Here it is, the moment you have all have been waiting for.
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"I can't resist, his soul is like a butterfly trapped in a cage full of thorns. A poor fluttering creature in a sea of sinister smiles."
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History often repeats itself when there is a lesson that needs to be learned. Sometimes history does not only remind you of what had happened but it also warns you of the future. I have always been fascinated when it would happen, but I feared of the drastic change it brought. I have witnessed history repeat itself many a time and now I am actually a part of it.
Goosebumps riddle my arms as I look between the two of them. My eyes lock with a pair of frantic eyes that seem to be burning through me. Valentine is deeply taking my presence in, like a lover longing for their lost soul. For a moment no one speaks and I feel as if I'm drowning. The pressure in the room is like swimming in the deep, it's completely deafening and I want to shatter the silence.
I open my mouth to speak but everything around us starts to shake and collide with one another. The large room is a battlefield and I'm right beside the grenade.
I hear multiple confused whispers behind me and concerned individuals. Their overlapping voices aggravates the panic that's rising quickly from my abdomen. I hear vampires run toward us.
"No, no one interrupt, this must happen," I hear Ari behind me say. I take a quick glance behind me and I see everyone's concerned eyes. Ari, Sebastian, Vladimir and even Astor are all here and my heart suddenly drops.
They're here to watch us all die. To watch us end this eternal fight.
I turn my head back to Valentine and Augustine. What does it take to make them stop, to make them realize what they're doing? Just when I thought everything would get better, it gets infinitely worse. I inhale a short and sharp breath as I feel a hard impact against me. There was no object though, no physical harm - or so I thought.
I lift a hand to my face and feel blood start flowing from my nose to my mouth. I cough and specks of blood litter my hand. Not this again, I've had enough pain and bleeding in the past twenty-four hours.
With a slow and shaking hand, I reach out to Valentine's exposed and rather firm neck. His cold skin surprises me and I take his face in my hands, smearing my blood where ever our skins touched.
"Valentine," I whisper both firmly and gently.
"Scarlett," he gasps painfully.
My eyebrows meet together in confusion and I shake him gently. "No, it's me, Saphira. Are you alright?"
He closes his eyes and removes my hands from his head. "How could you do it? Why did you choose him over me, why did you turn your back on what we built?"
"I-I don't understand, I don't know what you're talking about," I drop my shoulders but my fangs come out in desperation.
His expression looks like a reflection of a broken soul seeking for answers, seeking for reconciliation. Never have I seen him look so lost. "I loved you."
Those three precious words sound so desperate, so broken it didn't seem real. This probably is not real at all, I'm just dreaming. "Loved me? Augustine what does he mean?"
Valentine's gave never did meet mine. I cannot tell what he is thinking at the moment. I look back to Augustine, hoping to get some answers and to sop this nonsense.
Augustine laughs and the vein on my temple throbs. "He never told you, did he? It all makes sense now."
I face my former lover and barre my teeth at him. "Never told me what?"
"Oh, this is getting better and better."
The objects around the room tremble erratically and I feel static surrounding me. Everything is starting to hurt, I can feel my own body ripping apart.
I look to Valentine and our gazes finally meet - everything drops to the floor, even us. The sudden drop renders us in a kneeling position. Facing each other with ambivalence to those around us. Valentine blinks his ever glazed eyes and grips onto my hands that are on either side of his head.
"Scarlett," he repeats in a voice so low only my ears can hear. I feel an enormous weight on my shoulders, one that is close to impossible to remove.
"Face it, brother, she never loved you, she loved the idea of having you. Scarlett attached herself to anyone that could please her - she never could stay in one place at once."
"Will someone not explain to me what is going on?" I say harshly, my voice rising to a high. In my mind, I know, but I choose to not believe. There is a part of me that is accepting it and a part of me that does not want anything to do with it.
"You are no brother of mine. You never knew Scarlett like I did, she would never turn her back."
Valentine rises and aggressively stands up to his brother. I breathe raggedly and stand up myself, I need answers and I need them now. With sudden haste and violence, Augustine pulls me between them. I try to pry his hands off but fail.
"Yet, she did, she betrayed everyone that ever loved her. She's never coming back." Augustine's voice us lowering and becoming more sincere. They both loved her, no doubt, but, obviously, there are things they don't know. Something that is being kept from them. It kills me that he still wants her to return - it sounds as if he desperately longing for someone that he can never have again. "And even if she did, you will see the monster she had become."
