Welp, here it is, 40(ish) pages of nonsense!

Just a note, it's not finished and as a result there are big jumps between some of the chapters, no character development and fuck all quality and no ending either
So...yeah....

Prologue

I could feel my hatred for them intensify. This was the last thing I wanted or needed. Yet somehow as I stood there, glaring at my own reflection, I found the thoughts I had to be inevitable. They had taken away the ones I loved. Nothing…nothing could ever change that single fact. Yet there was another thought, intruding not so gently on my bubbling hatred. She loved me, and I loved her. That fact had existed before this one. But whether or not it would continue was not certain. Yet to be denied forever the two people I cared for so much was certain, Irrevocable. The two facts spoke with one another, they comingled. Each was desperately trying to win out. My hatred for their kind for what they had done to me, and yet simultaneously the knowledge that the one who had caused this pain was not universal amongst them. I had observed in those few months I had been among them that the legends were a matter of interpretation, and not of fact. But what did fact truly matter any longer in the face of the overwhelming pain I now felt? My mind cried out for revenge. My heart cried out for love. It was now purely a battle between the two, to see who could last longer, to see who would eventually win the battle. A battle that would decide not just my future, but possibly the future of the entire world…

Characters

Anthony – He is the main protagonist. He has a latent ability to read people’s souls. He meets and falls in love with Ramona, but in doing so puts both their worlds in danger. He doesn’t fear Vampires nor does he believe they are monsters. After his parents are murdered he is taken in by the Orion Coven and eventually becomes a Vampire. His Dark Gift is the ability to manipulate the elements. His soul reading is also enhanced by his Vampirism. He is originally from London, England.

Ramona – Youngest of the Orion’s, she is physically 18, and technically 100. She has a passion for botany and is able to recognise almost every flower by appearance and/or scent. Her favourite is the Orion flower, one she bred specially for her adoptive father. Originally born in California, she was severely wounded in an explosion whilst trying to help innocent people escape the chaos. Carlo found her and turned her into a Vampire because of her compassion. Her Dark Gift is the ability to move and levitate things with her mind.

Orion Coven

Carlo – Originally from Italy, his sister was madly in love with him. She became a Vampire and in the resulting bloodlust, killed their parents. His sister attempted to turn him, but he was able to distract her and escape. The wounds he sustained nearly killed him, but he was found by Fate and turned into a Vampire. After serving the Avveruncus for some time, he left and eventually founded his own Coven, the Orion Coven which he named for the constellation he was gazing when he decided to found it. His Dark Gift is the ability to control pain. He is physically 27 and technically 793.

Petra – Petra was originally from Russia. One particularly cold winter, some men attempted to rape her. She managed to get away, but without clothes she quickly froze. Carlo found her on one of his nomadic trips and she begged for mercy. He turned her into a Vampire, and the pair quickly fell in love. Her devotion to him led her to join him in founding the Orion Coven and going to America with him. She is technically 312 and physically 27. Her Dark Gift is omnilinguism.

Brock – Brock was the first adoptive son of Carlo and Petra. He upset an enemy of his and was brutally assaulted. Carlo fought off the attackers, but not in enough time. Carlos turned him into a Vampire and adopted him as a son with Petra as his adoptive mother. He can be quite aggressive and is protective of the entire Coven. He is very wary of outsiders, especially Anthony. Physically he is 20, technically he is 174. His Dark Gift is knowledge of fighting styles, re-enforcing him as the best fighter of the Coven, and one of the best Vampire fighters alive.

Jasmine – Jasmine is Brock’s wife and the opposite of him. She is very peaceable and welcoming of others, even if some consider them a threat. Brock often chastises her, but she usually ignores it. She loves Brock with all her heart, and knows he feels the same even if he doesn’t always show it. She is an expert stylist and designs any house the family has as well as their clothes so they can fit in inconspicuously. Her Dark Gift is the ability to fly. Physically she is 21, technically she is 143.

Lyle – Lyle seems quiet an unassuming. He is regarded as the most intelligent of the Coven, aside from Carlo. Whilst Carlo has extensive knowledge of Vampirism and the World, Lyle is a bookworm and knows many things. He also knows several languages, having learned from Petra. He was converted by Lia when they fell in love, against Brock’s will. He sometimes argues with Brock, but they can still get on well when they desire. Physically he is 20, technically he is 134. His Dark gift is the ability to predict outcomes.

Lia – Lia is Lyle’s wife and best friend. She has a calming effect which makes her stick around Brock when need be to calm his temper. She is well mannered and fits in the best with Humans. She tends to have animated conversations with people, showing genuine interest in almost anything she doesn’t know and is eager to learn to catch up with Lyle. Her Dark gift is empathy. Physically she is 19, technically she is 104.
Viratelli Coven

Gonzo Viratelli – Once the apprentice of Carlo, he was turned into a Vampire by Carlo due to the Avveruncus’ rules of membership. He respected Carlo like a teacher and a father figure. He went with Carlo when they left Italy and travelled with him for some time. Eventually he found a girl he fell in love with. At Carlo’s encouragement, he told her how he felt and that he was a Vampire. She willingly became one to be with him. Carlo stayed with him for some time as he founded the Viratelli Coven, but departed to have a family of his own. Gonzo is physically 23 and technically 505. His Dark Gift is the ability to read minds.

Tatiana – Gonzo’s wife. She is considered to be one of the most beautiful vampires. She is devoted to her husband and her adoptive children and would go to the ends of the earth for them. Physically she is 20, technically she is 369. Her Dark Gift is seduction.

Ammaronti, Bella, Vincent, Tobi, Olive and Anya are Gonzo and Tatiana’s adoptive children. They have various dark gifts and various ages.

Marcus – Marcus is an exile of the Viratelli clan. He lusted after Ramona and sought to make her his. After she rejected him, he went into a rage and slaughtered a dozen innocent humans. Gonzo exiled him from the coven as a result. He wonders as a nomad near Haven Town to get his revenge on Ramona and her Coven. Physically he is 19, technically he is 119. His Dark Gift is Shadow walking.


Avveruncus Coven

Fate – Fate is the leader of the Avveruncus Coven. He is exceptionally powerful. He is both feared and respected for his gifts and leadership. The Coven has reigned over Vampires for 2000 years. However, seeing most of the race as unworthy, he single handedly purged the Vampires. Anyone left was considered a first generation Vampire. Those he personally turns into Vampires are considered to be exceedingly lucky and almost always remain faithful to him, the exception being Carlo. Technically he is 1000, physically he is 16 though he appears older than 16. His innate Dark Gift is the ability to alter reality to certain degrees with his mind. His first stolen gift is the ability to teleport. His second stolen gift is the ability to manipulate fire

Lorenz – The first Vampire Fate created. He is his second in command and runs the day to day operations of the Avveruncus. He is widely respected amongst the Coven and feared amongst others. He has the ability to find and locate any Vampire and to communicate with them mentally if they accept being communicated with.

Ashanti – Carlo’s sister and the second Vampire Fate created. She serves him loyally with the promise Carlo will eventually re-join them. Whilst she serves Fate faithfully, her mind is almost always on Carlo. She hates being disturbed and has a notorious Sadomasochistic streak, as well as a violent one. She is the same age as Carlos. Her Dark Gift is the ability to alter pleasure levels in her victims. She can make them feel on top of the world or fill them with the darkest despair.

Ophelia – The fourth Vampire Fate created and arguably his favourite. She is his mistress and never leaves his side. She dotes on Fate, giving him anything he wants, and in return demands anything she wants from him. She is said to be the most beautiful Vampire ever created. Physically she is 18, technically she is 776. Her Dark Gift is the ability to negate other Dark Gifts.

Ivanka – Fate and Ophelia’s daughter. She is a half vampire as Ophelia had her when she was still mortal. She is the only think Fate and Ophelia love more than each other. She gets almost whatever she wants and is incredibly spoilt. She has the unique ability to change her age at will. Her most common form is that of an 8 year old. Her other form is that of a 17 year old she assumes for fighting. Her true physical age is unknown even to her.

Vampires

Vampires are created when a Human is bitten by a Vampire, and the Vampire forces some of their blood into the human through their fangs. Dripping blood does not work, only the fangs can bring about the transformation. The process is incredibly painful as the entire body fights to stay alive, but the blood fights to kill the body so the transformation can occur. It is said to be like a battle between fire (the body) and ice (the Vampire blood).
Once a Vampire, the being will have increased speed, strength, agility and endurance. The skin is slightly colder than a normal human to the touch. Hearing and eyesight are vastly improved. Any balance issues or clumsiness vanish, all Vampires are graceful in their own way.
A Vampire doesn’t need to breathe and their heart does not beat or pump blood. Human food can be eaten, but not digested. It is usually just regurgitated later, and only eaten for politeness or to maintain cover.
On top of the skin being cold and slightly paler than usual, it is also tougher to pierce. Decapitation will not kill a Vampire, only burning the head to ash will. If a Vampire is decapitated, the head can be sewn back on and then the Vampire will eventually recover. Vampires have extremely fast healing as well as enhanced reflexes too.
They require blood to survive, but any blood will suffice. Herbivore blood tastes earthy and mellow. Carnivore blood tastes rich and meaty. Omnivore blood mixes the best of both. Human blood is generally the best and most nutritious, but any blood will ultimately suffice other than another Vampire’s. The Sun’s rays do not harm them unless they are extremely concentrated

Chapter 1 – Ramona

I stared at the opened box in my hands. I wasn’t sure it was real. Was this another one of my crazy dreams my mind seemed determined to push me through each night? Dreams that could not would not ever become reality.
“A present” they grinned.
“A present...” I murmured, not paying much attention to anything but what was nestled weakly in my grasp, now removed from the box. Wrapping paper was strewn hitherto over the floor. I gazed at the man in front of me. Richard Rosenheim, accountant.

