Unknown L (Book 1)

~~~ Training, Training, Training! ~~~

L watched Vadim walk through the opening and hesitated for a moment before following him in. The wall closed up behind them, and L's eyes automatically switched to Werewolf vision. She was able to see in the dark now, one of the very few perks of her training with Katherine.

L looked out at the wide, cavernous room and noticed how it descended down two floors and partially underground. She was trying to make out the finer points of the room when Vadim spoke a word, and light bloomed all around them. It took a moment for L's eyes to adjust, but she was amazed at what she saw. It seemed to be something like a giant storage room. There were piles of books everywhere; boxes labelled clothes, tables with strange items placed on them, and other things L couldn't recognise.

The sheer amount of things in the room was incredible, but the feeling L got from it was even more so, she felt pulled towards them. She automatically moved closer to a pile of books and ran her fingers over the cover. She had never been drawn to books before, and she couldn't even read the language on this one. She inched around to the boxes of clothes, noticing how they were similar to the ones Matilda had brought her. L turned around to look at Vadim, who was watching her with a soft smile.

"This all belonged to my kind, didn't it? To Keepers... and probably, to my parents as well?"

"Yes, it did belong to them. When you awoke that memory of the photo, you also awoke a memory of this room. Your parents must have hid it from me just in case anything happened. They protected it all very closely." He gestured around them. "Everything in this room belongs to you now. There are pieces of your history and culture here. From now on, you will be the only one able to get in and out. You just have to touch your hand to the wall, and it will allow you entry."

L couldn't believe it. She turned back to the room again and moved in an almost trance-like state through more of the items.

She didn't recognise a lot of things, but she had a feeling it would all be explained in the books she passed. She felt a lump forming in her throat. She tried her best to push it down as she leaned over to pick something up. It was a wooden mobile to hang over a baby cot. It had all kinds of carved creatures dangling from it. They had been made cuter by whoever carved them, but it was so intricately made and still in mint condition. L looked it over and shook her head. There was no way.

She heard Vadim clear his throat, and she turned around to see him watching her with a sad smile.

"That is what you think it is. Your parents would have had it passed down from one of their parents... I'm not sure they even got the chance to use it." He sighed and beckoned for her to walk with him.

She set the mobile down carefully, and they headed back out of the room. Once they were out, the wall closed up behind them. L was trying to ignore the tears rolling down her cheeks while she looked anywhere but at Vadim.

She heard him sigh and peeked around to see him looking guiltily at her.

"Maybe that wasn't the best way to start the day. I just thought it would be nice for you to know you do have more than just a few scraps of who you are."

L swallowed around the lump in her throat, "It is something I wanted to know, and I'm glad you showed me, I wish you'd shown me sooner, actually."

Vadim frowned and began to walk, only speaking when she was in step with him.

"As a Warlock, I'm very aware of those around me and how they think or feel. I can't read minds, don't worry, but I can empathise very well. I know how overwhelmed you've been with training and everything that has been piled onto you since meeting Bryce... Sorry... So I didn't want to give you everything to deal with in one fell swoop. It just felt like it was finally the right time."