Bram's Hollow
Chapter Twenty

A conflict of emotions would put what Tobias was going through lightly. He wanted to see his father, meet his father for so long. But now there he was, right in front of him, and he may be a murder and that might not be the most egregious of his deeds. So there they were, Tobias Gates and his father Lance, staring at each other waiting for the other to make the next move. It was as if Jerome and Henry, the tall tree forest and the Mother Tree had all faded away leaving just the two of them. Like the essence of reality were waiting for one of them to speak. It was Tobias who finally broke the silence, not with a well thought out remark or deep, hidden emotion. All he did was open his mouth and let the question most important to him come out first.

“Why did you try to kill my mother?” Tobias asked with cold resolve.

Lance’s jaw loosened causing his mouth to open slightly. His eyes widened and as he spoke his voice came very close to cracking. “What are you talking about?” he looked over to Jerome and Henry. “What happened to Vivian?”

“As if you didn’t know.” Henry said with a slightly annoyed tone.

“I don’t,” Lance sustained his facial features in the shocked position. “Someone please tell me what happened to her.”

When the answer caught Tobias’s ear it caused his face to match that of his father’s almost perfectly. Jerome looked as astonished as Lance leaving it up to Henry to deliver the news.

“Vivian, Rotigan and Arthur were attacked in Rotigan’s home this afternoon.” Henry watched Lance’s expression as he talked. “Arthur was killed, Rotigan and Vivian are alive but Vivian is in bad shape.”

Lance’s face shifted from shock to sorrow, he looked around quickly as if he were trying to make the news fit properly between his ears. He finally, after letting the painful facts sink in he looked to Tobias. “Why did you think I would do something like that?”

“Rotigan said it was you.” Tobias explained. “In the infirmary, he shouted repeatedly that you attacked them. All of them covered with deep cuts and blood.”

Flabbergasted, Lance began to pace back and forth, holding up the lit candle in his hand as he glanced at everyone. “That’s impossible, I would never.” Lance looked at Tobias. “It wasn’t me, you have to realize that.”

“I don’t know hardly anything about you.” Tobias said in a completely unemotional tone. “I was so young, and you just left us. For all I know you could have done it.”

“Tobias, please.” Jerome hovered between Tobias and Lance to keep close to the candlelight. “You do not have all the facts.”

“Facts?” Tobias said sneering. “I don’t have anything. The only pieces of information I know about him are stories that don’t exactly paint him in the best light.”

“I don’t see how you can really blame the boy for not trusting you Lance.” Henry added.

Lance tried to look Tobias in the eyes but found no cooperation. “I love you and your mother.”

“Save it.” Tobias held up his hand, he felt the hot tingle of anger creep across his flesh. “You abandoned us. After Mom stayed by your side when you were exiled, you just picked up and left us.”

“I had to leave Toby, you don’t realize-“

“Then why don’t you fill me in then?” Tobias was clenching his shaking fists. “I grew up not knowing about anything about Bram’s Hollow. My mother hid this all from me, including the fact that she was a Wolfkin and I’m some mix breed mutant.” He stepped closer to his father. “I think it was you. You’re the reason she hid this from me. And the only reason she had to bring me back here was to protect us from you.”

“That’s not what’s happening.” Lance tried cool words to calm Tobias.

“We’re here because you stole the amulet of Rymun.” Tobias paid no attention to his father’s attempt to diffuse him anger. He instead let it fuel him. It felt freeing and natural. “I bet you have Orlok’s ashes too, don’t you?”

“It’s not like that, Toby.”

“Don’t lie to me. I’m sick of everyone giving me the runaround with the truth.” It was a liberating experience for Tobias, he felt bigger and braver. Like there was something inside of him that he was finally setting free. “I want to know why you’re here.”

“I need you to calm down.” Lance beckoned as his son walked forward straight through the apparition of Jerome and reached out for him.

“Why did you leave? Why are you here now? I want answers, and I want them now!”

Lance kept his calming demeanor and spoke as soothing as he possibly could considering the constriction around his throat. “I’m willing to tell you everything. I want to tell you everything.” He slowly placed his hand on Tobias’s fur covered wrist. “But first, I want you to take a deep breath and put me down.”

His father’s words struck Tobias’s ears funny. What did he mean put him down? That was when the reality of the situation revealed itself to him. The prickling anger was weaning and his tunnel vision of rage was subsiding. He was grasping his father around the throat holding him at least six inches off the ground. Tobias looked at his hand and saw the black fur sprouting from it leading across his wrist and up his arm. As soon as he realized what was happening he let go of his father’s neck. Lance landed on his feet and coughed for a few seconds.

Tobias looked at his hands, the elongated nails that curved inward more like claws. He ran his fingers across his face and felt the excess hair that had grown around his eyes and mouth. Though unlike his mother or any other Wolfkin he had seen previously, his nose and mouth felt normal, not wolf like at all minus the fur. Tobias looked at his legs and saw no real change in height, nor any ripping off his clothes.

His father half smiled when he saw the surprised look on his son’s face. “First time changing?” he asked.

Tobias nodded and continued to examine himself. Henry and Jerome looked on with odd trepidation. They, like Tobias, didn’t think he was capable of such a transformation. Lance continued to grin. The proud look a father gets when he sees a major accomplishment in their child’s life. He watched Tobias slump and sit with his back leaning on the trunk of the Mother Tree. Tobias was lightly touching the fangs that had just not grown out and pointed at the end. Slowly Lance walked over to the tree and sat beside his fur covered son.

“You know, your mother and I would playfully debate who you would take after. Weather you would be Wolfkin or Dhampir.” Tobias listened to his father’s story. Lance brushed a few unwashed strands of hair out of his face and continued. “I don’t know how, but it looks like you managed to be a bit of both.”

