"You!" Dominic roars, his face contorted in an expression of pure rage.
And before I can understand how, Dominic is not near me anymore but near Danton, both fighting like animals, growling and hissing. There are no humans words while they fight, no accusations, no mean words. It remembers me of a documentary I saw once where two lions were fighting. But it is much faster and much more dangerous. I listen Danton's shirt ripping when Dominic grabs it with his teeth and pushes so now I can't say who is who anymore. Suddenly, one of them falls, hitting the marble floor, staining it with dark blood and opening a crack on it. Now, one of them is in the floor while the other punches him. But then the one being punching hits the other with his foot and he falls to behind and the positions reverse, the one who was being punched is now who is punching. Or he was until the other bites him, making him hisses in agony and reverse the positions again.
I can't understand who is winning or even if there's someone winning at all. I can't even know who is who because they are equal except by their eyes and I can't see their eyes. But if they continue I'm sure that one of them will end dead. And I do not want any of them dead before I can get my answers. Making something like a suicidal decision I come closer to them.
"Stop now!" I order. They do not stop - if something the growls only get louder - and to be honest I didn't expect other thing. I sigh. What should I do? I grab a dagger that was in my boot. "I'll throw it against you and I am almost sure I'll hurt one of you!" A little dramatic but maybe it works.
I scream when one of them suddenly flies to the other side of the room, hitting the wall - where he leaves a giant hole - and falling into the floor just to gets up quicker than any human, hissing, his eyes black and angered.
His hair is a completely mess and bloodstained, he has a lot of cuts and wounds in his face and marks of bits as well as cuts and wounds in his torso and dark blood all over him. But the worst is his arm, right now in an anatomically impossible position, his hand literally touching his elbow. Feeling sick from the sight of his arm, I stagger backwards, my head spinning.
I feel myself falling just to be caught by a pair of powerful arms. I close my eyes, trying to erase the image of the arm from my head. Cold fingers touch my temples, massaging it. It feels very good and is, in fact helping, so I say nothing.
"Leave her alone!" Dominic growls. A cold shiver runs down my spin. I'm in Danton's arms which means that the twin with the broken arm is Dominic.
I feel my body start trembling and I can't control myself anymore. Escaping from Danton's grip I fall into the floor, curled into a ball.
"Kiara," they say at the same time. And then they hiss at each other, hatred clear when they do it.
"Stop it. Now!" I weakly ask. I feel something near my mouth and then I feel the cold vampiric blood touching my lips but I do not want it. I do not need it. I'm just in shock not hurt. "I... I don't need it."
"It'll help anyways. The dizziness will go away." Dominic calmly explains.
"It'll help." Danton repeats, his voice full os hatred. "Since when do you care, brother?"
"Since when do you care?" Dominic answers, aggressively. And then his voice returns to its soft and sweet tone. "Kiara, please." I open my eyes a little just to meet his golden ones, full of worry. The wounds and cuts are already healing.
"You're... Your arm!" I mumble.
"It's fine." He raises an eyebrow and smirks. "Vampire, remember?"
I roll my eyes, trying to ignore the fact that I should not feel relieve because he is okay. I drink a little of his blood, its sweetness caressing my tongue while I drink. And seconds later the dizziness is gone and his contorted arm is just a bad memory.
I get up, calmly, trying to regain some dignity I don't have anymore.
"Now that you're already acting as decent people and not as two wild animals, can we talk?" I ask.
"There's nothing to say." Dominic firmly says.
"There's nothing to say?" I repeat, unable to believe what I'm hearing. "You said your brother was dead! And clearly he is not since he is here in front of us."
Dominic rolls his eyes. "Something that you already knew since you're not surprised. How many times did you talk with him?"
"What I do or do not isn't your business, dear brother. You lost the privilege to know what I'm doing long time ago." Danton answers for me, his cold voice indifferent as always even if it's clear in his eyes how much he hates his brother.
"I lost this privilege? Everything that happened between us is your fault and only your fault! What you chose to do after our Mother's death... How could I accept it? How could I accept what you become?" Dominic retorts, clearly hurt because of some memory.
"What I did?" He laughs. "Our versions of that day are slightly different, you know?" He falls in silence for a moment, seeming to wonder if he should continue, "And, if for some reason you do not remember, our Mother's death was a murder. Effected by humans!" He almost spits the word humans as if it was some plague or disease. I'd never heard so much hatred contained in one word.
"Our Mother's death was homicide, you're right. But if you call it homicide, do you care to explain me what do you call to what you did after that? You killed thousands, Danton, you killed innocents!"
"I killed innocents?" Danton asks, laughing. "It was you who did it, not me!"
Dominic steps back, his eyebrows raised and his mouth opened, in an expression of pure astonishment. "I did what?! Are you kidding me?" And then his face changes while some idea appears in his mind, the astonished expression turned into an enraged one, "It was what you told her, the reason because she is keeping me away!"
