The Mask Of The Monster - Chapter 85

(From Ella’s Perspective)

I was walking down the narrow alley. It did not take long for me to get out of the hidden passageway through the library. Jed had been keeping an eye so no one would go there. I was grateful to him. At least, I had a friend here who I could rely on.

I stopped in front of the fifth house on the left side. Should I have told Leandro about it? I could not believe I was still worrying about it. I took a deep breath, thinking it did not matter anymore. I had come here already and I was not going back.

Even though I thought about coming ten minutes earlier, I ended up taking more time in thinking if I was truly doing the right thing. Because of that, I ended up coming only two minutes earlier.

Should I just walk in or should I sneak up and see if he was here for real? My thoughts were confusing me. I could not decide what I should do.

I took another deep breath and promised myself that I would go in right away without overthinking. I walked towards the door and pushed it gently. It was open, as I expected.

“Hello, Ella,” a man in a green suit said with a smile. He was sitting on the couch that was clean which made me think that he had done that. He had brown hair, kind of wavy. His eyes were brown, precisely saying… honey brown.

“Dad,” I mumbled.

He looked surprised but smiled at me and I could not help but find the similarities between his appearance and mine. Except that I was short and he was tall, there was practically no difference between us. I was sure that anyone could tell that I was related to him.

“Sit down, Ella. We have a lot to talk about I suppose,” he said.

I sighed. The emotions- the anger, the pain, the frustration, the sadness I felt- were overwhelming. I did not know how to react to each of his words.

I sat down in front of him. There was a silence, a quite uncomfortable one. I did not know how to start, more importantly, I did not know what I wanted to know. A moment I wanted him to explain everything, and the next moment, I was feeling like I had lost my sense and I did not want to hear anything he had to say.

But I would… I would listen to him. I needed to know why he had left me, why he had put me through the pain. I wanted to know things from his perspective- how he felt, why he did that, what was he thinking… Perhaps then, I would be able to clear my mind up and start anew, forgetting the past. I did not care what kind of explanation he was going to give me- bad or good, I wanted to hear it so I could let it go_ forever.

“Ella, I am sorry,” he said, his voice truly apologetic. “I know I have put you through a lot.”

“Do you want to explain, Dad?” I asked, my voice emotionless. That was my problem. I could not show my emotions to anyone. When I talked to someone, it would seem like I did not feel anything, like I was a cold-hearted monster. That was the thing Linda used to call me and she had a reason for it. But these days, I felt as if I could show some of my emotions with Leandro. True, he had brought a change in me.

“Will you listen to me? Will you give me a chance even after what I have put you through?” he asked, surprised.

“Explain, Dad.”

“You know the portal is real,” he said, but it was more like a question.

“Of course it’s real. Or how do you think I’m here?” I said carelessly.

“I knew about the portal a long time ago. Seventeen years ago, I used it for the first time after_ my mother died. It was her who told me about it. She was killed by the shifters for not selling her body. The last thing she wanted was to get revenge for her. But at that moment, I was a mess. I killed two shifters right on the spot. You know, I was the right hand of the king, King Nicklaus’s father. One of his soldiers wanted my mother. I killed him right away and took his heart out. I used it to try to open the portal, but nothing happened.”

“Of course, nothing happened. The portal needs the heart of another shifter, but the sacrifice needs to be voluntary,” I bragged in, unable to stop myself. When Leandro took me to the forest cabin, Anders told us about this.

“How do you know that?” he asked, surprised.

“That’s not the point.”

“Right. At that time, the shifters were torturing humans without mercy. They would burn their flesh, cut their skin, whip them, but they would not kill them. It was much worse than death. Some humans fought back, went into hiding, did everything they could do to save themselves. But most of them accepted their fate of death. They were ready to give themselves up to avoid the torture. I found someone who was willing. He was a blacksmith. He gave me his heart and I used it to open the portal.”

“But human hearts don’t work in this case.”

“They do. That’s a secret that the theory doesn’t say.”

“Leandro needs to know about this,” I made a note to myself in my head.

“Then, I managed to collect some hearts that were sacrificed willingly and collected them using some type of elements here. A healer gave me those. As I said, it was seventeen years ago when I first used it. I took another heart with me after I opened the portal. I reached your town, through the basement of that mansion. The portal remains open only for one day. The first day, I just wandered around. I still had not gotten over my mother’s death. That’s when I met Elle.”

“Mom?”

“Yes, your mom. It was raining. She let me stay at her place.”

“Don’t tell me that’s the only time you were with Mom,” I said, frustrated.

He did not say anything. It was clear. He was with Mom only that time. I could not believe it. How could people be so irresponsible?”

“I can’t believe this. Mom let a stranger stay at her place when she was only twenty? And she also slept with him? You guys are so… Gross! Then why didn’t you guys just use…”

I could not understand how I was even going to say ‘protection’. He was my dad after all. It felt weird to talk like that.

“I understand, Ella. I know it was a very irresponsible thing to do. I didn’t even know that your mom was pregnant with you. Or I would at least try to… Anyway, I found out about you three years ago when I went through the portal again. You look so much like me. And Elle got married again and they have a daughter too.”

“No, they are not married… yet. They are planning though,” I corrected him.

“Oh, I didn’t know that,” he said. “Now that you know about everything, what do you think? I know it was my fault to leave like that, but trust me, if I knew about you, I would not do that.”

“I don’t know, Dad. Everything is confusing. I need time to think about it,” I said.

He touched my hand, but suddenly flinched and backed away, as if he got electrified. I flinched away too, but that was because I was shocked.

“What happened?” I asked.

“How could this… Are you marked?” he asked, massaging his palm with what he touched me.

“Um… What does it have to do with this?”

“Who marked you? How can you be marked just like that? It’s not long you’re here? Don’t tell you are full-marked,” he said angrily and I could not help but find the anger of a father in him that I had never seen before.

“I’m half marked,” I said and he sighed in relief.

“But why are you marked? Who marked you? Do you have any idea what a mark means? Let it be a half mark, but you’re still bound together till death. You can’t find anyone else to love.”

“I got marked to see if I have shifter blood. I mean, I got through the portal, but it’s impossible for humans. So, Lean… we thought that I have shifter blood.”

“We?” he asked, raising his eyebrow.

“There is someone who cares for me here. He is the one who marked me.”

“He did that on purpose!” he muttered furiously. “He did that so you would not be able to get away from him.”

“I trust him, Dad. Don’t worry about him. And besides, we’re not here to discuss him, are we?”

“But you won’t be able to be with anyone else. The mark creates a bond between two people. You can’t just ignore that.”

“I know,” I said, smiling. “If I want to be with someone, it’s going to be him…. only him.”