Unraveling Mathias by Marisa Maichel (top 10 best books of all time .TXT) 📖

straightened up her room a little. It wasn't messy, but there were clothes on the floor that had missed the hamper and books everywhere.

I gave her a kiss. I didn't want to leave her. But I had no choice-it was getting late, and she needed her sleep. I started toward the window.

"Reese?" I turned and looked at her. She was awake and looking at me oddly. "Your eyes are glowing."

"I'm sorry," I said, because I didn't know what else to say.

"Stay," she said. "I sleep better when I'm with you."

I crawled in next to her and kicked my boots off. She turned and planted her nose in my chest. She was pulling her own chest away slightly.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"My breasts hurt," she explained. "Hmm. I kind of want to have sex with you right now."

"Go to sleep," I commanded. She pouted for a moment. I tipped her face up so her eyes were looking in mine. "Sleep. Rest. You need to sleep." She blinked at me, then her eyes closed and her breathing grew deeper. Wow. My hypnotism works as well as Father's.

Unfortunately, though, I had to leave her because Father was freaking out over my absence.

When I got home, I immediately went to my own room. Something isn't right. I smelled the air. It smelled odd...evil. I knew that smell from somewhere. I racked my brain, trying to remember where. Then my eyelids started to feel heavy, so I stripped off my clothes and crawled into bed. The smell was strongest here, but I was too tired to care.

That night, I dreamed about Ambrose.

I was standing in the ocean. I couldn't breathe, which was weird, because I don't breathe. The salt water scratched my throat, slugs crawled around my bare feet. I couldn't move. Suddenly, a water demon came toward me. It had the head of a monkey, the chest and torso of a human, and the tail of a shark. I was terrified, but I still couldn't move.

As I looked into the demon's eyes, I saw a pair of violet orbs looking back at me. Ambrose's eyes. He swam toward me again, this time biting my neck. I felt over, silently screaming. And then the slugs started to feast on my body. I screamed and screamed, but still no sound came out.

Suddenly, another figure swam towards me. It was Alexander. He was naked, with the tail of a merman. He whacked Ambrose with his tail and pulled me out of the slug-filled sand. I felt tears sting my eyes. And then I saw Sarah. She was trapped in a cage. Some of the slugs started to crawl to her. I screamed, begging Alexander to save her instead, but to no avail.

Ambrose headed toward her, and squeezed her neck. Sarah died before my eyes.

The dream changed. I was falling through the air. I was a thousand feet up, and falling steadily towards the earth. When I was a foot away from death, I sprouted wings. They were white and resembled angel wings.

I looked up. Sarah was falling now. I flapped my wings and flew up to meet her. I grabbed her and held her in my arms. Suddenly, a giant black bird came out of nowhere and started pecking at me. I ended up dropping Sarah, and she started falling to her death. I couldn't save her; the bird wouldn't let me or leave me alone.

I looked down, fearful, but Sarah was not dead. She was being held by Mother, who had grown a pair of white wings as well. Alexander, who had black and white wings, was flying over to help me. He fought the giant bird. The bird pecked at his chest and stomach; he ignored it and stabbed it with a dagger. It fell to the earth and landed as Ambrose.

The dream changed again. Father was reaching toward me, shouting my name. The wind was keeping us apart.

"Daddy!" I cried, my voice sounding very much like a little kid.

I woke up. My chest felt light, and my legs felt like they had been running for months. No, years. Father was sitting beside me, holding me up.

"I thought you would never wake up," he said, stroking my hair. I leaned back into his chest and let the tears prick my eyes. "Shh, Reese, it was just a dream."

"Father," I said, "Ambrose was here."

CHAPTER ELEVEN - DECISION

"I thought I smelled a rat," Father said, pacing the room. It was the next day...well, later that day...and Father, Grandfather, Uncle Soren, and I were in the library. I yawned. I was still exhausted. Father had insisted I stay home for a few days to rest and recuperate.

"It was a dream, Mordecai," Uncle Soren said for the billionth time. I had told them about my nightmares. "Bad dreams happen to everybody." Father paused and glared at him.

"This is serious," he said.

"It's not like I'm a seer," I said, laying my head on my arms. "Not like a male Frigg."

"Of course not, baby," Grandfather said, giving me an affectionate head rub. "You look like you're about to pass out. Why don't you go back to bed?"

"He doesn't need bed," Uncle Soren argued.

"Soren, he's exhausted. Look at him. The child is about to swoon!"

"You know what, I think I will go back to bed," I said.

"Not in your room," Father said. "My room."

"No, Toby's old room," Uncle Soren said.

"I'll just sleep on the couch then!" I quipped, irritated.

"Nonsense," Grandfather said. "Come to my bedroom. You will be safest there."

 

As I slid under the covers in Grandfather's bed, I slipped off into a grateful sleep.

 

Hours later, I awoke with a start. For once, I couldn't remember my dreams. I sat up, trying to remember. My mind just went blank. Finally, I got up and walked into my room. The rain outside made the sky look perfect. I love rainy days.

