, well—"

"Cling on?" my voice finally broke, the tears I had been trying to hold back making their gentle escape from my eyes. "Ben is still here?"

Marli's gaze widened before shame swamped her expression, focus shifting away from me. "Um, maybe... I could be completely wrong though, so..."

"But he could be?"

"Perhaps? Or it could be your dad. Or even just a random spirit."

"So vampires do have souls?"

Her brows raised slightly before a warmth washed over her. Nodding, she extended a hand and gently touched my arm. "Of course, Ol. Creatures of the night are still living beings."

"Of the night?" I cocked my head to the side. "They can go out at any time of day."

A grin stole her face as she replied, "I forgot they were day walkers in Europe. Here they can only come out at night."

At once, my heart began to race again, eyes widening as I hesitantly asked, "They're here? In Australia?"

But as her mouth opened to explain, a squeal from the entrance to the cove interrupted her speech.

Both of our heads snapping in the sound's direction, we watched a curly haired kid race ahead of its tired, but joyful, parents as they bounded down to the creek area.

"We can't talk about this here," she breathed, starting to gather her clothes.

In complete understanding, I continued my original mission from when I got out of the water—applying sunscreen—and then slapped on my clothes, shoes, and hat. We finished with shoving the rest of our things into our backpacks before we snuck away to the hiking trail, away from the listening ears.

"So?" I pressed once we were far enough away, now just us two surrounded by scrub and wildlife.

But Marli casted a wary glance around her before even opening her mouth to speak. "Vampires live south in the colder places. From like Sydney down, if there's basements, they are there. They can come out in winter when UV rays aren't too harsh down there... otherwise night is the only safe time for them in this country."

"And here?"

She shook her head. "You know they can't come up here."

My lips pressed together as my gaze studied her. A few steps ahead, Marli almost seemed like she was on a mission. The crunch under our feet her only noise for a long time, she marched on along the trail as we wound our way up the hill.

Only once we had reached the next almost-dried-up creek bed did she come to a halt.

Feet just shy of the water's edge, she stared down at the flowing stream before whispering, "We've all been scared of the day that the climate changes so much, the UV rays dip just low enough that the vampires come up to find us. All they'd need is a big enough army and a week of mild temperatures to wipe us out... There's not nearly enough turned Terra Fairies."

"What do you mean by 'us'?" was the first question I asked of the many I already had swirling in my head.

"I mean... the Terra Fairies aren't the only ones who had to run from Europe and fake extinction."

"Let me guess... Anjea are another species Rüdiger wanted to wipe out?"

Ever so slowly, she turned to face me, a grim gleam to her gaze. "You know about Rüdiger?" she whispered in disbelief.

Shrugging, I replied, "I was surrounded by mutants in Europe. You don't think I wouldn't have heard about the evil guy trying to take over the world? Let alone the person who invented the blood pills that made my boyfriend not have to kill people to eat?"

Eyes widening slightly, her expression softened before she nodded in understanding. But that hesitancy lingered, like she was holding back from telling me something.

"Why did Rüdiger want to take out Anjea?" I asked. "I get that us Terra Fairies can kill vampires, but—"

"Anjea are an offshoot of spirit guides... we have more powers than most. And, more importantly, we can pick who we want to move on."

"And others can't?"

She shook her head. "Other spirit guides generally don't have a choice. The spirits just channel through them, beg to talk to their loved ones to create peace, and just move on without even requesting it from the guide."

The corner of my mouth almost turned up as I quipped, "So all the people claiming to be psychics, channelers, and shamans aren't joking?"

"Of course many aren't serious. Hoaxes are big businesses in the world. But some are real. Some really do talk to the dead, whether that be through physical contact with the person still in the living realm, with the help of crystals, or even a ouija board. But they don't get a say which spirits use them. They just absorb any lingering souls around them until they are ready to move on. There's no negotiation with the spirit. No decision made by either party..."

"But with Anjea there is?"

She nodded before stepping into the warm water and crossing the stream to the other side. Delayed in my start, I hurried after her, the water splashing all directions as I tried to catch up, eager to hear the rest of her story.

"Anjea were also formed in the dark period when vampires were slowly outnumbering humans. So many spirits needed to move on thanks to all the lives vampires were taking. But there were simply not enough people being born anymore. Meaning we were losing human souls or placing the humanity into the vampires being born... And once a soul becomes vampire, the bloodlust can never quite be washed out. So a new form of spirit guide was made—one who stored spirits for longer, evaluated whether they deserved to move on."

"So... you play god?"

Marli came to a stop, gaze fixated ahead as she answered me. "Anjea... didn't really decide for the humans. They generally let them all go on to another life."

With Rüdiger's quest for mutant dominance consuming my train of thought, I then guessed, "They targeted the vampire souls then?"

She gave a solemn nod. "All mutants, really, but specifically vampires. There wasn't a balance between mutants and humans anymore. They stopped vampires from being able to breed..."

"And with Rüdiger's desire to rid the world of humans and only have mutants—" I started.

"Anjea were just another creature in the way of his goal, yes."

"I thought Anjea would be a native creature to Australia though?"

Finally turning to face me, the corners of her lips were turned up. "Of course we were. Anjea have been here since the Dreamtime. But we sense where there is imbalance in the world as well as our own land. All of us creatures exist to create balance between the living and nonliving things on this planet, to ensure life is sustained for as long as possible. We felt the calls in Europe and sent the magic through the Earth's core so that our kind could blossom over there."

"So are there European Anjea in the world then?"

Marli faced forward again, though was still rigid in posture, a shadow of past trauma and destruction clouding her gaze. "The reason the Terra Fairies were so scared of staying in Europe was because Rüdiger successfully wiped out Anjea over there. We teamed up with your kind to stop him... but because the Anjea knew there were more of us safe in Australia, we intentionally got in the way of his army's attacks on your kind while you made your escape."

"But I thought the history states mermaids—"

"Mermaids helped the fairies navigate their way here... but the mermaids only knew of Australia because we told them."

"Why was that not recorded in the books then?"

Smirking at me, she said, "Because the Terra Fairies protect all living beings. Why would they chronicle a creature going extinct and also in hiding? They figured, just in case vampires got their hands on the books, it was best they never knew we survived."

"Oh... So why are you telling me now?"

"Because, firstly, you're my friend and I trust you. But also, you wouldn't tell anyone. It's in your nature to protect us."

Heaving a sigh, I finally decided it was time to cross the final bridge of this discussion, so that she could definitely rest easy at night. "Well, you never have to worry about Rüdiger coming to find you."

Brows pulling together, she said, "Why do you think that?"

"Because he's dead."

Her eyes narrowed even further. "And how do you know that?"

"Because I killed him."

"Killed?" she bellowed. "You?"

Nodding, I replied, "With my blood."

"What? Why? How?"

With a solemn expression, my head turned downwards towards the gravel beneath our feet. The sun was now high in the sky, scalding my neck and breaking through the layers of sunscreen—I would have to apply again soon. 

After taking a hesitant initial step forward, eventually I began walking at a slow pace, Marli quick to keep up with me. 

I thought my words through, rehearsed them several times, but no way to explain it felt right. 

So I simply started with, "The day I met Benjamin Cross, my life hadn't strayed far from normal... until he showed up. Though, looking back and knowing everything I know now, it could have gone so many different ways."