 
The Witch in the Woman Saga

Book One: The Rising Fire

By Stacey Criswell
Smashwords Edition

Copyright© 2013 Stacey Criswell

For more books by this author, look on Smashwords.com under Stacey Criswell.

This is a work of fiction. The characters, names, places, incidents and dialogue are products of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without prior written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief passages embodied in critical reviews and articles.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Dedicated to my parents, for never giving up on me. And my brother and sister, I know you both will always be there for me.
Chapter 1:

I wake up sooner than I had expected, or wanted to. But, I can't go back to sleep. I try my best by closing my eyes for another five minutes, but how can I? Today will be one of the worst days of my life, and I can't do nothing to change that. My brother's hearing is today, and I know it isn't going to end well. The best he can get is thirty years to life in prison. But, I have never seen anyone get off that easy. For the crime he had committed, no one has ever gotten anything less than the death sentence.

We never really had the best relationship, but he is my brother. I don't want him to die. I hated living with him though. My life was literally a living hell. I wish things were different between us, but I know if he gets out and comes back, he will have control over me again. I always put up a wall when he was around, but people say that changes me. I become isolated, and guarded. That's the point of a mental wall, so no one can hurt me. Right?

So, why would I be so broken down if he were to die? And, why don't I just get away from him? Because, I feel like since he's my brother I owe him something. And, I am absolutely terrified of him.

I slowly trudge to the bathroom to look at myself in the mirror; I have black eyeliner stains from my eyes to the bottom of my chin, where I was crying the night before. Although, that's not new. I seem to cry a lot these days. I turn on the sink water, cup my hands under it and splash it on my face. It hasn't helped any; I look even worse now, so I wet a rag and scrub my face until it finally comes off. I don't have to go anywhere until 2:00 P.M. so I see no reason to get all prettied up. All I can bring myself to do is throw my long black hair up in a bun. Then I slowly ease down stairs to start my day.

As I start a pot of coffee, I see the clock; it is only 5:30. I take a deep breath, and whisper; "I really wish I was in bed." But, I ignore myself as usual. The coffee pot beeps to show that it's done, so I take a cup, with a teaspoon of sugar in it, and go back upstairs to my room. As I walk in I notice the window is open. But, I don't remember opening it. I sit my coffee down on my side table and go over to shut it. Out of the corner of my eye I see a quick movement causing me to quickly jerk around but nothing is there. I roll my eyes. "I'm just paranoid." I slowly close the window and sit on my bed. My cell phone starts ringing, so I follow the sound of my Breaking Benjamin, I Will Not Bow ring-tone. _"I will not bow, I will not break, I will shut the world away, I will not fall, I will not fade, and I will take your breath away."_

I spot my phone sitting just under the edge of my bed. "There it is." I look at the screen "Jett" is highlighted in dark blue on the screen. I don't know if I am really able to handle talking to anyone now, but I tap the talk button anyway, "Hello?"

"Hey. How are you doing?" He asks me in a sympathetic voice.

"As good as I can be I guess. Why are you up so early?" I ask suddenly curious.

"I'm at work. Do you know how hard it is to serve the man who could kill you at any minute, like he's doing Jacob? I mean it was crazy to even try to argue with Skylark. But, I don't think simply arguing is a reason to get killed or sentenced to jail. And, I can't stand to see you hurt."

Skylark was all nice and sweet until Katrina let him have a little power as the leader of the Hagar's troops for four years. But, they never once had reason to suspect he'd turn on them. He assassinated Katrina, our beloved Queen of five long, but happy years. The best thing about her was we didn't think of her as a Queen, but as a friend, or a sister. Skylark is now our King, but everyone thinks of him more as a dictator.

"I agree it was reckless. He can always start something can't he?" I comment.

"Yeah, anyway, I just called to check in on you. I'll be over after I get off work." Jett says.

"Okay, thanks. Do me a favor, and don't do anything you'll regret." I plead, knowing he won't even consider it.

Jett laughs, "Whatever I do, I won't regret it."

I shake my head. "Bye."

"Bye." He says and we both hang up.

I toss my phone on the bed, and plop down on the edge of my blue oversized chair. As I turn to see what time it is now, I see a figure out of the corner of my eye, and this time it doesn't move away from me. He is as still as a statue. "Hey, who are you? And, what are you doing in my house?" I demand, standing up.

"You are Renée Perry, are you not?" He asks.

"I'm not answering anything until you tell me who you are, and what you want." I say, trying to sound as normal and unaffected by him as possible.

He shakes his head, making his black hair hang loosely around his face and around his eyes. He does a quick flip and it falls perfectly into place. I literally have to tear my eyes away from him; he's...like, beautiful. "No, you don't understand. I'm not here to take orders from you Miss Renée. You will tell me what I want to know." When he looks back up at me he has fangs, and his eyes are as red as blood. Yup, I'm serious. Fangs! And, a very serious case of pink eye!

I quickly back up shocked and whisper, "What the hell are those?" I back up to far and fall on the bed. I don't normally curse, but come on, fangs! "Okay wow, I'm completely losing it!"

"Oh these?" He says, "These are just my little friends. So, are you Renée Perry, or not?"

"Yes, okay I'm her! What do you want? And, since I answered you, could you put those away?" I point to his mouth, with a shaking finger. They slowly slide up into his original teeth, and his eye return to a deep blue. This, just creeps me out even more, because that means this happens to him often. It's not just my imagination.

"Good, now that we have that over with. Would you mind directing me towards your brother, Jacob Perry?" He roams around my room, and when he sees the armchair he sits gracefully down in it.

"What do you want with him? He's been in jail for two years. Surely, he hasn't bothered anybody for a long time. Has he?" I ask my voice still to shaky to try and act not afraid.

"No, I just need to speak with him. So, he's in jail? Why is that?" He plays with my bracelet while he talks.

"Okay, listen mister, I respect your whole fang thing you got going on there, but would you mind putting that down? It's not yours to play with. And, he's in jail because he started an argument with Skylark."

He looks at me, "It's important that I find him. He hasn't lived in this house for two years?"

"No, he hasn't." I answer.

"That's interesting. I will go talk to him, and if I don't find out what I need to know, I will come back to you." He stares at me for a moment, and then quickly jumps out the window. Yep, the window. I guess doors are overrated.

I jump up and look out the, but he is gone. I at least expected to find a body, but nothing. Just the smell of his cologne.

I sit there a few moments, wondering if I had imagined the encounter. Thinking maybe I've gone off the deep end. Maybe I should get some mental help.

After sitting there for what seems like an eternity, I hear the door bell ring. Pulling away from my crazy world in my head, I jump up, and run down stairs.

Unsure, I open the door, and see Sam, Chelsea, and Michelle, my three best friends. Sam is short with long, black hair; she is skinny and more of a tom boy. Michelle though, has bluish hair, is skinny, and is very girly.

Chelsea has long black hair, and is very quiet. That's why I like her. "What's up guys?" I ask they don't normally just show up, so I am a little suspicious.

"Nothing just thought you might want some company." Says Sam; with a small smile.

"I appreciate the thought. I'm still on my first cup of coffee. And, it's already been a long morning." I complain.

We sit at the kitchen table, and they start talking about the weather, and shopping. I drift off into my own crazy little world. I can't help but think about the vampire guy....What was his name? Now that I think about it, he never told me his name. Of course, he wasn't in much of a mood to answer my questions. I have so many. Like, what has Jacob done? Why won't he use the door? I laugh secretly to myself. And, I'm only assuming he's a vampire. What else has fangs? Spiders. Snakes. Okay, shudder, snakes are not that beautiful.

But, I haven't seen him until this morning, and I've lived here for my whole life. Hagar is a big land, but everyone knows everyone around here. I don't think I will see him again. Something pulls from my deep thoughts and obviously it's Michelle and Sam snapping their fingers in my face. "Huh?" I ask confused.

Michelle looks at me worried but goes on, "Do you know when Jett is going to get here?"

"Uhh no, when I talked to him earlier he said he would be over after work. But, he didn't say a specific time." I mumble.

"Hmm, okay. Well Chelsea, Sam and I are going to town, do you want to come?" Michelle asks.

"Uhh no, I think I'll stay here, I have to get ready for Jacob's trial, but thanks." I explain, being as convincing as possible.

"Okay well, we'll see you later then." Sam and Michelle say in unison.

Once they are gone I go upstairs to get dressed. I figure I will try to look nice so that I won't reflect badly on my brother, although he does that enough on his own.

But, I pull out a nice black dress anyway. It is plain black but that is okay, I really don't want to stick out. I put it on, and go to my closet and get my black heels out, and put them on also. Next is the fun part, I take my eyeliner, and make dark lines below, and above my eyes. Once my mascara is on too I look as if I am going to a ball. But, it is the complete opposite of the good time I would have at a ball.

Just about the time I sit down on a bed, the door bell rings again. I go down the stairs a bit slower this time, I have heels on, and it wouldn't end well if I ran down in them. Looking through the peep-hole, I see on the other side of the door is Jett. He is wearing his uniform; it is a black t-shirt and jeans. The black in his shirt really makes his deep blue eyes stick out and his beach blonde hair makes him look like he has no troubles in the world. I open the door, "Hey come on in."

"Thanks. Wow, you look beautiful. How are you doing?" He asks, stepping inside. I am already so sick of people asking me that. I want to blurt out at everyone who does _, "How would you be if you knew your brother was more than likely going to be executed?"_ But instead I politely say, "Thanks, and yeah I'm fine for now. I'm just ready to get this over with."

He gives me a weak smile. "Yeah, me too. So, how's your morning been?" A lot of sarcasm in such a small question.

"Well, I don't know yet. I made coffee at 5:30 AM and it's...." I look around at the clock. "8:00 A.M. and I still haven't finished my first cup. It's been a long morning, to say the least. So, how was work?"

He smiles, "Working for someone who basically owns you, what could be better? There was this one guy that brought him coffee. I guess it was made wrong or something, he looked the guy in the eye, and it's like he just froze. His eyes stopped moving, and then it's like you could almost hear his heart crack. They made me leave before I could see what they did with him. The boy was only eighteen; it was his first day. I've never seen him do anything like that before."

"Yeah, even more of a reason you need to be careful. We don't know everything he's capable off. You're only nineteen. There's not much difference. And you of all people know he's not sympathetic." I point out.

Jett looks at the ground, "Yeah, I know."

His parents and sister had been killed by Skylark the first day he became King. He made Jett watch, and laughed the whole time. That's why Jett is so guarded with his emotions now, and his hatred only grew with time. I really hate that he had to work for Skylark; it made me fear every day that he would hurt him. We left it at that, and after a while of talking about everything we could think of he says, "Okay, I hate to tell you this, but it's time to go. Do you want to ride with me, or take your own car?"

I think about it for a minute, "I'll ride with you." I get up grab my phone, and go get into his truck.

The ride is longer than I remember it from all the times I've taken it. I can't help but wonder what is going through Jacob's mind now. It should be obvious that he's wondering if he'll die today. I decide I need music to keep my mind off things. "Do you mind?" I ask as I turned the radio up.

"No, go for it." He says. I turn it up to 45; it can only go to 50. My second favorite song is on, called One Last Breath by Creed. I feel exactly what the song says, so I sit back and listen to the lyrics.

Jett smiles when the song goes off, "I love that song."

"Me too, it was my dad's song. He and mom used to listen to it in the worse times, and they'd think about how they could end it all so easily. But, mom told me that they would look at Jacob and me and push all those thoughts out of her head." I whisper.

"I didn't know that. I'm sorry. I really should learn more about my girlfriend before I say things."

"It's fine," I assure him, and put my hand in his on the console, "I don't expect you to know everything about my pity story."

"I've been with you for three years, I should know some things."

"It's a song with a background. All songs do. Please, stop worrying about things you know about me. You know everything important about me." I look at him, but he almost refuses to look back at me. "Is something else bothering you?"

He sighs, "I'm...not ready to see you hurt again. You barely made it through when your parents died." I don't say anything, because he's right. The only difference is, my parents loved me and I loved them, Jacob doesn't love me, and I just care for him.

Once we get to the court-house I see Jacob at the front of the room. He turns, and looks straight at me, but he acts as if he has no clue who I am. Skylark is also there, sitting in the judge's seat.

I point him out to Jett, "What is he doing sitting in the judge's place?"

Jett looks, "Oh man, he's the judge. This isn't good at all."

"Wait, that means he gets to decide whether Jacob should be put to death." Jett nods. "But, he'll get executed for sure." No wonder no one had ever gotten off with anything less than execution. Skylark's self-centeredness, is going to kill my brother.

"Sit down." Jett tells me.

"Hello, loyal and non-loyal subjects. We are here to hear the judgment of this young man." He motions to Jacob, "Well, no let me rephrase that. _I_ am here to decide. _You_ all are here to watch." The court doors open and close with a bang. I look around to see the guy from my room this morning.

Skylark notices his presence too, and glares at him but goes on, "I have made my decision. I have decided that the boy named Jacob Perry will be executed. His charge is defying me. Let this be a lesson for you all, if you dare to defy me you will be punished."

Jett stands up, "Why don't you do something with us then? If you think we're all such a problem. You come fight us! You always let someone else do your work. What are you too much of a wimp to kill someone one your own?"

Skylark smiles, and Jett falls to the ground holding his head and yelling.

I lean down beside him, "Stop." I tell Skylark. "Stop!" Jett stops yelling and does his best to stand up, still holding his head.

He grabs my hand and leads me out of the court-room, "Hey, look at me." He says. "Look at me. I can't say he's going to get out of this, because I know he won't. But, just know I'm here for you. Always. You've got to stay strong. If you fall apart in front of Skylark you'll be giving him exactly what he wants. Like I always say emotions are the first thing people will use against you. I have to go back in there you stay here. I'll be back in just a second."

I grab his arm as he leaves, "Don't go back. He'll kill you." He ignores me and goes into the court-room.
Chapter 2:

After a long two years, this is the day they choose his fate. He has to admit he is scared. One thing he knows is, that if it is decided that he is to be executed, it will be without mercy. Skylark is so big on himself; no one can even dare to talk back to him. He has never been good at keeping his mouth shut, and now look where it has gotten him, waiting to know if today is his last. He misses the outside life. It has a lot of challenges, but he misses being able to walk around without chains around him. He misses his girl friend, Stacie, but after two years he doubts she is still his girl friend. But, most of all, he misses his sister, Renée. They lost their mom and dad to Skylark and his followers two years ago; he is her last known relative. She is the only person who can help him. But, he knows that if it comes down to him being executed, someone will take care of her.

"Get up!" He hears down the long, metal hallway. He sits up, it must be time. This is a different guard.

"What happened to Kyle?" Jacob asks.

"Kyle's off today. You have me today, aren't you lucky?" This guard has brown hair, green eyes, a lot of muscles, and a face only a mother could love. He glares at Jacob, "Now get up you have a visitor."

"Who?" Jacob asks, "My sister isn't supposed to be here until the trial. We weren't scheduled to meet."

"Sister, ha, it's a man, idiot! Now do you want to see him or not?"

He is actually debating that, "I guess so. What can it hurt? If he wants to kill me at least Skylark won't have the honor of doing it." The guard unlocks the bars, and makes him turn around so he can put on the chains. He has one chain that goes around his feet, it is attached to one that goes around his waist, and another that goes around his wrist; which the rude guard puts on extra tight, with a smile. He was never good at contain his anger. He hasn't changed at all. He pushes the guard up against the wall, but the guard is stronger. He picks Jacob up and slams him on the ground.

"I advise you not to do that again." The guard mocks.

He walks him down the metal hallway to a small room with two chairs and a table, also made of metal. At the table is a man, with black hair. He smiles when Jacob walks into the room and says, "Hello, my name is Aldric." He looks into the guards eyes and says, "This is sort of top-secret, step outside until I tell you to come in." The guard, without a word, turns and walks out of the room.

"Whoa, you must be someone who works for Skylark. No one can just boss them around and expect them to listen. I don't talk to his people willingly." He says, and he is serious. The only person he has ever seen them listen to is Skylark.

"No, I don't work for or with Skylark. I'm what they call a vampire, and out of fear they listen to me. I know this must sound crazy, but it's true." He says, barely looking Jacob in the eyes.

Jacob burst out laughing, "Vampire? You mean like fangs and super speed?" He does little fangs sarcastically with his fingers. "Those are storybook characters. Not real, I'm not an idiot."

Aldric rolls his eyes, "No, not an idiot, but childish. Do you want proof?"

"Well, I guess. It would help me begin to think you're not..." In what seems to be only two seconds at the most, Aldric has sharp teeth hanging down over his lips, his eyes are red, and he is beside him. With his hand on Jacob's throat he pushes him back against a wall. It cracks under the force Aldric put on Jacob's throat.

"Do you need further proof? I could do what next in your _story books_." He comments angrily.

"No. I'm good. Can you put me down? If you were here to kill me, I'm pretty sure you would have done it already." Aldric takes his hand off Jacob's neck and lets him fall to the floor.

"Get up, and come back to the table." Aldric demands.

Jacob reluctantly does what he is told. "So, what do you want with me?" Jacob asks, now not wanting to meet Aldric's eyes.

"I need you to answer some questions. Do you know who Katrina was?" He asks, looking very concentrated on what he was saying, or what his wasn't.

"Yeah, who doesn't, she was our Queen before Skylark killed her."

"Good, also do you know if you are in anyway related to her?"

Jacob chuckles, "She doesn't have family, other than her mother and father. Everyone knows that. She told us."

"Well, she may not have known it, but she had two siblings. One is a girl named Allison. The other is either a brother or sister. We have searched for that person for the past year. We have located him or her here in Hagar, and it's either you or the girl you think is your sister. Your trial took place moments ago. I was there. We have saved you from being executed. There are two ways to find out if you are who we are looking for. And, since I can't tell if you are lying, there is only one way for you. If you can be turned into a vampire it's not you. If you get bitten, but the venom doesn't affect you, it's you."

Jacob gulps. "What's the other way?"

"Katrina's family line doesn't age past eighteen. How old are you?"

Jacob takes a deep breath, "I'm twenty four."

"See but I can't tell if you are lying, you also may not know if your body has aged a day past eighteen, so we do it my way." He smiles devil like.

"Wesley!" A tall, strong man walks through the metal door. "Alright, do your job." Aldric tells him, and walks out.

"What's his job...?" Everything goes black.

He wakes up in a dark room, but it isn't the jail he realizes. There is a small light about three feet from him, he does his best to get up and walks over to it. He feels light headed, the guy that knocked him out could hit...hard. The light is coming out from under a door. He searches for the handle; instead his hand glides over something sharp. "Ouch!" Whatever it is, it is sharp enough to draw blood, and a lot of it. For some reason he feels very drawn to the blood the more he smells it, the more he wants it. He sits down against what he thinks is a wall. It has something slimy on it, and he doesn't know or want to know what it is, so he slowly scoots away. His neck really hurts, but before he was vaguely aware of it. When he reaches his hand up to his neck there is a lot of blood coming out. "What the heck?" It isn't dripping blood either, it is gushing. "What the hell is this?" He hears voices coming down the hall, and from the feeling of his neck they aren't friends.

The door slowly opens; it is the vampire with black hair that he had talked to back at the jail house.

"Ah, your awake great. How are you feeling?" The vampire asks.

"How am I feeling? You knocked the crap out of me. I cut my hand on something, and there's blood draining out of my neck. And, on top of all that, I'm probably wanted for breaking out of jail!" He says, furious. "You need to just let me out of this place, and let me go back to beg for my life."

"Yeah, you can't leave now. If you leave here you will hurt more people than you know." He says seriously.

"What are you talking about? I've never hurt anyone unless completely necessary. You are seriously mental! You should see your doctor about some medicine."

