Warning/Must read: This is not your typical Vampire/witch novel. This is a YA teen fantasy and there are a few things you need to note to make you not confused.
INSIGHT:
1) Our female lead here goes to the past unconsciously, to her it is a dream but it is actually her past. (P.S. like a dream but her spirit wanders into her past when she removes a necklace.) When you read you would know what necklace I'm talking about.
2) The siragon is from her past, so she knows everything about the FL's past. (As you read, you will know the creature I'm talking about.)
3) Further questions about any confusion chapter will be explained in that chapter.
~Tiffany~
“WELCOME TO BRYTIN” was clearly written on the signboard as we entered the town. A place I never imagined to come back to. Twelve good years and some things are still the same. The signboard especially.
It's been tough for me particularly my dad because he had lost more than my mom. We left here for California to start a new life, which was worse than I had imagined.
I could only go out for a walk because, after my mom's demise, my dad grew so overprotective with the excuse of not wanting to lose me and the circle; I understood because the turn-around was too much to handle.
He felt so guilty and never stopped blaming himself, and so he vowed never to come back to this town.
And now I wonder why the sudden change of heart and his sudden grudges against vampires and werewolves.
I was young when these things happened; I was 6, so I could not remember most things, and I also could not ask him. He was glad he had me, I was too, and that makes both of us happy.
“Tiffy” His voice snapped me out of my reverie.
“Hmm,” I hummed, getting down from the truck. I still can't believe the house was like how we left it (I had seen the picture) and I thought it would have been quite—you know, a little shabby and dusty.
Dad pushed our luggage into the house and chuckled when he saw my expression.
“Maggie cleaned up a few hours before our arrival" He informed me.
“Aunt Maggie” I could vaguely remember what she looked like, but I knew her. She was one of Dad's old friends and also a circle member; I thought she had disappeared after the incident.
“How did you get in touch with her? I thought you lost contact with all the circle members.” I said, giving a confused look. My curiosity was what I was known for. A part of me.
“If you keep asking questions, Tiffany, I am afraid we might not be able to pack all our stuff in, and... You’re supposed to be tired after the long journey?”
“I am”
“So please let's settle in first before any more questions” Dad responded, looking tired.
I helped pack all our things and arrange them. There were not many things to do; we just carried our clothes, shoes, and accessories because all the other things were already there.
While Dad prepared dinner, I chose to check out the house and surroundings.
My room wasn't what I thought it would be—Yunno, the Barbie-ish vibes, and color— but no, it was just as I wanted.
And there was a house beside ours, it was new. Maybe a few things had changed because—if my memories are clear— we never had any house besides ours, and I wonder what kind of neighbors we had.
witches like us?
Humans?… Humans are rare to see in this town, because of the abnormality, and the Creepy vibe (especially) that Brytin exudes.
Lost in my thoughts, a light flashed in my direction, it was just 6:12 pm (as early as it could be) which made me wonder who turned on the lights this early.
“Tiffany, dinner is ready!” Dad's voice echoed around the neighborhood.
Not surprised.
Brytin was known for its creepy silent nature.
“Alright, Dad,” I replied. I stared at the direction the light was coming from one more time, before going in.
The dining is still the same. The tables and chairs are not an inch to the right or left.
And the dinner before me unlocked that special feeling of being home.
Cobb sales and baked beans. That was Mom's favorite, and, surprisingly, Dad chose to prepare this for dinner when he had long ago chosen to hide every memory of Mom.
He wiped his hands on the yellow apron around his waist. “I know what you're thinking, but I was merely checking out my cooking skills and, you know, bringing back the old times," he said bitterly and chuckled.
Even if the joy of coming back here was deep inside of me, I also knew it was never going to be easy. Those two different feelings still fought themselves.
The doorbell chimed when I tried to sit, earning a groan from me.
“Could you get the door for me? That must be Maggie and her daughter” Dad said.
“Sure” I pushed the chair back to its original position before rushing to the door.
A sharp scream broke out when I opened the door, startling me, and also Dad—I guess— because I heard something falling and him cursing.
“Don't tell me this is Tiffany, Alfie.” The woman with red afro-curly hair spoke.
From the hair, I knew who she was, Aunt Maggie; she had freckles on her blush side, nonetheless she looked young and pretty.
She squeezed me in a tight hug, making it impossible for me to breathe.
“Mommy, you are killing her.” I heard a feminine voice that sounded quite thick, compared to my tiny own.
