The Shadows' Empress (Part 11)

Jacob looked back down at the floor while he replayed the incident in his mind. He had a feeling Roland was now involved. And, the idea that this was true caused fear to rise and crash inside his chest like waves on a rocky beach. Jacob refused to lose anyone else. Especially not the way he lost his wife.

“Uh…Dad?” Roland gave his father a concerned look. “Are…are you okay? Maybe I shouldn’t have asked. Forget I even brought it up.”

“No,” Jacob said sternly with a level of finality which he almost never spoke. “I’ve been keeping this a secret for too long. Not even your grandparents know what really happened. And, to be honest, if I don’t tell you I’ll never be able to tell anyone.” Jacob wanted to tell his son everything. But, there is only so much weight a parent should put on their child’s shoulders. So, he left that last part up to Roland’s imagination.

“Besides…you really should know what happened to Helena.

‘What?’ Roland’s mind began to wander. Now, he was no longer concerned with what happened to his mother. Instead, he realized that he didn’t really know her, anymore. ‘Helena? Was that really her name? Something about it sounds foreign. Like, I knew her name, put can’t place it, and Dad just made one up.’

“To make things less complicated…everyone on my side of the family is a…well, we’re hunters,” Jacob said slowly, thinking about how pathetically cliché that sounded. Sometimes the truth really is stranger than fiction. It’s a lot more ridiculous, too.

This confession caught Roland off guard and pulled his mind back to the present situation.

“Please don’t tell me we’re demon hunters…” Roland said incredulously. He felt that, even if his father told him they were, he wouldn’t believe it. As much as Roland liked the show, who would really want to live through an episode of Supernatural?

“Okay, I won’t. Because we’re not.” Jacob laughed at the absurdity. And then, frowned when he realized the truth wasn’t far off. “First of all, I understand that she’s pulling you into something that you shouldn’t be a part of. But, I’ll be damned if I let her take you. …I mean, I’ll probably be damned regardless. But, you know what I mean. Besides that, this is something that really should end with me. It’s not your concern.”

“Who is ‘she’? The Empress?”

“Empress? That’s what you call her?”

“Yeah, the Shadows’ Empress.”

“That’s more creative that what I call her,” Jacob had to give his son credit. It was like the kid was just as artistic as he was logical.

“What do you call her?”

“A bitch,” Jacob said without any kindness nor hate in his voice. Although, he began to hear up, which was something Roland had never seen his father do. “She’s the one who killed your mother, Roland. She took Helena from us! From me!”

The tears were falling freely, now. Jacob’s eyes were getting redder as he tried to keep himself from falling apart in front of his son. Meanwhile, Roland suddenly had more questioned he wanted answered. How did the Empress kill his mother? Why could he still not believe Helena was his mother’s name? …Where was she? Given the Empress may have killed his mother Roland had the idea that his mother’s body wasn’t in the casket that he saw being lowered into the ground when he was eight-years-old. Roland looked up at his father who was doing his best to wipe his tears away and failing.

‘I don’t think I’ll ask those questions just yet…’ Roland thought. It hurt him to see his father crying. Even more so when he thought about how this could have been avoided if he’d just figured things out by his own means. And, holy shit, did he have a lot to say to the Empress now. Part of Roland was angry that the Empress could have killed his mother. The other part didn’t exactly hate her as she had been helping him survive his nightmares. Which, for some people is an actual problem. Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death—basically dying in your sleep potentially because of bad dreams—was real. And, there was no telling what would happen to Roland if he died while he was asleep.

‘Maybe that’s how Mom died.”