The Devlin Family

"We are all dangerous." Your mother's voice replies. "We're monsters darling."

"You know what I mean."

"Yes." She sighs sadly. "But she is our daughter. We are her family. She deserves a place here."

"She almost destroyed you. I didn't even know that was possible."

"Yes." Your mother says, shaken to her core. "But I survived."

"Barely. Lilith, listen to me. She cannot be controlled. She cannot be contained. She cannot be reasoned with." There is a sound of a fist slamming down. "I cannot even find out anything about what she is in any of the ancient texts. Who knows what she is capable of. How do you raise a child you cannot understand or connect with or even discipline?"

"You humans seem to think love is the answer to everything. We could try that."

"I'm not sure she understands such mundane feelings. I don't think she even realizes what we are to her." There is a sound of someone slumping down heavily into a chair. "You know I love her but...she scares me."

"I know Samael, I know. Me too."

"We have to protect Jacob and the others. I'm not even sure the power of his enchantment is enough. She is dangerous Lilith, to all of us."

In an even more sorrowful tone your mom replies. "I know."

"She can't stay here." He mumbles something under his breath then says. "She'll be happier in the other place. Perhaps she'll find more of her kind there. She can live her life in a place better suited for her. She's not meant for this world. This is for the best."

"They sent you away." You whisper and lightly stroke your fingers along the edge of her oval face. "To protect me. I'm so sorry."

The sounds around you change. Another scene from another time. There are the heavy clomping of feet then the slamming of a door.

"She was here again!" It was your father again.

"Vespera?" Your mother asks.

"Ves was here?" Your big sister Devany echoes.

"Yes!" There is the sound of anxious pacing. "Bron saw her face in the shadows. How does she get through the wards? Why does she keep returning? There is nothing for her here. Why won't she leave us alone?"

"We're her family." Mom says.

"I'm not sure that matters to a thing like her. No, it's not that." He says. "Perhaps it is simple curiosity, like an insect exploring a new place to colonize."

"She is not an insect."

"I know but...she doesn't think like we do. I haven't found a way of communicating with her. I've tried every spell I know. She can't talk, she can't write, she isn't telepathic, she doesn't react, she hardly even acknowledges me. I don't believe she's intelligent. I think she is just a thing that exists. I haven't been able to get through to her at all. Have you?"

"Not as such. I think there's more going on with her than we realize though. You should sit with her. Talk to her. Be with her." Your mom sighs. "There is a connection, I swear I feel something when I am with her. A mother's instinct perhaps? And she is shy, easily startled. We have to be patient."

"It's Jacob." Devany interjects. "It's usually around Jacob. Often when something is happening in his life. Tonight is his graduation. Last time was after that big fight he had at school."

"Is it him keeping her tethered to this place?" Father mutters. "They are twins. Could he be her weakness? Perhaps..." He trails off. "No. I'll redouble the wards. I've developed a new one that should..."

"Shhhh." Your mother says suddenly. "She's here." There is a shifting of people in seats. "Vespera, Vespera my child. Come out of those shadows my dear. Let us see you."

You hear soft gasps. Then, just as he had back at the library, you hear your father's voice take on the soft sweet tone of a concerned parent. "Vespera my sweet girl." Your heart breaks for your twin. Dad never realized she could hear him even when he couldn't sense her. He didn't know that she knew everything that had been said before. He didn't know that she knew they were trying to keep her away. Speaking to her as if she were a simple animal he continues. "Ves. It's so good to see you again."

The sounds change again. The noises of the house and the family fade replaced by a total fathomless silence that bends your mind just to hear it.

"Alone." Your sister says in a voice so soft you barely make it out.

A tentacle swipes over your wet cheek, wiping the steady stream of tears from your skin. She looks at it then wipes the rolling tears from your other cheek. You hadn't even realized you'd been weeping. How could they treat her like that? How could they not recognize their daughter was a creature of intellect and emotion?

"I'm sorry." You whisper. "I didn't know." You sniffle and wipe your nose. "Why didn't you talk with them? Like you do with me? Maybe they would have listened."

Her ghostly face tilts a few degrees. "Together...Twin...Connection."

