Chapter Twenty-One

Lea opened her eyes to find herself sitting at a familiar patio table, the warm summer breeze disturbing her from her slumber. A safe space as she had been sleeping for days, her mouth tasting like cotton and her eyes feeling fuzzy. It was hard to move but she remembered what had happened before she lost consciousness and she was terrified of staying vulnerable. She sat up, finding her foggy brain growing confused as she remembered everything that had happened, her stomach twisting as she looked around.

What she ended up seeing made her eyes widen in disbelief, she nearly fell from her seat in shock. The room was a replica of her grandmother’s old garden with the smell of the older woman citrus perfume filling her nose and the large table that sat above it all. She was positive that the coaster on the table was the exact one from when she was a baby. Her hands touched it, feeling grooves from when her toddler self had chewed on it.

She wondered if the outside of the house, the garden, the land was the same. But when the teenager looked down, her eyes widened in shock as she saw nothing but darkness. The entire house appeared to be floating in the air, and she wasn’t sure what sat beneath the waves of darkness below.

‘Is this another dream,’ Lea twisted her body in the chair only to see that the room had no doors or windows. Instead, there were the bland orange walls with chipped paint from her childhood visits to eat brunch with her grandparents staring back at her. ‘Or is this just some nightmare that woman made to torture me?’

“You have to give yourself credit sometimes Lea, this is all of your makings.” Within a blink of an eye, the woman in question appeared before her eyes. Crossing her legs, she leaned over towards the seventeen-year-old with an expressionless look in her cat-like eyes. She gestured around the memory with a disinterested flick of her now healthy wrist, it was almost like the woman had never decayed before the teenager’s eyes. “I guess that old crone’s home is what humans would describe as a safe space.”

“Don’t call her that!” Lea blurted out without realizing, gulping nervously as she saw the woman’s eyes narrow dangerously. This had to be a dream if she was here, meaning the older woman was in control and she was just a pawn again. And with everything she had just gone through, she didn’t have any time for games. “What do you mean, I made this? You’ve been controlling my dreams for months to torment me.”

“I was controlling our dreams for your sake whenever needed,” The woman said slowly as if she thought the teenager was having trouble understanding her. If Lea had felt stronger mentally, she would say something about her tone but she just bit her lip. She wasn’t able to sit comfortably, fidgeting as she remembered the torture she had just gone through. “But this time, you made this all by yourself to hide away from the ritual. I expected you to fight back but you just let it happen.”

“They had me chained down. I couldn’t fight back, I tried to escape even as she ripped me apart so don’t blame me when you were probably watching it happen.” Lea whispered bitterly clenching at the table with her hands. Her stomach turned sour as she smelled her blood burn against her sore, worn skin. “How was I supposed to get away when you kept me locked in my mind as they bound me?”

“I don’t have to humor you, Lea. I would have loved for you to die a nice and peaceful death as I was promised. I could have taken back this body but instead, we are stuck in this together. Serving some spoiled brat for eternity, all thanks to your naivete.” The table began to shake as the woman became emotional, her voice full of venom as she continued. “I have to sit back and watch you waste this body away crawling after some child for decades. It’s insulting to be scolded by you when I gave you multiple chances to just give in.”

If she wasn’t dreaming after such a traumatic incident, she’d fall over and laugh. It was unbelievable, the first time the woman showed vulnerability and human emotion was because she lost. Somehow, she couldn’t just take her body it seemed. In a sick way, Kaeo helped her by doing whatever sort of ritual she had that day and kidnapping her. What she said about her body made no sense to the seventeen-year-old but nothing did mean anything was possible. She felt like she was going insane with her heart pounding in her chest.

Grimly, she looked at the woman with a dead-eyed stare. “You were killing me, those weren’t chances it was torture. And you can manipulate my mind so why can’t you make my subconscious disappear or something to get my body all for yourself?” Lea had nothing to lose, her parents were dead, her siblings were brutalized and the whole world thought she was a monster.

The woman glared her cat eyes glistening with what she knew weren't tears. “Don’t blame me for your ignorance. I explained to you what I am, what she was, and what I was promised. You had a choice and you chose to fight. I can’t force you out of what’s already mine but if you had just gone as promised I could have stopped it.” Her last words hit the teen like a sledgehammer, sickening her.

‘I can’t back down now, I’ll wake up sooner or later chained in that room.’ Nodding along to her inner thoughts, the teenager continued to push. “How could you? I was tortured, with her hands pinning me down when I tried to fight back.”

