The Turning

Chapter Two

When I walked through the door of my house, I noticed my mother standing in the dining room speaking to someone that I haven't seen before. He was tall, about six foot, short cropped gray hair and wore a gray plaid sweater and blue jeans. His baritone voice was quiet and calm as he spoke to my mother. As soon as they heard the door open and saw me walking through it with a confused look on my face they stopped talking.

"Mom," I said without taking my gaze off of the man. "Who is he?" My question lingered in the air like a piece of fine thread for a brief moment and while my brain was still gathering up a load of questions for my mother, my gaze strayed to the stranger. He was close to being pale, lines of age visible but not showing entirely, and he had an aura about him that I couldn’t place. I raised my eyebrow in confusion and my eyes went to my mother again who had moved around the man that stood in the dining room.

“Maya-Lynn,” my mother said calmly. “I’d like to introduce you to someone. He came all the way from Romania to have a talk with you about something very important.” My mother’s hand went to brush a lock of black hair behind her ear as if she was nervous to even bring up the subject. “Then after I’d like to talk to you about something that I have been keeping back from you as well.” The last part made me raise my eyebrow in question. What could my mother want to talk to me about that she seemed to have kept from me?

I looked back at the man who had shifted stances to look at me. His own gaze was intense as though he too kept a thousand secrets behind those pupils. “Maya-Lynn,” the man said in his baritone voice. “My name is Sven Kraven. I came here on an ordered visit to speak with you about something that will change your life.”

My heart dropped at the sound of that, however, maybe a change of living is what I need. What about Lina and Matt? The thought crossed my mind but I brushed it off and decided to maul it over later. “Alright.” was the only thing that slipped past my lips. I went over to one of the chairs after grabbing a drink from the refrigerator and taking a sip. “What is it that you want to talk to me about?”

Sven Kraven, who had been standing this entire time, took the seat across from me and interlocked his fingers so that he could focus on the conversation ahead of us. “I’m not sure if your mother has spoken to you about your heritage yet,” he began with a calm demeanor that set the mood. “And if she hadn’t,” Sven glanced over at my mother who was partially listening as she made herself comfortable on one of the kitchen seats that sat at the bar top then back at me. “I apologize on her behalf because you should have already been told so.”

My mother spun around briefly to defend herself. “I was waiting until her birthday to tell her everything.” She walked toward the cupboard and opened it, grabbing a glass, and quickly shutting it without grace as though she was showing her unease through her actions. “Now it seems,” she continued as she walked to the sink to fill the glass with tap water. “I don’t have much choice but to explain what is goin on.” With that she turned and placed her focus on me.

Sven turned his head to look at my mother. “It was only a matter of time before she would have eventually found out the truth. You truly do not understand the mindset of teens in this day in age, Milly”

My mother’s stance seemed to soften some at what Sven had said and the grip that she had on her cup loosened. “I suppose you’re right I should be the one to have to explain things to her and not someone else.”

“I am literally right here.” I said as I waved my hands to get both of their attention. “Can anyone get to the explaining part of what is going on?”

My mother shook her head and mumbled, “Right,” she set her glass down on the counter and turned toward me and Sven with a nervous stance. “The reason why Sven is here,” she ran a hand through her hair and continued. “It's because you're not normal.”

“Normal? What does that even mean?” I asked dumbfounded. “This is all too confusing so can you just tell me.” I nearly demanded in a raised tone that I normally don’t conduct with my mother. I waited, hoping that my mother would define what she even meant.

“You’re not fully human.” My mother said after thirty seconds of silence between me, my mother, and Sven who seemed like he had something to say after I glanced his way in shock at what my mother had just said.

I sat there for a moment trying to process what was going on. “What?” was all that came out of my mouth as I subconsciously stood and began to pace back and forth.

“What your mother is trying to say,” Sven said after another moment of silence. “Is that you come from a line of ancestors based upon vampires and that your history goes a long way from that of royalty and warriors.” The explanation seemed to hang in the air like a thread as I still attempted to process the information that was being provided. “Have you ever had the urge to hunt?”

