Author's note-
I just wanted to say a little thank you to all the readers that have read the chapters till now. I am extremely grateful for you guys and I probably wouldn't have written the chapters if you guys hadn't left comments and read it. Thank you so much!
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My eyes widen and I stare at her, not believing her. Lovers? How could Samuel and Rose have been lovers? Rose is obviously fully moroi and Samuel is fully strigoi.
Samuel turns to face me. His face is emotionless.
"You can't believe it?" Rose says. The first time I met Rose was when I was twelve, in the lab with professor Kiles and she was really fragile and weak.
"No," I reply. "If you two were once lovers, Samuel wouldn't treat you so horribly."
Rose smiles coldly, a smile with no warmth. "Oh, that's where you're wrong. You must remember me from six years ago, when I pretended to be a fragile and weak lab assistant to Kiles. I was undercover and I had a daughter, it was also Samuel's daughter. But sadly I lost her after Kiles discovered I was only spying on him."
I stare at her confused. "So what does this have to do with you and Samuel?"
Rose chokes out a laugh. A laugh that has no humor in it, at all. "Well, after Kiles took my daughter away from me, Samuel decided to leave me. He thought I was at fault for it."
Samuel glared at Rose. "If only you didn't take the risk of going undercover, our daughter wouldn't have died."
Rose shoots him a menancing glare. "Just for your information, our daughter was with you when she was taken away!"
Samuel roars, "And you were with Kiles just a few moments before. You knew she was going to be taken away, yet you didn't do anything!"
Rose protests, "I couldn't do anything! He--"
"You loved him," Samuel says softly.
Rose's expression turns blank, Her face become pale and she stared at Samuel, not saying anything. "You knew?" Rose asks quietly.
He takes a lamp from the cabinet and throws it on the ground. It's shattering pieces flies out in all directions. I stare at him, dumfounded.
"And I forgave you for being unloyal to me. But then after I heard you returned back to the moroi headquarters, I became relieved that you were safe. But still, I knew I couldn't trust you anymore. Then, I find you sneaking around near my headquarters and you actually had the nerve to harm one of the guards at the gate," Samuel says.
"Liana belongs with the moroi, not with you dirty strigois," Rose says.
Before Samuel can reply, I say, "I'm three fourths strigoi. I belong here."
"You are a traitor back at the moroi headquarters right now. You are never welcomed back, and so I'm sent here to kill you. You are, after all, the blood daughter of the former strigoi leader," Rose replies.
I laugh coldly. "Then why do I belong back a the moroi headquarters?"
"Because you belong there to be excuted."
I stare at her with a doubtful expression. "And how are you going to accomplish this...?"
Rose spits at me. "I almost succeeded until the man who calls himself the strigoi leader captured me."
I wipe her spit off my face. Samuel then, draws out a dagger from the table and points it at Rose. My eyes widen as I stare at him in horror, wondering what he is going to do with that dagger. His face cringes and he glares at Rose.
"I should have never trusted you. Our daughter is dead because of you, she is dead and we can't do anything," Samuel roars, his eyes gleaming with fury.
Rose's face retrots to anger as well. She replies angrily, "You have to know that our daughter was with you when she died. You saw her die, in front of you!"
"You knew she was going to die, yet you didn't even bother to protect her!" Samuel shouts back. He clenches his finger tight together, forming it into a fist until his knuckles become pale.
"Yes, I'll admit that I knew. But knowing doesn't help anything! I knew she was going to die, yet I couldn't protect her! You don't know how I felt when our daughter died!" Rose growls, she glares at Samuel with hatred. "You had the ability to protect her, she was with you!"
"I couldn't. There were too many people there and I couldn't hold them off alone but you, you could have warned me before hand! You could have killed Kiles when you had the chance to," Samuel roars once again, his voice radiating hatred.
"Kiles was kind in the beginning, before he could obessed with experimenting. Unlike you, he actually cared in the beginning. But he changed...he became insane," Rose replies, her voice still as angry as ever.
"And so you risked the death of our daughter--" Samuel begins.
"I didn't risk anything! You--" Rose interrupts.
"I don't care, you are going to die here and now. I will allow Liana to do the honors," Samuel says. He then hands me the dagger and I tremble when holding it. I have killed strigois and the tainted ones before, but that was because I thought they were just horrible creatures. Now, that I know the truth to these people, I can not do it.
"I can't," I say. My hands are shaking and I'm scared to face Samuel's wrath.
Rose laughs coldly, her blood flowing down her mouth. "Little girl, did you know that Samuel was the one who killed your father?"
I smile sadly at her. "Yes, I do," I reply.
Rose stops laughing immediately and she narrows her eyes at me. "Yet you don't try to get revenge?"
"I witnessed the scene through a memory, I know that my father sacrificed his life for me. I wouldn't want to kill the man who did as my father asked," I answer her softly.
