A/N:
Date 6-28-17

Hey everyone! This is the last chapter of The Secrets of Cain! I hope you've enjoyed this book and hopefully you'll like this chapter.

This chapter is longer than it should be, because it's the last one. You're welcome XD

And yes, I was sad to end this book, but there will be another one in this series! It's called a trilogy for a reason :)

Word Count: 3639

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Chapter 34: Bad Zombies and Worse Parents

"I'm glad you could make it." Selynn says as she opens the front door, allowing Adrian inside.

"Why didn't you invite Monique too?" Adrian asks, stepping past Selynn to go inside.

"What? No hello or any sort of greeting?" Selynn asks, receiving a glare from Adrian. Figures. Adrian doesn't like other people teasing or joking with him, but he's fine doing the same to others.

"Well, I didn't want too many people here for this. And Ivie would've insisted that you come. Besides, you're the closest thing we've got to a zombie expert." Selynn explains, leading Adrian to the living room on the main floor of their house, where everyone is going to meet up.

"That's accurate. There aren't that many zombie experts in the world, but I know a thing or two. I already told you what I know, so what else do you need me for?" Adrian questions, looking around for anything suspicious.

"Protection. You know how they fight. So if it comes to that, you're here to help. You said you can fight them." Selynn says. Vanessa is upstairs at the moment talking to Ivie on the phone, so it's just her and Adrian for now.

"Wait, we have to fight zombies?" Adrian asks, snapping his attention to Selynn and narrowing his eyes at her.

"Possibly." Selynn says quickly, sounding unsure.

"Why didn't you explain any of this to me before I came over?" Adrian demands to know, not liking that he's here and zombies could pop up at any moment. Besides Selynn, but she's not the kind of zombie that can intimidate Adrian.

"Why? Are you scared?" Selynn taunts, effectively avoiding Adrian's question.

"No." Adrian snaps, getting more worried by the second. Adrian sighs but concedes. "Fine, just tell me what we're going to do."

"I'm going to wait until everyone gets here." Selynn tells Adrian. "You can sit down. There aren't any zombies here now."

"Yes there are. You're here." Adrian says with a crooked smile, teasing Selynn, knowing it would anger her.

Selynn frowns at Adrian, calming herself so as not to get angry like she knows Adrian wants. It's Adrian. He's just looking for entertainment.

"I meant bad zombies." Selynn clarifies before leaving the room. Selynn has never had problems with anger, but she might if she has to spend anymore time alone with Adrian.

~*~

Adrian sits silently in the living room for almost ten minutes before everyone gets there. Lena and Ivie are the last to arrive.

"Sorry it took so long. Our mom just left, and she'll be back in a few hours, so we need to hurry." Lena says, moving to sit on the opposite couch from Adrian, next to Lucas. Mason sits on the other side of Lucas.

Ivie sits down next to Adrian where he saved a spot for her. "Can you tell us what's going on now?" Adrian questions impatiently. He hates surprises, and this feels like it's going to be a surprise.

"Yes." Selynn says in exasperation, tired of Adrian's constant commentary.

Vanessa comes downstairs and leans against the wall to listen and observe.

Selynn takes a deep breath before beginning, telling everyone that some sort of zombie virus runs in her family.

"So you're a zombie?" Lena asks in disbelief. Lucas grabs Lena's hand in his to comfort her.

"Yes. But like I said, there are stages, and I'm in the first stage. I won't attack anyone." Selynn reassures, hating that her friends could be scared of her right now.

They already told Ivie and Adrian, but the others didn't know until now. Lena, Lucas, and Mason are trying to process the information given to them, and what it all means.

"Is that why you called us here?" Mason asks, speaking up for the first time.

"No." Selynn answers. "I called you here because my parents admitted that they're keeping out of control zombies in the basement."

"You have a basement?" Lena asks, echoing what Selynn said when her parents told her about all of this.

"It was kept secret. But I found out how to get down there, and I want to go check it out." Selynn explains, feeling that what she's doing is right. Selynn needs to know what is down there, and what she could become if she isn't strong enough to stop it.

Selynn glances around to look at everyone, trying to gauge their reactions.

"Okay." Mason says simply.

Lucas looks at Mason in astonishment, wondering why Mason is being reckless.

"You're agreeing to going down in a basement with who knows how many zombies?" Lucas questions, glancing guiltily at Selynn for a moment. But she's staring at Mason.

"Yes. Why not? It can't be worse than anything else we've faced. The hunters tried to kill us, I mean you, because we're werewolves. Those zombies would only want to kill us because we smell delicious to them." Mason points out.

"I guess you're right. And in a weird twisted way, I get what you're trying to say." Lucas says as he realizes Mason is acting more like himself.

