There was a lounge at the Villa Rafaello that was still adorned by a Christmas tree, left over from the December festivities.
This is where I found myself in the middle of the night.
My feet carried me, zombie-like, across the room where the clock over the fire place read 3:07 am.
Several arm chairs littered the lounge but they were all empty this time of night.
The night shift employee at the front desk was skimming through a magazine but he didn't even look at me as I coasted right past him, past the fireplace which was still going despite having died down to only a few embers, and finally arrived at the front door.
My hand wrapped around the handle and pushed it open.
A cool yet tempered breeze immediately struck me across the face.
I stepped outside and was deposited onto a narrow road where a few mopeds took up most of the street space. I continued on past them, gravel crunching beneath my feet until I'd arrived between two buildings, one a burnt orange, the other a faded yellow, both adorned by wrought iron balconies.
"Ally, stop it." I hissed once I'd managed to gain control back of my voice.
She was a heavy presence in my chest, like a paper weight, lying over my breastbone.
The tiny hairs on my arms rose, remaining this way for as long as Ally was within me.
I took a sharp left onto a narrow alleyway where the light was nearly nonexistent.
"Please, why are you doing this to me?"
I'm leading you to safety.
There was a rustle of movement straight ahead.
I could see the other end of the alley where it opened up into an arched entryway, leading onto the next street over where the faint glow of a lamppost tried but failed to quite reach all the way.
A cat meowed and something shifted out of the shadows.
It was the dark figure of a man, dressed in a long brown coat.
My mouth grew dry as if I'd stuffed cotton into it and my heart kicked into motion and my palms began to sweat.
I tried to turn back but my feet remained glued to the brick path beneath them.
"I'll be killed." I pled. "This isn't a game, Ally. That could be a monster."
"Not a monster, Amelia. Your father sent me."
"M—my father?" I stuttered.
The figure drew closer while I remained paralyzed.
He stepped out from out of the shadow and was dressed humanly enough but it was the red eyes that gave it away.
He was a soulsucker.
He was tall and lean, his face hard and set as if finely chiseled out of a slab of marble.
A soulsucker? How is a soulsucker safety? Ally, please. Release me.
I tried to warn you. Ally's voice was but a mere whisper in the depths of my mind.
Weather it was sheer terror or if I was simply growing stronger, my legs twitched, one falling behind the other as I took a single step back.
"Yes, Amelia, your father." The Soulsucker repeated.
"My father is dead."
"I can assure you Stefan is not dead."
"S-Stefan is not my father." I stuttered.
He was insane.
Stefan couldn't possibly be my father...
Luke. Luke was my father.
Christian's words flitted through my mind, his words of me being a half faerie half vampire hybrid.
My real father, as he'd told me, was a vampire. A nameless, faceless vampire man who I had no desire of knowing.
And of all the vampires in the world...
Stefan words about me being his darling treasure finally made sense.
So did Christian warning me about him only wanting me for my powers.
Had Christian known Stefan was my father all along?
If he did, why keep that from me?
He had told me Henric wanted me safe because he had been my mother's first husband.
Was Stefan the person he was trying to keep me safe from?
Treasonous is wasting valuable kingdom resources on avenging one's woman being taken away, Carlos Verlac had said.
So perhaps it was not about keeping me safe but keeping my power away from Stefan. As revenge, for Stefan taking Henric's woman.
Although twisted, Henric's hatred for Stefan might come in handy when it came to saving my family. Maybe, maybe if I agreed to use my powers for Henric's gain he'd help me rescue mom and Taylor.
The pieces fell into place, not neatly like one would imagine, all scrambled yet still tangled together in one big web of lies and deceit.
If what he was saying was true...if Stefan really was my father, where did that leave me?
What did Stefan want?
He hadn't shown an ounce of love when I'd met him last so maybe Christian had been right and this was all about power, just like everyone else I'd come in contact with in this magical and treacherous world.
"I'm not here to hurt you." The Soulsucker went on to say. "I'm here to take you to safety."
"Thanks, but no thanks." I muttered, while swallowing down the lump in my throat. "I'm doing just fine."
