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Extra Chapter #5 Vera

If there is one thing you should know about me, it's that I'm no stranger to heartbreak. It has followed me my whole life and taken the most important parts of me and ground them into dust. But what I saw in the master eyes now was anything but death.

What had happened to Roza was unforgivable. I had seen the way the master had paced, brows low and stiff, as he contemplated his options just before the morning sun had lit up the sky on the day of Eliza's funeral. Not knowing what would happen, I had even watched Master Kana leave alone. Nothing could have stopped this. None of the questions he pelted at his people seemed to reveal any answers to where she was taken. And though he had his suspicions, he couldn't let his responsibility be overpowered by his needs to jump the gun.

I remembered it so vividly. It wasn't until he stood there clutching his heart that we all knew what was happening. His giant form curled in on itself around the fist clutched to his chest and he went down, crashing onto his knees, tears reaching his eyes before his face had time to display the devastation. My heart broke in two as he looked at me, bluntly starring into my eyes pending his collapse, face down on the marble floor.

From there it was chaos. I had never seen someone wake up and instantly go mad. He hadn't even given us an explanation, a reason for his blinding rage. He broke things, screamed and hurt many people as he clawed his way at the door. We nearly couldn't hold him back, we had nearly let him slip through our finger and out into the world of pain and eminent destruction.

Even now, his painful expression lingered but it didn't define the entire essence of his look. As he stalked the cage more like a jaguar than a wolf, I saw the determination, the desperate need to get out and rip someone apart.

I had felt that once. I had been in his nail bottomed shoes. The only difference was that I hadn't had help. Instead I was left in a bed, pushing and screaming in a meaningless labor, already knowing that my baby was dead. And my husband was also gone, having fought to the death with the one responsible for my pain. But my vengeance was in vein. After giving birth to my murdered child, though I was still beaten and ravaged by my painful attack, I had set out to find the man. Only to find him not a few feet away from where my husband had died, a dagger sticking out of his chest as he slumped against a nearby tree. He was already gone and I had no one left to chase, to demand justice from.

I saw my pain reflected in the masters eyes.

"I'll get her out." I whispered, my voice stopping him in his pace. He looked at me coherently for the first time. "I will bring her back to you."

I left him there and scurried off to the giant front door. Placing my trembling fingers to its face, I hesitated.

My husband face, twisted in torment as a sword stuck out of his chest, flashed through my mind. I heard his voice whisper my name and felt his haunting touch slither down my cheek.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, wanting more than anything for him to be here. My heart grew heavy, squeezing in my chest like a fist had plunged in and had a hold of my makeshift soul. I knew it wasn't complete without him. But I knew he would be disappointed in me if I gave up just because I was hurting and sad. I had to live up to his expectations.

So I threw the door open and wandered into the night.

It wasn't hard to get to the vampires castle. Though it took time and money I didn't quite have to spare, it was worth it. By the next day I was standing before its freshly painted doors, Tomas standing ready before its glorious finish.

He looked at me with his beady black eyes and nearly transparently pale skin, looking more like a ghost than a doormen. Taking one long, hesitant look, he beckoned me forward and threw the door open for me.

"Lady Vera." He announced into the hall.

I was about to enter but his long lanky arm snapped out like viper in my way. He didn't have to speak for me to know what he was demanding. I quickly took out my purse and revealed the vials of herbs and tonics. I showed him my stock and plucked out a baggy of a particularly strong psychedelic bud and placed it into his outstretched hand.

"To see the master." He finished my introduction and allowed me forward.

I had been here enough times that with a single wave I warded off my escort and made my way down the hall to the office. I was surprised to find it empty, a spray of papers littering the floor and desk. It looked as if there had been a fight, even shards of glass splashed against the rugged room of smoke and business. I took careful steps and looked out the fogged window. It was nearly permanently tinted from smoke but I was able to make out the forms of three energetic people running around the courtyard. They moved too freely to be working people so I assumed they were Giovanni, Renee and a guest.

A woman, I could tell by her elegant form and long hair. My guess was that it was Amaria.

I turned, slowly, calculating my next move. It was only a matter of time before word of my appearance reached them. I had only a few minutes to find her and as I wandered back into the hall, I heard her cries echo throughout the hallway.

I followed her voice until it stopped abruptly with a loud thud.

"How much longer until this is over?" I hid behind a cracked door, footsteps warning me of company. They came up from the dungeon, the smell of blood lingering on they're skin. "I don't know how much more I can take."

"Her execution is tomorrow."