Sunday 31 May 2015

Chapter 45 - Gen 2 - Tapestry


Honey is just standing in front of my with a face like thunder!!

I just can not deal with all the different emotions running through me, now having to deal with the fact that she has not faded.  She is not buried in the cemetery, she is here as large as life and still in my life, I have not lost my best friend at all.  However, I have never seen my best friend this mean and angry looking before!!

Seeing her like this, now as an adult as well as a vampberry, is quite a shock to my system.  It upsets, shocks and surprises me.  The surprise is that I never imagined that she would grow up to look like she does.  Now that I am standing here and taking a good look at her face, she looks to me, through my colour blind eyes, to be almost Ruby's double, but a younger version obviously.  I have imagined her in my mind differently somehow, but I guess because she is still a teenager in my head.   What shocks me is that the longer I stand staring a her face, the more I get a very nasty feeling that I have seen this face before.

My head suddenly flashes back to the last time that I was here in this den, to when I was wiping Crystals memory.  I am sure that this is the face that I saw in Crystals head, the woman that Crystal had seen watching us when we were alone in the side room together.  Now I feel sick as well as stupid, because I am sure that I saw Honey way back then and I did not recognize her.  Why am I so stupid sometimes?  There are so many clues that have been dropped in front of me that I have not picked up on, I did not see them at the time, but I can see them now!! 

"Don't you dare look at me like that you dirt bag!!"  she suddenly snaps angrily at me.




"Dirt bag?!"  I frown at her.

"Yes you!!  You have a damn nerve showing your face here finally, you cheating scum bag!!"  she snaps  "It did not take you long to replace me did it!!  You never loved me at all did you, in that idiot head of yours!!  You did not even have the decency to dump me!!"

"Honey ..."

"Don't you Honey me!!"  she snaps not even giving me a chance to say anything  "How long did it take you exactly after you slung your hook to the other side of the planet?!   You can not even deny it, I have seen you with that colourless thing of yours, that you bought home with you!!"

"And what?!"   I yell at her because I think it is the only way I am going to get my say  "I did not chose to run I had too!!  They told me you had faded what the hell did you expect me to do!!"

"My Dad and Strawberry were right about you!!  You knock me up then you sling your hook and move onto your next victim BEFORE the brats were even born!!  AND you have the nerve to leave me lumbered with that orange squealing brat!!"  she snaps as she points at Shadow  "Look at him, he's a mini you and the last thing that I want is a constant reminder of your ugly face!!"

"What the Hell Honey?!"

"Well I hope you have come here to take the horrible thing away with you, he should be with the yellow brat, and I definitely don't want him!!"

"Are you for real?!"  I snap angrily while she just glares at me. 






I am totally dumbfounded!!  I am not sure that I can believe what is coming out of Honey's mouth!!  What happened to the nice, sweet girl that I knew?!  I glance at Jazz and Storm wide eyed in disbelief.

"I did warn you Tap!!"  Storm starts chuckling  "Honey is now totally off her head and a prize bitch!!  Honey and my mother have both had personality transplants!!"

Jazz, Storm and Cosmic all start laughing quietly.

"Shut your hole spirit!!"  She glares at Storm then she laughs sarcastically at Jazz  "That green bitch is playing a very clever game!!  She is just play acting to pull the wool over your eyes, if you can't see it then you are stupid!!"  she snaps nastily.

"You are just jealous bitch, because your kid prefers her to you, and seriously I don't blame him!!"  Storm, like he does,  is just taunting and laughing which annoys her.

"Isn't it about time you and your three transparent mates passed over and got lost gay boy!!  This is not a doss house for ghosts or puffs!!"

"Whatever vampire!!"  Storm snaps at her.

"It is not a doss house for mortals either!!  What are you even doing here anyway?"  she turns her attention back to me   "We have enough mortals stinking up this place, we don't need you adding to the stench!!"  she snaps  "So go on, sling your hook back to your colourless bitch and make sure you take your orange brat with you!!"




I start to get angry because she sounds just like Coral and I seriously hate the word brat, especially when it is thrown at my children!!  Honey should not be talking like this in front of Shadow!!  Now I am seeing what Storm meant when he said earlier that she is now evil.  I am astonished by what she has become.  This is not my Honey, this is a monster!! 

"You need to wind your neck in!!  The only brat around here is you!!"  I snap at her  "Call yourself a Mother!?  It is no wander Shadow thinks you don't like him and prefers Lime, if this is the way you talk about him and so he can hear it!!"

"He is right ... I don't like the little brat, just like he doesn't like me, and what?!" she snaps  "That green bitch is his Mother these days, but I guess you have heard!!"  she laughs sarcastically  "Just like the yellow brat has that colourless freak of yours playing Mommy!!"

"STOP calling Shadow and Vanilla BRATS!!"  I yell at her  "And Crystal is NOT a colourless freak either!!  What the hell happened to you Honey?!"

"I think that is pretty damn obvious don't you!"  she snarls at me nastily showing me her teeth.

Shadow suddenly sits up and snarls at her, like she had just snarled at me, which shocks me for a moment.  I see Jazz watching us intensely.

"Well I am telling you, you want to keep that yellow brat and  ...  Crystal ... on a tight lead or you might just find me sinking my teeth into them when your back is turned!!"  she spits at me smugly then starts to laugh.  "It's just a shame they are both silent or I would have had them both by now!!  Although, that little colourless brat that you seem to have acquired isn't silent  ...."  she starts cackling almost like a witch.

"You leave Snow, Vanilla and Crystal alone, I'm warning you!!"  I yell at her, wandering how the hell would she know about Snow, then I think that Storm has probably told her about him.

"And what?!  Like you can stop me idiot!!"  she starts laughing




"Honey nasty thinking!!"  Shadow suddenly starts flapping his arms around  "Daddy Honey bite Tappy!!"  he shouts

Shadow must have been listening to her thoughts because as he is saying it suddenly Honey lurches forward and goes for me, she grabs me around the throat.  I just stand there shocked as I feel her grip tightening painfully around my throat and I can hardly breath let alone talk, or shout out.

Suddenly I am scared, but surprisingly, I am not really thinking about her being on the verge of crushing my neck in seconds with her strong vampberry strength and fading me, I am thinking about my voice, the last thing that I need is her messing up my vocal cords so I can no longer sing!!  She snarls at me showing me her teeth as her open mouth starts to come towards me, like she does actually intend to bite me.  I do not know whether she intends to drain, fade or turn me.

I watch Shadow suddenly turn from a cute toddler into the blood sucking monster that he is.  He snarls nastily like Honey had, bearing his teeth as he flies at speed out of my arms and at Honey.  She roars as she suddenly lets go of me and I see Shadow has actually knocked her backwards a little, because of the force in which he hit her.  He is biting into her shoulder like an animal snarling as he does it.  It is the most bizarre thing that I have ever seen, he is clinging onto her by holding a handful of her hair and attacking like a wild animal, literally tearing a chunk of her flesh away, while she is struggling to get him off her.

It suddenly becomes a mad scramble Jazz and both of the spirits fly past me as Shadow sinks his teeth into her for a second time.  Jazz grabs for Shadow, roaring at him to loose Honey, which he does instantly, while the two spirits wrestle Honey away from us.  Jazz passes Shadow to me quickly then stands in front of us like he is protecting us from her in case she comes back at me, but I doubt that she will get past the spirits.

From the time she grabbed my throat to now, it only took a matter of seconds to play out, but it felt like it ran in slow motion for me, as I now stand, holding onto Shadow tightly, shaking in shock.  Honey is now just standing there quietly glaring with Cosmic hovering over her, I think she knows she is beat.


  

"Take her back down to her cage!!"  Jazz snarls angrily.  "I was an idiot to let her come up here and think she might behave herself for once!!"

"Jazzz."  she says in a sickly voice

"DON'T even try going there Honey!!"  he holds his hands up and yells  "Cos, get her out of my sight now before I do something Sunny is going to hate!!"

I continue to shake as I watch the two spirits dragging Honey away, now kicking and screaming again.  The spirits soon have Honey under control, I remember that she does not stand a chance against them because while they can physically interact with her, she like us mortals, can not feel or touch them.  She virtually gives up fighting straight away because she knows she is not getting away from the spirits, but while she has stopped fighting physically she is still giving Storm and Cosmic loads of verbal abuse as they drag her out of the room.

Jazz checks that me and Shadow are both alright before he leaves us alone while he takes off after the spirits to make sure that Honey gets locked back up in her cage without any problems.

Shadow, who has now turned back into that cute toddler again, is fine except for being upset.  besides a sore throat, which will probably be badly bruised tomorrow, I am just a little shaken by what has just happened.  I have to lean against the wall because I feel like my legs are going to give way.  I seriously can not believe that Honey has turned from that nice, kind, sweet girl that I knew into the evil monster that I have just witnessed.  Just hearing her swearing and the vile things coming out of her mouth was shock enough, and I think seeing Shadow, as a vampberry in full action has also blown my head a little.