That was how he usually introduced himself, and that was how I thought of him. I had never been overly fond of the word ‘Dad’. Sometimes I used ‘Father’. Others I merely grunted or said nothing at all. He was taller than me at six feet. He wasn’t muscly, but neither was he scrawny. He didn’t look like an accountant on first glance. This was mostly because he had changed career at 25. He used to be in a rock band. But then he had met my mother, settled down and become serious. His hair had been long and untidy in the earliest pictures I had seen of his teenage years. Now it was clean cut and a deep shade of brown. His eyes matched his hair, though they had a nestled ferocity in them. He didn’t take any crap…when he felt like not taking any crap anyway. He could be very laid back.

My mother on the other hand was much more the disciplinarian. Yet despite that, she was an uncommonly kind woman. She gave me what I needed in life, nothing more to risk spoiling me, and nothing less to risk depriving me. She knew what it was to be a mother. After all, her mother had been a raging alcoholic and remarried five times just for the money. She was determined to be different, to prove it could be done the right way. Lola Rosenheim stood shorter than me at five feet and four inches. She wore her hair in a neat bun, a delicate shade of strawberry blonde. Her eyes were a comforting blue. They always reminded me of our trips to the seaside.

Then there was me. Anthony Rosenheim. Only child of the aforementioned parents, I was loved but not spoiled. I couldn’t deny I had been blessed with an upbringing I couldn’t falter. Aside from the occasional fight and the stray thoughts of what it might be like to have siblings, my childhood had been peaceful and calm. I stood fair at five feet and eight inches. I was average in every respect. My light brown hair was shaped roughly in the way I usually liked it. It was flattened, yet at the same time it curled down my head and framed it nicely. It was long enough to reach my shoulders and thick enough to hide my ears. My eyes were a medium shade of brown, with glimpses of blue speckled almost perfectly in such a way they blended well with the brown.

After snapping out of my reverie at long last, I stared at the car keys I was holding
“Well you did turn seventeen two months ago” my father started
“And you took to driving like nothing else” my mother continued
“And passed your theory on your birthday”
“And your test two weeks later” they carried each other’s sentences in perfect harmony
“So we thought”
“As a present”
“And to celebrate moving to Haven Town”
“We’d get you a car!”

No words came out of my mouth no matter how hard I tried. This was the kindest thing my parents had ever done for me, the most spoilt I had ever felt in 17 years of life.
“Well why are you lingering?” my mother asked, barely containing her grin
“What?” I asked, dazed, still not fully with it
“Take it for a test drive, Anthony” my father said very matter-of-factly.
I slowly walked outside and into the garage I had been forbidden to go into for a week. Now I knew why. My car was sitting there, waiting for me to get in. A stylish silver Mercedes, all mine. I wasn’t much on cars so I couldn’t have told you the engine size or how fast it went from nought to sixty. I climbed in and carefully slotted the keys into the ignition, and the car roared to life. I tapped my foot gently on the ignition and it purred. It sounded beautiful to me somehow.

“I…I love it! Thank you so much” I grinned at my parents, who could only beam back at me.
“Go on then son, and don’t be out too late or your mother will kill you” my father chuckled.
I responded with a grin and gently placed my foot on the accelerator. As I drove to nowhere in particular, I began taking in my surroundings. Haven Town was a beautiful place really. The beach was a mere 10 minutes’ drive from the house, and the people seemed to go about their days with smiles. Perhaps moving here wouldn’t be so bad after all. School started on Monday, so I would wait until then to pass my final judgement on the place.

I found myself a little bored by just driving around, and a desire to see just how fast this car could go overwhelmed me. I pushed harder on the accelerator and quickly found an open stretch of road which seemed to be all but deserted. Slowly but surely, I pushed the pedal right down to the floor. 50 kmph, and I was going faster still. 80kmph and I showed no sign of slowing down. I kept my foot pressed hard on the accelerator. 120 and still it kept going and so did I. 150 and still it didn’t stop. I finally topped out at 180 kmph and began to lift my foot from the pedal when it happened. I’d slowed down to 80 kmph when I saw her. Her beautiful pink hair fluttering in the wind as she zoomed past me. Her scent caught me on the breeze. It was sumptuous, like a flower that I had never before been privileged enough to taste the scent of. Some part of me could only hope the rest of her was a beautiful.

I lost control for just a moment, leaning my head round to try and catch another glimpse, though at the speed she had gone, I knew it was hopeless. The car jerked and started steering towards the edge of the road. I grabbed the wheel just in time and managed to slam the brake. I lurched forward and then was slammed backwards into my seat. I rubbed my neck, despite the pain and grunted. Damn you, beautiful smelling girl, I thought to myself. Or perhaps I had spoken too soon.

The rushing of an engine hit my ears, followed by it slowing to a halt. I caught a brief hint of the scent that had caused this in the first place.
“You’re an idiot, you know that? First rule of driving, always keep your eyes on the road” came a feminine voice. It sounded as beautiful as her hair was. Like a bit of a song in some respects. Despite my unreasonable anger with her it only endeared her to me more.
“It’s not my fault you smell so nice” I retorted, regretting my words the moment they had slipped out.

I expected her to slap me, but she just laughed.
“So people tell me” she said with something of a sly grin which I took to mean I wasn’t meant to understand whatever joke she was making to herself.
I groaned a little as I leaned forward. Whiplash probably, I sighed silently to myself.
“You need a doctor” she said calmly.
“I need you to not smell so beautiful”
Again I instantly regretted my words, she just laughed again.
“Move over, I’ll drive you”
“What about your car?”
“I’ll have my brothers come and pick it up”
She dove her hand into her pocket and pulled out a very sleek and very new looking phone and dialled a number.

“Lia, it’s me” she spoke into the phone, and that was all I heard of the conversation. She quickly dashed off back towards her car to talk in private. I slowly pulled myself from my seat and walked around the car into the passenger’s. The girl came back moments later and got into the front.
“They’re on their way”
She turned the ignition on, spun the car around and we were off before I could even respond.
“So what’s your name sniffer?” she asked curiously as we drove back towards town.
“Me? I’m Anthony”
“I see, they call me Ramona. You’re new in town aren’t you?”
“Yeah…how did you-“
“It’s your scent, you smell new” she said calmly
Her face was the same as before, so I couldn’t quite tell if she was joking or not.

“It’s a joke” she sighed after a few minutes of silence.
“You said I smell nice, so you smell new. I go to school, the only school in this town. It’s not hard to notice when someone is new, even if you keep to yourself, everyone knows everyone by name, even if they don’t socialise with each other”
At last, a glimpse of what to expect from the school I would be attending.
“Is it…nice?” I asked shyly
I didn’t like that word, but for some reason other words seemed to be failing me right now.
She shrugged but didn’t look at me.
“A school is a school no matter how you dress it up. Some people are friendly, others aren’t. There are jocks, cheerleaders, socialites, geeks, outcasts…all sorts. It’s a normal school Ant”

Ant?
“Ant?”
“Thought of it just now. Like it?”
“You don’t even know me Ram”
“Doesn’t quite work, does it?” she laughed
“No” I sighed reluctantly

After what felt like a lifetime of silence, we reached the Hospital A&E. She helped me out and took me inside. As I stood at the desk, waiting for the receptionist, I finally got my first full glimpse at Ramona. She was the same height as me, perhaps slightly less than inch shorter. I couldn’t quite tell. Her hair was a deep, yet calming shade of pink. It flowed down to her waist, straight and well kept. She wore similar attire to me, deep blue jeans that fit her slender figure perfectly. Her t-shirt was covered with various slogans and looked as if she had made it herself. Her boots stretched halfway between her ankles and her shins, and they looked remarkably comfortable, as weird as that was for me to think. Her skin was fair, a little paler than I would have expected. Her scent filled my nostrils again, still as sumptuous as before. Her eyes were a mid-blue and seemed as if they saw right through me. Her face was toned and perfect, each inch of it sculpted like perfection. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever met or could ever hope to meet.