"I'm going too." Lena announces, knowing she can't allow Lucas to go in without her. Lena would worry too much. She needs to be there to help if she can.

Adrian speaks up then to say whether or not he's going. "I agreed before I even knew what we were doing. Count me in."

"I'm going to make sure no one does anything stupid." Ivie says, glancing at Adrian. He raises an eyebrow to question her trust in him.

"And because you two are my best friends." Ivie adds, looking to Selynn and Vanessa.

"Let's go then. We don't have much time before your mom gets back." Selynn says, referring to Ivie and Lena. "Plus I don't want to be down there for very long."

"Same." Ivie agrees quickly, hoping they don't get attacked by crazy zombies because they stupidly decided to go into the secret basement.

"And one more thing." Selynn says as everyone stands, ready to get on with it already. It is a school night, after all.

"We have to prepared for anything because my parents were also testing on the people down there. Your parents probably were too." Selynn says apologetically to Ivie and Lena.

It clicks for Lena then, coming together like pieces of a puzzle. "That's what they've been working on for years! Our parents said they're scientists, so that must be what they've been doing."

Selynn nods her head slowly, hating that their parents have kept so much from them.

Lena realizes that her dad, who she's trusted this whole time, kept this from her. "You really can't trust anyone, can you?" Lena thinks to herself, but realizes the words aren't true. Lena trusts her friends, and they haven't done anything to ruin that.

Selynn leads everyone down the hall and into the downstairs guest bedroom. "It's in here." Selynn says as she gestures to a door in the room. Selynn opens it to reveal a medium sized closet space containing a few cardboard boxes.

Selynn and Vanessa are the only ones who go in the closet because there wouldn't be enough room for everyone.

Selynn moves one of the boxes to reveal the back wall. "I know she moved this box, but I'm not exactly sure if there's a lever or a button..."

Vanessa sits on her knees on the carpeted floor to inspect the area that Selynn believes is the key to the basement.

They feel around the wall, but can't feel anything out of the ordinary and there's not an outline of anything on the wall. "I know we can find it." Selynn says determinedly.

Vanessa nods and looks back to everyone else. "Maybe someone with supernatural senses could help?"

Adrian steps forward immediately to help. He's had a few encounters with secret passages before. Adrian's sure he can find this one too.

Vanessa and Selynn back up a bit to allow Adrian to have more room. Adrian crouches down, then knocks on the wall softly. Adrian moves his hand an inch, then knocks again. "What are you doing?" Ivie whispers to Adrian.

"Listening for hollowness." Adrian mutters before moving his hand another inch and knocking. Then Adrian puts his palm flat on the wall there and pushes.

Adrian stops and turns to everyone, who are staring at him curiously. "Does anyone have something small that's made with metal? Maybe a watch?" Adrian asks. Everyone gapes at him, then shakes their heads.

"I might." Selynn says, getting up and racing from the room. A minute later she comes back with a watch, like Adrian asked for.

"It's my father's, so I hope you're not going to break it." Selynn says warningly.

"Not likely." Adrian replies distractedly, taking the watch quickly and going back to the last place he knocked on. Adrian puts the face of the watch on the wall and pushes lightly.

Nothing happens, so Adrian starts rotating the watch. There's a click and the wall slides backwards, then opens like a door, revealing a staircase.

"How did you know to do that?" Vanessa asks in awe.

"This isn't the first hidden passage I've had to find. That part of the wall was hallow, and I couldn't push it open. So I guessed I could open it with metal. It's worked before." Adrian tries explaining, but everyone looks at him dumbfounded.

"Watches are a common thing to wear and could easily be used as a key for..." Adrian stops as everyone still stares at him in befuddlement. Ivie's lips slowly move up in a half smile.

"Forget it." Adrian says, abandoning the idea of explaining himself. "Let's just go."

No one moves. They keep looking around at each other. Adrian rolls his eyes and gets up to go forward. "I guess I'll go first." Adrian announces sarcastically because everyone seems to be waiting for someone else to go.

Ivie follows Adrian, then Selynn follows Ivie. Vanessa, Mason, Lucas, and Lena quickly fall in line and they all descend the staircase.

Adrian blinks and his eyes change to red, creating a faint red glow to show him the way while his night vision kicks in. Lucas and Mason quickly do the same, but their eyes glow yellow.

At the bottom of the staircase, a single door is the only exit. Adrian stops to examine the door, but Selynn steps around him and opens the door. "Come on. We don't have time to check every detail of this place." Selynn says, walking into the unknown room.

