Page 4

A Thousand Lifetimes

A s soon as Frank saw his wife’s reaction, he lost the Angelic side of him and ran toward her, making her quickly back away with her hands held out in front of her. Which meant that by the time Keira ran outside, all it took was one look at her sister to know what had happened.

“What… what are you!?” she stammered, making Frank flinch before raising his hands up as if she held a gun on him.

“It’s me, baby… don’t be afraid,” he tried, making her shake her head at him.

“I’m going crazy… this… you… tell me I didn’t just see what I did… I…” Libby faltered, her words fearful and clearly confused.

“Oh Frank, why didn’t you tell her?” Keira said, making him grit his teeth before admitting,

“It wasn’t the right time.”

“And this is?” Keira argued, making Libby snap her head to her sister, accusing,

“You! You knew about this!?”

Something that made Keira sigh before admitting,

“There is a lot to tell you, Libs, things that you should have been told a long time ago.” The last part of this was aimed at her brother-in-law with frustration, before she continued on.

“But we are now past that and have no choice but to throw you straight into this, because something has happened to Ella, which means we need you to understand this quickly so we can get our girl back.”

“Ella! What happened, where is she?!” Libby looked to each of us, as now Dom, Lucius, and Amelia, had all joined us on the porch, and were watching this play out.

“Frank… what the hell is going on, tell me?!” she shouted when no one spoke. He swallowed hard, tears in his eyes that now matched his wife’s, before telling her,

“You were never supposed to find out this way, baby, but what Kaz says is true. Someone bad took our girl and we need to get her back.”

A sob tore through her as tears fell, making me put a fist to my mouth, the emotional scene coming to its crashing finale.

“No… No… this can’t be happening… this…” She never finished as Keira ran to her sister and pulled her into her embrace, cradling her sister’s head on her shoulder as she cried.

“It’s going to be okay, I promise, we are going to get her back,” Keira assured her as we all looked on, no doubt wishing we had the luxury of time to gift to them.

“I… d-d-don’t… understand,” Libby stammered again, making Frank look nothing short of pained.

It was clear all he wanted to do was wrap his arm around his wife and comfort her. But the fearful way she kept looking at him was the only reason he left his distance.

“I know, honey, and we will explain everything but first, you need to know that no one here is going to hurt you, especially not Frank.”

Libby pulled back from her sister, her glassy eyes going to her husband who had his hands fisted by his sides like he was holding himself back from taking Keira’s place. His plaid shirt stretching around his tense muscles that looked close to tearing.

“What are you?” she asked, giving Keira cause to take a step back, so as she could face her husband. I watched as he swallowed hard before taking a deep breath. The decades old lies now unraveling in this single moment and the weight of it looked crushing.

“I couldn’t tell you… I… didn’t know how,” he admitted.

“What are you?” she asked again, her tone more forceful this time.

“Perhaps we should give them…”

“No! No one is going anywhere! Now tell me, what are you!” she shouted the second Dom made his suggestion for us to leave them, doing so at the same time reaching for her sister’s hand.

As it was clear that right now, Keira was the only one she trusted.

Frank looked to Keira, who nodded before telling him,

“Go on, tell her… she can take it.” Then I watched as she squeezed her sister’s hand and told her, “Us Williams girls are tough.”

A shudder ran through Libby before she nodded. Frank looked torn by this but with no other choice, he took another deep breath before telling her,

“I’m an Angel, honey.”

She scoffed as if he was joking before looking to the rest of us to see that our reactions were all the same, telling her what he said was the truth.

“But… but that’s impossible… you can’t be, I mean you don’t even go to church.”

Amelia snorted before covering her mouth, and whispering,

“Sorry.”

“Is this true?” Libby asked her sister, ignoring her niece’s outburst.

“How about me and you take a walk?” Keira suggested, making Frank say,

“No, we need to…”

Libby held up her hand and said,

“Thirty-one years, Frank… for thirty-one years you have been lying to me.”

Frank flinched back like she had struck him.

“It wasn’t like that, Libs,” he tried, making her scowl at him.

“I… I don’t even know you.”

“Yes, baby, you do. I swear, I didn’t have a choice, I couldn’t tell you,” he tried again, making her snap,

“And now, what changed?!”

“Everything… you… your illness… I couldn’t lose you,” he said, now with tears in his eyes. At this a realization dawned on her.

“The treatment… it’s not the drugs, is it… it’s you,” she whispered, and at this he lowered his head and told her,

“I can’t let you go… I couldn’t… I couldn’t live without… I had to… I had to do something, even if it meant facing the consequences… saving you, it would be worth my life.”

Realization again dawned on her as Frank looked to Dom.

She followed his gaze and saw the truth in the King’s eyes.

To which she let go of her sister’s hand and with tears streaming down her face, she walked to her husband.

We all held our breath wondering what she would do next, my heart in my throat for Frank.

He tensed, as if preparing himself for the backlash of her emotions.

Tears now falling freely from both their eyes.

His face full of sorrow and shame, whereas hers, none of us could tell.

Yes, there was pain there. There was hurt and the bitter sting of betrayal.

But there was also something else. Something that didn’t fully come to light until she stepped up to him and placed her hand on his damp cheek.

“Look at me,” she demanded softly, and I honestly don’t know how he did it. It was as if it pained him to look down at the evidence of what his lies had caused. But when he finally forced himself to look at her, she asked,

“You risked this secret, risked all the lies and the life you built, all of it to save me?”

I couldn’t help mirror his actions as he swallowed hard. But then as if unable to hold it back any longer he lowered his forehead to hers and told her softly,

“I would exchange a thousand lifetimes for a single one with you.” At this a sob tore through her before she threw her arms up around him, hugging him to her as he did the same.

Both Keira and Amelia had tears in their eyes, and we were all affected by this emotional scene.

One that proved that love was the most powerful force in all our worlds combined.

“Come, let’s give them some time,” Dom said, holding his hand out to Keira, who patted her sister on the shoulder as she passed.

This before Dom folded her to his side the second she was within arm’s length.

As for Amelia, she was already in the arms of her Vampire, which forced me to look painfully to my side.

Because there should have been my beautiful Red.

My Wild one.

My Ella.

The girl that I too would have traded…

A thousand lifetimes for.