"Naaaasty Honey!!"  Shadow mumbles  "Me no like her!!  Me wants Lime to be my Mommy!!"

All I can do is hug him, he is upset like I am.  I honestly do not blame him for not liking her if this is the way that she acts towards and in front of him.  I am now very intrigued to see this 'new' and improved Lime that they all seem to suddenly like.

I was a little angry earlier, when I first found out that Honey was still here and not faded, wandering how she could have left Vanilla like she has.  However, if this is how she is going to treat Vanilla, like she wrongly treats Shadow, now I am very glad that Vanilla has never seen her Mother, and if I can help it she never ever will!!




"Me see Vanilla?"  Shadow asks quietly.

I just stare at him as he stares back at me.  I am stupid, I was just thinking freely, forgetting that he can actually listen to my thoughts.  Vanilla, what does he actually know about Vanilla?  I bet he must know, he has been listening to everyone's thoughts, as well as our earlier conversation and we have just been throwing her name about for him to hear it.   I really need to try and distract him away from the subject of Vanilla, until I get my head around all this.  Hell, now how do I deal with this?!  I have a hell of a lot of thinking to do!!  How can I let him see Vanilla, I don't think I want Vanilla to know about this immortal world especially about Honey, now with the way that she is!!

I see Shadow frown at me.  Hell I am doing it again ... he is listening to this!! 

"Okay. Me gets it!"  he laughs at me  "They still hides me from everybody because me's a vampy!!" 

This boy is cracking me up!!

"So what are these Special Boy abilities that you have?"

I ask him trying to distract him away from the the subject of Vanilla.  I am actually embarrassed that he has just heard and understood what I was thinking.  This is so awkward, I have never had to worry about anyone listening to my thoughts before!!

I soon forget about the problem and decision that I have to make over Vanilla knowing the truth or not,  when he starts to tell me first about all the vampire things that he does, some of them not even vampberry's and Originals can do.  Then all of the mortal things that he does that Jazz thinks that he should not be doing, like eating, sleeping, growing and he can go outside in the sunshine during the daytime and it does not burn him.  He tells me that Jazz thinks he is half mortal / half immortal and can function and survive as either.  This shocks me, and I begin to wander if he could actually live out in the mortal world?!

I can not help but notice that the little boy seems a lot more grown up from when I saw him in the cemetery, by the way he is talking to me, some of the vocabulary he is using and things that he knows.  It is almost like talking to a much older child, but one thing is bothering me, he still talks a little on the baby side, why does he keep saying me and me's instead of I or I am?  He is like Vanilla, not showing any signs of having any of my problems or being stupid like me!!  Not that I think anymore that I am stupid, just disabled.




"Me's a clever boy ... I am."  he grins at me cheekily, obviously listening to my thoughts again, which makes me laugh at him.  "I can read all the big boy books!!"

"Big boy books?"  I frown at him

"Yes.  I can read all of Limes books."  he grins at me like he is proud of himself.  He points in the direction of the book case.  "Pick a book off the shelf and me show you!"

I am amused as I glance over to the book case in the room and notice there are no books there that look like they might be children's books, they all look like adult books to me.  He tells me to pick one and he will read it to me.  I laugh as I walk over to the bookcase with him and I take out the first book my hand touches.  I sit down on the carpet with Shadow and the book.  He tells me what the book is called and who the author is, which amuses me.

"I have already read this book, its a soppy kissing book!"  he pulls a face at me  "I'm not keen on romantic fiction!!  But Lime likes it, it is her favourite!" 

I am amused by what he just said about Lime, I can not imagine her being the romantic sort!!  I sit laughing at him as he opens the book to one of the middle pages and he starts reading away.  I stare down at the page of writing and it suddenly begins to jump around in front of my eyes, to me it just looks like a dyslexic jumbled mess and I have to look away.

I just have to sit listening to him reading.  I can not read so I do not know if he is actually reading it correctly, but as I continue to sit and listen to him, from what he is actually reading out loud, I can imagine that he is actually reading that adult book.  His sentence is flowing and he is not stumbling on any of the words.  Words that I doubt that he even knows the meaning of, some of them even I do not understand!! 

"Do you actually understand what you are reading?"  I laugh at him

"Yes, me's clever!!"  he grins at me




"Okay, Mr Clever clogs ... what does ... obnoxious mean?"  I ask him thinking about a word that he has just read out.  I am not really expecting an answer from him, but he surprises me.

"Highly objectionable or offensive, odious."  he grins while I stare at him in amazement.

I can not help but think about the word odious, I have never even heard that word before, let alone know what it means.

"Odious - highly offensive, hateful, detestable, disgusting, deserving or causing hatred."   he grins at me. "I think Honey is very obnoxious!!" 

I start to really laugh at him not quite believing how he answered my question or responded to my thoughts!!  That is the sort of comeback I would expect from River or Dad not this little toddler sat beside me.  Shadow is another little Muffin geek!!

"Have you been eating a dictionary you little geek?"

"No silly!!"  he says dramatically  "Me's been reading the dictionary, not eating it!!"  he laughs at me  "You's funny!!  Me's not a Muffin geek!!  I am not enthusiastic, eccentric or obsessed with cake, I just eat cake occasionally, I actually prefer fruit!!"  he frowns at me  "You do know what geek means don't you!!" 

This makes me crack up and I sit there laughing.  He laughs with me, but I doubt he understands why I am laughing.  Muffin being my orange family surname, he thinks I am talking about a muffin cake.  Everything else he said, is just way over my head!!

"I need to pee!"  he says suddenly as he closes the book and gets up.




I sit and watch Shadow with amusement as he flashes across the room at speed but only a short distance to the potty chair that I had not noticed before now.  He starts to undress himself.  I am surprised to see that he is not wearing a nappy like Vanilla still does.  She is learning to use her potty like Snow but neither of them are quite there yet, to be nappy free.  I am surprised I did not notice in all the time that I was holding him that there was no nappy.

"Me wears big boy pants, not nappies"  he grins at me after listening to my thoughts. "Look!"  he says as he turns a little and sticks his bum out, pointing to something on the bum cheek of his pants.  "Smiley face!"

After he has shown me the smiley face on his pants, I sit laughing as Shadow pulls his pants down and sits on his potty. I get confused when he just sits there staring at me with a strange look on his face which makes me laugh.

"Don't watch me pee!!  It is rude!!"  he says seriously  "You wouldn't like me watching you going for a pee!!"

This cracks me up and I can't help but throw myself back and lie on the carpet and have a fit of laughter.  Vanilla for some reason has a really big problem with people watching her pee, and she won't if she is being watched, we have to turn away before she will do it.  I am beginning to see little things that they both do, where they are very much alike, especially how dramatic they both are. However, it is not just that what has cracked me up, he just pulled his pants down right in front of me, standing there with his little snake on display and now he is bothered about me watching him pee when he is sat on his potty and I can't actually see anything.  Toddler logic!

"New Man coming, me hears him!!"  Shadow says suddenly.

I hear the door open which makes me jump up. River walks into the room alone.

I am very surprised that River is even here at all.  He just stands staring at me glumly for a moment, and I can not help but notice that it looks like he might have been crying.  He turns to look at Shadow.





"Excuse me Mr!!  Did I actually say you could come in!!"  Shadow says to a stunned River. "It is rude to just walk in without knocking and If you don't mind not watching me, I am trying to take a pee, if you have not already noticed!!"  he frowns at River.  "It is just lucky for you that I am not taking a dump!!"

River is now frozen just staring back at him very wide eyed and I can't say I blame him!  I start howling, I just crack right up again!!  I think I love this kid already!  How can Honey not love this kid!!

"Well I am very sorry!!  I did not mean to be so rude!!  I will remember to knock next time!"  River laughs 

"Good!!  You are a nice man here looking for Tappy, so you are pardoned on this occasion!!"  Shadow replies  "However, that still does not entitle you to watch me urinating!!"

River, looks at me, still wide eyed points at Shadow, his mouth drops open then he cracks up!!  We both stand there just laughing for a while.

"You can look now."  he says suddenly which cracks me up all over again, because when I do look he is stood there struggling to pull his pants up, which are still around his knees.  He manages to pull them up after a while then he continues to get himself redressed.  He puts the lid down on his potty chair and pats the lid before he stands there looking at me, with his hands on his hips.

"You's a funny man Tappy!!"  he says then starts laughing with me.  "Me's got a spout silly, not a snake!!  Snakes bite!!"

Shadow turns to River then and laughs sarcastically, still with his hands on his hips. 

"Yes of course I know what that particular body part is called, along with what it's two main functions are in a medical capacity, which I do not need to explain to you because you think like a doctor.  My use of the word spout is just for politeness!!  I can not abide rude words and nasty swearing and I do not like the word penis, it sounds vulgar!!" 



