Unraveling Selena by Marisa Maichel (black female authors TXT) 📕

nice to me when no one else was. She got good grades and was smart. She was nice to her sister, even though her sister wasn’t always nice to her. She loved my mother and Alexander, and even Cirino.

She liked manga, anime, and video games. She watched wrestling. She was a big fan, actually. She was kind to others. She was popular. Too popular. There were too many guys vying for her attention. She was mine. Mine. That was another thing. I had become obsessed with her, and now I was wondering if I should just break up with her. I didn’t have long to wait.

She called me in late October, two days before Halloween. It was after school, and it was after her cheer practice ended.

“Scarlett just told me that you kissed her,” she said.

“She kissed me,” I corrected.

“Oh. Well, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Do you really need to know every aspect of my life?”

“Kind of. I’m your girlfriend. Why are you so hostile?”

“I’m not being hostile, I’m being honest.”

“No, you’re being hostile for no reason. Quit it.”

“Don’t fucking tell me what to do! I am so sick of everyone telling me what I should do and who I should be!”

“Well, don’t take it out on me!”

I paused. “I’m sorry, Sarah. I’m just losing interest.”

“In me? And you waited this long to tell me?”

“Sorry.”

“Good riddance, because I don’t want to be a disgusting bloodsucker anyway!” With that, she hung up.

I thought I’d regret it, but actually, I felt relieved. No more stress. Well, less stress.

What have I done?

Relief turned to guilt, then regret. I should not have spoken to her that way, no matter what. I decided to call her back to discuss things, but she didn’t pick up. In fact, she sent me a text telling me to stop calling her and that it was over. Again.

I sighed. This would be the third or fourth breakup. Any couple who breaks up that many times is simply not meant to be, or so I believed. Or they were just immature and quick to jump the gun instead of talking things out like adults. That realization alone freaked me out. What if I’d just made a huge mistake?

What if I was doomed to be alone forever now? She had three other potential soulmates, and I only had one, and I’d screwed it up with him. Maybe that’s why people are given multiple potential soulmates: in case someone screws up or dies.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, my ruminations of self-hate didn’t last long.

Uncle Soren knocked on my door, then invited himself in without my permission.

“Reese, I need you to come with me,” he said.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“To the Night Market. Get your boots and coat on. It will be cold, and I don’t mean the temperature.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN – NIGHT MARKET

The Night Market was an underground market for the supernatural and paranormal. A wendigo gave me a dirty look as I bumped him. A hag pushed a cart full of fingers, yelling out “Witch fingers! Magic is in the nail!”

“Fakes,” Uncle Soren scoffed. “They are ordinary human fingers that she dug up herself.”

Ghosts came in and out of the walls, looking morose. My uncle pushed through the crowd, which gave him a menial berth.

“Vampires!” yelled a goblin, grabbing my arm. “You like gems? Then look at these rubies! All the way from Africa!”

“Let go of me,” I growled as Uncle Soren said, “Not interested.”

I wrenched myself free. That wasn’t even the worst part. An orc was seen tearing a dress off a beautiful witch and defiling her. I wanted to do something, but my uncle grabbed my arm as the orc’s friends pulled him off of her.

I saw every creature imaginable, even spotted what looked like an alien. A group of warlocks were seen arguing over the cost of dragon scales, a witch looking bored behind the counter. A few werewolves mingled about. I even spotted Faolan, but before I could greet him, he put a finger to his lips and zipped them.

“He doesn’t want Mordecai to know he comes here,” Uncle Soren explained. “He comes here to check the prices of wolfsbane for the pack.”

“Odd,” I said.

“Indeed…move!” He pushed me forward so hard that I almost fell on top of a man with bat wings. He glared at me and brushed himself off as my uncle continued to push me forward.

“Vampires, you are obsessed with beauty! Take these potions and you’ll be young forever, as if you were a new vampire!” A wizard shoved a bottle in front of Uncle Soren’s face. My uncle grabbed the bottle and threw it across the room. “You have to pay for that!”

“Take your filthy money!” Uncle Soren snapped, shoving a handful of gold coins into the wizard’s greedy hands. “Stay close to me, Reese.”

A warlock glared at us, walking forward and pointing a sword at Uncle Soren’s stomach.

“Your kind is not welcome,” he growled.

“Go ahead, stab me in the gut. I’ll rip your head off before you finish,” Uncle Soren replied. The warlock wisely backed away. “Cretin,” my uncle muttered.

We reached a corridor with a door.

“Do not touch the wood, it is Socotra,” Uncle Soren said. “The only kind of wood that can kill a vampire. Also known as dragon’s blood.” He turned the brass knob.

Inside were three people. A male vampire with pale blond hair who was smoking a cigarette and dressed in a dark suit, a male with darker hair standing in one corner, and a female with the same pale blond hair wearing a red hood.

“Samuel,” said Uncle Soren.

“Soren,” said the man with the pale blond hair. “I see you have brought your young with you. A bad decision.”

“The boy is his nephew,” said the girl. I silently gasped as she raised her head-her eyes were bright red. She had consumed vampire blood. As I took a smell from the air, I also detected witch and fairy blood.

“Ah, your nephew. Interesting.”

I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. These people were bad news. I tugged on my uncle’s jacket and turned around.

“Not yet, Reese. The book, Samuel.”

“Book?” I said. “That stupid book that went missing last summer?”

“Hush, Reese. The book, Samuel.”

