The Sunwalker- Heirs of the Night

25

"Let's get that map." Alisa glanced at each and every one of them, who all nodded back to her.

Lars opened the doors to the classroom, inviting them in.

"Okay guys, let's learn how this Caminada ruby works."

All the young vampires entered and sat down on their usual seats. The classroom felt oddly empty, now that so many of the desks were unoccupied. When this was all over, they would return for the others, but for now, they had to focus on other things. To ease their minds, and make the classroom feel less empty, they decided to gather on one side of the room and move the other desks out of the way. That way, they could fill one side, whilst having more space to work with. As no one from the Caminada clan was present, the Heirs passed the ruby from vampire to vampire, so that all could feel its power at least once. Then, it was given to Lars. If he carried it, the three Dracas vampires would be able to use it for free. The others would have to work for its power. Together, they studied and learned all they could about the power of invisibility and how to channel it. After a while, Dracula came in to watch and help them. Mere hours later, Heirs were popping in and out of view all around the room.

"Good job guys." Alisa praised them and got to her feet. "Van Helsing won't foresee this."

"One moment." Nadja interrupted, as they were all about to leave. "I think it is finally time I teach you about this." She pulled the Belov ruby out to show them all. "Once you have mastered this, you will be ready to face van Helsing."

"The Belov ruby..." Alisa whispered. "All this time, it was in your possession"

Nadja nodded and, intrigued by her reaction, read Alisa's mind. She could hear her thoughts loud and clear, as if Alisa was sharing them aloud. "So that's why Ragnar failed to bring all the rubies to Dracula.." A scene opened up for Nadja, though she figured it had to be a memory for Alisa. She saw Nicu holding a silver box and standing next to Dracula. It was daytime, and only Nicu refrained from standing in the large shadows cast by the boulders and trees around them. Ragnar approached them, Lars at his heels.

"Welcome." Dracula said coolly. "I see you brought an uninvited guest."

Nadja, who was watching the scene through Alisa's eyes, as she remembered it, got eye contact with Dracula as he said that last bit. Ragnar followed his gaze, confusion in his face. It seemed Dracula alone could see Alisa like this. Nadja turned her attention to her uncle and felt anger rise in the pit of her stomach.

"Uninvited?" Ragnar turned back to his master. "You wanted the rubies, and Lars."

"Yes. The famous Lars av Dracas." Dracula eyed him.

"You tried to kill my father." Lars charged at Dracula. "I'll ki-"

"It's nothing personal." Dracula interrupted, taking Lars by the throat.

Although his attack was unsuccessful, Lars still did his best by hissing angrily at Dracula. Nadja's instincts were screaming at her to move, to help her brother and to attack Dracula, but as Alisa hadn't moved, Nadja couldn't. She wasn't really there, even less than Alisa had been, in fact.

"I ordered Calvina to get all my rubies. Your father was just in the way. And he survived."

"My mother tried to kill someone?" Nicu asked.

"Nicu, your mother was a vampire hunter. Baron Magnus was not the first vampire she tried to take down."

"I'm going to stop you." Lars hissed.

"You are in no position to make demands." Dracula sneered at him.

"Okay. Let him go." Ragnar broke in, releasing Lars from Dracula's grasp.

The burning fire in Nadja's stomach intensified at the thought of why he hadn't done this sooner. He who could, Lars' uncle and would-be loyal clan member. How dare he not help him immediately.

"You wanted the rubies?" Their cowardly uncle asked, holding them up. "And I want my-"

"General Ragnar. The jealous brother. Give me my rubies and you shall get what you desire."

Dracula held out his hand and Ragnar filled it with rubies. The rubies were then held out to Nicu, who took them and returned to the sun where none of them could reach neither him nor the rubies.

"Count them and place them in the box." Dracula ordered.

Nicu finished up and got to his feet again, closing the box. "Twelve total."

Dracula spun round. "Twelve?! It is supposed to be thirteen. Count again!"

That he did, but the total still came to twelve. Even when Dracula himself checked, he found one ruby missing. Nadja could see a mixture of amusement and pride in Lars' eyes. He, of course, knew why there were only twelve rubies.

"Ragnar! Give me the Belov ruby, or el-"

"The Belov ruby? You have that."

"You were supposed to get them all you jealous idiot!"

"The Belov clan is dead, I couldn't possibly hav-"

Dracula didn't wait for him to finish his sentence. He grabbed hold of Ragnar's shoulders and threw him at Nicu's feet, the one spot in their vicinity where the sun shone. Shock was clearly visible on the faces of Lars and Ragnar, who attempted to shield himself with his hands. His scream was abruptly ended as his body exploded and only ashes were left of him. Now, Nadja could see shock in Nicu's face too. Dracula however, seemed quite unperturbed by this.

"He didn't have it after all. Well then. Luckily for us, I know just who might have it." Dracula turned his yellow eyes to stare directly at Nadja. She knew it wasn't her he saw, but it still felt as though he was boring into her, as if he knew. Nadja blinked the feeling away and the classroom returned to her. Although it had felt like she had lived through one of Alisa's memories, and spent minutes doing so, no more than a few seconds had really passed. When she next spoke, she tried to keep fright out of her voice.

"Yes, I've had it since the passing of my clan. Even so, it wasn't until I arrived on the Elisabetha that I began learning how it works. And now, I will pass that knowledge onto you."

The door to the classroom closed, but Nadja couldn't see anyone missing. Had one of the Shadows checked up on them without her noticing? One of the humans, perhaps? She pushed the matter out of her hands and got to her feet.

"Let's begin."