Prove To Be

15

"They're dead."

Jay jumps in front of her father, raising a finger in his face. "You're supposed to listen! Not interrupt me every time you hear something you don't like." Jay drops her hand as she sees what's in her father's eyes. Hurt. Confusion. Anger. Denial. All of the same emotions she was going through when she realized what she had become. "I didn't ask for this, dad. If anything, this was the last thing I could ever think would happen to me. But I don't think it's reversible, so I have to live with it."

Jay's father let out a heavy breath as he roughly rubbed the palm of his hand over his chin. His stubble peeking through scratched noisily against his skin.

"It makes sense," Samuel said after not speaking the entire time. "Keeping you a secret. It makes sense." He said after Jay had looked over to him. "If word got out to other supernatural creatures or hunters that her kind existed again, she would be at risk."

"Hold on. Again? What do you mean?" Jay was shocked to know there had been hybrids who've existed before, primarily when the people she knew hadn't heard about them.

Jay's dad sighed in defeat. "You're right, Sam. This needs to remain a secret."

"What do you mean by again? Have hybrids existed before?" Jay got past the fact of getting ignored, so she asked again.

Her father nor Samuel acknowledged her questions. Instead, they continued talking amongst themselves, ignoring her like she was a fly on the wall. Irrelevant to their conversation. Immaterial. "This will be kept in our inner circle. No outsiders."

"Agreed," Jay's father said.

"Hello?" Jay said in an exasperated tone.

Her father turned to her, raising his eyebrows. "Yes?"

Finally, Jay nearly rolled her eyes but refrained from doing so. "You said there were others before me?"

"Yes," Samuel nodded.

"This means you know something about them, right? You can teach me about the history behind exactly what I am and can do?" Jay asked hopefully. She had been in the dark for so long about what she was. This was her chance to figure herself out.

Her father's face fell into pity as he shook his head slightly. "I'm afraid it's not that easy." Jay's heart clenched as she heard this. She hoped to learn something that could help her, but she was stuck in the same place as before. "There is very little known about your kind because something like this hasn't existed in centuries upon centuries."

"I'm not ready to believe no one knows anything about hybrids. There has to be someone who knows something or even has something written down somewhere." Jay wasn't ready to give up just like that. She couldn't live her entire life without knowing herself.

"Don't you go looking for trouble, young lady," Jay's father took a step toward her as his voice became deathly serious. "If you start asking questions about this, someone will figure out what you are, and they will kill you."

Jay shook her head, clenching her fists by her side. "I can't go on not knowing anything." Although Jay wanted her voice to sound angry, it came out in a whisper of frustrated sadness.

Jay's father placed a hand on her shoulder. His calloused hand held onto her with an iron grip. "You need to play things smart. I will do some digging on this, okay?"

"We both will." Jay smiled as Samuel also came to stand beside her.

Jay took in a lungful of air before looking at both of them. "Thank you, both of you. I know how crazy this situation is, but you both are still willing to help me. Thank you."