"Yes I understand that, but this time it may not be your choice." Aldric looks at the girl standing beside him; she looks to be about his sister's age. But, she looks nothing like her. She is gothic, with purple and black hair. She isn't hiding her fangs though they are out all the way. He shutters at the thought of being bitten by them. "He hasn't completed the transformation yet, or he would be trying to kill anything with a pulse. We need to keep him in here until he is, and be ready when he does want to kill anything with a pulse. He will kill anyone or anything in the way." Aldric says to the girl, she nods and leaves the room.

"What are you guys talking about? I'm not going to kill anyone!" Jacob yells. Aldric shakes his head, and closes the door.

Jacob sits back down on the floor, after what seems like forever he decides he has to get out of here. He gets up, goes to the door, and bangs on it as hard as he can. The door caves and falls to the ground. "Hey, I'm not that strong." He looks at the door puzzled, but he has to keep moving. He smells blood everywhere, and he really wants to find it. It's as if it is calling to him. He follows the smell, when he finds it he sees the same vampire girl from the dark room, with black and purple hair. Without thinking about it he runs as fast as he can at her. She drops the blood bags she is carrying, and punches him with so much force that he flies twenty feet into a wall. The wall brakes into pieces, making him madder. He gets up angrily and grabs the biggest piece there, and with as much force as he can gather, throws it at her. But, she sees it coming, and jumps up, grabs the ceiling and hangs there like a spider, until the block has gone past her. She drops down quickly, and picks up a blood bag, then runs faster than he has ever seen, and in the next second he has the blood bag in his mouth, but the worst part is he doesn't want to stop. He loses sight of everything but the blood then goes for the others.

When he is finished with them, he feels almost invincible. He looks at the girl, and says, "I'm sorry I don't know what came over me. And, did I just drink blood?" He wipes his mouth disgusted, and spits on the floor.

She looks at him disgusted, "Yes, you did, and what's _coming over you_ is your final transformation and it's not over. Let me guess you feel invincible? Well don't get used to it. After about twenty minutes of feeling that way, you'll feel like you want to die. You'll be so depressed you will try to take your own life. And, after that you'll be so angry, you'll want to take everyone else's life. Trust me I've been through this."

She talks to him as if he were a child. "Why? What happened to me?" He asks.

"He turned you into a vampire. Did you drinking blood not give it away?" She asks sarcastically. "It's not a choice. It never is, for any of us. So put on your big girl panties and get over it."

She starts walking, but when he doesn't follow, she looks back at him as if silently telling him to come. They had been going really fast he realizes when they are standing in a long hallway made of concrete. By the door at the end of the hall is Aldric. "How did he get out?" He isn't talking to Jacob, but to the girl.

"He broke the door, sir." She says.

Aldric looks completely amazed. "How could he have broken the door? No vampire, not even new bourns have ever been able to break that door."

"Um, I'm sorry." Jacob apologizes.

"No no don't apologize." He looks at the girl. "How far along is he?" He asks.

"He just had the lust for blood, but that's settled. In about five minutes, he should hit the depression stage."

Aldric looks down contemplating. "Hmm that's not good. We need to get him somewhere he can't hurt himself." Aldric grabs Jacob by the arm, and tows him down the hall.

"Where are we going?" Asks, Jacob.

"It doesn't matter." He says. They end up in another small room, with metal all over the walls. There is a table in the middle, with straps on it.

"Lay down." Aldric demands. Jacob does as he is told, and they strap him in tightly. "We are going to have to put you to sleep I can see it is already setting in." It is he can feel the sadness creeping in on him. It feels worse than when he lost his parents. He feels a poke in his arm, but he doesn't care. He wants it all to be over. Why live, there is no reason to. There is nothing left for him. His parents are dead; his sister hates him. What's the point? He slowly drifts into a deep, dark sleep. Hoping it is death, so he can join the people he loves.

Chapter 3:

Jett walks back into the court room, and looks around for his keys. He probably made things a lot worse by yelling at Skylark, but he almost doesn't care. He finds his keys, and walks out. Walking fast he grabs Renée's hand, "Come on, let's get out of here."

She pulls him to a stop. "Why did you do that?" She asks angrily.

He shakes his head, frustrated, "What?"

"You know what I'm talking about! You just gave yourself a death sentence! Did the reason we're here not give you a hint that it would be a good idea to keep your mouth shut?!" She yells.

Jett glares at her, "I'm sorry. I'm a little ticked off he just sentenced another person to death! You should be too! If you loved Jacob at all you would be! Skylark is high on his power, and someone needed to tell him so! He can't keep hurting the people I love!"

She steps back, "I do love him. And, it's not all about you! Did you forget he killed both my parents too and now my brother? And, many other people's parents, and children, and brothers, and sisters! It's everyone! Not just you! Get over yourself." She pushes through him and out the glass doors.

He runs after her, grabs her hand and makes her face him, "I'm sorry. I know you love him. I know other people have lost the people they love, including you. I was there; it killed me to see the pain you and your brother were in. But, that doesn't change the fact that he continues to do it. I know me saying something won't change it, but maybe it will inspire some people."

She shakes her head, "Yeah, I'm sure everyone seeing Skylark give you an insanely bad headache, inspired a ton of people. Maybe everyone will join in. I just can't lose you." Renée says her silent tears turning into uncontrollable sobs.

Jett touches her cheek wiping away a few tears, "You won't lose me." He assures.

"Can you promise me that?" She asks.

Jett doesn't say anything, but he knows his silence says everything.

She pulls her arm away from him, "Exactly. You know he won't let you get away with that. Let me know when the funeral is. " She says harshly and gets into his truck.

He goes around the front of the truck and gets in on the driver's side. Before he starts it he looks over at her, "Are you really going to stay mad at me?" He asks calmly. She doesn't answer, so he starts his truck and pulls away from the curb. Needing some sound, he turns the radio up to fifty. They listen to it all the way to her house.

When they are finally to her house she jumps out and goes to the door, but stops before she opens it. When he gets to the door she looks up at him, "What would you do if I died?" She asks.

He looks at her shocked, "I don't know. I wouldn't live much longer." He says.

"Yeah, so think of what it would do to me. I'm already losing my brother in less than twenty-four hours. Do you think I would be able to handle it?"

He looks in her eyes, leans forward slowly and kisses her. "I know. I'm so sorry. But, I had to say that. Someone had to. I love you. And, I can't see you go through what you went through with your mom and dad."

She shakes her head, "That's just going to make him happier to do it." But, still she nods and opens the door, and says, "Are you staying here tonight?"

"I guess I can stay, if you want me too." Jett says. She opens the door wide and lets him in.

"Do you want something to eat?" She asks.

He shakes his head, "Not really."

Throwing her shoes off, she sits at the table, "I love you."

He takes his jacket off, "I know. I love you too." Jett grabs a blanket and lies down on the couch opening his arms, "You want to lie down?" He asks.

She lies down beside him, and he puts his arm around her and hugs her close. They lie there fearing tomorrow, wishing they could do something to stop it from ever coming, and knowing they can't.

Chapter 4:

I'm woken up the next morning to the sound of the door bell. Slowly I get up, but Jett grabs my hand. "Don't leave." He begs. I think he is dreaming.

"I'm just getting the door. I'll be back." He lets go of my arm and lies back down. I opened the door to see its Chelsea tapping her foot impatiently.

"Hey, how are you doing?" She asks quietly.

"Oh my God. You know you can't particularly be incredibly happy when your family member is going to be killed." She looks at me shocked. I close my eyes, and rub my head, "I'm sorry. Everyone just keeps asking that question, and then they say, 'I understand'. The worst part is most of them probably can."

"It's okay; I was the same way when Jackson died." Chelsea says. Jackson was her ten year old brother. Skylark killed him, because he was caught stealing food to help feed Chelsea and her family. Everyone had been going through hard times, and since their dad was killed in battle, Jackson thought he should provide for the girls. But, Skylark's men found him, and Skylark killed him mercilessly. And, since its all sport to Skylark, he made Chelsea and her mother watch.

I nod, "Come on in." She walks in and sees Jett on the couch, so she gives me _the_ look. "He stayed over to make sure I was okay." I say. The door bell rings again, "Who is that?" I turn around and open the door. It is a girl, about my age. Blonde hair, her blue eyes are swollen from crying. "Hi," I say, "Can I help you?"

"My name is Stacie. I was Jacob's girlfriend." She mumbles.

"Oh, um do you want to come in?" I ask, feeling bad.

"No, thank you. I just came to tell you how sorry I am, about your brother. If you get to talk to him tell him...I'll miss him, and I love him." Then she turns and walks away, crying.

When I close the door, and turn around, Jett is sitting up on the couch. His hair is a mussed; it makes him look like a mess. I look at him, trying not to smile at how incredibly handsome he looks, "Have you ever met her?"

"Yeah, I've seen Jacob with her. Not the best couple, if you ask me." He gets up, and walks over to me. "She's not a fake, if that's what you're thinking."

"Well, wouldn't Jacob have told me about her? Why wouldn't he?" I hate surprises.

"I don't know."

"She said she loved him, but whatever it doesn't matter. I'm going to take a shower."

I go up the stairs, and get my clothes I plan on wearing today, black shirt and skirt, and then go to the bathroom. When I get in the shower, I can't help but think about Jacob dying today. Wondering what the lesson in me losing all these people is. My mom, dad, and now my only brother, were all going to be gone. I sink down to the bottom of the tub. I don't want to move, don't want to go back to the world. I just wish there was a way to stop all of this from happening.

I must have fallen asleep, and I'm woken up by banging on the door. The water is freezing. I must have been asleep awhile. "Renée, if you don't answer me, I'm coming in there!" It is Jett.

"Yeah, I'm okay I just fell asleep is all!" I yell.

I hear him lay his head on the door. "Please don't scare me like that." He says.

I turn the water off, get out, get dressed, and put on all my make-up. Which I realize is a lot. I slowly trudge back to my room, when I walk in, the window is open again. "Hey, who's in here?" I ask suspiciously.

"Be quite your friends don't need to meet me. If they do you won't like it." I turn around quickly, he is right behind me, and his face is in mine.

"You can't touch them. You obviously _need_ me, or you wouldn't be back. So, it's my turn to ask questions."

"No, it's not. You don't have the intelligence to know the right questions to ask without getting torn apart. But, I went to see your brother. He was just as surprised as you were when he saw my fangs." He smiles a wicked smile.

"What did you do to him?" I ask worried.

"I ask the questions. You humans sure are stubborn. Just sit down and let me talk." He demands.

"No this time you're gonna give me some answers." I say, suddenly angry. He looks at me with fangs ready. I feel as if I should run. It all added up, creature with fangs, wants to bite you, run. Yeah, sounds logical. But I don't. "Oh put those away! I'm so tired of people thinking they can just scare others into shutting up! Now put them away!" He laughs. But, luckily he does put them away.

"Humans just don't know when to stay quiet do they? It's interesting, really. I never much cared for being human. The ignorance was just too much for me." He says.

"You're delusional. At least humans aren't hiding. Oh, and a human rules every land. You vampires pretty much stay in the dark. If your kind is _so_ intelligent, why don't you rule the world?"

He laughs again, "You would all be dead if we ruled. We are doing people like you a favor by staying in the dark. It's when humans like this idiot that owns you; get into a higher power that we step in."

"Why? Do you actually care?" I ask sarcastically.

He shakes his head, "Not really, but you know even vampires need food. So, it's smart of us to keep you humans plentiful."

"Well, if you are here for food, you can just show yourself back out that window. You won't be killing anyone here. Do we understand each other?" I ask confidently.

He smiles viciously, "Watch yourself child. You don't want to get on a vampire's bad side. If you do, you can forget about anyone you care about, they will be gone."

"What do you want with me? If you are going to kill me, do it. Stop trying to intimidate me though, it won't work."

"It worked easily yesterday morning." He reminds me.

"I was surprised, now I'm not. Either tell me what you want, or get out."

He stops and listens. "There's someone coming. Don't let them know I'm here. I'll hide." I hear knocks at the door.

"Hey you okay? I heard voices, or am I going nuts?" It is Chelsea.

"It's only me up here. I'll be down in a minute, y'all calm down." I say.

"Okay." She says and I hear her go down stairs.

"Okay, explain." I say.

"I thought you wanted to ask the questions." He mocks.

"Fine, thank you. First, what's your name?" I ask.

"My name is Aldric, pleased to make your acquaintance." He sounds so old fashion.

"Okay. Next, what did you do with my brother?" I ask.

"I didn't do anything with your brother we just simply talked." He says, with no expression.

"Why did you need to speak with him?"

"That I'm sorry I will not tell you." He states.

"Who do you work for?"

He shakes his head, "You humans always ask the worst questions. I won't answer that one either."

"Well, why don't you tell me what you want to, and I'll listen." I say.

"Wait humans do that?" He says with a hint of sarcasm.

"Oh hush, and talk before I give up, and go talk to my brother."

"Okay, but first I need to know how old you are."

"I'm seventeen; I'll be eighteen in a week."

He sighs. "It's you."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

He looks at the door. "Someone's calling you."

"Just a second you guys! I have to go; if you stay here I can talk to you later."

"I have things to do, but I'll be back later." He jumps out the window.

I run down the stairs, "What?" I ask Jett.

"You were up there an hour. Are you okay?"

"Yeah I just fell asleep."

"Okay, you ready to go?" He asks.

"Where are we going?" I ask, looking at them both.

Chelsea looked at me worried, "Your brother is..." She doesn't finish the sentence, she sees on my face I remember.

"Oh." I had forgotten all about it.

When we get to the square, Jacob is up on a stage with a hooded man, and Skylark is sitting in an oversized chair smiling as if he had just won the lottery. Skylark sees us as we pull up, he waves happily. Jett looks around and says, "Why are there so many people here?"

I look at the people, "In this town someone getting executed is like the biggest part of their lives. It's a sick town."

He nods. "So how are you doing? Do you even want to stay here? We can go."

"No. I can't explain it but I have to be here. If nothing else to make sure I'm not crazy, and just imagining this."

He holds my hand, "I can tell you that you aren't crazy, and sadly you aren't imagining this."

We walk to the middle of the crowd. It feels really wrong being here just sitting like we are at a concert, but we are really there to see someone get killed. I turn and see Michelle and Sam running toward us. "Hey. Sorry we're late. I got caught by a cop going 80 in a 50 mph zone." Michelle brags.

"It's fine. I don't know how long we are going to stay. I may not be as strong as I think I am."

Jett puts his arm around my shoulders. "I'm with you, whatever you want to do."

Michelle smiles, "If you leave we will too."

Skylark stands up, and puts his left hand up to calm everyone. "Hello, everyone. Today we are here to witness the execution of Jacob Perry. He is charged with starting an argument with his leader, me. You will all see what happens to you when you openly defy me." Skylark says looking at Jett.

Skylark closes his eyes, and Jacob goes to his knees. His whole body suddenly burst into flames. I put my hand over my mouth, tears surfacing. "Oh my God, Skylark, stop!" I yell. His eyes still closed, he smiles. I push through the people. Jett follows, calling for me to stop. Skylark's guard catches me before I can get to Jacob. They hold my head toward him, making me watch. When I try to close my eyes, but they hold them open. Jacob's body crumbles to a pile of ash, now the guards let me go and everyone in the audience turns to go home. It is over so quickly. I stumble up the stairs to where Jacob is, and fall to the ground beside what used to be him. Skylark is still in the chair behind me, I hear him stand up and walk up behind me.

"Your boyfriend is next if he doesn't learn to keep his mouth shut." He grabs a handful of my hair, and pulls my head back, and I hear Jett come up to the stage.

"Skylark, please let her go." Jett begs.

Skylark laughs, "Aw, I think he loves you." He mocks. Skylark turns my face toward him, and kisses me on the lips, then throws my head back toward the ground. I hear his footsteps all the way down the stage.

Jett runs up behind me, "Are you okay?" He asks. I wipe my lips off, and spit on the ground trying to get the taste out of my mouth. "Come on, let's get out of here." Jett says, and picks me up on my feet. I walk to the car in a daze. What I had just seen was beyond anything I thought Skylark could have done. We get into Jett's truck, and start towards my house.

In my room I half expect to see the window open again, it is. I look down, "Okay, come out." I turn around and of course there he is.

"Hello." He says.

I shake my head. "Hi. How are you?"

"I'm wonderful." He says. I take a deep breath pushing back tears. Sensing it, he looks at me, "What's wrong?"

"I just saw my brother burst into flames." I say and let the tears out. He wraps his arms around me and holds me while I cry.

"It's okay." He says.

"No, it's not."

"If it makes you feel any better, I've watched all my family members die by Skylark's hand also, including my wife and children." He says.

I look up at him, "I'm so sorry." Is all I can say. I step away from him and wipe my eyes. He has been through a lot more than me. I decide it is time to calm down.

He sits down on my bed, and pats next to him. "You want me to sit down?" I ask still whipping my eyes.

"Well yes." He says matter-of-factly.

"Um, okay." I sit down awkwardly next to him. My phone starts ringing. _"I will not bow, I will not break."_ I use the chance to stand up. "Hello." It is Michelle, and she is breathing really hard.

"Hey listen we can't find Chelsea. We called her, we went to her house. Is she there with you?" Michelle asks panting.

"No, do y'all need help finding her?" I ask.

"No, stay there. You have enough to deal with. We'll find her and then I'll call you. Bye." She hangs up.

"Hmm that's weird they can't find Chelsea." I look at Aldric.

"Did you stay long enough to see when Skylark left?" He asks.

I look down, "Yes, he made sure I stayed long enough for the show. Then he made sure he stayed long enough for the way I reacted."

"He might have taken her just to spite you." He says.

"Do you know what he does to young women? He makes sure his blood line doesn't end let's just say that. You have to save her." I beg.

"I can't. I can't risk him finding out that we've come into contact with each other." He says.

"What are you talking about?"

"Okay sit down. I'll explain it to you like I did your brother. Katrina was killed by Skylark we all know that. But, what most people don't know, even Katrina, is that she had two other siblings that were separated at birth. We found her sister, her name is Allison. We located the other sibling here in Hagar. Since he or she lives here his or her power surrounds it. It's like a smoke that surrounds an area. We narrowed it down to this house. The power is strongest here. That's why I needed to see your brother. He looked to be oldest. I was right he is oldest, but to old. Everyone with the same blood line as Katrina stops aging at eighteen, your brother is twenty four, so he could not possibly be the one. That leaves you. You have not yet turned eighteen, so that tells why you have not felt the effects of your powers." He stops and looks at me, "Any questions so far?" I just shake my head. "Good. Now, you are powerless without at least one of your other sisters. Katrina is dead, so that leaves Allison. She is also powerless without you. She is with us, and has agreed to help us. I'm sure you're wondering why we need you two now. Skylark is very powerful. We are not quite sure how he does it but he controls his people without protest. No one, not even the most powerful wizard has been able to defeat him. We believe only you and your sister can help defeat him. You will have help of course, but you and your sister are our secret weapon. If you will agree to help us."

I stare at him, "Why me?"

"Ah, the question of life. We don't know why we are dealt a certain hand, but that's just the way the cards fall. I can't explain that, but if you don't help us we all will be under Skylark's control forever. Do you want that?"

I shake my head. "What do I need to do?"

He smiles, "I'll come pick you up tomorrow. We'll start then."

"Wait. You keep saying we. Who are you talking about?"

"The...you can call them rebels." He turns and jumps out the window.
Chapter 5:

It feels like he is freezing, but not on the outside, only in his bones. He shakes vigorously trying to break the large straps holding down to the table.

"Let me out of here!" He yells, praying someone will hear him.

The large door opens, and Shae walks in. "Calm down. It will be over soon." She puts her wrist down close to his mouth, and cuts it with a small knife, letting her blood drip down into his mouth. When she gets close enough, he bites down hard.

She bends down close to his face, "Stop." She says. He can't, or he doesn't want to, so he keeps drinking.

"You have to stop or I will kill you. Do you want that?" She asks him. He forces himself to pull back, and she takes her arm away. Shae pats him on the head, "Good boy."

"I'm not a dog." He says.

"That's what you think." She counters, and then leaves the room again.