“Give it to him, son.”

The dark-haired vampire walked forward. He waved his hand in the air, and an ancient book appeared. The same book that was buried in the factory where Mathias attacked us.

“You’ll have to give us something in return,” Samuel said as Uncle Soren reached for it. He pulled his hand back.

“What?” he asked irritably. Samuel looked at me.

“A young natural-born like your nephew has many years left.”

“NO! Absolutely not! I am not sacrificing him!”

The book disappeared. Uncle Soren sighed.

“I’m sorry, Reese, I should not have brought you along.”

“Then why did you?”

“To remind Samuel why I’m here. I screwed up. Again, I’m sorry. After thousands of years, I still make mistakes.”

Samuel grinned. “Alana, teach them a lesson.”

The girl wrenched her fingers together, and I felt my throat tighten as I was lifted off the floor. My uncle grabbed me around the waist.

“Let him down!” he cried.

“You heard him, Alana.”

She dropped me, and I almost landed on the floor. My uncle grabbed me around the waist and set me back on my feet.

“You don’t really want Reese,” Uncle Soren said. “You just want to torture and humiliate me.”

“This book means something to you,” Samuel said, laughing. “A vampire wanting to become human, imagine! What would your father say? And Ambrogio, and your brother? And your son?”

“Do not,” Uncle Soren said, through gritted teeth, “-mention my son or my nephew.”

Reese-

Father?

No, it’s me. Your uncle.

How can you-

The same way your father can, but he doesn’t want me to do it unless it’s absolutely necessary. I haven’t used it before now because he usually knows what’s happened to you before I do. These people will kill you if we don’t give them what they want. I’m not giving you up. I will distract them. Try to escape, and do not touch the wood of that door!

“What are you planning, Soren?” Samuel asked, looking curious. “Are you seriously talking to him right now? Pitiful. You know what’s going to happen today.” He turned and looked at the girl. “Daughter, bring the wolf in.”

She shot her hand forward, and the door opened with a bang. Faolan was brought forward, looking frightened. The door slammed shut again.

“I won’t even ask how you know each other,” said Samuel. “Alana, Samuel, kill them.”

Faolan cried out and doubled over, looking terrified.

“No, not again,” he muttered. Fur broke out on his skin. His ears lengthened and became pointy, his nose grew, and his eyes became fully yellow. His nails grew sharp and long. But the most terrifying thing about this transformation was the mouth that formed. His stomach widened and stretched, his navel opening up to become a wide, grinning mouth with canines and a long-forked tongue.

“Mordecai,” Faolan whispered. “Call Mordecai.”

“Too late,” Samuel the First grinned. “Your curse is real after all.”

Uncle Soren grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up. As Faolan burst into his werewolf form, he snarled at everyone in the room.

“Vampire,” said the mouth on his stomach. It licked its lips and smiled. Faolan growled again, baring his teeth. His ears flattened, and his eyes focused on me. The mouth’s smile became bigger. “A young one.”

Alana threw a ball of blue magic at Faolan, hitting the mouth. It screamed, then growled, shaking itself. It focused on her and Faolan stepped forward. Samuel the Second stepped in front of his sister and within seconds, his guts were spilling out. Alana gasped and screamed, and her father looked stunned. The second Samuel was dead.

Faolan looked up at the girl next. She stumbled back, and hit him with a jet of blue light. Her fear made her aim terrible, though, and it shot past him. He grabbed her around the neck, and with a clench of his fist, broke her neck.

“My children!” Samuel cried. He fought to get away from Uncle Soren and went over to Alana first, then his son. His eyes filled with tears as the mouth roared with satisfaction, then went down to devour the son’s guts.

Uncle Soren grabbed Faolan around the neck and pulled him back.

“Think about Mordecai!” he shouted. “Mordecai! Your love and lover!”

Slowly, carefully, Faolan turned into a man again. He looked at the mess- Samuel was now cradling his son’s head- and started to weep. He buried his head in his hands and sobbed. Uncle Soren put his jacket around Faolan and helped him to his feet.

“I did it again,” Faolan whispered.

“Shh, now. Mordecai will be there for you,” Uncle Soren said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Father was standing in the front yard, looking infuriated. When he saw us, he went to me first, then Faolan, who was still crying. He sniffed him all over, then turned to Uncle Soren and growled, his eyes bright red.

“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? THE NIGHT MARKET?! I COULD HAVE LOST MY BOYS! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS, SOREN!”

“Don’t,” Faolan whimpered. “Stop yelling at him. What happened was…Mordecai…it came again…the mouth…it showed up again…I killed two vampires this time.”

“Shh, shh. It’s all right, baby. It can’t hurt you now. I’m here.”

Before I could escape, Father turned on me next.

“His throat is bruised,” he said, looking at it. “I swear, I will kill Soren. Being brothers only goes so far, and when you hurt my boys….”

“Mordecai, it was my fault,” Uncle Soren said.

“No shit.”

“Don’t be hard on him,” I told Father. “He was looking for some book- “I said the wrong thing. Father turned to Uncle Soren and shouted incoherently at him for several minutes. In that time, Grandfather and Other Mordecai came out to see what the commotion was about.

“Quiet down!” Other Mordecai said, rubbing his belly. “Little one is awake now, and it will take forever to get him back to sleep.”

“Mordecai, Soren, enough!” Grandfather said, separating them. “I don’t know what happened, but I do know