She sat me down whilst we waited for the Doctor. We both stared idly at the ceiling until 15 minutes later when a Doctor called me in. I sat there whilst he examined me carefully. I gave him the abridged version of what happened
“Well, the good news is you don’t seem seriously hurt, but you do have very minor whiplash. A few days of rest and not exerting yourself will fix that right up. I’ll put you on a two day course of painkillers too. Your parents will be here to sign your papers in a minute”
“You…called my parents?” I asked coldly
“Had to, hospital policy for minors” he said turning to his desk
I mouthed swear words as his turned back and stood up. I glared at him for a moment then walked out to find my parents staring at me with worried faces. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments

“It’s just whiplash…” I sighed
My parents now glared at me
“You had that car for 5 minutes!” My mother shouted
“Um, in all fairness Mrs. Rosenheim, it’s not entirely his fault” Ramona said standing up
My parents turned and looked at her
“And who might you be?” they asked
“My daughter” came a gentle voice
A tall man came into view. Close enough to six feet tall, he was slightly muscular and incredibly handsome given how my mother’s expression immediately softened. He had pale skin and light, messy brown hair. He looked nothing like Ramona whatsoever, and to cap it all off he spoke with a very faint Italian accent

“And you are?” my father asked
“Carlo Orion, Ramona’s father”
He extended his hand. My father reluctantly took it and shook it. He seemed slightly taken aback by something but immediately restored his hard, inquisitive expression
“So miss, you were saying it was your fault?”
“It wasn’t her fault. I uh…” I hesitated realising how embarrassing it was
“He saw another driver being an idiot. He shouted them down for me but didn’t see himself swerve off. I called out to him and he managed to break just in time”
“Oh? Is that so? Who was this other driver?” he asked, gazing suspiciously at me and Ramona
“That must have been Donald, he’s a rubbish driver, there’s a petition going round to get him banned, but he’s moving to New York in three days anyway, so no harm done in the end” Carlo said with a smile

“Well unless you count the medical bill” my father mumbled
My mother nudged him in the ribs
“Oh please, allow me to get that for you. It’s the least I can do”
“What, you think you’re some kind of big shot and I’m someone who can’t handle a little medical bill?” he said getting angry
“Actually” said the Doctor, emerging from the office, “Carlo is the richest man in town, probably in the state. He bought this hospital for us”
He and Ramona gave gentle but embarrassed smiles. Me, my father and my mother’s jaws all fell open
“Well that’s that then. I’m sure the young Mr Rosenheim will rest up well and Ramona will see him in school on Monday. Good day to you all”
“Bye…Anthony” Ramona said with a fleeting wave and smile as she and Carlo turned and left
I was still in shock by the time I got home over everything that had happened that being grounded for the weekend, not that I could go anywhere with the whiplash, was pretty much irrelevant. I locked myself in my room, and by Sunday night, I still couldn’t believe what had happened. I laid my head on my pillow in anticipation. School started tomorrow, and if it was anything like my first day here was, it was going to be eventful to say the least…

Chapter 2 – Haven High

Monday came around at last. It was time for my first day at a new school. It was always a terrifying thing, but I felt strangely ready. After the events of last week I was in a ‘what else could possibly go wrong?’ mind-set. I set off in my car, after about a hundred warnings from my parents about what would happen if I did something stupid again. I reached the car park, it looked brand new, like it had just been renovated. I grabbed the first space I could find and headed off to the beginning of term assembly, my nerves reaching a fever pitch

“AS you all know” echoed the voice of the principle, once everyone was seated, “We have a new car park, or rather we’ve renovated it. And you’re gonna damn well treat it better than the last. I’m looking at you Werner…”
There was chuckling from the other end of the hall. I was sat right at the end of my row. In front of me was a guy with short, dark hair, and his arm was sat around the girl beside him who had long, blonde hair. Next to me was a guy with a substantial afro. And behind him, someone who I guessed he knew as she was actively trying to push it down, much to the guy’s amusement. They seemed to pay me no heed. I couldn’t tell if this was a good thing or a bad thing
“And finally, we welcome a new student this year. He’s from England, so let’s NOT make fun of his accent or the fact he drinks tea, not coffee” the Principle said sternly
I sank in my chair in embarrassment. Somehow the eyes of everyone in the hall found me. Great…this was just what I needed…

As I walked to my first class, the guy with the afro caught up to me
“So, you must be the newbie? I’m David, or ‘Afro dude’, and you have English next, right?”
“Um…yeah, I do” I muttered
“Wow, your accent really is amusing” he chuckled
I glared at him
“Sorry, okay, come on”
He started dragging me towards English class
He sat himself next to the girl who had been playing with his Afro and gestured for me to sit next to her. I did so reluctantly
“This is Alexia, or Alex for short, call her Al to annoy her, right Al?”
“Shut up Furry D” she said with a smirk
“Point taken” he growled
The guy who had had his arm around a girl came and sat next to me, the girl sitting beside him
“This is Yohan, and his girlfriend Leela. Leela’s been my best friend since god only knows” Alex grinned
“Yup, I can still remember what your room used to look like 10 years ago Alex” she giggled

There was a long moment of silence
“So what’s your name?” David asked
“Oh, I’m Anthony”
There was a collective giggle from Alex and Leela
“His accent really is-“
“Yes, I’m British, can we get over that please?” I sighed
“Of course Yohan smiled

Leela and Alex rolled their eyes as a few guys in the corner began wolf-whistling a girl that walked in. I turned and looked, seeing a familiar face, and a small smile crept over my face. As she walked past me, I got another glimpse of that incredible smelling hair. Ramona made no gesture that suggested she knew me. Perhaps she wasn’t the girl I thought she was…
“Don’t” came Yohan’s voice
It snapped me back to reality
“Don’t?” I asked curiously
“Even think about it” David laughed

I looked at them both confused. Alex gave me an understanding smile
“That’s Ramona Orion. Adopted daughter of Carlo Orion, who is quite probably the richest guy in the world. She’s a total snob though, she doesn’t speak to anyone or befriend anyone. Suppose with all that money she thinks she’s better than us all” she scoffed, making no attempt to quieten her voice
Ramona didn’t batter an eyelid
“But…I met her yesterday, she was perfectly kind to me…” I said, even more confused
“Must have been someone else mate” David said with a semi-patronising pat on my shoulder
“Of course it was, because there are dozens of girls with long, straight hair…that also happens to be a rather remarkable shade of pink, right?” I said in an equally patronising voice

Before anyone could respond, the teacher walked in. He looked in his mid-forties and he had let his facial hair grow a little. He was a little pale, and his suit was a little crooked, as was his tie
“Have a late night sir?” one of the boys in the corner called out, laughing
“Shut it Henry. It’s none of your business when I get drunk, lose my keys and end up having to sleep at my sister’s apartment, the one woman who ‘doesn’t believe in alarms’” he grunted
Several students snickered. He looked right at me and eyed me curiously for a moment
“You must be the Brit. Welcome. I’m Mr. Jetro, or ‘Sir’ if you want”
I said nothing
“You mute or something kid?” he asked, turning to the board
“No” I said, a little taken aback
“Good, then turn to page 74 of the book and start reading”

Chapter X – Secrets of the Soul

I sat beside Ramona on the beige leather couch, our hands both holding the other tightly. I was nervous for some reason. Perhaps it was Brock saying that I shouldn’t be hearing what I was about to hear until I was at least a year old Vampire. Perhaps the idea of anyone getting to hear these stories before they should, or before he got to in his timeline truly aggravated him. He and Jasmine sat to Ramona’s left, whilst Lia and Lyle were to my right. Petra was seated firmly beside Carlo who was sitting opposite me. It was night now. The moon was glowing beautifully down on us illuminating their enhanced features. A chill wind swept through the house and I shivered a little. Ramona cuddled up to me a little more but the fact that she was colder than I was didn’t help. This kind of wind didn’t affect them at all…

“Firstly,” began Carlo, calmly yet with a deep hint of anticipation in his voice “you must know something. History is written by the victors. The Avveruncus have ruled for 2000 years. Plenty of time to erase anything they never wanted people to discover. Sure fragments of the past remain in some form or another, but for the most part they are lost. Fate is one of the oldest Vampire’s alive, so the personal record of another Vampire is impossible. Anyone considered a threat was purged at the very start of Fate’s rule”
He paused and looked around at each of us in turn, finally settling his eyes on me. I stared back into his. It was easy to tell he was nervous at best to be recounting the full story as he knew it. Perhaps he had never divulged every last detail to his adoptive children, and perhaps there would be some secrets he would take with him to the grave, even if that was in thousands of years’ time. Though perhaps the same could be said of all of us

“There are two versions of the story. The Avveruncus’ version of the story, and the truth. Of course they are, to some degree, related. However, there are also plenty of differences between them. Fate’s version tells us that we were blessed with Vampirism, that it was a gift given to us and that it is our duty to spread it. To the appropriate people of course. No riffraff necessary. From what I could work out from the records that still existed at the time, Vampirism was a mutation of the genes. It started with some random Human who probably never even knew what they had until gradually they discovered their abilities. The dates vary and at this point it is impossible to know exactly when this first Vampire lived, but my best estimates put it around 5000 years ago”

