Family

We started slowing as we reached Port Angeles city limits. I had no idea why we were here, but Thackery seemed to know what he was doing. It had started to rain a few minutes after we had left the clearing. None of us were surprised, and the rain never slowed our progress.

I had noticed the vast difference in Tine’s personality compared to her brother‘s. She seemed full of so much energy. Most of the time she jumped from the tree limbs instead of weaving through the trees like we did. Her laughter was a constant on our trip. She just had an aura of happiness around her.

Thackery had a melancholy air about him. He moved with purpose. When he smiled, there seemed to be an unknown sadness hidden behind his eyes.

The two may have been brother and sister, but they were very different from each other.

I watched Tine jump from a limb and twist gracefully in the air. She pulled off a complete flip while her body stayed strait and spun halfway around to face the opposite direction. After she had placed one foot on the next branch, she used her momentum to carry her into a back flip. She grabbed another branch mid flip and stood in a handstand for a fraction of a second before she brought her feet strait down and propelled herself out of the trees. She landed softly on the ground in front of me. She smiled and kissed my cheek. It was the kind of kiss on the cheek like I would get from some of my old friends. Of course they were all girls, but it was just friendship. Before I could react, she had flipped into another handstand and twisted around to face the same direction we were.

“I’m curious, how did you and Thackery get into all this?” I ask.

They both froze so suddenly that Tiffany and I shot past them. We did an about-face and slowly walked back to them. The three of them seemed to be having a telepathic conversation. Mell and Tine both looked at Thackery with worried expressions. Thackery closed his eyes and looked off into the trees. He set Mell down and turned to walk away. “Tell him,” he muttered. Mell took his face in her hands and made him look into her eyes, which looked at him with such intensity that I knew she told him not to think what ever he was thinking. He looked away. They still held hands as they ran into the forest. Tiffany started to follow, but I stopped her. I knew they wanted to be alone.

Tine looked at the spot where her brother vanished with a worried expression.

She sighed and looked at me. “He says you have a right to know, and, for him, that means he trust you. Well if I‘m going to tell you, I might as well tell you our whole story.” She sighed again and looked at the dark sky, which still poured rain.

“We were born in the small town of Halland, England. Thackery was four when I was born in 1571. Even at that age, he helped take care of me. We lived in a small house on the far edge of the town. He mostly helped Father on the farm while Mother and I cleaned the house. One day, Thackery and I were out by a creek picking daisies. I was four at the time so I don’t remember much, but he told me all about it. Mother had said that we didn’t get out enough, so she gave us the day off to be kids. Thackery knew that I loved daisies so he took me to a field of them. I was picking some for Mother; she liked them as much as I did. I remember them. They were the most beautiful white daisies I’d ever seen. I knew Mother would be proud.

“We heard loud bangs in the distance toward the house. Thackery decided that it would be best to head back and see what had happened. When we returned to the house, Thackery knew something was wrong. He told me to wait in the bushes while he went to find Father. I waited for about 10 minutes before I started after him. I didn’t like sitting there alone. He had went around back thinking that Father would be tending to the animals. I went inside to look for Mother and show her the beautiful flowers I had gotten her. I found her laying face down in the kitchen floor. I tried to wake her, but she wouldn’t move. She felt so cold. That’s when I noticed the red liquid that had pooled beside her. I’m not sure if I knew what had happened or not, but I had to get Thackery. I screamed so loud that it hurt my lungs. It took him less than a minute to come bursting into the room, tears streaming down his face. He had blood on his hands, and I knew instinctively that Father was just as Mother.

