Chapter 309

Joseph’s POV

I ran my fingers through my hair and took a deep breath. I wasn’t sure what I was going to say to the kid. I had never really spoken to any of them one-on-one before. I know these witches and wizards don’t trust me because I’m a vampire, but they are trying their best because I’m with Tessa and because her mother had once trusted me. I don’t blame them for not trusting me though; vampires had put them through hell over the years. Not all of us are good and I’ll be the first to admit that.

I knew very little about Austin; only what the others had told me. He just turned 20 pretty recently and he was the newest of the coven members. He ran away from his former coven a couple of years ago and a few months after he joined this coven, his parents came to get him not knowing what they were about to walk into. Lucias used his mind control and forced Austin to kill his own parents. I can’t even imagine what he must have gone through reliving those memories.

After getting to know them this past day or so, I realized that they were all good people; none of them knew what they were doing. It was all Lucias. Most of the coven were in their early 20s, Austin being the youngest. The oldest ones that were part of Alison’s circle are in their late to early 40s except for Cole who is in his late 30s. They are like the parents of the group and I’m grateful that they are here to keep the younger ones in check. I like not having to babysit them in my home.

Tessa had already gone into Hannah’s bedroom to speak with her, and I wondered briefly how their conversation was going. I knew I needed to grow a pair of balls and just get this over with. I promised Tessa I would do this and I’m not one to break my promises, especially to the woman I love.

I lifted my fist and knocked on the door. When there was no answer, I knocked louder. I heard groaning on the other end, and I don’t think he meant for me to hear it.

“What?” I heard him murmuring.

I took that as an invitation to come in, so I turned the doorknob, thankful that he didn’t have it locked and I pushed the door open.

Austin sat on his bed with the covers up to his chest and his head rested on his pillow. His food remained untouched on his bedside pillow. His eyes were red and puffy, so I knew he’d been crying.

“Hey,” I said, trying to keep my voice quiet so as to not disturb his piece. “Mind if I come in?”

“It’s your house,” Austin muttered, eyeing me carefully. I stepped into the room and shut the door behind me. I really needed to search for a home for these guys so they could have a place to call home and feel comfortable.

“How are you doing?” I lamely asked, knowing damn well how he was doing.

He lifted his head to look at me.

“You wouldn’t be here if they weren’t already talking about me,” he said, his eyes narrowed.

I ran my hand through my hair and sighed.

“Okay, look. I know you guys are getting memories back and I wanted to check in with you,” I admitted. “I know some shit happened that you’d prefer to forget, and I wanted you to know you aren’t alone.”

“No offense man, but I’m not talking to a fucking vampire about my problems,” he muttered.

I nodded and pointed behind me at the door.

“I could get one of the other guys if you’d prefer that?” I asked, almost wanting him to say yes.

He thought about it for a moment, looking at the closed door and then at me.

“Do they know what I did?” He asked, his voice dropping to a whisper.

I thought about lying to him and telling him that nobody knows for certain what he did, but I couldn’t do that to him. They were sure to ask him about it at some point and I didn’t want him to hate me even more for betraying his trust and lying to him.

I nodded.

“Yeah, everybody knows. I guess Laura witnessed it and Amy was forced to… dispose of them,” I said, hesitating at the last part.

His face paled even more than it already was.

“She was the one who disposed of them?” He asked, sounding horrified. “I didn’t know that… he had me take a shower afterward and told me he would take care of the problem… when I got back… they were gone.”

I nodded.

“Look, I know the easiest thing to do is to blame yourself but—”

“I blame that asshole,” he surprised me by saying, a flash of anger in his eyes. “He made me do it; I didn’t have a choice. I was only 18 and I was under his control… he…” He paused, trying to form the right words. “He made me forget about them.”

“I know there’s nothing I can say to make things right,” I breathed. “But you aren’t alone, Austin. Everybody here is struggling with their demons. I mean, Derek nearly killed me and I’m letting him live in the attic apartment. Nothing will bring your parents back and I’m sorry you had to lose them in the way that you did. But the best thing you can do now is move forward and make good choices. It’s the least you can do, and your parents would want that for you.”

He thought about it for a moment before sitting up in bed and then he nodded.

“Yeah, you’re right,” he murmured. “They wouldn’t want me to wallow around like this. I don’t think I can ever face my old coven again. I’m sure they know what happened. I’m surprised they haven’t put a gag order out on me yet.”

“Why did you leave your old coven if you don’t mind me asking?”

Austin sighed.

“My former coven leader was set in the old fashion ways. They were more like a cult than anything and their rules just made me uncomfortable. I grew up under their dictatorship; he abused his power and was also an asshole like Lucias. If he had thought about mind control, I’m sure he’d do it too. I can’t even count how many times I’ve been beaten as a kid,” he explained, wincing at the memory. “A lot of which was at the hands of not just the coven leader, but my parents too. But I understand that they were just doing what was expected of them. My father was the coven leader’s best friend, and the leader had no kids of his own, so I was basically like a son to him. Though he treated me like shit, my parents always said it was just tough love, and if I followed the rules I wouldn’t be punished.”

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, shaking my head at the thought.

He nodded and then swallowed the lump in his throat.

“I told myself when I’m old enough, I’m leaving this coven and never looking back. A few days after my 18(th) birthday, I found out that they wanted to marry me to one of the daughters of another coven so that they could join covens together and be even stronger. They wanted to be the most powerful coven in the world. I went through with at least meeting her for my parent's sake because they begged me for this favor and as much as I resented them for the lifetime of torment I endured, I still loved them and wanted them to be happy. I just wanted them to be proud of me for once. So, I decided to do the right thing and I met her…”

“And did you like her?”

Austin gave me a look as if saying, “What do you think?”

“She was the worst,” Austin muttered. “I couldn’t imagine spending another second with her let alone another minute. Turns out, I really didn’t have a choice in the matter. During that meet and greet they were already discussing wedding arrangements and getting the contracts situated. I knew I couldn’t stay there any longer, so I left in the middle of the night, and I never looked back. I was on the road for a couple of days, hungry, cold, and exhausted, with no destination in mind and no money. I only had a small bag that had a couple of clothes and a picture of my parents. While I was walking along the side of the road, a car pulled up beside me and it ended up being Lucias with a woman. I didn’t know who either was at the time, but they seemed nice when they spoke to me. Apparently, they could sense my powers and knew I was a wizard. They revealed that they were also part of the supernatural family. Lucias was a coven leader himself and the girl was a vampire. I never thought I’d see a vampire and a wizard together, but there they were… they looked close.”

Austin paused to gather his thoughts and my stomach clenched from his words.

“Anyway, I told them I was running from my old coven and that I refused to go back. Lucias told me he would never make me go back to that kind of horrid lifestyle, from the little I explained to him. He told me he wanted to take me back to his coven where I’d be safe. He wanted to feed me and give me a comfortable place to rest. I was starving and tired, so I got into the car with him….” He paused again. “That was the last thing I remembered up until this morning when my memories started to come back.”

“And you haven’t seen the rest of your coven since?” I asked him, already knowing the answer.

He shook his head.

“Not until a couple of months later when my parents found out where I am, and they came to get me. I killed them before they could even say a single word,” he murmured.

“And that woman you said who was with Lucias, had you seen her since then?”

He shook his head again.

“Nope; she didn’t return to the coven with us, and I hadn’t seen her again since that night,” he admitted. “I’m not sure who she was, but I know she was a vampire.”

My stomach knotted again as I thought more about it.

Could Anna have been right? Was that vampire Eevee?