“Oops, I was so excited, that's why, you looked so much like your mom when she was young, Ah! Good old days,” Aunt Maggie shook her head dramatically.
“Come my child” She held my hand in a gentle grip, before dragging me to the dining, her daughter trailing behind.
I was a bit excited at her arrival.
My mom was a human who had the power to see the future; they called her the Seer in the circle, according to what I heard. There were not many things I'd heard from Dad about my mom, but since Aunt Maggie had known her from childhood, she could at least tell me more about her.
“Come here, Regina!” Dad called her to his side.
“Oh my, you've grown so big” She has this kind of aura that sends chills down my neck, she wasn't the talking type, figured out. With a big resemblance to her mom, except for the hair. Compared to Aunt Maggie's, Regina's hair is a curly dark red.
She gave a faint smile when my eyes met hers.
“Tiffany, meet Regina; you might not remember her, but you guys played in the woods together when you were little,” Dad said, trying to make me remember, which I couldn't.
“Wow, we play in the woods; I can't really remember that.” I squeezed in, sounding awkward.
“Yeah, it's ok, I too don't remember playing in the woods with you,” She said jokingly.
She's really cool, and I like it.
Dinner with Rodriguez was really great; we talked a lot, and I found out that Gina and I had lots in common, Gina for short. We talked about our favorite things and how clumsy we could be, while the adults talked about boring stuff that was really annoying. Gina said she wanted to stay here for a sleepover so she could take me to school herself; well, Dad already announced that I was not going to homeschool here in Brytin since he said I was not a kid anymore and I could go to high school.
Do you know how much I really wanted to stop homeschooling in California? It's just that I could not tell him because I knew that Dad was doing his best to keep me safe, but right now he just gave me the go-ahead to have freedom.
Today is literally the best night ever.
It was a great start to have new friends and buddies, go to parties, and hang out with everyone, and have the freedom I never had.
I think coming to Brytin wasn't a bad idea, after all.
~Tiffany~“Heyyooo G,” A dark guy with curly brown hair with blue eyes greeted Gina, with a flirty smile and thumbs up.“Heyyy,“ Gina sneered as she pushed his hands away.“Don't tell me you are still angry about what happened yesterday, I already explained why I wasn't going to be around” he whined as he hit her shoulder, she pushed his hands away again, and threw him a stern look.“Yo, who's this hot chic G,” the guy said, now aware of my presence. He had this American accent that sounded sweet and unique. I liked the black American vibes he was giving out.Yeah, he looks cute and he also sounds cute.“No go area bro, she's my bestie,” Gina said.Right!Wait. Wait, did she just call me bestie?Ahhhh!, I am already doing my happy dance in my head right now, wow looking for actual friends but I ended up having a bestie like she's my real first bestie and I already like the fact that she acknowledges me. I feel so excited.“Alright, alright,” he said, raising his hands, surrendering t
~Tiffany~“See you after school!” Gina said as she went to her class. We had to separate because I had biology while she had geography. The class was filled up when I went in, there were two spaces one at the front and the other at the back where AJ was staying. Yes, I remembered his name, because it got stuck in my head, don't know why.Having some eye problem issue, I couldn't sit at the front, either I sat at the middle or back, but now I have no choice but to sit beside him. I walked to his side and dropped my bag. I was just going to sit beside him today and change my seat for the next class, that was it, nothing else. The biology teacher came in, she wore a fitted purple shirt on a black skirt, a biology textbook in her hand, and her glasses on as she looked sternly at all of us.“This would be your seat and the person beside you is your partner for the term” she announced adjusting her glasses, my eyes widened I was shocked. His pen dropped immediately.I faced him trying to
~Tiffany~ “Is anything the matter Tiffie,” Gina asked as she looked at me with concern, I guess I was so lost in my thought that I had not known I was bashing him loudly.“No, I'm fine, just a little bit upset” I answered but her eyes said otherwise.“Ok fine you got me, it's AJ” I confessed“AJ?” She gave me a questioning look“Yes, it's him, but it's not really much of a big deal. I have settled it” I tried to make her understand. “Oh! No, you can't say that, anything that has to do with AJ or any vampires or hybrid is a huge thing for us, he is a MONSTER OK and he is OUR ENEMY don't you forget that also tell me exactly what went wrong today” She prattled, of course, she feared that those bastard had done something to me, her bestie. I explained everything to Gina. She heaved a relieved sigh.“That's good, it's a good thing he's avoiding you, and that's what you guys would be doing during biology class till I find a way to get you out of that awkward situation” Gina muttered as s
