deathless (chapter four)

In the Beaufort mansion, there are more activity than ever. That is because the party of the year is about to happen the very next day. Everyone is in a bustle. Everyone that is, except for Laverne, who decided to lock herself up in her room for the whole day and insisted that no one must disturb her. She’s frantically worried about her parents. Tomorrow is her birthday but they hadn’t arrived yet from Germany. She’s been calling them since she woke up but she is not getting any answer. Her brothers and her sister has arrived, yet, it didn’t settle down her nerves.

After she had her dinner, which Deborah brought to her room, she cried herself to sleep. She cried because she was too worried about her parents. She cried because of the pain she had so much experienced in the past. She cried because until now she doesn’t have the answers to her questions. She cried because she is so uncertain of her future, a future that is being laid down by other people instead of her.

Then, there was someone softly tugging her shoulders and whispering her name. When she slowly opened her eyes, Laverne saw the blurry silhouette of a woman. By the sound of her voice, she could tell that the woman was Dionne.

“Laverne, wake up. Here, take these clothes and get dressed,” her sister softly whispered.

“What time is it?”

“It’s thirty minutes ’til midnight.”

“What is it about?”

“Mom and Dad wanted to see you.”

The news that her parents had already arrived made Laverne jump from her bed and run to the bathroom to change her nightgown. Excitement of seeing her parents again never made her pause to see that the clothes Dionne gave her were a bit too formal for the occasion. It was a white chiffon dress with a long flowing skirt that reached the floor. When she came out of the bathroom, she found out that it has matching shoes. Dionne was wearing the same kind of dress except it was of a deep violet shade. Laverne just thought that they are about to surprise her with pre-party family dinner.

Dionne led her to the family room which is brightly lit. It was a room half the size of a ballroom. It has a large fireplace, big and comfortable armchairs, a few bookshelves and some portraits of their ancestors decorating the walls of the large room. By the time Laverne entered the room, she heard the clock strike twelve. It’s my birthday already. I am finally twenty-three. As she was running to greet her parents, she was secretly wishing that they would put off the party scheduled that evening and they would show her tickets to Brunei or Taiwan. That would be so exciting! However, she noticed that Boris and Xavier were the only ones sitting across her parents. Where is Dionne’s husband and Boris’ wife? Why aren’t they here?

“Happy birthday, sweetie,” her mom greeted her.

“The baby girl is finally twenty-three,” it was Xavier, who always love to play his jokes on her.

“Happy birthday, Laverne Gwendolyn,” her dad said as he stood up and scooped her into his arms.

“Thank you so much,” Laverne said, teary-eyed.

“But before we get to the celebration itself, there are a lot of things we need to talk about,” Mr. Beaufort continued.

Laverne was confused. When she looked around her, everyone suddenly became serious. Dionne has already seated herself to one of the armchairs. Her dad motioned her to the only free armchair left on that side of the room.

“Now that you’re twenty-three, it is high time for you to know more about our family. It has been a tradition that on the first hour of the twenty-third birthday of any member of the family, answers to questions would be given, clarifications for the mind will be administered and so therefore, the family secret would be unveiled. Dionne, Boris and Xavier had all been through this same scenario.”

Laverne looked at her sister and brothers one by one and was looking for answers on what was going on. All she had was a smiling face in reply, as if something exciting is about to happen.

“Laverne,” her father took her attention back to him. “Do you know who is that?” -And he pointed to a portrait on one side of a wall.

“Yes, Dad. That is Great Grandmother Laverne, your father’s mother, whom I was named after. Which is I think because I look a lot like her.”

“It is more than that, my dear daughter. You are, in fact, her.”

“I am sorry, Dad. I didn’t catch that.”

“I want you to listen intently, Laverne, for I will only tell you this once. We are a family of immortals. We live until we are in our 80’s then we die. However, after two generations, we are born once again. The same person, the same being as we are before. Exactly, the same, only had lived in a different time. And yet, will never remember a single detail about our past lives. You will have to wait until your twenty-third birthday before the truth is once again revealed unto you. Because we are immortals, all of us die a natural death. Not one of us die in an accident, sickness or even a heart attack. No one dies before they reach their 80’s.”

“So, you mean two generations ago, which is around 200 years ago, I had already lived the same life I am living now except it happened in a different time?”

“Not exactly the same, though. But yes, you did. There are a few differences but quite a few so it’s hardly noticeable.”

“Are you indirectly saying to me that the make-believe stories people are inventing about our family are true?”

“Yes, I should say some of it is true. Except that we are not witches and wizards, and we do not have extraordinary powers other than this.”
“Is that why I feel so different from other people? Not because I came from a very wealthy family that somehow controls the Swiss economy but because I am an immortal?”

“Yes, that is the case.”

“Are we the only ones? I mean, are there any other people who are like us, immortals?”

“Yes, there are. In fact, there are five major families with members scattered all over Europe who are also immortals.”

“How about the people who are working for us, like Deborah? Are they immortals?”

“No, they aren’t. But their families are bound to serve us until the end of their lineage.”

“Am I allowed to love and marry a man who is not like us? I mean, a mortal?”

“That is a pretty good question, darling. And I have a pretty good answer, and that is no. Immortals are not allowed to love and marry a mortal. Immortals are destined for another immortal. If ever an immortal decides to love a mortal, the moment he confesses his love to the mortal, he will lose his immortality and die that very moment. Wilfred, Dionne’s husband came from an immortal family in France. Karenina, Boris’ wife, is also from an immortal family who lives in United Kingdom. Xavier’s girlfriend and fiancé, Heidi, was born in Sweden to an immortal family. And that is the reason why your mom and I went to Germany. We need to personally meet Mitchell before we introduce you to him.”

“Who’s Mitchell?”

“The man we know would be the perfect husband for you. We’re not forcing you to marry him, of course. But we want you to take him into consideration,” Laverne’s mother finally spoke.

Now, all the questions that had been troubling her were finally answered. Except she wasn’t expecting that the answer would be immortality. Is this what Deborah has been talking about? The answers she would get? So, she knew all along but she never told me. She was never in the position to, in the first place. It was all too much for her and Laverne is starting to drown with all that she had heard. She needed air. Fresh air.