After the kids went to bed, Amaria took the time to go into the woods and go find something to feed on but unfortunately, there wasn't a single animal around. It's almost as if the animals knew something was not right, she eventually gave up and decided to head back to the penthouse. The Lycans she saw in the treeline earlier were already gone, that was to be expected since they're only after her if she causes a single mistake on their land.
She entered the penthouse and headed for the kitchen, she opened the fridge and pulled out a beer and took a small sip. She held it close and went up the stairs, once clearing the stairs she walked down the hall and opened the first door and took a look inside. She saw Vanessa soundly asleep, surrounded by her stuffed animals and she smiled at this. Next, she headed down the hall again and past two doors on her right before slowly opening a door on her left.
She took a peek and saw Daniel asleep as well. She silently closed the door and headed up the hall, she came to the stairs and went down them before stopping by the living room. She opened a cupboard and immediately pulled out a silver knife and started to inspect it, she looked inside again and saw a katana blade in its sheath and there were two handguns with silver ammunition.
"Hope I don't have to use these again," she sighed deeply.
As she turned, she felt a whiff of a scent hit her nose. The scent was so familiar that it caused her eyes to widen in horror, she quickly pulled out her katana blade and one handgun before following the scent to her front door. Just as she tried to open the door, a force slammed the door open and sent her flying through the air. She crashed into the glass table that was in the living room with incredible force and caused it to shatter.
She looked up and saw black smog entering her house, it didn't end there because more smog like things started to enter the house and surround her. She looked down and saw a glass shard sticking out if her side and blood was pooling around her, she pulled on it and yanked it out. She was a bit shocked to see how big the shard was, she crawled to her feet as blood continued to flow. The smog in the house started to recede and take on human figures, they had pale skin and red eyes.
"Strigoi," she seethed.
"Very perceptive, Amaria," a voice said, followed by boots entering the house.
She looked closely and saw a seven foot and two inch tall individual, her eyes narrowed into a scowl and she glared at the person.
"The boy is here, Piadonè," a Strigoi said in the darkness, "I can smell him."
"You're not getting your hands on him!" Amaria exclaimed, "I warned you I would kill you if I ever saw your face again, Piadonè,"
The seven foot tall vampire known as Piadonè smirked at her.
"Why do you think I came for you? I want to see you at your worst," Piadonè replied.
Amaria felt herself weaken as she held her side that was still wet from fresh blood.
"Mommy!" A voice all caught their attention and they all looked toward the stairs.
Amaria and Daniel stood at the top with horrified looks on their faces.
"You have a child, Amaria? How exciting!" Piadonè clapped his hands in glee before taking on a serious expression, "Get them!"
"Run! Turn the lights on! " Amaria yelled at the kids.
The kids didn't waste a second. They both ran down the hall, two Strigoi dispersed intk their black smog forms and chased after the kids. Vanessa pulled Daniel behind her who was still in terror, she made them run till the end of the hall before turning to face the other side of the hall. The two Strigoi appeared and Vanessa quickly turned the lights on, the two Strigoi quickly recoiled when they felt the lights turn on and they screamed in agony when they felt their skin burn.
One of the Strigoi glared at her as his burned skin started to heal, she smirked at him triumphantly.
"Its Ultra Violet light bulbs," the other Strigoi pointed out.
The other growled.
Back in the living room, Amaria barely could keep her balance as she stared her opponents down. She was weak since she hadn't fed in awhile and that made her healing slow as well, her strength was also diminished.
Worst time not to have fed.
"I want her intact," Piadonè stated as he crossed his arms over his massive, muscular frame.
The Strigoi around him reacted quickly and attacked her, she quickly evaded their swift movements before blitzing toward the light switch. She turned the living room light on and smirked when she saw the vampires react in agony when the light hit their faces, Piadonè grunted in agony before backing away into the darkness of the hallway.
This distraction gave her time to approach the burning vampires and kill them one by one, she used the silver knife and decapitated all of them. Their bodies boiled and sizzled underneath the Ultra Violet light, she saw Piadonè from the shadows and saw the glowing red in his eyes and she allowed her eyes glow in return.
"1516, 1786, 1806 and 1910," Piadonè said calmly, "Do you know what those dates tell you, Amaria?"
"All the times you suffered from brain damage," Amaria growled.
"It was all the times I nearly beat you half to death. I could have easily killed you, but no I want you to live and entertain me. It's been a long time since I've had a worthy opponent like you," he said.
"Fuck you!" she said calmly.
Piadonè grabbed a coat rack and started to smash the light bulbs in the living room until darkness shrouded them, he blitzed in for a hit but she blocked him and hit him in the ribs twice before she felt herself get thrown through a wall.
"You are weak. You haven't fed, have you?" he said in complete disappointment, "I want a stronger you to fight me, this will not do. Alas, I'll just take the boy and leave then".
Amaria rose from the ground and zoomed toward him before smashing him through a wall, they collapsed into the kitchen and Amaria pulled out her knife and was about to stab him but he quickly gripped her hands and held it at bay.
