Valley Of Glamorgan Read online

  Shocked, I didn’t know what to think or say. I had heard him mention that to me earlier, when telling me about my fake parents but I hadn’t let the statement sink in. I let Knoll continue. “I think it will be easier for me to explain our history first,” he said. I shook my head and readied myself for a long, unbelievable story.

  Taking a deep breath he began, “Long ago there were creatures that inhabited the earth, called Fomorians. The Fomorians are a race of demonic giants; ancient occupants who were the first to invade Ireland. After many battles with the humans, the Fomorians afflicted them all with a plague. The secret organization that Stephanie and Jack were apart of were descendants of the former Fomorians. That is why they were so vulgar in their true nature; they are descendants of evil demons. We came along a little later.

  Our ancestors were created by the Irish goddess, Abnoab; the Goddess of the forest and rivers. Abnoab came forth and created the Pacu, which at that time were creatures similar to fairies and shape shifters. They protected the forest, and truth be told, weren’t very nice to those who harmed them. More than anything else they would often play jokes on people. But they were incredibly respected and, if treated nicely would help the humans. Forth and foremost, they helped keep the terrible Fomorian demons from plaguing the town’s people any longer. You see Carmina, they were created to bring peace to a troubled people who were tortured and murdered by these Fomorians. We are the descendants of the Pacu; if it helps you can call them fairies. Knoll’s explanation was interrupted by the waitress bringing our food; after she had set the plates down and walked away, without so much as a word, Knoll smiled and continued, “Would you mind if I ate first, then continued the story?” Hesitantly I agreed as I searched my food for signs of saliva.

  We ate in silence and I processed the information he had given me. It felt as if I was in a really bad sci-fi movie again, thinking to myself, ‘I mean come on, fairies and giant demons.’ Then I began to question Knoll’s credibility. I didn’t believe in any of that crap, I believed that there is one god.’ I thought that I had said that to myself, but apparently not.

  Knoll stopped eating and looking up from his plate he proclaimed, “That is fine Mina, I am not asking you to question your beliefs. But, I think that you should respect the possibility that others existed long ago.”

  Stammering I replied, “I... I… just don’t know.” After all I had been thinking that it was all so crazy all along. Continuing to calm myself, after trying to get it all out, I said, “I am not a closed, minded person, but I am also not delusional Knoll. I will keep my faith and my beliefs but I do promise to give you the benefit of the doubt and accept that anything is possible at this point in time.”

  Knoll laughed and smiling he responded, “That is all that I would ever ask of you Mina.”

  Having finished our food Knoll paid the check and we made our way out to the van. As soon as he had buckled his seat belt and we were on the road again, I urged him to continue the story and happily he obliged. “As I was saying,” Knoll spoke. “We are the descendants of the Pacu from many years ago, more like decades since. Back then people had a more open mind, as you say. Humans lived side by side with these beings and the Pacu didn’t need to hide, but as time went on Abnoab decided that it would be best if we were born to look like humans; so the Fomorians wouldn’t be able to find us as easily. The humans wouldn’t kill us to extinction like they had done with so many other magnificent creatures.”

  “That makes sense,” I said, slamming my hand over my mouth and apologizing for not holding to my promise not to speak to him.

  Knoll just chuckled and went on with the story. “I know this is a lot to take in Mina, but you will grow to understand this story and maybe even grow to trust in it. We took control of the land and have ruled for many centuries, keeping the world safe and at peace from the Fomorians, but if they can take the leadership they will once again ascend and destroy the world as we know it.”

  I swallowed the bile that was building in my throat, saying, “So my parents were two of these evil creatures?” Sighing and Knoll could answer me; I slapped my hand to my forehead feeling dizzy. It was a lot of information to consume. Even if I didn’t want to believe it, I knew in my heart there was truth in what he was saying. And I was starting to understand all too well how my parents could have done this to me. It really was a mess and all for nothing but power.