“You think an infant is strong enough to bind me?” The woman asked but Lea knew she wasn’t waiting for an answer. The chair felt brittle beneath her body as she smelled something strong, something disgusting in the air. It was like something was on fire however there was no smoke in the air and the room was still the same temperature. “I’m decades older than the both of you. I could kill her easily, then and now.”

Lea swallowed thickly, unsure whether or not she wanted the younger girl dead. That part of her morally was just dead to the world the moment she learned of her family’s suffering. If she had the energy to, she'd break down into tears all over again. Wiping at her eyes, she looked away from the woman feeling her pain resurface. “Then why didn’t you just kill me if you’re so powerful?”

The woman appeared to have expected the question as she answered almost instantly. Her mouth formed into a strange smile, the wrinkles on her face becoming uncomfortably prominent. It was unnerving to see even if it was out of the corner of her eye. “I did, you said it yourself. I was slowly killing and destroying your body. That human, weak part of you is dead and the better, stronger part that was meant for me is alive.”

“You know what I mean. Stop with the open-ended statements and riddles, why didn’t you finish? Why didn’t you just kill me when you had the chance and erase me from existence?” Lea pushed the woman, her legs beginning to shake from all of the emotions she was feeling.

Weeks ago, she would have fought tooth and nail to survive against her. But now all she wanted was to have died with her family that fateful night. It would have saved her so much suffering and regret to have just died in her sleep. If she was free from this torment Lea was sure she’d be able to be at peace for once. Instead, she was stuck fighting against possible enslavement from the people or rather creatures she hated the most in the world. And the only person who knows it is a monster like them.

“Because I didn’t have your permission. My kind has silly rules about possession, we only possess those who give us permission which can be voluntary or by accident. And typically during the process, the host simply merges with the human mind and becomes one.” The woman sighed, seeming annoyed that she had to explain this all. “But, I gave you the choice to die peacefully and allow me to control this body for eternity. Instead, you chose to stay with me and merge.”

‘A merge? This sounds crazier by the second but we’ve already established demons are real, so I guess merging with one is too.’ Lea shook her head, disagreeing vehemently with what the woman was saying. “You aren’t giving someone a choice when it’s between death and torture. I didn’t have a choice the moment you jumped into my body. And even after, you never told me I could permit you to do anything, instead you gave me endless nightmares.”

“I didn’t just jump into your body, Lea. An invitation is needed and I was given one to take over this body when the time was right. You may think you didn’t have a choice but you did the moment you found that card in your bedroom. You hid it from your parents, you approached that woman in the bathroom, you acted out and you destroyed the card. I didn’t force you to do any of that, you wanted to.” Lea opened her mouth to argue but the woman wasn’t finished.

“Even before then, the choice was made that allowed me to even meet you and be given the invitation to enter your mind. It may have not been directly yours but you made it at the end of the day, subconsciously or not. I never acted without permission and I never did anything that would force you to give in to my desires or interfere with your mundane affairs.”

The seventeen-year-old felt as if someone was slapping her across the face with every word spoken. The room began to feel smaller as the only sound was the woman’s voice growing louder, stronger. “Whatever effect it had on your human life is not important as of now.”

Lea frowned, feeling sick as she realized the woman was right. No one would find her in someone’s basement and even if they did she wouldn’t be human. She could never go back to school without being terrified of harming someone or being attacked. People would see a monster walking among them whenever she appeared, her life was over. It was ruined and nothing could fix it no matter how angry or bitter she felt about it. The bitterness consumed her as she replayed everything that had happened to her in the back of her mind.

Whatever choice she made from now on seemed pointless. It didn’t matter anymore as she would never see her friends, her siblings, her parents again. “So, I’ve become a slave to Kaeo’s family? And after the merge, you’ll be fine with that?”

The woman hesitates before answering but if you blinked you’d miss it. “Our memories will live together but you’ll take on some of my attributes, my skills, and personality traits but I will be gone. And you will go through the same until the merge completes.”

‘That sounds terrifying.’ Lea sighed, looking down at the table imitating her grandmother’s with a blank stare coming over her face. This all was a lot to take in but she had all the time in the world to get answers. “And how long will the merge take to finish?”

“Normally, it can take years to complete. But for others the merge can go for decades, often causing one or both the participants to slip into despair or madness.” The seventeen-year-old gulped down the lump that had been growing in her throat. “Our merge will be the latter, of course.”

“D-Decades?” The idea of being forced to play second fiddle to her mind within what used to be body sickened her. “So...I’ll or we’ll be immortal? Will my body age normally or am I going to be seventeen forever?”

