We all stood there, completely shocked at what we had all just witnessed. Florence was never a violent person intentionally and I do not believe that even she knew how to respond to making a small group of vampires die instantly.
"W-What, how did I do that?" Florence asked, looking down at her body, as if she were waiting for a sign of physical change.
Montgomery slowly approached her "Florence, just let Samuel walk over to Rosalyn and we can sit down and discuss this"
Florence stared at him, instantly knowing that he too was frightened by this new sign of power.
She shook her head "Montgomery, I-I'm scared"
Seeing Florence so scared of herself only hurt me to watch. I looked over at Heath, who still looked at her lovingly. Even during a time like this, all he wanted to do was protect her and keep her safe, even if it meant keeping her safe from herself.
"Is no one else going to ask what just happened?" Kherington asked, walking up to Montgomery.
"Kherington, this is not your place to decide anything. This coalition is Montgomery's, which means we follow his decision" Claude said, holding his arm as if he had been injured.
Montgomery looked at everyone "If you have an injury, I will help to the best of my ability. That goes for everyone"
I tried my best to pay attention to Montgomery, but all I could focus on was how shaken up Florence was. She was physically shaking from what she had done and all I wanted to do was help her.
"Cordelia, Heath, please take Florence to my office. Everyone else that is not hurt, please help those injured into the dining room and I will be with you all shortly" Montgomery said, walking away.
I noticed that as he did so, he was limping. He was ignoring his own injury to help everyone else and the stress was clear in his body language.
Heath and I walked over to Florence, both of use taking one of her hands as we led her inside the manor.
"I-I just do not understand how this has happened" she whispered. Her voice cracking in the process.
Heath rubbed her arm "Do not worry, I am sure there is an answer behind this"
Everyone was staring at her as we walked past them, all expressions different from one another.
"They are all staring at me as if I were some kind of monster" she whispered.
I shook my head "Everyone is just so confused by it, just as much as you"
We slowly made our way up the staircase, trying to get to Montgomery's office as quickly as possible, despite how heavy and sluggish her body felt.
Heath and I kept exchanging glances, trying to communicate without frightening her anymore than she already was.
She walked in front of us, as we entered the office and she sat down on the couch, slumping down in defeat.
Heath sat down beside her, taking her hand, while I leaned against Montgomery's desk, hoping that Montgomery would be able to answer her questions.
"What if Montgomery thinks I'm dangerous to the coalition and throws me out?" she asked, getting teary eyed.
I shook my head "Montgomery would never throw you out of this coalition for something such as that. You have no control and if this really is a new gift then we will treat it as such"
Montgomery walked in, still limping and looked exhausted "I treated all the major injuries and Annabeth's was the absolute worst" he sat down in his chair.
"You appear very weak, perhaps you should get some blood to regain your strength" I suggested.
He nodded "Yes, I told Archibald to bring me some after he finished helping Leo with his burns"
Leo was lucky that his burns were on his arm, instead of his face. I still did not like to look in the mirror, because it only made me cringe.
"Can we please get some answers?" Heath asked, still keeping Florence's hand in his.
Montgomery nodded and reached into a drawer, pulling out an old diary.
"Gabriel kept track of every known power that he came in contact with and gifts that he had heard of. He made sure that those in the higher ranking here knew of its existence in case someone new had to take over" he cleared his throat "I read a power in here that might be what you possibly have"
Florence looked up at him "Is Samuel alright?"
Montgomery gave a small smile "Yes, Rosemary and Claude are helping him with the head wound. Nothing serious, just wrapping it up and stopping the bleeding"
She nodded "Everyone must be so scared of me"
Montgomery shook his head "Florence, everyone was always frightened when a new gift shows up. Whether it is the first or the second power, everyone is startled and you are just not someone that is violent in any way, so it was just startling"
She wiped her eyes "I am so sorry for appearing hysterical, I just do not understand how I could do something like this"
Heath put his arm around her, making me smile.
