I was honestly not sure what I was doing here. My purpose was still to find a way to die. Since they knew my power, perhaps they could shut it off. So, I could die in peace. After all, my life belonged to another by means of an unbreakable magical contract. And I had no interest in finding out what the pack offered.
I had been looking at all this as if through a looking glass. Someone else's life. Someone else's family, Someone else's fortune, and Someone else's joy. At most, I would say it was like watching a soap opera. The pendant had remembered to bring my body ashore before eternal sleep, but had forgotten my soul in the dark and deep.
Meanwhile, the conversation was getting way too heated now. "What do you mean she's Vivian's daughter?" And what do you mean you checked? "She is not my Daughter. I've never been pregnant like I've been told." Mommy dearest exclaimed, raising her hands. "Isn't she dead?" Evelyn questioned. Before looking back at me, a bit guilty, "I didn't mean to remind you of your pain."
"It's been 14 years. No worries."
"Where did you even find her?" Uncle James stared suspiciously.
Albert paused again. "I found her trying to kill Hitler, I checked by testing her DNA and her blood against the crystal. And for your first question, Well that exactly what I mean. Vivian slept with that werewolf you hated and made a baby. He pointed at me with his fork. That's her. then went back to eating. Was this guy doing it purposefully I wondered?
"Are you sure, I mean you're absolutely certain." Grandma Margaret asked.
I think they might've believed him if he had stopped being all nonchalant about it. "Yes, I'm sure. I even got my guys to dig up all the information. We verified Vivan's presence by Timewalk."
I had heard the guy who caught me killing Hitler saying that word. Oh, Oh. Going backward or forward in time is called Timewalk. I finally gleaned some new information from all this commotion.
This time, Grandpa physically stopped Albert from taking a bite. "If all this is true, why are you acting like this?Like what?Like this! As if you're discussing the damn weather or something. Why aren't you doing something?"
"Do what? I brought her back, didn't I? Which is more than I can say for any of you lot." Albert went back to eating. This was definitely deliberate.
"Albert!" he slammed his fist onto the table. An aura of power erupted from him shaking the table and almost making me faint.
"What? I don't get it. When she left, you were so indifferent. And you ensured we were indifferent too. When you brought her replacement, you had been so calm. When her life crystal faded, you didn't even have a proper wake." He tried to keep his voice even. But he was now failing. "When she went away, you had been so nonchalant. So now her daughter came back, you're causing such a fuss. I don't get it. What changed?"
Albert's expression was of venom and defiance. Now I get it. His nonchalance was his way of telling off the more powerful clan head. In a way that didn't violate his precious laws for which he sacrificed his daughter. I didn't know the whole story yet. The older maids were strictly forbidden, so Maria and Kate didn't know. But they had heard rumors of it being the good old family pride and forbidden love sort of thing. Well, I was a halfblood, so at least one of those two boxes was checked.
They both stared at each other for a while. Then Arthur retracted his Aura. The table breathed. He looked at me. Taking in my visage. Perhaps comparing it to the daughter he used to have. I saw his lips tremble. He wanted to say something, but paused. Instead, he turned back to Albert. "Where has she been all these years?"
I saw the gears in my granduncle's mind turning. His face returned to the same careless attitude. But now that I knew what to look for. I could hear the subtle accusation in his even voice. Look what you did!
He began in that same careless attitude. "She was with her parents for the first two years. Her father died in a raid when she was two, and her mother from Time Burn when she was four. As a half-blood outcast, she scoured trash for food and lived under a tree with a few rags on it. After they realized that she won't die so easily. She was used as a punching bag, comic relief, disgust target, and later secret janitor. She was forcefully stopped from practicing her magic, and during her turns, she was left locked in a shed to starve. Thankfully, it had a small window at the top from which she escaped every month. Only to have her life snatched from her by her mate, who rejected her and bound her with a magical contract with his father to keep her as a power toy for himself. She later escaped before they could throw her in prison. Got drunk and jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge when her mother's legacy crystal activated, saving her life to become a slave. But before she got captured, she decided to do at least one good thing with her life. And that's when I found her, trying to kill Hitler."
Whoa, rude. It was the truth, but still, rude. Who wants their entire shameful life history aired into the sky for everyone to see. But I guess it didn't really matter anyway. They deserved to know about their grand daughter. I was their blood. That counts for something, right. And all this shit won't be my problem for long, anyway. So, who cares.
I focused on my cheesy noodles. Although, the slurping sound did feel quite awkward in the silent room. Maybe I should say something. I looked around at the expressions of everyone present. Then bravely chose to return to my noodles. Talking was too much work anyway.