“If you mean physically, then yes you will look as if you are in your late teens to about twenty years old for eternity. For some, you age for a few more years while for others you stop the moment the deal is set in stone.” It all sounded so surreal, like a book she would read after school.

“Everyone I’ve ever known will be dead while I’m trapped here.” It was sickening but she had to say it herself for it to sink in fully. “I’m going to be a teenager forever, I’m never going to go to heaven or meet my family again if there is another life. I’m stuck for eternity...unless I can escape.”

The idea of escaping whatever slave contract that had been forced on her was ridiculous but she had to hold onto the hope it was possible. There had to be some way she could break free from her chains and get far away from these psychopaths. She would have to go into hiding due to the media coverage of her disappearance but she’d rather live on the streets than become someone’s pet.

“Is escaping possible?” Lea asked, feeling her heart beat faster at the possibility of the woman saying no and damning her to decades of hell. The bitterness of it all was consuming her, she felt her chest squeeze around her heart as she hoped that her thoughts were wrong.

“You can escape by playing the game. I have no intentions of staying a slave in with this body so you need to use everything you have to break that infant and her family.” The woman had a pleased look on her face as if she was proud of the teenager for not giving up.

“They have no idea whose body they’ve branded and what can be done with it. You aren’t human anymore and they will use that to control you. They will try to break you down as they know everything about your past life.” Her voice was dark as she made sure the teen heard everything.

“So, to escape I can’t be myself,” Lea said slowly understanding what was being suggested.

“They can only control someone they hunted down and marked as their possession.”

“But they can’t control you since they aren’t even aware you exist,” Lea muttered agreeing with what the woman was saying. “And since you’ve already shouted it at me enough I know that means they can’t control my body.”

***

When she was younger, Kaeo had been to many parties at glamorous mansions. Her mother would allow her to explore briefly with whatever children were already there. They would play together and chit-chat before she was called back to stay by her side. With all the people that would surround them, being with her mother made her feel safe and protected within the crowd. Now, she felt that rush of anxiety return but this time she was on her own and her mother was miles away.

Soft, darkened hair framed her ashen face as she gave a fake smile to the guests that passed by. She made sure to behave appropriately, the etiquette classes she had taken as a child being a guide as she made her way through the small crowds clustered together. Some of the faces she was able to remember from when she was younger and others she had never met before. They were business partners, family friends, local celebrities, and foreign strangers. All of them had enough money and secrets to fund an entire country with a sliver of their bank accounts.

Kaeo bit her bottom lip, feeling anxious as she watched a few come closer. They weren’t unfamiliar faces but they couldn’t be called friends. She looked out the corner of her eye for Zachary but the man was occupied by old friends catching up with him. She cursed under her breath and grabbed a glass that had some liquid in it, she wasn’t sure if it was alcohol or simply club soda. Quickly, she downed it as the faces came closer and she was met with three other teenagers greeting her.

She had to play the sheltered, rich girl role to keep her sanity. If she didn't, the cracks that were growing in the back of her mind would cave in and consume her. “Wow, I haven’t seen you two in a while,” Kaeo muttered at the two women before sparring a glance at the older man. She had no idea who he was and by the looks of it, he was just a date coming along for the ride.

One of the women laughed. The teenager noted she couldn’t call them women as they were only three years older than her and looked only a tad bit older than that. Both girls were from what she remembered, heirs to their clans as she was. The ditzier of the two was from old money and easily passed for your average southern bell. All she really could note as important was her family controlling oil and steel in the past, funding her parents' lifestyles.

The other was someone she had visited often as a child, at least visited her mother’s summer home in South Africa. Her mother from what she recalled was a no-nonsense businesswoman who had launched multiple fashion lines, had a salon in New York and allowed her older cousin to model for her winter line of boyswear. Nandi had always been kind despite their mother’s not getting along very well due to clashing belief systems.

That kindness from their childhood appeared to remain as she let out a soft air of laughter. With a dimple blossoming onto her face, the girl leaned over to give Kaeo a one-armed hug. The other was occupied being held onto by her date, the man staring at the fifteen-year-old weirdly. It made her skin crawl and she wondered if maybe she should’ve kept her mouth shut. He was probably some trust fund baby that hadn’t heard the best about her.

“We would have seen each other earlier but my mom sent me away to Italy for school,” The girl she remembered was named Nandi, smiled warmly as she spoke to the younger teen “I heard that you and Momo had returned to the states so we had to come to visit. Jolene wanted to see how much you’ve changed since we were all kids being watched by your older cousin.”

