Chapter 8
"Kylie, these people are whack!" My brother whispered uneasily from over my shoulder. "And did you notice that there isn't a single boy here? I mean, if there is, I bet he's hiding out or somthin’. I pity the boy that has to live here with all these whack jobs."
"Well, for now, little brother, these whack jobs are our roommates," I said, smirking. I was grateful that Rune had allowed him to come along. Slowing my pace, I pointed to the fourth door on the left. "This is it. You think I should knock first or just walk in?" Mason shrugged, sliding his hands into his jean’s pockets. I didn't want to be rude by waltzing in, yet she did say to meet her here a moment ago. "I better knock."
"Come in, Kylie! I hear you skulking around out there," Rune called from inside the room. Darn, I forgot that her hearing was just as keen as mine.
As I began turning the doorknob, a frigid gust of wind whirled through the hallway. The dark, murky fog was difficult to focus on as it blew passed us, taking my breath along with it. Coughing as the chill went straight to my lungs, I pulled Mason closer to me, being sure to keep a hand on his now shaky shoulders.
Rune's bedroom door swung open. "Demetri, I told you to stay in form!" Rune ogled the misty figure with a great deal of annoyance. Before our eyes, the blur began to come more into focus until the fog around it diminished, completely leaving a young boy about Mason's age standing in its place.
He flushed then flashed his pearly white fangs directly at Rune. I got the feeling it was more for our benefit than hers. "Sorry, but I was running late and you said to be in this exact spot at three o'clock sharp."
She narrowed her eyes while speaking. "Uh-huh. I think you just wanted to show off in front of Kylie."
Blushing again, he grinned. "Not me, I'd never do a foolish thing like disobey your orders in order to impress any chick, even though I am the fastest vampire my age." He shot me a quick glance before evaluating Mason, eyeing him with obvious interest.
"Mason, I'd like you to meet Demetri. You'll be sharing a room with him." At Mason's shocked expression, she added, "Not to worry. He will be minding his manners by keeping his fangs to himself. Now, he is going to show you our state-of-the-art theater and gaming room." Normally, Mason's curiosity would be thoroughly piqued, but under the circumstances, he showed no signs of excitement, shifting his eyes from Demetri then to me. Not that I blamed him, Valkyrie and shifters—as hard as they were to accept—was one thing, but a vampire that had the need to consume blood in order to sustain their life—meaning we were part of the food chain—was on an entirely different level all of its very own.
"Oh, come on, you’re seriously not thinking I'm going to drain you dry when we've just met, now are you?" Demetri laughed hysterically, clearly amusing himself. Rune simply tapped her long nail against the doorframe, smirking. From the way she left me to fend for myself downstairs, and by the way she wasn't intervening now, she obviously wanted us to learn to handle these types of situations for ourselves.
I stepped toward Demetri, eyes flashing green. "Listen to me, you little punk, if anything happens to my brother while he's with you, by your hand or another's, I'm holding you personally responsible." I poked him in the chest for emphasis.
Demetri's smile quickly faded. "Whoa, how am I responsible for what the crazy chicks around here might do!" I narrowed my eyes at him. "That isn't at all fair!" He turned toward Rune. "A little help?" She rolled her eyes and went back inside her room. "Fine," he sighed, looking like a normal, pre-teen boy. "I'll do my best."
Smiling reassuringly at my brother, I encouraged his departure. "I'll see you in a bit, Mase, okay?"
Mason nodded, and as the two of them began down the hall, I overheard Demetri apologizing. "Sorry about that back there. I get a little carried away around the hotties."
"Not cool, dude," Mason replied, trying to remain stoic as they disappeared from my sight.
When I went into Rune's room, she was lounging on the bed, painting her toe nails blue. "You handled that nicely." Feeling nervous, I folded and unfolded my arms across my chest. "Not to worry; you'll settle into yourself through the awakening process, and before you know it, you'll be a legend in your own time." I nodded absently then thought, Wait. What? Legend? She must seriously have me confused with someone else.
Walking around her room to get a better idea of who she really was, I replied, "I have no idea what that's supposed to mean exactly, but thanks for the encouragement, I guess."
Her room was painted a deep purple with gold accents. There wasn't anything on the walls; no pictures, decorations—nothing. On her bedside table there was one snapshot that she'd framed that immediately caught my eye, though. I went in for a closer look. It was a picture of Rune and another Valkyrie that looked amazingly like me. Reaching down, I gingerly picked up the small, framed print then, glancing back at Rune—who seemed totally unaffected by my snooping as she continued painting her nails—I examined the picture closer. The blonde had her hair braided, twisted and piled on top of her head. She wore it in a way I would never consider wearing my hair, but the color along with her brilliant green eyes and facial structure were all exact matches to mine. What really got my attention, however, was the mark on her face; the same mark that showed up on mine the other day. It was in the exact spot, beginning at her left temple and ending under her left eye. Despite the fact that I hadn't a single memory about this woman, there wasn't any doubt that she was my mother.
Emotions welled up inside me and threatened to boil over as I clutched the image to my chest. I didn't want to cry, I'd cried all I ever wanted to the first month after my brother and I realized we were alone. Even if our parents hadn't left of their own free will, we had still felt abandoned. Nevertheless, tears began leaking from my eyes anyway.