I took a small gasp of breath. Vampirism was 5000 years old? It was hard to take in. I knew Carlo was over 700 years old, but the fact this thing had existed for such a long time was hard to fathom. Carlo gave me a sympathetic look. From what I could tell it might have been hard for him to take in the information when he first discovered it too. Brock looked a little incensed that I had interrupted the story. I tried my best to ignore him. He turned his attention back to Carlo, and so did I, but he was still glaring at me out of the corner of his eye. It was more unsettling than I thought, but I tried ignoring him again

Chapter X - Matrimony

The day had arrived at last. The memories of how this had all come about flowed through my mind. Jasmine, Lia and Petra were in another part of the house getting Ramona ready for the day. If she looked any more beautiful than she did every single day, I might just die. This of course would end up being incredibly ironic because of the second reason I was marrying her. The first was, of course, because I wanted to spend all my days with her, whether I was a Vampire or not. The other was to show her there was more than one way of being together forever. Of course I was interpreting a figurative meaning of marriage that I felt, but that still didn’t detract from the first reason I wanted to marry her. Nothing could stop me from wanting to be with her forever now that I had surrendered my very soul to her

I saw Lyle smile at me in the mirror and I laughed a little. I had the tendency to dwell on things and forget what I was doing. Brock was outside under the orders of Carlo, preparing everything with the help of the Viratelli Coven. Ramona had threatened him that if he put a hair out of place today she would kick him into the next century. I still hadn’t asked her what she had done that had managed to make Brock a little more careful around her than the others.
“What’s amusing you future brother?” He asked in his soft voice
“Nothing. Still trying to work out what Ramona holds over Brock”
Lyle laughed this time
“You’ve found yourself a hell of a girl, Anthony”
I guessed this was Lyle’s way of saying it wasn’t for him to tell me

Moments later Carlo came up into the room. We had been using Lyle and Lia’s room as the room for me to get ready in and Ramona was getting ready in her room. Of course Brock and Jasmine had their own house, as did Lyle and Lia, but they all enjoyed being in this house too. It held fond memories for them all, and it did for me too.
“Come on, let’s get a move on” Carlo said in a hurried voice, “The last thing we need is for the Groom and the Best Man to be late. Especially when the Bride has a roundhouse kick that could easily match Brock’s”
I suddenly had an inkling of why Ramona commanded a little respect from Brock…

Soon enough Lyle and I were in our suits. He slid his jacket on and examined himself in the mirror
“Reminds me of my wedding to Lia”
I smiled
“Tell me about it?” I asked, curious to know
“It was 70 years ago. It’ll be 71 in a few months’ time. We decided to get married in the dead of winter for reasons best known to no one. It snowed that day too. Of course being Vampires it didn’t affect us, just made the whole thing so much more beautiful. My family was long since gone, and Lia’s had disowned her, so it was just the family. The ceremony was quick but beautiful. Lia looked more radiant that day than ever before. We then went on our honeymoon to the Caribbean for two months and began our lives together”

There was a long pause. I had wanted it to be just the family, but Ramona had insisted on having a slightly grander wedding. Well, at least inviting others. We knew it was safe to have the Viratelli Coven here as they were like the Orion Coven, they drank only animal blood. However, Ramona had insisted on inviting others she had met, and not all of those Vampires were able to resist the allure of Human blood…It wasn’t even my safety I was worried about, it was the safety of my friends and extended family. One wrong move and things could end up going very south for the winter…
“Penny for your thoughts?” came Lyle’s still calm voice
“You know me half as well as Ramona, and that’s still very well” I sighed
“You forget, I can predict outcomes. Just be careful around Johaim and you should be fine”
“Who’s Johaim?”
“A friend of Marcus”

I said nothing for a moment. The memories of our encounter with that beast came rushing back to me. Of how he had beaten back Brock and nearly snapped his neck, how he fought back even Carlo. How he had left me for dead and tried to have his way with Ramona…and of how he had mercilessly slaughtered my parents to get to me, just for the purpose of getting to Ramona as a consequence. My hands clenched into fists and my teeth clenched together. No one had mentioned Marcus’ name since the whole incident. At first I thought they might have just been trying to forget about it, but feeling my own reaction I couldn’t help but wonder if Lyle had slipped up…
A moment later I felt Lyle place his hand firmly on my shoulder. I knew he was trying to reassure me, but at the same time his grip was firm enough that I wouldn’t get far if I decided to lash out…

Gonzo appeared at the door moments later
“You two had better finish getting ready quickly. Petra says Ramona is nearly ready and the ceremony begins in 15 minutes. You’ll need to be down in five”
He vanished before either of us could say anything
“Come on then” I sighed, “Let’s enjoy my last few moments as a free man”
“Don’t sound so glum, you asked her to marry you after all”
“It’s not that” I said looking in the mirror and making final adjustments to my appearance
“What is it then?” Lyle asked, stepping beside me and doing the same thing
I hesitated. I had never shared this with anyone, not even Ramona. But ever since this dream I had after my encounter with Fate, I had gotten this sinking feeling that Marcus wasn’t quite dead…

I steadied myself from the inevitable images that came whenever Marcus entered my mind. I loved my parents but right now I needed to focus on going outside and marrying the woman I had fought so hard for
“Come on, we don’t want ‘Bloodshed at the Orion’s when the bride brutally murders her fiancé and brother for being late’ to be tomorrow’s headline” Lyle smirked
I laughed a little and we left the room. The house had been tidied even more so than I had first thought. Petra had clearly gone out of her way to hide any trace of things we Humans might suspect to be abnormal. We headed into the garden and I stopped in my tracks. The place was beautiful. The left third of the garden had been elaborately decorated for the ceremony. Chairs in rows of 5 and 5 extended for ten sets. At the top was the arch which had been decorated with Cherry Blossoms and Gardenias on the left side, mine and my mother’s favourite flowers. The right side had been decorated with Orion flowers, Ramona and Carlo’s favourites. It was truly stunning. The other two thirds of the garden had been laid out for the party with tables and a dancefloor

Petra appeared at my side. She was dressed in a sea blue dress and matching shoes with three ring bracelets made from gold on her left wrist. I had asked her to walk me down the aisle. She had been like a mother to me even before my parents had died, and she had gladly accepted. She had told me it was also her way of feeling she was welcoming me into the family. We locked arms without really needing to decide which way we would go and started down the aisle. It wasn’t a long walk but something inside me made it feel longer. When we reached the top she gave me two pecks on each cheek and sat in her seat in the front row

Music started playing. Kimmy was seated at the grand piano which had been moved outside. She was the best musician we knew and was all too happy to offer her services for the ceremony. Brock and Jasmine came from inside and emerged into the sunlit garden, their arms locked. Brock was looking as well groomed as I had ever seen him in his tuxedo. Jasmine was wearing a dress similar to Petra’s, only hers was sea green and matched her hair perfectly. They walked down the aisle and took their places. Brock next to Petra and Jasmine near to where Ramona would be. Lyle and Lia emerged moments later. Lia’s dress was the same as Petra’s, just like Jasmine’s, only hers was a fiery red. She and Lyle walked up the aisle, arms locked and both grinning. Lia took her place beside Jasmine and Lyle took his beside me.

Moments later two more figures emerged from the house. For one long moment they were nothing but shadows obscured by the sunlight. Seconds later they stepped forward and my eyes took them in. Carlo was dressed like Lyle and I were, the only difference being an Orion flower sitting over the pocket of his jacket. Ramona had a pure white dress on. It was laced around the waist and below and fit her perfectly. On her wrist was an Orion flower tied like a bracelet but sat perfectly still. Her hair was as pink as ever and flowed perfectly straight down to her waist. Her eyes were shining and as perfect as they had ever been. Her lips were rosy red and her cheeks had been blushed to make her seem slightly more human. The sunlight illuminated her, though it didn’t make her seem even paler as it usually did.

