Chapter 16 : Unraveling Minds
I didn't go to school that day.
I couldn't, not in the state I was. I couldn't stop shaking, even after the fear left me. When I eventually pushed Alastair out of my room, I buried myself under the covers and laid there shivering.
The day passed and I realised I must have fallen asleep. When I pulled back the covers, a rush of cold air hit me. The room was blanketed in darkness. There was no moonlight, not even the tiniest hint, and yet, I could still see.
Everything was shaded in greys.
"Daddy!"
A little girls fearful scream echoed in my mind. I knew who it was. Me. That little girl was me. I couldn't deny it anymore.
"Wait! Daddy's not with us. Daddy!"
I pulled my knees into my chest and dug my nails into my scalp. My hair was in a state of tangles, falling over my face and shoulders like a torn rag.
"Nikki, listen to me. We have to leave now. Hold onto me."
There was a loud crash. "No!" I pulled away from Mommy and ran towards the door, throwing it open. "Don't hurt us!"
"Worthless creature." A man from the bottom of the staircase raised his pointed gun at me. He disappeared from sight only to reappear in a burst of black smoke directly in front of me. I felt the coolness of gun's barrel pressed into my temple.
"Nikki!" Alastair called out.
"Don't you dare touch my child." Mommy flicked her wrist and the mans arm twisted. Now he held the gun to himself.
He grit his teeth as he tried to fight against the invisible force, spitting and cursing loudly. Then the gun went off and blood began to pour from the hole it had created between his eyes. He fell, but not before throwing an arm out and shoving me back so hard I lifted off the ground. My legs hit the staircase railing and I tipped back, but there was nothing there to catch me and I went over.
I screamed, wincing just before I smashed through the cupboard below. Something caught me, blocking the impact as the cupboard broke into splinters. The smoke cleared and I looked down to see Alastair holding me, blood over his left eye. His face twisted when he looked over my head. I saw the man behind me, his towering shadow holding a knife. I screamed again and Alastair's arms tightened around me.
"Alastair! Nikki!" Daddy yelled our names and then the man was no longer looming over us. I turned over my shoulder and saw Father with his hand outstretched towards us, the vampire impaled on the coat racks.
Daddy's front was to us and with everything happening he couldn't have noticed the Hunter come up behind him, shooting a crossbow at such a close range it cut right through him and penetrated the wall above the staircase. Father stumbled, whipping around to kill the Hunter. But then another threw a weapon across the room and it pierced straight through Daddy's chest. Then another and another. It happened so quickly, I couldn't work out who did it. Daddy fell to his knees and just as a vampire thought it was their chance to slice an Imperial's head off, Mother appeared behind them and broke their neck. She caught Daddy before he fell.
A thin dust drifted into the air. My eyes widened as I sensed something begin to slip, something begin to lose life. It was something significant. Everyone seemed to sense it too because for a split second, all the beings in the room froze.
Mommy lowered her mouth to Daddy's ear and whispered something that only he could hear. Whatever she said gave him strength because in the next moment, he was righting himself, leaving the arrow and knives jutting out of his chest as he faced off with another vampire and Hunter as they crashed through the windows, breaking the silence.
Mother appeared beside Alastair and I and grabbing our hands she said in a rush, "Now we go."
"But Daddy!" I cried just as everything disappeared in smoke.
Tears were streaming down my face in silent sobs. My mind was a riot of clashing screams. I pulled at my hair, begging for it all to stop.
"Lookie!" I cried, rushing forward. If it wasn't for Alastair's grip on my hand, I would have slipped on the mossy slates beneath our feet. "They look like your eyes!" I pointed to the sky where clouds of various shades of purple littered the sky.
"You think so?" Alastair asked.
My heart ached. I felt like I was being ripped apart from the inside out and yet I couldn't cry out. I couldn't scream aloud. I was silent. It was killing me and I couldn't call for help.
"But it's not just the vampires lashing out now."
"I don't know... Mommy, Daddy...drinking but no pain hungry."