"What happened to her?" I choked out over a sob, keeping my back to the Valkyrie.
"That's a story for another time, little one. The question you should be asking is, who was she? That is something I’ve been dying to share with you for years." Rune came over, wrapping her arm around my shaking shoulder as I tried to pull myself together.
Wiping my eyes, I considered her statement and really did want to know who my mother had been. "Okay, who was she?"
"Come, I'll show you." With that, she steered me out the door.
Walking into my mother's room was a bizarre experience. From first glance at the trophies on her walls I instantaneously knew she, like me, was a hunter. Although, unlike me, she didn't hunt deer and other game; she hunted supernatural beings. There were fangs of all shapes and sizes strung across one wall and some strange skulls I couldn't identify on the other. Curiosity got the better of me and I went in for a closer look, still unable to identify what they were.
"Rage demon skulls." Rune reached up and plucked one off the shelf. "When a rage demon's heart is pierced with a Valkyrie silver arrow, their bodies shrivel to nothing, leaving only a skull behind.”
"There are rage demons?"
"Of course, and so very many other kinds as well."
"My mother killed all of these creatures?" I scanned the wall at the massive number of skulls, fangs and other fragments of things I had no clue as to what they were.
Rune beamed. "Yes, your mother was the best archer among us. She was able to kill or fatally wound from a great distance, drastically reducing our battle loss before crossing over into The Fade."
Great, another term I was unfamiliar with. "The fade?"
Her eyes saddened momentarily. "The Fade is where we all began and where we all return. The only one that can cross to The Fade and return is Freyja." Okay, so The Fade is the Valkyrie’s equivalent of Heaven, got it.
I changed the subject. "You fought all these creatures?"
She sighed, placing the skull back in its designated space. "Over the years, yes. There is always a battle brewing in this realm, everyone fighting for the upper hand; to be the most powerful of all the supernatural beings. Come." She too
k my arm and we went to sit down on the bed.
Leaning over the metal footboard, she opened the large, wooden trunk that was placed there, pulling out the thickest, oldest book I had ever seen. She then placed it gently on my lap. My hand caressed the soft leather cover. It was old, very old.
"Inside this book is everything you will ever want to know about this world; every creature, every battle and everything else in between has been recorded here by your mother." I started to open the book when Rune's hand covered mine. "Let me explain the Valkyrie heritage, your heritage to you first." I nodded eagerly as I really did want to learn as much about all of this as I possibly could. "Valkyrie are the daughters of the Goddess, Freyja, and the God, Odin."
"Odin, the God of all Gods?!" I asked incredulously. "Like in the movie, Thor; the God of thunder with that smokin' hot Chris Hemsworth?"
She made a face. "Yes, Odin is the Allfather of the Gods." She snorted. "And the God of thunder is Thor, but a hottie he is not. He's arrogant, rude and disgusting. If you see him coming, run. He had a real thing for Svava, and from the way she treated him fifty years ago, he's still probably holding a grudge."
"Fifty years?!" Rune barley looked twenty-five.
"I know, I say get over it already, move on, but that's beside the point. When a Valkyrie reaches her awakening, she is sent to a training camp to develop her talent and then they come here to Valhalla. Our job is to ensure that, at the time of the succession, the demons aren't the ones to prevail. Not all demons are bad, mind you. I've had my fair share of demon friends." She winked at me. "But the rage demons are only after one thing, power. They seek to take control of the entire realm, and I don't need to tell you how disastrous that would be. Yuk, I missed a spot." She grabbed a file off the dresser and began filing away at her nails; talk about getting side-tracked.
"Uh, yeah, you kinda do."
"What? Oh, yes, right. If the rage demons succeed in taking control of the realm, everything will burn up, the entire world." I swallowed hard. "We can always leave and go to another realm, but none of them are as nice as this one and Freyja has insisted that we stay and try to secure it."
So we’d burn up like my parents did. I swallowed my anger to stay focused and learn what I could about my heritage. There would be plenty of time for vengeance later.
"Okay, let me get this straight." I began rubbing my forehead. "Freyja is my grandmother and Odin is my grandfather, my mother was the Valkyrie, Svava." She nodded, still filing away. "Who is my father? Is he dead as well?"
She stopped filing. "Oh, it was one of those five minute relationships; it didn't last. The guy misrepresented himself, and when your mom found out that he was a poser, she dumped him." Great, my birth mom was a slut.
"So you don't know who or where he is? He isn't human, is he?"
"Nope, definitely not human and I haven't the foggiest idea where he is at this moment. Oh, I almost forgot." She reached back inside the trunk, pulling out the most amazing bow I had ever seen. It looked to be hand-crafted with the most beautiful markings. Setting the book aside, I eagerly reached for it. She stood, holding it out of my reach. "This isn't a regular bow, Kylie. It will only be usable by one owner at a time. If it chooses you, it will belong to you until your death. There are responsibilities that go along with that; you'll be compelled to use it to fight for our cause and it will speed up the awakening process. Is this something you are ready for?"
The bow seemed to be beckoning me, something inside of me really wanted to connect with it. I'd barely heard anything else Rune had said other than the bow would have to choose me. It would choose me, of that I was certain.
Nodding eagerly, I reached out for the bow.