I decide I've had enough, I can no longer stand between them and watch everything fall into pieces. The entire Constantin clan needs to confide with one another about what they need to do and reconcile with broken hearts. I try to kick my legs and shove myself out of his arms. I struggle and grunt in frustration.
"Let me go, Augustine, I cannot be in every discussion about your past, it has nothing to do with me."
He laughs and gives me a cruel embrace. Valentine steps closer with an angry expression on his face.
Augustine mocks me and continues to speak. "Oh, but it has everything to do with you, Saphira. This isn't like one of your novels, this is far more complicated, far more interesting."
I growl deeply and attempt to sink my fangs into his arm. "I don't want to hear any of your lies."
He chuckles mischievously. "Whoever said it was a lie? Look at all of those faces, do they look like they're lying?"
Doubtful, I turn my head to study the faces around me. Ari, looks to be waiting for me to say something, to realize something. But, Vladimir, my dear friend, seems to be oblivious to this as well, could it be, that he does not know? Whatever they're playing, I'm clearly not enjoying.
"This is all about you," he whispers harshly in my ear. "About your past, present, and future."
From the corner of my eye, I see Valentine approving what his brother is doing to me, what pain he is causing me.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I scream loud enough for everyone to hear my struggle and discomfort.
"Okay, let do it this way then." He let's go of me but keeps a firm hand on my arm to start dragging me toward a pair of doors. "If you have not realized it by now I'll just show you. I think it's time to show you how important you are."
The two brothers escort me into a large open room filled with artwork of every kind and faces of every royal vampire. An unfamiliar chill runs quickly up my spine and electrifies my blood, even my fingertips. Valentine remains quiet which makes my heart pound and drop at the same time. I cannot believe he is just standing there not caring that his brother is defiling me in many ways.
We walk into a dimly lit section of the room with dark and distressed paintings. I let my feet drag against the floor until we stop in front of a large covered painting. From the dust I can spot, this piece has not been opened in centuries and I don't think they intended to display it at all. "I'm sure you know by now, but I want you to see it with your own eyes."
With one stroke, Augustine removes the fabric and reveals the much-awaited painting. I cover my mouth I suppress my unbelief, but in spite of this strange fact, indeed, I did have a hunch. I knew when he called me by her name, I just chose not to listen.
I step closer until I am only a foot away. I study her face and body - everything, down to the slight curve of her mouth and the color of her hair is the same. The only thing different, though, is her eyes, they seem empty and plain. They look like the eyes of someone who was never happy, someone who lied through her teeth to hide who she really was.
My head throbs painfully at the horrific knowledge that I look exactly like Scarlett, their long gone lover. "I look just like her..."
I hear a shuffling of feet and the familiar him of his voice behind me. "You don't just look like her, sweetheart. You are her." Valentine's voice is as smooth and cool as the wind.
"How?" My mouth drops open.
Valentine gently turns to me and grips my chin between his fingers.
"Scarlett took her own life and Datura made her rise from the dead and instead of getting her back as she had planned, she got you instead. You are not considered Fae, you are a Darkling."
A sudden rush of nausea hits me and I bend over in disgust. It's no wonder I love to kill, why I am always so attracted to darkness and death, why I never age and why I cannot stand the sun. Darkling's are dead humans made alive by blood and moonlight. They live off of death and darkness, it's essential for survival. They aren't vampires but very similar to it.
My mind runs in blurred and crooked circles. An insidious thought enters my mind like an object disappearing into a wormhole. Lost and misunderstood, I question myself and the eyes that captured mine ever so firmly and gently.
It can't be, I thought in my mind, but it escaped my mouth in a hushed and broken whisper. Centuries of lies, of being someone I wasn't, engulfs my consciousness. We've met before, I whisper. He knew, and everyone knew. I was left out of the picture, to cower in unbelief and doubt, frantically chasing my own tail and existence.
"It all makes sense," I declare, although it does not. She's in me - her blood, her power, her appearance and her heart. But most of all, I have the heart of her lover, Valentine. Is that why he yearns for me? Because I was Scarlett in the past? Somehow, I instead of getting the pleasure of knowing the truth, I feel a distrust and doubt. Does he just keep me around for nothing?
"Saphira, that is not why I kept you, you know that," Valentine whispers huskily.
My fangs elongate and I growl. "Get out of my head."
"But you need to understand," he pleads.
As quickly as we came, I rush out of the room. I've had enough, my heart can only take so much. "I can't keep doing this."
The blood boils underneath my skin and I feel a tingling in my fingertips. I can feel my unwanted power stronger than ever in my palms, if I let this go, I'll kill everyone here.
How can I not remember that I am Scarlet? How can something so obsolete be erased from me completely? I am baffled by this information but I don't feel any different.