Danton shrugs, his impassive expression unaltered, "I just told her the truth."
"The truth!" Dominic exclaims, "What you want the truth to be!"
"Whatever, dear brother. The truth is what you make of it."
"No, it is not." I whisper. The truth is one thing and no one can change it. If you try to change it, it becomes something different from the truth, a version of it stained by lies.
Finally, they seem to acknowledge my presence. "Kiara," Dominic says, his eyes burning me while I avoid his gaze, "Danton did not told you the truth. You need to believe me! Whatever he'd told you, it is not truth!"
I stare at him while his words echo in my mind. Words with no meaning, empty words. When I finally speak, the voice I hear, my voice, is full of anger, anger I tried to control during the last days but that I can't control anymore, "Whatever he'd told me, it is not truth? How can you know it if you do not know what he told me?"
"Because he is a liar, Kiara. And would do anything to turn you against me and would not have any regrets for doing it."
"It is funny," I sarcastically answer, "he told me exactly the same thing about you. And gave me proof. Something you did not. So why should I believe you?"
"What he told you is not the truth, Kiara." He seems hurt by my words but I'll not allow myself to believe him. Everything Danton showed me... How can it not be true? "Kiara, you need to believe me, please. Please. I am telling you the truth. Whatever he told or showed you is not true!"
"Pathetic!" Danton exclaims, disgust clear in his voice. "You were a King, Dominic. You ordered. And now look at you! Begging to a human. Don't you see how weak you became?"
Dominic does not answer and I don't care about what Danton is saying right now. Dominic's words still echo inside my head, making my blood boil with anger.
"Whatever he told me is not the truth?" I repeat. "So, am I not part of yours and Katherine's plan? A plan where my parents' death plays an important role and for which you need me alive but just because I don't know something I should and that is related with the stupid haladie and the accident with it?" I ask.
Dominic gasps surprised and looks at Danton, his golden eyes which are again turning black, shinning with pure wrath and hatred. I do not look at Danton. I keep staring at Dominic, awaiting his answer knowing that a part of me will believe him if he tells me it is a lie. But when he looks at me again, his eyes clouded by sorrow and uncertain, he says nothing.
"Am I not?" I repeat.
"Kiara, I... You... Please, you need to..." he starts, looking at me desperately, but I cut him off.
"Just answer the damn question!" I yell, feeling tears in my eyes. "Just tell me it is not truth! And I 'll believe you, Dominic. Tell me it is not true, that it was a trick created by Danton and I'll believe you. Say it!
"I... I can't." Dominic says, running a hand through his hair, messing it even more. "I can't because it is truth." He looks at me, a little spark of hope shinning in his eyes, a quite pleaded. "But I can explain."
"You can explain?" I repeat, incredulous. "You can explain why did you play with my feelings to brought me here, why you killed my family, why you have such irrational hate towards us humans that it makes you want to kill all of us?"
"What... What are you talking about?" He asks, shocked. "I do not want to kill all the humans!" He points at Danton, disgusted. "It is his desire."
I laugh, unable to believe that he keeps lying. "So weren't you who decapitated a guard just because he brought you the news about your mother's death, tortured two people and wanted to continue even when Danton asked to stop and after that swore to spend the rest of your life hunting humans and killing them?"
"What did he show you?" He answers, horror clear in his face.
"The truth."
"The truth!" He repeats, enraged. "It is not the truth! It is quite the opposite of the truth, Kiara! It was him who decapitated a guard, tortured humans and swore revenge, not against all the humans but specifically the Hunters."
"And why should I believe you? I'm just part of your plan!" I yell.
"Look at Danton. Look at his victorious smile, at the wicked happiness shinning in his eyes! He's lying and enjoying what's happening now!" Dominic yells back, pointing at his brother, seeming completely desperate. I look back but the only thing I see is Danton dressed all in black wearing as always his mask of indifference. No victorious smile, no wicked happiness. Just indifference. Dominic lets out a strangled scream of despair. "You need to believe me, Kiara, please!"
"Why would I?" I retort.
"I can explain you why I did what I did, bringing you to this madness, to this crazy world and used you. I can explain you everything. But, please, trust me!"
"How? I can't just give you trust. You need to deserve it! What did you do to deserve it, Dominic?"
"Lately? Nothing, I know. But everything I did back in USA was honest, was me. You trusted me then. Bring back some of that trust and use it to trust me now. And give me the opportunity to explain you everything. And to show you what really happened when Mother died." He begs, reaching out to me his hand, his palm turned upward, an unmistakable invitation.
I bite my lip. I can't. I can't trust him. I can't give him the opportunity to control me and make me give him trust he does not deserve. But I want to. So, so badly.
I listen steps behind me, near the window and feels the wind hitting my back. I turn around to see Danton near the open window, his silver emotionless eyes fixed on me.