You will go with him.
Why Ally was trying to lead me to him, I didn't know, but I'd stopped trusting Ally's ghost a long time ago.
"The hell I won't," I snapped at Ally.
"You should listen to your entity," the Soulsucker said calmly.
He drew closer and sirens went off in my mind telling me I had to find a way out of this and fast. Right now, my feelings weren't nearly as important as getting out of this with my freedom intact.
"How do you know about her?" I snapped, realizing he was talking about Ally.
"It's a Soulsucker thing." He explained. "Your Soulsucker genes are the reason you can see and hear the spirit world. Now, if you'll please come with me."
"Does Stefan have my family?"
"I'm not at liberty to discuss that. You can ask him when we arrive in his Kingdom."
"I'm going to ask you one last time. If you answer correctly, I will go with you."
The Soulsucker's jaw clenched, and his eyes flashed with red fury, but he studied my face carefully, as if testing my reactions to his words.
"You will come with me by order of the King."
"Yeah, I don't think so, he's your King not mine which means I don't technically have to follow his orders."
"He is your father and you will obey him."
"Does Stefan have my family?" I asked again, slowly this time in case he was an idiot who didn't understand.
A cool composure swept over the man's face at this, highlighting his already murderous stare.
"You will come with me if you want to see them again."
My heart sank.
To find out the monster who kidnapped the people you loved most in this world was your own blood and was also the one torturing and threatening to execute them was like getting punched in the gut.
Stefan was my father. But he wasn't. Not if he was threatening to hurt my family to coerce me into coming to his kingdom. In my book, that made him my enemy.
Maybe he wanted what they all wanted, to kill me for my power. Would my own father—fuck, it hurt to even think the word because Luke, Luke was my father—actually kill me for my powers?
I remembered Stefan's cool persona.
His unfeeling and unflinching stare.
Yes, yes, he would.
But if I didn't go with the Soulsucker now, would my family be as good as dead?
The impossibility of it all became a crushing mallet in my chest. The narrow alley wavered in and out, black specks dancing at the edge of my vision.
No.
I would not pass out like some weak damsel.
I was strong.
Stronger than Ally.
Wait, I was stronger than Ally.
I was a hybrid, I had to be.
I took in a deep breath and centered all my energy and power into my core. That fiery warmth, which was now becoming familiar burned within me, across my chest, out towards my palms and feet until I became consumed by it.
"We need to get going before sunrise." The Soulsucker mused, slicing rudely through my concentration.
"I'm actually not going anywhere with you, but I do have a message for your boss." I muttered while I tried to focus on directing the energy toward the ghost sensation of someone being under my skin.
Stop it, Aimee. Ally warned. This is what's best for you.
"Amelia, it's not optional. I have orders to bring you back whether you want to or not."
Both of their voices were making it difficult to focus.
I wished they would both shut up.
Sweat broke out on my forehead as I wrestled spiritually with Ally.
"You can try." I told the Soulsucker. "But is your life really worth so little to you?"
The man bared his teeth and his lip curled over a snarl.
I could feel blood on my nose now as Ally pressed down on me, smothering me.
I pushed back with the smoldering fire and with everything I had in me.
It was like a game of tug-o-war, both opponents almost equally matched.
I said no, Aimee.
A gust of frigid air swept my hair back and Ally took hold of my body once more. The fire within me simpered, not able to fight the ice crawling through my veins.
"My patience has run out," announced the Soulsucker.
"Funny, so has mine."
I stood frozen before the Soulsucker almost as if the chill of Ally's presence had truly turned me into an ice sculpture.
Just as the Soulsucker rushed into motion, a voice traveled from behind me.
"Aimee, is everything OK? I heard you leave the room—"
The voice gave the Soulsucker pause, and he skittered to a halt.
Recognition of the voice caused fear to flare up in my chest.
"Hannah, you need to leave. It's not safe—"
The nameless Soulsucker dove back into action, only missing half a beat.
He leaped over a trash bin, headed straight for Hannah who stood there wide-eyed in her white nightgown.
My heart caught in my throat.
He was going to kill her.