Chapter 42 - Uncanny

"My mother??"

"What do you mean?" I questioned with confusion etched on my face. My uncle sighed. Time seemed to stop, I looked at Nicholas's face for answers but he had none, he was just as confused.

"Tell me. Tell me at once. What happened?"

Nicholas placed a gentle hand on my shoulder.

"Cleo." He pleaded gently.

I sighed, trying to calm down.

There was no need to rush. My uncle was here. He would reveal everything. My uncle beckoned for me to follow me and we sat on a rusty bench in the scenic garden. After a long deep sigh, he started talking.

"I met your mother first..."

"I met her years ago. I didn't know what clan she was from then. Back then I didn't care much about clans. I wasn’t into all of that."

"But Mr Fontana was?"

Nicholas asked and my uncle nodded in reply.

"Yes, he did. George was into the whole clan stuff. Always attending meetings and secret events. Back then a lot more people were convinced that they could bring magic back. They tried everything."

"Anyway, while my brother spent his time with the clans, I spent my time building our family business, expanding it. Creating a life away from all that. And that was how I met your mother. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen."

I smiled proudly.

My mother.

I had never heard anyone speak about my mother with such reverence. With such adoration, not even from my own father. I somehow felt at peace with that. That my mother had probably found happiness way before I was born, even if she was unhappier with my father and I .

I could see where the story was going, Brett loved my mother, but she chose my father. There was more.

"Your mother and I, our relationship developed slowly but beautifully. I was so nervous to tell her that I liked her and she summoned up enough courage to do it for the both of us. I had envisioned a beautiful life with her."

"What happened?"

I asked softly.

My uncle shrugged.

"My brother found out she was Arcani. As you know, back then, it was a death sentence. Worse than it is now."

"There used to be huge prizes for people who found and killed innocent people like your mother."

"Your father said he'll keep her secret. But he wanted something in return."

"What was that?"

I asked and my uncle sighed.

"He asked me to hand over the company. The company had grown a lot back then, we were flourish, so handing him all my life’s work was hard.”

"But I wanted to protect your mother. I had no choice. I gave it all to him at once thinking that would be enough for George to keep his mouth shut."

My uncle was close to tears now, I could see the painful look in his eyes as he recounted the story and my chest heaved and tightened up in pain.

"After I did that, I never saw your mother again. I tried looking for her, six months later I heard the announcement that she was getting married to my own brother."

"At first... I was very heartbroken, I couldn’t sleep for days. But then I knew it couldn't have been your mother's will. She wouldn't have done it..."

He trailed off.

"How could you be so sure?" I asked and he looked into my eyes, there was nothing but pain in his eyes. Years and years of hurt.

"Because we were in love with each other. Deeply in love. I tried to see her, many many times, I tried to talk to her, but I never did. She wouldn't even see me either. I didn't give up and my brother finally grew weary of my persistence. The first set of assassins hired to kill me almost got me."

He rolled up his shirt sleeve slowly and showed me a gnarly scar, pointing at it weakly.

"Two bullets here. The blood loss almost killed me but I survived."

I gasped.

"That... that can't be..."

I murmured weakly.

My father?

My own father trying to kill his own brother?

No, no, that was impossible.

"That's impossible... my father is not a murderer."

“He wouldn’t do that!”

I protested and Brett Fontana shook his head.

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way... but it's even worse than you imagine."

He lifted his legs and showed another scar.

"I have several scars from the multiple murder attempts from my own brother. I've been running for twenty one years Cleopatra. All because of him."

I felt the tears involuntarily falling, I turned to Nicholas. I saw that he looked just as shocked as I was. I was too shocked to even utter a coherent sentence.

"How?! Why didn't you do anything when he started chasing you? Why didn’t you say anything??"

"Because I was kind and forgiving. I didn’t want to hurt Aurora and George, besides she had just given birth to Cleopatra then.”

“I still saw George as my brother despite everything, I didn't want to hurt him, or destroy our family's reputation, while my brother saw me as nothing more but an opponent."

"I've been running from him for over twenty years."