"He does not deserve your trust. He is a liar and a killer and inside you, you know it. Come with me, Kiara. Let me give you all the answers you want, teach you everything you need to know. I told you the truth. Dominic confirmed you're part of his plan. Why would you stay here, inside this castle, surrounded by people who'd never told you the truth?" He reaches out to me his hand, palm turned upward, as Dominic did. "Come with me."
I look at Dominic, at his golden pleading eyes. You trusted me then. Give me the opportunity to explain you everything. I look back at Danton, at his silver emotionless eyes. He doesn't deserve your trust. Let me give you the answers you want. Why would you stay here surrounded by people who'd never told you the truth?
Who do I choose? Who is telling the truth? How can I know who is telling the truth, that my decision will not be the greatest mistake of my live?
I feel tears in my eyes and close them. Now, more than ever I miss my mother. She would know what I should do, she would have helped me making the right choice. But she's not here because a vampire killed her. Probably Dominic or Katherine. Why should I trust Dominic if he might be the one who killed my family?
"Who do you choose?" Danton impatiently asks.
But why would he tell me the truth about his plan and then lie to me about his past? I told him I would believe him - and a part of me would - so why did he not take advantage of it and lied? Why tell me the truth, knowing it would make him loose my trust and then lie about something that doesn't really matter? It is quite the opposite of the truth! But why would Danton lie? For what would he need me?
"Kiara, I need to go! I'm not exactly a welcomed guest." Danton hurries me.
But after all I do not know why I would be useful to Dominic. So why can't Danton need me as well for some secret plan? Or maybe he just wants to help me and save me from his wicked brother...
"Kiara, faster!" Danton repeats. I open my eyes to look at him again. Indifference even if he needs to hurry. I look at Dominic again. He says nothing, his eyes still a silent pleading, awaiting my decision or the help that's probably coming.
It is quite the opposite. Is it or is it just other lie? He doesn't deserve your trust. No, he doesn't. You killed thousands, you killed innocents! Did Danton killed innocents or is it just other lie, one created to make me believe it was Danton who swore revenge? The truth is what you make of it. What does it exactly mean? Give me the opportunity to explain everything. Why should I? He is a liar and a killer and inside you, you know it. Effected by humans. Begging to humans.
"Kiara!" Danton calls.
Who do you choose? Inside you, you know it. Yes, yes I know. Inside me I know and always knew the truth. I can't trust anyone. But there's one brother that I can trust more than the other. A brother that showed me something the other never did. And gave me proof.
I look at both of them one more time and then I make my choice and grab one of the hands reached out to me, avoiding the eyes of my choice while I hope I am not making the greatest mistake of my live. And gave me proof. Proof of being a human. I finally look at his eyes. At his golden eyes, staring back at me full of gratitude and holding a silence promise that he'll tell me everything as he said he would.
I look at Danton. And what I see scares me. The mask is gone and in front of me is someone I do not know, his face contorted in the scariest and most enraged expression I had ever seen. Pure hatred shine in his eyes and a clear threat is written in his distorted predator smile of white teeth and sharp fangs.
"You'll regret this day, Cahira." Who is Cahira and why would he call me that? "And you too, dear brother. I'll be back with an army and destroy you and this little clan of yours that you seem to like so much. Old lovers are hard to die, aren't they?"
Dominic laughs, coldly. "And where would you find an army, Danton?"
Danton's wicked smile grows. "When we gave up from the throne, we created a completely chaos, brother. The vampires will love to have one of his Kings back." I feel Dominic's tension while he unconsciously squeezes my hand still placed on his. I hiss in pain and he releases me but never looks at me, all his focus on his brother. "And no one, not even you with this clan help, can win a fight against the vampires and demons together." Demons? Are they real too?!
"Vampires and demons," Dominic repeats in a mocking tone. "Do you really think the vampires will accept it? And how exactly are you thinking of summoning and controlling a horde of demons?"
Danton shrugs. "I think that vampires and the others races do not want to be destroyed and because of it will choose the winner side. And I'll not need to summon nor control any demons horde."
"Allocer." Dominic sibilate.
"Our Father being a Demon has its advantages sometimes, you know? Especially if you're his favorite son." Their father is what?! Dominic said he was dead!
"You're his only son. I'm not his son and there was a time when you also didn't accept this nomination." Dominic corrects, sadly.
"Say whatever you want. There's a thing that will not change: you'll die." Danton glacially. And then his cold completely black eyes meet mine. "And it'll be your fault."
He jumps and disappears at the same time that the room door opens and Katherine enters covered with a deeper black substance, her dress ripped, her eyes red and a long curved sword where the strange golden runes shine in her hand.
She looks at me that I'm shaking like a leaf, at Dominic whose jaw is clenched and has the hard eyes of someone who has just made a difficult decision and finally at the open window that is letting a cold breeze enter and the look in her face after that tells she knows almost exactly what happened here.
"Dominic..." she whispers.
"I'll take my crown and my position again." Dominic interrupts. "I'll be King of the Vampires again."