"I understand, Florence" Montgomery said, flipping through the diary "It is called necrokinesis. A power like this is usually triggered by an intense emotional pain"
"Her empathy must have only made the emotional pain of possibly losing Samuel worse" I said.
Montgomery nodded "Yes, but it is a power that is extremely rare. In this diary Gabriel said that only three vampires were known to have it" he frowned "Unfortunately they are all long gone"
"Did they have anything in common?" Heath asked.
Montgomery nodded "Yes, they all were extremely gifted with empathy"
Florence started crying again, placing her head in her hands "I do not want this gift! I have no idea what I will be capable of with this!"
"Why don't we discuss this another time. Heath, perhaps you should take her to her room" Montgomery suggested.
Heath nodded softly and helped Florence, as she continued crying.
"Please stay with her for the night. I want to make sure she calms down" Montgomery said.
"Of course" Heath said, walking out of the office, with his arms around Florence.
Montgomery looked at me, worry across his face.
"What are you trying to hide?" I asked.
He looked down "The reason all those vampires with this gift are dead is because their coalitions sentenced them to death"
My eyes widened "Excuse me?"
"They all either became too obsessed with the ultimate power that became associated with it or they never learned how to control who they killed" he continued.
I shook my head "Florence killed those three vampires, only them, so it has to be different"
"We cannot know for sure, because she did not even know she was doing it to begin with"
I took the diary, reading over it, but only found the same thing he had said.
Florence and I were so close that the thought of losing her in any way terrified me.
"We must come up with a plan and act on it immediately" I said, not wanting to play this whole thing day by day anymore.
He nodded, knowing that I was right.
I did not want to wait around, so I left his office, wanting to find something to hit. All of this was getting out of hand and I did not want to just wait for all of us to be killed with each new attack.
As I made my way outside the manor, I went out to the garden, hoping that I could find a tree to hit or something.
"Are you alright?" someone asked.
I turned around, seeing Louis' wandering around. His arm was in a sling and he looked rather annoyed and intense all at the same time.
He saw me staring at his arm and he sighed "Don't worry, my shoulder got sprained during the attack"
"I hope you are not hurt badly" I said, wondering who else had been hurt.
"Shapeshifters tend to heal quickly, so even if it was broken it would only be a few days until it is all better" he explained.
I did not know much about shapeshifters, so as far as I knew they only turned into werewolves and that was that.
"You look like you need a drink" he said, pulling out a small liquor bottle from his trouser pocket.
I gave a small smile "Probably, what is that anyway?"
"Rum, the best kind of drink there is" he said, handing me the bottle.
I ignored the strong smell emitting from it and took a long drink, somewhat enjoying the burn in my throat.
"You really did need it, didn't you?" he asked, chuckling.
I nodded "More than you will ever know"
"No one else is hurt too badly; in case you're wondering. That grouchy woman with the stomach injury had the worst of it, but it seems like she might have had it coming" he said, taking a drink and sitting on a bench.
I sat down beside him "She may have had it coming, but that doesn't mean she deserved to be attacked"
I looked down, wondering how much more I could take.
"I met Gabriel once" Louis said, taking another drink.
"You did?" I asked, looking over at him.
He nodded "He was very nice and he actually is the reason I ended up in Claude's coalition. It is a shame that he is gone"
"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.
He looked at me "Tobias mentioned that you two became close and how you were there when he died"
"I do miss him" I said, taking the bottle and swallowing another big drink again "Everyone around me keeps getting hurt and there is nothing I can do to stop any of it. I feel completely helpless in this scenario"
"If it helps at all, I can tell you where that purple liquid came from" he said, taking the bottle back.
I looked at him shocked "You know where it's from?"
He nodded "Yes, it is made by witches"
"Witches?" I asked, wanting to roll my eyes.
"I saw it harm a vampire when I was about eleven. I was trying to protect him and they killed him before I could, but they dumped that liquid on him, causing burns that I'm sure you know personally"
I touched my face, feeling the burn marks on my face "Is it common for witches to make it for attacks?"