He struggles against the belts again, oddly they give in, and break. Amazed, he gets up, still dizzy from the drugs they gave him, and stumbles to the door, lightly taping on it. It opens just a little, and that is all he needs. He throws it open the rest of the way. "You think you can keep me in?" He yells. He feels furious, but he doesn't know why. Two vampires jump on him trying to hold him down, but he just slings them off like they weigh nothing. But, they keep coming. All he has to do is touch them and they will go flying down the hallway. Once he gets free of them for even a split second he runs. But, he is well aware of the others running behind him.

He runs as fast as he can, but makes the mistake of looking back, and runs flat into something as hard as a rock. He realizes the only bad thing about being able to go so fast is how much harder you fall. He looks up, it's another vampire; she has brown hair, and strongly resembles Aldric. She is...beautiful.

"What are you doing out?" She says.

He snaps out of it and stands up, "What the heck do you're think you're doing trying to keep me here!? You have no right!"

She cocks her head to the side, "I have no right? My brother created you. That gives him all the right in your little world. So suck it up cupcake, because it isn't getting any better."

"You are Aldric's sister?" She nods. "That makes you boss." He feels oddly loyal to Aldric, no matter how much he wants to murder him.

She rolls her eyes, "Yay." She says sarcastically. "Do you think that changes anything? I had no choice. I'm the same as all of you. I'm a pet. Here for his pleasure. My title does not change that. My name is Bliss." He isn't angry at all anymore, instead now he feels exhausted now. But, still he says nothing. "Jacob, you are special. My brother can see it, and I could see it in you now. But, if you turn against your own race, you will be dealt with." She says.

He looks at her, "I was turned against my race the moment you _things_ bit me. I had no choice. So, yes please deal with me accordingly. But, I'm not one to give my full cooperation. No matter the consequences. That's how I ended up where I was."

Bliss smiles, "You will need to learn to change that then. Come walk with me." She starts down the hall with her long dress flowing behind her. He catches up close to where she is. "None of us had a choice. Only the very first vampire had a choice. He chose to create more like him so he wouldn't be alone. I know he sounds like a very selfish person, but..."

He interrupts her, "Person? You...we are not people we are _animals_ , a freak of nature, but not _people_."

She laughs, "Right, sorry. I know he sounds like a very selfish... _animal_ , but I believe most of us would have done the same thing."

"I wouldn't have." Jacob states.

"You say that now, but you've never been alone, truly alone. If you had been the only human in the world you wouldn't have cared as much about being changed, because you would then be with the majority. We all want to be in the majority. He did to in a way, so he created a majority for his own."

Jacob stops, "So what now? Do you keep me prisoner here? Or do I get to go home?"

"You don't get to go home. If you go home Skylark's men will see you and know you didn't die when he thought you did."

"How did you pull that off anyway?" He asks.

"We are in alliance with the last known wizard, other than your sister and her sister. When there is a human we want to save for whatever purpose. The wizard does a spell to make one our prisoners look like that human, and puts them in place of the human. Because, the only way to kill a vampire is to cut the head off, or stab them in the heart with silver. We prefer not to do those ourselves." She explains.

He puts on his best sarcastic face, "Aw you have a heart?"

She rolls her eyes. "Yeah, just not a beating one."

That stops him in his tracks, "Oh, yeah." He says. "So, where are we going?"

"Right here." She says, and points to a door on her left. "This is where you can sleep. Tomorrow someone will come and get you. You have a lot of training to do."

"Training? For what?" He asks.

"You'll find out soon enough." She pushes him into the room and he hears the sound of a lock on the other side.

In the room there is a small twin sized bed, a T.V., and a small refrigerator. He goes to the refrigerator and opens it. He should have known. In it is over twenty bags of blood. He slams the door shut. He already hates what he is.

There is a small door next to the T.V. he opens it slowly, not sure what to expect. Inside is a bathroom. He lets out at a deep breath, and closes the door, before plopping down on the bed, and looking up at the concrete roof. It feels like he is back at the jail. Stuck in a small cage, not really sure how to handle things. He slowly forces himself to fall into a deep sleep.
Chapter 6:

Jett looks at his watch, "Great." He mumbles, and sits on the edge of Renée's couch for a minute, thinking about whether or not he should even go to work today.

It takes him twenty minutes to decide he needs to go to work. So, he grabs his keys and his phone and yells up at Renée, "Hey Renée! I have to go to work!" He hears her door open, and her running to the stairs.

"Wait. You're going to work today?" She asks.

"Yeah, I have to work from ten to two today, and its nine forty five. It's ten minutes from here to Skylark's mansion, and I need time to clock in, not that we get paid or anything."

"But, you stood up to him. He told me you were next if you didn't learn to keep your mouth shut." She says.

He shakes his head, and grabs his jacket off the back of the chair in the kitchen. "I can't just take off. It's not like that. You'll figure that out when you have to start working for him. Which is after next week right?"

Everyone has to have a job in Skylark's mansion when they turn eighteen, and the pay is being able to live. People still have money from the way it was before, but very few people use it anymore.

He takes a deep breath, "You should stay home for the rest of the day. It's crazy out there." Renée doesn't say a word, she just frowns. "I'll call you and let you know when I get home." He turns.

"Please, don't get yourself killed." She calls behind him.

He doesn't say anything, because he doesn't truly know what will happen today, he may not make it through the day, but he steps out in the hot summer day. Very few people are out today, most have to work. He gets in his truck, turns the ignition, and turns the radio on as far as it would go, then drives as fast as he can without breaking the speed limit. When he gets to the mansion he has to go through the annual search before he can go inside.

He smiles at the two guards, "Hey boys, miss me?"

The two guards glare, and pat him down until they finally decide he has nothing that could possibly hurt their beloved dictator.

Once they let him by he makes his way to the kitchen where they made everything Skylark demands. He is a servant; he takes the trays of food to Skylark when it is done. This also means he has to look at the face of what he considers a murderer, everyday. He is just about to go into the kitchen when he hears someone calling down the hall. "You, boy! Stop!"

He looks behind himself, but they are yelling at him. "What? I haven't done anything."

"Your King wants a word with you." Demands the first guard.

"Oh really, and to what do I owe this wonderful surprise?" Jett asks sarcastically.

The second guard speaks this time, "Don't cause me any trouble. You won't like the outcome, although I may get what I've always wanted. So, go ahead. I'll kill you personally." This guard has a scar across his face.

"No, you won't." Jett says. "Skylark wants to do that himself. If you try to, he'll kill you. Isn't that right?"

The guards grab his arms, and almost drag him down the hallway to Skylark's throne room. They open the doors, and throw him to the ground. When Jett looks up he sees Skylark's smiling face, sitting in an oversized throne. Jett stands up slowly, half expecting to be hit back down. Skylark chuckles, "Ah, hello Jett." Jett just glares. "What no greeting?"

Jett takes a deep breath, "Hi." He grumbles.

"You seem upset. What's the matter?" Skylark asks.

"Nothing, you don't really care, you just want some reason to kill someone. Don't you?" That makes Skylark smile.

He looks to his left at a guard, "Bring her in, please." Jett starts getting nervous now he thinks of Renée, and wonders if Skylark got to her after he left. But, the girl that comes out isn't Renée, it is Chelsea. It is Renée's friend. She looks...broken. He tries to go get her, but is restrained by the guards. "Get off of me! What did you do to her?" He yells, glaring at Skylark.

Skylark puts his arm around Chelsea and makes her sit on his lap. "Oh, I didn't do anything. I simply taught her a lesson. And, hopefully you will learn the same lesson. You shouldn't have yelled out like you did. Now you have to buy back my forgiveness, or a lot of people will die, all because of you." He pulls her long black hair over her shoulder, "You know what's odd?" He says. "She still smells like strawberries, my favorite." When he smiles he looks more like the devil than ever. Jett tries to pull away from the guards.

Maybe Renée was right, he shouldn't have come today. "Settle down, settle down. It's all going to be okay. Here's the thing. I need your friend. What was her name...Renée? Yeah, that was it. I need her, because obviously her brother was the wrong one." Skylark says.

Jett looks confused, "What do you mean the wrong one?"

Skylark smiles, "I was looking to kill at least one of the two last siblings of Katrina, because they are very important. We don't need to go into details, but a friend of mine says the signs that the sibling is still alive are still here. Now, here's the deal. I'll give you this pretty girl," He pets Chelsea's hair. "If you bring me your little friend."

"Katrina had no siblings everyone knows that." Jett says.

Skylark shakes his head, "There is so much you people are misinformed of. So, is it a deal?"

Jett's head is spinning he can't give up Renée for Chelsea, but he also can't let Chelsea die. "I...I can't."

Skylark shakes his head, "Not what I wanted to hear. Maybe I could use you to get her. I kill you, dump you on her doorstep, and tell her that if she doesn't come to me this little girl is next."

Jett stands straighter, "You'll never get her."

Skylark claps, "I love a good show." Skylark looks at one of the guards, "Give him your sword." The guard walks to Jett, and hands him his sword.

Jett looks up at Chelsea, "I'm so sorry."

Guards start coming at Jett from every angle. He catches the first one with the edge of his sword in the gut. Another guard comes up from behind him and cut his arm. He lashes out with his sword, and hears it hit but isn't sure who, or where. Again someone from behind, then his left, then his right. They are everywhere; he doesn't remember this many standing around. He catches another across the stomach and he falls to the floor bleeding.

One gets his sword around Jett's neck, and Skylark smiles, "Stop!" Everyone, including Jett, freezes. "Bring him up here." The guards tow him up to Skylark's throne. "This is your last chance to take my offer. You would still be alive, and so would this girl. You just have to bring me Renée. What do you say?"

Jett spits in his face, "Go to hell."

Skylark smiles, and wipes his face, "You are mistaking, my friend. I am hell." He looks up at the guard holding Jett and the guard slits Jett's throat.

Chapter 7:

I sit in my room thinking about everything. My brother dying, what Aldric told me about being Katrina's sister, what Jett had said about me having to work for Skylark when I turn eighteen in a week. It is all so much to take in. I don't even know how I truly feel about all of it. I know I should probably fall to the floor crying about my brother. Be angry that I have to work for Skylark. Be happy there might be a way to defeat Skylark if this girl Allison and I work together. But, I feel nothing. I am completely numb to the world around me. I just sit here in my room. I don't understand myself. I always say I would die without Jacob, but I'm not dying. I'm not even sad right now. I'm...numb.

I go to my side to table to get my phone, and dial Michelle's number. It rings three times, and then I get the voice mail. "Hey this is Michelle. Leave me a message and I'll call you later." I wait for the tone and say, "Hey this is Renée. Call me back when you get this. I was just going to see if you had heard from Chelsea yet. Bye."

About the time I hang up the phone my doorbell rings. "Who is that?" I ask myself, and run down the stairs. I look out the peep hole and automatically I know something is wrong. There are two men in the army uniforms, which means they work for Skylark. "Can I help you?" I ask wearily as I open the door.

An army man with a scar across his face says, "Are you Renée Perry?" I nod slowly. The man snaps his fingers at another army man with a scar across his arm. The man with a scar on his arm goes to the truck they came in, and gets what looks like a body out. My heart is beating fast, I don't know who it is yet but my guesses are dwindling. They drop the body at my feet, and my breath catches. I put my hand over my mouth to hold back a scream, it is Jett. His throat is slit, and he looks like he has been fighting.

Tears are building up, but I don't want to cry in front of these men, they will only laugh at me. I sink down to Jett's body, "Why?" I ask my voice shaking.

The man with the scar on his face says, "Skylark says that if you don't come to him, your friend named Chelsea is next. You have forty eight hours." He looks down at me with a sympathetic look that shocks me.

They all turn and get back into the truck they came in. I can't hold my tears any longer. I pull his head up in my lap, "Jett I'm so sorry." I sit rocking him back and forth.

He is still alive a little bit, because he groans. "What are you crying for?"

I laugh between tears, "Nothing, you don't worry about it. You have to sleep now."

He smiles sadly, "I don't want to go to sleep. You know, I'm going to do my best to stay awake for you."

"You can try, but..." I trail off.

"I know. Have I told you lately that I love you?"

I shake my head slowly, "No, tell me again."

"I love you so much. He wanted you. I couldn't let that happen, you know that right?"

I nod, crying uncontrollably, "I know. I love you too." I pet his hair out of his face. He looks up at me with his deep blue eyes.

I lean down and kissed his lips, "Mmm, that's a good way to go out." He says.

His eyes start to close, "No, stay with me." I beg.

"I'm with you forever, and always. You're never gonna be alone. Please, don't give up. Do everything you can to stay alive. I love you with all my heart." He mumbles. "I'm with you forever."

His eyes close. "No." I beg. "I'm so so sorry. I'll never leave you again, I promise." I am completely oblivious to the rain, the thunder, the lightning, everything. I just keep saying, "Come back to me. Come back to me." Knowing he is long gone.

I am soaking wet when I feel Michelle shaking me. She is crying and yelling at me at the same time. "Renée! Renée! Listen to me!"

I look at her blankly, "He's gone. He died because of me. I killed him."

Michelle hugs me still crying, "No, you didn't. Skylark did. Come on we have to take him somewhere and bury him. We can't leave him here."

I shake my head. "No. I'm not leaving him. I'm never leaving him again. I promised." Michelle says something to someone else, but I have already blocked them out again. All I can think about is somehow I could have stopped all of this. But, it is too late. The only person that gave me a reason to live is dead, and because of me. I feel something pulling me. It is Sam; she is pulling me away from Jett's body. I thrash and pull away from her. "No! No! Don't take him away from me! Please, just wake up Jett! Please." I beg. Sam drags me into the house, and leans me against the wall. I pull my legs up to my chest, and bury my face in my knees. Sam is saying something, but I ignore her.

I get up without thinking and go up the stairs to my room. Sam is calling after me, I just keep walking. I turn my CD on and put it on track three, then turn it up all the way and lie on my bed still dripping wet. The song Never Gonna Be Alone by Nickelback, which he said was ours playing.

With this song playing over and over in my head as I drift off into a deep, dark sleep, hoping I won't wake back up.

Chapter 8:

He just doesn't understand people. He gave the boy a chance to live, and take the girl with him but instead he decided to die. What is it about this girl that made him want to die for her? Everyone thinks Skylark is harsh, because others won't take the chances he gives them. He shakes his head. A small man comes in with a tray; on it is grilled chicken, a glass of wine, and corn. Mmm, his favorite. "What's your name, boy?"

The boy will not meet his eyes, they've learned not to over the past years. "Shane, King Skylark."

He never gets tired of being called that. "Shane, is this your first day?" Skylark asks.

"Yes, sir." Shane answers.

"Why did you start off with this type of job here?" Skylark asks.

The boy hesitates, "Because the last two boys who had this job...died."

Skylark smiles, "Oh, yes. I had forgotten about that. You are dismissed." The boy scurries off like a frightened rabbit. Skylark laughs.

His men have been back from giving Miss Renée her present for two hours now. It's storming hard outside. "Where is she?" He says. He takes a bite of the chicken. "Bruce!" The big guard comes around the corner. He's Skylark's best warrior. The only scar he ever got was across his face. Skylark personally thought it made him look fierce.

He gets down on one knee, "Yes, sir?"

"Has our guest of honor showed up yet?" Skylark asks.

"No, sir." Bruce answers.

Skylark takes a deep breath, "Hmm. Thank you." He stands up and goes to the window. "I thought for sure having that girl would rush her along."

Bruce steps up beside him, "Sir, your lady wishes to see you." He says.

"Let her in." Skylark replies. She has gotten changed out of her costume for the boy, and looks beautiful. She has on a long black dress that slides across the floor with her every step, and makes her look like a dark queen. That's what he loves about her.

"Hello, my darling." Skylark says.

"Hello. Has she showed up yet?" She asks. He shakes his head. "Don't worry. She'll be here. She thinks I'm her best friend." She assures.

Skylark smiles, "My beautiful, Chelsea. You truly are a lot of help. You know that?"

She smiles, "Yes. I know." He puts his arm around her waist, and they stand there looking out the window in the direction of Renée's house. She touches his cheek, "She'll be here, and you'll kill at least one of the siblings of Katrina then the others power won't be able to touch you. You'll be the most powerful person in the world."

He kisses her, "I know. I'm just impatient."

Chelsea smiles, "I'm going back to my room. Call me when she gets here. I want to see the look on her face when you tell her." She kisses him, and walks toward the door.

"Be good." He says.

She laughs, "Always."

He walks out the side door to the hallway, and slowly to a store room in the back of the mansion. Only he is allowed back here anyone else is executed, because this one little room holds so many secrets. He takes his key out and unlocks it, then walks inside and locks it on the other side. Once he flips the switch on, he can see everything in the room. All the people that have defied him, and he used their own mind against them. If they did something he didn't like he could control their minds to make them do whatever he wanted. He tried many different things, these are the ones he just chose to make freeze.

There is only one person who can reverse the trick he had done to them, and that was Skylark. Only one person knows this, Aldric. And, he's back now to recruit Renée. He saw him at the trial, that's what really made up Skylark's mind. Skylark is sure there will be an uprising soon. There are many vampires who would love to fight him, but most humans are too afraid. Aldric more than likely has Allison, and came to Hagar to get Renée. If they end up together, it could mean death for Skylark. If Katrina was still alive they could kill him easily. Her strongest power was a force field. This means he couldn't control her, so he had to gain her trust. It may have taken two years, but it was worth it.

His only other problem would be Aldric and his people, vampires are very strong, and fast. And, their power combined with the two sister's power...it worries him. Maybe somehow he needs to get away before all this happens. What is he thinking? The girl is coming to him today. He must keep that in mind, she will bow down to him. He will not bow to anyone not Aldric, not the girls. They bow to him.

Feeling a lot better about himself, he opens the door to the store room and locks it back once he is outside. He decides to go back to the throne room and wait for the girl.

Sitting down on his throne, he stares at the door waiting for the moment she steps through them. Knowing it will be one of the most important moments of his life, when he decides what do with her. He just hopes she hasn't come in contact with Aldric yet, but he knows that is false hope. He would have gotten in touch with her the moment he stepped foot in this land, and he had been here for two days.

He sits there for two hours more staring at the door, but she doesn't show up at all. He stands up, and punches the back of his throne, "Where is she!?" He yells.

Bruce comes into the room, "Sir, is everything alright?" He asks.

Skylark is furious. "Alright?! No, it's not alright! I've been waiting for four hours for this girl! Are you sure the boy is dead!?"

Bruce nods, "Yes sir."

"Then where is she? If she cares about Chelsea as much as Chelsea says she does..." Skylark pauses, maybe that's what was wrong.

"I don't know, sir. You gave her forty eight hours, it's been four. She may just be taking what time she has."

Skylark sits back down, "You're probably right. I need some sleep. Wake me if she comes." He walks down to Chelsea's room, and knocks on the door. She opens it slowly.

When she sees it is him she opens it wide to let him in, "And, to what do I owe the honor of your visit?" She asks.

He falls back on her unmade bed, "She's still not here." He rubs his head trying to stay calm.

She smiles, "I know. Stay calm, this just a test of your patience."

He looks up at her, "The good part about being a King is you get to choose what test you pass or fail."

Chelsea shakes her head, "You know that's not true."

He sighs, "I know, but I can dream can't I?"

She nods and goes to the window, "You can, but dreaming is just our way of escaping our responsibilities of everyday life."

He really isn't in the mood to be lectured at the moment. So, instead he asked a question that he figured needed to be asked soon, "I need you to answer me honestly about something. Can you do that?"

She looks suspiciously at him, "Of course."

He nods, "If you really are on my side, and Renée is really as good friends with you as you would have me believe, then why is she not here?"

She looks out the window at the town, "I don't know maybe she's just using the time you gave her. I would have." She says, but he hears in her voice she is just as skeptical about her not being here yet.

He sits up and looks across the room at her. "Okay, tell me something else then. Why should I trust anything you tell me?" She looks at him and a look of fear passes over her eyes, but she quickly conceals it. He decides to explain it to her, "If you would so quickly betray someone you claim to be friends with your whole life, who's to say you won't or aren't doing the same thing to me, and when it matters most?"