Tobias was basically calmed down. He was transfixed with the changes he had just gone through. He looked over at his thin, frail looking father and found his words a bit friendlier than before. “Why did you leave Dad?”

Lance thought for a second, and took a deep breath, then answered. “Jerome told you about the exile?” Tobias nodded, and Lance did in return. “Your mother was very pregnant with you at the time. Her father, Lycos, hated that she chose to marry me. I was from the Monster’s guild and a half human at that, two things he had serious issues with. Marriage was bad enough as far as he was concerned, but when Vivian became pregnant he became furious.” Lance looked at the confused look on Tobias’s face. “Your grandfather is very old and very big on the bloodline of the Wolfkin. Pureblood is something he works hard to maintain in his pack. He felt it strengthened the Beast guild.”

“Aren’t all Wolfkin pureblood?” Tobias asked.

“They are now.” His father answered. “Before it was not uncommon for a Wolfkin to pass their gift to a human threw a bite or blood passage.”

“Werewolves?”

“Exactly. But when the Arcane Chamber was formed the guilds decided to hide away from humans in secret. And since Beasts and other creatures couldn’t mix in their breeding, pureblood Wolfkin were all that was left after the Werewolves died off.”

“Then you had me.” Tobias and his father looked in each other’s eyes and shared a moment of solemn understanding.

“Then we had you. We were so happy that you were born. We never expected to be able to conceive a child, and then suddenly there you were.” Lance ran his hand threw his son’s arm fur. “As you might guess, Lycos was livid. Right after your birth he called me to the castle. He told me that I tainted his bloodline and deserved to be killed for it. I lost control, the next thing I knew we were battling it out claw to fang. I got a small piece of his arm in the fracas. It was all a part of his plan. I was arrested for treason. Lycos claimed I tried to kill him as a plan to thwart the Arcane Chamber. I was exiled, I begged your mother to stay with you here where it was safe and Lycos did the same. But, in the end both you and your mother left Bram’s Hollow with me.”

“We found work, your mother and I and a decent house to live in. Everything seemed to be going fine for us after your mother adjusted to life away from Bram’s Hollow.” Sᴇaʀ*ᴄh the (ꜰind)ɴʘvel.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“And then you left.” Tobias said with a half growl from the back of his throat.

Lance pushed the air from his lungs with a light, audible heave. He tried to look his son in the eyes but instead looked at the ground. He took a breath and continued. “It’s something I had to do, Toby. But not a day went by that I didn’t think of you and Vivian.”

“Then why did you go?” Tobias asked.

“I grew up without parents. My mother and father, your grandparents, were dead before I had my first laugh. I grew up with a hole inside, the love and support that parents can give was never in the cards for me. I was raised by the Monster’s guild, the only things I knew about my parents was from a Phantasm that could only talk to you by candlelight.” Lance ran his long, thin fingers through the grass and dead leaves on the ground. “All I wanted was to meet them, talk to them, and learn about whom Isaac and Lana were as people. I wanted to ask them how they met and what they said to each other and when they knew for sure that they were in love.”

“When I was young, Jerome told me about him and my father in New Orleans and how they found your grandmother.” Lance dug his hand into his pocket, pulling out a closed fist. “More importantly he told me why they were in Louisiana in the first place. They were after an artifact that was created by a necromancer with an amazing ability.” Slowly Lance opened his hand uncovering jeweled golden medallion that glinted in the moonlight. Tobias’s eyes looked sharply at the amulet shaped as a winged skull with small fangs in the skull’s mouth. Suddenly Tobias understood his father’s intentions.

“The amulet of Rymun.” Tobias stared at the gold chain that dangled from the amulet. “You took it to bring back your dad.”

“He was given a death sentence for nothing more than falling in love. I may not be able to bring back my mother, but he deserves a second chance at life.” Lance said as he gently touched the amulet. “It took ten long years but I was able to track down the amulet without being discovered by Lycos.”

“Hold on a minute.” Henry approached Tobias and Lance at the trunk of the Mother Tree. “So you didn’t have any intention of resurrecting Count Orlok?”

“Why would I want to resurrect one of the most tyrannical creatures in the history of Bram’s Hollow?”

“Lycos has been positive of it since the amulet was taken.” Tobias added. “He said you wanted to bring Orlok back.”

“Is it possible that after all these years Lycos still wants to slander me?” Lance stood up slowly walked back and forth, thinking. “Did anyone witness Vivian’s attacker other than Rotigan?”

“My daughter Isabelle heard the struggle but she didn’t see anyone.” Henry said cautiously. “Why?”

“So she heard the attack but no one left the house?” Lance turned to Tobias. “I may not want to resurrect Count Orlok, but it looks like someone does.”

“Someone took his ashes out of Lycos’s chambers right after mom’s attack.” Tobias said to his dad.

Henry thought for a second. “So maybe the attack was a diversion.”

“Perhaps,” Lance said as he slowly paced back and forth. “If it’s alright with you I would like to talk to your daughter about what she saw.”

“I already told you she didn’t see anything.” Henry said gruffly.

“I know, but there might have been something she missed. Something that could help us determine who could be behind this.”

Henry turned his head away from Lance and considered his request. When he didn’t look back Tobias took a couple of steps toward him.

“Please, sir.” Tobias said desperately. “Help us put all this to an end.”

Tobias’s words struck Henry. He had forgotten just how much he had been threw in the last twenty-four hours. Henry nodded and agreed to take Lance to speak with Isabelle.

“Thank you.” Lance said gratefully. “Toby and I will meet you at the lake front across from Main Street. It’s just outside of the town.”

Henry closed his eyes and slowly started to shift into the form of some sort of feral cat, like a tiger only smaller. The beast ran off into the trees and quickly out of sight.

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