Nefarious

C130 - Downfall

It didn't take long for Jace to decide that we should go look for Xavier ourselves. After all, relying on Rain after what she'd just said wasn't really a secure option anymore. "Put this on and wear the hood up at all times. Don't speak unless it's utterly necessary and never leave my side, got it?" Jace blurted out. "We'll be fine, Jace. I'm sure you know how to creep around the castle better than anyone." He snickered, shaking his head as he grabbed his jacket.

When walking through the lobby of the hotel, I felt an immediate rush of attention. I was aware of my outfit looking rather eye-catching, but I completely forgot it would raise interest amongst the people outside the castle. One guy approached me rather quickly, but Jace stared him down, leaving the stranger too scared to make a move. "You're scaring everyone off," I whispered. "Oh, I know, but you're Alex's girl, and he's not here to show that."

During the car ride, I figured we were staying at a hotel quite far from the castle. "Have you been back at some point or?" I questioned. He looked up in the mirror, clearing his throat, taking his time to answer. "No, I didn't dare to as Xylan is their temporary leader. You have no idea what he'll do to keep his place, Valerie. Trust me, he didn't come to help Alex. He came because he knew Alex was struggling to keep his leadership position. That's why I never injected you with poison." "Wait, what?" I stuttered. "Xavier said he would kill to avoid feeling that type of pain again, but you never experienced the same as him. You were just too scared to tell him that your pain wasn't as bad because you feared you would imply that Xavier was weak. Isn't that right?" he raised his eyebrows. "I thought I was lucky for once," I sighed sharply. "Nope, you were injected with something else, something that numbs you in a way. If you would've had vampire poison in your system you would've died seconds after coming in contact with my blood. Xylan saw that coming, of course. He was ready to let his brother die as well as you. Many of the vampires living with us are likeminded to Xylan, and that's why I am the way I am. I can't let myself be fooled by greedy vampires who wants nothing but to be on the top alongside the leader." "Like Rain?" I swallowed oddly. His grip on the steering wheel firmed, his knuckles turning white as though he was struggling to control himself. "Yes, just like Rain fucking Carradine."

After all Alex and Xavier had told me about Xylan, I knew he was dangerous. However, I never thought he would be this vicious and so incredibly ruthless. It truly baffles me that he deliberately endangered his own brother's life as though it was of no importance at all.

I truly hoped that I could look at the castle without evoking bad memories. Unfortunately, my emotional memories bound to this place were occupying my thoughts, compelling me into a complete zone-out. My mind hurriedly created navigations that pointed in every other direction than the castle as though I was trying to protect myself from the wickedness that the castle bore. Thankfully, Jace's voice broke through the thoughts and allowed me to end my zone-out. "If you can't do this then don't," he warned, looking down at me. Although I wasn't quite sure why... I felt somewhat offended at his sentence as though he had indicated that I was too weakly minded to handle the situation. "Of course I can do it, Jace."

Walking through the main doors of the castle, I felt slightly sick and uneasy. No one could see my face nor recognize my clothes, yet I felt like everyone knew who I was. It almost felt as if I was some burden on their shoulders which they had to live with, but I couldn't let myself care. After all, barely anyone here truly cares about anything but power.

Much of what happened here the day I blacked out was hard to remember as I was mentally absent the majority of the time. However, the occurrences I could remember ended up stuck in my mind like vivid pictures. The worst memories were the ones that replayed themselves the most. All the vileness and the anger expressed through violence caused the worst fight I had ever seen. A fight I never thought I would have to witness.

Jace went directly to Xavier's room, finding it ravaged and empty. "I told you he wasn't here," Rain said from the door. Jace took a deep breath, trying his best not to lose it completely. "I'll check my room, but you have to wait here. The third floor is a risky place," Jace said. "Bringing her here was a terrible mistake, you know that," Rain said, almost interrupting Jace as he spoke. She placed her hand against his chest, preventing him from leaving the room. "So was falling for you, but hey, it still happened," he scoffed sharply.

Of course, Rain's hand left Jace's chest once he called their relationship a mistake. She let him go upstairs while I stood there alone, or at least I thought I was. "Why don't you leave? There's nothing left for you now that Alex is gone and Xylan's taking his place," Rain said bitterly before reentering. "He's not gone." I tried hiding the fact that I was hurt by what she said, but she seemed to pick up on it. "I told myself the same thing about Jace. I thought he would always stay the same, stay like Jayden, but look at him now. He's a cold-hearted monster who cares about no one but himself," she snapped. "Firstly, he's not dead. Secondly, I think he made the right choice ditching you as you're the cold and heartless person here, also frankly, I don't care about your opinions." She heightened her head and crossed her arms as her shoulder leaned against the doorframe. Judging by her facial expression, it seemed like she didn't expect me to defend myself.

Rain left, but she didn't get far before she met Jace. I could hear them speaking, and weirdly enough, both sounded more stressed than angry. I peeked outside the door, seeing the back of a tall male standing not far from me. "I must say I didn't expect you here, Dizary," Xylan said. I gulped, my eyes widening as my gaze met Jace's. Rain moved past Xylan so that she reached me momentarily. She slightly pushed at my arm, forcing me inside Xavier's room again. Her finger went over her lips, gesturing for me to keep quiet. "Although I don't get why you would make such mistake. Perhaps I've overestimated you. Anyhow, I know very well that you took Valerie Pennington with you when you left. How is she, huh?" Xylan continued. "She isn't awake," Jace lied. "So I presumed," Xylan snickered, sounding nothing but pleased. "Right, nice chat, but I have to go," Jace cleared his throat.

It was truly too good to be true that Xylan would let Jace walk off just like that. He, of course, had to pull some strings first. "And what about Xavier? How are you handling that situation?" Xylan asked. Jace stopped walking immediately, a flicker of anger crossing his face before he could pull himself together. "What about him?" Jace asked, his voice sounding impressively steady. "You don't know?" Xylan lowered his voice a bit as though he was pretending to sympathize. Jace turned around, and as he faced Xylan he must've seen the glimpse of hate in Xylan's eyes. I sure saw it. "Although he did try his best, he didn't make it," Xylan stated. Right after the highly feared words escaped Xylan's mouth, Jace's chest lowered. It almost looked like his confidence was sucked out of him in a matter of seconds. "Xavier's dead?" Jace almost stammered. "Oh, Jace. Don't tell me you didn't expect that?" Xylan raised an eyebrow sceptically. I immediately placed my hand in front of my mouth to prevent any sounds from escaping. Rain caught onto my reaction quickly by grabbing my arm as if I was a threat all of a sudden.