We stared at each other for a while, her face hardened but her eyes pleaded. She was unsure on whether to say anything at all, was it the natural mothering instinct? ... or was it something else entirely?
"Well?" I said, I was starting to get very impatient.
"Victoria.. it's just very hard to.."
"To say what? To tell me what the hell has happened? What the hell has happened to both me and Tatiana? Why on earth she was this mystical twin inside of me all these years? Why my father was called the Key?Why was he murdered? Why was it so important for him to die!?" The last one was filled with pure rage and I found it hard to breathe after my little outbreak.. but the whole entire thing made me feel so angry, I still didn't understand any of it.. or was it a case that maybe I simply wasn't meant to understand.
"Sweetie.." she sighed as she walked towards me, placing both her hands on my arms as she spoke softly "I love you.. now.. let me see where I can begin..walk with me?" she asked, holding one arm out to the hallway, I nodded softly and we began to walk.
"Now then, let's start at the beginning.. You were meant to be born as Victoria Stryder, but that was only if my plan for a long happy family worked out, but the humans had other ideas and killed him in cold blood.. so you were Victoria Romanovski.. I did leave it in a note that came with you,but I'm guessing the humans who took you in.. also got rid of that too."
"I didn't know you existed" I muttered
"True, but well.. your father was a special being called 'The Key', and they have the ability to do.. pretty much anything, some say that they can even see beyond death.. or something like that. Your father told me that if I were to conceive a child with him, there's a chance that he could bring the balance between the Vampires and Humans out of sync..meaning that you would be our savior"
"So not too much pressure then.." I scowled
"But, when your father was killed,that whole process was killed, or so the humans thought.. for I was carrying you at the time he was murdered.. but they didn't see me as too much of a threat, yes they still wanted me dead because of who I was, but they didn't succeed. I gave birth to you. I gave you up and I hoped you would never be dragged into any of this... but a year or two back, the twins made a prediction.. they saw YOU in that vision,standing under the moon which shone brighter than the sun itself..and then they saw your twin.. after that they had three more prediction's, either that you would die, she would die or you both would save us"
My mind spiraled to Tatiana, how I was able to contact her when she technically didn't exist. I thought she was going to be nothing more than something in my head.
"Then why didn't they come after me when this whole attack happened?" I asked
"In all honestly, I just don't know.. I thought they had captured you and that was why you had left. When Dante explained that you had escaped into the forest way before they arrived.. I just assumed you were safe. When they attacked us, I protected my families home. They had to come first as they were in the most danger. The twins were captured and there was next to nothing we could do because of the scale of the attack.. then something strange happened, we felt more stronger than we ever have before."
"That could be because Daniel.. my father, came to us" I explained as I watched her eyes widen and her jaw drop "Before you say it, no I am not going crazy, even if this whole situation is.. he came to both of us,and a bunch of things happened. Long story short, both Tatiana and I are stronger now, more equipped and ready to kill these sons of bitches that almost destroyed everything. Do you have even the faintest clue who started this attack or even where the twins are?"
"No" was all that she said.
I walked away from her at that point, too frustrated to look at her. So much had happened in such a short time. I didn't even have the faintest clue as to how all of this happened or even why, there seemed to be so much unanswered for. The twins were captured for their powers, but they didn't have the ones they were after any more... we had them.
'Having fun with Mother?' Tats snidely said in my mind
'Not really no.. you should get here.. maybe you can get the answers I can't.. but how did you know anyway?' I asked her in return
'You are a really loud thinker..' she crudely muttered, I could almost picture the smirk on her face as she said it'Presides, I am more likely to attack her with all this built up rage.. not the nicest thing in the world to say about your mother I know before you say anything, but I just cannot be the happy little daughter that I am presuming she wants' I sighed at the last part, not wanting her to feel like that at all, but it was very understandable.
'Would you be willing to at least give her a chance?' I asked, who knows? Maybe it could do them both some good. At that exact moment, my mother placed her hand on my shoulder and I jumped slightly, not expecting the sudden contact. Tats didn't answer my question and so I was forced to press on.
I ran through the rest of the building with such an incredible speed,searching each and every room that I came across just in case there were more of them in the building, I could not afford to leave anyone here. It struck me that a not so long ago I would have sworn against hurting anyone... let alone killing anyone, simply for the fact of what I had been through when I thought I was a human, but something changed in me. Maybe it was because I had finally found my family...or maybe it was even simply because this was my home and I wasn't going to let anyone destroy that. I closed my eyes and focused on Dante,
'Dante?' I thought, hoping I could reach his mind
'Yes my love.. what's wrong' hearing his voice, even if it was projected in my head, sent shivers along my spine, quickly pushing the feelings aside, knowing they would be of no use right now, I focused my attention on checking up on my sister
'How is she? Is she okay? Tatiana I mean?'
