Why does my dad's house have to be in the middle of nowhere? There were strange noises. Was my mind playing tricks on me?

The sound of rustling in the bushes made me jump, I almost tripped over a nearby log as I tried to regain my footing.

"Hello?" I said, totally unsure of why I would even say that. I mean, in scary movies the ones that are like "Hello murderer are you gonna kill me?" usually get slaughtered first.

I slowly stepped closer to the bushes. As I approached, the rustling stopped. I froze in my position, waiting for the rustling to start again. "Three...two...one..." I whispered quietly, and once again the rustling started, I leaped forward. "Oh shit!" I belted out, swinging my arms around as two crows flew past me from inside of the bushes.

I laughed out loud, " I can't believe I got scared of a few b-...OH MY GOD!!!!!

I screeched at the top of my lungs. It was a body. I tried to breathe but, I hadn't expected the smell to be so strong. It was definitely the smell of rotting flesh. I wondered if maybe the rancid smell was coming from the enormous chunk of meat hanging from his bloody torso, his decapitated head, or the remainder of his eyeball that the crows didn't get to finish off. I turned and ran as fast as I could.

I tried to distract myself to keep from throwing up, I could feel the vomit rising up in my throat. I held it back as much as I could. I ran and ran until I reached the main street. My eyes were filled with blinding tears, the gruesome images stuck in my head.

Then I felt someone's arms around me, "Hey...hey what's going on Loreign?"

It was Mr. Adams, his eyes were filled with worry. "He..he...I...th..there was blood everywhere and I.." I couldn't explain what I saw, tears just kept rushing down my cheeks as I buried my face into his chest. His scent was warm and welcoming, I felt a sense of safety in his arms.

"Get in, I'll give you a ride home." He opened the door for me and helped me up into his truck. His truck smelled of freshly chopped lumber and pinecones. "Sorry about the smell, I wanted to collect some samples of different wood for class tomorrow," he added with a charming smile.

"Th...thank you, I'm sorry..I...-"

"Hold on," he interrupted. There was commotion going on in the near distance, the fire department and police were on the scene, blocking off the streets with yellow tape. The sound of sirens echoed in my ears as Mr. Adams drew closer to the crowd.

He pulled over to the side of the road and opened the door.

"Hello! is everything alright?" he shouted to the officers from across the street. Before the officer could answer he began to jog over to the area to see what all the turmoil was about.

From the car, I could tell that it wasn't good, by the shocked and disgusted looks on everyone's faces. I noticed Aza and Derek standing among the crowd of people, so I decided to leave the car and walk over to them. I soon regretted getting out of the car, because the smell that had at once crippled me, was now surrounding me again.

I swallowed the dry lump in my throat, waving at Derek when we make eye contact.

"Hey, what's going on over there?" I asked, trying to get a better look at the crime scene.

Aza wiped a single tear away from her eye before looking up at me with a lopsided smile. "They found, Mrs. Peterson's body." I didn't know who she was to Mrs. Peterson, but I could tell she must've been important, as she was crying.

"I...I found a...a body earlier in the woods, on the way home from school," I revealed, nervously. the threat of vomiting began to intensify again, remembering the terrifying sight. "Did you tell anyone!? Aza questioned, her eyes big like crystal balls.

"I mean, I tried to tell Mr. Adams but I couldn't get it out-,"

"Hey! you children don't belong here," the officer expressed. "You all need to leave, it's not safe." The officer began to takes a few steps towards us, until his attention was drawn away by his name being called."

"Who could've done all this?" I muttered to myself, with a frown.

"Loreign!" I familiar voice called out.

"Dad?"

"Get in the car," he commanded, pushing the passenger side door open.

"Dad whats..what's going on?"

"Just get in the car!"

I turned to Derek and Aza for a few seconds before hopping into the car and speeding down the road.

The car was silent.

My dad kept his eyes glued in front of him, as he sped down the old and bumpy road. This was the first time I had seen him so serious since I'd come to Tori Springs, then again, it had only been a day.

"So we're not talking again?" I questioned him, sitting up in my seat.

"You were supposed to call me after school, but, no I get this insane phone call about you being somewhere you aren't supposed to be!" He raised his voice, not once looking my direction.

"You expect me to listen to you after you left me and mom alone for five years? I never even wanted to come here, and I definitely didn't plan on seeing any dead bodies. I lost the one person that actually showed me real love and now my life is being redirected and I have no choice," Salty tears began to fill my eyes, unable to control my emotions. "and all you care about, is that I didn't call you after school? That's really nice...Dad." I turned my head away from him and looked out of the window, wiping my tears away with my sleeve.

"Rae...I...," He stuttered.

He pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned the car off. "I know that it will take time for you to trust me again...but I'm sorry," He began, leaning forward onto the steering wheel. "I can't change the past but I love you and want to be here for you."

I turned to him and noticed a single tear rolling down his cheek. I wanted to trust him, but it would take a long time to get back to how we used to be.

"Why did you leave us?"

The question hit him like a bullet, his head popped up, and he looked at me with sadness in his eyes, "I never wanted to leave you guys, Rae."

"Then why did you leave? You never even called." I struggled to hold back my tears. I hated talking about my feelings, I always cry, and my anxiety takes over.

"Look...I loved your mom, and I still do but me being there would've only made things worse. I wasn't going to take that chance." He responded.

"Whats that supposed to mean?"

"I...I can't tell you," he sighed, scratching the back of his head.

"Figures."

"Look... I'll tell you when the time is right, I promise." He said as he started the car.

"Yeah, ok dad."

It didn't take long for us to arrive home, but when we did, we knew something was horribly wrong. The yard was completely trashed, the front door was wide open.

My dad got out of the car and jogged over to the open front door. I stayed in the car, watching him from a distance as he slowly entered the house.

After about five minutes I got worried. Not one word from my Dad and I noticed the lights never came on. I mustered up all of my courage (or should I say blind stupidity) and let myself out of the car, softly setting my feet on the pavement below. As I got closer to the house I began to hear voices. It was my dad, he was talking to Danielle.

"He sent his filthy minions here for the Triromancer." She said.

"I thought that spell was impenetrable, get Fa'nali over here now!" Growled my father, I hid behind a nearby tree as he passed the front door, pacing back and forth.

"I need to keep Loreign safe and out of the way," He sighed. "Atleast until we find out where Daemos is hiding."

"Why would she be in any danger if he only wants the Triromancer?." Danielle asked as she slowly swept the debris off of the floor. There's that name again. Daemos. And what's a Triromancer?

"Because...it's not an object," My dad painfully responded. I took a few steps closer to the door so that I could hear better.

My dad plopped down onto the living room couch and rubbed his forehead. "To gain the magic of the Triromancer, they would need to burn it and consume the ashes while a Devonian Witch casts an immortality spell."

I

hearing what my dad was saying, made me question his sanity. Witches? Spells? Minions? I couldn't help but laugh at the sick joke.

"Please don't tell me..." Danielle whined, her eyes wet and wide.

"Loreign is the Triromancer." My father concluded.

His answer took me completely by surprise. A lightheadedness took over me, and I began to sway back and forth. Leaning onto a tree, I attempt to pull myself together. My body was shaking uncontrollably, my legs felt as if they were going to collapse under me.

They must have heard the commotion because they both rushed over to my aid.

"Loreign what's the matter?" Danielle asks, slowly lifting me onto my feet.

"You need to tell me what the hell is going on."

The both of them look at me wide-eyed, as they try to think of something to say.

"Rae, about what you heard."

"Don't do that! Just stop giving me excuses, Tell me the truth for once." I must look like such a crybaby, I tightly shut my eyes to stop any more tears from venturing forward.

"Rae-"

"Laurant!... She needs to know." Danielle jumps in. I wasn't exactly happy about her eagerness to join in on the family drama, but for once, I agreed with her. I deserved to know. How could I even begin to give him another chance if he can't be honest with me? Plus, this was my life on the line.

He took a deep breath before saying, " Your mother and I...we weren't supposed to be together. Our families fought for years, that was until we had you." He paused for a second and looked over at Danielle. She flashed him a smile and made her way back into the house.

"Soon after you were born, there were complications..."

"What do you mean?"

"Your mother started to get very sick, and so did I. We tried to prolong our time together, using dark magic your mother had learned from one of her hand maidens. But there are always consequences when using dark magic. We came up with the solution, that she and I would separate in order to keep you safe." I could tell he was holding back.

"What does this have to do with the Triromancer?" I asked.

"Your mother was...a princess..of the vampires."

I fall to the grass, laughing hysterically. " Seriously, how stupid do you think I am? I suppose next you're going to tell me that you were the werewolf in the Micheal Jackson 'Thriller' video."

"Actually yes, minus the Micheal Jackson part. Werewolves and Vampires aren't supposed to be together, we were starting to show our real age and we knew if we stayed together we would've both died, and you would've been left alone. As the only hybrid to ever exist, the world just wasn't safe for you and it still isn't."

"Half vampire, half werewolf, completely immortal. Some how the dark magic your mother used to keep us young had fused with you as a baby, giving you the power of; Pyromancy, Necromancy, and Chronomancy, making you a Triromancer. Damos wants that power for himself and now that he has your mother-"

"W...wait..what are you saying?"

"She's still alive."