The twins were restrained to their rooms for a while after that. They had bestowed some sort of gift to me… but they just looked like some strange tribal tattoo to me. They began to look at me differently too, even Daniil stopped training me for a while, said that I needed the time to prepare… but for what was even more uncertain. Aurora shut herself away with the twins too during that time too, it was understandable to worry for whatever they had done had empowered me but weakened them.
I awoke in Dante’s arms feeling numb and saddened; everyone was acting shifty and distanced themselves from me, I didn’t know they were going to do that… hell I still don’t even know what it is they actually did.
“You’re awfully quiet” Dante mused
“I was thinking that’s all”
“You’re worried about them” he traced his fingers along my right arm absentmindedly as he spoke which resulted in my skin being showered in Goosebumps “It’s natural to be worried but whatever happened isn’t your fault in the slightest” I glanced at my hands again, they were so different yet so similar in design… much like them.
“Come on, let’s get something to eat” I said tapping his bare chest. I started to get up when he grabbed my arms and pulled me down so that we were nose to nose
“Five more minutes?” he moaned as he pecked me on the lips
“Nope” I chirped, pulling away from him “I wanna eat, hunt and then find out what the hell is going on”
We did just that, I made sure that the chef did not cook for me… these may be the royals and I may be one of them but I would not take liberties from the staff… it didn’t feel right for some reason. But I had a simple meal of pasta with a healthy topping of cheese and made sure that Dante at least had some of it. Plate’s emptied; cleaned and put away we made our dart for the grounds. The air hit my face like a surge of knives, my body felt as stiff as stone and I felt it hard to move or even breathe, hopefully the snack at the end would be a just reward. Nearing the forest we slowed our pace until we came to a healthy stop, there was not much of the killing that I would be able to perform but the least I could do was watch and feast at the end. Dante motioned me to stay hidden as he slowly began to stalk an unsuspecting deer, it was such a beautiful creature yet dull at the same time… tragic really.
He lunged forward yet somehow remained silent as a ghost, before the sound of him crashing down on our prey filled the air. The deer squirmed for a moment or two, but eventually slowed and stopped. I rose from my hiding spot and ran to where my feast lay.
“Enjoy” he muttered before speeding away to find more prey. I licked my lips in anticipation for the metallic taste of blood... the deers cold body lay an inch from my quivering lips when i heard a loud bang from forest around me, it sounding like a gun... but who would come out to in the middle of knowhere at this time other than my kind? The first thought that slipped into my mind was that of a terror... hunters! Jumping back from the deer i sprinted further into the forest, not caring when the sharp claws of the trees scratched my skin, not caring that i was sure to fall, not caring that it was getting increasingly darker with ever step... i needed to be far away, i needed to escape.
‘You shouldn’t have to escape Vicki...’ A females voice echoed in my head
‘Tatiana?’
‘Yes’ she chuckled ‘Just listen to me when i say that you need to find the perfect hiding place,climb a tree if you have to. Just be somewhere where you are hidden but can still observe... ill talk you through it’
‘What made you the expect?’ i mocked
‘Because in case you forgot.. im the Vampiric side that has the basic instinct to hunt, stalk, blend and kill’ she retorted, i didnt bother giving a sarcastic reply to that one... because she was right and i needed to listen to her. I quickly darted over to the nearest... well climbable tree that was in sight, crouched low... and waited.
I didn’t have to wait long either, within minutes two men stalked their way toward my location and began to look around. I weren’t sure whether they were merely humans on a hunt for deer or something.. or whether they were actually hunters, but my instinct as well as Tatiana’s constant chirping knew to stay put and merely observe. The smell of blood lingered in the air, it wasn’t enough to drive me crazy, but it was certainly enough to make my mouth dry, my heart rate accelerate and the hairs along the back of my neck to stand up.
“I don’t see it anywhere” the taller of the men muttered
“Nor me, but it had to have come through here” the other replied
“Why do you say that ern?” oh so the shrimp was called Ernie.
“Because of the shit it left before it scarpered” Ernie mumbled in a dark tone, hinting that this dimwit should have known that anyway “Lee, I don’t know how many times i have to tell you, don’t fire the gun until you have a clear shot” so it was those... they were aiming at me!?
“Sorry Ern, but she didn’t look like one of um”
“They never do... come on, ill buy you a drink” Ernie wrapped his one arm around Lee’s shoulder in a chummy way that only guys could pull off before walking back the route they came.
I waited til I was absolutely sure they were gone before descending, I wasn’t ready to just... kill them, and no matter how much Tatiana protested I hushed her by saying that I simply wasn’t ready... which i wasn’t. There was something about taking another human’s life that just made me crazy inside, whether that was a good or a bad thing? Not sure. But I wasn’t about to put it to the try. I thought about Dante and how lucky he was to avoid this... well I was hoping that he had avoided it. If he hadn’t then he would have done what Tatiana told me to do... kill them.
‘Told you that listening to me was a good idead’ Tatiana chimed in my head, i scowled under my breath and began the journey back. A whisp of wind blew past me and forced me to spin around, there in front of me stood a crazed Dante who was drenched in blood, his fangs exposed i knew exactly what he had done... but something didnt feel right with him, he didnt look the same and the way he eyed my up made all the hairs on my neck stand on end.
The next few moments blurred together, one minute i had turned to run, the next i was thrown through countless amounts of trees that scratched and shredde my skin. He never acted this way when he drank before... but i suppose donor stuff is different to fresh. I managed to push myself forward so that i would land on both hands and feet in a crouched position before raising my head to look at my surroundings, he had thrown me out of the way but had not pursued in the chase.
‘Dante?’ i reached out with my mind, there was no responce at first so i tried again
‘C-Can... C-Cant C-ontrol’ he struggled to reply
‘Where are you? Maybe i can help you? If you cant tell me, then leave a trail and i’ll follow. I’m stronger and faster than you think Dante. I’ll help you.’
‘C-Cant... B-But’
‘No buts, i wont loose you and i swear you wont loose me either, so just hurry up. Fight it. Find somewhere... leave a trail... drop something’ i cut the link with the minds and began to march forward. I needed to find him and fast.
Tracking was easier than expected, he had indeed left a trail, bit by bit he was ripping his clothing and hanging it on loose branches. I eventually found him in a small cave at the edge of the forest, he screamed at me to flee but instead i shook my head and walked toward him. The smell of blood lingered on him and it didnt smell right... not one bit. They had probably taken something in order to ‘poison’ their blood should they themselves become the prey... guesse Dante didn’t know that. I grabbed one of the rocks nearest to me and placed it my skin, quickly rubbing it back and forth, it wasn’t long before i drew blood. His eyes widened and he fled further into the cave, i sprinted over to him and made sure he was cornered before raising my wrist to his quivering lips. He sighed once the first drop of blood entered his system, the longer he drank the more faint i felt but i knew that he shouldn’t stop, not until that crap was out of his system anyway. The surrounding scenery began to blur and swirl. That was the moment i knew he needed to stop, so kicking him in the shin he gasped and released his grip on me which gave the ideal oppuntinty to pull away.
I leaned against the nearest wall and let out a sigh, mirroring my actions Dante too slumped against the wall,
“Sorry” he breathed
“It’s fine, you needed the blood so i was happy to help... i think they poisoned you”
“What?”
“Yeah, they were hunters... i think they might have built up an immunity to something that’s poisonous to our kind. Any ideas what it might be?”
“No actually. Not a clue.”
“Doesnt matter, we’ll find out... but fancy helping me back? Think you drank a bit much there”