"Saphira," he calls. Valentine's voice has grown to be impatient. As my feet are pattering with haste, his are following with a steady beat. This is all nonsense, instead of running for something I can never get, I can be doing something else worth my time. I need to leave, change my identity for now, or die. I could always die.
I use my senses to find a weapon. Fortunately, castles are riddled with spears and swords. I am halted when I smell a strong odor of iron and metal. Entering the room quietly, which I realize is an ancient armory, I spot a beautiful and glinting sword on the wall. While my ears are listening for the crazed vampire, I jump up to grab the sword.
As I gracefully drop down, it's quiet and sometimes that isn't a very good thing. I scout the entire room, in fear that he might be in here already. I should have left the area when I had the chance. This isn't ideal.
I rejoice inwardly as the doorway appears to be empty. I relax my shoulders and swiftly walk out of the crowded room. Suddenly, Valentine appears in front of me and I give him a hard scowl.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting away from you, from this hell. I am done!"
He advances toward me and I step back. I feel a twist of pleasure in my body and I slightly cringe. "No, you're not."
Forcefully, I swing the sword at him and he bends back to dodge the blade. "You don't need me here, Valentine, you never did, you just adored the fact that I look just like her, that I have her body."
He rushes over to me and again dodges the blade I swing at his head. If he weren't a vampire he'd be dead by now. His fangs extend and another rush of butterflies flow from my stomach to my core. Instead of feeling angry I am feeling aroused, how could it be?
"That is not why I kept you," he argues. "How could you think that way?"
"Because you want her back, you long for Scarlett to return to this body."
Even with my strength and agility, Valentine is able to capture me in his arms and press the blade against my throat. "I loved her, I'd do anything to get her back."
With enough strength, I push the weapon back at him and it presses against his throbbing neck. "Shes never coming back, I have no memory of my past - of you." Valentine grips the blade with his hands and blood quickly drip from the torn flesh as he yanks it from me and throws it to the floor. The smell of his blood is intoxicating and a wave of hunger hits me.
"I'd do anything, but I haven't. Ever since I met you, you're all I think about. You look like Scarlett but you are far from her. She broke my heart two hundred years ago and it stayed that way until I tasted you." He pushes me against the wall and I gasp at his closeness. My heart leaps at the intensity of his words. "I never said I wanted her back, I am merely sorrowed that she couldn't stay with me even after all that we went through."
I feel a cold blade digging into my back and wrap my hand around it. I pull it out to stab him but he stops it just before it plunges into his neck. "Killing me won't solve anything, sweetheart."
"I know," I seethe through my teeth. "But it was worth a try."
Valentine's hand rests on my waist and the other on the wall beside my head. His face brushes against mine and I exhale a shaky breath. The warmth emulating from him is making my stomach turn and my inner core melt.
"You are all I want," his husky voice against my ear is like a drip of honey. I close my eyes to relish in this heated moment.
Valentine takes the blade from my hand and points it at me instead. "I may never get her back, you're my one and only, babydoll."
I push him back, confused. His eyes lock with mine and they flash an unusual shade of green. "Babydoll? Who are you?"
"It's me, Valentine, what are you talking about?"
"No, you're not." I push myself back with more force but the vampire is holding me still and threatening me with the blade him his hand. "Show your true self."
"I can't do that, you'll have to kill me."
"That can be easily arranged."
"Not if I kill you first," his expression changes into hate. He closes the space between us and lodges the knife under my ribcage. I scream in agony at the contact of titanium with my flesh and blood. The unknown vampire brakes the hilt off of the knife and leaves me bleeding on the floor. I shake in pain as I swim in my own blood. Not this again.
The vampire posing as Valentine smiles down at me as I choke on my own blood and slowly die. I give him a look he'll never forget, a look of revenge. "If I see you again, I'll kill you."
"If you ever find me again," he chuckles and his appearance changes. "But then again you'll also be dead." My eyes widen as his face morphs into Sebastian's, the King, then back to Valentine. Like a chameleon, he can change into anyone he wants and that will pose a bigger problem.
The door bursts open and the real Valentine rushes in. He looks perplexed as he sees a clone of himself standing over my quivering body. I give a slight smile, but my vision darkens and blurs. I can no longer feel my arms and my legs from the lack of blood and I can no longer breathe.
My heart beats for many but the last beat was for him. I close my eyes and fall, endlessly into oblivion.
***
Kudos to those who got the theory about Saphira and Scarlett right! I want to give you all some chocolate covered strawberries. ;)
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