She hesitates a moment, "I just won't."

Skylark looks down, and shakes his head. "You know that's not good enough."

"Why are you asking me this now?" She asks.

"I've thought about it. I was so quick to trust you, because you threw yourself at my feet and pledged yourself to me. But, in a way, you did the same to your friends when you claimed to have their back, and to be a friend to them. I believe you are now doing the same to me. At a time where everything I've ever worked for is on the shoulders of this one girl, I can't be surrounded by people I can't trust. You know that."

He stands and walks to the door, but hesitates for a moment then opens the door and locks it once he is out. Chelsea starts banging on it, "Hey! You can't leave me in here! You need me!"

He starts down the hall, "Bruce!"

The man runs up to him, "Yes, sir?"

Skylark sighs, "Find two men and post them at Chelsea's door, and two outside the window to her room."

Bruce nods, "Anything else, sir?"

Skylark shakes his head, "I'm assuming there's no sign of her." Bruce shakes his head. "Okay, thank you."

Skylark opens the door to his room. All of the clothes he has to wear to protect his image are really bugging him, so he takes of the heavy armor, the cape, and the thick shirt, and falls back on the bed. How could he have been so stupid to automatically trust her? It didn't make sense.

Maybe it was her looks, she is beautiful. He shakes his head. The light of the sunset is burning into his room. He stands and walks to the window. The sunset is really one of the few pure things left in this world. He isn't one. He ruined that he had the day he killed Katrina, but he liked not being pure. He would do it all over again if he had to. He lies down and drifts off into a rough sleep.

Chapter 9:

When I wake up the next morning, my CD is still playing. I don't really want to get up. For once in my life there is nothing to look forward to. I hope everything I very clearly remember from yesterday is all a dream. The sad part is I know it isn't. I sit up on the edge of my bed, and turn the CD off.

"Renée," I hadn't even noticed Aldric sitting on the chair across from my bed. I look up at him. No words will come out of my mouth. It is almost as if I don't know how to talk; even if I try nothing will come.

So instead he says, "I saw what happened with the boy, and I heard what Skylark's men said about the girl, Chelsea. But, you can't go to her. Chelsea is with him. I saw her go to his mansion, and pledge her life to him. Are you listening to me?"

I had gotten to the point where he said Chelsea was with Skylark. When I find my voice I say, "Why should I believe you? Chelsea and I have been friends for seventeen years. I've known you for two days. Give me proof she is with him."

Aldric shakes his head, "Don't be stubborn. I may not have proof, but I saw it with my own two eyes."

I stand up, "That's not good enough! You don't make a blanket accusation like that without evidence! I won't go to him yet, but get me evidence within an hour. This should just add to the magnificent week I'm having."

Aldric takes a deep breath with a lot of attitude. "Fine, I will find evidence, and you will owe me when I get it." He stands and goes to the window, "Are you going to be okay?" He asks in a sympathetic voice.

I look down, "No, I'm not."

As if reading my mind he looks at me, "Why are you blaming yourself?"

I sigh, "I...know it was my fault. Before he died he told me about Skylark wanting me. And, that he couldn't let that happen He died, because of me."

"I'm...sorry." He jumps out the window without another word.

"Thanks that was _so_ comforting." I whisper sarcastically.

I sit back on my bed, and take a deep breath. I refuse to let my grief over take me, so I get up and go to the bathroom. I look horrible. Just like every morning when I got up since my mom and dad died I have black eyeliner streaks from my eyes to my chin. I get a rag out of the drawer and put soap and water on it, and scrub my face until all the eyeliner is off. Since I'm still in the clothes I had worn to Jacob's execution I decide I need to change. I really don't want to dress up, so I put on jeans and a black, short sleeve shirt.

I go downstairs, and start making coffee; just waiting for whatever else life has to hit me with today. I am vaguely aware of the knocking on the door, because I just sit there staring at the coffee pot, in some sort of trance. The knocking gets louder. I finally snap out of it, and go to the door. But, I hesitate this time I'm not sure if I want to open the door, the last time I did it didn't end to well. Slowly I open it. It is Aldric, already. He has a small, frail looking boy with him. "Aldric, what are you doing?"

Aldric pushes the boy past me into my house. "You wanted proof? Here it is." He points at the boy.

"How is he proof? It's a kid." I ask in disbelief.

Aldric looks at the boy, "Tell her what you told me."

The boy glances at me, then quickly away. "Tell her about what?" He voice is shaking like he is about to start crying.

Aldric looks at him frustrated, "About the girl, the one with long black hair."

The boy nods, "Skylark hired me early, because the other boy's that had the job died. I heard them talking about getting rid of at least one of the siblings of Katrina. And, since she was coming to them it would be easy. Once they killed her, he could easily rule the rest of the world. I don't know who they were talking about though." He says in a scared voice. "I didn't hear any names. I didn't even think Katrina had any siblings." I glare at Aldric. I was hoping he wouldn't be able to find any proof. I don't want to believe it.

"What's your name, and how old are you?" I ask the boy.

"Shane and I'm ten." He says, but still refuses to make eye contact with me.

"Okay, Shane. Aldric is going to let you go, but don't tell anyone you talked to either one of us. Okay?"

He nods and I open the door, sending him running out scared. I look at Aldric. He smiles, "Enough proof for you?"

I don't smile, "Yes, sadly." I go back into the kitchen and get a cup of coffee with my sugar, and sit down. "Why?" I ask. Aldric sits in the chair beside me.

"Why is she with him? I don't know. Maybe she's assuring her life if he does try to kill off everyone. I can't read minds so I'm not sure." He says. Again I can't hold my tears back. "Don't...don't cry." He says.

"All of a sudden, my life is falling apart. I don't know what to do about it. Usually I can stay calm, I can act tough whether I am or not. But, I can't even put on a brave face anymore."

He sits there listening to me, "I know it's tough, but it gets easier. I promise."

My phone starts ringing. I wipe my eyes and pick it up, "It's Michelle." I say. I push the green talk button, "Hello?"

I can hear Michelle let out a sigh of relief. "Hey, I was just calling to let you know we got the guy who runs the cemetery to bury Jett. I'm sorry, not the best news to call with."

"It's fine. Um, I got news that Chelsea is working with Skylark. Don't ask why. I don't know."

"I'm not sure I understand." Michelle says.

"She's not with us. I'm sorry. I don't want to talk about it right now. And, don't come over I won't be here."

Michelle huffs, "Where will you be then?"

"Around. I got to go. Be careful." Before Michelle can protest I hang up.

Aldric raises his eyebrows, "I gather she didn't take it well."

I shake my head. "How could she?" He nods. "Okay, let's get this over with." I say.

"Okay, we can take my car." Aldric offers.

I look at him confused, "You have a car?"

"Yes, does that shock you?" He asks.

"Well, yeah. You can run so fast I assumed you wouldn't need one." I explain.

He grins, "I don't like to run everywhere. It's very tiring you know?"

"I don't want to know." I say.

We walk out onto the street, but there is no car in front of my house. "So, where is it?" I ask.

Aldric looks down an alley way, "It's down there."

"Oh, okay." We start down the alley way. His car is almost invisible; it is so black it blends in with the dark walls of the buildings. When I'm close enough to see the markings I notice it is a black Ford Mustang. I had always wanted one like this, but it was always too expensive for me.

"Wow, I bet this is fast."

"It is." He assures, as pulls his keys out and pushes a little red button on it. The doors slide out away from the car then up into the air to let us in.

"Butterfly doors?"

"Yeah, are you coming?" He is already in the car, as the engine roars. I slip in, it has black leather seats, and the windows are tinted so dark I can't see out of them.

"Can you see?" I ask.

"Yep, vampires have cat like eyes. We can see just about everything."

We drive through town at lighting fast speed. I'm constantly pushing the imaginary brake on my side, with no luck. He slows down once he gets past the region limit.

"Where are we?" I ask.

"We are between Hagar and Della." He replies.

We are on a road I have never been on before, with abandoned houses on both sides. One looks like an old farm, and I think it is also abandoned until I see an old frail looking man sitting on the porch steps. The old man's eyes follow our car never once straying. He smiles revealing sharp perfectly white teeth, and his eyes turn snow white.

"Who is that?" I ask Aldric.

He looks behind us then shakes his head, "That's Jason. He's what they call a shape shifter. He can alter his appearance to look like whatever, or whoever he wants. Just then he was trying to scare you." He points out grinning.

"Great, shape shifters too. Are ghost and goblins real too?" Sarcastic. Very sarcastic. Don't say yes...

"Oh, ghosts are only storybook characters, but goblins there are a couple left in the world." He grins. I should have expected that.

We pull up to a field, it's grass is all dead, and cracks under the wheels of the car. "Where are we going? There's no one here." He stops the car.

"You're right, but we stop here." He opens his door, and gets out. I fumble with my door, but of course, I can't figure out how to open it.

Aldric opens it, "Having trouble?" I glare at him and get out. We start walking towards the back of the field. The sun is glaring down; through my short sleeves, and jeans I can feel it burning my skin. We come to a tree line; the trees look very thick, almost impenetrable.

"Are we going in there?" I ask.

"Yep!" He exclaims happily.

I sigh heavily and take the hair band off my arm and put my hair up in a bun. "Okay, let's do this."

He grabs my arm, "We aren't walking through that. We'll go to the top of the trees and go from there."

I laugh sarcastically, "You're kidding right? I can't climb trees. Do I look like a monkey to you?" I think about it for a minute, "You better not answer that."

He shakes his head, "You know, you humans always have an excuse as to why you can't do what needs to be done."

I grunt, "We do not!"

He rolls his eyes, "Don't worry _princess_ , you don't have to climb. I'll carry you. I'm much better at jumping trees than you are anyway."

I raise my eyebrows about to make a snide remark back, but then realize he is probably right. "You're right, and you do look more like monkey than I do."

He glares, and then puts his arm around my waist, "Hold on, oh and I'd close your eyes if I were you." I close my eyes as tight as I can.

It feels like I am flying in a jet with no walls around me. I lay my head on Aldric's shoulder, I'm actually comfortable. I can hear him hitting some leaves as he goes by but none hit me. Then I feel a soft thud, and being comfortable is over. "You can open your eyes now." Aldric laughs.

I slowly open my eyes and fall straight onto Aldric, "Little early to be hugging isn't it?" He asks me.

"You must be dreaming." My vision is somewhat blurred, but I can see a lot of people staring at us. Some look more like animals, some look like they want to kill me, and some look like they want to hug me. I'm almost sure my eyes are seriously messed up somehow. I look up at Aldric, but he looks normal. "You okay?" He asks. I nod unsurely. The people who I thought look more like animals, are actually part animal. Some were wolves, tigers, cheetahs, lions, bears. I don't know what to say. He sees me looking at the people and says, "We call them mutants. No one knows how they came to be half man, half animal, but they can help us either way. They turn full into the animal they are when they want to. It's actually interesting to see."

All I can do is nod. There is a group of what look like ordinary humans off to the left, "What are they?"

He looks to where I'm motioning, "Those are shape shifters." He explains.

"So, how did you know the one on those steps was the guy named Jason? They all could have changed into humans." I point out.

"No, only Jason can change into humans. Everyone over there can only turn into animals." He points to a huge tent with leaves on top of it. "Let's go in there, and wait for Allison."

The tent looks even bigger on the inside. There is a long table set for a feast. There is turkey, rolls, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, peas, and a chocolate cake. It looks like it is a Thanksgiving Dinner. Across from the table is a big red rug that makes the tent look very elegant and a couch the same color.

"Whose birthday is it?" I ask Aldric.

He laughs, "No ones. We are celebrating you coming here."

That takes me by surprise, "Oh."

He sits down on the couch, "Please, sit." He offers. "They will be here soon. I can already hear them coming."

I sit down beside him, "What do you mean you can _hear_ them coming?"

"I have vampire hearing." He explains. "So, what do you think of all this?"

I shrug, "I don't know. I'm still trying to convince myself this is all real. I don't know if I want to convince myself really."

He looks at me confused, "Why wouldn't you? You have a chance to save your people, and more. Skylark will take the rest of the world over if you and your sister don't stop him. You two are the only ones who _can_ stop him."

I nod, "I know. I got that part, but you forgot my boy friend was killed, my brother was killed, my best friend betrayed me. Those are the parts I don't want to be true."

"I see, and what if I told you at least one of those things weren't true?" He asks and looks over at me.

"That would be great, but since you can't let's move on."

He shakes his head, "I can."

I look at him angrily, "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not." He assures me.

"Then tell me which one's wrong."

"Your brother is not dead."

I stand up, "I saw him die. I saw Skylark burn him to ash. I went up to him afterwards, and Skylark practically rubbed it in my face! Don't you dare joke around about that."

"He's not dead. That was one of our prisoners. That was the same prisoner that was at the trial. Your brother is here with us. I know you won't believe me until you see him, but he is alive."

"Prove it to me. Bring him in here."

"You like proof don't you?" Aldric laughs.

"Yes I do." I glare, and sit back down on the couch beside him.

He stands up and listens, "We have about ten minutes before Allison, and her people get here. I'll take you to him quickly." He holds back the edge of the tent for me to go through.

Outside everyone is working on something. Someone are training, others are making weapons. "What are they preparing for?" I ask Aldric as we walk through everyone.

"War."

We come to a concrete building, and Aldric knocks on the door. A girl with black and purple hair answers. "Shae, where is the new boy...what's your brother's name?"

"Jacob." I say.

The girl's eyes light up, "Oh, he's your brother? I can so see the resemblance. Are you as rude and stubborn as him too?"

I roll my eyes, "Well, if I had to deal with you like he does, yeah I would be. And, I guess he's not my biological brother anyway."

Shae smiles, "I like this girl. Follow me."

We walk down a concrete hallway. Oddly, everything is made of concrete, the doors, the walls, and there were no windows. "What is this, a prison?" I ask.

Shae laughs, "Something like that." That's not what I had expected, of course nothing was going as I expected anymore. We stop at a concrete door, just like all the others.

Shae knocks on it, "Hey, sleepy head, get up in there. You have visitors." I hear rustling faintly on the other side of the door.

"Yeah, I'm coming." It is Jacob's voice, making my heart jump. The door slowly opens. When Jacob sees me standing behind Shae his eyes get big and he smiles.

"Little sis!" He pushes pass Shae, and towards me, but the past is still fresh in my mind and I push back away from him.

He looks down, "What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story. How are you?"

He smiles, "I'm good."

"I'm glad." I mumble.

He looks around Aldric, "Did Jett come with you?" He asks in a not so enthusiastic voice.

I shake my head, "Skylark killed him."

Jacob stops, "What? Why?"

"He stood up for you at your trial."

That takes Jacob by surprise. A woman walks between us with what looks like blood bags. Jacob grabs as many as he can and sucks them down.

"You're a..." Okay, how much weirder could life get? Wait, forget I asked that.

He shakes his head, "I won't hurt you. I promise."

"You did when you weren't a vampire. Why wouldn't you now?" I accuse.

"That was an accident." He says.

"It was an accident?" I ask unbelievably.

"You are the only person who can help me be happy." He lies.

"So, I'm just supposed to let you make my life miserable, so you can be happy?" I ask.

He is getting angry, but I know he won't do anything to me in front of Aldric. He will try to wait, and get me alone to hurt me. Aldric finally speaks, "We need to go they will be here soon. Jacob, you need to start training anyway don't you?" Jacob nods, glaring at me. "Shae you will help him." It isn't really a question more of a demand. Shae nods.

We get to the big stone door in the front, and Aldric had to put his hand in a scanner to get out. As we are walking through the people every head turns to a sound coming from the clearing. Aldric stops me at the opening of the tent, and turns to look too. "They're here." He announces. There is a girl at the front of what looks like hundreds of people. Her resemblance to Katrina is unmistakable. Her long, blonde hair looks soft and silky, just like Katrina's. She is skinny, tall, and very pretty. I see no resemblance of myself in Katrina or Allison, but there is no doubt Allison is Katrina's sister.

They stop in front of us, and Allison turns around to the people with her, "Find some way to make yourself useful. Help train someone, help with weapons, anything." The people behind her scatter, doing exactly what Allison told them to do. Allison turns to us, "Is this our girl?" She asks looking at me.

Aldric nods, "This is her. How was your journey, Allison?"

"It was fine, thank you. So, what's your name?" She asks focused on me.

"My name is Renée." I reply skeptically.

Allison looks pleased, "I love it. So, what do you want us to do?" She asks Aldric.

"We should just talk right now. I'm sure you both have a ton of questions." He notes and ducks under the tent followed by me then Allison. We all sit down at the table and Aldric hands everyone a plate.

"I'm not really hungry, but thank you." I say.

Allison nods, "Me neither, thank you."

Aldric sits down, "Okay, we won't be eating then. So, who wants to go first?"

"I do." Allison states. "You keep telling us we are the only ones who can stop Skylark. How exactly do we do that?"

Aldric sighs, "How about I just start from the beginning of what I know and go from there?" After both of us nod he begins, "Your parents names were John and Lea Sparks. Your mother and father both had powers. Your father was a sorcerer, which means as long as he had his book of spells, he could do any spell in it. Your mother had the power of illusion, among many others. She could make you see whatever she wanted you to see. If I had that power, I could have just killed one of you, and the other would have only seen the way we are sitting now. Do understand what I mean?"

We both nod. "Good, John and Lea had three children, but it was in the time of Shaun, he was a dictator worse than Skylark. In those times you were not allowed to have more than one child, because few people had the means to raise more than one. There was still money in those times. So, they had to get rid of two of you. What I heard is they gave two of the children to close relatives, and kept the oldest child. The other two were paternal twins, which means same age, same birthday. But, they don't look the same. The oldest was two years older than the twins. At the time no one but the people who got the other kids and the parents knew their gender. We did know they kept a girl. You will each have powers of your own. Sometimes, in cases like this, one child will have tremendous power. Which means you can do unthinkable things, and by yourself. Anyway, it turned out the child they kept was the one who was going to kill Shaun, and the one to take his place as ruler. It was Katrina. How she killed him no one knows, because your powers will not work without at least one of your other siblings there with you. No one was there to see how she took him down, it still remains a mystery. Then as we all know Skylark killed Katrina. It was a surprise to everyone. He was one of the most trusted men in the army, so Katrina thought nothing of it when he came into her throne room and...beheaded her. But, don't start to think that you are invincible, because you're not. You can still be wounded or sick, you just will be in pain for all eternity, you just won't die of it, unless something is left in you. Like a silver blade that is never pulled out, that can kill you. Any questions so far?"

We shake our heads. "Okay, anyway once we learned that powers were past down to all their children, we knew we had to find you. The hard part was we didn't know where you were, what gender you were, or even the age. Okay, now about your ages. You two are paternal twins. Currently you are both seventeen, when you turn eighteen in four days now, you will stop aging." He explains.

Allison sits up a little straighter. "What do you mean stop aging?" She asks. Aldric has already told me about this.

He takes a deep breath and explains, "Your skin, your mind, your body, does not age. You personally will know how old you are. But, no one else will unless you tell them."

"That's interesting." Allison utters.

Aldric goes on, "When you do turn eighteen you will be given a choice. I'm not sure how it works, but somehow you will be presented with the choice to either keep your powers, or they get taken from you."

I shake my head confused, "Wait, I can just sort of opt out of all this when I turn eighteen?"

He nods, "Something like that. You may think it's an easy choice now, but it may be harder when the time comes." I sink back down in my chair, as he looks at us, "Anymore questions?"

I nod, "How is me being here, and helping you, going to affect the people I care about? It hasn't been a good thing so far."

He sighs, "I've learned over my life time that...the people you may lose...may be worth it in the end."

"I don't know if I think of it that way." I put plainly.