They walked up the aisle and every eye was on them. Ramona had a grin firmly locked on her face that seemed to draw me in the closer she got. Before I knew it she was beside me. Carlo kissed her on both her cheeks then sat down beside Petra. Ramona gave me a gentle smile which I returned. We clasped each other’s hand and faced Vincent who had agreed to marry us as he had done his siblings
“Ladies and gentlemen” he began, “We are gathered here today to join Anthony and Ramona together in marriage”
We had sat down with Vincent a week prior and decided what we had wanted him to say. We agreed not to do anything religious. Carlo had forsaken religion because of Fate, and I had never been religious myself. The law laid down by the Avveruncus stated that when a Vampire married there must be an eternal binding by the way of the Avveruncus, but Vincent had found a way to disguise this so it wasn’t clear what it meant to anyone who didn’t know of Vampires and didn’t seem terribly out of place for a marriage ceremony. I had wanted to forsake it, but Carlo told me that it would give the Avveruncus reason to attack us, and that was the last thing I wanted

The ceremony seemed to go smoothly enough. Before long we were at the vows
“Ramona, would you like to go first?” Vincent asked
She nodded and smiled once more at me
“Anthony…my Anthony. No one truly knows how long I’ve been waiting for you”
There were scattered chuckles from what was inevitably some of the Vampires amongst the crowd. She ignored it and carried on
“The first time we met you were so blown away by me you gave yourself whiplash”
I laughed. Most of the crowd nodded along, clearly not understanding her words as I did
“There are no words to describe how you make me feel. I’ll never stop loving you. Even when time itself ceases to be, when stars refuse to shine and hope is never felt. Even then you will be mine, and I will never let you leave my heart. Even if time and tides separate us, our hearts beat as one”

Her words resonated with me. Our hearts beat as one. Truly nothing she had ever said might be as true as that. Nothing could change that, not even the fact that her heart didn’t beat. We were together now and we would be together forever…literally. And that was all that mattered to me right now, or might ever matter to me in the future
“Anthony?” Vincent said, snapping me out of my reverie
Shit…I had entirely forgotten the vows Lyle and I had rehearsed. Damn Ramona and her words of love…I had to think fast. Actually I didn’t. I took one look into Ramona’s eyes and the words just flowed right out. I didn’t care if they meant nothing to anyone else. As long as they meant something to her. I held out my other hand to her
“Take my hand”
She did, without hesitation
“I give it to you. Now you own me. All that I am”
There were swooning sounds from some of the girls in the left hand row. Clearly my words meant something to someone else after all
“You said you would love me forever, never leave me. I believe you”

Ramona was smiling at me more than ever. We both stared into each other’s eyes, no one else mattered. Vincent looked at us for a moment then smiled
“It gives me great pleasure to bind you forever in matrimony. I now declare you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride”
I didn’t need to be told twice. I leaned forward; our hands still locked, and kissed her on the lips. I felt her kiss back. The moment lasted a thousand lifetimes. There was applause and cheers coming from a hundred miles away that I could barely hear. The only thing that was real was this moment was her and the kiss

Before I knew it I had been surrounded by my friends. They were all hugging and congratulating me. It was so overwhelming it was hard to tell who was who until I could focus my mind. Alex was giving me one of her usual squishy hugs. David was trying to get Ramona to high five him. I could see in her face she was resisting the urge to use her strength to high five him right into the house. Leela and Yohan were the next to find us, their hands locked almost as tightly as mine and Ramona’s were
“Congrats you guys!” Leela smiled and hugged me with one hand. Yohan did the same to Ramona
“Of course now we’ve been to your wedding we’re gonna have to have our own and better it” Yohan smirked
“Good luck” snorted Ramona with a sly grin
Yohan laughed his hearty laugh and he and Leela headed off as my new family came towards us

Petra’s arms were the first to find me. Her arms made the hair on the back of my neck stand up from the sudden chill. She didn’t seem to notice. She gave me two swooping kisses on each cheek before tightly embracing her adoptive daughter.
Lyle and Lia were the next to find me. Both of them hugged me at the same time
“Welcome to the family…uh…officially little brother!” Lia grinned
I couldn’t hold back my laugh
“Little?”
“Size doesn’t factor in, I’m older than you”
We all laughed at this. Thankfully no one else nearby would quite understand the extent of her joke

Jasmine was hugging me moments later
“Welcome to the family. It’s gonna be so much fun having you around for good now”
I knew she meant it in a friendly way but couldn’t help feeling slightly intimidated by Brock who was standing beside her, trying to avoid my gaze
“Brock is happy too, even if he doesn’t show it” Jasmine said
Brock merely grunted then slid to the left of me to talk to Ramona. As he did, Carlo moved the opposite way and held out his hand to me. I promptly took it and gave him a smile
“Welcome to the family officially, son-in-law. We all think it best to leave you to the company of your friends; after all we will have all the time in the world to talk after the wedding”
He gave me a smile and walked off towards Petra who was deep in conversation with Gonzo

The day seemed to carry on as smoothly as the wedding had. Soon enough we were sitting down for dinner. The Vampires had all trained themselves to look as though they were enjoying the food and they would simply regurgitate it later when it was safe to do so. We had made sure they had all fed before the wedding so none were hungry and lost control…but I was still nervous. I sat twirling a little of my steak on my fork. Ramona looked at me curiously
“Something on your mind hubby?” she asked leaning a little closer to me
“No not really, just a little surprised at how well everything’s gone so far. With everything I’v seen I half expected a bloodbath to occur…”
“I told you, we know how to handle our own kind”
“My kind…” I muttered
“Not just yet” she said with a weak smile and kissed my cheek gently
I closed my eyes for a moment. As I did, I dropped my fork. It fell to the floor with a resounding clang and I couldn’t stop myself before a small gasp slipped through my teeth
Things were about to get very dangerous…

Chapter X – The Unexpected Visitor

I only half registered everyone staring at me. I was the groom after all so if I did something it would draw attention
“Stomach cramp” I lied audibly
I stood up and forced myself not to run back into the house, aware that every eye was on me. I felt three people follow me. I hoped they were the three people I thought they were…
Once we were all upstairs, I turned and looked at those who had followed me inside. Ramona was standing there with more concern etched on her face than I had ever seen before. Lyle was looking at me with strange curiosity and Carlo’s brain was whirring as hard as ever before I had even spoken

“Fate…” I choked out
They all looked at me with an odd expression
“Avveruncus!” I growled
Ramona’s eyes widened and she took a step back. Lyle growled lowly and Carlo just stood staring at me
“What about him?” Carlo asked after what felt like a lifetime of hard silence
“He’s coming…”
“Coming?” Lyle asked sceptically
“HERE!” I growled, “He’s coming here! He’ll be here any minute now!”
It was Carlo whose eyes widened this time
“What?” he asked, half demanding

I took a deep breath
“When Ramona kissed me on the cheek…I closed my eyes to take a moment…and I had a vision…Fate telling some woman he was coming here…and then he vanished into thin air…”
“Are you sure he meant today?” Lyle asked leaning a little closer
“I saw the date, and the time …he’ll be here soon…I know it…”
“What time was on the clock?” Ramona asked desperately
“He had a watch on set to our time zone…it said 9:46”
We all gazed instinctively at the clock. It read 9:47. Seconds later there was a low rumble in the distance. It sounded like thunder, but much more sinister
They were all at the garden doors in an instant. It took me a minute to catch them up
“I wish you wouldn’t do that” I growled

None of them were listening. From over the hill there was the faintest sounds of footsteps. They gradually grew louder and louder until a silhouette appeared. Gradually that grew larger and larger until the figure of Fate Avveruncus came into full view. He passed the watching crowd. The Humans looked at him with a mundane curiosity. The Vampires didn’t move a muscle.
“Fate…” I mumbled under my breath
“Yes?” He asked pleasantly, now no more than a metre from Carlo, Ramona and Lyle who were all standing in front of me…shielding me
“Why are you here? I don’t recall sending you an invitation” I said spitefully
He chuckled
“No, I don’t recall getting one either. But I couldn’t not show my face. Carlo is an old friend after all, and you and I are friends now

I said nothing. None of us spoke for the longest of times
“What do you want?” Lyle asked, shifting uncomfortably
I forgot he could predict outcomes…did he see this ending badly? Would this be a bloodbath after all? Fate had always been beyond Lyle’s power, he could change his mind on a whim and defy what seemed like the most clandestine and permanent decision
“I came to give my congratulations to the happy couple of course”
He took a step forward and motioned to give Ramona a hug. She took a step back so she was beside me

Fate simply laughed at her
“I’m not going to kill you or anything”
She grabbed my hand and pulled me back a step with her
“Oh so paranoid you are…Very well, I’ll simply give you my gift then”
We were all eyeing him sceptically now. A gift? What game was he playing?
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small square box and held it out. Tentatively, and only after Carlo gave me a subtle nod, did I reach out and take it from him. He made no movements whilst I did, and only after it was out of his hand did he slowly move it back to his side. I opened the box. Inside was a neatly folded piece of paper which had, what I assumed to be, Fate’s own handwriting. It was neat and straight. I wouldn’t have been surprised, had he have been human, that he might have gone through many attempts to get his writing so perfect with each letter. The words simply read ‘For Ramona and Anthony’

“My gift to you and to your family. I do hope you like it. Consider it my way of apologising for the actions of some of my Coven. So deplorable” he sighed
There was more silence
“Well I must be off. I have things to attend to. I would have attended the ceremony but…well, you know. Busy, so very busy. I do hope you’ll all find the time to come and visit me in Italy sometime soon. Something tells me you will”
He gave us all his friendly smile and turned around. He walked one step forward then stopped
“I heard about what happened with Marcus. Deplorable, truly deplorable. If any of his associates happen to give you any trouble, please do simply tell them that if they continue their course of action, we Avveruncus will be forced to intervene. We can’t have them attacking you now can we? Especially when you still have such a vulnerable and fragile human amongst you”

He said nothing after that. He started walking forwards again until he was just a silhouette and then just footsteps. Minutes later we heard another rumble that sounded like thunder, yet none of us moved

Chapter X – Fragility

Ashanti stood before us, her face smug with victory before it had even come.
“I take it Fate sent you?” Carlo asked, already knowing the answer to his question, but he needed to hear it from her for sure.
“No my love, I came for you and your family” she smirked
A shiver jetted down my spine. Though I had met Fate, witnessed his power, Ashanti seemed creepier, more obviously deadly. Perhaps that was because of the immediate threat. She was accompanied by 15 other Vampires, half a dozen of which were holding strange gun-like contraptions I now knew to be UV guns. A single direct hit would burn the flesh of a Vampire, causing them excruciating pain, probably even killing them.