The other girl, who had been absentmindedly staring at a nearby platter of snacks chimed in when mentioned. Her jewelry swung around loudly as she gestured while speaking animatedly, her voice cheery despite what she was saying. “Everyone’s talking about how you have finally hit puberty, hun. No more playing around in human schoolyards and entertaining their grimy hands.”

“Um…” Kaeo was lost for words, unsure whether to agree for the sake of it or ask what they meant. Thankfully the two girls moved the conversation forward allowing her to drink anxiously.

“What Jolene means is she’s excited that you’ll be more involved with clan business. We heard you were going to an international school full of humans and then some sort of science academy or something?” Nandi asked as the fifteen-year-old wondered how they even knew that information.

She hadn’t even gone to a science high school but had talked about applying to one in private, preferably one still in Asia. The sudden move to live with her aunt changed all those plans and now she was doing online school. No one outside of her family should even know about her schooling. So to find out that they knew about such a thing made her uncomfortable. ‘I’ll have to ask Zachary about any rumors being spread about my arrival here.’

“Everyone was worried you’d lose touch with your roots by doing so. Humans can only be ignorant to your aging for so long and everyone knows that training is awful when rushed.” Jolene bemoaned as the only man in the group looked confused by the conversation. “But who cares about all that gossip! You’re here now and clearly, you’ve taken on the proper attire of a lady of your status.”

Kaeo blushed at the mention of her appearance. “I’m still just a member of the clan for decades or centuries until auntie steps down. I haven’t trained much either so I don’t think I’m ready for all of that responsibility.” ‘And I have a familiar now to take care of, who despises me.’

Jolene shrugged, having snagged the tray of snacks somehow, and ate a slice of hummingbird cake off it, her mouth full as she spoke. “Still, hun you’re a future heir from one of the biggest clans in the coast, more so the state. You gotta show some pride in your culture and show off a bit.” She shoved the tray to one of the servers, a maid who gave the girl a side-eye before walking away.

Nodding, the dark skin girl continued from where her friend had left off. She looked directly at Kaeo while placing her hand on the others briefly grabbing her full attention. “People talk and everyone wants to know what’s up with you. Momo is well known for being a hothead and your other cousins are the children of the clan’s head so everyone knows what they bring to the table. But you are the baby, the heiress who was raised as if she were human by her mysterious mother.”

The smaller teenager paled, her stomach dropping at the news. No wonder the other girls knew so much about her school life, everyone did. She felt like a piece of meat surrounded by wild animals, the comfort she had gained briefly was gone as she panicked inwardly. She should have known better about who she was related to and what position that gave her. It felt like there were one million eyes on her and there was nowhere she could hide. Instinctively she downed some more of her glass.

It burned as it went down her throat, feeling as if it would come back up if she didn’t drink it as quickly as possible. She wondered if all alcoholic drinks tasted like this or if it had been mixed with juice by the cooks to keep the guests from becoming sloppy drunks. It tasted watery but it packed a punch as she finished it with a chill going down her spine. Almost instantly was given more by severs eager to please the heiress.

‘I’m not even the head of the clan yet and people are treating me differently. They’re never going to leave me alone as long as I’m here and if Lea was ever revealed, they’d be put into a frenzy.’ Struggling to maintain her joyful demeanor she shakily laughed at Nandi’s words. She tried to sound playful but her tone conveyed how anxious she was becoming. “So, I’m the community’s newest chew toy until what? I'm the head of the clan or get married off like it’s the middle ages.”

“It’s not that bad,” Nandi said looking worried, her voice full of regret once the mood between the four shifted negatively. “No one is going to chase you down for information about your past.”

“Everyone goes through it at first, the clans are like a stay-at-home mom’s book club. They only gather to gossip about each other while claiming to be the best of friends.” Jolene added, looking between the two girls warily. “I honestly didn’t think this would upset you so much.”

“Oh shut up, you two have done enough scaring the kid.” All six pairs of eyes went towards the older man who had seemed to be lost for the majority of the conversation. He was staring at the two older teens with annoyance, scolding them as if he were their older brother. “I may not be up to date with this clan bullshit but I know enough to see that you’ve overwhelmed her.”

The strawberry blonde clicked her teeth with agitation, her mood flipping when addressing the man. Her eyes darkened as she gave Nandi a glance that Kaeo couldn’t decipher before she began to mutter so the people near them couldn’t hear. “Sweetheart, your human is talking.”