 

I have gone!!  I'm doubled up and holding my stomach.  I think River has just met his match!!  I also think I have just noticed something.  When he started speaking to River, his vocabulary and the way he spoke dramatically changed, almost like he was talking to River on his intelligence level, which he can obviously judge listening to the thoughts running through Rivers head.  He speaks totally differently to me, more in baby language, which suddenly makes me wander just how stupid am I?

"Is this kid for real!!??"  River chokes in amazement

"Yes, I think he is another little Muffin geek!!  Shadow reads the dictionary and adult books!!"  I mumble through my laughter  "Medical journals as well by the sounds of it!!  Probably medical journals you have left here."

"Who are you anyway?"  Shadow frowns at River "I am Shadow.  It is rude not to introduce yourself!"

"I am River, and I am Tapestry's brother."  Shadow grins at him

"So you are my orange Uncle."   River looks at me and frowns.  I am amused by how clever this boy is.  Shadow starts laughing I think at something River just thought. "Yes I do know that Tapestry is my real Daddy and no I am not colourblind!!" 

"Yes little mind reader, you are right, I am your Uncle"  River laughs at him  "Am I allowed to pick you up, or are you going to bite me?"

"Yes you are allowed."  Shadow grins at him  "I only bite nasty evil people like Honey and Maizie!!"

River bends down and picks Shadow up chuckling as he does it, probably because of Shadow saying Maizie is nasty and evil, an opinion I know that River shares with the boy.




"Talking about biting.  Shadow is my little super hero, he has just flown at Honey and taken a few chunks out of her to stop her from taking a chunk out of me!!"  I tell River and he looks at me with alarm.  "She has turned into a right monster!!"

"So Omri warned me, he says she is totally void of emotion and they are having to keep her caged."  he rolls his eyes  "He also told me I've seen her in action apparently, but I don't remember obviously, it has been wiped away."

"River, how did you know I was here?"  I frown at him.  "Do the vampberry's know you are here?"

He explains that Jazz phoned Omri, while he was still in the hideout, and told him to bring River into the den because I was here with Shadow.  Omri has had to remind River of the truth about Honey, Shadow and Maizie.  Apparently River made Jazz promise that if I ever found out about Shadow being here then he was too be reminded of everything he has had wiped out of his memory.  Besides they did not think, that if I ever did find out about Shadow, that I would cope with it, or deal with it properly alone.  Dad is also to be reminded of the truth. 

"Oh, so I guess you are now down here to see my drunken hallucination!!  And get this, he is my son and the little vampire boy that you said could not possibly exist!!"  I laugh at him

"Okay Tap don't even try to be funny!!"  he laughs sarcastically  "I had my memory wiped of him remember, and I am seriously struggling to get my head around this right now!!"  he frowns at me  "How the hell did you work it out, Jazz says you knew Shadow was your son when you walked in here looking for him, and why didn't you tell me what you was up to!!  More to the point, HOW STUPID were you to just walk into this den alone without telling anyone!!  Jazz COULD have reacted to your presents here in a totally different way and you know it!!"




"Like you would have believed or helped me - I have tried to tell you but you wouldn't listen!!"  I laugh at him sarcastically  "You wouldn't even believe that the vampire boy could existed, so how was I supposed to make you believe all the rest!!"  I tut at him  "Coming in here alone was a risk I had to take to get to Shadow and prove it, while I knew Jazz and Omri were out of the way with you.  You would have done exactly the same thing if you had been in my shoes and you knew it was your son being hidden from you ... and we all know who made that decision, don't we!!"  

"Tap, I'm sorry!!"

"You will be!!"  I scowl at him suddenly  "I am seriously not happy about the decision that you and Dad made to hide Shadow from me, and I am going to be kicking off over it, but I will wait until Dad has been reminded, and he is here ... you are both going to get it, Sunny too!!"

River just quietly stares at me and I do not get any response from him.  Shadow suddenly starts giggling and I presume it is because of something that River is thinking.  The door opens and Maizie walks in. 

"My little Mango!!"  Maizie exclaims almost like she is happy to see him  "I thought I was going mad when I started to hear and smell you!!"  she laughs almost hysterically  "Sooo I see you two have found out about the boy!!  Jazz won't be happy about you steaming in here Tap and muscling in on his precious little brat!!"  she laugh.  Now she has annoyed me, what is wrong with all these women around me using the word brat?!  "Where is your Dad Mango?"

"Just GET OUT Maizie!!  I want NOTHING to do with you AND you can stay right away from Dad!!"  River snaps at her, but he does not look at her, he keeps his eyes firmly fixed on me.  "Don't call me Mango either, I've had my name changed, you are faded to me and Mango Lane does not exist any more!!"

"Yes, I see I have a nice headstone in the cemetery, who's idea was that, your Dad's I suspect, it is the sort of thing he would do.  A sign he still cares!"

"Like HELL does he still care!!  He NEVER cared, all you were to him was an irritating distraction!!"  he snaps  "Just GO Maizie, I am sick of you already and it's been what, all of two minutes!!"
 




"MAIZIE  GET OUT!!"  Jazz suddenly roars, as he comes flying through the door, which makes both me and River jump.  "River does not want you in here winding him up, he doesn't even want to see your face and quite frankly neither do I!!!!!"
 
Shadow suddenly sits up hissing and snarling at Maizie quite nastily, he is baring his teeth at her and I swear for a moment I saw his eyes glowing brighter.   I think that he might be about to fly at her like he did Honey.  Maizie snarls and hisses, just as nastily back.  They snarl and hiss at each other like a pair of angry cats, before Maizie flashes out of the room, the door swinging violently behind her.  River stares at the boy, an expression of total horror on his face.

"Naaaaasty Maizie!!"  Shadow hisses as he stares at the door before he lays his head on River's Shoulder, turning back into the cute toddler again.

"Please tell me he did not just do that!!"  River says with a shaky voice as he stands there stiff with his eyes closed, almost like he is suddenly scared of the boy.  "Hell, he is not going to bite me is he?"

"He might, he is a vampberry remember!"  I laugh at River who stares at me wide eyed while Shadow giggles I think he can hear my thoughts and knows that I am winding River up.  "You should see him fly, he's like a wild animal, he took chunks out of Honey, so I would not upset him if I was you!!"  me, Jazz and Shadow laugh at River.

"I am glad you can laugh about it Tapestry!!"  River snaps  "I seriously do not like this!!  I think I am going to throw up!!"  

Me and Jazz start howling at River when he stares wide eyed at Shadow who is now patting him on the chest telling him that he only bites nasty people and he's a nice man.

"Boy's your Dad owes me money!!"  Jazz starts laughing  "We had bets on who out of the two of you would take Shadow being a vampire better.  I told him Tapestry would deal with this a lot better than you River, and I was right, wasn't I!!"  he laughs as River rolls his eyes at him 




"Yes Tapestry, why are you so calm about all this?"  River frowns at me only taking his eye off Shadow for a second.  I think he is now very wary of the boy.  "I thought you would be going ballistic, kicking off and having an outburst."

"I've had months to think about it since the night in the cemetery, and it has been a month since Shadow phoned me on Jazz's phone, while I was in Sandy Shores, which is when I became 99% sure he was my Shadow."  Rivers eyes widen, he knows nothing about that phone call.  "At the end of the day there is nothing that I can do to change what has happened, but I would much rather that he was here like this than buried in the cemetery before he had a chance to live his life."

"River you can relax, you don't need to worry about Shadow."  Jazz laughs at River, who I think is still a little nervous of the boy.  "Honestly he won't hurt you.  Shadow is a lot better natures than the rest of us, he's like Omri, he has a full set of mortal emotions and is a really good boy."  Jazz smiles at River  "He takes offense at Honey and Maizie in particular, because they are evil natured, and the boy, I now know, can hear everything that us vampberrys are thinking."

"Honey and Maizie nasty thinking!!"  Shadow says quietly, then he gets dramatic  "Me hears Omri coming, he's thinking loud and angry!!"   River stares wide eyed at Jazz.

"Yes River, not only does he hear vampberry thoughts and Tapestry's thoughts, he can also hear what the spirits are thinking too!!"  Jazz laughs at River who has a look of shock written all over his face.  "So there is nothing that we can hide from that boy!!"

Omri walks into the room and he does look angry.  He explains that it is all kicking off downstairs, the spirits are literally having to hold Honey down because she is now giving Lime verbal hell, as well as throwing the contents of her cage, what bits she can fit through the bars, at Limes cage.  He says the noise down there is awful and he does not think that they can keep them together down there any longer.


"Something that Honey said is really bothering me."  Jazz says suddenly  "Is it me, or did I hear her say that Vanilla is silent?"  he frowns at me then Omri  "Vanilla was not silent to me when she was born."  he looks at me  "I need to get close to her so I can see."

