Family Secrets

Ayan lay on his bed, occasionally sipping on the ORS solution from a plastic bottle, his eyes fixed on the drawings he'd created based on his dreams. Next to him was the card Jaxon, the leader had left behind. He slid it into his pocket, deep in thought.

'I've made up my mind—I'm going to the cities, maybe even other countries, and look into that organization. But how do I convince my uncle and aunt? Should I tell them about this mysterious organization?'

He stood with a determined look on his face. He had decided to anyhow convince his uncle and aunt.

Uncle Samuel and Aunt Tsering were both sipping on tea, enjoying a good afternoon conversation. Ayan hesitated a bit before he approached them. "Uncle, Aunt, we need to have a chat."

Both of them looked towards him and nodded. Aunt Tsering was the first to speak, "Ayan, you're not small anymore. So, have you thought about what you will do in the future?"

Ayan took a deep breath and replied, "I don't want to join high school. I want to go to the cities and explore the world."

Aunt Tsering's expression darkened, but surprisingly, his uncle nodded. "Alright, we'll support whatever decisions you make."

Uncle Samuel stood up and gestured him to follow, "Come with me."

Curious, Ayan followed his uncle to his room.

Uncle Samuel took out an old wooden chest, blowing dust from it.

Both of them sat on the floor, looking at the chest between them, secured with a traditional lock hanging on it.

Uncle Samuel looked at him and spoke in a serious tone, "It's about time I tell you a bit about our ancestry."

Ayan's interest was piqued—he'd never seen his uncle so solemn before.

"My parents—your grandparents—they came to this world from somewhere else," Uncle Samuel began. "Not like aliens or anything like that; they were human. But they had something extra—an unusual bloodline."

Ayan's eyes lit up as he remembered about the world beyond the maps and his abilities. "Does that mean my abilities are all because of my mother's bloodline?"

Uncle Samuel shook his head. "Your mother's bloodline had a bit different abilities. For instance, I'm normally like any other person. But if I want, I can enhance my strength and agility. I also have some stealth and night-vision abilities."

Suddenly, the room was filled with a dark, eerie aura and Uncle Samuel's hand turned black as he clutched the lock in the wooden chest.

Snap!

The lock easily shattered into pieces as if breaking a piece of grass, and the darkness faded. Uncle Samuel returned to normal gazing at the broken lock, "Actually, our bloodline has many more qualities. Whenever, we, sister and brother, showed our parents what abilities we discovered, they always dismissed them as parlor tricks and commented that the real abilities of our bloodline need to be awakened and nurtured. They said that our bloodline will naturally get diluted over a few generations and may even disappear without awakening and the nurturing process."

Delighted, Ayan asked, "Did they tell you how to awaken and nurture?"

Uncle Samuel shook his head, pouring a bucket of water over Ayan's enthusiasm, "No. They claimed we cannot awaken and nurture them in this world. They never even spoke about how to awaken or nurture them as they didn't want to pass it on. They wanted us to live like every other human around us."

Ayan frowned, "Why did they come here, to this remote place? The world outside must be more amazing and better than here."

Uncle Samuel sighed, "My parents always lamented about some mistake they made in the past which caused them to be punished and banished from the clan. Somehow they decided to come here. They always vaguely explained anything not of this world to us."

Still puzzled, Ayan asked, "If you think these abilities are not from my mother, then where do my abilities come from?"

 "It might be from your father," Uncle Samuel said solemnly, "or something unknown happened to your bloodline. When I asked your mother about it, she remained silent for a long time and said… your father was dead. What she went through, how she met your father, she didn't speak a word about anything related to him."

Uncle Samuel clenched his fists, his frustration, evident. "It's annoying enough that mother and father stayed silent about all these things. But, even my sister started keeping things from me. She went away searching for the mysteries of our parent's death. I know that somehow she became a lot stronger and powerful, I could feel the pressure from her. She must've found many things that I'm clueless about. She must've experienced a lot since even her husband died. But, she just feels I'm incompetent to share them with."

Aunt Tsering quietly came in and sat beside his uncle holding his shoulders, offering silent comfort.

After a few minutes of silence, Ayan cautiously asked, "How did my grandparents… die?"

Uncle Samuel couldn't hold back his tears. "I actually don't know. We were just adolescent teenagers. The police said that they died in a car accident on some unknown hills. We never saw their dead bodies. Later on, we mysteriously received a letter written by our parents to hide from some murderers. They'd left enough money and properties scattered in different countries for us. We went into hiding. My sister never believed the accident story. She always strived to become stronger and more powerful, determined to uncover the truth. When she was 18, she left without informing me. The next time I saw her was twelve years later with a child in her arms. She was in a hurry to leave you in my care and go somewhere. I knew she was going to do something dangerous, maybe it was related to her husband's death. But, I just couldn't stop her."

Ayan felt a chill run through him as he grasped the enormity of his family's mysterious past.

"My parents and my sister—they were my entire world. But, one by one, they all left me. My parents are probably dead for a long time. And I have no idea where my sister is or what she's doing. I don't even know if she's dead or alive. Meanwhile, I've been hiding like a coward from some phantom murderer who never appeared after our parent's demise. Unlike my sister, I couldn't find any way to get stronger. I married your aunt, who was much younger than me, thinking I'd at least have someone to take care of you and pass on the family bloodline. But, for some unknown reason, I couldn't even give her a child to pass on the bloodline. I'm just a good-for-nothing failure," Uncle Samuel's voice broke with despair.

