Chapter 30 [Dark Instinct]
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"He's finally asleep." Forina sighed as she walked into their private living room.
"It's the sixth night and he's been having the exact same dream, that's no coincidence." Andrei pointed out as he paced around the room.
"I know, I've checked the coven records and there aren't many with that dark gift. Those who do have it aren't that powerful." Forina explained with a tired sigh.
"Well, not every vampire records their dark gift." Andrei pointed out as he was one of those.
"Well, we've had a different system for a while. You were a rogue vampire. If you join a coven or if you were born into one, everything about you is recorded for future reference. It's a requirement if you want to stay in a coven or if you are a nomad and if you don't want any trouble." Forina explained.
"So what does that mean exactly?" Andrei asked, "It means that that vampire is either very strong or very high up in the hierarchy. For example, I never recorded my dark gift and I never had Alec's recorded either." Forina sighed as she knew this was just going to get more difficult.
"Regardless of this dark gift theories, all the clues point to Casimir. He's the only one who would want to hurt us directly." Andrei spoke, his voice dripping in venom as he thought about the man that had essentially ruined his life.
"Casimir is defiantly behind this, there's no doubt about that, but we need to find out who's his puppet. If we find out that then they can lead us to Casimir." Forina explained.
"I thought the coven was loyal to you, so how does Casimir still have people to do his dirty work?" Andrei asked as he sat beside her.
"That's the thing... I don't know. We have a traitor in our mists."
...
"So how do we find them?" Alec asked as the trio sat around a table while Darius played on the carpet.
"From the dream walkers I've met, they have to be in close proximity," Forina explained to them as she overlooked a map of the castle.
"How close are we talking?" Andrei asked from his seat as he leaned forward.
"Well that depends, if the person is weak then they need to be pretty close. The stronger they are, the further they can be." Forina told them.
"Estimate then," Alec told her to get some sort of idea.
"From Darius's room, if they were weak, they'd have to be in the castle, maybe three rooms away. They have to be close to the castle but hidden away." Forina told them.
"They could be one of the staff, or even hiding in plain sight," Andrei spoke as he brushed a hand through his hair in stress.
"Tonight, I'll gather our trusted guards and I'll search through the castle," Alec said to the couple.
"And I'll look through the hidden passages," Forina told them as they all stopped and looked at Darius who simply played with his toys.
"I guess that leaves me to guard our little prince." Andrei smiled as he watched their son. Forina stiffened at the thought out that and subtlety turned to look at Alec who gave her the same worrying glance.
It wasn't like they didn't trust him, it was just that they didn't want history to repeat itself.
Forina still longed for her first child and no one could ever replace her little Eric, but Eric was with Andrei when he died and Forina would never forgive or forget and she would never make the same mistake of trusting Andrei again with another child.
...
"It's time," Andrei said as Darius started to thrash under the covers as someone invaded his mind.
Forina nodded and then conjured two beasts of darkness who obediently sat guarding Darius.
"Kill anyone who dares to harm him," Forina told them and then vanished into a secret door to start her search.
She conjured more beast, more cat-like creatures made of darkness, "You know what to look for." They went hunting.
Forina stood there, her eyes closed as she looked through her creature's eyes until she found them.
She rushed to the villain as they laid unconscious prowling through Darius mind.
Forina wrapped her hand around the next of her prey and squeezed tightly.
"Hello, Nora." Forina smiled as she squeezed tighter. Nora squirmed in her grip.
"Please wait." Nora pleaded.
"Oh, you want me to wait. Did you want for my son to regain his mind as you preyed on his fears? Did you?" Forina asked her, her voice cold and dripping with anger.
"You don't understand!" Nora pleaded.
"Oh, don't you worry about that, I'm sure you'll tell me but first I'm going to have a little fun with you, without your brother's watchful eyes of course." Forina grinned and then proceed to break her fingers, one by one.
"You know I've always been curious about the human body. I mean how the heart pumps blood throughout the body and how it works but I've observed it up close." Forina started and took out a knife.
"I guess this is a chance for me to play doctor." She grinned.
"Please! You don't understand! He made me do it!" Nora pleaded.
"Oh I know, I just don't care. Now stop being so pitiful and take it like a champ. Did you know that men and woman seem to remember pain differently, according to new research, when feeling a specifying pain for the second time, men feel the sensation more strongly but women don't." Forina spoke as she starts to cut.
"Isn't that just fascinating." She smiled.
"Did you also know death by burning was a classic form of capital punishment reserved for women who were suspected of witchcraft, treason and heresy? Men were usually hung but women were burned alive. It's amazing what women can endure in time. Now you are going to tell me what you know and then I'll decide what to do with you."
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Quick a/n: when writing this chapter I completely forgot that forina was pregnant but just because she's pregnant doesn't mean she can't do whatever she wants.