"Honey probably just said it spitefully or lying trying to scare me, she did threaten to bite, Snow, Vanilla and Crystal."  I mumble.

I have never really thought about Vanilla also being silent like me and Crystal, even though she does see spirits like we do.  Not thinking that I would have to have any future contact with the vampberry's, I have tried to forget about all the vampberry stuff, including my compelling and mind reading abilities.  I have only actually used it once on Strawberry.

"No Tap, it would actually make sense for her to be silent now.  Shadow's abilities are growing and appearing all the time."  he laughs quietly  "I know she sees and communicates with our spirits, so she is probably silent just like you and Crystal.  It looks like it might be something that comes with the territory of seeing the spirit world."  he frowns at me  

Maybe but, Honey can only be guessing about Vanilla can't she.  You have not been near enough to Vanilla to notice it so how has she?  She has not been anywhere near Vanilla since the day she was born."

"Mmmmmm"  he looks at me sheepishly  "Unfortunately Tap, Honey has been a lot closer to Vanilla recently than you think."




"WHAT?!!"  I snap  "How close?  How?"

"Too close!!"  Jazz mumbles

I suddenly get a horrible thought run through my head. 

"Please tell me Sunny has NOT brought Vanilla here!!  If he has I am going to seriously swing for him!!"

"No Tap!!  Vanilla has never been here."  he laughs quietly  "Honey has been going out at night and stalking your house.  That is one of the main reasons why we have had to start locking her up, to stop her going out and especially to keep her away from Shadow."  I notice Jazz and Omri exchange a quick glance  "Unfortunately, she can not be trusted with him, she keeps trying to hurt or lose him."

"Please tell me you are joking!!"  I just stare at him wide eyed.

"No, I'm not.  The night Shadow was in the cemetery, she just took off with him when she should not have taken him out of the den grounds.  She saw you in the cemetery by the graves and thought she would have some fun.  She let you see Shadow on purpose because I think she was doing her damnedest to have you find out about Shadow.  If Maizie had not spotted what was happening, Honey would probably have gone and just left Shadow there with you. Since that night she has been very unpredictable and uncontrollable."

"What has she done to hurt him?"

"She dumped him outside in the daytime, thinking it would disintegrate and dispose of him.  We found him quickly, Cos had to go outside and get him.  We did not realize at the time, it would not have actually hurt him because he's a day walker.  It was months later when we discovered the sun does not burn him like it burns us vampberry's and Originals.  He can actually walk around in the sunlight just like you mortals."  River makes me laugh, he stands there choking in amazement.  "She is always being abusive and fighting with him, she has even bitten him a few times."

"I can't believe she has turned into such a bitch!!"




"Honey has taken off with Shadow twice while our backs were turned.  Not too long back Shadow was sleeping and she woke him up and snook off with him.  She dumped him in your back garden and left him there.  Luckily we found him in time before anyone of you saw him. Since then we never leave Shadow alone, one of us is always with him, even when he sleeps."  he laughs  "We found him happily playing in the sand pit right by the kitchen patio doors, your Grandmother was cooking, berry knows how she never saw him, or heard him when he was kicking and screaming because he wanted to stay and play in the sand."

Me and River just stare at each other wide eyed. 

"So when she dumped Shadow in our back garden is that the only time she has been close to Vanilla?"  I frown at him. 

"Not exactly. Just over a week ago, while you were away working, Crystal was walking home from Sunny's with Vanilla and Snow. Honey was stalking them.  Luckily Saffy and Storm were with Crystal at the time, and they think both kids were asleep in the buggy so we don't think they saw Honey."  he rolls his eyes  "I don't know what Honey was planning to do?  Luckily the spirits spotted her before Crystal did and Saffy managed to distract Crystal while Storm dragged Honey away before Crystal saw her.  We have kept her permanently locked up ever since.  Today is the first time she has been out since, and it won't be happening again!!"

"She wants to fade the white lady."  Shadow says suddenly.  We all just stare at him  "She thinks it, I have heard her, she wants to fade Lime and the white lady like she faded my cat!!"

"Why the HELL didn't you warn me that this was going on!!!"  Now I am angry

"How could we without telling you about Honey and Shadow being here?"  Jazz laughs.  I suppose it was a stupid thing for me to say!!  "We thought she was stalking your place to get to you.  We were suspiscious but did not know for sure that she was after Crystal and definitely not to fade her!!"  Jazz smiles at me halfheartedly "Don't worry!!  We have got it covered, she will be permanently kept in that cage from now on!!  I am taking her threat about sinking her teeth into Crystal, Snow and Vanilla, and probably you, very seriously!!"



Suddenly I am scared.  Not quite believing that Honey would or could ever be a danger or threat to me or either of our children, but obviously she is. Crystal I think is the one that I am scared for the most, I would imagine that she is the one that Honey would probably have it in for the most, and it is not just Crystal is it that she would be destroying if she ever got the chance, it would be our baby too.  I am terrified that she is going to get out of that cage and do something before they get the chance to stop her.  I am now going to be constantly looking over my shoulder for vampberry's again, but not just any old vampberry ... Honey!!

I wander when this vampberry rubbish is ever going to stop and realize that it never will!!  Not now that I know that Shadow is here, I can not just walk away and never come back.  I have walked away from here once and got on with my life trying to forget that these vampberry's even exist, I don't have that luxury any more!!

I know that there is a lot to discuss, especially how we are going to play this, and I know that Jazz is really worried about the danger element, if any other vampberry's or Originals spotting that I am silent, which is a possibility with me coming into the den, then it is all going to kick off all over again.

River hands me Shadow and pulls Jazz to one side, and they start to talk in quiet whispers while Omri goes off to check on Limes sanity and see if Honey has quietened down any.  I am amused by River for a moment, I know that he and Dad will now muscle in and take control of this whole situation, because they always think that they know what is best, and just can't help themselves.  They are both very much the same, if they are not in control they can not cope. 

I am actually a little curious about how Dad is going to handle this, and Sunny, when he finds out that I know about his secret Grandchild.  I think Sunny is going to be the one that I lose it with most, Dad and River kind of have an excuse with it all being wiped away, Sunny doesn't, he has stood in front of me and blatantly lied to my face every single day since I returned home !!




"I think someone should be in his cot, and it is way past your bedtime Shadow!!"  Jazz laughs at Shadow, who is obviously falling asleep on me, with his eyes closed and sucking his thumb.

"NOOOoooooo!!"  Shadow pouts as he tries to act like he is wide awake by sitting up.  "I am not tired!!  Me stay with Tappy, he's warm!!"

After a little bickering with Jazz he agreed to go for a sleep, but only if I put him to bed and come back tomorrow.  I put Shadow in the cot that is in this living room.  He starts to complain again, he says he does not want to go to sleep and he does not want me to leave either, which I think is quite cute, considering the boy hardly knows me.  I do not really want to leave either but I know I have no choice. 

"Is you really coming to see me tomorrow?"  he frowns at me  "Gangy just says it a lot, but he doesn't come sometimes."

"Yes I am definitely coming to see you tomorrow!!"  I smile at him  "Promise!!"

"Can you please bring me a new pussy cat tomorrow!!"  I laugh at him thinking he is just trying to find a way to get me back here tomorrow.  I am also amused because Vanilla has a fascination with cats and keeps asking for one.  "No nasty Honey faded my cat and I want a new one!!"  I wander in my head how and why she faded the cat, he answers my question.  "She does not like cats.  Tappy went into her cage and she didn't like him in there, so she dismembered him."

"What do you mean?  What is dismembered?"  I frown at him.

I know what that word means, I am just surprised by him saying it and need to check that dismembered is actually what he meant.




"Dismembered - to deprive of limbs, divide limb by limb, to divide into parts, cut to pieces, mutilate .."  he says like he is quoting the dictionary to me again.

"Okay Okay, I get it!!"  I am shocked to the point I feel sick.

"She made him into little pieces and threw him out of her cage."  he looks sad and upset  "He was mine and Limes friend!!  Honey Naaasty!!  She tells me she will do the same to me if I don't go away!!"

"Don't worry about Honey, Jazz is never letting her out of her cage again, so she will not hurt you!!"  I smile at him  "Okay I will get you a new cat, but it might not be tomorrow.  I have promised Vanilla a cat so I will get you both one in a few days."  he grins at me.

"Me see Vanilla?"  he asks

I am now kicking myself for mentioning her name to him.  He is asking me that question again and I have not even had a chance to think about what I am going to do about Vanilla and Shadow seeing each other.

"Noooooo."  he laughs  "See Vanilla in there."  he points at my head.  This makes me laugh because he wants to look at Vanilla in my head.  I guess it can not hurt, can it?!  Seeing her through my eyes might keep him happy and be a solution to this problem, so that she never needs to find out or be involved with this world.