He turned to Aunt Tsering, his face filled with regret. "I wasn't even a good husband. All I cared about was having a child and someone to take care of Ayan. I know the villagers taunted you a lot behind your backs, blaming you for not bearing children, when the actual defect was with me. I've neglected you and made you suffer all these years."

Tears welled up in Aunt Tsering's eyes, but she shook her head and tightened her grip on his shoulders, offering silent support. "I don't care what other people say. I've never felt neglected by you. I've always cherished our time together."

Ayan, drenched in tears, hugged them both tightly. "No, Uncle, you've never been a failure. I never knew my real parents. But I'm sure they wouldn't have raised me better than you guys. You and Aunt Tsering took every care of me like your own son. I know you were stern and strict at times but those were all for my benefit. You've always tried to fulfill every one of my whims and fancies. I'm glad to have such caring parents."

Ayan stopped crying and, spoke with determination, "I'll definitely find my mother. I'll do everything to get stronger to be able to share my mother's burden."

Aunt Tsering stood up, wiped her tears. "I should start preparing the evening meal," she said softly, leaving the room to give them space.

The room fell into a long silence before Ayan finally spoke, his tone calm and measured, "Uncle, I had contact with the leader of the foreigner's team. He found out about my abilities and...."

Uncle Samuel's eyes narrowed as he became thoughtful, "There's a world beyond the world map….. And, there's a secret organization that deals with people like us, people with special abilities, and controls the information about the unknown world."

Ayan nodded.

With a serious face, Uncle Samuel carefully opened the wooden chest and he asked, "What did you say the name of the organization was?"

"International Ranger's Intercontinental Society, IRIS" Ayan replied.

Samuel reached into the chest and pulled out a card. "Take a look at this."

The card had a beautifully crafted "R" on one side, with an ornate and intricate design that felt a bit familiar to Ayan. On the other side, there were cryptic words etched in flowing curves, intricate lines connecting the letters, and subtle symbols hidden—a code that seemed impossible to decipher at first glance.

Uncle Samuel handed it to Ayan, "Do you think this card hints represents some secretive organization, person, or something arcane?"

Ayan's eyes widened. "You mean this card is from the secretive Ranger's organization?"

Ayan remembered something as he reached into his pocket, pulling out the card Jaxon had given him.

The card had the name of Jaxon, his address, email, and a few contact numbers. However, on the lower right corner of the card was a small symbol of 'R' similar in design.

"Yes, it matches," Ayan said, his heart racing. "Uncle, how did you get this card?"

Samuel's expression darkened. "It was left by your mother. She said it could be used to withdraw money and some things she left. But she didn't clarify how and I didn't had the heart to ask her then."

Reaching back into the chest, Samuel pulled out a small scabbard with a partially visible hilt. Twisting, vine-like engravings can be seen coiled around the visible part of the hilt, depicting unknown arcane symbols that seemed to shimmer in the dim light. The scabbard itself was made up of dark, worn leather, almost as if it were made from the hide of some ancient creature. The scabbard itself emitted a dark aura that chills the air around it.

"This," Samuel said, "is a cursed dagger. The moment the blade is exposed, it demands blood—an insatiable hunger that curses its wielder if denied, sapping their life force," Samuel warned.

He hesitated before adding, "It's said to have been forged through ancient, forbidden rituals, cursed to eternally crave blood. And it holds the souls of those who have fallen to its blade, echoing faint, tortured whispers whenever it's unsheathed."

Ayan tried to reach the scabbard but Samuel avoided him and placed it inside the chest and closed it.

"This is the last relic left by our parents. Due to its dangerous nature, it cannot be used unless it's absolutely necessary," Samuel warned.

Looking at the closed chest and broken lock, Ayan couldn't help but ask, "Say, uncle Samuel did you really break this lock just to show off your abilities?"

Samuel chuckled awkwardly, "Actually, I lost the keys. And besides, a demonstration is better than a long explanation, right?"

Ayan grinned with expectations in his eyes, "Uncle Samuel, will you teach me that dark hand trick? How did you do it?"

Uncle Samuel thought for a few moments before sighing, "I'm not sure I can teach you. I don't even remember how I first did it. I only have a feeling of the powers and I just will them to appear and they appear. It's as natural to me as moving my hands."

Closing his eyes, Ayan tried to focus, searching for any similar feeling within him. He tried several times to feel every inch of his body from the top of his head down to his toes searching for any such feelings. Disappointed by no result, he was about to give up, when he felt two distinct and contrasting feelings within him.

On his right side, a radiant warmth surged through his veins, filling him with an invigorating energy. It was as if he was bathed in the golden light of a thousand suns, each ray infusing him with hope and boundless vitality. On the other side, a chilling darkness crept into his being, wrapping around his heart like an icy tendril. This cold, oppressive force drained the warmth from his body, leaving him shivering and filled with a profound sense of gloom and foreboding as if he was trapped in an empty void. The stark contrast between these two powers was palpable, each vying for dominance, creating a tumultuous storm of shadow and light within him.

Suddenly, Ayan's body began to tremble violently. His eyes rolled back, and he coughed up blood before collapsing, unconscious.