"You will change your way of thinking by the time everything is done. I thought that way too until..." He pauses a moment. "I thought of it that way too until Skylark killed my wife and two children. Then I realized once we finally kill this murderer, and save millions more lives, my little family won't matter."

"I'm sorry, and they will matter. Maybe not to everyone else, but to you they will." I point out.

He nods, "Okay, any more questions?" He asks changing the subject. Allison shakes her head.

"When do we start?" I ask.

"Well, we can start on your hand-to-hand combat today. But, the rest has to wait until you both turn eighteen. It's only four more days." He explains. We all stand up, and he pulls back the tent to let us through.

"So, we start now." He adds.
Chapter 10:

He feels completely shaken about Renée being here. He hoped so much that she wouldn't be pulled into any of this, but Aldric told him that she was "the one". Jacob isn't even sure he believed this guy. He takes a drink out of his cup, which erases any doubts he continues to have.

Shae stomps on his foot, "Excuse me!" She yells.

He shakes his head, and pulls himself out of his thoughts, "What?"

She looks frustrated, "Have you been ignoring me?"

He looks up sarcastically as if he was thinking, "Yes, yes I have." He replies.

She grunts, "Well, pay attention."

She goes on, "If someone comes at your front, but they're bent low to take your stomach, go lower than your opponent and knock them off their feet." A man starts running at her, in the low position she is talking about. She goes under the man's head and brings her own body up. It throws the man at least twenty feet in the air. He hits the ground with a loud thud then a crack. Jacob cringes, but the man gets right back up like nothing happened.

"Why isn't he dead? I heard his ribs cracked."

The man smiles, "Super vampire healing, man."

Shae pushes him back to where he had run from, "Your turn." She tells Jacob.

Jacob gets down and ready. The man runs faster than he had with Shae, down like he is going to take Jacob out, then hits him like a ton of bricks. Jacob flies back and hits a thick tree behind him. He feels his ribs crack the moment he hits the tree him. He rolls onto his side, and coughs vigorously. Blood comes out of his mouth. Almost immediately he stops hurting. He stands up and moves around a little bit, "Woo! That's awesome!" Jacob goes back and shakes the man's hand, "Nice hit. Too bad it's only going to happen once."

The man laughs, "Don't get your hopes up. My name is Chris, remember that when I take you out again."

Jacob laughs, "Mine's Jacob. And, don't get to comfortable."

Chris runs at him again, this time Jacob did the same thing Shae had done and Chris lands face first on the ground. He stands up again, "Nice one." Chris complements.

Jacob takes a dramatic bow, "Thank you, thank you very much."

Shae steps between them, "Sorry to break up your bromance, but we have more to do." The boys both laugh.

The day drags on. Shae shows him everything from fighting with a knife to shooting arrows. He opens the door to the room they gave him, it is still daylight outside, but for some reason they told him to go take a shower and look presentable. Obviously sweat and dirt aren't "presentable". He gets undressed and into the little shower in the bathroom. There are bottles of shampoo and conditioner placed around the sides. He washes his hair, and gets out. There is a suit on his bed. They must have put it there while he was in the shower. He put it on. It is grey velvet, and is a perfect fit. How did they know all these things, it is all too weird. He finds a pair of black dress shoes in the small closet, and puts them on. There is a knock on his door, "Come in." He says. It is Bliss.

"What are you doing here?" Jacob asks harshly.

"Wow, thanks for the hospitality." Bliss laughs. She sees the irritated look on his face, "What not happy to see me?"

"It's not particularly you that I'm not happy to see, it's just I'm a little mad at your brother right now, and you remind me of him."

Bliss rolls her eyes, "Oh, get over it. You are going to have to be this for the rest over your life. Our mom always used to say, 'Suck it up cupcake, because at isn't getting any better.'"

Jacob finishes tying his shoes, "I'm not mad about that. He brought my sister here. I was hoping she wouldn't have gotten dragged into any of this."

Bliss sits down beside him, "She is _this_. She is the key to our revolution. Without her and her sister we will all be under Skylark's control forever."

Jacob nods, "Everyone keeps saying, 'Her and her sister.' Wouldn't our parents have told us if they weren't really her parents?"

Bliss shakes her head, "No, they wouldn't have. They swore not to, because if word got around then Skylark would have killed you both a lot sooner."

Jacob shakes his head, "This is all too much. She needs to have a normal teenage life."

Bliss grunts, "Normal, what is normal? These days, life under Skylark _is_ normal. He wiped out the older generation, because they knew too well how to survive. He didn't want that passed down. He wants everyone to depend on him. That's the only way he can be happy. If he is making someone else miserable, or if they _need_ him, he's happy. No one will have a normal life if we don't win this."

"I know. Why did they have me dress up?" He asks changing the subject.

She stands up at the door, "You have to do an interview." She answers.

That takes him by surprise, "What do you mean?"

"You have to go to the square with Shae and I, and then announce you are still alive. We need you to take the spotlight off of your sister. He has already given her a forty eight hour period. When her time is up, he will come for her, or someone else she cares about. If you are alive, he will think you are still the last one with powers. They will be so amazed, and Skylark will be furious." She brags.

"What if he kills me?" Jacob asks.

"He won't kill anyone, not right now; because he wants to make absolutely sure he's killing the right person. If he went around killing everyone, he would have no one to depend on him, and he can't stand that. He may send others though. But, they will be humans, you can kill them easily. Although, he will be deeply in control of those men. So, they will come back even if they don't have the legs to do it with. They will drag themselves to kill you." Bliss explains.

"You ever think maybe I don't want to kill them?" Jacob mumbles.

She doesn't seem to hear him, but he knows being a vampire means you hear everything. Bliss opens the door, and steps out. "Are you coming?" She asks.

"Do I have a choice?" He replies.

"No, not really."

"Exactly." He says and walks through the door into the hallway.

They walk down the long hallway to the door. Shae looks him over, "Hey, good looking'!" She says. Jacob raises his eyebrows, but really doesn't know how to respond to that.

Chris walks up behind them, "So, we going or what?"

Shae rolls her eyes, "You're not going."

Bliss huffs, "Yes, he is. I told him to come, the more guards this boy has the better. I think he may run _to_ trouble if he sees Skylark. He's killed to many people close to him."

Jacob just looks down, she's probably right. Shae huffs, "Fine, but don't do anything stupid." She says to Chris. He holds up his hands innocently.

They walk out to the opening where everyone is still training and making weapons. Renée and a blonde girl are sitting outside a tent. He goes up to Renée, but she cringes away. He sighs, "I'm not going to hurt you." He assures.

"I keep telling myself that, but you keep proving me wrong." She snaps.

"Get over it." He says harshly.

The blonde girl sitting next to her stands up, "Is he your boyfriend?" She asks Renée.

"No, this is my brother, Jacob. Jacob, this is Allison. I guess she's my sister."

Allison bats her eyes, "Well, hello Jacob."

"Hi." Jacob says. "I got to go, it was nice meeting you. Bye, Renée."

"Wait, where are you going all dressed up?" Renée asks.

Shae taps his shoulder. "Let's go." He nods and Shae walks beside him, "Don't tell your sister things like this."

"Why?" He asks.

"Do you really think she wouldn't make a scene to keep you from going? And, she's a girl do you think she tells _you_ everything? You're deluding yourself. We are very secretive, it's our nature."

She walks up closer to Bliss before he could say anything. They walk for what would normally seem like forever, but they are going so fast it seems like seconds. They are standing in the square on a small stage made of wood. They brief him quickly about his sister's powers, and all that has gone on. There is a pile of ashes, where he assumes his fake execution took place.

He looks around the square; there is no one out walking around. Everyone is either hiding inside or working for Skylark during the day, and at night there is a curfew, no one can be out past eight.

"Okay, how long is this going to take?" Jacob asks.

Shae looks around and sees a guard running towards Skylark's mansion, "Not long at all. Skylark will be here soon. "

Jacob takes a deep breath. "Let's just get this over with."

Guards start pouring out of Skylark's mansion coming towards them. Shae and Bliss stand incredibly still. Chris smiles devilishly. The men form a circle around them, and Skylark comes to the front of the stage.

"Hello, Jacob. I didn't know you were still standing. What have you been up to lately? Burying your sister's friends?" Skylark mocks.

Jacob takes in an angry breath, "No, fortunately for you I was...detained at the time. But, I'm here now. I heard you were looking for what you called, 'the sibling'. Well, here I am."

Skylark contemplates Jacob's words. "I think you are lying to me. Do you know how much I hate liars?"

"I'm not lying. I may not have my powers yet, but when I do...you'll be the first to know." Jacob assures calmly.

Skylark laughs, "Okay, here's what we'll do. I'll let you go today, but every day you don't have those powers, I'll kill someone you care about or your sister cares about. How's that sound?"

"That won't work you've already killed everyone I love. Other than my sister, but you will never get to her."

Skylark walks up the stairs to the platform of the stage, "Maybe not her, but I can kill enough of her friends to make her come to me. Then with her in my possession, you will come like a love sick puppy. Won't you?"

Bliss, Shae, and Chris all stand between Skylark and Jacob, but he pushes past them, "You wouldn't dare touch her. If you so much as lay a finger on her, I will kill you. And, everyone you've ever come in contact with. Do you understand?"

Skylark laughs, "Sure, but let me know when you get those powers." He walks down the stairs back to his men, "We won't waste our time with him. He's not the one we want."

Jacob turns to Bliss, "Why don't we just kill him now? We could rip his head off."

Bliss shakes her head, "No, we can't. He has control of many people. Like the two men up there in that building." She points to an old run down building off to the left. "They are very skilled ax throwers. If they throw an ax they will always hit the target. One only needs to throw one at us, and if it cuts our necks, or hits us in the heart, we're done. And, he could take control of your mind at any moment. He kills people by making them kill themselves."

"So, what now? Do we let him walk away? Can't we leave some type of mark?" He asks angrily.

"No, now we leave. He knows that you are the true last sibling. He will want to contemplate it now." Bliss explains knowing Skylark could hear her.

Chris stands next to Jacob, "Believe me I want to hurt him as much as you do, but the ax throwers will kill us."

They all jump down off the stage, and head back for the camp.

Chapter 11:

Skylark burst through the doors of his mansion. Bruce runs up beside him, "Sir, can I ask, why we didn't kill him while we had the chance? I would gladly do the honors."

"The two girls and the man he was with were vampires, which means he probably is one too, which also means he's not one of the last siblings."

They make their way down the hallway towards Chelsea's room. He unlocks the door and goes in. She is lying on her bed. "Wake up." He demands. She sits up quickly, and moves as far away from him as possible. "You lied to me." He accuses.

"What? No, I didn't." She assures.

"Well, then you don't have as good a friend as you thought you did. Do you know what promise I made her?"

Chelsea looks confused, "The promise you made who?"

"The promise I made your closest friend, Renée."Chelsea shakes her head, "I told her if she didn't come within forty eight hours, I would kill you. I always keep my promises. And, I absolutely can't have a liar around at times like these." He explains and takes a deep breath. "You know what I have to do."

"No, you can't kill me. I'm the only leverage you have on her." Chelsea pleads.

"No, you're not. She has many more friends. She will come to me sooner or later, but you are not the determining factor for her."

He turns the knob to the door, "Bruce." He calls.

Bruce comes to the door, "Yes, sir?"

"Take care of her." Skylark says. Bruce nods, and sends another solider into the room. Skylark hears a brief struggle, but then it is over. "What do you want us to do with her, sir?" Bruce asks.

"Same thing you did with the boy." He demands and makes his way to his throne room.

He takes a deep breath and sits down in the window seal that looks over the town. Bruce walks into the room, "Sir, is there someone else we need to get?"

Skylark shakes his head, "We need to wait and see if this makes her come to me. If it doesn't, then you will get someone else." He has a feeling it wouldn't make her come to him. She is strong willed. Just like her brother, only in a different way. Her motivation is different. She knew Chelsea had betrayed her, and she won't risk her life for a traitor. But, how did she know? Aldric must be keeping an eye on Skylark's mansion. Or, he has others watching, and he warned Renée before she came. He would have to find out where they are hiding in order to cripple their operation. That was not going to be easy. Vampires could easily disappear.

Bruce walks back into the room, "It's all done sir. But, she wasn't home. We left the girl there." Skylark nods. "Sir, are you alright?"

Skylark looks at the man, "I'll be fine. I'm just thinking about everything. It is going to be very difficult to win this."

Bruce sighs heavily, "Sir, with all due respect, your men want to know you have faith in what you're doing. If you don't they don't. They need something to believe in. We will follow you to the ends of the world, but it would be nice to know it's not all on false hope. You saying it's going to be hard scares us."

Skylark ponders this, "I know, I know. We can do this, no we will do this."

Bruce nods and leaves the room. Skylark stands up and walks down the hall to the meeting room where everyone goes to plan an attack. He stands over the map in the center of the round, wooden table. Hagar is the fifth biggest land in region.

In order from largest to smallest was, Aznia, Morca, Lare, Kista, Hagar, Mona, and Della. In order to rule the whole region he would need to start with the smallest. The only reason he was able to get in so quickly and easily here was because they trusted him so easily.

There was no way Aldric and his people could be ready in the next day or so. He could try to take Della soon. But, he has to take into account their leader, Aaron. It won't take long to get to him. He can't defend himself from all Skylarks' men. He has no powers, which will make it easier.

North of Della is the Black Lands. No one who had ever gone in ever came out. Skylark had heard there were unspeakable dangers there. He turns away from the table and goes down the hall to his room. It is going to be difficult, but he would do it as if it were the easiest thing to do.

Chapter 12:

Of course he'll never hurt me. He's my brother right? I can't bring myself to believe that. He's even more a monster now than he was then. Aldric taps my shoulder, "You ready?" He asks.

"Huh?" I say.

"Are you ready? You need to learn how to defend yourself when you have no weapon, no magic, just your hands." He explains.

"Oh, okay. So, what do I do?"

"I've already explained this to you once." He complains.

"I know that! I wasn't listening!" I counter.

He huffs irritated, "If someone comes up on you from behind, you never want to let them get their arms around your throat. If they do that they have the upper hand. So, what you do is, when you sense them coming wait until they are right on you, then move to the side. Then they will be in front of you, and you get your arms around their neck. You have the upper hand, and you can easily break their neck. No, blood or anything a clean death."

"Yeah, because I would hate for it to be messy. That is a stupid way of doing it too." I comment.

"Just do it." He commands.

"Only you guys would know how to do this." I stop, something doesn't feel right. I completely ignore everything Aldric is telling me, and listen to the movements of the people around me. It is like time stands still. I turn around and a man is in the position to jump on my back, but he is frozen. I stand to the right side of him, then close my eyes and listen again. Everything starts to move. The man that was going to jump on me hits the ground hard.

Aldric looks at me standing beside him, "How'd you get right there?"

"I...everything froze." I say amazed.

"What do you mean?" Aldric pressed.

I stand where I was before, "I was standing here, then it's like I heard him coming, and I concentrated on each move everyone made. Then everyone just...froze. But, I could move, so I moved to the side. Then I concentrated on everyone not moving, and they moved again. Does that make sense?"

Aldric nods, "You aren't supposed to have any powers yet. This is very unusual." He paces back and forth through the grass.

I just stand there still amazed. Then I think of something, "Aldric, what about when you said, very rarely one of the siblings have their own power? Could that be me?"

He thinks about it, "But, I was never told they get their power before eighteen."

"But, what if they did that would explain how Katrina killed Shaun. If she had her own power, she could have killed him without our help." I explain.

"Yeah, it would explain it, but it's never been heard of that two sisters have individual powers, or that they get them before they turn eighteen." Aldric stops pacing, and looks around for something. "Where's Bliss?" He asks a nearby soldier.

The man looks around, "I don't know we just got back with Jacob. I think she escorted him back to his room." The man sees me and smiles, "Who is this?"

Aldric rolls his eyes, "Renée." He tells the man reluctantly.

The man looks surprised, "The key to our revolution?" He asks Aldric. Aldric nods slowly. It looks like he really doesn't want this guy around me. The man focuses on me, "Well, nice to meet you Renée. My name is Chris. I know your brother; we met over me almost killing him." He says.

"Why did you try to kill him?" I ask.

He laughs, "Training, I broke his ribs, and then he broke my back. It was a lot of fun."

"How are you walking? And, is my brother okay?"

"Oh, I'm a vampire. We heal very fast. And, your brother is fine, he's a vampire too. You two have a very strong bond?" Chris asks.

I shake my head, "Not really."

"But, your brother said..."

I cut him off, "My brother says a lot of things. That doesn't make them true. He's not exactly a saint."

Chris doesn't say anything, he looks confused.

Aldric takes a deep breath, "I need to go figure this out with Bliss. I can't believe I'm asking this, but Chris will you take her home? And, stay with her. If Skylark shows up, call me immediately, and you die before she does. Do you understand?"

Chris smiles really big, "Woo! I get to die for her!"

I can't help but laugh, because he looks so stupid jumping around in circles and pumping his fist. I laugh so hard for the first time since my mom and dad died that my face turns red. The only part that is bad about it is when I have to stop. When I finally do stop it is like the world comes flooding back to me. Aldric turns and runs towards the big concrete building where Jacob is staying.

I look at Chris, "So, do you have a car too?" He smiles and looks at me as if I should already know the answer. "No." I answer myself. "Wonderful. So, how are you going to get me home?" He smiles even bigger. "Silent communication..." I say. "...got to love it." He is going to run me all the way home. I was so dizzy after the small distance Aldric had taken me; I don't know how I'm going to do this.

He puts his arm around my waist, "Close your eyes, beautiful." I take a deep breath and close my eyes. Just like when Aldric was doing it, I feel completely relaxed. I feel the wind; I can hear it whispering in my ears telling me to sleep. I slowly open my eyes, but regret it immediately. We are moving so fast it makes me sick. I close my eyes again quickly but that doesn't stop me from throwing up all over Chris's shoulder. I hear him curse, but he doesn't stop until we get to my house. He slowly sets me down, and tells me to keep my eyes closed. I can hear a difference in his voice though; he isn't angry or happy he is almost worried.

"Oh my." He says. I stand up and open my eyes. I hope so much my eyes are playing tricks on me. There is another body on my doorstep. He rolls it over, and checks the pulse. He shakes his head, "She's gone." I walk closer to the body, it is Chelsea.

"No, no, no." I plead. "She was with him. He...he told me she was with him. Why would he kill her if she was with him?"

"Did you know her?" Chris asks.

I nod, "She was my best friend. But...Aldric said she had betrayed me for Skylark. I was supposed to go to him within twenty four hours or forty eight hours, I can't remember now, or he would kill her. I...I didn't think he would if she was on his side." I stutter.

He stands up and walks over to me, "It's not your fault. Go inside, I'll take her somewhere."

"Who's next?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "What?"

"Who's next? He's not going to stop if I continue to defy him. What if he gets my other friends, or anyone else? People can't die for me."

He grunts, "They can't? What are you doing? You may die for them. So, it's okay for you to die for them, but they can't die for you? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense." He says sarcastically. He picks Chelsea's body up and throws her over his shoulder. "I'll be right back. Stand there, don't move."

I stand there pushing back tears. Why would Aldric have lied to me? Or, did he not lie to me, and Skylark made an example of Chelsea. That he will do anything to get me. I'm not sure what to do. Chris comes up behind me, opens the door, and pushes me through it. He takes a deep breath. I walk toward the stairs. He shoots over in front of me, "Where are you going?"

I glare at him, "I'm going to find you a clean shirt. Follow me, and you can take a shower. If you have to stay with me tonight, you're not going to smell like that."

"Oh, okay. You know you did this." He says, and points to the puke on his shirt. He runs his hand through his blonde hair. The way he looks when he does reminds me of Jett. I push through him and up the stairs to my room. He follows me, and sits on my bed. "The...um." I lose my train of thought for a moment.

"Are you okay?" He asks quietly.

I nod, "The shower is through that door. There's shampoo and stuff in there, and there are towels in the cabinet under the sink."