I walked outside and sat in the grass, the raining pouring down on me. I glanced down, and noticed a slug. But this wasn't a flesh-eating slug. This was an ordinary garden slug. Nothing scary about it. Some people even eat slugs. I don't think I'd want to. I felt a piece of fluff touch me. I looked down and noticed Shadowfang.

"The rain doesn't bother you?" I asked him. He blinked twice.

There are scarier monsters out there.

I flinched. "Did you just-"

Darkness isn't scary.

"Did you just speak to me?" I demanded. The cat blinked once. Then he turned tail and walked back to the house, pausing briefly to spray on the bushes. I didn't know what to think. I had a supernatural cat, an uncle who wanted my other uncle dead, and an evil coven leader who wanted my ass, a sick girlfriend, a crazy bitch who also acted like she wanted me, and my friendships were wavering. Plus a ghost.

I hadn't seen Mike Nales' ghost since that day in the library, but I still had a sense of foreboding. Something big and ugly was about to happen. Possibly someone was going to die. I just hoped it wouldn't be anyone I loved.

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"What happens if you eat human food?" Duke asked me.

"It will sit in my stomach until I find a place to cough it up or it causes me to throw up," I answered.

"Do you have venom?" Amara asked.

"We do have a form of venom mixed in with our blood. It's very powerful and potent. A small amount won't kill you, but a large amount will turn you. You need to have vampire blood in your system in order to turn. Plus a bite. A bite usually makes it go faster, believe it or not."

"How is that?"

"A bite gets rid of the excess human blood while allowing the vampire blood to penetrate the system. The blood will go into your stomach and spread around like nutrients would. My father knows more about how it works than I do."

"So, is he your actual father?" Duke asked.

"He is my biological father, yes. I am what's called a natural-born, meaning that two vampires had me naturally."

"Man, I can't believe we were taught by a vampire for a couple weeks," Noah said.

"What are vampire pregnancies like?" Amara asked.

"I don't know the full story, but my mother says that I kicked harder than a human baby would. I was very strong, even while I was still in the womb. I also weighed about twelve pounds at birth." The last tidbit of information was something that Mother liked to tease me about.

"How strong are you now?" Noah asked. Thankfully, Rouge wasn't here today, so I could reveal all the information I wanted.

"Too strong. I can crush a steel plate. My father can crush a diamond using his full strength."

"Can you gain weight?"

"Depends on the amount of muscle content. We don't get fat, if that's what you're asking. We have different body shapes and sizes just like humans do, although our women are curvier and have thinner waists, and the males are more muscular and also have thin waists." Although my own weight fluctuated greatly.

"What about the sexes? Are there more boys or girls?" Amara asked.

"More males than females are changed, simply because most male vampires refuse to bite women unless they are mates. Males are also usually older and more in charge of security and safety. The women are usually coddled."

"Coddled?"

"That's the best way to put it. Males are also usually in charge of hunting and food retrieval and disposal. This reduces any threats to the female and is a way for him to prove that he's worthy of her love."

The bell rang, ending lunch. I gratefully got up to go to my locker and my next class. While I walked, I thought about what I said. If you get a male and a female, and add in another male, then you get disaster. If you get a male and a female, and add another female, you either get disaster or a larger coven. The same thing goes for homosexual relationships in vampires. If you have two males and add in another male, disaster. Two females and another female, more disaster.

Father believes that males are so possessive, jealous, and protective because of our venom's reaction with testosterone. Females have less testosterone, and so are less volatile.

We can be affected by certain diseases. Vampire porphyria, which is what I have, is the most common one. Human porphyria is known as the "vampire disease". We can beat most diseases, cancers, and infections, however, including HIV, herpes, syphilis, leukemia, and so on.

Grandfather hopes to use our powerful immune systems to help humans overcome these diseases. He is researching how strands of our DNA can be used to beat HIV and other STDs and STIs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I got good news when I got home.

Grandfather was smiling for once, and he held up a vial. "The cure for vampire porphyria."

"What is it?" I asked.

"A simple strand of human DNA and Elf DNA mixed with certain herbs and fruit juices. You will be fine in a few days."

"Whose DNA is it from?" I asked.

"The half-Elf Uriah Dreschler. I believe you know him?"

"Unfortunately." Uriah had tried to keep me hostage in the hospital last November because he liked my looks. "Did he donate?"

"Of course. Come to St. Brigid's tonight. You will soon be healthy."

 

I was strapped to a bed, given something to ease my nerves, surrounded by family and my girlfriend. She wanted to be here, and she wouldn't take no for an answer. Ethan Potter would be administering the mixture. He pulled out a syringe (Sarah had to sit down at the sight of it) and swabbed my arm with rubbing alcohol and some kind of numbing agent.

I closed my eyes and felt the pinch of the needle.

"You need to sleep," Ethan said. "It will work best if you rest." I took his advice.

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I stayed in the hospital for two weeks. I did feel better after a few days. My weight stayed the