She then glares at me. I can feel her urge to strangle me radiating from her body but I know she can do nothing, she's injured and unable to move from her position because of her blood loss. I'm quite surprised that she can still talk to me, or even stay alive.
I throw my blade to the wall, nailing it. Then I turn to Samuel and say, "She doesn't deserve to be killed."
Samuel raises his eyebrows and looks at me with a hard expression. "She tried to kill you and you say you don't want to kill her," Samuel says flatly.n
I nod slowly, as stupid it sounds, I really believe Rose doesn't deserve to die. No one deserves to die, but I had killed a few strigois before; that was before I knew the truth. Now I deeply regret it but once something is done, there's nothing I can do.
Samuel sighs and he looks at me seriously. "Your compassion will be your weakness," he says coldly and then he kneels down to Rose. Lifting her up, he carries her out the door much to her dismay and protests. I stare at the pool of blood on the floor and I close my eyelids for a brief moment, a moment to remember my life before I was introduced to blood manipulators.
I visualize the times with Melanie, before when she was human and she didn't have strigoi duties. One time we were at a park and I had decided to bring my sketchbook there. She sat on the grass, and just in that simple movement she was beautiful. Her flawless and silk-like golden hair trains down her light blue sundress. She smiles at me in joy and I smile back. But that memory doesn't last, it comes crashing down as I began to open to reality.
I'm the daughter of the former strigoi leader, and I can not afford to mingle in the past memories. I have to find myself, to regain my composture so that I will carry on with my father's wish. Shaking my head clear, I exit Samuel's room.
Finally getting a chance to shower myself clean, I enter through the showers and find a stall. Then I allow the warm water to pour down me, rinsing me of any blood and sweat. If only life were this easy, if only I can start over and not have taken any lives.
I place my towel over my head as I dress into my pajamas, perfectly aware that the water from my hair is dripping onto my shoulders. After I exist the bathroom, I finally enter my room and lay on my bed, resting my head on the sheets. Finally, I can rest. Shutting my eyelids, I rest and prepare for the next day.
My days pass by quickly as I learn to fight better as well as learning to manipulate my blood better. Occasionally, I would hear reports from Samuel or other officers that the moroi have attempted to find me but none of them had any luck. Along with that, I hear reports concerning the tainted, so far they've been very peaceful, only a few disappearnce of humans once in a while.
Samuel allowed Rose to go; his reason was because he's not cold-hearted. My heart lifted because Rose was a nice woman, excluding the fact that she came here to kill me.
I haven't seen Melanie in a while. Sometimes I may pass by her and greet her for a moment, but anything besides that I rarely catach a glimpse of her. As days pass by, Samuel begins to teach me strategies and he begins to trust me more, allowing me to read through his journals about problems concerning strigois. I learn more and more about strigois.
In the beginning of time, the first strigoi was once a human. The human drank his own brother's blood in a cup and added in this powder that no longer exists. Thus, turning him into a strigoi. As more and more people found out the benefits of being a strigoi, they began to turn themselves into strigois as well. But there would be a issue if everyone were strigois so there was a law placed down, a law stating that the powder will be removed and banished forever.
The moroi came to be after strigois were discovered. The first moroi was the offspring of a strigoi and human. After the strigois found out having affairs with humans produced offsprings, they stopped or they killed the mother before she gave birth. But the moroi were fooled, they believed the strigois as blood-sucking beasts who care about nothing, beasts who are cold-hearted. So, they formed their own organization to counter the strigois.
Then, the tainted were discovered in recent years. A new race that is invented by Kiles, though it was chemically made.
I begin to notice that I know little about Blake and I rarely questioned him about it partially because of everything that's going on. One day, I questioned him.
"I know little about you Blake," I said, hoping that he would answer me.
He looked at me and sighed. "What do you want to know about me?" he asked, but I could tell he was hesitant to tell me anytthing concerning himself.
I snorted. "Everything," I demanded.
He laughed and said, "Alright. Let's see...I like birds and the color blue."
I shook my head. "No, like who were your parents, your family? What was your life before this?"
"You sure are straightfoward, aren't you Liana?" he laughed, almost teasing me. I glared at him and waited impatiently for an answer. He sighed and said, "All that I know of my parents are that they're strigoi."
"Were you always with that Kiles?" I asked him.
He shook his head. "I remember having a different family, one that didn't have experiments but that was before I was taken in by Kiles. One day I'm living with a real family and the next day I find myself in a lab, where Kiles was."
"Didn't you ever question it? Didn't you try to escape?" I asked.
He only continued to shake his head. "I was young at the time and I didn't know who he really was. He tricked me by saying that he was my father's friend and that he has come to take care of me."
I know Kiles would do that, Kiles is just that type of perseon.
"And you still didn't find your father here? In the strigoi headquarters?" I asked curiously,
He stringed his fingers through his hair. "I tried to, I visited many other strigoi centers but never found him. Heck, I don't even know if they're alive," he answered softly.