"You and I both knew about the waging bellicose attitudes rising between our species. That was why we decided to shelter our daughter in the first place."
"Promise me, Alsa. Promise me right now that you will always love me."
"They've involved the hunters."
"No one could have foretold the direly of what our lineage would become."
Mommy covered her mouth, fighting to stop her sobs, and nodded. "I want my child to live."
"It isn't you're job to kill rouge vampires," he bit out, "it's ours as part of the Hunter Council."
"If you want adult kisses, Nikki, you'll have to hurry and grow up."
"Thanks," he mumbled gruffly to me.
"You're the daughter of two Imperials which means you have the same blood and power flowing through your blood as we do."
"Promise me, Alsa. Promise me right now that you will always love me."
I couldn't take this anymore.
I stumbled out of the room, the walls caving in around me. My hands felt along the walls, feeling every crevice and dint. It was a reminder. Telling my feet they were on the ground and not floating on a cloud. Almost there.
"Klein!" Running, and almost tripping down the stairs, I flew into Klein's open arms as he sauntered into the manor. I felt the thin spikes of his stubble against my cheek and giggled. "You forget to shave again," I told him.
He ran a large tanned hand over his jaw. "It looks that way doesn't it," he agreed. "Or maybe I've started growing it out because I know how much you love the look of it!" Squeezing his arms tighter around me, he lifted me off the ground and swung me around.
"Nooo!" I squealed through my laughter. He was squeezing me so hard I thought I might fart.
"Klein, you may just kill her. Loosen your grip," Alsa advised, closing the door after the next person walked in.
Klein settled me back on the ground and sent Alsa a cold glare over his shoulder. "Don't criticise me, vampire. I'm far older than you. Piss me off and I might accidentally shoot an arrow through that frozen heart of yours."
Alsa grinned, baring the tips of his fangs. "I'd like to see you try, Hunter."
"Stop being so mean," I ordered the both of them. "You two always fight. Stop it." I felt like a mother. My hands were on my hips and I was reprimanding someone, just like the way Mommy did to me. "And Alsa," I added, turning my focus to him doe-eyed, "I'm cold. Hold me?"
"Nikki's right," an angelic voice floated down to us. "You two do fight, and quite a lot." Mommy walked down the stairs in her favourite black and purple dress, her heels clinking on the wooden steps. She looked graceful and elegant, like always. "Klein, Alastair is part of the family. At least greet him at the door."
Klein smiled, slightly bowing his head to my mother. "Lady Whitely."
"Hello," Mommy replied, looking him up and down. "To you and your company. Callie and...?"
"Brianna," Callie offered in a rush. "Our daughter."
Daughter? Peeking around Klein my eyes fell on a girl around the same age as me. She looked like Klein, her brown hair rolled up in a neat bun atop her head and brown eyes to match. I waved to her eagerly, a smile lighting up my face. I've never met a girl my age before. Her eyes darted to me but all she did was yawn. I frowned, my hand slowly withdrawing.
"I thought I smelled something wretched," Daddy's voice boomed down from the top of the staircase. All our heads snapped in his direction, taking in his magnificence of a fully black attire. "Klein, welcome! You and your family!"
"You mean something aromatic," Klein called back.
In a puff of wispy black smoke, Father appeared in front of Klein, seizing his hand in a strong handshake. Behind them, Callie gasped. She smelt different to Klein. She wasn't a Hunter, but she wasn't a human either. I wondered what she'd taste like.
"Good to see you, Lord Whitely," Klein said.
"Emrik. There's no need to be so formal."
"Psst, Klein." Tugging on his woollen jacket, I pulled his attention back to me whispering in his ear when he crouched to my level, "What's wrong with that girl?" I subtly pointed to the one they had previously called Brianna.
Klein chuckled at my question, standing back to his towering height. Putting his hand on the small of his daughter's back, he pushed her forward, her socked feet sliding across the floorboards. She now stood directly in front of me, a few inches taller. We looked each other up and down.
