Chapter 902: Chapter 87- Dietrich – Germany Part 11 (VOLUME 5)

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Dietrich

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“Alright, well, we’ve heard from Alaric and we’ve seen what the family tree had to tell us. Now, what does that other journal hold for us?” Shawn was still driving us toward the home for children that we were looking for. We were almost there, but there was time still to look into what this journal had to tell us.

“Let’s find out what Rayk had to tell us. I am sure that he was not alive when Alaric was. For one, this is a more modern style journal. Also, the dates on it tell me that Alaric would have been long dead when this was written.” I had opened the journal and was already looking at the first page.

May 31, 1989

It took a long time, but I have finally managed to get the family to agree to me. What Granny Merle and Granny Anke had told our ancestors has stuck way too much. For the last several generations, we’ve only been able to reproduce from within the family. If we were found to have had an affair outside of the family, then we were punished severely. Several of my brothers have been put to death over their transgressions.

…..

I vowed when I took over as the leader of this family that I would fix this atrocious practice. I wanted to eliminate the practice right away, but it was so ingrained into the family that I needed to work on changing the family’s mindset first. They didn’t see these practices as wrong because it was all that we had ever done, all that we had ever known.

I am thankful every day that I attended university away from the family, away from the mansion. If I had stayed there, I do not know what sort of monster I would have become. I don’t know what I would have been capable of doing.

Now, the next thing that we need to work on is understanding that the people they hate so much are not our enemies. I found Alaric’s journals from long ago. I kept one of them at the house, but the others are in my personal belongings at my house. I know that if most of the family were to find them, they would just end up destroying them. These records of our ancestor’s associations with shadow walkers and creatures of the night goes against their beliefs.

This too was something that was caused by Granny Merle and Granny Anke. They were with the family for so long. Longer than they should have been. I don’t know how they lasted so long, but I know that they were there when I was a child. They’re gone now, dead since I was approximately five years old, but how was it that they were able to live for over two hundred years? And why is it that they are so against the people that used to be Alaric’s friends?

When I took over the family, I thought that I would get all the answers, that I would know everything that has ever gone on in our family. However, that isn’t true. I have more questions now than I did when I was a boy. And I fear that there is not much that I can do to alleviate these worries and fears of mine.

“It looked to me like Rayk was trying to restore the family to their former glory. I don’t think that he succeeded though.” Looking at the pages before me, I sighed in exasperation. “Seeing how things are now, I know that he didn’t succeed.” I flipped the page and started on the next page. I could tell that Rayk didn’t write often, the entries were far apart.

July 13, 1989

The family is becoming more oppositional. They aren’t going back to the lovers outside of the family, that will likely stay since they want to increase our numbers as much as possible. However, they are not very receptive to the change in the other ways that they think.

The moment that I started talking about embracing and accepting the nonhuman creatures as our friends and brethren, they started to rebel against me. I can see that they are regretting naming me as their leader.

I thought that I had a strong hold over my family. That just leading them gave me the authority that I needed, but I can’t make changes if I am constantly fighting with them. Or if I am constantly looking over my shoulder.

My brothers, specifically Viktor and Klaus, have been talking about another change of leadership. I know as well as they do that the leadership only changes when the current leader retires or dies. And since I don’t plan to retire anytime soon, that tells me that my family is out to get me.

I have the loyalty and faith of only a small number of my brothers and sisters. The others see me as a heretic that needs to be stopped. I am trying my best to convince them. I am trying my best to change their minds. I know that not all of them are bad. Not all of my family members are lost causes.

We must fight this. We must live the life that Alaric intended for us. That is my dream. To live like our founder intended.

December 31, 1989

More and more of the family has turned against me. Those that were in the middle and on the fence about what I have been telling them have jumped to the opposition. I don’t get it. I do not understand why they want to live a life of fear and hatred. They do not know these people. They have never met a single nonhuman creature. And if they did, then they didn’t know it. And that tells me that they must be good.

These nonhumans are not out there killing people. They are not out there threatening society. They are living their lives. They are just like normal people. All they want is to be happy, the same as everyone else. Why can’t my family see this? Why can’t they understand that there is nothing to fear?

April 18, 1990

I fear this might be my last entry. I am leaving this here for the eventuality that someone that is like me takes over the family in the future. My family are the ones that will kill me. They are the ones that I fear. Them and their hatred that was given to them by other bigoted people. They hate those that they do not know or understand. They had them without cause. They have done nothing to any of them, but they are blinded by generations of fear.

I do not know how to teach my family not to hate what they do not understand. I do not know how to settle their hearts and calm their souls. If this was something that was easy, then the world would be a better place. But right now, I am not worried about the world. I am only worried about my family and their fear. For I am sure that their fear will mean the end of me.

For whoever finds this journal, along with the one of Alaric’s still in the office, please think not about hatred but about love and acceptance. Understand that hatred is not the answer. And when you hate someone that you do not understand, you are severely limiting yourself as well. You will never know what you could have learned or experienced if you just opened your heart and your arms. There are infinite possibilities, you just need to allow yourself the opportunity to see them.

Teach yourself and others to love people. Don’t be afraid of the unknown. Embrace it, accept it, and make the world a better place.

“Th..that was the last entry.” I flipped through the journal that was mostly empty. “They really killed him after that.”

“He knew it was coming, but that doesn’t make it any easier to accept. They were heartless assholes that didn’t want to accept that their way of thinking was wrong.” Shawn sounded heartbroken at the news that we had learned. Neither of us knew this man, but he had died all because he wanted to accept people like us. That wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair to him.

“Shawn, we need to put an end to this war. This family and us, we need to teach them that we’re not evil. The need to see things the way that Alaric did. They need to understand the way that he did.” I could feel the sorrow inside of me as well.

“I know, Dietrich. I know.” Shawn reached over and took my hand while he was driving. “We will try our best. I know that we will succeed, we just need to try harder.”

I looked up then, out the window into the midafternoon light. When I did, I saw the sign that indicated the town limits. We had reached Rorswil. It wouldn’t be long now until we got to the orphanage. And then, hopefully, someone there would be able to tell us what is going on here. Maybe someone there would know what happened to the family that was at the mansion.

Or perhaps we would find more of these crazy, lunatic, murderous family members. That would just be our luck, wouldn’t it? Shawn and I alone against all those people? Well, fine, let them come for us. We will take care of them. I wasn’t afraid, and I doubted that Shawn would be either.

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