“Sit, please.” He gestures to the swing that I had just vacated. His voice is as gentle as it was back in the diner, but I’m not fooled.
“Listen, asshole, I don’t know how you found me here, how you know my name or what you want, but if you don’t get the hell away from me right this minute, I’m going to scream and call the cops.” I realize as I say those last words, that I didn’t bring my cell with me. Dammit.
Those strange grey eyes look unfazed by the threat, which only makes the sickening feeling in my gut worse.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” the man says. I don’t believe him.
“Bullshit.”
“So you just happen to follow me from the diner, find me out here alone in the middle of the night and expect me to believe that you have nothing but honorable intentions?” I scoff, although I don’t know why I’m still standing out here conversing with this total stranger, who is likely a rapist or deranged serial killer.
I decide that I need to distract him long enough to make an escape.
Something like sadness crosses the man’s face.
“That’s exactly what I expect you to believe—because it’s the truth. I’m not here to hurt you,” the man repeats. I still don’t want to believe him, because no sane person would, but there’s something about his expression that eases my panic a fraction.
“Then what do you want?” I demand, still continuing to inch away.
The man notices and lets out a long breath.
“My name is Magnus Evenstar,” he says.
“And I’m your grandfather.”
I don’t think I heard him right, because that can’t be true. I stare at him in disbelief.
“What?” I’ve stopped moving completely now. Shocked into stillness. Well, that’s not what I was expecting. At all.
He doesn’t say anything, letting me digest his words.
“You’re not—you’re not my grandfather. He’s dead,” I retort when I can speak again. Both of my mom’s parents died before I was born.
“Your father was my son,” the man replies.
I blink at him, taking in his appearance, that strange aura surrounding him, making my skin prickle.
I don’t miss the word was.
“He’s dead,” I say flatly. I had always acted like my father was dead, but hearing it confirmed … I don’t know how to feel.
“Yes, he died a few months ago.” There’s that sadness again.
“Let’s say I do believe you, which I don’t—what does it have to do with me?” I say then, narrowing my eyes at the man claiming to be my grandfather.
“It has everything to do with you,” he replies.
“I want you to come with me.”
Indignation shoots through me. Who the hell does this guy think he is?
“Excuse me?” I sputter.
“I’m here to take you away from this.” He gestures to the trailer park in the distance.
“Listen, Magnus, I’m not going anywhere with you. You may think that I’m somehow related to you, but the only family that I had died when I was seven.
“My father was nothing but a deadbeat who wanted nothing to do with me or my mom, so I want nothing to do with him or his family.”
“That’s not true—your father did want you, but he …” He seems to be struggling to find the words or the right excuse. I don’t care.
“He couldn’t—it was forbidden”.
Forbidden? I have no idea what the hell that means, but I’m not about to stick around to find out.
“Whatever. Thanks for the offer, but I’m fine where I am,” I say, standing up a little straighter and meeting those grey eyes straight on.
It’s a mistake. I feel that whisper of premonition again, like whatever it was that lay in the shadows, just beyond my reach, is now washing over me, suffocating me. It feels like I’m standing at the doorway to something so terrifying, that if I let myself step through the threshold, nothing will ever be the same again.
“Oh, really? You’re fine with baring your body in order to survive? You’re fine with this?” He gestures to the trailer park again and anger spikes through me.
“Screw you, asshole. You don’t get to judge me or where I live. You don’t know what I’ve been through, you have no idea what I’ve had to do to look after myself. Firstly, you can’t just expect me to believe that you’re my long lost grandfather without any proof—”
He cuts me off then.
“You want proof? I have more than enough—DNA tests and your birth certificate amongst them. You think I would risk coming here for the wrong person? No. There is no mistaking who you are.”
I gape at him in shock. How the hell did he get hold of my DNA? And my birth certificate? I shake my head, sweeping those thoughts away. Never mind. It still doesn’t change anything.
“I don’t know what you’d risk doing—I don’t know you, remember? You’re a total stranger. Secondly, even if you think you have proof, you can’t just waltz in here after seventeen years of nothing—no phone calls, no visits, not even so much as a birthday card and expect me to what? Come and live with you? Sorry, but you’re about seventeen years too late. I’m not interested”.
The calm expression flares into something like anguish.
“Your father only found out about you shortly before his death. He kept it a secret at first, and I only found out after his death.”
I didn’t think I’d care, but the words feel like needles in my chest.
“Of course, he did. A dirty little secret. Let me guess, he didn’t want his perfect little family knowing about his little mistake?”
“There’s so much you don’t understand, Jazmine, so much you don’t know. But I’m here to show you. It’s taken me months to track you down and now that I’ve found you, I’m not leaving here without you”.
I shoot him an incredulous look.
“Which part of I’m not going with you, didn’t you understand? Let me say it again—I’m not going anywhere with you. So, you can leave now.” I fix one of my most merciless glares at him. The one that makes most people pale under its intensity. But my uncanny violet-silver eyes don’t seem to faze him at all.
“You have your father’s eyes,” he says wistfully, and I feel like scratching them out of my face.
I can’t stand here for a second longer. I need to get the hell away from here. Now.
“Fine. Don’t leave, stand there all night, if you want. I’ll leave and if you even think about following me, I’ll call the cops.” I make the empty threat again.
I turn my back on him, and start walking away, but his next words stop me dead in my tracks.
“You need to come with me, Jazmine. It’s not safe for you here anymore, Jazmine.”
Not safe? What the hell?
He’s lying, I tell myself. Why the hell should I believe a single word coming out of this guy’s mouth and even if he is telling the truth, it doesn’t change the fact that this man is still a stranger to me. A total stranger.
Leave. I order myself, but instead of getting the hell out of there, I open my mouth instead.
“What are you talking about?” My question is barely a whisper in the night, scared to hear the answer.
“You need to trust me”.