“After that, we went to live with our aunt and uncle. Thackery took care of me himself mostly. Things went well until I hit age thirteen. Thackery was seventeen and was gone most of the day working. Our aunt was in town often, leaving Uncle and I alone for several hours at a time. The way he had started looking at me made me afraid.” She bared her teeth and a slight growl built in her chest. “ On several occasions he had touched me where he shouldn’t have, but he was a big man so I didn’t want to anger him. I was to terrified to tell anyone the things he did while they were away. Thackery ask why I kept walking funny, but I told him it was nothing. One night, Uncle thought everyone was asleep, so he came into my room. Thackery had heard me tossing in my bed and had come to see what was wrong. He found me half stripped with tears in my eyes and Uncle holding me down with his hand over my mouth. Uncle may have been big, but Thackery was much faster and younger. Before Uncle had ever noticed that Thackery was there, Thackery had crossed the room in two long steps and dove into him, knocking him into the floor. Uncle threw Thackery off him and stood quickly, pulling up his pants. Thackery was beyond rage. He lunged at Uncle and managed to lock his arms around his throat. Our aunt had heard the commotion and came running in just in time to see Uncle pass out. She was furious that Thackery had attacked her husband, but refused to accept that he had attacked me first. Thackery decided that we could no longer stay there, so he and I went to stay with some friends of his.

“About three years later, Thackery got a chance to help start a colony on some new land that had been found. He packed our things and we left immediately for this newly found land. He promised that we would have a better life there. The new colony was established as Roanoke. Unfortunately Thackery had been wrong about us having a better life. Supplies were scarce and the native tribes continuously harassed the colony. But he wouldn’t lose hope. ’Things will get better,’ he would always say. We muddled through for two years.

“One day I was exploring the woods when one of the natives came out of nowhere and attacked. I knew something was different about him. His eyes were the strangest shade of violet, and he was so fast! His teeth sank into my shoulder. Instant pain shot through my whole body. It felt like a fire had been set off inside me, charring everything. I heard the leaves crunching behind me and felt him release me. I was unconscious before I hit the ground. I woke up on the forest floor at night coved in green leaves. I was surprised to hear Thackery calling my name, though he was clearly more than a mile away. I stood and realized that I had no marks on my arm, but there were holes in my shirt where the teeth had cut through. I ran to Thackery as fast as I could, and was shocked to find out just how fast that was. As I got closer I noticed a burning in my throat, and the smell of Thackery’s blood made it worse. Without thinking, I lunged at him, my teeth sinking into his neck. Realizing what I had done, I pulled away from him. He looked at me with terror on his face. I couldn’t watch. I turned and ran as far away from him as I could. I curled up under a large onyx boulder and cried myself to sleep.

“The next evening I heard footsteps coming towards me. I was afraid that I might attack them too, so I held my breath and kept very still. The boulder suddenly lifted up and the moonlight flooded over me. Thackery stood there holding the boulder as if it weighed ten pounds, smiling at me. We thought it would be best not to return to the colony. Thackery was twenty two so he knew how to hunt, although we soon established that normal weapons were pointless. Our speed and strength out matched anything we went up against. Plus any wound we received was quickly healed. A few years later, we learned that the colony of Roanoke had just vanished. We had an idea of what could have wiped them out. We wondered the forests for several decades, only going into town when we wanted updates on what was going on in the world and to steal new clothes. Mell joined us in 1792, but that’s another story for another time. After she joined, the three of us mostly wondered around at night because the sun hurt. We decided to come up here because we missed coming out during the day. Its mostly cloudy so it doesn’t burn.

“So I guess we’ve come full circle. I met Tiffany while I was hunting. I could smell the blood. Thackery and Mell were on another honey moon. Tiffany stayed with me for about a year before she went to the party and met you.” Tine smiled and shook her hair in the rain.

I let the whole story sink in. They were over five hundred years old! Stuck at twenty-two and eighteen.

Tine suddenly looked into the trees. A second later I heard footsteps closing in rapidly. Mell came running through the trees as fast as she could. A streak of blood ran down her cheek, though the wound that it came from had already been healed. There was another sound, then a body came flying out of the trees and smashed into a tall tree beside Tine. Thackery walked out of the trees glairing at the figure.

“We have to go,” he said urgently. “They are coming.”

I suddenly recognized the cloak the figure wore. It jumped to its feet, but Tine was suddenly on its back. The figure uttered a brief gasp before its head was suddenly turned backward. It fell to its knees and turned to ash. I heard more footsteps as they approached. We turned and sprinted towards the city. They wouldn’t attack in a crowded place would they? I hoped not.

Reviews

[Scarlett Secret]

I'm hooked! The story is coming along nicely. Great flashback also. It really explained a lot.