I placed my hand gently on his shoulder. "I'm sorry to hear that," I said.
He looked at me and gave me a wry expression. "It's alright. Once I got used to Kiles's experiments it was fine. The changing point was when Kiles invented his own race. At that time, I was already commander and an undercover leader at the moroi headquarters. None of us expected him to be so insane about creating a stronger race," he explained.
Months passed as got better at fighting and blood manipulation. Samuel introduced me to manners and etiquette; he claimed I didn't have manners at all but I disagree. The tainted continued to stay peaceful as well as the moroi. It's been a year.
A year later...
Lying on my bed and staring at the ceiling I wonder. What will happen once I inherit the throne? I'm only a year away from becoming the leader of the strigois but what will I do? I don't have a speck of clue what to do with the tainted if they attack, or with the moroi. Frustrated, I cover my face with a pillow.
I hear a knock on my door. "Who is it?" I ask, my voice muffled through the pillows.
"It's me," Melanie answers and she opens the door herself, not waiting to hear my reply.
I throw the pillow aside and sit up. "Well what's the point of knocking if you're not even going consider my reply?"
She shrugs. "Manners I guess," she replies. Then she gives a big sigh and sits down on my bed next to me.
I tilt my head at her, wondering what's wrong. "What's wrong?" I ask her.
She rolls her eyes. "Samuel's like a mother hen, picking at me at every chance he gets. 'How's Liana?' 'Are you treating her well?' 'Make sure she eats!' 'Teach her how to behave!' and so on. I swear if this goes on like this, I'll accidently kill him myself," Melanie complains and tries to mimick Samuel's voice.
I laugh and clap in return. "If you do kill him, make sure to bring a piece of his body. I would love to stick it up for display. I agree, he's been so obonxious these days. Always checking up on me if I'm doing something bad," I reply, giving a sarcastic wave of my hand.
Melanie laughs and throws a pillow at me. She's been more cheerful these days now that she's pretty much used to her strigoi self. Samuel promoted her to officer as well, and he apparently kicked me out of being an officer. Now I'm just the heir and everyone treats me like a princess. Voices stop at the sight of me and everyone is extremely careful with their words when speaking to me.
The only people that treat me normally are Melanie, Blake and Pet. Samuel treats me like a savage beast that knows no manners; his attempts to teach me manners are futile, I ignore his orders.
Her laugh dies down and is replaced by a serious expression. "I'm going on a mission again, this time it's to the moroi headquarters," she says softly.
I stare at her, shocked. "What? The moroi headquarters? How many people are going with you and why are you even going there?" I ask hysterically.
"Samuel thinks the moroi headquarters has something that we need. It's a book, a book of spells for a mixed blood such as you. He says your father told him that a having that book is very crucial, if it's in the wrong hands then we can never find peace," Melanie says.
I remember Marcie using that book when she was still alive. Black markings and designs stretch from her wrist when she used it. "I remember Marcie using it," I say.
Melanie blinks at me. "Who?"
I reply, "It was the girl a year ago, when you and Pet were trying to bring me back to the strigoi headquarters she intervined."
She takes a moment to think and then she says, "Oh. I remember her, the half-blood that killed off a lot of strigois. Ten to be exact." Her face saddens at the thought.
I change the subject. "Are there anymore mixed bloods that you know off?" I ask her curiously. The only mixed bloods I know of was Marcie, and now that she's gone, I know of no others.
Melanie frowns and puts a finger to her temple. "I recall Blake telling me that there was now a new mixed blood the last time he went to the moroi headquarters, that was about a week ago. He said she was much younger than you, probably about fourteen. They must want the mixed bloods really bad because the moroi took her in at such a young age," Melanie says.
A new mixed blood? I would be delighted to meet her, but I know that Samuel would immediately reject me decision, telling me it's to dangerous for the heir of the throne to go.
"Who else is going with you?" I ask.
"Let's see. Blake is going to be in the moroi headquarters by then, the moroi haven't found out that he's a spy. It will be Me and two other officers, and about a dozen guards. We're just there to steal a book, not to invade them," Melanie replies back.
Still, the thought of Melanie being in the moroi headquarters scares me. What if she gets caught? Quickly, I clear away the thought.
"When are you leaving?" I ask, hoping she leaves later and not anytime soon.
"Tomorrow," she replies and hops off my bed. "I have to start packing my supplies," is all she says and she leaves my room.
I sit on the bed, contemplating arguing with Samuel to allow me to go along with Melanie. For some reason, I know they won't make it back alive without me. Blake may know the moroi headquarters well but while he's posing as the leader, he can't interact with Melanie or any other strigoi.
I smile.
Time to convince Samuel.
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It's been several days since I last updated, over a week to be precise-yikes! Sorry for the lack of updates, I was busy catching up with schoolwork and afterschool activities. Oh, and I also submitted a new story! Elementals, please take a look! I would appreciate it very much if you comment and vote! :)