  Knoll sighed in a concerned manner, asking, “What questions do you have for me Mina?”

  “Okay,” I readied myself, sitting up and turning my body to face him as he had done with me when he had pulled to the side of the road earlier that evening. “Well, for starters, what kind of gift will I receive when I turn seventeen?”

  “Ah, straight to the point, eh, Mina?” Knoll said as he was chuckling at me. I rolled my eyes as he continued, “You will be able to shift into the form of an animal. We used to be able to shift from Pacu to any animal, but now that we are born in human form, we can only choose one and have to stick with that one forever. That’s due to the fact that our bodies can only sustain the stress of converting into one animal. When you reach your seventeenth birthday you will receive the will to change into that animal at any time and gain its strength, speed, etc.”

  I gasped, “An animal!” The thought left me utterly speechless for a few seconds. “How cool,” I exclaimed! I just couldn’t help myself.

  Knoll smiled brightly, saying “I am glad you are excited about it Mina. Make no mistake though, you must choose wisely. It is a painful process; and takes at least three days for the change to take place.”

  “Oh,” I sighed, “Of course it couldn’t be easy could it.”

  Shaking his head he looked directly into my eyes before seriously saying, “Mina, all gifts come with great responsibility. That is why you must experience the pain, so you will never take the gift for granted or use it for bad.” Strangely I understood and nodded my head in agreement as I knew he made sense, but still, it didn’t make it suck any the less.

  “Well, what animal are you,” I asked. “Sorry Knoll; I hope it wasn’t rude to ask that.”

  Knoll obliged me, happily saying, “Well Mina, my animal selection was a bit different than most, as we are the guardians we must pick a fierce animal; one that can obviously protect.”

  “Ah,” I sighed, “Yet that is also not right. You should be able to choose freely like everyone else.”

  Knolls’ voice changed into a saddened but empathetic sound, as he replied, “Well, not everyone can choose freely. The royals get to, but most of us have a selection that we can choose from. Of course, not one that is more powerful than the royal families; for obvious reasons.”

  I shook my head in disbelief saying, “That is B.S!” And as he raised an eyebrow questioningly at me, I explained the meaning, “B.S yeah, well it means; bullsh…”

  “Ah,” he cut me off, “I get the point. It has to be like that Mina, or people would get power hungry and fight the royals until they could take over the reign. All species are like that, not just us. Humans, as you know, have police officers that have to carry guns and may have to use them on a criminal. Likewise we have to protect ourselves with our animal.”

  I understood, saying, “I get where you’re coming from Knoll, but it seems to me that you’re lessening others chances to protect themselves from other things like the Fomorians.”

  Knoll shook his head continuing with, “Yes, it does seem that way.”

  “Well, if you can pick a stronger animal than a ruler as a guardian, what keeps you from killing a royal?” I asked.

  Smiling he replied, “I never thought of it like that, but, it is impossible for me to harm a royal unless they are trying to kill me. It’s embedded in my blood Mina. Ever since I took the oath, if you die; I die with you. The only way the blood oath can be broken is if you decided to allow another guardian to swear an oath to you.”

  I choked and my body grew frigid but all I could say was, “Wow.”

/>   Placing his hand on mine he responded, “I chose this life Mina, no-one forced me into it. I wish it didn’t have to be that way. But some things are set out for us and that’s the way it is; there’s no reason at being upset about it. No change will come.”

  Despite his reassurances I knew I had to ask him, “Do you always talk like that?”

  He laughed replying with, “Talk like what? Does the way I talk bother you?”

  “No. It’s just that you’re the most optimistic person I know,” I replied simply.

  “Oh,” said Knoll, “Well, I suppose that is a good thing.” And he smiled knowingly; confirming what I said even more. “Any more questions Mina? We are about twenty minutes away from your grandmother’s house.”

  My grandmother! For the moment I had forgotten all about her. Feeling butterflies in my stomach I wondered what I would say to her. Clearing my mind I decided to just speak the truth, and hope that she would still love me.

