Unraveling Soren by Marisa Maichel (books under 200 pages txt) 📕

I knew their deaths were not my fault, but it was hard not to feel guilty, especially when I passed our old house, which stood empty until we decided what to do with it. Until I decided what to do with it.

Coffee came up to me and jumped on my stomach. I scratched her behind the ears. She’d nearly died because of me. A crazed Fae named Marcus had attacked and nearly killed her because he wanted to get rid of me. He really seemed to hate me, and I had no idea why.

Coffee licked my eyes, as she always did when I cried. I grabbed my stuffed dog, Nina, and cried into her polyester fur. I cried for nearly an hour. I heard my sister crying as well. Coffee continuously licked my face, trying to comfort me. I finished my crying and turned on my iPod. I used to keep my music in my phone, but that drained the battery and the memory.

I turned and looked outside. I blinked when I saw a flash of red. And then another flash, like the glint of glasses.

Reese

I was embarrassed and humiliated. I should have never interfered with Sabine’s love life. I was already on my way to the house, hoping to speak to Sarah.

When I climbed up the trellis, she was watching WWE on her TV in her bedroom. She had been crying. I crawled through her window. She turned and looked at me.

“What are you doing here?” she asked rudely.

“I came to see you,” I said. “I’m sorry that I told Jeremy to stay away. But why are you crying?”

“Why do you think? Dad’s dead, Mom’s dead, and I had a baby at seventeen! And now my sister’s heartbroken because of you.”

I looked down, ashamed. Coffee was tentatively sniffing my boot. I looked at the TV. One of the McMahons was making a speech. Sarah leaned back against the wall.

“I got a new vanity,” she said. I looked at the turquoise-colored piece of furniture with drawers and crystal knobs.

“So I see. You’re going to keep your makeup on it?”

“Of course.”

I sat beside her and pulled her into my lap. She was wearing Spanish amber perfume today. I glanced outside, and saw a flash of red. I frowned, set my girlfriend down, and went to the window. It was Marcus, one the fairies. He had just gotten into a scuffle with a man with brown hair and glasses.

“Reese, what’s going on?”

“Sarah, stay there!”

She came over and looked out the window anyway. Her jaw dropped.

“Dad?”

The two men quickly left, and Sarah blinked. “I must be seeing things.”

“Not necessarily,” I said cryptically. “Can I see a picture of Becket Cresley?”

She rummaged in her desk drawer and pulled out a photo album. There was a picture of a younger Becket Cresley and Alicia Abraham. And he wore the same glasses.

“He always wore the same glasses,” Sarah sighed. “His vision was terrible. He always got the same pair of frames and lenses whenever he had to get a new pair.”

My half-alive heart skipped a beat.

“Bye the way, if you’re going to send Toby to follow me…just don’t,” she said. I avoided looking at her and instead looked at her nightstand. She stood up and kissed me, then winced.

“My back hurts,” she complained.

“Your back has been hurting a lot lately,” I said. “Did you injure it?”

She frowned. “Not that I know of.”

I touched her shoulders, and she winced again.

“I’m sorry, baby, but I have to know. Tell me about Becket Cresley.”

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

It was more than an hour later, and I had some new information. Alicia and Becket had married shortly after Becket became an American citizen, an immigrant from France. He was six foot one, and had a thick French accent that he eventually softened over time and practice. He loved American country music and listened to a lot of old songs. Sarah got her looks from him. She said that he had a good singing voice, deep and clear and beautiful. She said that he often wore white button-up shirts and crisp khaki pants. He loved being clean and looking neat.

He worked in insurance for a time, eventually going to law school, though he never pursued the bar. He mostly raised the girls by himself, as Alicia was often drunk and selfishly spent most of the money she made on booze. It had been years since she’d bought anything for Sarah or Sabine. Then Becket developed stomach cancer, and died when Sarah was fifteen, a sophomore. He died in September of that year.

He had two sisters and three brothers, all them still living in France. Her grandparents, his parents, were heartbroken over his death and had lost contact. They still owned a large farm.

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

“I don’t know what to do,” I told Louis.

“About what, little buddy?” he asked, looking up from the cooking show he was watching. Frodo, one of the cats, jumped up and settled himself on Louis’ stomach.

“Reese is confused,” Frodo said. I blinked. I hadn’t heard him speak yet until then.

“My boy, confused?” Shadowfang wrapped himself around my legs. “Yeah, that’s his life. Confusion.” He smiled, at me, if a cat could smile, and slowly transformed into a man. It was very odd to watch. First he grew taller, fur shrinking into his skin. His ears became less pointed, more rounded, and his nose became a tanned human’s nose. His eyes remained the same color and pupil shape, though. He wore a plain black shirt, black jeans, and black boots. He wore a gold hoop earring in his left ear.

“Where did the clothes come from?” I asked.

“I can turn my fur into clothes if I want. It’s one of the fun things about being a shapeshifter.”

“I don’t understand,” I admitted. I looked at Louis, who shrugged, saying he didn’t know, either.

“I’ll explain how the familiar thing works later,” Shadowfang said. “Tell Louis your problem with Becket Cresley.”

“Sarah’s dad? I thought he was dead?” Louis replied, confused.

“I keep seeing him everywhere,” I said. “And Sarah’s seen him twice, but she thought she was hallucinating.”

