The Hunters Saga #2: The Wolfsbane Rubies

Chapter 9: Family is Blood

A/N: Chapter 9 is here! Whoo :D Enjoy <3

Chapter 9: Family is Blood

   The fourth floor wasn't filled with voices and noises like the second floor – where the party guests were. Instead, absolute still silence welcomed me once I hit the long corridor. Gavin had given me the key to the room with the main balcony, the place my uncle ultimately seemed to be. The vampire didn't follow me up; he remained in Kira's bedroom with his sister and Russ.

   I couldn't help my racing heart from slowing down even if I tried. I didn't want to see my uncle, the infamous master vampire of Manhattan.

   Robert Drake had left me a letter on Halloween, basically promising that I wasn't safe, and that he would return for me.

   It had to happen sometime, I guess...

   If I refused his offer of immortality, he pledged to unite me with my deceased parents.

   Permanently.

   Robert had killed my parents, after all. He could help me join them...

   Not that I wanted that!

   I came to the door, something that wasn't me pulling me forward, step by agonizingly slow step. My body felt rigid, but I wasn't under compulsion.

   What, then?

   With numb fingers, I stabbed the key into the lock, and turned it to the side. There was a soft click, signaling release, and I reached to turn the knob, my movements still very slow and careful. I pushed the door open, and slunk in, expecting to see the worst. Instead, I was in an empty room, completely untouched. Everything was in place, and I weakly willed my feet forward.

   Gavin had said something about a balcony.

   The glass doors that led to the balcony were right across the way, foreboding evil with its crystalline form.

   Wait, why was it red? Why was it always red?!

   The door leading to the balcony was slightly ajar, and I pulled on the handle as I came up to it.

   The cool autumn air hit my face as I stepped outside and onto the iron-fenced ledge. The space wasn't very big, but just enough for two vampires and two humans, apparently.

   That's right, two vampires!

   My uncle sat on one of the folding chairs that was stationed at one of the corners to my right. He had a golden chalice in his left hand; one that looked ancient, yet it shined with the brilliance that belonged to something brand new.

   Robert Drake, master vampire, hadn't changed in appearance from our last encounter. Sure, I'd been bleeding to death then, but... you get it. His raven black hair barely reached the nape of his neck, and he looked young enough to pass for my Father. His eyes were the usual of any vampire that wasn't a newborn or hungry – ink black pools of darkness. They watched me with mild interest. My uncle was wearing a fitted suit with a blood red tie. His black-clad legs were crossed, and it gave me a good view of his shiny, expensive-looking shoes.

   The vampire beside him was a newborn, or at least, she had the red eyes. Even with the strange eye color, I would recognize that face anywhere.

   Liz.

   My heart shuddered at the sight of her: dark brown hair like mine that seemed a bit longer, almost to the small of her back. She still looked like my sister – apart from the eyes and paleness – but I knew the inside would be a whole other world of evil. Liz had no pulse, and she looked like death itself. Her morals would've changed along with her instinct by now, being a vampire living on pure survival.