I turned and eyeballed Sven like he was a lunatic. “No,” I said sharply. “What kind of question is that?”

“I understand that you're confused but it will soon happen.” Sven responded lightly. “Has your mother ever told you of her involvement with vampires?”

“No,” I replied as I still paced frantically back and forth, still trying my hardest to contemplate everything that was happening in this very moment. I looked back at my mother who was fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. “She hasn’t told me anything about her past. Not yet at least. I thought vampires were a thing of lore and myth? They don’t exist.”

“Oh but they do.” Sven said as he stood from the table. I looked at him and realized that he was paler than me and my mother put together. His black hair glistened underneath the dining room light and eyes which pierced the soul had been glowing a bright red.

My hand went to my throat but not a sound came from me as I watched Sven’s glowing red eyes watch me intensely then his teeth elongated to two sharp points. I should have been scared but I wasn’t. The myth about vampires was true just as I had suspected all along. I bit my lower lip and tried to find something to say but nothing seemed to come to mind. After a moment of thought, I spoke. “Why haven’t I shown signs of becoming a vampire?” I asked, which seemed logical in my case. I didn’t understand why, after all this time, this secret that my mother had been keeping from me, hadn't I shown any actual signs of vampirism. “I mean if I was one shouldn’t I be craving blood and hiding from the sun?”

“You’re human as well,” Sven said. “Your mother dated your father back in Transylvania when she was on vacation before you were even conceived.”

My brain stumbled over the movie Blade and it made me wonder if the term Day Walker had fitted my situation but my question of what I was still needed to be answered. “So what does that make me then?” I crunched my eyes together to show Sven that I was curious. “What about you? How did you manage to get in the house in broad daylight if you’re a vampire?”

“I arrived last night and slept in one of the guest rooms that your mother had prepared for me with black out curtains.” Sven said with an air of dominance as though he was trying to show. “As for what you are, it’s pretty simple. When a human and vampire intertwine, their traits mingle to make a sunwalker.”

“Similar to Daywalker in the Movie Blade,” I stated with a grin. “It cuts close to home to what I was originally thinking.” I shrugged. “It still doesn’t make sense why you're here though.”

Sven took a deep breath and retracted his fangs and sat back down his chair. “The reason that I am here,” he began in a light tone that I swore was meant for a small child. “Is due to the fact that our clan isn’t in the best place right now and we need the next heir on the throne as soon as possible and given your experiences as a human, you're not ready to be in our realm just yet.”

“So not only am I a vampire s***h human,” I said sarcastically. “But also next in line to be queen?” I turned to my mother with my hands on my hips and scolded her. “I don’t care how long you were going to wait to tell me,” I nearly snapped through gritted teeth. “The least you could do was nudge the idea a little at a time in my direction about what was to come for me later on in life.”

“I know I should have done so but I was afraid of what was to come if I told you the whole truth.” My mother defended herself nervously as if she had grown scared of me all of a sudden. Why she should be is beyond me. “I love you and that will never change but as your mother, some secrets need to be kept in order for me to keep you safe. It is why I chose to wait until you turned eighteen this month to explain everything.” My mother looked past me to Sven who sat there in silence. “But someone had to be a homewrecker and beat me to the punch.”

It all clicked into place. My birthday was at the very end of the month and a day that I always hated looking forward to and still is now that I know what to expect. “What happens after my birthday?” I asked, hoping that it was nothing bad.

“Sven wasn’t even supposed to be here,” my mother pointed out. “I made a promise to the clan that once you turned the proper age that I’d explain everything then take you on vacation for a while so you could relax.” her explanation shook me a little but I continued to listen. “Then introduce you to the rest of the relatives and hope that you’d make a decision.”

“What decision?” I asked her. “What could I possibly want out of all of this?” I waved at Sven but more so out of what he was.

“The decision to become a full vampire and learn their ways and become their queen.” She licked her lips and leaned back against the counter, leaving me speechless and thinking…