I was still in shock, still processing everything as I put a hand to my mouth.

"But my father... he told me that he and my mother were in love. And they were together...."

Brett scoffed.

"Think back Cleopatra. As a child, did you ever see your parents together happily? Did they look at a normal couple to you?"

My uncle was right.

My mother always had that faraway look in her eyes. That fake smile that never seemed to reach her eyes. My parents were cordial to each other. That was what I could remember.

Did they look like they were in love? To be honest I had no remembrance of that.

And when my mother died, my father's bizarre reaction almost drove me mad. He didn't talk about her, he didn't speak about her. In fact, he refused to acknowledge that she had taken her own life.

Had my mother been so unhappy?!

So unhappy that she couldn't even stand living with my father anymore?

And when my mother died, my father had all her belongings, down to every picture frame of her put in her room.  A while later a mysterious fire broke out in her bedroom. Nothing could be recovered after the fire.

Even my phone that had some of her pictures turned up missing after a while, almost as if someone had tried to erase her existence.

"You're right."

I sighed.

"My mother was unhappy... so unhappy she killed herself."

I could see my uncle flinch. I stared at him.

"Did you hear about her death?"

I asked softly and he nodded his head. He buried his head in his hands, groaning softly.

"It was the worst day of my life. I heard the news and I thought it wasn't true, until I saw her funeral procession in the news and you crying in the church..."

"George stopped chasing me for a few months after that. Nine months."

"I still don't understand... I don't know why my father would do that... why would he go to such lengths?!"

"I underestimated just how much of an interest he had in your mother. At first it didn't make sense, why my brother would want her. Like all other clans, he blamed and hated the Arcani for the disappearance of magic. So I couldn't understand. Until I understood that at the very core, he was jealous. Just like many others. Many clan members would be quick enough to bash the Arcani, blame them and take up arms against them, but a good number of them secretly coveted that."

"That strange power they had...."

Uncle Brett continued.

"It's as if, even with the disappearance of magic, the Arcani still hold power over them. They fear, hate and covet that power. George saw all that in Aurora and wanted her for himself. But he had to get me away so he did. And he made her his, whether or not she liked it. And in the end he got what he wanted."

"What's that?!"

I spat out angrily.

"You."

My uncle replied.

“Part Arcani, part Mythica clan. Two superior high rank clans.”

I put a hand on my head.

"My heard hurts."

I murmured.

Nicholas touched me gently.

"Are you okay? Do you need a moment?"

He asked softly and I nodded.

"It's okay... don't worry. I'm just a little bit overwhelmed with everything..."

"I wish there was an easier way to break all of this to you Cleopatra. I'm sorry it had to be this way." My uncle pleaded.

I nodded.

"I understand..."

"I forgot to ask. Why are you here? Are you sick?"

My uncle shook his head.

"I checked myself in here two years ago when I learned that it's one of the asylums on the continent with the best security. Here your father couldn't reach me even if he found me..."

"That's horrible. I still find it so hard to believe my father did all that….” I breathed and he shrugged.

My father tried to kill his own brother? Why?!

"You don't have to run anymore. You can come back home with me."

I offered after a short silence despite Nicholas lightly tugging at my clothes.

My uncle shook his head, quickly declining my offer.

"I can't. Besides, your father may be dead but it doesn't mean he's not out to get me. Knowing him, even in death, he would still have the final laugh."

"What do you mean? He can't, he can't possibly be chasing you from the grave."

I said and my uncle shrugged.

"Oh Cleopatra. Your ignorance is refreshing."

Then he looked me in the eyes.

"You don't know what your father is capable of."

My heart skipped a few beats as the ominous words played in my head. I stayed silent as I pondered on everything he had told me.

"Did someone by the name Alexander Anderson come here?" Nicholas promptly asked.

I didn't even remember to ask, I was still reeling from everything my uncle told me. I came here for answers and now I have gotten even more than that.

"He did. I found out right away who he was."

My eyes shot up towards Brett.

"What do you mean?"

"He's my brother's secret son isn't he?"

"He reminds me of my brother a lot. The resemblance in personality and character is just uncanny."