"Who is Carter Morgan?" Jake repeated, looking confused.

"Morgan, as in my last name?" Callan said, looking at Ariel. "What is he talking about?"

"I don't know? Do I?" I felt something inside me like butterflies in my stomach. Carter Morgan?

"Oh, my goodness. You don't remember him?"

"What did he say?" Jake said, putting his ear to the side of my head trying to listen.

"Carter Morgan, as in the most powerful vampire to walk the earth. The man who defended his world and yours and died trying to save you lot from his evil brother."

"Carter? Why does that name sound so familiar? Is he my uncle or something?" Callan said as he repeated the name Carter out loud.

"Ariel, what does this Carter Morgan have to do with me, and why do I not remember him?"

"Ebony Summers, Carter was your true love. Leon is not the man you think he is. This life you are living right now is a spell that was cast many years ago with the intention of torturing Carter. Leon used dark magic to create this world just for you three to suffer, and Carter has to watch from his prison cell in hell. He has watched and felt every single one of your planned deaths in this world, and it is driving him slowly insane, and without him to protect your world, it will surely perish."

"That is ridiculous." I laughed nervously. "You realize how crazy you sound, right? Is this some sort of practical joke? I mean Leon is the nicest guy I've ever meet, I've never even heard of this Carter guy and ..."

"He called you his sunshine."

I suddenly got a flash of a memory in mind as he said those words. I saw myself dancing at a ball, standing on the feet of a man with jet black hair and silver eyes.

"He told me to tell you that you will always be his sunshine."

My heart skipped a beat as I felt Carter's arms around me. His familiar scent and cold touch around me made me burst out with tears. "Oh my god." I cried as I pictured his handsome face smiling down at me. "Carter, my Carter! Oh my god, Carter!" I yelled remembering him.

"Ebony, What is going on? Who is Carter?" Callan said, looking very concerned.

"Callan." I turned to him and cupped his face with my hands. "Carter is your real father. This world we are living in is a lie. You were right all along. I remember everything."

"Carter is my father?" He looked baffled. "Ebony, what are you talking about? Leon is my father. You know that. I have never met this Carter before in my life."

"Tell him to listen to his instinct, not ignore it like he has been told. Carter is calling for him, but it is very weak."

"He said you have to listen to your instinct. Carter is calling you." I put my hand on Callan's chest and watched him as he closed his eyes. "What is he saying to you?"

Callan went quiet for a moment, and then he gasped loudly as he opened eyes. "I can hear him, but I can't make out what he is saying. It's just a muffled noise."

"He is calling for his son to step up in his place and fight the evil that threatens your world. He is saying it is his time to lead as it is Carter's time to stop fighting."

Tears ran my face as I heard Ariel's words.

"Ebony, what is it?" Callan said.

"He is telling you to take the lead and fight the evil that is threatening our real world."

"Lead? Lead what? I'm not a leader." I could hear the panic in Callan's voice.

"He is Destined to be the savior of his world. The next chosen one."

"He says you are destined to be the saviour of your world, Callan."

"This isn't my fight, Ebony. I can't do it." Callan shook his head. "I can't do this without him."

"Then we need to go and get him." I looked over at Ariel. "We are going to get Carter , yes?"

"Ebony Summers, we can not get him."

"Why? Where is he?"

"He is in hell, my dear girl. He has been there for ten years now. I'm afraid we can not just walk into hell and get him."

"He's in hell?" I repeated.

"Who's in hell? What the fuck is going on, and why am I not involved in this damn conversation. Who is Carter?" Jake yelled loudly as he stamped his foot on the ground.

"Jake." I smiled and wrapped my arms around him tightly. "I've missed you so much."

"Why are you hugging me? Why is everyone looking at me like that? Who is Carter and why is he yelling at me in my head like I'm some kind of.....Oh, Carter! .......Oh, shit Carter!" Jake froze as everything came rushing back to him. "Hey there boss man, how you been?.....Oh, can't repeat that word in front of a lady...Yep, he is pissed." Jake swallowed hard and looked nervous. "He keeps swearing in my head." He covered his ears and screwed up his face. "That's a bad word right there."

"What is he saying to you?" Callan to Jake said behind me.

"Just lots of bad words that I can't repeat and let me tell you he is angry. He is angrier than that time we bought home those chicks who turned out to be zombies and tried to kill him in his sleep. You remember that. We were passed out on the floor and they totally started eating his flesh right off his bone."

"Oh yeah. How did we not see that when we picked them up?" Callan cackled.

"Mine was hot, but yours was a total mess dude. You were so wasted, and you can't turn down ass when you're wasted." Jake laughed. "Remember how Carter chased us around the house with that stake after he killed the girls. That was hilarious."

"I see they are still idiots."

"Guys, What are we going to do? Carter is stuck in hell, and he needs us."

"We do what we always do." Jake shrugged. "We save the fucken day."

"Agreed, But first, we need to get out of this world," Callan said, tapping his chin. "And what do we do with Leon?"

I cringed at the sound of his name. Leon. That rat bastard! He was using me to get to Carter. My poor Carter. How could I possibly forget about you?

"I have a date with him tonight, and that should keep him distracted long enough for you three to figure this out. We need to capture Leon and get the hell out of here."

"Are you sure that is safe?" Jake said, pushing my hair back.

"He won't hurt me, not this time. I don't know why, but Leon trusts me, and it's all we have at the moment."