"Face it, Amaria. You are not strong enough yet," He cackled in amusement.
She gave backhanded him across the jaw and his head hit the floor and left a crack in it, she quickly got up and ran up the stairs to find the two children. She saw the two Strigoi at the one end and she approached them silently.
"You think you're smart, eh?" One of them said.
Then he proceeded to destroy the light bulbs while getting burned in the process, Amaria used that chance to stab the other vampire from behind before taking his head off. The other vampire noticed her but it was too late, she threw the knife at his heart and it hit its mark.
"You bitch! I'm already dead. This heart ain't beating no longer!" he cried in triumph.
"That was the point," she smirked at him.
Then his skin started to smoke and his skin started to form lesions, he grunted and leaned against the wall and felt the heat getting unbearable. He screamed in agony as his body started to disintegrate, Amaria took the knife back as she watched him die his second death.
"Come on, you two! Let's go," she called the kids.
They went downstairs and she quickly ushered them toward the door, but then she felt someone grab her hair from behind. She let the kids go and felt herself get dragged back.
"Mommy!" Vanessa yelled.
"Get to the car!" she yelled at them.
Then she got thrown back and she crashed against the fireplace, she grunted from the impact and slowly crawled to get away from the larger vampire. Then she felt him grab her hair again, he lifted her up and made her look at him at his eye level.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked before smashing her head through a wall.
He was about to smash her head in again but she put out her leg against the wall and back flipped over him before punching his knee in, then she proceeded to kick him through the wall. She didn't have time to relax as she felt a fire poker stab its way in from behind her, she looked down and saw the thing stick out of her abdomen. She elbowed Piadonè in the face before she kicked him back into the wall, she sank to the ground and with great agony pulled the poker out.
She heard growling, she looked up and saw Lycans standing outside her property. She got on the defensive when she saw them enter her house. But they surprised her when they merely walked past her while one of them sent her a single glance, she watched them head for the wall where she kicked Piadonè. She turned and stumbled out of the house.
She heard the roars and slashing of claws and Piadonè's laughter of triumph as he fought the lycans, she stumbled toward the door of the car and got in quickly. She looked down and saw blood still pouring out of her two wounds, she held her side and started the car and quickly pulled out of there.
"Mommy, are you okay?" Vanessa asked in fright as she noticed how hurt her mother was.
"I'm fine, sweetie. Just stay quiet for a moment, okay?" Amaria replied as she tried to stay conscious for the drive.
She was losing blood fast and she was going to die soon if she didn't find sustenance. Daniel had what he needed in his body but she was not going to do that, she couldn't be the monster she was before. She didn't feed from humans, not anymore at least. She forbade herself from doing it again.
The main road seemed like it stretched on for miles, she was close to closing her eyes but she maintained her consciousness. Then she noticed something in the road, she quickly reacted and swerved to the side and stopped the car. She looked at the side view mirror and saw a deer standing at the treeline looking at the car, it then turned and disappeared into the woods.
Covenient.
"I'll be right back. Stay in the car," she told the children as she climbed out of the car.
She held her side and slowly headed for the woods. She was still bleeding profusely and she quickly jumped into the woods and tried to pick the deer's scent up, she got a whiff of wet deer fur a few yards away and she quickly stalked through the woods silently. She jumped up to the top of a tree with one single jump and stared down, her blue eyes charged up with hunger and ecstacy. She saw the deer eating leaves from a branch of a tree, she looked down and quickly slid down the tree before sticking to the shadows of the bushes.
The deer snapped its head up before taking off. Amaria bolted after it and she quickly closed the distance between them in seconds, a feat that would be impossible for a normal human. She tackled the poor animal to the ground and grabbed its head close to her chest to disorient it, then she extended her nails into claws and stabbed them into its throat. Then the struggle stopped, she sighed in relief before reaching down and biting into its neck with her elongated fangs.
She felt an exhilarating feeling pass throughout her body, it was intoxicating and the more she felt it the more blood she consumed. She started to feel the pain from her wounds disappear, the slashes and bruises on her face started to seal up as well.
She quickly pulled away and dropped the dead deer to the ground, she collapsed to the ground and felt a wave of euphoria hit her. She watched the early morning sky with a relaxed state before slowly blinking her eyes and snapping out of her trance, she quickly sped toward the main road.
She came out of the treeline and saw the kids watching her through the window of the car, they were a little surprised to see her walking normally again. She quickly got into the car and sighed deeply.
"What were you doing, mommy?" Vanessa asked.
"I wanted to see if we didn't hit the poor deer," Amaria lied easily without showing any remorse.
"Did we?" her daughter asked.
"It's fine. Just fine," she said before starting the car and driving off.
Amaria knew that they were no longer safe. The Muldoy and Strigoi were after Daniel and it had something to do with his ancestry, she knew her coven was going to hear about this. That's why she was crossing the border back to the US, she needed answers. The fact that her old enemy Piadonè was back, was another reason why she wanted to keep her kids safe and out of harm's way. Her past was coming back to haunt her, her civilian life was over as she's now thrust back into the world where she came from.