  As Knoll cleared his throat, he politely pulled me from my thoughts, before subtly reminding me that I needed to ask the rest of what I wanted to know. “Tell me about my mother, and father?” I asked firmly; suddenly wanting to learn more of the unknown.

  “Well,” replied Knoll, “Their names are Liam and Eleanor. They are the rulers of our kind. They are mother and father to you and your sister, Maggie.”

  Stopping him in mid-sentence, I quickly and sharply asked, “I have a sister?!”

  “Yes.” he responded.

  “I always wanted a sister,” I said absent-mindedly, wondering how old she was and if she looked like me. “How old is she?” I asked.

  “Well, in human years, she is 25 years old. However, in our time she is 125 years old.”

  Gasping I said, “Wow! No way! That is so old. So how old do we actually live to be?” I was still in state of mind of half-disbelief, yet somehow I also completely understood.

  “Well,” he said, “it depends. The oldest Pacu was thousands of years old.”

  “Holy cow! That is a long time,” I exclaimed thinking that I would never get used to all of this; how could it all feel so wrong, yet so right? “But wait, if I have a sister and she is older than me, then why can’t she take the place on the throne?”

  Clearing his throat, Knoll explained, “Well Mina, this is where this gets kind of hard to understand. Although Maggie is the oldest; she must marry a guardian and become a healer.”

  “Huh?” I responded, feeling as if I was an idiot and the quizzical expression on my face really didn’t say otherwise.

  Knoll readily replied, “We have rules and laws like every society. To ensure that our kind can survive we have to make sacrifices. Maggie must mate with a guardian and bear a child so that there can be another generation of guardians; strong blood mixed with royal blood is the only way.”

  “Okay I get that, but a healer? Why?” I asked, cutting Knoll off as always.

  “Well, we can’t go to a doctor, our bodies are too different. Besides we would probably become a science experiment in some lab if we did,” he began speaking.

  “But I have been to a doctor,” I interjected.”

  Knoll shook his head, saying, “I don’t doubt that Mina, but it wouldn’t have been a human doctor; most likely it was the Fomorians healer.”

  I gasped in disgust, “Oh! That’s just great.” The thought making me shiver.

  Touching my hand he calmly said, “I didn’t mean to upset you; but Mina, know that I will never lie to you.” He smiled, and for that I was grateful. For some reason deep down, even though I knew that I didn’t know him that well, I also knew that he was being genuine.

  Not long after our conversation was cut short, we pulled into my grandma’s driveway. So many memories came flooding into my mind. I was looking at her little yellow house with the porch swing that we sat on all summer long, talking and laughing. I was not ashamed to say that my grandmother was one of my best friends. The thought made me smile and I watched as the sun started to set, making me pause and look at the beautiful orange glow. Once we were parked I took a deep breath and unbuckled my seat belt, looking at Knoll and thanking him. He started to unbuckle his seat belt and open his door but I stopped him abruptly, trying to explain that I needed to do this alone. He just said, “I do not feel safe letting you go in there alone Mina.”

  I laughed, and replied, “No worries, my eighty year old grandma isn’t going to hurt me.”

  Reaching over he pulled my door closed, showing that he was being very protective before saying, “No, she won’t, but what if they have been following us?”

  I sighed, saying, “Well then, I will scream for you. Seriously I can’t show up at her door with you in tow, saying; ‘Hey grandma, it’s nice to see you. Sorry mom and dad couldn’t make it, this man here killed them!”

  Knoll grunted and slamming his hand down in his lap he looked at me and reluctantly said, “I understand that would be the least smart thing to do Mina. I just hate putting you in danger.”