I won't meet his eyes; they are the same dark blue as Jett's too. Everything about him reminds me of Jett, the way he talks, the way he acts, the way he looks, and the way he can make me smile with one word. "Hey, look at me." He says. I slowly do. "What can I do?" He asks.

I smile convincingly, and throw him one of Jacob's old shirts, "You can take a shower, so you won't stink up my room."

He catches the shirt, and heads towards the bathroom. "Hey, you don't plan on leaving do you? If you leave then get hurt, Aldric will kill me, then I'll have to kill you. It's a chain reaction." He smiles.

I think about it a minute, "No, for your sake I'll stay here." His eyes narrow and he stares at me, but he turns and walks into the bathroom. He turns the water on, so I lie down on my bed.

I turn on my radio, and put my head phones on. I can't believe he killed Chelsea. The part that makes me feel worse is I could have stopped it. How can one day I go from being what is considered normal, to whatever I am now. I need some motivation to go on. A reason to do all of this, because I'd rather live under Skylark than lose everyone I've ever cared about to get rid of him. Contemplating my world problems, I start to drift into my own black hole.

I feel someone shaking me. They won't quit shaking me. I sit up quickly. I still have my earphones in so when I sit up, my radio falls on the ground, ripping them out of my ears. Chris is sitting beside me with his hands on my shoulders. "What happened?" I ask.

"You were screaming. I think you were dreaming. You kept yelling for someone named Jett." Chris says.

I rub my eyes, "I'm sorry."

He shakes his head slowly, "Don't be. What happened to him?"

I look up at him surprised, "He was killed by Skylark, and dumped on my doorstep like a present, just like Chelsea was."

He looks at the ground, "I'm sorry. When did it happen?"

"Yesterday." I whisper.

He looks surprised, "That's so recent. You just got over it?"

I shake my head, "No, I'll never just _get_ over it. I learned over the years how to put on a brave face."

He nods, "Good, you'll need it. When you are the only hope of a lot of people, the last thing they want to see is you cry. They will feel the way you feel."

I sigh, "I know. How long was I asleep?"

"Not long, maybe twenty minutes. If you want you can go back to sleep. I'm going to just hang around."

I nod and lie back down. I feel him lay down on the other side.

The whole night I keep waking up periodically with nightmares. Every time I do, Chris is there helping me through it. I open my eyes again, this time on my own, not because of a nightmare, and slowly I sit up. He wakes up immediately. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up." I apologize.

"It's fine. I just thought you were having another nightmare."

I look down, "No, I'm fine. Thank you, for being there to help me through them."

"Anytime. I won't complain."

I go to my closet, and figure I will be doing more training today, so I grab some jeans shorts and a t-shirt. Then reluctantly, I walk to the side of my bed and look at my calendar. "It's the seventh."

"Huh?" Chris asks.

"There's three more days until my birthday."

"Oh." He says.

I grab my phone, and head toward the bathroom. "I'm going to get dressed." I tell Chris.

"Okie dokie." He says girlishly.

I go into the bathroom, and close the door. When I look in the mirror, I notice I look so different. I look like a stranger. I close my eyes, and turn away. It is hard to look at myself. I look like a frightened child, and I hate it.

Mahatma Gandhi once said, _"You must be the change you want to see in the world."_ This is _not_ the change I want to see. So, I need to change for the better. I push back all my fears, all my grief, and all my doubts and I put on my poker face. This is how I want people to see me. I'll try not to care.

I get dressed, put on makeup, and walk back to my room. Chris isn't in there, but I hear his voice downstairs, so I go to see who he is talking to. Aldric is sitting at my table, and Chris is sitting across from him. "What's going on?" I ask suspiciously.

Chris stands up and walks to the window. Aldric looks at him then at me, "Chris told me what happened with Chelsea. I can honestly say she was on his side." Being sure to keep my poker face on, I sit down. "It doesn't matter. The fact is there are going to be a lot of causalities. You did say that they won't matter in the end. Didn't you?"

He won't meet my eyes, "Yes, I said that. But, I didn't mean for you to not care at all about your friends and family."

"It doesn't matter how you meant it. It only matters how I took it. And, in my case, it's best for me not to care too much. Emotions are the first thing people will use against you."

"I see." Aldric says.

"What's wrong with him?" I ask, motioning to Chris.

"He's not particularly happy about what we are going to have you do next." He explains.

"Oh, and what's that?" I ask.

"We are going to try to turn you into a vampire."

I stand up quickly, "Why?"

"It's the only way to see if you already have power. If the venom doesn't affect you, then you do. If it does, you don't."

"If I don't, and it affects me, won't that ruin me getting powers when I turn eighteen?" I ask.

Aldric nods, "Yes, you are right. But, if you already have power, then we can move our plans along. It's a chance we are willing to take."

Chris turns around, "Not all of us are willing to take it."

"Well, all who matter are willing to take the chance." Aldric counters.

"Why do you care?" I ask Chris.

"Two things," He says, "One, you and that other girl, are our only chance. Two, I wouldn't wish this life on anyone."

"That's very touching." Aldric mocks.

Chris gets his jacket off of the back of the couch, "I need a drink." He says and storms out the door.

"I'm guessing by drink he doesn't mean liquor." I say.

Aldric shakes his head. "Will you do it?"

I think about it a minute, and tell myself again to push back my fears. "Yeah, I'll do it."

Chapter 13:

Aldric drives me back to the clearing where we climb the trees back to the camp. We walk through the people each turn and glare at me as I go by. "What is wrong with everyone? They look like they want to kill me." I ask.

"People are skeptical of you. They think a human is worthless, and will only cause complications in the end."

I stay emotionless. "They can think what they want, but I don't see them volunteering for the job."

We continue through the unwavering glares, to the concrete building. He knocks on the door. Shae opens it, "Ah, this girl." She says and lets us in.

We walk down the long hallway. It is hard to remember which way was the door, they all look the same. It's all concrete. We stop at dead end with another door and Aldric turns to me, "Are you ready?"

I take a deep breath, "I guess so."

He opens the door; there is a stone table in the middle with straps to tie someone down. Aldric closes the door. "I can't say this isn't going to hurt. I'm sorry it has to be you." He says.

"I'm not." I whisper.

He walks up to me, close enough that I can feel the steady movement of his chest. He slowly pushes my hair back from neck, and bends his mouth down. I can feel his breath on my neck, and I lean my head over a little to give him room trying to speed him up. I expect to feel his teeth, but instead he kisses my neck. I'm confused at first, until he finally does bite me. The pain is so severe, I almost lose consciousness as I try to push away. He holds me until instead of feeling my blood being drained I feel warmth spreading through me, getting warmer and warmer. He pulls back, and I fall forward into his arms. He sinks to the ground, and holds me in his lap while I scream at him to make it stop. I keep trying to wipe whatever it is off of my neck thinking that will help. It feels like acid, it is spreading through my veins, burning every inch of my skin, colliding with my blood. I can't take the pain anymore, and thankfully everything blurs then goes completely black.

When I wake up, I'm still in Aldric lap. My neck is hurting, but I manage to look up at him. "Did it work?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "No, you still have a pulse. I can hear it."

I smile, "That's a good thing, right?"

He nods.

"Then why aren't you smiling?" I ask.

He sighs, "In the moment when I was about to... you know, I realized something."

"What is that?" I ask softly, cringing at the searing pain.

"I care about you. I don't know why, and I barely know you, but you remind me of my wife."

He won't look in my eyes. I don't really know what to say. I don't have feelings for him like that, at least not yet. He takes a deep breath, and stands up with me in his arms. "I need to get you to the doctor. She will patch that up for you. I will come get you when you are done, but I'm going to go talk to Bliss really quick. Okay?"

I try to nod, but it really hurts. "Okay." I cough.

He pushes through the door, and starts down the hallway. With every move he makes it seems to tear my neck open even more. The pain is still so horrible unconsciousness slowly takes me again.

This time I wake up on a soft bed. A woman is standing over me. "How long have I been out?" I ask.

She smiles, "A day. It's the eighth of August. You came in on the seventh." She motions to Aldric sitting with his head on the side of my bed, asleep. "He hasn't left your side." She whispers.

She quietly steps out of the room, and closes the door. "A whole day?" I whisper.

Aldric's head pops up, "Hey, you're awake?"

"I think so. Although, I'm not entirely sure."

He chuckles, "How are you feeling?"

I shrug, "Fine right now. Has my brother been here?"

He shakes his head, "No, I've been here, and Chris has been in and out."

"True brother, huh?" I say sarcastically.

"Yeah, well men aren't exactly the most caring type." He comments.

"You're not even related to me, but you never left."

"I'm a different kind of guy." He says grinning.

The door to the room opens, and Chris walks in. "Hey, she's awake."

"Yeah, I am." I sit up in my bed, "When can I get out of here?"

"Soon." Both of the boys say in unison, which seems to tick them both off, because they glare at each other.

"Okay, what's going on between you two?" I ask. Neither one of them say anything. I sigh angrily, "Do I need to leave, and let you two ladies have a heart to heart?"

They both chuckle, "No." Aldric says.

"Good, then chill out, because you guys are putting off some serious anger vibes."

The nurse comes in, "Okay, sign these papers, then you can go." She hands me a clipboard with release papers on it. I sign them, and sit on the edge of the bed. I look down at what I am wearing (ugly hospital gown), "What happened to my clothes?"

The nurse smiles, "Oh yeah. I'll go get them."

It gets eerily quiet when she leaves. No one says anything we just sit there in silence. The nurse comes back with my shorts and a freshly washed t-shirt. "Thanks." I say. She smiles, turns on her heels and walks out of the room. I look at the boys, "You know you have to leave, right?" I tell them. Both of their faces get incredibly red, and they both stand up mumbling their apologizes and walk out the door. I get dressed and open the door.

Aldric sighs, "Are you ready?"

I think about it a minute, "I don't know. I kind of regret saying yes last time." Chris laughs, but Aldric doesn't. I can see guilt written all over his face. "I'm sorry." I say.

He shakes his head, "I am too."

Chris looks at us both confused, "Okay, I'm feeling very left out right about now." When we ignore him he jumps up and down like a child, "Hey, third wheel is speaking!" Even Aldric chuckles, but I think it's more about Chris being left out.

We walk down the stairs to the first floor. "Is this your hospital, or ours? It looks very familiar." I say.

"It's the towns." Aldric answers. "They don't know about us, so they are very helpful."

"So, what bit me then?"

"Snake of course." Aldric grins.

Chris runs back to camp, and Aldric takes me home. When I get out of his car, I can't bring myself to look at my doorstep. I am afraid there might be someone else laying there. "Are you okay?" Aldric asks sensing my fear.

"Is there anyone on my doorstep?" I ask.

He doesn't answer for a minute, I look at him. He shakes his head, "No, there's no one there." I slowly turn to my door, and let out a sigh of relief. He is right. I walk up to the door, and unlock it. Jacob is sitting on my couch. "Hey, I was wondering when you were going to get here." He says.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"This is my house to remember?" He says defiantly.

He stands up and walks to Aldric. Jacob looks from him to me, "What have you guys been up to?"

"It's not your business. Don't you have a room at the camp?" I ask.

"I do, but it just doesn't feel like home." He says.

Aldric looks at me, "You want me to stay?"

Jacob answers for me, "No, she's good. We need to talk anyway."

Aldric looks at me, silently asking me again. "Stay." I whisper.

"No, he can't stay. Did you not just hear what I said?" Jacob commands.

Aldric looks at Jacob, "This is her house, Jacob. Not yours. If she wants me to stay, I will. And, you know if you even try to force me out, I can overpower you easily."

The tension is so thick you can cut it with a knife. "Fine." Jacob says and pushes through Aldric and me to the door. He stops and look back at me, "We're not done here." He warns and slams the door.

Aldric looks at me, "He's abusive. Someone will come to watch over you every night. He won't get to you, don't worry." I nod.

"I'm going to bed. You can sleep down here if you want, or where ever. It doesn't really matter." I say and start up the stairs. He follows and stands at my door until I'm in bed, then he sits in the chair across from me.

"I'll just stay here." He says.

I'm running, but I can't run fast enough. He's going to get me. I trip over something, and land face first on the ground. Jacob's face comes into view and he's laughing at me. "You shouldn't have worked up the guts to say no to me. You have no right." He pulls out a knife.

I sit up panting. Aldric is looking at me worried, and sits down on the edge of the bed. "You must have been dreaming. Who was going to get you?" He asks.

"Jacob." I whisper.

Aldric looks at me, "I won't let him." He says. I hug him, needing something to cling to like a child, and the longer I hold on the more I don't want to let go. I scoot over; he lies down beside me, and puts his arms around me. I fall asleep for once feeling completely safe.

When I wake up the next morning we haven't moved from that potion, and I still don't want to. He's already awake and staring at the window. I look at him, "Are you okay?" I ask.

"Never better." He says smiling.

"Did I dream anymore last night?"

He shakes his head, "Not after the one about your brother. How's your neck?"

"It hurts, but I've had worse pain."

We just lay there for at least another hour, until my phones rings. _"And I will not bow, I will not break, I will shut the worlds away, and I am not proud cold-blooded fake, I will shut the world away."_

"Ugh." I groan.

"Let it ring." Aldric pleads and tightens his arm around me.

"I can't." He sighs and lets me go. I crawl down to the bottom of my bed, and get my phone off the floor. The phone screen is highlighted "Jett". "Oh my God." I say.

"What?" Aldric asks, already by my side.

"It's Jett's number." I tell him.

"Let me answer it." He says. I hand my phone to him. He pushes the talk button, "Hello?" He listens for a moment then sighs, "No, Skylark she's not available right now. Can I take a message?"

Again another pause. "Ah, old friend, you know I won't allow that." He listens. "Yes, she does remind me of her." His jaw tenses. Whatever Skylark is saying its making him mad. "That wouldn't end well for you." Aldric warns and hangs up.

"What? What'd he say?" I ask urgently.

"He said you need to come visit him. Then he said you remind him of my ex-wife. Then he said that it would be horrible for me to have to watch him kill her twice." Aldric explains.

"That's horrible."

He shakes his head, "We need to get out of here."

I touch his arm, "How's that for ruining the moment?"

That gets a chuckle out of him. We get up and go out to his car, then headed towards the camp.

Chapter 14:

Jacob walks up the stairs to Skylark's mansion. The guards stop in front of him, "What's your business here?" They ask him.

Jacob glares at them, "I need to talk to Skylark."

One of the guards looks at the other. "What do you think, Bruce?"

The guard he calls Bruce looks Jacob over, "I'll go ask Skylark."

He runs up the stairs and through the door. The other guard keeps his eyes on Jacob, until Bruce comes back. "Check him." Bruce demands. They pat him down. "He's clean." The guard confirms.

Jacob shows them his fangs, "Want these?"

They start up the stairs, "Go ahead and try me." Bruce mumbles.

Jacob has to try really hard not to. They show him the way to Skylark's throne room. Skylark is sitting there quietly. He looks at Jacob, "Why are you here?"

"I've come to join you." Jacob says.

"Oh and why is that? Did Aldric tell you that you were no longer needed? Or, did you get scared, and run away? I thought you were the one with all the powers." Skylark comments angrily. He looks like he almost wants to kill Jacob just because he is there.

"I didn't get scared. Why would I want to stay where my own sister doesn't want me around? And, I don't have the powers; they just made me say that I did."

"There's probably a reason for that. You're irritating me by just standing there." Skylark says. "Listen, I'm not buying your whole, 'I want to be on your team' thing. It was a real mistake coming here. I don't want you; your sister doesn't want you. You're not a very good friend maker are you?"Jacob doesn't know what to say, he just stands there with his jaw hanging open. "Put him in the dungeon. I will keep him alive for information. Oh, what fun it will be to get it out of him." Skylark demands. Guards grab Jacob's arms and start pulling him toward the door. He doesn't struggle; he would love to see the look on Skylark's face when he breaks the bars. It will prove him wrong.

They drag him down two flights of stairs, and into a dark and extremely potent room. It smells of death and infection. They put him in a small cell, and put metal on his wrist and ankles, then connect the metal to the ceiling so that it holds Jacob off the ground at least five feet. The metal burns into his skin, and it feels like it weakens him, he can't break free. He can smell his burnt flesh, it sickens him. He yells painfully when they put one around his neck, and attach it to the back of the cell, pulling his head back. "Let me out of here!" He yells at the men. They ignore him and pull the chains tighter. Jacob's plan is not going as he had expected. He thought that they would just throw him into a room, and he would be able to break out. But, the metal burns so bad he can't move without it burning into him more.

A woman walks into his cell. His eyes can't adjust to see her; the pain is clouding his mind; taking over. She walks up close to his face, "My favorite; a vampire."

"Let me out of here." He mumbles.

She laughs softly, "I have been known to do many things, but never to let one of my prisoners go. And, it's absolutely unheard of that any of my prisoners get away. So, don't get your hopes up."

"What do you want?" Jacob growls.

"My name is Kalinda. I'm a vampire slayer. I was called to get some information out of you. And, I'm going to have fun with it. But, you don't seem like one who will break easy, are you?"

"No, I'm not easy at all. I am the one who controls people they don't control me."

Kalinda smiles, "More fun for me. You're a newbie, aren't you?"

She touches a metal blade to his cheek. "Ah, what are you talking about?" He says trying not to show that it hurt him, but failing.

"You're a new born, aren't you?"

"Why does that matter?" Jacob asks angrily.

"You still think you are better than everyone else."

Jacob shakes his head, "I know I'm better than you."

She laughs, "Look around, who's the one in chains, and who's the one with the blade?"

Jacob puts his fangs down and tries to lunge at her, but the chains pull his neck back and burn farther into him.

She shakes her head in disgust, "You'll never learn will you? Do you just like the pain?" Jacob's eyes turn red with hunger. Kalinda smiles, "By the look of your eyes you haven't had a drink since this morning. That's a little irresponsible, isn't it? That means you're weak, and it will be easier to break you."

"I'm not weak. You won't break me." Kalinda pushes the blade into his ribs, making him yell.

"I won't? Think again, kid. No one has ever made it through my interrogations." She brags.

The next hour she spends her time cutting into him, she says she's showing him what it will feel like when he doesn't answer her questions. Without drinking blood he is too weak to even lift a finger against her.

She knows that he will heal up, but the less blood he has the slower it is. The metal prevents the exposed skin from healing also; she knows this and uses it against him.

The minutes pass by in agony. He regrets coming here; he wished he hadn't the moment this woman walked into the room. Her dark makeup and long black hair reminds him of his sister, and with the hallucinations caused by the severe pain, he thinks she is giving him what he deserved.

Finally Kalinda steps back, Jacob's blood splattered all over her clothes. "Now, I will start asking the questions. If you refuse to answer, or tell me a lie, you will get that but worse. First question, where are the vampires hiding?"

Jacob coughs out blood, "They aren't hiding. They could be lying at your feet, and you would never even know." He growls.

She pushes her blade into the bottom of his throat. He can't even yell with the angle she has the blade. "It's my job to find vampires; I will find them even if they are not in Hagar. I will follow them to Aznia, Morca, Lare, Kista, Mona, and Della if I have to, but I will find them. And, your sister will be the first one I kill. She may not be vampire, but she mid-as-well be." She laughs and shakes her head, "You know that, but you're trying to be the hero. Considering your sister kicked you out, she's not going to care if you die for her. I wonder if she breaks easily." She mocks.

He continues to refuse to answer every question she asks. Every time he refuses she makes a new cut somewhere else, and goes deeper and deeper each time. She is so furious by noon that she says she has to take a break. This gives him at least a few minutes to heal, and sleep. He lets his head fall, and tries to lose consciousness.

Chapter 15:

I stop and listen. The man behind me just put his foot down. Aldric steps backwards and Allison shifts her weight. Then they freeze, again. I smile, "Ha!" Just for fun I walk behind the man and tie his shoe strings to Chris's. Then I stop, and think about them not moving and they move again. The man that was behind me jumps into the air taking Chris with him. Chris lands under the big man. I burst out laughing. The big man gets off of Chris. Chris mocks my laughing, in a girly voice. "You did it?" Aldric asks. I nod, and he shakes his head when I chuckle again.

