Rise of the Night Witch

Chapter 5.9 - Siris, where are you?

"A vampire?" I muttered.

"I presume you are aware of what vampires are?" Cornelius asked.

"She did not believe she could control her bloodlust," Melas said. "So, she left and asked us not to tell anyone her current location."

My mother had been only sporadically present in my childhood, even before the "banishment". But, after she had saved me from that demon, I always thought she only had the best intentions. So, when she left me, I thought it was something forced on her.

It wasn't.

She went away. And she chose not to inform her family.

"Did she also say you shouldn't tell me?" I asked.

"No," Melas said. "She didn't. I think she hoped we would. Your father had always lived in denial which was why he could not tell you either."

I clenched a fist. I spent a lot of my childhood feeling miserable as, along with dealing with anxieties, I had wild theories about why Mom left me. That I was a burden or not good enough and these guys could have resolved it easily. "Is there a reason you didn't just tell me?"

"We could not rule out that you would become like her," Cornelius said.

"I was seven," I said, my voice low.

"Are you familiar with Fate?" Melas asked.

I blinked.

"God, Allah, Yahweh, Brahma, Coincidence, Destiny, almost everyone believes in a guiding cosmic principle, an ultimate cause for everything. It has many names, but I call it Fate. It might be just a law. It might be sentient. It might even be one of the Primordials. All I know is that Fate is real. The ultimate principle behind the Veil is that the supernatural shall not alter the natural course of history. Who decides how history ought to go, if not Fate? Your mother's fate is intertwined with yours. Even more so once you two gave your names to Samael."

There was so much I could have done now. Grab that picture frame, destroy a copy of Dracula, you name it. Destiny. What dumber excuse was there for anything than "destiny says so"?

"There is a reason we are telling you this," Melas said. "You have a Primordial now. You are a weapon. If you do what you did today, people might be worried you steal their worshippers. You wouldn't want to go into this world without a strong organization that protects you and who you can trust, right?"

"Right." Not like I had a chance.

"Good. I am sure you already knew this, but the Erlking was not alone. He was only part of a network. The Coven of Primordial Revenants helped him. They summoned a Primordial which took the Autumn King Gwyn ap Nudd out of commission and made him act like our enemy. We might encounter them again. Especially that, now with your home destroyed in the storm, you might need to move back to New York again."

I fell on my bed. School destroyed. Home destroyed. My whole natural life was destroyed.

There used to be times when I thought I could be a normal girl. Graduate school, find a good college, marry a rich man, and have kids.

But the natural world wasn't there anymore. My life was in ruins and I had to commit myself to the supernatural more fully.

Which was probably exactly what they wanted.

"What happens to me now?" I asked. "Will I ever get Siris back?"

"When did you lose him?" Cornelius asked.

"When I destroyed my school. That Primordial ate him, kinda."

"I am assuming you are not deliberately lying to me because I can sense his presence. Spirit guides are remarkable entities. They might appear as animals to most, but this holds only true when they want to be perceived as such." Tentacles of a shadow manifested around Cornelius as if to show what his familiar looked like.