Night World : Huntress Chapter 3

Jez burst through the door and turned immediately into the small library off the front hall. Her uncle was sitting there at his desk, surrounded by built-in bookcases. He looked up in surprise. â€Å"Uncle Bracken, who was my mother? How did my parents die?† It all came out in a single rush of breath. And then Jez wanted to say, â€Å"Tell me the truth,† but instead she heard herself saving wildly, â€Å"Tell me it's not true. It's not possible, is it? Uncle Bracken, I'm so scared.† Her uncle stared at her for a moment. There was shock and despair in his face. Then he bent his head and shut his eyes. â€Å"But how is it possible?† Jez whispered. â€Å"How am I here?† It was hours later. Dawn was tinting the window. She was sitting on the floor, back against a bookcase, where she'd collapsed, staring emptily into the distance. â€Å"You mean, how can a vampire-human halfbreed exist? I don't know. Your parents never knew. They never expected to have children.† Uncle Bracken ran both hands through his hair, head down. â€Å"They didn't even realize you could live as a vampire. Your father brought you to me because he was dying and I was the only person he could trust. He knew I wouldn't turn you over to the Night World elders.† â€Å"Maybe you should have,† Jez whispered. Uncle Bracken went on as if he hadn't heard her. â€Å"You lived without blood then. You looked like a human child. I don't know what made me try to see if you could learn how to feed. I brought you a rabbit and bit it for you and let you smell the blood.† He gave a short laugh of reminiscence. â€Å"And your little teeth sharpened right up and you knew what to do. That was when I knew you were a true Redfern.† â€Å"But I'm not.† Jez heard the words as if someone else was speaking them from a distance. â€Å"I'm not even a Night Person. I'm vermin.† Uncle Bracken let go of his hair and looked at her. His eyes, normally the same silvery-blue as Jez's, were burning with a pure silver flame. â€Å"Your mother was a good woman,† he said harshly. â€Å"Your father gave up everything to be with her. She wasn't vermin.† Jez looked away, but she wasn't ashamed. She was numb. She felt nothing except a vast emptiness inside her, stretching infinitely in all directions. And that was good. She never wanted to feel again. Everything she'd felt in her life-everything she could remember-had been a lie. She wasn't a huntress, a predator fulfilling her place in the scheme of things by chasing down her lawful prey. She was a murderer. She was a monster. â€Å"I can't stay here anymore,† she said. Uncle Bracken winced. â€Å"Where will you go?† â€Å"I don't know.† He let out his breath and spoke slowly and sadly. â€Å"I have an idea.†