'She's fine..' he sighed, I knew he wanted to talk about something else, but this wasn't the time 'A little withdrawn.. but other than that,everything seems normal..ish.'
'How many have been killed outside?' I asked, genuinely curious
'To be honest, I've lost count. It seemed dead out here like usual, but as soon as you entered the building, something followed, I thought something bad was going to happen so.. well.. I was about to come in after you but your sister demanded I stay here. The next thing we know, we are being attacked from all directions by hunters and slayers.. things have settled for now.. so we're cleaning up.. how is it in there? What happened?'
'Well, it was quiet when I came here really, the place seemed deserted.. but the place is a mess, everything is broken here, all the items.. and there's blood.. so much blood dried everywhere, whatever happened here altogether, it was clearly a massacre on the humans end.. no bodies though which I found strange..but long story short, I have had to kill a couple of hunters and I've caught up with my mother who has informed me that hunters and slayers have taken the twins, they think they have these powers which can tip the balance so that they win this war.' he gasped at that point,but before he could ask any questions I cut in 'But the twins gave us those powers before all of this happened, the most they can do is see into the future like usual now. If they die, they get reborn again anyway. We're still going to find them, and rip those scum apart'
I closed my mind off after that, knowing what he was going to say, that it was all going to be far too dangerous for me,but he didn't see what I was no capable of. It still scared me what I was capable of, but since nothing made sense in this world to me anymore anyway, I took it as it came. Shrugging my shoulders once more I pressed on.
"Honey" I turned and there stood my mother with a worried expression "What's going on?"
"Nothing you need to worry about" I replied, and it was like a role switch, Adult became child and the child became the adult. She knew I was more powerful than her, but she didn't fully understand it all.. all she knew was that my father was involved in some shape or form and that she had to shrug off the questions and just get on with it.
"I take it..that your partner knows about you?"
"Yes.. and no.. he only knows the parts that I can really make sense of, he knows about the powers that Tatiana and I have and he also knows that we might just be the most powerful Vampires there ever was. What he doesn't know..is that we can walk amongst the humans, we can walk in sunlight and the only thing that seems different is that our complexions are pretty much flawless and our eyes have this weird aura about them..."
"oh.." was all she said to that before I turned back and searched more of the house.
The blood along the walls was only still half dried, and the parts that were, were clotted with congealed blood and flesh parts.. maybe the reason why we could not find any bodies, is because there were nobodies left to find? I shuddered at the thought. Roman was the leader of all vampires.. a perfect target to go for, considering his age..yet upstairs near his chamber, seemed untouched by blood but.. the hall leading away from it was.. maybe they were expecting this?Walking into his chamber, the familiar smell of dust and cologne assailed my nose, it reminded me of how much I missed them all. And maybe I would never seem them again.. maybe they were all dead.Suddenly, a black shadow shot across the corner of my eye and spinning around, I was ready to pounce, but what I saw then, stopped me.. Tatiana.
"I got bored" she explained as I eyed her up and down, the clothes she wore covered in blood and her hair messed with and clotted with dirt and grime.
"You look like you've had fun"I stated
"Well I did have funny ripping them to pieces" she smiled "But other than that, there really is nothing to do, I left your boyfriend down there though.. and Seth" as soon as his name slipped though her mouth, she began to smile. She loved him. Simple as that... the great thing was, that it was returned. I began to wonder what life will be like after all of this, would it be like the happy ever afters that you read about in stories as a child.. or would it be this never ending cycle of death, doom and destruction.
We searched through the room a little longer, hoping to find clues to where the others must have fled to, but there was nothing.
"I'ma little more than confused.." I muttered staring at my grandfathers desk
"Same here, where could they have gone to, the place is an utter mess, there is blood everywhere and yet.. nobodies? Its more than strange for our family.. and more than strange for my father " Aurora stated "I know I may not have lived here for quite some time.. but nothing changes that quickly.. hrmm" she began to pace the floor, trying to piece together everything. I could tell that the more she thought about it all, the more angrier she got, who could have done this. Ignoring both my mother and Twin, I wandered over to the window and sat under the ledge. Closing my eyes I began to concentrate, focusing all my energy into seeing where they could have gotten to. The first thing thing that appeared in my mind was a flash of white before my vision stretched and distorted. I was transported to the cave where both Tatiana and I stayed those passing nights waiting for the boys, about a mile or two behind that cave was a medium to large sized house with smoke coming from the chimney. Wanting to see more, I tried to push my mind, but like an elastic band, my mind snapped back to where I currently was and my head burned like an inferno.
"What did you do?!" Tats screamed at me when she heard me scream
"I KNOW WHERE THEY ARE!" I screeched before passing out.