"Okay, you can see Vanilla in my head."

I expected him to put his hand on my face, but he doesn't, I stare at him and he goes straight through my eyes.  I feel the eye contact and the pain in the back of my eyes, but this feels a little different, and it would do because nobody has ever been inside my head before.  I wander how he can do it when nobody else can.  My head suddenly feels strange, heavy like I have a headache coming, then I think I switched off for a while.



I am not sure how long he was in my head for, but I suddenly snap back and Shadow is laughing at me.  I begin to worry about what he might have seen, and thinking about it, I don't think I really should have let him do that, there is stuff in there that a toddler should not really be looking at.

Shadow lies down and starts to jabber about Vanilla playing in the sand and splashing in the sea.  He seems to have picked out our vacation in Sandy Shores in particular.  He amuses me because he must have been so tired, he talked himself straight off to sleep.

As I stand and watch Shadow sleeping, I can not stop thinking about what Honey did to Shadow's cat.  I am still finding it very hard to believe that the Honey that I knew, could be so callous and evil, especially threatening to do the same to her own son!!

I am really hating the thought of leaving Shadow here, not only because he should be at home with me and Vanilla, but I am scared, just knowing that Honey is here, now an evil blood sucking monster and could possibly hurt him if she gets the chance.  Just threatening the little boy to his face, like she has, is way below the belt!!  Shadow is still only a toddler, he should not have to hear those sort of things, especially not from his Mother, and even though he is a vampberry and obviously has fight in him, still he does not really stand a chance against an adult vampberry.

I feel like my heart is breaking all over again and the tears that I am fighting to keep in, are stinging the back of my eyes.  This seriously is not fair!!  What did we do to deserve any of this?  While I am really happy that he is not buried in the cemetery like they lead me to believe ... this definitely is not the life that I would have wanted for him.




"Come on Tap!!  Crystal and Winter will be wandering where we are, and we need to talk to Dad."  River mumbles from behind me.

"I do not want to leave him, and especially not here!"  I mumble as I start to cry, which makes River laugh.

"How did I know you would get like this!!"  he starts laughing as he puts his arm around me  "Unfortunately, I think you know, you really have no choice but to leave him here, and it's not like you will never see him again, we will be back tomorrow.  You can still be his Dad, just from a distance."

"I know, but this is so not fair, I just want to take him home where he should be!!"

"It is perfectly understandable, but Jazz, Omri and Lime will take good care of him, like they have been doing!!"  he smiles at me  "I know this situation is far from perfect, and I'm the last one to be happy about him being a vampberry!  However, this is a damn sight better than where you thought he was and you will get to see him living a life rather than only having a grave to put flowers on!!"

He has just said exactly what I have been thinking,  but it still does not alter the fact, or make it right, that my son is a vampberry and has to live in the vampire den away from me and the rest of his family!!




How do I go home now, hide him away from everyone and act like everything is normal?

Life is never going to be normal for me again!!

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



Friday 22 May 2015

Chapter 44 - Gen 2 - Tapestry


Jazz is motionlessly in front of me, his face is twisting from one expression to another, and he is not saying a single word.  However, that does not really matter because Shadow has his ice cold hand on my face and I can actually hear everything that Jazz is thinking.  Which has to be one of the most bizarre and maddest things that I have ever experienced in my life!!  Jazz suddenly thinks about Sunny, because he can hear him approaching this room on his way back, which really seems to annoy Jazz as he snaps open his phone in irritation.  He just wants rid of him for some reason.

"I have found Shadow, the panic is over!!  Shadow is okay and I am staying with him, so you can go home now.  I have seen enough yellow for one day!!" 

Jazz snaps quite angrily into his phone, then stands listening to whatever Sunny is saying.  I can tell he is losing his temper, from the thoughts flashing through Jazz's head.  I think Sunny and Honey are totally getting on his nerves and driving him mental for some reason.   

"JUST GO HOME Sunshine!!  Shadow is going to bed now anyway and I'm not in the mood to be entertaining you for the rest of the night.  Come back tomorrow when I am in a better mood!!"

I worry for a moment, why does he want to send Sunny away, is it so that he does not witness me being here, I have stupidly walked into this place and nobody has a clue where I am.  Jazz snaps his phone shut and stuffs it back into his pocket.




All the time he was on the phone to Sunny Jazz had not taken his eyes off me.  It is irritating the hell out of Jazz that he can not hear the thoughts going through my mind, and he does not have the slightest inkling about me hearing what is going through his, with both me and Shadow being totally silent to him.  He remains there again just silently staring back at me as I continue to stare at him through slightly blurred vision.  I am waiting for his reaction, and while I am listening to what is flying quickly through his mind, surprisingly I find that I can start to relax a little.

Hearing what he is actually thinking, really surprises me ... shocks me even!!  He has no intention of hurting me.  In a way, me being here, and he presumes I have uncovered the truth, is kind of a great relief to him.  He no longer has the headache of trying to hide this from me, and especially Shadow, which was becoming a total nightmare for him because of Honey.  Hiding the truth from Shadow, he thinks, was always going to be impossible, especially with the way that Honey has been acting, continually throwing my name around for the boy to hear.  Keeping us apart was also going to be a struggle, he does not know now why he thought at the beginning it might have been remotely possible.

There is one thing that is bothering him and stopping him from opening his mouth, because he does not know why I am here or what I know.  He thinks about me being colour blind and is not sure if I do actually realize the boy is my son.  He is wandering if I have just wandered into the den looking for River and stumbled upon the boy by accident.

All Jazz really seems worried about at the moment, is that I am going to take Shadow away from him.  I am amused that the vampberry, is only really annoyed that we are now together, because he seriously loves Shadow like a Father does and is scared that he is going to lose him.  Shadow is his only shot at being someones Dad and he thinks I am going to storm in here and ruin it, because once Shadow finds out the truth, if he does not already know, me being here is going to change everything. 
 



His thoughts are really amusing me, because I am not sure that Jazz is even thinking straight right now!!!  How can I take the boy away from here when he is a vampberry and can not live in my world.  And I thought I was the only idiot around here!!

Although, if I had not sat for the past month thinking all the what if's through properly in my head - what if he is my son - what if he is a vampberry - I think I would be acting completely differently now.  I probably would have just steamed in, been kicking off and stupid enough to think I can take Shadow home with meHowever, as much as I wish I could take him home,  I know I have no other choice but to leave him living here with Jazz.

"Tappy came to find Shadow!"  Shadow says suddenly  "He likes me, not like nasty Honey!!"

"Give me ... my boy Tap."  Jazz says, totally ignoring what Shadow has just said to him, as he steps closer to me holding out his hands.  Shadow speaking seems to have prompted Jazz into actually saying something.  Jazz calling him his boy, this riles me a little and makes my head snap.

"The last time I looked, it is my name that is on his birth and fake death certificate, not yours!!  So he is not your boy at all is he Jazz!! I KNOW this is MY Shadow"  I almost yell at him  "You had NO RIGHT to take him and hide him from me!!"

"Tap give him to me and we can talk about this calmly!!"

Jazz actually is genuinely upset, not angry, which continues to surprise me.  I seriously never expected this reaction.  He hates it that I actually do know the truth and he is also worried that I might go off on one, and have an outburst, while I am holding Shadow, and there is nobody around with any sedative to stop me.  He tries to take Shadow off me.

"No."  I step backward and away from him  "I will lose it if you take him off me!!  I am holding Shadow ... you just start talking!!  I want to know why you are hiding Honey and MY SON from me and how the HELL did they get to be blood sucking monsters like you?!"  I snap at him.

"First I want to know how you found out?  Who told you?"  Jazz frowns at me.




I hear him thinking that only earlier Sunny had told him that he thought that I still did not have a clue, about Shadow being my son.  I had stopped mentioning the night in the cemetery, so they thought I had forgotten about it.  Jazz is now confused, he thinks that one of the spirits might have told me, or I could have been poking around in Sunny,s head and found out.  Him thinking that makes me wish I had now, because if I had taken a look into Sunny's head, I would have seen all this from the start, especially Honey and Shadow being here.  Why did I not think of doing that once I became suspicious!!  Why do I keep forgetting about this unusual ability that I have?!  How good an actor is Sunny to be hiding this from me all this time??!!

"Nobody told me, I worked it out.  Obviously it was because of that night in the cemetery, I did not believe it was a drunken hallucination like they kept telling me it was.  Everyone was protesting and trying to convince me that the boy was not real, just a little too much!!"  Jazz rolls his eyes  "About a month back, when I was in Sandy Shores, Shadow phoned me from your phone."  I laugh  "You and Cos thought he was trying to talk to his cat, but he had actually dialed my number and spoken to me, I was listening to your conversation."

