As soon as Kaelyn had called out Arya's name, she could feel that all eyes were on her, but for her, the only focus was her older sister.
As soon as Kaelyn noticed that Arya, who was still on the floor with Dorian's hand in her head of hair recognized her, she heard her loud gasp and burst into tears. "Kaelyn?!"
Kaelyn nodded, making Arya rise to her feet and put on a sprint of speed after she attempted to push Dorian's hand away and succeeded since the moment had caught him off guard.
Wanting to have Arya in front of her faster, Kaelyn ran to her as well and when she met her in the middle of the room, they touched each other's shoulders, faces and hair, trying to see if it was all real.
"My little sister, you're alive," Arya said with a smile as she looked down at Kaelyn.
Kaelyn nodded rapidly, a wide smile forming on her face as she looked up. She could taste her tears but it was the least important thing at that moment.
When she felt Arya's embrace, she wrapped her arms around her tightly as they both burst into tears.
With her eyes shut, Kaelyn could feel her heart racing, the joy of knowing she still had family taking over her. "I thought you were dead. I thought I was all alone."
Arya chuckled. "I thought the same thing, but here you are."
Moving her head away from Arya's chest, Kaelyn looked up at her as they wiped each other's tears with a chuckle.
She then looked past Arya by poking her head to the side so she could see Crimson.
"Master, Arya's my sister," she said, not caring that he had already heard it all along with everyone else.
With a glance around the room, Kaelyn could see how puzzled Demeena was and she assumed it was the same for everyone else but it didn't matter. Her reunion with her sister was more important than anything else at that moment.
While still facing each other, Kaelyn took a few steps back from Arya so they could look at each other and held hands as they giggled.
"Look at you," Kaelyn said, noticing how Arya looked thinner and pale.
"I was just about to say the same thing. Look at you," Arya said with wide eyes.
Faster than she could blink, Kaelyn's moment of happiness turned to panic when Arya's neck was pulled back and she whimpered as her hair was grabbed.
"No! Leave her alone!" Kaelyn yelled at Dorian despite not knowing what he was capable of.
From the moment Crimson had learned that Kaelyn and Arya were sisters, he had clenched his jaw a few times, especially when he saw how happy Kaelyn was. He felt that with family, she didn't have to always rely on him and he wasn't too happy about it.
However, his displeasure had turned to amusement when Dorian had dragged Arya across the floor again and he saw Kaelyn's desperation for him to set her free.
Despite his amusement, he wondered why Dorian put Arya through such humiliation but he soon learned that it was because she and Winn had been caught having sex.
Knowing how much of a coward Winn had always been, Crimson glanced at him, impressed by his audacity to cross such a line.
Still hearing Kaelyn beg Dorian not to hurt her sister, he looked back at her and how desperate she was. He knew she was helpless.
He was then thrilled when she ran to him and brought her hands together.
"Master, please help my sister!" she begged him.
He had been the only one in her life from the moment he had found her and seeing her beg him for help to save her sister made him wonder whether or not to do so. Knowing Dorian, he was certain Arya would die in a few minutes.
For a while, he stared at Kaelyn in silence as he contemplated his next move. He didn't care about Arya and what would happen to her, but seeing Kaelyn so desperate made him wonder if she would no longer put him first.
But he had his assurance when she fell at his feet and held onto his leg with both hands, begging him to do something to help her sister.
He looked down at her, thrilled about her display of acknowledgement that he was the only one who could help.
Without saying a word, he dashed past her and blocked Dorian's way, ordering him to release Arya.
With a scoff, Dorian pulled Arya's hair more as he told Crimson to get out of the way so he could kill her and he had every right to do so.
Calmly, Crimson repeated his order as he tilted his head with a blank expression.
Dorian scoffed again, yelling at Crimson that it was none of his business and he needed to get out of the way.
When that seemed not to work, Dorian was in the middle of repeating himself when Crimson cut his words mid-sentence the moment he strangled him and lifted him off the floor.
With both hands around Crimson's wrist, Dorian attempted to loosen the grip around his neck but Crimson didn't budge. He also barely used his strength.
As he calmly looked up at Dorian, who's eyes grew wide a few times in panic, he saw Demeena standing on the side, begging him not to hurt her brother.
Crimson looked around, seeing Arya crawl away and Kaelyn rushing to her, then he looked up at Dorian again.
"You dared to disrespect me in the presence of everyone," Crimson said, squeezing tighter around Dorian's neck. "It's like sometimes, everyone around forgets who I am. Being in the same room with me doesn't make you my equal."
"Darling, don't kill him!" Demeena said with her hands together, not daring to interfere.
Having proven his point, that there was no one in that room who could match him in strength, Crimson approached the window and launched Dorian through the glass to throw him outside.
"What have you done?!" Demeena yelled as she rushed over to Crimson, who watched Dorian struggle to get up since he had been launched into the ground so hard that it had cracked.
When he heard Demeena yell some more, he finally looked back at her and despite saying nothing to her, she trailed off and jumped out the window to get to Dorian.
As he watched the two of them, he lightly stretched his neck, glad he had restored order to his name as the strongest vampire.
Everyone in the room, regardless of where they stood, feared Crimson, except Kaelyn, who ran to him and wrapped her arms around him from behind to thank him for saving her sister.
As he felt her hand wrapped around him, he closed his eyes, satisfied with her gratitude.
For as long as she's alive, she'll always need me.
When he felt her hands leave his body, he looked back and noticed that she had returned to Arya.
Right past the two sisters was Winn, who couldn't take his eyes off the two of them with a puzzled expression. Wanting to have a word with him, he walked past him and instructed him to follow behind him.
When Crimson and Winn left, Kaelyn held Arya's hand and they sat on the floor. She once again expressed her happiness that her older sister was still alive.
"I thought you died in that fire," Kaelyn said.
"Me too," Arya replied, reaching for Kaelyn's other hand. "How did you survive?"
Having not thought about it in a while, Kaelyn braced herself so she wouldn't break down.
When she had opened her eyes, her room was already on fire and in her panicked state as she coughed a few times, she had used the window to get out. As soon as she made it out, the entire house collapsed.
To get away from there, she had rolled down the hill since their isolated house was situated at the top of it and helplessly sloped into the woods and it took her a while to make it out.
So far, she hadn't broken down, but her voice trembled when she narrated how when she returned to their house, everything was almost burning to ashes.
"From what I saw, I was certain that everyone was dead," Kaelyn said and looked up to hold back her tears and compose herself.
When she felt Arya stroke her hair, it helped her stay calm and then she heard from her how it was the same on her part. She had rolled over on the other side of the hill since her bedroom was on the other side.
"I was certain that mom, dad and you were dead because I could see nothing but ashes," Arya said, wrapping her arm around the back of Kaelyn's neck to bring her closer. "I thought I was now on my own. I'm so glad to see you here and alive. How did you find yourself in this town?"
As Kaelyn rested her head on Arya's chest, she sighed with a pout. Since all their known relatives had always stayed away from their family because they were poor, and they lived in an isolated area, she asked random people for help but no one was kind enough to give her shelter.
"I started living on the streets and that was my life for three years," Kaelyn said, a smile forming on her face at her next words. "That was until my master found me and helped me."
"I couldn't believe it when you actually referred to Crimson as your master. Is he really your master?"
"Yes, he is," Kaelyn said as she looked up at Arya.
Arya sighed, shaking her head with a look of disapproval. "You have no idea the type of vampire you're dealing with."