Copyright © 2011 by Nina Deviine
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Recap:
“That doesn’t explain anything,” I argued.
“Don’t worry, it will.”
Knowing that I wasn’t going to get anything else out of him, I shrugged my shoulders and tucked away the card. Whatever was in store for me it didn’t matter. I didn’t trust anyone as it is, so I wouldn’t be running into his strong arms at any cost. I promised myself that much.
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Darcy's P.O.V
Two days later I was sitting in front of the television and watching mind numbing shows when Rebecca ran through the door, looking as white as a ghost. Her whole body was shaking and tears were running down her cheeks. Tom stood beside her looking equally stricken but less emotional. He was always cool and collected.
It wasn’t that much of a surprise when they showed up together; after all they were barely apart. My heart hurt for Amber, but I brushed the feelings away. It was stupid to feel pity for anyone. Everyone turned their attention to the hysterical Rebecca.
“They...dead...carved...horrible...vampires...Amber,” she panted incoherently.
“Spit it out Rebecca,” my mom ground out, looking terribly worried at the mention of Amber’s name. It felt as if she was still in denial over what Catherine said Amber did. She looked like she didn’t believe it still and that hurt in a way. I guess mom felt closer to Amber than she did to any of us, however Amber and her were both vampires so in a way it is justified. Still, that didn’t ease the pang in my heart.
“We were walking out in the woods, looking at the perimeter with Catherine and we found three dead bodies,” Tom said, he shiver slightly when he mentioned the bodies. I noticed Catherine for the first time standing with them, beside her stood Zark, his gaze pinned intently on me.
“The bodies weren’t human, but one was vampire and the other two were witches. They had a nice message carved in their belly,” Catherine continued explaining when she saw Tom wasn’t about to budge. She had a grim smile on her lips and shook her head.
“Show us the way!” Lyle demanded. He was a hybrid; half human, half vampire. He was also a representative of the Council. So, as you can imagine, it wasn’t good that he was here.
Catherine rolled her eyes dramatically, still having some humour for sarcasm left in her. I felt as if the things she saw with us were mild compared to what she saw in her life. She didn’t look even slightly phased and that amazed me; that this girl could be so cool about death. It was scary.
We walked into the woods for about half an hour. Everyone was eerily quiet, especially Justin. He was brooding a lot lately. I was kicking the gravel and rocks on the ground when I heard collective gasps. My snapped up to see what the commotion was about and I froze.
The scene itself was gruesome. It was grotesque. It was sick.
Only someone with a disturbed mind could ever think of it. Suddenly I realised why Rebecca was crying and why Tom was speechless. I certainly found it hard to conjure any words to describe what I saw.
There were three bodies, just like they said. The vampire had his fangs and his face was frozen like he was in a middle of a vicious attack. He had ash black hair and glowing orange eyes. He wasn’t a Noble. No noble would ever have orange eyes in their vampirism state. He was hanging from a tree with a rope wound around his neck. It looked like he was hanged, but I knew better than to believe that. He looked very much alive, as if he would spring at us at any moment and tear us to shreds. I knew he was dead because I couldn’t hear a pulse, but that still didn’t quell my fear.
The two witches looked like they were twins. I wouldn’t say they were older than ten-years old. They were children. I swallowed the bile that wanted to rise up my throat. Both of them were decapitated, however they also had a rope around their throat and were hanging from a high tree. The twins were holding their heads in their hands. Both of the faces had the mouths open, as if they wanted to scream but couldn’t.
Of course, that wasn’t the scary part. The scary part was the fact the bodies were naked; all three of them. They had a message carved into them. However, it wasn’t so much a message as it was three names; Rebecca, Tom and David. Beware.
My heart sped up at the scene and tears started to fall when I noticed another message written in the mud.
Your time has come to an end. All the witches dead, I said! Levine will get her due and Amber the Black will too. So beware you worthless immortals, run for your lives, run for your portals.
“What a sick rhyme,” Lyle exclaimed, his voice full of disgust. I could only numbly nod and angry. Amber was a monster. There was nothing more to be said. She was out of control. Crazy. How I wished she was crazy. Then I could blame her insanity, yet deep down I knew she was completely sane when she did this; call it a witch’s instinct.
“My Amber...why darling?” my mom sobbed, slouching onto the ground, clawing at message. Lyle immediately ran to her and restrained her hands behind her back.
“The Council will want to see this,” he told her coldly, as if we were talking about the weather. Not someone’s execution.
Just then the sky crackled, as if it too were angry. I looked up and noticed storm clouds approaching.
“Amber didn’t do this!” mother yelled, snapping at Lyle and trying to claw at him.
“Yes she did. Her name is on it,” he calmly answered. I wanted to rip his throat out. My sister didn’t deserve this kind of faith.
“Shut up!” Justin growled.
“You do realise she will be coming soon and it’s just a matter of time,” Catherine said, staring at the bodies as if this was a normal occurrence.
“Of course she will. That’s why I’m here,” Lyle replied easily.
Catherine laughed at him.
“You’re nothing more than a stone in her way. She’ll just flick you and you’ll disappear. You can’t grasp her power.”
“I’m one of the strongest Council members in history,” Lyle boasted.
“Then I bet the Council is just a bunch of weaklings if your one of the strongest. You can’t even begin to fathom the powers of the Dark Realm.”
“The Dark what?” I asked. I never heard of the term before. Catherine clammed up, as if something that wasn’t supposed to slip out did.
“I wouldn’t push your luck Vulk,” Lyle growled.
“What? Is your wittle incy wincy Council going to behead me? Bring it.”
“You’ll wish you were never born.”
“It’s a bit too late for that,” Catherine snarled, her canines elongating and her nose touching Lyle’s. He jumped back as if she struck him.
“Afraid?” Catherine asked, her voice more of a distorted growl now. Lyle stayed still, not saying anything, just looking at Catherine in fear.
“Not even those Guardians would save you.”
I decided to intervene before she tore his throat out, no matter how much he deserved it.
“Break it up.”
Catherine held up her hands in surrender and shot me a feral grin.
“You’re the boss.”
Lyle studied the dead bodies around us once again.
“It’s impossible that we had an exile under our nose all this time.”
“Goes to show what a great job the Council does,” Justin mocked. I shivered at the three dead bodies that surrounded it. What she did was cruel. It was beyond cruel. No longer was this the Amber I knew. She became something else all together; a monster.
“I need to report back. I’ll be back by tomorrow and if anything happens I want to know,” Lyle ordered and disappeared.
“Coward!” Catherine spat.
“A slime bag,” Justin agreed.
“What’s wrong with you lately?” David asked.
“Nothing,” Justin snapped defensively, yet deep down I knew the answer. I only hoped he wouldn’t go through what I went through.