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Authors: Alycia Linwood
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had a symbol carved into it. Squinting at the inscription, I noticed a tiny letter R in the middle of something that looked like a heart. “Jonathan really loved Rosalia, didn’t he? Does that mean Rosalia’s children are related to us? I mean, when I heard the story, I assumed...” I didn’t want to say that it wasn’t my assumption, but Oliver’s. Maybe my mom knew the truth.
“Ria!” my mom said, horrified. “How can you say such a thing? Your great-grandfather might not have been the best of men, but you can’t assume he’d...”
“He’d what, mom? Send his own children to kill his other children?” I smirked. “Yeah, I totally believe he’d do it. How crazy do you have to be to kill off your offspring just because they have the disease, especially if there is a chance they inherited it from you in the first place? That’s, like, a whole new level of hypocrite.” I was sure my great-grandpa hadn’t had a clue about genetics and hadn’t even considered that one generation could inherit the disease. He must have thought everything was safe since his children and grandchildren didn’t inherit the disease. His great-grandchildren were a whole other story. My great-grandpa had still been alive when Oliver showed the symptoms of the disease, but either he was too old to change the terms of the deal or do something, or my parents had lied to him like they lied to me.
“Enough!” She got to her feet and made her way around the desk. Adrian stepped closer to me, uncertainty flashing across his face. But before any of us could react, my mom crossed the distance between us and put her arms around me. “Honey, I missed you so much.”
Taken aback, I placed my arms around her. “I missed you too, Mom.”
“You’ll have to explain to me why you took the presidency of the Element Preservers from your father. I still don’t understand why you did that,” she said as she caressed my hair. “You broke his heart.”
“We’ll have time to talk about everything.” I had questions for my mom too, but now wasn’t the right time for that. “I have to go now.”
“Alright, but call me or leave a message. I want to at least know that you’re fine.” She sniffled and let go of me. “Tell your brother to call me too.”
“Will do.” Maybe there was still hope my mother would realize Oliver and I couldn’t help who we were. She just needed time and an opportunity to hear our side of the story, but I didn’t know if we had time.
Chapter 10
“This is useless. We’re never going to find anything,” I said as I finished checking out another one of the dusty books from my great-grandfather’s attic.
Adrian coughed as he picked up another book and tried to shake off the cobwebs that were plastered all over it. “When was the last time someone cleaned this place?”
“I have no idea, but it wasn’t in this century.” I picked up a photograph of Jonathan in the military uniform. He didn’t look like a crazy elemental purist, but truly crazy people rarely looked crazy.
“Would he really keep any proof that he had the disease in his house and leave that to his kids?” Adrian asked.
“Maybe not, but there could be something about this other family or about whoever that ensures the terms of the deal are respected. I mean, it doesn’t have to be something anyone could recognize.” I inspected another photograph - this time a grainy one - of Jonathan and some of his friends. “We could be looking for a friend of his or an old acquaintance.”
Adrian flipped through another book. “Your great-grandpa had a lot of friends, so it could be anyone. There’s no way we can recognize that person.”
I let out a frustrated groan. “You’re right. I don’t think we’ll find anything. I mean, we’ve been looking for a clue for hours and there’s nothing here.”
“Do you think Rosalia is her real name?” Adrian got up from the floor, dusting off his pants.
I narrowed my eyes at
“Ria!” my mom said, horrified. “How can you say such a thing? Your great-grandfather might not have been the best of men, but you can’t assume he’d...”
“He’d what, mom? Send his own children to kill his other children?” I smirked. “Yeah, I totally believe he’d do it. How crazy do you have to be to kill off your offspring just because they have the disease, especially if there is a chance they inherited it from you in the first place? That’s, like, a whole new level of hypocrite.” I was sure my great-grandpa hadn’t had a clue about genetics and hadn’t even considered that one generation could inherit the disease. He must have thought everything was safe since his children and grandchildren didn’t inherit the disease. His great-grandchildren were a whole other story. My great-grandpa had still been alive when Oliver showed the symptoms of the disease, but either he was too old to change the terms of the deal or do something, or my parents had lied to him like they lied to me.
“Enough!” She got to her feet and made her way around the desk. Adrian stepped closer to me, uncertainty flashing across his face. But before any of us could react, my mom crossed the distance between us and put her arms around me. “Honey, I missed you so much.”
Taken aback, I placed my arms around her. “I missed you too, Mom.”
“You’ll have to explain to me why you took the presidency of the Element Preservers from your father. I still don’t understand why you did that,” she said as she caressed my hair. “You broke his heart.”
“We’ll have time to talk about everything.” I had questions for my mom too, but now wasn’t the right time for that. “I have to go now.”
“Alright, but call me or leave a message. I want to at least know that you’re fine.” She sniffled and let go of me. “Tell your brother to call me too.”
“Will do.” Maybe there was still hope my mother would realize Oliver and I couldn’t help who we were. She just needed time and an opportunity to hear our side of the story, but I didn’t know if we had time.
Chapter 10
“This is useless. We’re never going to find anything,” I said as I finished checking out another one of the dusty books from my great-grandfather’s attic.
Adrian coughed as he picked up another book and tried to shake off the cobwebs that were plastered all over it. “When was the last time someone cleaned this place?”
“I have no idea, but it wasn’t in this century.” I picked up a photograph of Jonathan in the military uniform. He didn’t look like a crazy elemental purist, but truly crazy people rarely looked crazy.
“Would he really keep any proof that he had the disease in his house and leave that to his kids?” Adrian asked.
“Maybe not, but there could be something about this other family or about whoever that ensures the terms of the deal are respected. I mean, it doesn’t have to be something anyone could recognize.” I inspected another photograph - this time a grainy one - of Jonathan and some of his friends. “We could be looking for a friend of his or an old acquaintance.”
Adrian flipped through another book. “Your great-grandpa had a lot of friends, so it could be anyone. There’s no way we can recognize that person.”
I let out a frustrated groan. “You’re right. I don’t think we’ll find anything. I mean, we’ve been looking for a clue for hours and there’s nothing here.”
“Do you think Rosalia is her real name?” Adrian got up from the floor, dusting off his pants.
I narrowed my eyes at
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