Free Cognata: A Vampire Romance by Jedaiah Ramnarine Page B

care for the spoils of this world. I care for the truth."
    Aristide folded his arms behind his back, gesturing he had nothing to hide.
    "Naturally... so, what if I were to tell you that I found Halona's lineage?"
    I was still shaking in anger. I simply waited for him to continue.
    "I personally found it too much of a myth to be true, but alas, it did come true right in front of my eyes and it shook the foundations of what I thought I believed."
    "You're riddling again. I asked you not to toy with me."
    "I do not engage in these theatrics with you, Alexia... " He extended his arm, asking me to follow him. "Come. I will show you... everything."
    He took me to our bedroom quarters, where he unveiled a scroll he'd kept hidden for years. I was anxious over what would happen. Aristide seemed humbled, filled with regret and worry. Me? Had I risked my illusion of wonder, my promise of uniqueness for the bitter truth that was to come? I dreaded the thought of it. I almost wanted to tell him 'stop, let us return to the mirage' , however, I found myself still as a rock - watching the world unfold around me.
    "Give me your hand." He instructed.
    I followed without question. He guided the tips of my fingers on what appeared to me as some sort of ancient writing, some hundreds if not, thousands of years old, maybe more...
    "What do you feel?" He asked.
    I admitted I felt nothing. Truly, it only felt like the rough, sandy edges of an olden scroll. I didn't have a clue on the style of the writing or the language it was in. Nothing special happened.
    "Focus... " His calm voice mellowed me into forgetting my worries.
    As I traced my fingers along the inscriptions of painted, old pictograms, the story no longer seemed like an abstract artwork. I began understanding; realizing what these depictions meant. The story Aristide once told me of Halona, blooming right in front of my eyes. This was no mere scroll. It was authentic piece of Cognati history, far older than a few thousand years. It was much older. Memories of things I hadn't known, places I'd never seen, but tragically, all in fragments and tatters clouding my mind.
    "I don't understand." I confessed as the haziness of the dream started overcoming me.
    "You can see it, can't you? You can see the ancients of old."
    "Yes... " I hissed, watching the streams of time melt away before me - transporting me to a distant land, one far older than the flesh that covered my bones. A simpler time. One where I saw people, worshipping and revering their goddess. So attached, so sure of her - they were there till the bitter end... "What is happening to me Aristide? Is this your sorcery?"
    "It is not mine." He calmly stated.
    The walls all over began crumbling as I saw the image of me in another reality. I pretended to be at peace. I kept a smile for my people. I never let them know what happened, and I died, taking it to the grave with me...
    "That's enough." He pulled my hand away from the scroll.
    "What is the meaning of this? What is this writing? Is this some sort of spell?"
    "It is no spell. It is the writing of our goddess, some tens of thousands of years ago."
    "Why... do I see her? And why... do I remember?"
    Aristide turned to me, his face now dropped from the confession bubbling at his tongue.
    "What?" I prompted him to speak, "Tell me. What is this?"
    "Alexia, what if I told you, I found Halona?"
    "Her lineage? Is this the secret you kept from me? You found the mother to our kind, and you've kept that secret from me? That's why we're still being chased! You know of her whereabouts!"
    "Yes, I do know of her whereabouts, but it is not I that is being chased."
    I didn't know what to say. "It is you."
    "I beg your pardon?" I became defensive, "They do not know of my existence."
    "Alexia... " He brushed my hair aside and gently rested his palm on my jawline. "You are her."
    "What?" I remember the silence. It started creeping in, soon it became thick and stifling.
    "You are the reincarnation of