I laugh as I listen to his mind doing somersaults.  I pull out my phone and find the photograph of Shadow from that night in the cemetery and hold my phone out to him, so that he can see it.

"Besides you can not take photographs of drunken hallucinations can you!"  I laugh at him  "It was not too hard to work out when the boy looks so much like me at this age that a friend and my Dad thought it was a photograph of me!!  The boy has my hair, has the same name and colouring as my son that is supposed to be buried in the cemetery.  That night Shadow told me a few thing while we were talking that helped me to piece it all together."

Jazz's eyes widen as he takes my phone off me and stares at the photograph of Shadow.  As he hands me back my phone, he laughs quietly to himself, that is when he notices Shadow has his hand on my face which distracts him away from me.  Jazz is now staring suspiciously at Shadow and I can hear him wandering what he is doing, confused as to why he would be in my head and what he might be doing in there.




"Shadow?  What are you doing?"  he frowns at the boy  "Why have you got your hand on Tapestry's face?"

"Me's ... showing Tappy?"  Shadow mumbles

"Showing Tapestry what Shadow?"  Jazz frowns at him

"What you is thinking."  he mumbles quietly as he removes his hand from my face and hides his head in my chest.  This makes me laugh as I hug him.

"WHAT?!"  Jazz looks really confused.  "Shadow how can you be showing Tapestry what I am thinking?"  Shadow stays silent and refuses to speak 

"Shadow told me he can hear what all you vampberry's are thinking, just like you can hear most mortals.  I have just been listening to everything you have been thinking."  I grin at him cheekily  "Don't worry, I am not going to take Shadow away from you.  As much as this annoys me, I know I have to leave him here with you, with him being a vampberry, I don't have a choice to let you continue playing Daddy do I!!"  Jazz's eyes widen a little before he smiles at me.  He has just had his proof that I have been hearing his thoughts.

Jazz asks Shadow how long he has been hearing vampberry thoughts as he frowns at the boy in confustion.  Shadow is still hiding himself and is not speaking, not even after Jazz asks him again, he remains there refusing to speak as he hides his face against me.

"I think he was too scared to tell you in case you got mad with him and sent him away."  I explain.

Jazz looks shell shocked for a moment.  Shadow has removed his hand from my face so I can no longer hear what he is thinking, all I can do is watch the expressions flashing across his face.

"Shadow I would NEVER send you away!!"  he says as he stares at the boy



"Is me a naughty boy Daddy?"  Shadow asks Jazz, which makes me laugh, the way he just asked that I found really cute, like he is a good boy and cares about not being naughty.  However, I don't like him calling Jazz Daddy.

"No Shadow!!  You have done nothing wrong!!"  he starts laughing at the boy.  "You hearing vampberry's is just another one of your Special Boy abilities."  Shadow starts grinning then

"Me's a Special Boy!!"  Shadow tells me dramatically while he grins at me. "Me's an Original vampy!"  I frown at him because I do not understand what he means by that.

"HELL  This just keeps getting better and better!!"  Jazz says then he starts to laugh  "That boy is seriously on another level and I thought you was something else Tapestry!!"  he starts laughing and I frown at him in confusion.  "Not even the Originals can hear what us vampberrys are thinking Tap!!  Just like with you being silent to vampberrys and Originals, but you are not silent to Shadow!!"  he stares at Shadow wide eyed.  "You will be amazed when I explain to you what he is and everything that he is capable of!!"

"Me hears everybody!"  Shadow mumbles  "Storm and Cos is coming."

Shadow points to the wall then hides his head again.  Jazz stands frowning at Shadow for a moment, and I think it takes a while for him to process what the boy is actually trying to tell him.

"Not possible!!"  Jazz is now staring at the boy wide eyed again.  "Shadow please tell me you can also hear what the spirits are thinking?"

"Yes me hears them."   he holds his hand out "You wanna listen?"  he grins at Jazz.

Jazz leans towards us and his eyes are nearly popping out of his head when Shadow places his hand on his cheek.  I laugh as he places his other hand on mine.  I suddenly hear two sets of thoughts jumbled together in my head, Cosmic and Storm's.  Cosmic's thoughts disappear for a while and I only hear Storm's, then they switch so Storm's disappear and only Cosmic's are there, but all the time I do not hear Jazz's thoughts at all.  It amuses and amazes me that Shadow can switch their thoughts on and off almost like he is changing radio channels.




Storm and Cosmic float through the wall, exactly where Shadow indicated they would, which makes Jazz burst into hysterical laughter as he stares at them both in amazement.  Cosmic and Storm both stop suddenly, they are both shocked, when they spot me standing here holding Shadow.

Shadow has shut off Cosmic's thoughts, so all we can hear is Storm, who is just floating in mid air continuously swearing in his head as he stares wide eyed at me.  I seriously wish that I had this ability, I am quite liking listening to what everyone is thinking!!

"Naughty swearin!!"  Shadow tuts which amuses me.  "Me no do nasty swearin!!"

"That's because Shadow is a good boy!!"  Jazz ruffles his hair as he laughs at Shadow  "Unlike Storm who has a fowl mouth and is a naughty boy for swearing!!"  Jazz turns to Storm and his face drops  "What have I told you about using language like that around Shadow!!"  he snaps.

Cosmic and Storm just stand there now looking highly confused as they stare at each other in disbelief.  Storm is now wandering if he actually swore out loud and Cosmic, who we can now also hear, is thinking Jazz has gone completely mad because Storm did not even speak.

Jazz starts to laugh at them as he explains what is going on, that Shadow can hear their thoughts and we were just listening to them.Shadow still has his hand on my face and I can still hear what Storm is thinking, he is not really listening to what Jazz and Cosmic are talking about, as he continues to stare and worry about how mad I am with him for hiding Shadow's existence away from me.

Shadow removes his hand suddenly as he bolts up and scowls at Storm for a second, I think he was worried by how quickly Storm came at us.  Storm who jumps straight in and tries to mumble an apology to me.  I watch as Jazz and Cosmic exchance a glance before Cosmic sits down on the couch and puts his head in his hands, I wander why.




"Just get lost Storm, I don't even want to see or speak to you or Cos right now for hiding this from me!!"  I snap at him nastily  "I can not believe that YOU of all people hid Shadow from me!!  What happened to our no secrets?!  Shadow and Honey have been here all along and you have blatantly lied to me!!"

"I really am sorry Tap!!  I really had no choice, we were trying to do the right thing, and what we thought is best for both you and Vanilla!!"

"You call this right!!  Hiding Shadow from me!!"  I snap at him  "You have sat and watched me and my messed up head getting upset over this boy and you have continued to let me think Honey and Shadow had faded!!"  I snap at him  "When all along they have been here and you knew!!  I am seriously sick of being kept in the dark, everyone is still treating me like an idiot, it is never going to change is it!!  Hiding my son from me and telling me he faded  ... this seriously is the worst one yet!!" 

"Mate, it was your Dad's decision, he wanted to protect you and Vanilla from this world!!  He did not want you to have to live with having to hide Honey and Shadow's existence from everyone, especially Vanilla.  He thought you would not handle knowing that Shadow was here like this, and especially not what Honey has become.  He did not want you being tied to this world which might ruin the rest of your life.  You know what your Dad's like, he still is trying to wrap you in cotton wool!!"

"He has got a damn nerve after the fuss he kicked up over Maizie hiding River from him, and now he is doing it to me!!"  I snap at Storm  "Who else knows about Shadow being here?  Is my Dad coming here to visit Shadow like Sunny?"

"No, your Dad, River, Winter and Mulberry have all had Shadow and Honey being here and vampberry's wiped from their memory.  They believe the same story that you have been told.  Besides us spirits and vampberry's, there is only actually Sunny who knows the whole truth and visits Shadow."  he rolls his eyes




"I want to see Honey."  

"Tap you seriously don't!!  When you see what she has turned into, you will wish she had faded!!  She's unpredictable, uncontrolable and pure evil, so bad we are having to keep her locked up in a cage!!"  he pulls a face  "She is horrible since she turned, she has lost all her mortal emotions and is not the Honey you are used to!!"

I go quiet as I think about what he has just told me.  What gets to me most, I seriously can not believe that my Dad knowingly made this decision to hide the boy away from me!!  Then he clears his own conscience by having the boy wiped away!!  I am not sure I know how I feel about this!!  Shadow starts to pull on my jacket to attract my attention. 

"You sees Storm?"  Shadow stares at me wide eyed.  "Is Storm your friend?"

"Yes Storm is my friend, and Cosmic and Saffy too"  I laugh at him.

"WOOOOW!!! Tappy can sees and speaks to spirits like vampy's!!"  Shadow says really dramatically, telling Jazz like he does not know already.  He is there with his eyes wide and his mouth open like he is sucking in air.  This makes us all laugh, I am very amused by the word vampy's.  "Daddy is Tappy a Special Boy like me, cause Lime and Gangy don't see ghosties!!"