~Tiffany~ [Late at night] I was going down the street to get some painkillers, my head's been banging and I really don't know why. Today seems off, I haven't seen my dad since morning, Gina and Zayne didn't come to school, even AJ and his squad were nowhere to be found.It's like they planned it.‘Was something going wrong or something had gone wrong?’ I could not help but ask myself these questions. Lost in my feeble thoughts, I heard a twig crack, my hands started shaking and an uneasy feeling crept over me. My hands do shake whenever I am in danger, I reached for the necklace around my neck, but it was gone.“Fuck! That necklace had kept me safe since when I was young, and now where did I keep it” I muttered, searching my pocket to see if I would find something useful or not. My legs kept thriving into the woods faster than I had imagined. It was as if some unseen force kept pushing me there.‘No-no, not here’ I whimpered.‘This is not where you are meant to go,’ panic hit my che
~Tiffany~ “You got marked!” Gina flared up as her fluffy eyes widened. “Are you sure that the creature did this to you or a vampire did?” She queried moving closer to get a clearer view of the mark.“I honestly don't know, I am so- confused right now, I don't know, I- just-” my shoulder slumped off as I admitted dejectedly trailing off. I rummaged my brain again to remember whether the creature did this to me or someone else did.“Let’s say that creature really did capture you, how on earth did you get home?” Gina's question baffled me, but still, I had no answer to give and this is so irksome.“I don't know Gina, woke up to see myself on the bed,” I ruffled my hair, looking so maddening.“We need to tell your dad or my mom, an adult needs to know about this,” she suggested but I shook my head.“Hell no! What if it was actually a vampire bite, this would cause an uproar and those poor humans would be the ones to suffer for it,” I blurted out, the last thing I want is people's heads
~Tiffany~“Are you sure you do not remember anything that happened after the creature took you,” Aunt Maggie asked again, just to be sure I didn't miss anything.“The last thing I remember was me passing out after the creature stung me with its, and the next I found myself on the bed,” I replied truthfully.The look in Gina’s eyes was understandable, she really did not want to leave that mark part out, but not telling them is for the best.What if I am wrong and that it wasn't AJ who bit me, What if?I'm just sick and tired of not remembering anything.“We need to tell your dad about this Tiffie, he is the only one who could help us catch the Creature right now, and hiding anything from the head of the circle would do no good. It's like we are working against the circle's principle,” Aunt Maggie tried to explain, her voice laced with concern as she looked at me with affection that made my stomach wobble.I also was scared of what my dad would do when he found out.He would catch my lie
~Tiffany~ Gina and I went back to the forest to fetch my inhaler and also some evidence to find that godforsaken surreal creature that nearly got me killed.It was not easy going back to the woods where I had been attacked as it sent some chills down my spine.To be honest, I am terrified.Scared that the creature would just come out of nowhere and take me down.I clutched the stick in my hands, holding it very tight; trying my best not to show Gina how scared I was.My eyes caught something shining, and I moved closer, removing the leaves on it.A ring, with some carvings on it and a red stone at its center. It was beautiful and it looked ancient.“Found it,” I heard Gina's voice, shoving the ring into my pocket hastily, I stared at her, Gina was panting and smiling like she had won the lottery.“Thanks, Gina, you are the best” she handed me my inhaler as I stuffed my body into hers.“Damn, can't you be less touchy,” she complained, not pushing me away. I know Gina could do that but
~Tiffany~ Zayne asked me out on a date!I agreed since I knew he was a cool guy and also Gina's brother, so no problem, right?After all, I needed to have some fun because ever since I had moved into this little spooky town strange things have been happening which I do not find fascinating at all, especially when a beautiful creature wants my head.I wondered whom I had offended in my past life.Sighs.Not me thinking living in this small town would mean a simple yet interesting life but no, it's quite the opposite and my life keeps being in danger. The doorbell rang, it should be Zayne, he's quite the gentleman man, per se.Having informed my dad about the date earlier, he gave me the go-ahead without a second thought.That was- um a bit odd, but I brushed it off.Maybe Pops finally feels I am no longer the kid he needed to protect.Whatever his reasons may be I'm glad he let me be.“Hi Zayne,” his blue eyes stayed glued on my body which made me wonder if something was wrong.Was my