"Connection? You mean...am I the first person you've ever spoken to?"

"Jacob."

***

Just as you go to pull her into another firm comforting hug a great flash of brilliant white light sweeps through the room. In an instant your sister is gone from your arms, her sudden lack of support causing you to tumble off the foot of the bed and onto the floor. The light flows from the interior wall out toward exterior one and after just a few seconds is gone again, leaving your room dim like it had been before Vespera arrived.

"No!" You scramble up to your hands and knees desperately looking around for your twin but you could sense her absence from the room. After finally learning about her your twin had been literally ripped from your arms! "Ves? Ves? Are you here?"

You hear the breeze outside and the normal deep creaking of the old manor. Everything back to normal. Getting to your feet you make your way to the darkest corner of the room and run your grasping hands over the wall as if you might dig through it.

"Ves? Ves, where are you? Vespera?" You slam your fists into the wall. "NO! Come back, please!"

You hear a squishy knock on your door. "Jake?" Then, from under the bottom of the door, you see a pair of purple jelly lips pop through. "Are you okay?"

You storm toward the door and swing it open. Trixie's mouth glides up her humanoid shaped body to return to is proper place on her face. She looks at you with her big candy apple red eyes.

"What was that?" You ask her. "That light?"

"Oh that." She smiles. "That was just a spell. A protection spell, a whopper of a spell too! You'll get used to them." She giggles. "It must be so weird suddenly seeing all this stuff for the first time." She moves to hug you but you avoid it. "Do you want your present? I got you something for your birthday."

You let out a frustrated huff and settle yourself. You had already hurt her feelings once tonight despite none of this being her fault. "No. No thank you Trixie. Tomorrow?"

She nods. "Okay." She spluts her hands together, forming them together, and looks up at you with a big pout. "You mad at me Jake?"

"No. It's just been a hell of a night."

"Yeah, I guess. I'm still Trixie though. I'm still your silly little Sis."

You nod and give her a glum grin. "I know. Sorry. I haven't been very nice, have I?"

"It's okay."

As much as you didn't want to be rude you had bigger fish to fry right now. "Hey, uh, do you know where Dad is?"

"Up in his tower for sure." She says. "That's where he casts the big spells."

"Thank you." With that you slip around her and march down the hall.

"Hey! We're not allowed up there!" She calls after you.

You don't look back as you make your way through the house toward the tower that stood at the far end of the East wing. You were angry, so angry. You could hardly remember ever being so mad. As you are approaching down the long dim hallway toward the great iron door to your father's private sanctum you watch as he steps out. He waves a hand, makes a gesture, and mutters what you guess is an incantation behind him before turning your way. He looked tired and drawn out.

"Jacob!" He stops, surprised to see you. He takes note of your nightwear and mussed up hair. "Did the light wake you? I forgot about you seeing these things now. I'm sorry if it woke you."

"Father." You growl through gritted teeth.

A look of patient understanding washes over him when he sees your mood. "You are angry. About the big reveal. Again, I apologize son. Did you have a bad dream?"

"Don't condescend to me!" You stride up to him, fists clenched at your sides. "It's about my sister, Vespera."

Your father's entire demeanor shifts. His face falls deadly serious, his presence seems to fill the hall, and crackling power buzzes through the air around you. For the first time in your life...you were afraid of him. His look wasn't the caring expression of a concerned father but the cold steel gaze of a man accustomed to and capable of great violence. All of your gusto is gone as you suddenly felt very very small. The others of your family weren't the only ones revealed to be not what you assumed this night. Dad might be human but he had secrets as well.

He steps closer, his voice still as calm as a mountain lake yet with powerful currents shifting just beneath the surface. "What about Vespera?"

"Um..." You stutter.

"Did you see her?" He presses. "If you see her you must tell us. She is very dangerous Jacob. Speak up. Now."

A voice revealed to you from the past echoes in your mind, his voice from a few years back. "Is it him keeping her tethered to this place? They are twins. Could he be her weakness?" The memory shakes you to the core. Weakness? He was looking for a weakness in your sister. To banish her permanently? Or worse!? You knew you shared a special connection with her, what if he was right? What if he learned to use you to get to her? You needed time to think about this before you revealed anything.