"Yes Shadow he is."  Jazz laughs at the boy

"Seriously Jazz I need to see Honey!!"  I glare at Jazz, the smile washes off his face.  "Where is her cage?  I want to know what she is playing at letting this vampberry thing happen!!"

"Tap this is not actually her fault."  Jazz pulls a face at me



"So come on Jazz, if you say this is not her fault, you tell me ... HOW did Honey and Shadow get to be vampberry's?!"  I snap at Jazz

"Tap, it was purely an accident, well Shadow was.  Honey, she is a whole different story ...."

Jazz starts to explain to me what happened the night that Celeste's guards sneaked down here and drained me and Honey. When they got down to us Honey was about to take her last breath so Jazz bit her to keep her alive long enough to get her to my Dad so he could give her the blood she needed and have the venom sucked out of her system before it took a hold of her.  This I have heard before.

Then he tells me everything that I have never heard before.  While Maizie successfully removed all the venom out of Honey's system to stop her from turning into a vampberry, however, something went wrong that they never expected and were not prepared for.  Some of the venom took a hold of one of the babies and turned the fetus into a vampire.  They realized this had happened when one of the babies heart beats stopped, but Jazz and Mazie could still hear both of the babies.  Shadow has developed, grown and was born as a vampberry, which in itself, is a one off, he has never seen or heard of it happen before, he did not even know it was possible.

I am confused, and ask how they managed to hide the pregnancy and birth from everyone, as well as fake them fading.  He explains that Honey lived as a mortal until the babies were born and she was kept in my room in the basement.  This helped to keep her away from everyone as well as giving Jazz access to her, him hiding out in the apartment that they were building, and the dangers of the building work going on was the reason why nobody was allowed down there.  My Dad, Winter, Mulberry and Sunny were the only ones aware of what was really going on.  To my Mother and everyone else Honey was just having a normal pregnancy and everyone thought she was just distraught over me still being missing and refusing to see anyone, which was actually how she was behaving and it really helped them to cover up what was really happening with the pregnancy.




At first they did not expect the vampire baby to survive or even develop and grow into a normal baby like he did.  The pregnancy was hell because of the vampire baby, he was taking too much out of Honey, she was weak and constantly in pain, when that baby moved or kicked he did it with force, he even broke bones.  They were having to get Honey to constantly drink blood because they thought it would help the vampire baby to stop taking so much out of Honey.  They never expected either of the babies or Honey to survive to the end of the pregnancy, especially the normal baby, but by some miracle all three of them did and both babies developed perfectly.  The birth was horrific and basically what claimed Honey's life.

I am a little shocked, when he tells me that we are lucky that Vanilla came first, because Honey was not getting through the birth of the second child, the vampire baby.  The pregnancy had taken way too much out of her and she was too weak and fading.  Jazz ended up having to turn her, before Shadow was born.  If Vanilla had been the baby still inside Honey then she would have become a vampberry too and I would have ended up with two vampire children.  That is if Vanilla had survived through the transformation, from mortal to vampire, which he doubted a babies body would be able to endure.  My Dad had to perform a make shift C Section to get Shadow out, after Jazz had bitten her and after the turning process had started.  He also explains that Sunny was the one responsible for Honey being turned, Jazz and Dad both all but begged Sunny to let her go, but he wouldn't have it, he chose to have her turned.

He makes a point of telling me that obviously with Shadow and Honey being vampberry's, they had no choice but to hide their existence.  They made the decision to hide Honey and Shadow from me for quite a few reasons, which he explained to me, and while I can sort of understand their reasons, I am still not happy about it and think them hiding especially Shadow from me, was far from right!!




He hesitates for a moment before he explains how they covered up them fading.  Obviously, Dad and Winter were the one's present at the birth, and they both went through hell, trying to keep Honey and the normal baby alive without any of the proper equipment.  However they managed until it was evident after Vanilla arrived that Honey was on her way out.  As soon as she was born Ice and Mulberry had to rush Vanilla to the hospital because of her being a little on the early side, they came a month before they were due.  Obviously having to turn Honey and with Shadow being born a vampire, nobody could see them.  Dad and Winter both being surgeons and professionals, pronounced and certified them both faded in a medical capacity paperwork wise, so nobody else needed to see their body's to confirm it, so their bodies did not even go to the hospital.

Honey who was now going through the turning process, looked and appeared faded to the mortal eye, she was already turning cold, no longer breathing as well as her heart was no longer beating, so she was not so much of a problem.  Ruby and Strawberry actually went down to see her after everyone had been told she had passed away during the birth.  So they actually helped to confirm she had faded.

Shadow was the problem, even being a vampire he was a normal kicking screaming baby that they had to get straight out of the house quickly before anyone heard or saw him, which they managed to do and he was brought straight here.  I ask him how they managed to do it and he tells me that luckily it was night time, Winter went through the pretense of taking up a load of blood stained sheets to throw them away in the rubbish bin outside before they broke the news about Honey and Shadow fading.  Shadow was asleep in the middle of the sheets after a feed and Omri was hiding and waiting outside and he took the baby to the den.  He laughs a little, saying that from then on Shadow was a doll, that Winter had slyly acquired from the hospital beforehand, a life like baby doll that they use in maternity.

"A doll?  I don't get it ... how did you get away with that, surely someone would have had to have seen him."




"Your Dad and Sunny went with the 'bodies' which were taken straight to the undertakers."  he glances over at Cos and Storm  "Your Dad kept a hold of the covered baby, and he acted a little neurotic, you know like the distraught Grandparent.  He kept the body covered and wouldn't let anyone touch it.  You know your Dad has a lot of clout in this town, so they bent over backwards to do what he asked, he made them let him put the baby straight into his coffin, which he had them nail shut straight away.  As far as everyone is concerned, that baby ... he was born badly deformed and that is why he did not live, they all think that we are hiding that fact from you by telling you he was stillborn.  The lie about him being deformed was for them, it stopped anyone from seeing the baby because your Dad told them all that nobody was seeing him, that baby was not going to be turned into a freak show."  he rolls his eyes  "A few of Honey's siblings requested to see her, Sunny and your Dad managed to talk them out of it thankfully, telling them it would spoil their memory of her ... Saffron was the one who kicked up the most fuss, I thought at one point they were never going to stop him!!"  This makes me laugh a little.  "Cosmic stayed with the 'bodies' permanently to make sure nobody opened either coffin.  We switched Honey's body out of the undertakers later that night, with the help of the spirits and two days later those coffins were in the ground."

"So there is a doll baby buried under Shadow's headstone."  he laughs and nods  "Honey's coffin?  You said you switched her body out.  Was there a body in her coffin when you buried it?"

I frown at him and he looks nervously over at Cosmic for a moment.  He just stares back at me saying nothing, probably deciding on wether to lie to me or not.  I think I already know, by the look on his face, what the answer to my question is going to be!

"I WANT THE TRUTH!!"

"Errmm there is a body in that coffin ... we ... errrr, lets just say, she was homeless."

"WHAT!?"  I yell at Jazz  "Tell me you did not faded someone to put in Honey's coffin?!"

"Tap please don't kick off!!"




Cosmic and Storm, who have been sat on the nearby couch, fly across the room towards us, prompted by my yellingI guess they must think that I am going to go off on one and I probably would have done if I was not holding Shadow.

"We had no choice!!  We had to put a body in that coffin when we took Honey's out.  If we had left it empty it would have been noticed when they moved it for the funeral."  he rolls his eyes  "Maizie went out to Apple Valley and found a yellow homeless girl ... she was homeless, it is not like anyone is going to miss her ..."

"JAZZ THAT IS NOT EVEN FUNNY!!!"  I snap angrily  "Just because she was homeless, it does not mean she did not have a right to live!!  You had no right to fade an innocent girl just so that you could cover up your damn mess!!" 

I am horrified!!

All that I can think about, because that girl was homeless, is Denim and Pheonix.  The poor innocent girl probably just had a tragic story to tell like they do, like she has not suffered enough, and they have to go out and hack her down and probably painfully draining the life out of her.  I already know that the vampberry's out in the coded world prey on the homeless to feed, but the vampberry's in this town are supposed to be different!!  For them to go out and hunt down a yellow girl just so that they can use her body to fill Honey's coffin ... it makes me feel sick!! 

"I'm sorry Tap!!  It was the only way that we could do it."

Cosmic pushes Jazz out of the way, mumbling to Jazz that he is making a right hash of it.  Cosmic knows me as well as Storm does and I think he can see how worked up, upset and angry that I am getting.  He knows like I do, if anyone here is going to calm me down, it is him.





"Look Tap, it is not as bad as you think ...."  Cosmic says quietly, but does not get to finish his sentence because I jump straight in and cut him off.