Everyone follows, instantly hearing groaning noises in the room. Mason looks over to the wall, sees a light switch, then turns it on. Lights flicker on throughout the room, creating a ghostly atmosphere and illuminating rows of cells on the left side of the room, kind of like the secret basement at the Sterling house.

On the right side of the room, there's a sort of lab space set up with tables covered in paper, tools, tubes, and anything else a scientist may need. There's even a fridge in the corner.

Selynn takes a step towards the cells, wanting to get a better view to see what's in them, but Vanessa grabs her arm to stop her. Selynn looks up at her sister's worried face and shakes her head. "If they're really zombies, they probably won't hurt me. Besides, they're in cells." Selynn reasons.

"She's right." Adrian says gently while Ivie grabs Vanessa and pulls her away from Selynn.

Selynn walks around slowly to get a view of the front of the cells, but staying far away. The room is huge, easily having enough space to stay far from the cells.

The front of each cell has a door and glass instead of a grey wall like the other sides, so Selynn has a clear view of the people inside.

They don't look like people, with matted clothes, ratted hair, and completely red eyes. The person in the first cell looks as if he's sniffing the air, then he turns his gaze to Selynn. His blood red eyes move away from Selynn, then he suddenly slams into the glass.

Selynn jumps in surprise and takes in a sharp breath. The man claws at the glass with bloodied fingers, growling low and frantically slamming his head on the glass. "Selynn, come back here." Vanessa begs, not liking the sounds coming from the cells or the scared expression on Selynn's face.

These must be zombies in the last stage. They're crazy.

Selynn can hear the others shuffling around in their cells, probably attracted to the noise. Selynn wonders why they're trying to get to her. They shouldn't be because she's a zombie too.

Then Selynn notes that the man, who's still pounding at the glass, has his head turned to the side, and his crazed eyes don't seem pointed to her, not that she can know for sure because he doesn't have pupils. But it definitely seems like he's not trying to come after Selynn.

Selynn turns her head to the side to see where the man is trying to look. He can't see it, but everyone who came with Selynn is standing in that direction. He can smell them.

"He can smell you guys." Selynn says softly in a strained voice, taking a step back towards her friends and sister.

"Stay here." Adrian whispers to Ivie. She opens her mouth to argue, but the look on Selynn's face makes her stop. Selynn looks freaked out.

Selynn hears footsteps and turns to see Adrian coming to have a look at what she's seen. Selynn clears her face of all expression then says, "I think that's the last stage."

Adrian stops next to Selynn, where she was standing before. The zombie/man turns his head towards Adrian and stops moving.

Adrian stays still, not breathing as the zombie sniffs the air. Then he turns back to the way he was, pounding on the glass and trying to get to the others.

"He smells the warm blood coming from them, so his priority isn't me right now." Adrian comments calmly.

"Would he attack you if you were the only one here and he escaped?" Selynn asks out of curiosity.

"Yes. Cold blood is better than no blood. They like blood, brains, and flesh." Adrian says quietly.

"Can we get out of here?" Vanessa asks from her spot right next to the door with Lucas, Mason, Lena, and Ivie.

"Hold on." Selynn says, walking towards the cells.

"Selynn, don't!" Ivie calls out to her best friend, frightened for her safety.

"Stay there, Ivie." Adrian tells her as he follows Selynn.

Selynn walks past the cells, looking at each last stage zombie. There are eight of them and ten cells. Selynn gets to the end and slowly walks back towards the first cell, looking into the cells again from a safe distance with Adrian following closely.

Selynn stops at the fifth cell, taking a step closer to get a better look. The zombie/man was turning to look at her and Adrian as they passed. He growls and trips over his feet to get to the glass. He sniffs the air and slams his fist into the glass clumsily, then he leaves his hand there and just stares with his creepy unseeing eyes.

"That's crazy Uncle Lane." Selynn says in a deadpan, just staring at her ruined Uncle.

"Selynn, can we please go now?" Vanessa pleads with her sister, not wanting to see their Uncle as a murderous zombie.

"Yeah." Selynn says, turning away from the cells and walking back over to her sister and friends. Adrian takes Ivie by the hand and leads her back upstairs. Everyone follows them until they arrive back in the guest room.

Adrian is about to try figuring out how to close the door when he hears something. "Someone's home." Adrian whispers.

"What?" Selynn exclaims quietly. "No one should be home for at least another hour!"

"Yeah, well, they're home and it's too late to get everyone who's not supposed to be here out of the house. They're coming through the front door now." Adrian whispers urgently, debating whether or not to leave them.

If Adrian is caught here with them by Selynn and Vanessa's parents, who are vampire hunters, they'll put the pieces together and figure out Adrian is the Kitsune Vampire. And he can't have that. Adrian would rather not live a life on the run, or have to kill them.