"Hhhmm." You clear your throat as you do your very best to keep your cool while still acting angry. "No I didn't see her, thank God! She was so scary!" You bluff. "The others, I mean, yeah they're scary but...she is terrifying! I hate her! I want nothing to do with...it! Why didn't you tell me I had a thing like that as my twin? Why didn't you tell I had a twin?"

His face returns to normal and his tight shoulders relax, the crackling energy dissipates. He pats your shoulder. "I wish I could have told you everything son, I really do." He smiles. "Don't worry. She won't be able to get to you for a while. Don't you worry about a thing my boy, we will protect you. But I stress that you must let us know if you ever see her." He looks into your eyes in that serious father-son sort of way. "Okay?"

You let out a sigh and nod. "Okay. Thanks Dad."

He pulls you in for a hug which you return stiffly. "I know this will be an adjustment. Give it time. You'll get used to it."

"Yeah, thanks Dad. Sorry about this just...after the day I had, I think seeing that spell just triggered something."

"No worries." He pats your shoulder again. "Go to bed Jacob. Everything will seem better in the morning, you'll see."

"Yeah." You nod. "I'll do that. Thanks Dad."

"Anytime." He smiles.

One last hug is exchanged before you turn and head back down the hall. Instead of heading to your room however you zip down stairs and make a beeline for the back kitchen door.

***

You make your way through the manor's expansive kitchen toward the back door. You were still in only your pajamas but you didn't care. Slipping into a pair of rubber wellingtons you kept back here you head straight to the door without your keys, jacket, phone or anything. Having Ves torn from your arms just as the pair of you had found a connection had left you desperate to find her again. That protection spell your father had cast must have a range to it, surely it couldn't cover the entire estate and all the lands around it. After such a hopeful beginning you simply had to find your sister again.

You reach for the door knob when you hear the voice of your mother.

"Jacob."

You stop but you don't turn. "You can't stop me."

"I know." She says in that strangely familiar yet new voice of hers. The tones were richer and more velvety yet beneath it is still the voice of your mom. She approaches you from behind. You turn to face her, taking a breath to talk she stops you by placing an index finger gently upon your lips. Her clawed nail scratches your nose just slightly. Looking into your eyes, her own glowing like amber coals, she whispers. "Shhh. The less I know the better." She lowers her hand and smiles at you. There, within that unnaturally sexual demonic form, you see a wholesome love and a deep pride beaming from within her. "How quickly you became a man. It seems but a moment ago I first held you in my arms." She runs her hands over your shoulders and down your arms. "I've watched human history unfold my child, I've been a part of it. I've danced around bonfires in celebration of the first successful mammoth hunt, I shared a bed with Gilgamesh, I sat as an audience of one for Nero as his city burned." She squeezes your arms. "I've seen human men at their best and at their very worst. Men great and terrible, powerful and humble, men of dignity and men of vulgarity. Men of every imaginable variety from every corner of this world." She steps in closer. "Of all those countless men over all those millenia there is one, only one, that I call son." She leans in and softly kisses your cheek, her merest touch sending tingles down your body. "Be careful Jacob."

You look over her horns, her rosy skin, her glowing eyes, her sharp teeth, and her pointed ears...yet all you can see is...

"Mom."

She lets out a soft breath and her smile widens. Reaching past you she takes the crimson and dark gray cashmere shawl she kept on the wooden hooks by the door. She lovingly wraps it around your shoulders then pats your chest. "It's chilly outside. I don't want you catching cold."

You smile a warm honest smile and pull the soft garment closer around you.

She then steps back from you with a slow nod of understanding. Her arms linger in your direction, outstretched almost as if she were letting a dove fly free.

Holding the shawl together at your chest with one hand you turn and head out the door. Looking back to tell her that you loved her you find the kitchen empty, your mother already gone. You whisper the words anyway then turn back and head out into the cool dark night beyond.