"How the hell can you say that Cosmic!!"  I snap at him  "You know how I feel about the homeless people.  It is bad enough that girl being on the streets, without Maize going and hacking her down just for their convenience!!"

"Tap do not think it was an easy decision for us to make!!  If we could have found another way we would, we could not just magic up a body instantly because we needed one!!"  he smiles at me  "You know we are all in this immortal world because our lives were hacked down and cut short, so it is not something that we did lightly!!"  he sighs before he rolls his eyes then laughs sarcastically  "You might guess, it was Sunny who stuck his big wooden spoon in it!!  Sunny just sprung this mess on us at the very last minute.  Honey passing had been discussed in depth and Sunny had agreed that if Honey's life was cut short by this pregnancy then he would just let her go."  he rolls his eyes  "Obviously he couldn't, at the last minute he started to kick off and demanded Jazz turn her.  We literally had no time to think, if we had had more time and were better prepared, we probably would have found another way.  We were prepared for Shadow, but not Honey, we literally only had a few hours to sort it out, otherwise it would have blown the whole thing apart."

I just stare at him for a moment

"When Maizie faded the girl it was instant she did not feel a thing."  he smiles at me  "I was there when she faded, I stayed with the girls body, never taking my eye off her for a second, and I think you might know why."  I stare at him wide eyed.  "When her spirit left her body, I was there and I stopped her from passing over."  he smiles at me  "I said it is not as bad as you think Tap because Glimmer is here.  She is in my world, she chose to stay and is quite happily living here in this den with us."

"Her spirit is here!! I start to choke




"Yes, we have just kept her hidden from you, Vanilla and Crystal.  Glimmer doesn't visit you like the rest of us and we just don't talk about her."  he smiles at me  "She is actually quite happy to be where she is now, she thinks this existence is better than her last one."

"It still does not make what you did right!!"  I laugh sarcastically  "You still robbed her of her mortal life which might have got better given the chance!"

Shadow who has been silent up to now starts pulling on my jacket again.  I have noticed that he keeps doing that now to attract my attention, which amuses and puzzles me.

"Glimmer is my friend!  She's a nice lady, not like Honey and Maizie!"  Shadow grins at me and I just stare at him. "Glimmer likes Shadow and Cosmic thinks she is pretty!"

"That boy of yours, just like his sister, suffers from motor mouth and he needs to keep out of my head!!"  Cosmic starts laughing as he tickles Shadow who starts giggling.

I just stand there numb, not knowing what to think anymore as my brain is swimming with everything that Jazz and Cosmic have both told me, especially the homeless girl.  There is just too much for me to take in all at once.  I can not help but keep thinking about Honey being down in the basement and everything that she went through while I was away.  I am not sure I am ever going to get my head around any of this without seeing and speaking to her.  Shadow just lies his head on me, I wander what he is thinking, I wander if he has heard any of this before, or even understands it.

When I tell Jazz again that I want to see Honey, it does not go down too well.   Jazz, Storm and Cosmic all try to talk me out of it, but I start to lose my temper and they give in.  Jazz sends Cosmic down to bring her up from the basement.




Shadow seems to get a little restless at the mention of Honey coming up here and he starts saying he does not like Honey and asks to see Lime.  Jazz tells him he can see Lime later, after I have gone home, if she is not asleep, and the boy goes quiet again.  I am a little puzzled by Shadow and Limes relationship, not understanding how the boy can appear to like such an evil woman more than he appears to like his own Mother.

"You know I do not even like the idea of him being around Manderine!!"  I frown at Jazz 

"Oh Berry you are never splitting those two up!!  Lime is basically Shadow's Mother!!"  Storm laughs at the face that I pull  "Lime and Honey have basically switched personalities."

While I frown at him in confusion he starts to explain that Lime is not the person that she used to be.  I will not recognize the nice, pleasant person that she has become when I do see her.  They think that Shadow has helped to change her into a better person.

When Shadow arrived it was pretty obvious from the start that both Honey and Maizie wanted nothing to do with the boy, but Lime became broody.  Jazz never had any intention of Shadow going anywhere near Lime, but took him down into the basement without thinking while he was searching for Omri.  She asked to see the baby and he was surprised, as well as curious, with her maternal thoughts.

Lime was actually the first person Shadow tried to drink blood from and after that they used Lime as a guinea pig to judge his blood craze by, with him being a new vampire he was trying to bite Sunny and Lime at any opportunity he got.   His blood craze did not last for very long and he only bit her badly a few times, but the visits became a regular thing.  Lime was constantly asking to see him, she became attached to the baby very quickly, and it got to the point when sometimes, especially when he was teething, only she could settle him down, stop him from crying and get him to sleep.

Jazz thinks that when Shadow was a baby he liked the warmth of her body and the sound of her heart beating, something that he would have actually been used to when he was growing inside the womb, and Lime gave him the Motherly comfort that he needed.  He has noticed that Shadow seems to bond better with mortals, Lime and Sunny, than he has with everyone else.  The visits were keeping both Shadow and Lime happy as well as Shadow was getting the Motherly figure that he needed, which he definitely did not have in Honey.




At first Lime and Shadow were never left alone, there was always someone with them, and she along with Jazz helped to teach him to walk and talk.  It is Lime who has taught him how to read and write, his colours, how to count, amongst other things.  Shadow now spends more time down in Limes cage than he does up here, they even eat all their meals together and sometimes he sleeps down in the cage with her at night. 

I am a little surprised when Jazz tells me that her cage is no longer locked, they keep the door at the top of the basement steps locked instead.  She has the run of the whole basement now, but it is very rare that she ever ventures out of her cage, generally only when she is running around and playing with Shadow. 

"She is actually turning into a really nice person now that everyone gets on with, except for Honey."  Jazz smiles at me  "Even soft lad here is starting to like his own Mother!!  He spends hours down there just watching her, I'll tell you."  he laughs at Storm  "I have sat for hours listening to her thoughts, especially when she doe not realize I am there doing it.  All the nastiness, has virtually gone, the only time I hear any, verbally or in her thoughts, it is usually directed at Honey, who has usually asks for it.  I think Lime understands what she has done to everyone, and is even sorry for what she has done." 

I laugh sarcastically thinking I bet she will tear strips out of me the first time she lays her eyes on me.  She blames me for Storm, Forrest and Pines demise, so I doubt she will ever be pleasant with me.   

"Seriously Tap, she loves the bones of that boy!!  Me and Lime are his substitute parents and Lime and Shadow being together, you seriously don't have to worry about it, which you will soon see for yourself."

"And Honey?"

"She refuses to have anything to do with Shadow, and it has been like that since the day he was born.  Now I keep him as far away from her as possible.  She has done things to him purposely trying to hurt him and I can not trust her with him."  I stare at him wide eyed, I am shocked.  "Unfortunately Honey is now what Lime used to be, actually she is worse!!"  he laughs quietly  "Honey would actually give the devil a run for his money!!  Be prepared Tap, when she gets up here, it is not going to be pretty!!"






"Honey no like Shadow!!  Me no like her she's NAAAASTY!!  She faded my cat!!"  Shadow says dramatically waving his little arms around.  "Me's a mini Tappy with teeth she says."

Storm and Jazz just stand there really laughing, while I really don't like what I am hearing.

"Tap ... maybe I should take Shadow for a bit.  Is the cold not bothering you?"  Jazz frowns at me and I frown back.

"He does not actually feel that cold to me, not enough to bother me anyway."  I frown down at Shadow as I feel his face.  I look up at Jazz in confusion  "He is actually pretty warm."

Jazz feels his face and hands, then holds his hand out to me as a comparison. I feel his hand then Shadows.  Jazz is definitely a lot colder than Shadow is.

"You know Lime has mentioned him being warmer than me and Omri sometimes."  he starts laughing  "That boy is doing some weird things!!  When he goes out in the sunshine, he comes in and he feels a lot warmer, Sunny has noticed it.  It is almost like he is absorbing the heat from the sun like a mortal does."  He suddenly becomes very amused  "I wouldn't be surprised if he is not absorbing your body heat!!  He is almost like a chameleon switching between the mortal and immortal worlds."
 
This puzzles me but I do not get a chance to say anything.  Suddenly the door flies open quite violently as Honey comes storming into the room just ahead of Cosmic who is shouting at her while she is yelling a hail of abuse back.  She barges straight up to me and she looks angry, furious even.

I am a little shocked because I have never seen her looking so angry and she has never looked at me in that way before, ever!!  She stands there scowling at me nastily and actually hisses at me, showing me her teeth.  Shadow reacts by sitting up and hissing back at her.  They are like a pair of wild cats!!

After what they have told me about her personality change, I can not help but start to feel a little nervous now, seeing Honey obviously furious with me and knowing that she has teeth that are going to hurt if she decides to sink them into me!!




Hell I never expected this!!

She wouldn't hurt me ... would she?!


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