“I’m afraid,” Carlo began, “that you have come in vain sister. You are most certainly not my love. Petra is the only woman who holds my heart in that respect, though my children share a large portion of my heart. It was never and will never be yours to claim”
He spoke calmly, confidently. Did he really believe we could win with two of them for every one of us? I was the weak link too. A fragile, vulnerable human and Ashanti knew that…
“We do not wish to fight you Ashanti, violence is not who we are. All loss of life is undesirable, whether it be the animals we must consume to keep ourselves sustained or our enemies who threaten our bonds and ties”
Ashanti seemed to take no notice of the thinly veiled threat he was making. Her mind, it seemed, was made up before she even arrived.

“I cannot permit your wife and children to keep living if they keep you away from me Carlo. They must die”
She looked at each of us in turn, her desire for us to be dead obvious. Brock hissed at her when she stared at him, but the remainder of us stayed silent.
“My Vampire brethren…” she began, this time addressing those on her side, though she did not turn to them, “these ‘Vampires’ threaten our way of life. They feed off animal blood…they believe we can get along with the Humans”
There was the sound of fifteen edgy Vampires hissing in union.
“However, I say to you this is not our way of life. If they continue to live, they might try to impose their way of life on us”
“Like you’re trying to do to them!” I spat, unable to take her blatant hypocrisy
“You see? A human even in their midst now!” she cried out
More hissing, this time directed solely at me
“Let us take the word of our great leader, Fate Avveruncus. He wishes us to exterminate all but Carlo, after all, he sired Carlo himself. Let the slaughter…begin!”

Many things happened in the same moment. The Vampires had always been able to move too fast for my Human vision to truly take in what was happening. As far as I could work out, Ashanti lunged for Carlo, who parried her and the two began to fight. The rest of the Vampires came after us. Four of them tried assaulting Brock…bad idea. Petra took on one herself. I had never seen her fight before, but she was amazing. Ramona was toying with two, throwing them about with her mind. Lyle was taking on 3, with his ability to predict outcomes allowing him to dodge almost anything they threw at him. Lia was standing hand in hand with Jasmine. Jasmine leapt gracefully into the air and began swinging Lia around, swinging themselves at the nearest enemies. I laughed to myself at this brilliant use of Jasmine’s gift, only to realise I was now coming under attack myself. The remaining two lunged at me, but I deftly dodged. It seemed my time training with the family hadn’t been such a waste after all…

I drew my sword; the same one Carlo had forged all those years ago and began swinging it with as much skill as I could muster. I managed to slice the first Vampire’s arm clean off. He grunted with pain and retreated a few paces to regrow it, glaring at me because it would undoubtedly be painful. I tried slicing at the second, but he leaped right over my head and slashed my back. I felt my top torn, along with a few layers of skin. I muttered in pain as I was thrown forward and I hit the ground hard. The Vampire leapt towards me and crouched over me. He raised his fingers to strike, but I was too fast. I spun over, taking my sword and thrusting it through his heart. He screamed in pain and pulled away. I kept a tight hold on my blade which came clean out of him when he pulled back.

I chanced a glance at the others. Brock had snapped one of his opponent’s necks and was trying the same with a second. Ramona was slamming her two foes together like ragdolls. Petra was gracefully soaring over her foe, confusing him. Before I could glimpse the others, my first opponent, arm intact, dived for me. I barely slid out of the way and tried stabbing his arm. He managed to move it away in the nick of time.
I saw Carlo glide over me and land ten feet away. This was followed by Ashanti who landed on the same spot Carlo had, but Carlo had already moved and was attacking his sister with a ferocity I had never seen before. I knew his family was important to him, and Ashanti had crossed an invisible line. She was going to pay the price for that, I was sure.

Things didn’t seem to be going well for our opponents until I saw some of them pull out their UV guns. The field began lighting up with the fiercely intense rays of light. One hit a tree and left a large scorch mark on the bark. My two opponents didn’t seem concerned for their guns, after all, I was a fragile human, UV guns wouldn’t be worth their time on me. My two opponents lunged for me at the same time, but I leapt backwards at the last second, causing them to slam into one another at force. Without really thinking, I held tight onto my blade and swung it, decapitating the first vampire in one fluid motion. His head rolled through the air and landed with a thud some distance away. Before I could do the same to the second, he rolled to the side. I tried stabbing him, but hit only the ground.

“Crap” I muttered, my sword was stuck
I tried pulling it, but before I could do so for more than a moment, I felt sharp claws slash my upper arm and throw me backwards. I hit the ground with a slam. My head was bleeding a little and my arm was dripping blood from four slashes. This seemed to only enrage the Vampire as he lusted for my blood. He jumped towards me, but I side stepped him and leapt to my sword. With all the force I could muster, I forced it from the ground. In a second fluid motion, the other Vampire’s head landed beside the first, his body falling with an even louder thud. My training had been more than worth it after all…I had won.

I felt a sharp, blinding pain from nowhere. I fell to my knees and nearly collapsed entirely from the pain. I felt a hand clasp the back of my head where the blood was flowing from. It was colder than a normal Human hand. I was sure I was going to die. I felt the hand being wrenched off me. Slowly I turned around to see Brock tightly grasping a Vampire above his head. He threw it with such force I thought the entire Earth might shake, and the resulting crash was loud indeed.
“Watch yourself idiot” he muttered
“Thank you” I managed, still gasping air from the shock of the Vampire’s punch on my head.
“Don’t mention it” he said indifferently
“I won’t” I said struggling to my feet
“No…really, don’t mention it to anyone…others will think I’ve gone soft” he snorted

“WATCH OUT!” I screamed and without thinking, I dove in front of him
A beam of intense light hit my chest. It burned away the fabric covering the left side of my chest in an instant and burned the flesh underneath. I fell to the ground, gasping in pain. The Vampire Brock had thrown had grabbed his gun and tried shooting him. Brock roared with rage when he saw me collapse. He bull charged over to the Vampire and wrenched the gun from him. He tore the gun apart and proceeded to literally rip his opponent limb from limb and tossed his torso and head to the ground with as much force as he could physically muster

He sidled over to me, an expression on his face I had never seen before. It was gratitude
“You didn’t have to do that…you shouldn’t have…”
“It could have killed you, it just burned me”
“Still…” he said, looking half at a loss for words
He stared at the burn on my chest
“It looks painful” he said, clearly not being able to summon the courage to reassure me properly, or perhaps he had just never reassured anyone in his life before
“It is…exceedingly” I said. I could still feel it prickling and aching. It was probably the third most painful experience of my life. The second came moments later.
Before I could even blink, I saw my sword flash towards me, flying at speed. It tore through the weakened skin that had been burned as though it were butter. It landed solidly, right through my heart.
I could hardly gasp for the pain and shock. I barely managed to lift my head to see the smirk on Ashanti’s face before she was thrown back into battle with Carlo. Brock could only stare in horror

“RAMONA!!!” Brock roared, his same bull-like voice echoing over the entire field. Ramona was by my side in an instant. It only took her seconds to realise what had happened. Brock quickly explained it to her, and then stood up to guard us from the oncoming Vampires. Seconds later, it seemed, Petra was also by my side.
“He’s dying fast…you have minutes at most Ramona” she said sadly
“Minutes…for goodbyes” she whispered, unable to contain her sorrow and tears
“No…minutes to do what we do”
She looked confused for a moment, but quickly grasped her meaning
“NO! I won’t subject him to that!”
“It’s that or death Ramona” she said, trying to keep the coolness out of her voice

Ramona looked down at me
“What is it you want?” she asked
“As if my opinion matters” I choked
She only looked shocked
“We’re married. We’re as one. Whatever you want, I stand by it no matter what”
Tears leaked from her eyes onto me. They were as cold as her skin, yet just as comforting as her presence was
“I’m so sorry” she whispered, so only I could hear
Her lips gently caressed my neck. Moments later I felt her fangs dig into my neck. I felt nothing but that for a moment. Then I felt the strange sensation of my blood flowing the wrong way. An instant later it seemed, though perhaps it was because in this moment of my life time had no longer any meaning, I felt the single most painful thing I have ever felt.

As Ramona withdrew her fangs, the wound sealed itself instantly, because it was designed to do so when you were to become a Vampire. At once I felt a heat surge throughout my body. It felt warm at first, but got hotter until I couldn’t stand it. It seared and burned me all over. I convulsed and twitched, the pain was excruciating. Some indeterminate amount of time later, I felt a second sensation. It was like ice, spreading throughout my body in tandem with the fire. It was soothing at first, but then like the fire, it turned painful. It was sharp and volatile, like ice spikes were erupting in every corner of my existence.

