Tainted Crimson by Tarisa Marie Page A

world.”
    “Fine,” D agrees.
    Eventually I stop rambling on about my one hour at Disney World and eventually we also arrive at Taverd. When my father said eight hundred people, I still wasn’t imagining it to be this small. The town, or village as the official sign says, only has one street with businesses on it that span about two or three blocks. I am shocked. I am even more shocked to find out that the nearest city is over two hours away by car.
    We pull up to a medium sized house just off Main Street and my father jumps out first. “This is it.”
    “Is it a bed and breakfast?” I ask confused and searching for signs.
    “No, this is our new house,” he says. “Well I bought it years ago just in case.”
    “With what money?” I wonder out loud.
    “I’ve been alive a long time, sweetheart. I have a lot of money,” he answers.
    Apparently . I think to myself.
    “We’re going to need new identification. All of us. I’ll get that figured out tonight while you set up the protection spell around the town, D. Jacob, you go walk around this town and make sure there’s no supernaturals living here,” my father instructs. “Ari, go get some rest. Pick whichever room you want. We’ll decorate it later.”
    Exhausted, I don’t argue. I take a little tour of the house and then pick the room that’s attached to the bathroom. I assume it’s the master. It looks the girliest as it has pink walls and a vanity.
    I plunk down on the bed, not bothering to pull back the covers. I know I should shower but I just can’t bring myself to get back up.
    Now that I have some alone time I let all the emotions that I’ve been trying so hard to push back, invade my reality. Then I find myself crying myself to sleep.

Chapter 8
     
    I wake up with damp cheeks. Have I been crying in my sleep? I feel almost like I haven’t slept at all. My limbs are stiff and my mind is foggy. It takes me a minute to wake up enough to remember my situation.
    “It’s about time you woke up,” a deep, male voice teases from across the room. “You only slept for ten hours.” His voice sounds serious but by Jacob’s expression I know he’s only bugging me.
    “I was tired,” I mumble and wipe my eyes and cheeks with my blanket.
    “How are you doing? I mean how are you really doing?” he asks with concern in his eyes.
    “I’ll be fine. I mean you don’t have to take me to a mental ward or anything. It’s just a lot to take in.” I sigh and anxiously run my fingers through my long hair. I really need to shower.
    “I understand. If you need anything you can always talk to me or your dad,” he promises with a curt nod. “You can try talking to D but he’s kind of a jackass if you haven’t noticed.”
    “I’ve noticed. I have a question...why do you refer to our dad as if he’s only mine? You just said ‘your dad’,” I ask curiously.
    “For the last eighteen years I’ve been playing the part of his best friend, not his son. It’s not something that I can just switch off in my head overnight,” he explains with a shrug. “It’ll take time to get used to calling him dad again.”
    “Why didn’t you guys just tell me the truth? Like why didn’t you just tell me that you’re my brother?” I wonder out loud while combing my locks with my fingers nervously.
    “Because he’s only at the physical age of a mid-twenty year old man. I am physically basically the same age as he is. People would notice and ask questions. They were already asking questions about dad nearly a decade ago. It’s not like we could’ve stayed in the neighborhood much longer anyways. Eventually we would have had to start over somewhere else. It’s not like we were planning on never telling you about all this . We knew we’d have to eventually. He was supposed to tell you shortly after your eighteenth birthday but that obviously didn’t work out the way he had planned. He definitely didn’t expect Marco to come searching for you on the day of