Adrian looks at Ivie and she seems to understand his predicament. "Adrian, go. They can't find you here. Can you make it?" Ivie says quickly.

"Yes. Anyone else need to go?" Adrian asks, looking to Lucas and Mason because he knows Lena isn't supposed to be anywhere near Lucas and the hunters don't know Mason is a werewolf.

"Follow me. And fast." Adrian tells Lucas and Mason as he thinks of the best way out of the house without coming near the front door. The problem is that Adrian doesn't know the layout of the house very well. Lucas and Mason take off after Adrian using their super speed.

Not even a minute later, Mrs. Sterling comes marching through the door to the guest room, where she finds Selynn, Vanessa, Ivie, and Lena.

"How did you know...?" Lena questions.

"You set off a silent alarm." Mrs. Sterling says angrily, holding up her phone, which shows a message in all uppercase letters.

Mrs. Sterling looks to her daughters and demands, "We're leaving. Now!"

Lena and Ivie obey, knowing there is no way out of this. Mrs. Sterling turns to Selynn and Vanessa and says sternly, "Your parents will be here soon to deal with you." Then Mrs. Sterling stalks out of the room.

Selynn looks apologetically to Ivie and Lena, feeling guilty for getting them to come with her and ultimately being the reason they're going to be in trouble.

~*~

"Mom, we were just trying to support our friend." Ivie argues when they get home and Mrs. Sterling tells them to sit down in the living room to chat.

"I know." Mrs. Sterling says with an exasperated exhale as she puts a hand to her forehead with her eyes closed.

"So you're not mad?" Ivie asks hesitantly.

"Oh, I am. But I'm mostly disappointed." Mrs. Sterling says condescendingly, opening her eyes to stare at her daughters in disapproval.

"I know Lucas was there too, Lena. I saw him running off with his inhuman speed." Mrs. Sterling says with a sneer before adding, "At least he was smart enough to know to leave."

Lena opens her mouth to argue, but Mrs. Sterling stops her. "I told you not to see him anymore. And now I have to tell you not to see Selynn and Vanessa anymore."

"What?" Ivie exclaims in horror. "They're my best friends!"

"And now that we know for sure that one of them has that dreadful zombie virus, they are dangerous." Mrs. Sterling scowls at Ivie.

"You can't tell me to stay away from everyone!" Ivie bursts out, glaring at her mom, no longer pretending to be the good daughter who agrees with her mom on everything.

"I can and I just did!" Mrs. Sterling says, leaning forward in her chair intimidatingly.

But Ivie isn't going to give in this time, and Lena definitely isn't either.

Lena stands up furiously and says, "You know what, I'm done with this! I don't want all of this stupid drama in my life. You can't tell me what to do anymore! And you can't get away with just sending Dad off either! I'm leaving and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Oh, and where will you go? To live with your boyfriend? How will you explain that to his parents?" Mrs. Sterling counters angrily.

"Actually, I'm going to stay with my best friend. She'll be completely fine with that, and so will her parents!" Lena exclaims.

Ivie glances at Lena from the corner of her eye, wondering what Lena is doing. Jerica, who is Lena's best friend, is Lucas' sister. So she will still be staying where Lucas lives. But apparently, Mrs. Sterling forgot that detail, once again.

"What about you, Ivie? Will you run off like a rebellious teenager too?" Mrs. Sterling questions coldly.

"Yes, I think I will. You've gone too far, Mom. I'll stay with Lena to watch over her." Ivie says, even though she hates Jerica and doesn't want to be anywhere near her, let only live with her.

"Is that so?" Mrs. Sterling question rhetorically as she slowly stands, swiping at her skirt to smooth it down.

"No need for you girls to leave. I'll just go. I can tell when I'm not wanted." Mrs. Sterling responds emotionlessly while Lena and Ivie stare at her in surprise.

"I'll call your father and he'll be here by morning. I'll be gone within a half an hour. I doubt one night alone won't kill you two." Mrs. Sterling announces as she leaves to go to her room.

"What do we do now?" Lena whispers to Ivie with worry.

Ivie laces her fingers together restlessly, unsure of what to do, but not wanting Lena to know that.

"We go to sleep. It's been a long day. We go to school tomorrow, and hope everything goes back to normal." Ivie says quietly before adding, "Or at least as normal as a town with supernaturals can get."

And so Lena and Ivie go to their rooms and listen to their stepmom pack and leave the house within a half hour, just like she promised.

Maybe now things will calm down and everyone will be able to live their lives, instead of having to fight for their right to live.

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This chapter is dedicated to my Nana's outside cat Milo, who was killed by a coyote sometime last night and left in her yard.

R.I.P. MILO