My memories were flashing before me as the battle between fire and ice raged inside of me. I could remember Carlo describing to me what it was like, the transformation
“It’s like heat and cold at the same time. Your body, or the fire, struggles desperately to keep you alive. It tries to reignite all your internal organs as they fail, one by one. But the ice, the Vampire blood, it persists. It spreads to every corner of you and stops your body dead in its tracks. It freezes you in time. The process is excruciating as your body fights a battle it can’t win. You hang on for every last breath. Only once it is gone can your heart stop beating and the ice can finally soothe you and take-over”

That was what it was. I could feel my body desperate to keep going. Every single organ demanding blood and adrenaline, demanding the fire my body just could not produce. The ice felt sharp in my back as it stopped my kidneys. It spread up, reaching every muscle and cell. Everything that I was was being stopped forever. I gasped again and again for breath, as if it could cool me down. I was desperate for it. I struggled from side to side, my fists slamming on the ground. Anything for release, anything to free me from this hell!
KILL ME! KILL ME! I could no longer tell if I was saying the words or just thinking of them. I couldn’t even tell if my mouth would even move any longer. How much more would I endure? How long until my lungs and heart finally gave out and I would be born again?

The pain had spread to my torso. My arms had been silenced somewhat. I gasped and gasped for air, but none came. Moments later, if time even existed any more, my lungs too gave out. Only my heart remained, desperately pumping blood to a body that was all but dead. I could no longer think. I was focused solely on the pain. Fire and Ice raged more intensely than anywhere else in my fragile human heart. Stop this; I beg you please…just give me death. An eternity later the pain seemed to dissipate. Slowly at first, but I could feel coldness spreading. My body had lost. Vampirism had won. My entire body should have ached and screamed in pain, but I felt none. Not even my old shoulder problem seemed to bother me any longer. I opened my eyes and saw the world for the first time.

Everything was brighter, lighter and better. I could smell things I never thought possible. I could hear every word Ashanti was muttering to herself even though she was on the opposite side of the battlefield. My arms felt strong and full of energy. My old shoulder wound had all but disappeared into a strange shaped scar. I placed my hand on the handle of my sword and lifted it out like it was less than a feather. I didn’t grunt in pain, though it hurt. I stared down at the gaping hole where a battle had been fought only moments before. Slowly but surely the muscles in my heart began reforming, my body began repairing itself. Minutes later, I was as good as new.

I stared at Ramona. Her beauty was magnified by my enhanced eyes. I could feel the worry that had permeated her soul despite our eyes being fifty centimetres away. It was a cinch to calculate the distance. Her scent once again filled my nostrils; it was even more radiant and alluring than before. I looked at Petra. Her beauty was enhanced too, everyone and everything’s beauty was enhanced by my newer, better eyes. I took a moment to gaze at my wife once more. I leaned forward and without thinking, kissed her on the lips. She kissed back. Her mouth and mine, intertwined as they always should be. I broke it a moment later, followed by her hugging me with one of her crushing hugs, but I was as tough as she was, so it didn’t hurt. I hugged back with the same enthusiasm

“I love you always Ramona” I said gently
“And now we have forever to test that out” she grinned
I got to my feet the next instant and looked over at Brock. He was fighting hand to hand with a large, burly Vampire. I needed to test my strength. I walked calmly over to Brock’s side
“Hey big brother” I said with a sly smile
“Good to see you up and about” he smirked
“Thanks for protecting me during the transformation” I said, smiling
“No problem, but I’m a little busy now…”
“I noticed” I laughed

If I had tried this as a Human I would have broken my hand…but now…
I tapped the Vampire on the shoulder, He looked round at me and in the same second I threw the hardest punch I could right at his nose. It shattered like glass
“Curse new-born strength” Brock whispered
“I heard that” I said, and this time I was smirking
I lifted the opponent up and threw him twenty feet away
“You’re a natural” Brock said as the Vampire landed with a familiar thud
“I try” I smiled and Ramona came running up to me. She wrapped her hands around me and kissed my cheek
“You know your strength will only last, increased anyway, for a month or three, right?”
“Still enough to beat you at arm wrestling” I said, flexing my muscles at Brock
“You are so on “he laughed

Exactly what had brought such a change about in Brock I couldn’t be entirely sure. Was it the fact I had saved him, or that I was now a Vampire? Or both? Either way I was glad for this new Brock. It didn’t do well to get on Brock’s bad side, and even as a Vampire I was glad to be on his good, for now anyway.
The others gathered around me, admiring my new form. It was only after a gasp of pain from nearby did we finally turn our attention to the last remaining battle. Ashanti and Carlo were still fighting with all their might. Ashanti fell back, clasping her left hand in her right. She let out a low, guttural growl. My ears picked up every part of it, and it sounded even more dangerous this time around than the last.

“Your allies are defeated. Your attempt at tearing our family apart has failed. You’ve denied my son-in-law seven days of Humanity. All in all, this operation appears to be a failure Ashanti”
Carlo heaved a deep sigh. Despite our victory, something was bugging him. I could feel it in his soul, even though he was standing three feet from me. My new mind seemed to have enhanced my ability to read souls enormously. I could feel Ashanti’s desire to tear us to pieces and she was 10 feet away. I couldn’t help but have a stray thought of how far my ability could extend to. If I tried, could it go as far as Italy and warn us if Fate wanted to make another visit? I would have an eternity to test that out.

Ashanti glared at Carlo for a long moment
“I wonder” she began in a musing tone, “I wonder what your little pet’s Dark Gift is? Would he that privileged, or would his Soul reading just be enhanced?”
This question seemed to resonate with the whole family. They all shot offward glances at me that my Human form wouldn’t have caught.
“I don’t know” I said honestly. “My Soul Reading is enhanced though. I can feel the rage in her mind, and Carlo’s reluctance to have to kill her if she persists”
Ashanti let another growl slip from her lips
“You wouldn’t dare!”
Carlo said nothing

Ashanti roared towards the heavens and leapt at me. I anticipated it. Whilst before I would have had to dodge, now I launched my arms forward and locked hands with her as we both struggled to push each other back.
“Perhaps after I’m done with you, I’ll kill that pretty little pinkie you love so much” she smirked
Something inside of me snapped
“YOU WON’T TOUCH MY WIFE!” I roared
And then it happened. My hands erupted into flames. They licked my hands and made them feel strangely warm, yet they didn’t burn the flesh. At the same time, Ashanti gasped and stumbled a little. Her hands, still locked in mine, began to crackle and split. The flesh began to darken and she roared in pain. I was so shocked I didn’t force her to remain when she pulled back. Her hands were damaged, though they almost instantly began to heal themselves. Both she and the family looked at me in shock. I knew the ability to control fire to be very rare for a Vampire given our aversion to it.

She took a leap backwards, her hands still not fully healed
“I’ll kill you all for this” she said as menacingly as she could, yet somehow the effect was lost by the fact the others had their gazes fixed on me.
This only seemed to increase her anger and she let out another growl
“DO YOU HEAR ME?!” she called out
“OH SHUT THE HELL UP!” I shouted and stomped my foot on the ground
The second strange thing happened. From the place where my foot hit the ground (with force given my new strength), the ground seemed to open up. A crack spread from my foot right towards Ashanti. She barely dodged it for the shock
“This…this isn’t over!”
She was gone before any of us could move, yet no one tried to stop her. Carlo’s eyes were transfixed on me, his brain whirring as he knew the imminent questions that would follow when we returned to the house. Somehow, becoming a Vampire wasn’t going to be the hottest topic of the day…
Chapter X – Fate’s invitation

The journey back to the house was taken in silence. We all walked in formation as instructed by Carlo. Now I was a Vampire I no longer needed to walk with protection, and frankly it seemed Brock was glad not to be near me. And I had been enjoying his new change. It seemed my displays against Ashanti had freaked him out. He stuck close to Jasmine and it seemed he was half trying to keep her hidden from my sight in case I try the same on her…
Carlo had said nothing after he had placed us in formation and given the order to begin the journey back, but as ever, I could practically hear his brain jumping around, trying to piece everything together the way only Carlo could. I was sure that Fate would soon be given a blow by blow account of the battle. What would he make of what he heard?

