Haunted Hydra: Leon & John
"That--" Leon's fist tightened and he practically lifted John up on his toes. Then the vampire blinked and his scowl lessened. "She was married?" It was all falling into place, the reason why his mother had never looked at him when he was born, why she had sent him away with the Houngan who everyone said never got along with her. She'd been married and was ashamed of what came from her encounter with the Voodoo Priest. She'd tried to hide her shame.
Leon relaxed his grip as more things started to make sense. The look on his mother's face when he ran from the spirits and found his way back to the tribe, begging for help. The secrecy she'd used around him when discussing with the elders, the speed with which she shoved him off to the Academy to get help there instead. All to hide her shame.
He'd known all his life that he was a bastard, illegitimate child of an unwed mother and father, but he hadn't known it was the reason his mother sent him away. And if she hadn't sent him away, he never would have learned Voodoo or discovered his ability to spirit walk into another person's body. He never would have killed. He never would have had the vengeful spirits on his heels most of his life and, Leon realized in the chain of events that ran through his mind, he never would have been turned into a vampire.
It was a hard blow to take in, and Leon released John and stepped back, raking his fingers into his hair and clenching them into fists. "Sweet Loa," he breathed, sinking down to sit on the steps.