It was several hours before I awoke, my head was burning like an inferno.
"Hey sleepy head"Aurora chuckled "You gave us quite the fright" I realized I was in bed
"I know where they are" Was all I could say, She just stood there staring at me, like I was insane "If we go now.."
"Shhh" she whispered "No need to worry about that now, we have thing under control"
"But.."
"No buts, we need you to rest, we need your strength at full"
"Something isn't right" I said, shrugging her off, getting out of bed and marching my way to the door. Before I reached the door, the worlds pun and I was quickly falling to the floor once more, where had all my strength gone? In my mind I reached out to call to Tats, praying she would come soon. Aurora had quickly run over to catch me and by now I was being carried over to the bed. My eyes grew heavy and I was asleep once more.
"You are an idiot" said a familiar voice. I was inside my own head once more, the scenery had changed from the desolate dark place it once was to.. a house. It was my old home, my human home, the place where I was most depressed and alone.Before I had this wonderful new family. A family that actually wanted me. That loved me.
"Why here?" I asked the voice
"Because this is where it all began my dear sister" Tats walked out in front of me looking rather smug "Where you were so dead inside, you were ready to die. The only thing that stopped you then, was me, didn't you ever wonder why you just, didn't die?"
"I knew there was something wrong with me, no one slits their own wrists as much as I did, especially on the veins, bleed as much as I did.. and live"she chuckled and grabbed my hand,
"But that's not why I am here this time. I came to tell you that whilst you passed out, you gave the location of our family"
"How?" I questioned her
"Your eyes began to glow a sort of orange, and you began to mumbled in a strange tongue. Aurora spoke to you in a calm and collect manner,like she understood, she asked you the location of the king and his family and you answered in the same tongue. She sent me to collect them."
"Why you?"
"Because I have the raw instinct that you do not, plus you are in no fit state to even think about moving.You have used up most of your energy, if any more energy were to be used, you would be dead. Dante however, did not want to leave you side, your mother also sent him away."
"I don't understand..but I don't think I am meant to" She chuckled at me and led me over to one of the sofas "What now then?" I asked
"You rest, if you rest here then you should recover quickly and wake up. I am not sure how much time will have passed, could be days, could be weeks.But I shouldn't be too long before I am back"
"Where did you go?"
"France"
"Why France?"
"Not a clue, that's why I am heading there now"
"How long have you been gone?"
"About a week" I felt a pang in my chest, I couldn't believe I had been passed out this long.. "Sleep" was all I heard before everything went black.
I heard voices dipping in and out of sound for some time, was I asleep? Was I awake? Was I somewhere between the two? One voice pulled me towards awakening,Dante
"Wake up.. please wake up" he sniffled and I felt warmth where my hands were "I have a question I need to ask you when you wake up.. it's important.. so please wake up" The warmth in my hands soon went away and everything went quiet again. I didn't know how long it was after that before I felt the urge to pull open my eyes, it was harder than I thought it would be, eventually I prized them apart and the light that touched them burned, my vision was fuzzy and I couldn't think straight. When my vision returned, I took a look around the room, next to me in a small chair, sat Dante. A smile spread across my face, he really didn't want to leave my side.He began to stir, he stretched his arms upward and let out an enormous yawn, once he finally opened his eyes, he smiled like a Cheshire cat,
"You.. You're awake!" he exclaimed, all I could do was lie there with a very small smile, I noticed the tear that began to stream from his eye, and it touched my heart, he was truly worried.
"Hi" I finally managed to say
"Hello beautiful"he said as he stroked the side of my face "I should probably let your mother know you are awake" with that, he stood up, wiped the tear from his eye and left the room. It left me wondering what question he wanted to ask me and how long I was actually sleeping for. It wasn't long before Aurora ran into the room, she fussed over me a while, asked how I was and if I needed anything, I shrugged and shook my head,
"One thing though.." I started before my throat croaked
"What's that? Do you need something?"
"No.. I want to know.. why France?"
"Oh.." she sighed "I suspected Tatiana would have somehow said something to you.. you two are special.. Anyway, I can honestly say I do not know, it probably has something to do with what your father has done no doubt, He seems to be the problem in all this"
"Okay" I sighed "That's all"
After that I was left alone with Dante, he wanted to fuss over me as much as he could, to build both my strength and my hope up again. It was nearing midnight when he started to act strange,
"What's up?" I asked him, sipping on a nice cup of tea he had made me
"There is something I would like to ask you..except its making me so nervous.."
"Take your time" he struggled as he reached into his trouser pocket and knelt down, and out of his pocket he pulled a small, black velvet box
"Miss Victoria Cruz, will you do the honor, of becoming my betrothed"and there was only one answer
"Yes"