Gores of Grimoire (Editing)

Castle of Shadows

They all nodded, then descended to the bottom of the lake with great agility.

..... 

Erica Clockwork had come to the Hallows Eve ball with Ethan Parker that evening. She wore a blood red, casual dress with short sleeves and a black collar. With that, she had black flat shoes, and a short black cloak-type coat. She, of course, kept her knifes and her wand handy, for she had had a feeling something was going to happen that night.

   Ethan dressed casually; jeans, a plain black button-down shirt, and blue sneakers. He only brought his wand with him that evening, so when the chaos broke out, Erica lent him one of her daggers. 

  At first, all was fine. They were in the corridor, outside the ballroom, talking and enjoying the evening as normally as possible, until they heard screaming through the giant doors. They were alert, and about to open the doors, when a hooded figure first came up behind Erica and grabbed her around her waist, but she pulled out her dagger and stabbed behind her, hitting the attack in the hip. 

   She pulled back the dagger and found a new target (the person's right lung) and stabbed them over and over again, until the figure released her.

   Ethan then came up and snapped the figure's neck. 

   When they brought back the hood, they were surprised to see the figure had been an eighth level lycan boy. His name had been Steven Cavenough. 

..... 

  Victoria ran and ran at a normal human pace until she tripped over a root that had been sticking out of the ground.

 She hit the ground hard, but was too emotionally overwhelmed to feel anything. Much like when Mackenzie Moore had stomped on her fingers, breaking them, awakening the real Victoria. The monster.

   She pulled herself up and kept going, determined to reach safety. She wanted to see James again, to be the one to tell him about Zachary. They were best friends. 

  Eventually she grew lost. She had no idea what time it was nor where she had come to be, in terms of the woods. She didn't care, really.

  She just knew it was early morning, for there was faint, gloomy light of a British sun through clouds.

  After a while she heard a stream, and decided to find it, hoping if she were to follow it, it would lead her to the other school. She wished she had paid attention to where the small field she had met Erica and Caroline had been.

   In the silence of a sleepy forest, Victoria tried to do everything she could not to think about Zach's death. At least, for that moment. 

   Eventually, a memory flashed in her mind like a lightning storm. The day before her parents left.

....
 

  It was a cloudy day at the Grimoire Manor in America. Her father and uncle were off doing manly vampire things, and Victoria was sketching up in a tree.

  "Vicki?" She heard. 

   She looked to the ground to see James and her mother standing there. She closed her sketch book and hopped down gracefully and without making any noise.

   "Yes?" She responded.

   "Vicki, James wishes to speak to you, but before he does, I wanted to give you something," She pulled out a small box from the pocket of her short, black dress and held it out to her.

   "From your father. He wanted to give it to you now, but said not to open it yet. I have no idea why."

   Victoria took the box hesitantly and pocketed it. Her mother gave a warm smile and zoomed off, leaving the two alone.