Drawn to Love

Chapter 19

Landon got in the vehicle with Seylah, still wanting answers. He was a little nervous still being alone with her, but she didn't seem like she wanted to hurt him anymore. Hope was in the car they had used to get here to follow after the other car. Her werewolf senses were focused on Landon and the woman who gave birth to him, wanting to make sure everything was going alright. Seylah didn't stop until she reached a distanced motel. Hope parked near her. Seylah got a room for them to stop at, and the three of them went inside.

"Okay, we're gonna need some answers" Hope said, not taking a moment to ease into it. "Considering you brought us here instead of killing us outright, I assume you are finally starting to believe us?"

"I do believe he is my son." she said, her gaze on Landon.

"What's your story?" Hope questioned. "Landon has told you his. It's time for you to tell yours"

"Hope" Landon spoke up, wanting to not just be really blunt about the questions. He didn't want to mess things up here more than they had already gotten. Especially if she was now believing him.

"I know you just want to be around her and not mess anything up, but we both came here for answers" she reminded him as she took a seat beside him on the bed.

"It's alright, Landon. When I finished my service in the army, I was recruited by an intelligence organization. The States sounded like a better life. I didn't know what I was signing up for, but soon I learned that things like you exist in this world" Seylah said, looking at Hope. "Whenever a monster went bump in the night and risked exposing the truth, I tracked it down and brought it back to headquarters."

"We're not monsters" Hope said with a small frown on her face.

"You are to me"

The words made Hope fall quiet, and her gaze lowered for a moment before looking at Seylah, waiting for her to continue. She just wanted things to work out here. For Landon's sake. "This headquarters, where is it?" she asked finally.

"Sorry. You just seem morally inclined enough to do something stupid, and there's too much blood on my hands as it is." Seylah said. "A few years in, I saw something I shouldn't. I became the hunted instead of the hunter. I wanted to know what was happening to the monsters. Because even though I spent all that time studying their every move, I couldn't remember them at all. So I started taking notes. I realized my memory was being erased. The question was: How?"

"Malivore." Hope said. "Landon took a knife that was an artifact we came across. Now monsters that shouldn't exist have been coming after it ever since. The last monster that came for the knife was a Necromancer who screwed us over and returned it back to Malivore"

Landon reached over and took Hope's hand in his, knowing how much whatever happened had affected her. She gave him a small grateful smile, appreciating it before looking back at Seylah. "It's a long story, but he said that the knife is one of three keys that kept Malivore contained so why are monsters still coming?"

"Go home and forget you heard the name, just like we forget anyone who's ever been there." Seylah stood up to leave.

Landon dropped Hope's hand and stood up. "Wait, wait, wait, wait. You-you have to tell us more. I mean..."

"I don't know who your father is. My job was stressful, so I had flings to blow off steam. Got pregnant, and I'm not equipped to be a mother. Sorry. I thought I was giving you a better life." Seylah headed out of the room, leaving Landon devastated at how this was turning out.

Hope sighed softly and looked at Landon. She didn't say a word but instead used her senses to follow the sound of Seylah as she headed down to the pool. "She's just getting some air. I think she's down near the pool" she guessed. "I'll give her some time to cool off and deal with whatever emotions she is keeping buried before I talk to her."