He shrugged "I am unsure, but I do know that when they make it, it is always more than one batch"
"This means that a coven may be working with the P'yushchego Vampirov, but why? Witches made them, then tried to destroy them, so it makes no sense" I said, trying to get all my thoughts together.
"Perhaps they are working with them in return for safety" he suggested.
I looked at him, wondering how threatening they must be to powerful witches if their lives are threatened. However, I did know that a coven must be near and I think I knew of a plan that could be exactly what he all needed.
"Excuse me for a moment" I said, quickly standing and running as quickly as I could up the staircase, back to Montgomery's office, barging in, not caring enough to knock.
"Are you quite alright?" Montgomery asked, seeing me frazzled.
"Witches, the liquid was made by witches" I said.
His eyes widened and he went to the bookshelf, grabbing one of Gabriel's books and looking through it "You're right." He looked at me "Give me a moment to gather my thoughts, I will call you in later to discuss this, both you and Tobias will be there since you both are being considered for the role of second"
I shook my head "Please, just give the job to Tobias. I will come in to help, but please"
I left his office, closing the door and walked down the hallway to Samuel's room.
I wanted to check on him, because I doubt that he had been given a chance to see Florence considering both of their conditions.
"Hello stranger" he said, noticing me at the doorway.
I walked towards him, sitting at the edge of the bed "How are you feeling?"
He motioned to his glass of blood "I'm getting better, just a pulsing headache is all"
"You really did take quite the blow to the head, didn't you?" I asked.
He nodded "I have never had one quite like that"
"Have you been to see Florence?" I asked.
"She has been asleep for some time and Heath is watching over her like crazy, so much that it is beginning to be annoying on my side" he continued, as he drank his blood.
"Heath taking a liking towards her is not the worst thing to happen" I commented.
He rolled his eyes, laughing "Vampires are meant to be with vampires, not humans, not shapeshifters. It just makes sense that way"
"Being with someone who makes you happy makes more sense" I said, patting his leg and standing.
"Leaving already?" he asked.
I nodded "Feel better. I will come in to check on you in the morning"
I left his room and went across the hall to Florence's room, knowing that Heath would not protests to me looking in.
I opened the door and saw her asleep with Heath watching her as he sat beside her.
It was all too peaceful to disrupt, so I left them as they were.
Instead I walked back to my room, only to find Killian on my bed.
"Get out of here, Killian. I am in no mood for your antics" I said, opening the door, so that he would get the idea to leave.
He looked at me, staring away "It seems you have lost your looks, because of the liquid"
I frowned, looking at my reflection in the vanity "I hadn't really thought of it"
"You had splendid looks going for you, but with that disfigurement you may be alone forever" he scoffed.
I looked over at him and glared, as I managed to throw him off of the bed with my telekinesis, leaving me amused as he tumbled to the floor, with a groan.
I walked over to him and grabbed him by his hair "If you do not lose that attitude of yours then next time, I will let you fall and break your neck" I pushed him out to the door "Stay away from my room"
I closed the door and walked over to my vanity, taking a seat as I took in my appearance, as I ran my fingers over the burn marks, which were mostly on the left side of my face, with only partial damage to my right.
I remember how badly it hurt that first week, both physically and mentally. Eventually I just quit looking in the mirror, except for a few occasions, such as now.
I felt arms around me and looked up, seeing Theodore.
"Quit doing this to yourself" he whispered, hugging me tightly.
"I always act like it does not affect me, but every single time that I look in a mirror, all I see is a hideous monster" I said, my voice breaking.
Theodore pulled me from the seat and walked me over to my bed.
"Come now, lay down and I promise to stay with you until you fall asleep" he whispered as he helped me lay down.
I found comfort in his presence and wished that I had more moments with him, moments where he was truly here.
I placed my head to his chest, while he ran his fingers through my hair.
"Do not listen to Killian, because he is wrong. You have so much more than your looks going for you and despite this, you are still beautiful"
I closed my eyes, wanting this moment to last a lifetime, but decided to enjoy it rather than mourn the moments he was not here.