***

You immediately regret your choice of footwear as the thick loose rubber boots clomp loudly over the stone tiles of the veranda, the cobbled terrace and then down the steep stairs but you carry on regardless. You are thankful for your mother's shawl as an unseasonably cool wind blew this night. You surely look ridiculous. Cotton blue striped pajamas, big ol' gumboots, and a fine elegant woman's shawl around you. But you weren't out here to win any fashion contest. Walking with purpose you weave through the garden paths trying to put some distance between you and the manor. It is dark but the half moon hanging in the clear star filled sky gave you just enough illumination to navigate by.

Only once you are past the towering Gothic fountain that dominated the center of the manicured garden do you even consider where you were actually going. You were looking for somewhere away from the light but really that was everywhere. You keep pushing forward and straight into the entrance of the tall hedge maze not worried about becoming lost as you knew the labyrinthine paths of this place by heart.

You are only 20 yards in however when you pull up short and stare at a wall of greenery that ought not to be there.

"What the heck?" You mutter to yourself. Thinking back you retrace your steps in your mind to be sure you hadn't taken a wrong turn. No, you had taken the usual path. With a shake of your head you turn to head back to the entrance when you discover the path behind you now blocked by the tangled mass of branches and leaves that made up the walls of this place. "Oh shit."

It strikes you then. Magic is real. Monsters are real. In this estate especially. The enchantment that broke at 8:44 pm had kept it all at bay. You were suddenly far less brave than you had been just moments ago. What might be out here right now? And how do you find your way out of a magical maze? Your eyes dart around fearfully. The once familiar hedges now spooky. Your imaginations conjures danger lurking in every shadow. You start at the sound of a gust of wind shaking the plants.

You look up to the moon and take a deep calming breath. For a moment you consider trying to find your way back toward the house but in the end you push forward, traversing the new unfamiliar paths and trying to keep track as best you could.

"Ves." You whisper as you walk. "Can you hear me? If you can hear me please come see me again."

Again and again you are frustrated by one dead end after another. After only a few minutes you are hopelessly lost, you had no clue where you were within the maze. All you could do is keep moving.

"Vespera. It's me, Jacob." You continue to talk, your voice providing comfort from the otherwise creepy night sounds. An owl hoots in the distance and you nearly jump from your boots. "Stupid owl. Ves, can you hear me? Are you okay? Did the spell hurt you? Please come back."

You keep looking for a place where the darkness gathers but you receive no sign your sister is anywhere near. Pulling the soft and surprisingly warm shawl tight around your body you carry on, praying you survived your first night in this new world of the supernatural. You keep walking for another 50 or 60 minutes taking one wrong turn after another, you weren't even sure if there were such a thing as a right turn in this ever shifting maze. Hope begins to fade and you were already picturing the morning when one of your more special family members would have to come rescue their stupid human kin from the backyard maze. Keeping Vespera firmly in your thoughts you soldier on for just a bit longer.

Just as you are about to stop you pass by a corridor that leads not out but to a feature you'd never seen before. You stop in your tracks and walk back to peer down the path. At the end it opened up into a square area with more maze on every side, a great vine arch framing each exit. It seemed to be a centerpiece of the maze yet you had never seen this area before. In the middle stood a fountain identical to the one back in the main garden, just smaller. It's tip not quite rising high enough to stand taller than the hedges around it. With hope returning you start forward. If nothing else it will be nice to get to a space without these high looming walls bearing down so closely.

Hurrying in hopes that you can get there before the maze shifts again you hit the threshold of the interior yard and pass under the arch of vines. In the blink of an eye the long twisting vines come alive! Whipping down around you thorns scratch your face and attempt to ensnare you. Acting on instinct you fight for your life, just as you had with Vespera's tentacles earlier. To your surprise the flailing thorny creepers find no purchase on you. They slip off of the shawl you wear like butter gliding across a hot Teflon pan. Your boots are claimed in the brief struggle but you soon find yourself safely out of their reach. Sitting on the ground you look back at the thrashing chaos in disbelief, your heart beating like a jackhammer.

Looking down at the thin woolly shawl you run a hand over its smooth surface. It didn't show any sign of damage from the encounter. Looking back in the direction you believed the house to be you whisper. "Thanks Mom." The vines tear your boots to bits before quickly twisting back together and returning to a still quiet harmless looking archway. You get to your feet and check yourself over, all seemed fine.