The Window to the Soul

Chapter 11: Storytime

~

While Dante and Gabriel talked in the laundry room, I decided it was best to leave the scene of the "crime". Maybe Riley could give me some more background on this whole dilemma. I found him in the backyard, reclining on an old lawn chair. Taking my seat next to him, he glanced over, arching an eyebrow.

"Too much drama inside for you?" he snickered.

"Yeah. I was hoping you could uh, give me insight into all this," I responded.

He sighed. Running a hand through his blonde waves he looked back at me.

"I'll try my best. What is it that you want to know?"

"Everything."

"Yeah, I will try my best to cover as much as I can." He put his hands behind his head and gazed up at the setting sun.

"Well, I guess I will start with Colton, because he's the youngest. Colton grew up in Nebraska, in the suburbs of Omaha. His parents, Frank and Liz were super supportive, and were always catering to his every need, hence his caring personality. He woke up one day, and found his parents decapitated in his room. He went to call the cops, but instead was attacked by a vampire who turned him when he was 14 and changed his perfect little life forever. We have discussed this many times, but we can't find any connection between his parent's deaths and the vampire that turned him. We found him on the side of a road in Lincon, about 60 miles south of his home. He was beaten up and in bad shape, so we took him in. I guess he just kind of become part of the family, you know?"

I was really depressed after hearing his story, but I know it would only get worse from here. Riley paused for a minute, as if considering whether or not to continue with this touchy subject.

"Gabriel, he's a different story. He was actually born in Madrid, Spain, but besides his dark hair and ability to speak Spanish fluently you'd never know he was foreign. His parents took him to the states when he was about 2 years old, where they settled down in Washington. His mom and dad were constantly working, sometimes overseas on business, so he had to have a babysitter most of the time. Well, when he turned 15, his parents divorced, leaving him stuck in the middle. His mom moved back to Spain to pursue a career in marketing and his dad stayed back behind in the US. Day after day, his dad would abuse him, beating him up and then keeping him home from school so no one would ever see what he did to him. It's still a touchy subject for him today. Anyways,one day his dad let him leave the house to go get groceries and a vampire pulled him into an alleyway on his way home and turned him. He realized the new power he held. He ran home, only to find his dad with a baseball bat in hand,ready to punish him for "running away". Gabriel..he had had enough. He was fed up with everybody and his life. He wanted it to end, so he ended it."

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, the hard material of the chair poking my butt and making me fidget.

"Well, what did he do? You can't leave my hanging," I inquired. I found it odd that Gabriel lied to me in the car and said he was turned when Dante was.....why would he change the story? To cover up his murder?

Riley craned his neck behind us to check if anyone was close. Colton was in the kitchen shoving food in his mouth and bickering was still audible from the laundry room.

"He killed his dad. Ripped his throat out. To escape the pain and suffering, he went rouge, and your dad took him in. Gabriel thought Daniel, your dad, was helping him-but he sure as hell wasn't. He tried to use him for his own purposes as a hunter, but that eventually blew up in his face. He slaughtered most of your dad's men without hesitation. That's where he met Dante." he continued.

"Dante was the same age as Gabriel at the time, around 16 years old, when they encountered your father. Your dad was about 19 or 20 when this all happend, and was under the supervision of a "headmaster" or higher power. Your father carried on testing vampires after the other headmaster's servant died. He had had been running tests on Gabriel for the headmaster for hundreds of years, when he found Dante. Dante, well he wasn't too obedient, unlike Gabriel. Gabriel was pretty tame after being stuck in the lab for a century. Dante, on the other hand, was real feisty and temperamental. He knew what your father and his master were up to, and he wasn't going to let that happen. Everyday, Daniel tied him up in the basement, gave him barely any food or water, and ran tests on him. After he had gathered all the human tests he needed, he brought a uh, special "person" in- one that worked for him, to turn Dante. After the transformation was complete, he ran more tests. Painful, horrible things he did to him. Shooting him in the head with a shotgun, and then resuscitating him, to test how the new breed rebound from death. Dante escaped one day, killing everyone and everything in his path. He helped Gabriel escape, and they both ran from the scene, living their lives in the woods of Washington. Just recently actually, I have been having to watch him like a hawk. He has been known to lose his temper and go out and kill innocent people to make himself feel better. He really can be a handful at times."

A new breed? What the hell was he blabbering about..

He paused, picking some pieces of grass from the perfectly manicured lawn.

"I came across them when I was driving home from business, and picked them up no questions asked. It's been quite a ride, but I think I have managed to get them settled down. With your dad back in town though, I don't know how long I can keep the peace." he finished.

I noticed he didn't tell me much about his childhood or life; maybe it was too painful for him to talk about. I decided I would ask him only a couple more questions..he seemed to be exhausted. He also seemed not willing to talk about Dante's past two years.

"So, how old are you guys really?" I thought about it for a minute, not exactly finding an answer.

He smiled a little. The first time I had ever seen him somewhat happy.

"Well, Gabriel is around 116 years old, Colton is about 82 years old, and yours truly is around 220 years old." he smirked.

"Dante is 18, a year older than you. Well, that would be obvious since you grew up with him, and he was only turned a year ago."

"Well, you look pretty good for 220 years old." I laughed. "So, you are kind of like the 'mother hen' around here then?"

"Yeah, I guess. I'm the oldest and taught most of the boys from the start what they know today. They all look up to me, and most of them listen to me." he smiles at me.

I was glad I got to know Riley better, he seemed to be very mature, well, that is probably because he's ancient. I can't believe he got to live in the 1700s-

My thought was interrupted by a loud shout from the kitchen, followed by glass shattering. Riley shot up and out of his chair from beside me, putting his arm across my body as if protecting me from whatever danger was out there. He opened the sliding glass door, walking us both into the living room. Colton had a steak knife in his hand, and Gabriel was holding Dante back from something. Dante was staring at something, his blue eyes blazing in a fury. Shit. Why is he looking at me? I took a step back, and Riley tightened his hold on me.

"She caused all this shit to happen," Dante hissed.

He exchanged a glance with Colton, who put down the kitchen knife, and at Gabriel, who began to tighten his hold on Dante. His didn't react fast enough and Dante broke free, charging like a bull straight towards me. I screamed and shut my eyes, my hands going up to deflect my face. There was a hard smack and a crash, and I looked up to find Dante out cold on the hardwood floor and Riley recovering from the blow he had just obviously delivered to Dante's face.

~

~Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!

~G

(Who do you ship Zoella with?) ;)

~Dante

~Gabriel

~Colton

~Riley