"I thought he only cared about having his grandson."
"Yes. That's all he cares about. But he fears the power of the man who fell in love with you, and he'll feign indignation when the man comes after him and forces him to disown you so that he can never come back here."
"But... won't this child I'm going to give birth to be able to meet my parents?"
"No, my dear. But it will form a beautiful family for itself. With lots of people. People she will choose. There's no point in having siblings, like I do, and not knowing them, is there?"
"I thought you were an only child..."
"I thought so too. But Mom had twins. Of course, she didn't let Dad know, because she was afraid she'd raise them like he was raising me. When she was three months old, she traveled to her relatives' house in Scotland and had the children there, where she left them and went back to her grandfather."
"How old are they now?"
"They're thirty-five."
"So the age difference between you isn't that great... And yet Mom let you stop taking medication, knowing that another child could give you the grandchild Dad wanted so much... She was cruel to you."
"No, dear. Don't think badly of your grandmother. She protected me as best she could. Only the first daughter, a girl, can be Bruma. Her uncles were no good for Daddy. And she fears Daddy. When she saw that he no longer cared about my life, she didn't have the heart to tell him that she hid the children from him. He'd kill her and drag the boys back here. She couldn't risk the lives of all her children, with no guarantee of my survival. She knew my days were numbered."
"What about Grandma's family? I've never met them."
"Dad doesn't like them. And that feeling is mutual. Mom gave up her family for Dad's sake... Understand that when we have a vision of the person who should be our partner, that person will love us with an intensity that any ordinary person would kill to have."
"I don't want to love anyone like that."
"You already do. And when you meet them for the first time, you'll understand what it's like to feel that intense love."
"Did you know you were going to die? That you would live this intense love, but only for a short time?"
"A short time is worth a lifetime without love. And that's the choice you have to make. You have three options. That blue-eyed boy you see in your mind will always be in your heart. You'll think about him and dream about him for as long as you live. You can leave with the money, which has already told you where it is. You can stay with the boy who isn't human and live a long, loveless life, or you can stay with the boy with the blue eyes and be happier than you could have imagined possible, but that choice will take your life in no time."
"And if I choose another man?"
"You'll have a long life with him, but that option doesn't exist. If you decide to leave and not stay with either of them, you won't be able to have a relationship that lasts more than three months. But in the end, you'll be alone."
"Neither option is good."
"Yes, it is. You'll understand better when you're faced with these options."
"And if I choose the love of my life... Do you know how I'll die? Will I get sick?"
"You'll be shot. You'll die immediately. A woman who will approach you, coveting everything you have, will kill you. And another, whom you will approach, will take care of your family... And you will be able to follow everything that happens to your child. And I'll be by your side."
"I don't know what I'm going to choose... I need to think."
"Then lie down. I'll stay here until you go to sleep."
Brianna lay down.
"Who is that shadow behind you?"
Kellen was surprised.
"I didn't know I could see you." Kellen said, and turned around, and the shadow retreated. "I have to go now."
"Aren't you going to tell me who that shadow is? Tell me until I go to sleep, please?"
"Darling... I thought you'd be free of this, but you've made too many incantations. Even if you didn't believe in them, you practiced witchcraft. And all of us in this family who practiced witchcraft meet him when we die.
"Is he bad?"
"No. He's... just the creator of us all. We're his descendants, and he won't let us out of the stained glass window. Not without us personally accompanying him."
"What's stained glass?"
"It's what we call the city he built for us. Every time one of us works magic, he builds another house. And he stops us from moving on."
"Why does he stop you?"
"Because he wants it to end. And I believe it will end, in you. And then he'll rest, and maybe we'll all be able to move on?" Kellen said, and stood up.
"I haven't slept yet."
"Yes, you have." His mother said with a smile, waved goodbye and disappeared.
Brianna closed her eyes, intending to think about everything that had been revealed there, and ended up falling asleep. When she opened her eyes again, it was already daylight. She got up and took the book her father had given her and began to write down the words. In third person, because she found it easier. Then she got up and knew that something important in her dream had been forgotten, but she managed to describe the most important thing.
She went into the bathroom and stepped under the hot shower. Then she got changed, and before going downstairs to have coffee, she went to her grandfather's room and told him that she would agree to marry the boy he had chosen for her, if he would take her to see the place where she had been born, and as her mother had predicted, he was happy, and agreed.
They made the journey by ship. Brianna vaguely remembered that castle. The town was in ruins, and there weren't many people around.
"Who are these people living in this place?"
"They are our family, my child." Grandpa replied.
"What happened here? Why did you leave this place?"
"We were attacked by some kind of dangerous creature, my child. They forced me to flee with you and my wife, to preserve our species. I don't know what happened to those who stayed here, but I do know that they are no more, just witches.