"Agreed," Callan said. "If you need us, though..."

"I'll be fine."  I said taking a big breath.

—————-

"This is a nice place." I smiled at Leon as we sat on the terrace of a restaurant in the city.

"I'm glad you like it. I hear they have the best pizza in the whole of Italy here." He said as the waiter poured some red wine into my glass.

"It sure smells delicious." I was so nervous I almost threw up. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down.

"Are you okay?" He touched my hand on the table, making me jump. "Ebony, what is wrong?"

"I...I'm just really nervous about being here with you." Well, that wasn't a lie.

"Nervous? Why? You don't need to nervous. We have had dinner together many times before in the office." He smiled at me. I felt my stomach churn as I looked at his handsome face. He looked so similar to Carter. Had he always looked this way? I never really got this close to him before to notice or remember, I guess. His aqua eyes were the same color as Carter's, but the Leon I knew had yellow. How is that even possible?

"Ebony," I heard his deep voice pull me from my thoughts. "Is something going on? You seem distracted."

"No, I'm fine. Like I said, I'm just a little nervous." I took another deep breath.

"We can leave if this makes you uncomfortable. I don't want you to feel that you have to be here if you don't want too."

Why is he being so nice? I don't like this.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you. I just a little confused about everything that's all."

"Such as?"

"Well, I guess I'm a little confused about why a guy like you is even interested in a girl like me? I don't seem like your type?"

"You think I have a type?" He seemed amused by my answer. "What is more, my type?"

"Ummmm, definitely not me. We don't even know that much about each other."

"True, but I've probably spent more time with you than anybody else, so I feel like I know apart of you at least. What do you want to know?"

Why are you such an asshole? "Tell me about your family." I took a sip of wine and ignored the sudden release of anxiety that hit me like a freight train.

"Not much to tell, really. My parents both died when I was younger. I have an older brother, but we don't have much contact with each other anymore."

"Why?"

He looked a little frustrated at my question. "I guess we were just very different vampires. We hardly ever saw eye to eye, and I haven't spoken to him in over ten years now." He shrugged.

"What is his name?"

He raised his eyebrow sharply. "Why does that matter? He's not in my life, and I don't want to talk about it." He was becoming quite frustrated.

"I didn't mean to upset you." I felt very uncomfortable sitting opposite him as he glared at me.

He looked away and took a moment before continuing. "It's okay. You didn't know." He turned back to me, waiting for my response.

"Did you have a good trip yesterday?" Abort! Abort!

"No, not particularly, but business is never enjoyable is it? I was glad to return and see you again, though." He smiled and his face softened as he looked at me. "I hope that's okay to say?" He rubbed the back of his neck and looked down.

"I was glad to see you too." That's not a lie. I was glad to see him, and even though now I knew he was a horrible creature, something was definitely different about him, and I think he knew that as well.

"Really?" His aqua eyes twinkled.

I sighed. "Leon, I..."

"Ebony look, I can see this is making you feel really uncomfortable, and I know why."

My heart froze in my chest.

"I haven't been completely honest with you, and if I want you to trust me, then I probably should."

"What are you talking about?" Should I run now? What is happening?

"While I was away, I had time to think about everything, and I realized that if I want any of this to work, then I need to be honest."

"Leon, it's okay I..."

"No, I need to say this." He ran his hand over his face, slowly stopping with his finger tips on his lips. "I like you, Ebony. I can't lie to myself anymore about it and trust me I have tried. I like seeing you every day, and I like hearing your stories about random weird things, and I like knowing that I can talk to you about anything. You are such a good person, and I need to tell you the truth about myself."

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"You asked about my family before..." he sighed. "I've never been close to my family. In fact, I've never been close to anyone my entire existence. My older brother was always my father's favorite child, and no matter how hard I tried or what I did, it never seemed to matter. I become very ill when I was young. I caught the plague and was facing certain death. My father and brother cast on spell using what I can only assume is dark magic. I was suddenly well again and stronger than ever, and I was too young to ask why and instead, I let the power and strength take over my body, and it felt fantastic. As time went on, my power and strength were stronger than ever, but I was fading away, lost in a world of darkness and anger. The feeling of loneliness and darkness took over my mind, and soon I was nothing more than a faint memory trapped in my own body. I had no control over the things that I said or did, but I remember every single moment. Every single one haunts me when I close my eyes. The darkness that once controlled me is slowly disappearing, and I'm starting to feel things again. The most powerful being guilt, guilt for hurting you, and guilt for my brother."

My eyes started to fill with tears as I saw the devastated look on his face and emptiness in his eyes.

"I don't know what to do without all that rage inside me, and seeing my brother yesterday only confused me even more. I did something terrible to him, and I don't know what to do without the darkness protecting me anymore." He closed his eyes and pressed his lips together as he fell quiet.

"Where is the darkness now?" I said, terrified of his answer.

He opened his eyes and stared at me blankly. "That's the thing, Ebony. I have no idea where its gone. It's certainly not inside me anymore, everyday I can feel it less and less. My desire to hurt myself and others is almost gone. I just have no idea where IT has gone , but I need to find it and I'm going to need the help of someone who knows it better than I do." He sighed. "I'm going to need my brother and I don't think he's going to be very happy about it."

"You mean.."

"I need my brother, I need Carter."

———

A/N

Somehow I'm going to have to agree with Leon on this one!! 😏

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