"This is my daughter, Brianna. I think you two could become close friends," Klein said.
"Say hello, Nikki," Mommy encouraged.
I looked to Mommy, dumbfounded. "But I already did. And she ignored me!"
"Another Hunter?" Alastair wondered aloud. He was standing behind me, hands on my shoulders.
"Yes," Callie bit out. "It seems she had to take after her father. Unfortunately."
"Oi. What are you saying?" Klein turned to his wife. "She'll be the best H-"
"All she ever does is sleep! How do you expect her to be any good at succeeding you?" Klein waved her off with a roll of his eyes.
Brianna tilted her head, her eyes scrutinising me from the tips of my bare feet to the straight ends of my black hair. "You're not very pretty," she stated matter-of-factly.
My mouth fell open. "Excuse me?"
"Brianna!" Callie chastised. Klein clubbed her upside the head.
"But she isn't!" Brianna argued angrily, glaring at her parents. They shushed her but she continued nonetheless. "I thought Imperials were suppose to be the most beautiful of vampires?"
My hands rolled into tight fists. "You are so rude!" Beside me, Mommy covered her mouth. I could see how funny she found this because her blue eyes sparkled. "Mommy! Did you hear what she said? Don't laugh!"
Fixing her composure, Mother entwined her hands in front of her again. "She probably didn't mean it, Nikki."
"But I did," Brianna said.
"Now, now," Klein warned.
Rolling her eyes, Brianna groaned. "Fine." Throwing her hand out, she drawled, "Hello, Miss Whitely. It is such a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Brianna Larsen."
Mother fought to contain her laughter again. "Making friends is fun isn't it, baby?"
I narrowed my eyes at her. No. This is not in the slightest bit fun.
"She is trying," Callie explained in defence for her daughter. "This is actually more than we can usually ask from her. She doesn't bite, Nikki, I swear. You can shake her hand."
Reluctantly, I took her hand, mumbling under my breath, "Yeah but I bite."
Brianna squeezed my hand. She was surprisingly stronger than I thought for someone her size. In return, I dug my sharp nails into her skin. We glared at each other, knowing this wasn't going to work.
I would never be this girl's friend.
And I had the feeling she mutually felt the same.
My vision spotted with black. I stumbled, my toe nails scraping against the floor boards. I couldn't lift my feet high enough. I was going to fall. Almost there.
It was all wrong. That wasn't how I met Brianna. I hadn't met Klein in an alley either, I met him at...
I suddenly couldn't remember. That memory was wiped clean from my mind. Meeting him in the alley was how I met him. But that's not how I remembered... Everything I once knew was gone. My memories were changing, replacing themselves with new events and times that seemed distantly familiar. Bits and pieces of information were slowly sewing themselves into the sleeves of my mind like a previously scrambled jig-saw puzzle.
I hit the side of my head, my vision swaying. No no no. How had I let this happen? How could I have forgotten everything? My whole life, who I was, everything was just one lie. It was all wrong. Who did this to me?
Reaching his room, I fumbled with the intricate door handle with shaky hands. They kept slipping off the metal but eventually I managed to twist it enough that the door opened. Cold air nipped at my bare legs, numbing them. I didn't know how much longer I could keep myself from falling but I was almost there. I couldn't stop. I needed him. I couldn't be this anymore. Alsa... Just as I was about to push the door open, he threw it back.
Alastair took one look at me, my disheveled hair and tear stained face, and knew something wasn't right.
"Ni-?"
I fell into his chest, his arms coming up to wrap around me. I held onto his shirt as tears spilled down my cheeks. "I remember, Alastair," I cried, "I remember everything."
His arms were comforting, holding me steady. He kissed the top of my head, breathing in. "I know, Nikki. I know," he murmured.
I couldn't stop the darkness from settling in around me anymore. It completely took over my vision, pulling me into the nothingness I starting to get so well acquainted with. The last words I heard from Alastair lingered in my mind before my body grew heavy in his arms.
"And I know how to fix it."
Published 19/03/17