“It’s not uncommon for ghosts to visit their loved ones after death,” Louis said. “A guardian, if you will. Was he opaque or transparent?”

“He looked opaque,” I admitted.

“He probably wanted to check in on the girls,” Louis said. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much. If he didn’t want to be seen, he should not have shown himself.”

“But what if he did?” I intoned.

“Then go find him and ask him what his deal is,” said Shadowfang.

“Uh, I wouldn’t do that,” Louis cautioned. “Spirits are volatile at the best of times. If he thinks you’ll get in the way, or you’ve hurt her, you’re done for.”

“I don’t know what to do,” I whined.

“I’ll go with you next time you go to her place,” Louis said. “Me or one of the guys will.”

“Thanks, Louis,” I breathed.

“No problem. You’re like a little brother to me. As your big brother, it’s my job to protect you.”

“We’re cousins,” I chuckled.

“Might as well be bros, bro.”

“Whatever. Shadowfang, care to explain the familiar thing?”

“Sure, boy-o. Only witches, warlocks, wizards, and vampires have familiars. Humans, can, too, but it’s very rare to have a true familiar bond with humans. Familiars can also be shapeshifters, but it takes a long time to perfect. For example, I am over four hundred years old, and I still only just shapeshifted. Familiars can also be ordinary animals. The most common ones are cats and dogs, but they can also be lizards, spiders, bats, frogs, birds, and so on.

“I was born in 1540, during the Tudor rule. I was born to a queen and a tom belonging to one of the noble ladies of the kingdom. I had an ordinary kittenhood, couldn’t speak a human language, couldn’t shift. I only realized I was different when Mama explained to me, in Feline, how unique our bloodline was. See, the noble lady was a confirmed witch, although she was never found out. Even her husband did not know. My brothers and sisters and I grew into strong, healthy cats that could defend ourselves from dogs and wolves and eagles and foxes.

“I could first talk when I was twenty-one years old. I was the third one to start talking in a human language. My brother and sister could both talk before I could. There were six of us, and I was the second biggest. My brother was the biggest, and my sister was the littlest. Mama almost gave up on her, but the noble lady wanted all of us to live, so she got another, ordinary mama cat to feed her. But anyway, they both talked before I could, and the rest of us followed suit. We heard Mama and Father talking to each other and the human female in a human language, so we knew the gist of it.

“Familiars are found all over the world, the shapeshifting ones have human intelligence, and we can converse about what happened yesterday or what’s going to happen tomorrow. Some of us have extra talents, like the ability to disappear or morph into something else, kind of like vampires and regular shapeshifters.”

“There’s literally hundreds of types of shapeshifters,” Louis continued. “Familiars are just one type. And then, like he said, there’s subtypes, like the ones with the ability to disappear or read minds. And they can be any animal. Familiars are animal shifters who can take the form of a human, but, as you know, there are also humans who can take the form of an animal or another creature, like a wendigo. There’s all kinds of legends about skinwalkers and the Thunderbird and dragons. Dragons can shapeshift, too, usually into humans or smaller lizards.”

“He’s right,” added Frodo. “Shadowfang’s my dad, and he says he’s met three wendigos so far.”

“I’m met several,” I told them. “Last time I saw one, I bumped into him by accident at the Night Market.”

“I’m amazed he didn’t kill you,” Shadowfang said.

“What were you doing at the Night Market?!” Louis cried.

“Your dad dragged me over there to get that stupid book of his. We got into a fight with two vampires both named Samuel and an albino chick with weird telekinesis powers.”

“Was her name Alana?” Louis said carefully.

“I think so.” I scratched my head, confused. “This was a while ago, though. During the Mathias issues.”

“Don’t say that name out loud!” Louis hissed.

“Why not?” I asked.

“Don’t you get it? Don’t be stupid, Reese. Don’t you see? Grandfather’s dying!”

“Dying?! From what?!”

“From a broken heart! His wife, his son, his brothers, almost everyone he knew, all dead! There’s just us and the Blond Bitch Brigade left. Elsa and Gudrun won’t talk to him anymore, and Elsa has expressly forbidden her daughters to!”

“I didn’t know…how long does he have?”

“He’s planning to commit suicide, so…we don’t know when. Dad didn’t want to tell you until later, but Mordecai and I think you should know now, so you’re prepared.”

I was in shock. Grandfather, dying?

I approached my uncle in the private library. He smiled at me until he saw my face.

“Grandfather, dying?” I squeaked.

He sighed and put A Tale of Two Cities in his lap. “Damn you, Louis. Yes, we are losing him to thoughts of suicide.”

I hugged myself. “It’s my fault.”

“What? No, it’s not. It’s been coming for a very long time. It began with the death of my mother, your grandmother.”

“Yes, but Mathias kidnapped me, thinking I was Louis.”

“If anyone’s to blame for the Mathias incident, I am, Reese. I locked him up. I made him lose his sanity. What happened with Mathias was my fault, Reese.”

I suddenly felt faint and sick. I sat against a bookshelf, clutching my stomach. I vomited on the carpet. Thick, glistening blood barreled out of me. Uncle Soren picked me up and carried me to the bathroom, where I continued to vomit in the toilet. Uncle Soren held my hair back. I felt pressure, and realized he was tying my hair into a bun so it