“Wait, he's human?” Kaeo whispered her eyes growing wide as she felt her anxiety grow by a mile at the shocking news. Instinctively she moved away from the man which caused him to look back at her with surprise. They stared at one another in disbelief and she felt her hands begin to shake.

The blonde nodded while giving the man a heated glare. “Yeah, her mom took in this little rat and won’t say why no matter how much she asks. So now, we have to deal with a parasite.”

“I’m sorry my mom said we had to keep it under wraps but someone didn’t get the memo.” Nandi sighed, staring at Jolene momentarily with her glare before shaking her head in displeasure. “Kaeo this is my human stray, ignore anything he says because not only is he human but an asshole.”

The man in question seemed disgusted with the conversation. His hands shook and he took a deep breath before speaking up for himself. “What’s so bad about me being human? You all look and act human despite being immortal.” He sounded insulted by their comments, his lips forming into a frown as he looked at both of the girls pointedly.

‘He’s bickering with people who can rip him into pieces without any remorse.’ The display of emotion sent a chill down the fifteen-year-old’s spine as she watched the man restrain himself from going any further. Kaeo wanted to warn him, to tell him that their bodies were simply a shell for a monster that slumbered beneath their skin. That Jolene could rip his throat out without spilling a drop of blood on her glamorous gown. And that Nandi, while kindhearted and charitable, had no qualms with using her fingernails to claw away at his face until there was nothing left but bone marrow.

‘He’s their toy to bend and break.’ The teen nearly cried at the thought.

But instead, like the coward she felt she was, the teenager remained silent. She watched the three argue with another as her palms grew sweaty and her stomach sour. She wondered if what she had drunk was champagne or was it something much stronger. Her body felt like it was covered in fuzz, her skin didn’t feel like her own and she wanted to vomit. Shakily she handed her glass which had unknowingly been refilled by someone to a server, it nearly falling onto the ground as she moved. Her throat felt clammy as she gained the attention of the trio once again.

“Kaeo you should sit down,” Nandi suggested, her voice heavy with worry as she took in the younger girl’s panicked state. She turned to her friend who was already reaching over to grab Kaeo’s arm to steady her balance. “Let’s get her somewhere quiet until her panic attack finishes.”

Jolene cursed as she found herself holding the teen’s body close. “Ah shit, that’s what’s happening? I thought she was just having a bad reaction to the drinks.” She looked down at Kaeo but to the fifteen-year-old, her face looked a tad bit blurry. “Hunny, how many did you have?”

How many did she have? Kaeo couldn’t remember but it wasn’t like she had been knocking them back over and over again. “Maybe three of those huge glasses that tasted like really strong wine? And one that tasted like it was sink water mixed with whiskey.”

Both girls looked confused by the younger teen’s description while the human man pushed people out of their way. There were some words exchanged but they managed to find an empty table out of view from most of the crowd. “Why is a thirteen-year-old drinking anyway?”

“She’s not thirteen, she’s sixteen and we age differently than humans.” Jolene scowled at him, speaking the words slowly as if he were an idiot to not know how old Kaeo is. “She’ll look young for centuries to come while you fade away into a pile of dust.”

Nandi shushed her before she could say anything else to the man. She helped the younger girl sit down and moved her head back, along with her hair that was falling all over the place. “Keep her head back in case she starts to throw up, we don’t need her covered in vomit plastered all over the news. Jolene, come with me to look for her uncle or someone who won’t snitch on us for letting her drink.”

The blonde scoffed, shaking her head as she sat down beside Kaeo and rubbed her back. All the movement had made the fifteen-year-old feel woozy. “And leave her with a stranger who is unreliable and accident-prone? No thanks Dia, I’ll stay with her while he goes with you to search for something to help with her hangover.”

“Unreliable? Seriously, I’m the unreliable one here with two ca-” He started only to be slapped upside the head by the dark-haired teenager before he could begin his rant.

She sighed, looking at Kaeo one last time. The teen could see the regret in her eyes as she bit her lip and nodded in agreement with Jolene’s words. It was rare to see someone besides her mothers or Zachary look at her with that much care. “Fine. But make sure to text me if anything happens while we’re gone and say she has food poisoning if anyone asks what’s wrong.”

“Gotcha hun.” The two left, with the man staring at Jolene with evil eyes earning him a middle finger as Nandi pulled him away. She then turned her attention right back to Kaeo who was struggling not to dry heave as she moaned in pain.