"Okay, that was funny. But, that also means it's on." Chris says. "I'm gonna get you, and I'm gonna get you good."

"Alright everyone, back to work." Aldric demands, mostly to Chris.

I look at him, "What's going on between you two?"

He shakes his head, "Nothing really. Just a little bit of dominance issues."

I shake my head, "Boys. So, what now?"

"I'm not sure; I need to find out what other powers you have. Just the one won't help us win. Have you noticed any limits to this power?"

"No." I say, but I'm not really looking for any. "What should I look for?"

"I have no clue. Maybe next time leave us frozen for as long as possible; let's see if there is a limit. If you get to an hour, I'd quit. Normally, magic is pulling energy from different elements, but you seem to only possess specific things so far."

I smile, "Well, we know by now, I didn't get the 'normal memo', and I might leave you that way. I bet there's a distances limit too. I doubt I can freeze the whole world."

"Maybe, but let's just stick with the time right now. I don't know what could happen to you." I nod. "Okay, let's do it again!" Aldric tells everyone.

Chris looks at me, puts his index and middle finger up to eyes his then points them at me. "I'm watching you."

I smile and pull my phone out to see what time it was, it says 2:15. The man that is supposed to attack me, which I now know is Peter, gets ready. I stand with my back to him. "Are you ready?" Aldric asks me.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I reply.

He gives Peter thumbs up. I take a deep breath, and listen once again. Only Peter moves this time, his left foot hits exactly two feet from me. I picture them all moving; every move anyone could possibly make. I open my eyes. They are, of course, frozen. I stand there; I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do now.

I know Aldric told me not to, but I have to see if there is a distance limit. I run toward the woods. There is a small path where it looks like an animal had run through. Trying to stay in that path I start walking towards the town. After walking for what seems like forever, I pull out my phone. The numbers on the clock still say 2:15. So, if I'm right there is a huge distances I can do. I continue to walk until finally I come to the clearing where Aldric's car is still parked. A hear sticks crack to my right in the thick brush, so I pull my phone back out, 2:17. So, this is how far I can go. My phone starts ringing. It is a number I don't know, but I still push the talk button, "Hello?"

"Where are you?"

"Aldric?" I ask.

"Yes, it's me. Where are you? And, why did you leave?" He asks urgently.

"Calm down. I was looking to see how far I could go before it broke. I'm in the clearing."

"How do you know it wasn't time? What time does your phone say?" He asks.

"It said two fifteen, when everything was frozen. Now it's two seventeen."

"So, you probably can keep us frozen for two minutes. So, distance won't even matter. I'm almost there. Don't move." He demands. He jumps down in front of me. I hang up. "Why did you do that? I told you to just stay there."

"I know what you said, but we don't have another week to check all the ends and outs of this power. So, I improvised. I did two in one. Now we know that only two minutes, and I'm not fast enough to kill Skylark in two minutes."

"I know. You're right, but please we can't afford to lose you."

" _We_ can't, or _you_ can't?" I ask.

He takes a deep breath, "Both. Let's go, we still have about four hours of day light."

"Oh, speaking of day light. Aren't vampires supposed to like explode when they walk in it?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "No, that really is a myth." He puts his arm around my waist, and up we go. We make it back to the camp in no time. He sits me down easily; it is getting easier to not throw up when we do that. Chris notices that when we get back. "Hey, she didn't throw up on you! Come on, give him a little." He pushes.

Aldric looks at us confused. "I threw up on his shoulder on the way back to my house the other night." I explain.

Aldric cracks up, "Really? Wow, you forgot to tell me that, Chris."

I elbow him in the ribs, but he keeps laughing as we walk back to the tent. "So, how do you think you would react if you thought someone you cared about was in trouble?" Aldric asks, sobering.

I shrug, "I don't know."

Allison burst through the opening of the tent, "Okay, what about me? I'm supposed to be practicing something too. She's not the only one who is supposed to have powers."

Aldric looks around, "Do you see anyone else with powers around here? All you need to be practicing right now is your hand-to-hand combat. You can't do anything else right now. When you get powers you can work with them."

She growls like an angry child, "Fine, but when she inevitably fails you, don't come crying to me." She storms out of the tent.

"What was that about?" I ask.

"Jealousy."

I grunt, "Childish. Anyway, I don't know I've never truly thought about it. I didn't do anything when my mom and dad died, or when Jett died, or even when Chelsea died. So, I can't honestly say."

"Yeah, but they were already gone when you saw them. You didn't see that their life was actually in danger, and you could help them." He explains.

"I saw my parents killed, but no, I'm not doing this exercise." I say.

"What do you mean?" He asks.

"This is the part where you put some else I care about in danger, and I do some weird thing to save them. _So_ , not going to happen." I tell him.

"It's the only way to find out." Aldric says.

I shake my head, "Nope."

"Fine. We'll put you in combat then."

"Huh?" I ask in disbelief.

"You need to be in a situation where you use your emotions to help control you. That way maybe your anger or you fear will make you do something to help yourself out." He explains.

"Fine, but how?" I ask.

"We will engage an attack on Skylark's mansion tomorrow."

"There will be a lot of causalities though."

"No, our men will be advised not to touch anyone not in an army uniform. We will get all the civilians out, and just take the army." He assures.

"What about Skylark? Won't he be there?"

He shakes his head, "He will go somewhere safe the moment he gets word we're coming. Most of his troops are in other lands right now. He's planning an attack on Della soon. They are undercover and checking everything out. So, we will only need about fifty of us."

"Will that be enough?"

"One of my people can kill twenty of his before they have time pee their pants."

I nod, "Okay, so what am I supposed to do?"

"Go, and when you feel threatened, or you feel any emotion, do whatever comes to you. But, do not just stand there." He says.

"I won't."

"How's your neck?" He asks.

"It's fine. It will heal up soon enough."

"Okay, you need to sleep. I'll take you home."

I nod and we walk out to the woods, but before we can leave Shae catches us. "Hey, have you seen your brother? He never came back last night. I thought he was staying with you, but then he didn't come with you." She asks.

"Uh, no. He got mad and stormed out last night. I haven't seen him since. Where else could he have gone?"

"I don't know. Aldric?" Shae looks at him.

He shakes his head, and then looks up like he just got something. "He went to Skylark. He was mad, and I bet just to get back at you, he betrayed us."

I roll my eyes, "Let him then. He is going to make whoever he's around miserable. At least, let it be Skylark."

Aldric holds onto me, and we leave Shae standing there confused.

Chapter 16:

When Aldric gets me home, it is empty. "It's so quiet. I'm not used to it."

"I'll stay with you again, if you want." He says.

I nod, "Yes, I want you to stay. I'm not really tired right now, but you're welcome to go to sleep if you want."

He shakes his head, "No, I'll stay with you."

I smile, "Okay."

"Do you ever eat?" He asks. "You haven't eaten since I've met you. That's been like a week now."

I shrug, "I haven't actually thought about that. I'm not hungry though."

"Well I won't force you to eat. So, what do you do for fun?"

"I guess we could watch T.V." He nods and we sit on the couch. I grab the remote and flip to a local channel. The screen is black, "Okay, maybe we won't watch it."

"Does Skylark have control of the networks?"

I nod, "Yes, he did that a long time ago. That's the only way he can control what we watch, or what we learn. It's called dictatorship."

"I know." He shakes his head.

"Well, I guess I'm going to bed."

"Do you want me to come?" He asks.

"If you want." I say.

I guess he did want to, because he follows me. I sit at the end of the bed, and kick off my shoes. He sits down beside me, and just looks at me. Then slowly he leans in, the closer he gets the faster my heart gets. Is he going to kiss me or bite me again? When his lips do touch mine it is like an explosion of emotion. His lips are soft, and I let my body melt into his, until I don't want to pull away. After a few seconds of bliss, he pulls away slowly, I see a look of guilt cross his face. "I'm sorry. That was wrong." He says.

"Why?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "Nothing." He stands up, and sits in the chair. "I'll sleep here."

I nod, and lay down on my bed, confused. I stay awake for what seems like hours. The next time I look up at the clock, it's midnight. I sit up and look over at Aldric still in the chair. He is in a deep sleep, so I slowly sit up on the edge of my bed, trying to be as quite as possible. But, of course, his eyes shoot open. "What's wrong?" He asks.

"Nothing, I just can't sleep." I say.

"Why? Are you having dreams?" He asks.

I shake my head, "I haven't fallen asleep yet, so I couldn't have dreams."

I stand up and walk to the window. I hear him rise up out of the chair, and he stands beside me, "I'm sorry. I know you're upset."

"I'm not upset. I just feel...confused. First, you tell me you have feelings for me, but when you act on them, you say it's wrong. It just doesn't make sense."

He sighs, "I know, but I don't think you would understand if you knew. I don't even completely understand it."

"Try to tell me then."

"You really need to get some sleep." He says ignoring what I said.

I shake my head, "Why don't you just explain it to me? Is it really that bad, or do you think I'm just not smart enough to get it?"

He sighs, "We'll talk about this later. You need sleep.

"Fine." I turn away from the window and go to my bed.

I guess I fall asleep this time, because I wake up at seven o'clock. Aldric is looking out the window, he looks deep in thought. I get up, go to the bathroom, and get dressed, not really sure what to wear I just put on jeans and a black t-shirt. As I walk back by my door I notice Aldric still hasn't moved. "Aldric, are you okay?"

I seem to pull him out of his own world, "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I was...thinking."

I nod and walk down the stairs. He follows, "Happy birthday." He says.

"Don't remind me. For once, I'm not excited."

"Today is the day that somehow you will be presented with a choice on whether to keep your powers, or not. What will you do?" He asks, sitting in one of the chairs at my table.

"I don't know yet." I say, getting a pot of water for the coffee.

"Well, we have to go soon. Will you be ready?"

I nod quietly.

There is complete chaos when we get there. People are getting weapons; people are ordering others to do stuff. Aldric looks out across them, "This is so out of order." He stands up on a chair, "Hey!" His voice is amplified ten times his normal sound. "What is going on here? Don't act like we have never been in a battle before. This isn't a big deal. The men we are going to fight are just humans. We can do this. Do not let the people who have died already die in vain." A roar erupts in the crowd. "Today we take the first step to our freedom!" The crowd gets louder with every word. He jumps off the chair. "How's that for a short and sweet pep talk?" He asks.

"Really good pep talk, but not Braveheart good."

He laughs, "Yeah well, no one can do as good as Mel Gibson."

I laugh, "Maybe if you had on a skirt."

He shakes his head, "It's called a kilt."

"Whatever." I laugh. We make our way through the crowds of people to the tent. A tall brown headed girl that looks like Aldric, and Allison are waiting for us.

"Hello, ladies. How are you doing this morning?" Aldric asks.

Allison is obviously still angry, because she just rolls her eyes. The tall girl smiles, "We are fine. Hi, Renée. My name is Bliss, I'm Aldric's sister."

"Oh, you're the one he consults about everything. I've heard a lot about you." I say.

She laughs, "Yes, we talk about everything. Have you seen your brother lately?"

I shake my head, "No, I haven't seen him since he stormed out the other night. Why?"

She takes a deep breath, "I think instead of him joining Skylark, like he wanted to, I think Skylark has him prisoner."

"Why would you think that? The last thing Jacob will let anyone do is control him." I say.

"Maybe, but wouldn't he have made a show about it if he wanted to get back at you?" Bliss asks.

I take a deep breath, "Well, we are attacking his mansion today. We can get him if he's there."

Bliss nods, "That's a good idea."

Aldric tells Allison and I to go train a little more, so Allison defiantly storms out of the tent. I slowly leave also. "Ready to train?" Chris asks running up to me.

I nod, "Yeah, but don't get upset when you get beaten by a girl."

"Only in your dreams, darling."

Chapter 17:

Aldric starts out of the tent also, but Bliss calls after him. "What?" He asks.

"You know I can read your thoughts. It's against the law, your laws." She presses.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Aldric says.

"Don't lie to me. You kissed her. It is against the law for a vampire to be with a human. A law you made when you became leader. Do you remember why you made the law?" Bliss asks.

Aldric takes a deep breath, "I don't want to talk about it."

"I don't care. You made the law, because when your wife died she was a human. Do you want to relive it? He's going to kill her. If not him then someone else will. You can't fall in love again. If you do, do it with someone who can defend herself. If your people know you have broken your own law, they will no longer respect you."

"I know! You don't think I know that? I wish I could control the feelings I have for her, but I don't think I can." He says.

Bliss sits beside him, "I know you can't control your feelings for her, but you can control what you do about them. Control _yourself_."

"Fine," He says, and storms out of the tent. He goes over to where Allison is training. "How are you doing?" He asks.

"Don't act like you care. Go talk to your star pupil." She says defiantly.

"Get over being jealous, if you ruin this you will regret it. Don't test me." She just glares at him. He glares right back; finally her self-consciousness makes her look away. He goes over to Renée. "How is everything going?"

"Fine, what happened in there? You look like you're about to kill anything that moves." She says.

He really doesn't know how to tell her about the law, but then again, she may not care if he can't be with her. "It's nothing. We'll talk later." She reluctantly nods. "Are you ready for this?"

"I guess so. I hope I do something."

"I hope you do too, but no pressure." He says sarcastically. She smiles weakly. "Hey, you'll do fine." He assures.

She looks up at him, "I don't know. Hey, I'm sorry...about last night."

"It doesn't matter. I'm going to go get ready. Chris will take you to someone who will you put your armor on." He has to walk away. It is when she feels so bad, that he wants to just hold her.

He goes through the door to his personal room, opens his closet, and gets his armor out, then puts on the thick pants, with guarding up and down his legs, and the black shirt, then his armor that goes across his chest.

Across the chest is the vampire symbol, the symbol of the families that created vampires. It's the infinity sign with a triangle around it. The infinity sign symbolizing long life, and the triangle symbolizing the three beginning families. The top point of the triangle being the most powerful family is the Claret family line. The word Claret is the dark red color of blood, referring to the fact that they drink blood. The second strongest family, on the left point of the triangle, is the Kwaad family, Kwaad meaning evil, referring to the way vampires acted back then. The third strongest family, on the right point of the triangle, is the Asura family line. Asura meaning demon, because people thought that anyone who could kill so easily must have had a demon possessing them, and they did. All vampires in this family had demon blood in the DNA.

All these names represent the extreme dark side of the families that began the line of vampires. There are many immediate people from the families still alive today, but when asked if they would help us they responded, "I'm not getting in on your childish games. You disgrace the vampire race by being so weak."

He wonders if really was disgracing his race. But, he is doing what needed to be done, right? He almost doesn't know anymore.

Chapter 18:

I sit in the small room waiting for someone who is supposed to help me with all this armor. I have never worn armor before. The short distance, I lugged it from the front of the building; I would guess it weighed about 30 pounds. Wearing it is one thing, but protecting myself at the same time, well that is another thing. Maybe I won't have to fight up close; at least it will stop an arrow from a distance or an unnoticed swing of the blade.

I honestly have no idea what I'm doing. I've never fought before, I've never killed anyone. Should I do this? Or, should I just walk away? It's so hard to figure this stuff out. If my mom were here she would know just what to say, and I knew it was always the truth.

Bliss opens the door pulling me from my thoughts, "May I come in?"

"Sure." I reply.

She has clothing hung over her arm, "So, what do you think of your armor?" Bliss asks.

I take a deep breath, "To be honest with you, I can't see myself being able to wear it. It's extremely heavy. I could barely drag it to this room from the front of the building."

She smiles, "Sorry. As vampires we can lift just about anything. We forget about humans, and how they aren't the strongest of species." She says matter-of-factly, and somewhat insultingly. "Anyway, I thought you might not like it." She pulls a piece of clothing off of her arm, and hands it to me. "This is chain-mail. It will go from your neck to the bend of your knees. You may still have to protect things like limbs, and other important parts, but this will protect vital organs, so they don't get...poked." She smiles at herself. She takes an old shirt and jeans off of her arm also. "This is what you will be wearing. You just put the chain-mail on under these clothes, so that it isn't noticeable. If they see it they will try to strike you where it doesn't cover, if they don't see it then they will think that they are aiming for organs, and they are more likely to do so. Don't screw up. We lose you, we lose everything."

"What's wrong with the clothes I'm wearing?" I ask.

"Do you want blood all over that pretty little shirt, or those designer jeans?" She asks defiantly.

"I guess not." I say.

"Exactly," She turns to walk out of the room, but stops at the door. "I want you to stop."

I look at her confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You need to stop whatever you are doing to my brother." She says.

"What am I doing?" I ask defensively.

"You're going to get him killed if you keep trying to make him fall in love with you. It's literally against the law. If you get him killed, I will kill you. And, I'll love every minute of it."

"What are you talking about? I'm not trying to make him fall in love with me! I think you're delusional."

She picks me up by my neck and pushes me up the wall. "I am the only vampire in the world who can read minds. So, you can't lie to me."

I grip at her hand around my throat, but she won't let go. I close my eyes, and concentrate on her letting me go. Hoping I have some weird power that will get her off of me.

I open my eyes again, but I don't feel like myself. I stare straight at her. Her eyes get bigger in fear. I push my thought of her letting me go out at her. I keep thinking over and over, _"Let me go."_ Her hand comes off my throat, and she flies back and hits the wall out in the hallway, which cracks under the force. But, I don't hit the ground. I stay propelled in the air, but now by my own accord. "You really should learn that you're no better than any human. _I_ am stronger than you will ever know." My mouth moves and these words come out, but they are not mine. I lower myself to the floor. I'm not really sure how, but I _am_ doing this. It just feels so unreal. I close my eyes again, and when I open them I fall straight to the floor. I feel so weak.

Bliss hasn't moved from where I threw her. "You're eyes..." She trails off.

"What about them?" I ask.

"They were black. I thought you were going to kill me." She says.

"I was seriously thinking about it. I think you forget you _need_ me, I don't need you. But, I'm not trying to make your brother fall in love with me. And, what do you mean it's against the law?"

"Well, he is either way. And, I mean when Aldric first became leader of all vampires he was happily married, with two little children. Then since Aldric stopped working with Skylark, Skylark made an example of Aldric's wife and kids. He murdered them publicly. Or, he made them kill each other. He stood there and stared at them, and then they started trying to murder each other. Anyway, Aldric was torn apart. He made a law where no vampire could have relations with a human, because we are supposed to be allied with them, and there could not be more cases like his. I think he was just hurt, and wanted everyone to hurt with him." She explains.

"Wait, you said 'stopped working with Skylark'. Aldric worked with him?"

She nods, "They were best friends for a while before Aldric was turned into a vampire. They were part of Hagar's troops together. Skylark killed Katrina two days after Aldric became a vampire. Aldric says Skylark never told him about his plans, but I'm not so sure I believe him."

I shake my head and slowly stand up. "Will you go away, and let me get ready?"

She nods and without another word, walks away. I close the door, take off my clothes, and slip on the chain mail. The clothes she gave me are old, but they do fit really well. I put them on and step out of the room. There is no one in the hallway, so I am on my own. I take turn after turn, but I can't find the way to the door. Finally I hear voices, so I turn towards the sound. It is Aldric. He is having a very tense conversation with Allison. I stop behind a wall and listen.

"Allison, you just need to calm down. You will get your chance."

"How can I get my chance when all of you are only interested in her?" She fires back.

Aldric is sounding more like her authority, "You will stay here, and that's final. She is the one with power. I don't know why, or how, but you have yet to get any power. That makes you unimportant. So, stay out of my way, or you will be put in a little room with a white jacket on." I'm guessing he meant a straight jacket. "You called me here to help you. I dropped everything for you. Don't waste my trip." I can hear her storming toward me, so I turn and act like I'm going toward Aldric. We run straight into each other. She huffs, and looks at what I'm wearing. "What threw up on you?" She asks.

