Not a Joke But the Truth

It was discovered to be no joke. But then again, nothing really is a joke when it comes to my parents. I guess that's what I get for believing that everything was what it appeared to be.

It all started just a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was all a joke, I mean really? Who waits for their kid's eighteenth birthday to tell them that they were adopted...

"Sweetheart, we should have told you sooner but... Now that you're an adult we thought you should know that you're adopted," my mom had said. "Oh, and by the way your dad was a super evil genius who fed your mom angel blood when she was pregnant with you. Since you survived to your eighteenth birthday it's time you took on your responsibility, you have to marry the prince of the Hunters-- in a week."

I really did think it was a joke, I even laughed at it. But I have only seen my parents that serious once before-- the day they were called to the hospital because I had been admitted after fighting a demon that had showed up at my best friend's house. I still have a hard time believing that it's true. But I guess I should have known since I always felt like there was something different about me.

It took a while for me to realize that they weren't joking and by then I was pissed but only about part of what I had found out...

"What!!! I am not marrying a total stranger!"

"But you have to... You shouldn't have even been allowed to live. Now the Hunters will see that union or your execution," my father had quietly stated.

"But that's not fair!!! It's not like I can change what's already been done!" I had yelled back at them.

"We may be able to push the union back a week, maybe two... But you'll still have to marry him. He's a rather nice young man-- I'm sure you'll get along wonderfully together," my mom had soothed.

But I really hadn't wanted to listen. I was hoping that this was all some nightmare that I was going to wake up from at any moment. But it wasn't, this was now my reality.

"I'm going up to my room. I need to think," I had told my parents.

"All right darling, but don't stay up too late... You're to meet him in the morning."

I couldn't believe that my life was being taken away from me. There were so many things I was supposed to do before I got married and had a family! Now I didn't even get a say in who the groom was going to be. It just didn't seem fair.

That night I was restless but when I finally fell asleep I dreamt of him. I didn't know his name but I did know that we were meant to be together. We were soul mates and now we would never be together because of something that had been done before my birth.

In my dream I tried to remember everything so I could cherish the memory. That night it seemed he did the same thing, almost as though he knew that we wouldn't be together ever again. It broke my heart and I knew that even though I had to marry the prince, he would never have my heart because my soul mate would have it forever.

The following morning my mom came and fussed over me and got me ready to meet the prince. It felt weird... I mean, I didn't even know that royalty live in the U.S.

"What's his name?" I asked.

"Prince James Darkshadow. He is nineteen and will make a great husband for you," my mom replied.

"But we don't even know each other! We're not even from the same worlds. He grew up as a Hunter and I grew up as a normal."

"But, you see, that is what will make you two such good rulers. You will be able to see both sides and determine whether or not the damage would be worth it."

"If you say so, let's just get this over with already."

When we got to the living room they were already there. The prince's back was to me as he was talking to his father, he seemed sort of mad. When he turned it was as though the world had stopped.

"You!" we both exclaimed at once.

He was the boy from my dreams. But that didn't seem possibly. He had the same dark brown hair, luscious green eyes, and perfectly shaped lips. But in my dreams he was just an average boy. He didn't wear a suit or a crown-- he was just him.

"How can that be possible?" I had whispered as he had asked, "You're the girl with the angel blood?"

"Have you two met before?" my mom asked.

He said, "No," while I had stated, "In a dream."

"You mean to tell me that this is the girl you've been obsessing with?" his father had asked.

"I haven't been obsessed! And that was just a dream, it wasn't real."

"What?" I cried out. "It was real and I can prove that it was more than a dream."

"How?" the king asked.

"After the dreams I would draw different things that we did in them. I have held on to each drawing and cherished them."

"Then go get them, I want proof that what you say is true," the queen demanded.

I went and got all my drawings and paintings I had done from the memories of my dreams, including the one from that morning. When I sat them down for them to see the memories, they all looked startled.

"She has to be telling the truth, there's no way she could have drawn the white ash tree and garden in our back yard otherwise," the queen quietly stated.

"But if what they are saying is true, then they are soul mates and soul mates only dream of each other if they are in danger of losing each other," my dad said.

"When did the dreams start?" my mom asked me.

"About two months ago, why?"

"That was about the time I was trying to arrange a marriage for James," the king said as my mother said, "That was when you were in the hospital after encountering your first demon!"

"What! Why didn't she fight demons before then?" James demanded.

"Because we thought it would be best if she grew up normal and not have her father's actions shadow her childhood," my mom said.

"You knew nothing?"

"No. I just found out about demons being real when one showed up at my best friend's house... but only I could see it. I thought I had just imagined it until it attacked me," I replied.

"But why... It doesn't matter. So, you're not in league with you father?"

"NO! How could you even think that? I didn't even know I was adopted until last night!"

"Really? I would have thought that you would have guessed that," he commented. At my confused expression he went on, "I mean you have brilliant red hair and sea blue eyes and fair skin, but your parents have blond hair and blue eyes and naturally tan skin. Didn't you ever wonder about that?"

"No, why would I? I loved them and I knew they loved me. Why would I want to torment myself that way? And why did you ask if I was in league with my birth father?"

"Because I don't want him to come back and succeed at taking down the whole race of Hunters. It would be a disaster and would leave the normals unprotected. That can't happen. I can't let it happen."

"Oh..." I replied. Unconsciously we had moved closer together until we were just inches away from each other and out parents were discreetly leaving the room. "Did you really mean it when you said that the dreams meant nothing?"

"No," he said on a sigh. "I just didn't want to get hurt if it turned out that you were in league with your father. I don't think I would survive if you helped him destroy everything that my family has worked so hard to protect. I don't think I could survive you breaking my heart into a million tiny pieces."

"I would never do that! Couldn't you tell how much I loved you last night? How much it broke my heart to think that I was being forced to marry some man I had never seen before when what I really wanted was to be with you?"

"It broke my heart, too, that I was going to have to marry some woman that my parent chose for me when what I knew in my heart that you were the only one for me. Will you marry me? Will you be my future queen?"

"But we don't even know each other!"

"We know we love each other and that we were meant to be together. The only other thing I need to know is your name," he relied, his eyes begging me to say yes and his love for me shinning from his very being.

"It's Angel. And yes, I'll marry you!" I said with all the love I had for him.

It's been just over two weeks since James asked me to marry him and today is the big day. It's hard to believe that just a couple of months ago I was just an ordinary girl getting ready to graduate from high school. Everything has changed. I found out I'm part angel and that I was adopted. And now? Now I'm about to marry my soul mate and become a princess and one day the queen.

What I once thought was a joke turned out to be the road to my very own happily ever after... Well, except for the fact that now even more demons will be after me. But taking out demons is what us Hunters do. Anyway it doesn't really matter as long as James is by my side.




Word Count: 1696