  Nodding to show I appreciated him caring, he had to understand that I wasn’t going to hurt my grandma any more than I had to. Placing my hand firmly on his, I reassured him that I would yell if I needed him. Reluctantly, he finally nodded in agreement, even though I could still see the worried expression displayed across his youthful features. As I got out of the car I waved before heading to knock on my grandmas door. I knocked twice and waited for her to make it across the room. When she opened it I greeted her by flinging myself into her arms, nearly knocking her over. The smell of vanilla filled my nose, making me smile and causing the tears to pour down my face. Holding me tight she whispered in my ear that everything would be alright, and then she led me into the house, closing the door behind us.

  “Have a seat Carmina.” She had never caught on to my nickname, and to tell the truth I liked that she hadn’t. As she sat next to me she placed her hands in mine. There was a worried look, and a tone to match, as she asked, “What in heavens is wrong dear? Where are your parents?”

  Wiping the tears off of my face I took a deep breath to try and calm my speeding heart. This, I thought, was by far the hardest thing I would ever have to do. How was I going to tell this sweet loving woman what her son was, and what I had had to do in order to live? I silently prayed that she wouldn’t hate me as she was the last solid thing I had to hang on to.

  “Carmina,” she questioned again in a sweet concerned voice, breaking me from my thoughts.

  “Grandma, I have something to tell you, but first I want you to know that I love you and thank you for always being there for me.” I spoke softly, trying to keep my composure, which was proving much more difficult than I had anticipated.

  “Carmina, whatever it is, you can tell me. You know I will never judge you,” she replied.

  I smiled at her, saying, “I know this is so hard but I have to tell you….. Mom and dad are dead.”

  Tears began to run down her time-consumed face, as she replied, “Oh my God child!” She placed her hand on her heart then pulled me closer. “We must call the police,” she said.

  I sat up quickly and in a panicked tone, yelled, “No!”

  Her eyes became wide as if with understanding. Continuing to sit there, with my hand in hers she waited before asking, “What has happened Carmina?” And so I went on to tell her about that night; from the beginning up until the moment we drove into her drive way. Throughout she sat silent and still the whole time, never pulling her hand from mine. Finally she responded.

  “Oh dear,” she said, once it was all out, “I am appalled at my son’s actions but, I can’t say that I am surprised. I’ve always known something wasn’t right with him for a long time sweetie. I can’t explain but I just felt it.”

  I shook my head in understanding, surprised at how calm she was. I’d figured it was some sort of shell shock, and that at any moment she would snap out of it and throw me out of her life and home for good. Instead, she started to softly cry, telling me she didn’t know why he
r little boy was so evil; that she hadn’t raised him like that. Suddenly a thought entered by head as it dawned on me that my dad must have been adopted. Once she had confirmed it, I knew for certain that my grandma didn’t know anything about what was going on. Continuing to hold me close she ran her hands through my hair as she used to do when I was a little girl. The love coming from her could have filled the whole room and I didn’t know how I could leave her. All I wanted was to stay there, safe and loved in her arms, in the house that I was practically raised in. However, I knew that I didn’t have much time, and that others were depending on me.

  As if she could read my mind, she stood up and told me that I must go. If those things were looking for me, here would be the first place they would come. I jumped up from the couch and realized that she was right and, feeling awful, I started blurting out, “I could have risked your life coming here! If something happens to you because of me…”

  Raising her hand in the air she stopped me from continuing as she declared, “Carmina, dear, I am eighty years old. If something happens to me, then its Gods will, and I am okay with that.” Then quickly smiling she hugged me once more before walking me to the door. Stopping she asked me to wait while she went into the next room. She was gone for quite a few minutes and I was starting to worry about her. Just as I started to walk to the room where she had disappeared in to, she came out of the darkened place to meet me. “There is something I want you to have Carmina,” she told me and instructing me to hold out my hand I felt a cold object being placed there.

  Looking down I held up the necklace she had given me. “It’s so beautiful,” I announced, staring at the long, winding, delicate chain that was met by a single emerald locket at the end. It was breath taking. Smiling she told me to open it, and when I did I had to fight the tears inside me. It was a photo of us two, taken one summer a few years back at one of my dance recitals.