"Looks like something out of your closet, right? I know, I was thinking the same thing." I say defiantly.

She pushes through me, and down the hallway. Aldric stands there and watches us, when she is far enough down the hall he smiles, "She's nuts."

"I thought you might say that by the comment, 'put you in a little room with a white jacket'." I mock his authority voice. He chuckles. "So, can I ask you something?" I ask him.

He nods, "Sure, shoot."

"Why didn't you tell me about the law or you working with Skylark before you were a vampire?" I ask.

He sighs, "I didn't tell you because it doesn't matter. The past is the past. Can we leave it there?"

"Okay, but what about the law? That's why you said it was wrong after you kissed me isn't it? That's why you didn't want to explain it to me. It matters doesn't it?"

He nods, "It matters, but I couldn't figure out how to tell you."

"Well, 'Hey, I made a law that forbids me to be with you' would have worked."

He pushes me back into the wall behind me, and kisses me again. But this time it is different. It isn't a burst of emotion; it is one emotion only, sadness. He pulls his head back, but doesn't back up away from me. "Why is everything that makes you feel so happy, always illegal?"

"Because you made it illegal."

"They will not fight for us if I break my own laws."

"Then change it."

"It's not that easy." He says.

I think of Jett, "You know what, you're right. We shouldn't break laws." I push away from him, and start down the hallway opposite of the way I came from.

He sighs and catches up to me, "Let's talk about something else. Have you been presented with the question yet?"

I shake my head, "No, but I did do something crazy."

He looks at me suspiciously, "What did you do?"

I explain what happened to Bliss, and what she had said about my eyes.

"So, basically you are stronger than you were yesterday, and you threw my sister." He says, and I nod. "Hmm, okay. That's good, use that today when you fight. Speaking of that, we need to get out there pretty quick."

I nod again, and try to keep up with him all the way to the door. We step outside; there are men and women lined up close to the edge of the brush. "Are they the ones going?" I ask. He doesn't answer, but walks to the front of the crowd.

"Okay, men and women. Your orders are this, we go in, and we wait and see what happens. I will let you know when to pull back. Your one and only priority is to not let Renée get hurt. You fail to do that, then you fail to serve us, and you will die." He takes a deep breath and steps over to me, "Look at me." I do. "Be careful out there. Wait, where's your armor?"

"I have chain-mail on." I whisper.

"Why are you whispering?" He whispers back.

"Because, I don't want these people to know about it. I want them to actually be worried if I get stabbed." I explain.

He nods and smiles, "Well, considering we are mostly vampires, we hear everything."

"I forgot about that." I say quietly. "So, how are we going to do this? Do we even have a plan?"

He looks around, "Around here we don't know the meaning of the word 'plan'. If you think twice you may miss your chance."

"So, we are just going to run and attack?" I ask.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"What if he stays there, and doesn't run for cover. You said he can control people. What if he turns our own people on us?"

"I...I don't know. This is all we can do."

"No, what you can do is get all of your people ready to fight, not just twenty or fifty of your best. This is going to be the last battle, not just the first. This is not an experiment just for me. This is the determining factor of your little revolution. You can't ignore that he wants us gone, and he will do anything to kill you or I. This is going to be a _war_ not a _battle_."

"You're right. Okay, point taken. Let's get everyone ready. It may take a little extra time, because everyone still needs armor, the new ones anyway."

He stands back up in front of his people, "Okay, listen up everyone!" People start gathering around listening. "There has been a change in plans. Yes, we actually have a plan now. This isn't going to be a battle, this is a war. I no longer believe Skylark will run away when we come. I think he will try to get in our heads. If you feel the least bit different it is your duty to get away from your people, because he will try to have you kill us.

Now, as for the new plan, we have over a thousand people of all different species. We will all surround the mansion. We can try our best to go unnoticed, but if we can't, that's fine. The only thing is if we _do_ get noticed, then he will have more time to get ready for us. So, let's try to be completely quite.

Our main target in this is Skylark. If we don't get anyone else, we _must_ get him. Once we're inside we are going to kill _every_ soldier, _unless_ they surrender. You are to _not_ kill them if they surrender. But, be cautious because it could be Skylark messing with us if they do. He is in all of their heads. If you see any regular civilians then you get them to safety, but again be cautious. Everyone will be going, so prepare. One other thing, if you see any vampires, try to help them. You are dismissed, we leave in an hour. If you get left behind, stay behind." Everyone scatters and starts getting weapons and armor.

He looks at me, "That a good enough plan for you?"

"Sounds good. Kill Skylark. I can't wait." I say sarcastically.

"Happy birthday, Renée." He says and laughs.

I raise one eyebrow, "Ha ha."

The next hour we spend waiting on people to get ready. I mostly just watch Aldric telling people the same things about Skylark and his control over and over again. When the hour is up there is over three thousand people. But, Aldric keeps reminding us Skylark had maybe five thousand. He isn't going to take any chances.

Once everyone is in place he pulls me up to the front, puts his arm around me and smiles weakly. "Right when I start to run, they will follow. We won't stop until we are right at the back of his mansion." He takes a deep breath. "Please be safe. All you have to is try not to get killed. I think it is a bad idea to put you in battle so early. But..."

"Stop," I cut him off. "We'll make it out. Plus there would be no reason to go to war if I wasn't here right so, just calm down."

He nods reluctantly. I close my eyes, and then I feel him running. My heart is beating fast, saying it is okay and it actually being okay are two different things. We come to a sudden stop. I open my eyes; we are already standing on the edge of the woods by Skylarks mansion in the back. Aldric sits me down and hands me a long sword. "Use this to protect yourself." He tells me.

Every vampire around me can be so quite that every sound I make is amplified ten times. They don't even step on a twig, but I do. I step on many, which gets me many enraged glares. They will walk slowly then hide behind a tree leaving me standing there like a sad fool.

Once we get about half way through Skylark's giant field around his mansion, someone must have seen us, because hundreds of men come pouring out of the doors. I look at the vampires beside me, they are smiling, dangerously. I look closer, and their eyes are red. Then I realize what they have done, they didn't feed this morning so that they would have the lust strong enough to help them kill these men. The soldiers get closer. About a hundred of our men walk to the front of the rest of us, and start running toward the soldiers. Once they are close enough to the soldiers they jump high up in the air, and they turn into the different animals that they half look like. Hybrids. One man jumps right above a huge soldier, and turns into a lion. When he comes down he lands on the man's chest. I see his head raise and he bites into the man's throat killing him instantly. With a growl of victory he raises his head up again with the soldier's heart in his teeth. This is happening everywhere. Animals are tearing apart what humans they can get a hold of.

The hybrids hold the soldiers back, and then the vampires start after them. When the vampires clash with the humans you can hear screams of fear, and victory. I'm frozen with disgust, and fear. How can they be so ruthless? Then I think of my biological mom and dad, and my adoptive parents, and Jett, and even Chelsea. That's how. They've lost people they care about and they channel their anger and hatred into killing these people. I do my best to let go of what little fear I have left and run into the middle of the fight.

A small man comes up in front of me swinging a sword at my face. I move back just before it slits my throat. I do a full spin and catch the man's neck with my sword. He falls to the side. I look down at him disgusted, when I look back up everyone is frozen. But, I don't remember doing it.

I'm not the only person able to move though, there is someone walking toward me. It is a man, but he isn't dressed for a war. He is wearing jeans and a black t-shirt. He gets closer and closer, once he is close enough for me to see, I feel like I might faint.

"Jett," I whisper.

"Hey, how have you been?" He asks.

"How have I....I think I'm hallucinating, or did I die?"

He walks up closer, and touches my face, "You're not hallucinating, and you're not dead." He assures.

"But, you're dead. I'm pretty sure you're dead. Aren't you?"

He nods, "Yeah, I am. But, I was told to come talk to you. I don't have long. You have power, and I'm supposed to ask you if you want to keep it, or something. They wouldn't give me any details, I'm not high enough on the food chain for that yet."

"I have to, don't I?"

He shakes his head, "No, not really. But, you will save many lives with this power. You can't even imagine how strong you are."

"I didn't save you. What's the power worth if I couldn't save the only person I truly care about?" I look down trying not to cry.

"You did save me. You saved me the very moment we met. Do you remember? I was running from Skylark's men, I stole food for my family. You told them that I was with you the whole time, but we had never really met before. I would have been dead or worse if it weren't for you that day. Then you saved me every day after that. When he killed my parents, who stopped me from killing myself?"

"I did."

"Exactly, you saved my life by _being_ with me. _You_ saved me. The least I could have done was not give you to the enemy."

I laugh sadly, "But, who's going to save _me_ now?"

"That man right over there," He points to where Aldric is fighting someone. "He, as much as I hate to say it, will be the one for you. He will help you make it through everything, and you will greatly need it."

In order to change the awkward subject that's arising, I answer his question, "Yes, I want the power."

He smiles, "Good, then save our land with it. You have to save them now. Look around, these people are fighting for a chance to live. If you don't help them, they will not live. They will die. Do not let the people who have already died, die in vain. Avenge your mother, and father."

"But, how do I use this power?"

"I have no idea; you have to figure this out on your own." He looks behind him at something I can't see. "I have to go now. I love you so much." He kisses me urgently for what seems like forever. When he pulls back I can see tears in his eyes.

"I love you too. I'll make you proud."

"I know you will. You always do." He disappears.

When I look back people are moving again. They are coming from left to right. Aldric runs up to me, "Hey, you okay?!"

"I need you to help me get to Skylark! I can't fight through everyone!" I yell over the people. Someone tries to stab Aldric in the back, but he turns around and breaks their neck before they can get the blade too deep.

"Okay, stay close to me. If someone comes at you, tell me."

He starts fighting his way through, sending people falling to the left and right as Aldric kills them. A man sees us and starts toward me. I know Aldric can't stop, so I do the same thing I did to Bliss. I push my thought of him just dropping over dead out, he falls quickly. I take a breath of relief.

There is fighting going on inside the mansion also. "His room is this way!" Aldric yells.

I follow him, the vampires, shape shifters, and hybrids around us keep everyone away so we can get by. We open two big doors with Skylark's face in gold on them. He is just sitting there on his throne. When we walk in he smiles, "Well, well, what do we have here?" He mocks.

Aldric glares, "It's over, Skylark. Surrender and we will spare your life."

Skylark laughs, "Over? There's no such thing as over. Even if you kill me, I have many children. What will you do when one of my sons, rise to take his rightful place on the throne?"

"You are no king! You are a peasant in the chair of a king! Kings don't murder their people!" Aldric says.

"Yes, they do. Look at Della, people die by the hundreds every day. You think I'm bad, you've seen nothing." Skylark says.

"Do you surrender?" Aldric asks calmly.

He shakes his head, "One thing I will never do, is surrender."

He stares at Aldric. Aldric falls to the floor holding his head, like he has a headache, just like Skylark had done to Jett in the court room. "Aldric," I put my index and middle finger on his forehead, only because it feels like the right thing to do. From there I go on instinct. When I close my eyes, I can feel his pain. I yell and take my hand off of his head, "What are you doing to him?" I ask Skylark.

"Killing him," He states blankly.

He looks at me, but nothing happens. I smile and walk up closer to him, but for some reason I can't kill him. It feels so wrong. I'm not a murderer; at least I hope I'm not. Skylark smiles, and pulls out a huge knife. He swings it at my face, I lean back and he misses me by inches. I step back, so he will have to stand up.

He lunges at my throat, knocking me down with his hands cutting off my air. My sword slides out of my hands. "You should have just come to me when I first told you to, and none of this would have happened!" He yells.

Between breaths I try to speak, "Why...so...you...could...kill...more...people?"

He doesn't like that question, so he pushes his knife into my ribs. I groan, and looked into his eyes. _"I want him to die."_ I keep thinking that, hoping it will work. He falls back on the ground, and I stand up beside him. I keep saying it over and over in my head. Blood starts coming from his eyes, mouth, ears, and nose. He holds his throat like he is being choked. I want to stop, but I know if I do he will kill me, and Aldric. His body completely disintegrates, leaving nothing but a pile of dust, just like what I thought he did to Jacob. I put my hand to my mouth; I can't believe what I just did. I look at Aldric on the floor, he is lying on his side, but he isn't holding his head anymore. I walk over to him and get down on my knees, "Are you okay?"

"What did you do to him?" He asks.

"I have no idea. I just..."

"Forget it. It's over." He says.

Chris burst through the big doors, "It's over! All of Skylark's men surrendered! Wait, where's Skylark?"

"I...um,"

"He's dead" Aldric says.

"Well, come on. Everyone is waiting for you guys" Chris says.

I stand up, and help Aldric up. He looks at me, "Hey, you're bleeding"

I feel my side, "Yeah, Skylark stabbed me, but the chain-mail stopped most of the blade."

"Oh, okay. So, is your neck though, we need to get it fixed again."

"I know. You almost got killed, and you're worried about my neck." I just shake my head.

We walk down the stairs of the mansion, and everyone starts clapping and cheering. Aldric puts his arm around me, "You did it."

I nod slightly, but I feel horrible. I just took at least three lives.

"Come one let's get you home. We can go back to camp tomorrow."

Chapter 19:

When we get to my house, Jacob is standing on the doorstep. He is really beat up, but it looks like he is beginning to heal. "What happened to you?" I ask.

"Some girl named Kalinda." He says.

Aldric looks upset, "Kalinda? She's here?"

Jacob nods, "She's a good investigator, but I didn't give her any information. When she heard we were being attacked, she ran."

"We'll have to watch out for her." Aldric says.

"Who's Kalinda?" I ask.

"She's a vampire slayer. When she was thirteen, her parents were killed by one of the original vampires. She hasn't stopped killing vampires since."

"Why did they kill her parents?"

"It was a different time back then. The vampires killed for fun." Aldric says and looks away.

"Come on, let's go in."

"Can I stay?" Jacob asks.

"Until you're healed, then you have to go away" I say maybe too harshly.

I go up to my room, followed by Aldric, and sit on my bed, "I was presented with the question."

He looks surprised, "Really? What was it like?"

I take a deep breath, "It was Jett. He asked me, and I said I wanted the power. Nothing to party about."

As if reading my mind he says, "What else did he say?"

I hesitate, "He also said that you were the one for me." I don't look in his eyes.

"I know I am." He said, and kisses me again. This time it was also only one emotion, pure happiness.

"What are we going to do about this law?" I ask hovering close to his lips.

"Nothing, you have supernatural powers, so technically you aren't considered human." He points out smiling.

When I wake up the next morning Aldric is sleeping beside me, with his arms wrapped around my waist. I smile and untangle him from me, then get off the bed, and go to my closet. I get some clothes, and get in the shower, pulling the chain-mail and the dirty clothes off. I shower off, get dressed, and put my makeup on.

Aldric is downstairs with Jacob when I get out. I'm not sure how that is going, but I leave them alone a little longer. I think to myself, _"I woke up yesterday morning, feeling like there was nothing left in the world for me. But, I woke up this morning, believing I could get through anything, and I will."_ I look on my bed next to me, Aldric shirt is laying there soiled in blood. I grab one of Jett's old ones out of my drawers, I stop for a moment and look at the shirt. I'll never forget him, but I can do my best to get over him, so I start downstairs.

Jacob and Aldric are just sitting at the table, staring at each other. Aldric is shirtless, and for the first time I see how incredibly strong he is. Not many people have muscles from their neck down. Not that big anyway. "Morning," He says.

"Morning, here's you a shirt."

He smiles wickedly, and flexes, showing off, "Thanks. I'll go get dressed."

"Show off," I say in his ear as he walks by.

He kisses me, just to mess with my brother, and says, "If you got it, flaunt it."

Jacob takes a deep breath when Aldric is up the stairs, "Renée, I'm really sorry about all I've done to hurt you."

"Listen, I know I'm not a perfect girl. Trust me, I screw up a lot. But, when my imperfections are pointed out to me so much...it hurts. But, family is all I've ever had. To be honest though, I've never considered you family. You were more of an owner. And, I'm a good enough person to forgive you, but not stupid enough to trust you."

"I know, I'm healed now, and I'm heading out today."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know yet, maybe to Della or Aznia."

I nod. We sit in silence until Aldric comes down, "Your phone keeps ringing." He says and throws it to me.

"It's Michelle." I tap the green button, "Hello?"

She is frantic, "Oh my God! Where have you been! I've been calling, and texting! Something happened to Skylark! Someone fought him. Everyone keeps saying we're free! And, there's thousands of dead bodies around his mansion."

"I know, that's where I was."

"Wait, why were you there?"

"Yeah, long story. I'll talk to you about it later." I hang up.

Jacob stands up, "Well, I'm out. Bye."

"Bye." I say quietly.

Aldric looks at me when Jacob steps out the door, "You ready?"

I groan loudly, making him smile, "I guess so."

People are still happy to see us when we get to camp. We go to the tent. Bliss and Allison are standing there just like before the fight. "Good job." Bliss says.

"Thank you."

"I wasn't presented with the choice." Allison points out quietly.

Aldric looks at her, "You weren't? You have no power?"

Bliss raises her eyebrows, "That's never happened before."

"Well, it has happened now." Allison says and slowly walks out of the tent.

"That's messed up." I comment.

"We can't dwell on that now, let's get back to business." Bliss says.

Aldric looks at us, "Okay, here's the next plan. All the other lands are under dictatorship. We are going to help save them."

Bliss frowns, "We are? Okay, look, were not superheroes."

"Yeah, we kind of are." Aldric laughs.

"Okay, just a second. Was killing Skylark a little too easy to anyone else?" I ask.

Bliss thinks a minute, "She's right. We met some resistance, but not the resistance of a full dictator. Are you sure it was him?"

Aldric nods, "Of course, I'm sure. I'd know him anywhere. He was in my head playing the day Jane died, over and over again."

"Jane?" I ask.

"She's my ex-wife." He explains.

Touchy subject, "I don't know, but it was just too easy to me."

"Well, if he comes back then we will deal with it. But, until that day, let's plan a new revolution to free all the other people who have a psycho in control of them right now." Aldric commands.

We all nod, and we spend the rest of the day planning our infiltration of Della's people.

###
In the next book, "The Witch in the Woman: Tears of Blood"

He pauses with a concerned look.

"What is it?" I ask suspiciously.

"Your eyes...they're black." He exclaims.

"What?" I push back from him and hurry out of my room and into the bathroom. Even as I stand there looking at my eyes now, they cover completely black. "What's happening to me?" I ask shocked.

He stands beside me, and looks in the mirror, "I have no idea."

"This has to have something to do with the magic. It did it when I got so mad at Bliss too."

"You first used your magic a month ago. I don't know, this is crazy," He starts downstairs, pulling out his phone.

I follow him quickly, trying to keep him with his vampire speed, "I don't know either, but there's no other explanation."

He stops by the chair facing the tinted window, and just stands there. "I've never seen anything like it before." He says, not really talking to anyone.

I lean against the wall behind me, feeling light headed. A blinding white light fills my eyes, while a picture not of my own mind blinds my vision.

"Come on, Aldric. Think of the advantages." Skylark says.

"There are no advantages to being a murderer!" Aldric yells.

Skylark smiles viciously, propping his arm on a small stack of boxes. "Of course, my friend, you were always the sympathetic type. You know the advantages, people will be afraid of us. No one will ever challenge us again."

Aldric glares at Skylark with unfaltering anger, "I don't care if they are afraid of me! You have caused much trouble in your life, but nothing this big. If you kill her they will find you, and kill you without mercy."

"They can't kill me if I rule them." Skylark informs Aldric, talking to him like a child.
About the author:

I'm fifteen years old, and hope to have all my books published some day. Although, I do write a lot, I'm an ordinary teen. I live on a farm with my family and do Public school online, which gives me plenty of time to think about different books to try out. I love writing and putting myself in the position of my main character. It's a way of releasing things I want to say or do, through my writing. I hope you will all stick with me through this amazing journey.

Look for the next book "Tears Of Blood" on Smashwords.com, Only $.99!

More books coming!