As I ran at the rear of the formation, even Ramona didn’t seem to look at me. 10 minutes later we had arrived at the house. We had to make an even wider berth around the town than normal to ensure I didn’t catch the scent of blood. I was still only an hour old, still dangerous until I learned control…
When we arrived back at the house, Lyle, Lia, Jasmine and Brock immediately went off to hunt. They had done so only the day before, but from the look Carlo exchanged with Lyle, I guessed they weren’t sure they wanted to be around me just yet. Or perhaps Carlo needed me alone in case I lost it and tore the house apart with a chasm…

Carlo immediately proceeded up to the library with Ramona. At Petra’s insistence I sat on the couch and waited for them. She came back from the kitchen holding a glass with a deep red liquid that smelled very tantalising as it filled my nostrils.
“Blood” she smiled, answering my unasked question
“With all the excitement I think Carlo forgot you would need some. You’ll need a fair bit over the next few days until you learn how to hunt properly. Refrigerated blood doesn’t nearly work as well as fresh blood”
“Thank you” I managed, though barely, and took the glass from her. It wasn’t as cold as I had expected, but then I was now colder than normal. Normal…I would have to readjust the meaning of some words now. After all, drinking blood would be the norm from now. Having enhanced senses, hunting too…having to distance myself from humans until I could control myself…if I could control myself…

I was suddenly all too aware of a dry feeling in my throat. I was guessing it was my body telling me it was time to feed. Slowly I pressed my lips to the edge of the glass. The blood was more tempting than before
“What…what blood is it?” I asked, pulling the glass away slightly
“I was curious to know. I remember Carlo telling me the difference in taste between certain animals depending where they lived and what they ate, and so on”
Petra laughed a little
“He would say that. He knows too much. Too much time and not enough to do I suppose. You’ll get used to that feeling soon enough. To answer your question it’s deer blood. It should taste mellow and a little sweet. You’ll have to get used to the taste. Carnivore blood doesn’t keep as well in the fridge as Herbivore blood, but in the end, it’s all a matter of preference. We all like Deer and take it well, even if it’s not our favourite. We’re all different. I expect you’ll be like Lyle and take a fancy to Tiger blood. Brock loves Lion blood. Lia and Jasmine are partial to Elks. Ramona takes after Carlo and prefers Stags. Personally I’m fond of Gorilla. They have a Human like quality to their blood, but it’s still distinct. They’re not easy to find within a few hundred mile range though. Of course nothing will ever compare to Human blood, but you know we avoid it”

I was stunned by how matter of fact she spoke. I wondered what each of the creatures she described would taste like and made a note to ask Lyle especially…if anyone ever decided to come near me again. I pressed the glass to my lips once again and tilted my head back. The blood poured into my mouth for the first time. The dry feeling in my throat vanished at once. The blood tasted warm despite it having been in the refrigerator. It tasted as though someone had mixed some herbs and spices together and tossed them with the blood. I could taste a hint of grass, but it wasn’t unpleasant. It just added to the mellow texture of the blood. I had drained the rest in two gulps
“Odd isn’t it?” Petra smiled, taking the glass from me
“I’ll get you some more” she said, reading my mind somehow
“The thirst will persist for a little while. That’s why the others are hunting, to stock up”
I didn’t know that…they didn’t have to…
“We needed more anyway, and we had to prepare for your transformation. They just had to go a little earlier is all” she said kindly, again somehow reading my mind.
“How did you know?”
“All Vampires remember their transformation and the after effects” she said simply, knowing I would understand

She handed me a second glass of blood which I drained in one long gulp
“Thank you” I said quietly as she took the second glass from me
Moments later Carlo and Ramona came into the room, each holding two books
“All the books we need on Dark Gifts” Ramona said, catching my eye
“You think what I did was a Dark Gift?”
“I think I’d be bloody impressed if it weren’t” Carlo laughed
“Was that a pun?” Ramona asked, looking at the glasses sitting on the counter
“A very bad one” Petra said in her stern voice
Carlo lifted up one of his books and flicked to a page near the middle

“Multiple Dark Gifts” he began, “Are exceptionally rare such that only one Vampire in 10,000 is said to be privileged with such. The study on Dark Gifts has shown that the gifts usually depend on a number of factors such as the personality of the newborn, who sired them, the gifts of the one who sired them, and other factors thought to possibly play a part such as height, weight, age and intelligence, though these aren’t confirmed. The Dark Gifts are usually related. In the single case study available at the time of publication, the Vampire studied possessed the gifts of an enhanced vocabulary and multilinguism. In the first case, he was able to recall any word he had ever heard or that had ever been created, combined with the second gift, he was able to do so in the 7 languages the gift enabled him to speak and know flawlessly. Such gifts are interconnected, yet at the same time, they are also two separate gifts”

There was silence for a minute after Carlo stopped speaking. I finally broke it
“So…you think I have multiple gifts?”
“It’s possible. Very rare indeed…as you heard there was only a single known Vampire at the time, and he only possessed two gifts”
“Only? You’re suggesting I could do more than what I did against Ashanti?”
“Oh yes. The elements are very much interconnected. I believe if you can control fire and earth, you should also have command over water and air”
I said nothing
“Four gifts though Carlo?” Petra asked sceptically
“Five. He still has the ability to read Souls. Perhaps that had some influence…”
He sighed a little
“Penny for your thoughts?” I said without really thinking
“There is only one other way to get Dark Gifts, and that is to slay another Vampire and take their Soul, and thus their gift. But that would have been impossible given none of the Vampires on that battlefield possessed the gift of elemental control, and you didn’t have the time nor the knowledge of how to do something like that”

I lost myself in my thoughts
“Penny for your thoughts?” Carlo said, mimicking my tone from before, but not in a mocking fashion
“Fate…” I started
Carlo looked at me with a wary eye, clearly unsure what I was hinting at
“When he showed me his memories…he showed me one. He had just killed another Vampire. Then he did this…I don’t know what it was. But this massive energy came up from the body and infused itself into Fate. Was that…was that him stealing another Vampire’s Dark Gift?”
“Yes” said Carlo, a little hint of Anger to his voice
“Fate has done that once or twice. The gift of a Vampire he thinks is exceptionally useful, but the Vampire will not yield to the Avveruncus, so he takes the ability for himself”
He was no longer hiding his anger
“The only reason he spared me from that fate was because he sired me…”

There was a long pause
“Fate is the only Vampire on this planet who could tell us for sure about your gift, but there’s no way in Hell that I’m letting him near you right now. There’s no telling what he might do…he covets your Soul seeing ability. I only dread to think what he might do if he discovers you can manipulate the elements…”
“When” came a familiar voice
We turned to see a familiar figure outside the door to the garden. Standing as graceful and as composed as he ever was, Fate was looking at me with something close to a hungry desire. I had seen that look before when I had been forced to show him first hand my ability…

The four of us leapt into something of a formation. Carlo stood at the front, protecting us. Petra stood slightly behind him, to his left, and Ramona and I stood behind Petra.
This move seemed to amuse Fate. He smiled a little and laughed
“Do not fear. I’m not really here, this is simply an illusion. Ashanti finished telling me about your battle. Most fascinating indeed. I would like you to come and pay me a visit if you would”
His voice seemed sincere, but Petra growled lowly
“Now now, there’s no need for such unpleasentries. Ashanti is to be punished for acting out of turn. You did well to fend her off. I extend my apologies that your last week of Humanity was so brutally taken from you Anthony” he said. He still sounded sincere

“He’s not going anywhere Fate” Carlo said, keeping the anger from his voice with great success, but a coldness was there
“Oh but of course, he is a newborn, he’s dangerous”
He put a sarcastic emphasis on the last word
I growled this time
“Now now, I won’t take no for an answer. I’ll have Plane tickets at your door in a week. I’ll expect you here in another. Oh won’t this be fun!”
He turned around
“FATE!” I called out
“What is it?” he said, sounding a little bored
“I’ll come under one condition”
“What is it?”
“I can bring someone with me”
“Very well, it will be nice to see Carlo again” he said after a small pause
With that he vanished

There was a cold silence for what seemed like an eternity
“You can’t go” Carlo said, less successful at keeping the anger out
“Fate can tell me what’s going on. And he won’t brainwash me…I’m too loyal to you and the family Carlo”
“You don’t know Fate like I do”
“You don’t know me like I do!”
“You’re not going” he said angrily
“Yes he is! And Fate’ll be in for a shock too!” Ramona said
“Oh and why’s that?” Petra asked curiously
“Because Carlo isn’t going with him, I am”

Chapter X – A Thousand Words

The week following Fate’s appearance was not pleasant. The rest of the family had been filled in when they returned from hunting, and they all immediately took Carlo’s side. Even Brock who had a burning desire to put Fate in his place had reservations. Ramona was the only one who hadn’t voiced her opinion as if she was saving herself to give Fate a piece of her mind. Everything had seemed so unreal; at times we were all questioning whether it had all even really happened. Only when the two plane tickets arrived on Sunday morning by special delivery did things begin to feel more real. Ramona and I had begun our packing, despite continued insistence that we weren’t to go and indulge Fate
“We’re going alright!” Ramona snapped at Brock an hour after the tickets had come
“You are not!” he said in his fierce, bull-like voice
“Just try and stop us” she said tauntingly
Fate must have known this would happen. Was this a two pronged attack? Knowing I would come and trying to split the family apart at the same time? Was this just another part of his grand plan to add me to his collection?

I didn’t have much time to ponder it. I hadn’t even learned how to hunt yet, and that would have to wait until our return. We had stocked a supply of blood ready for the trip, despite the letter that had accompanied the tickets saying blood would be provided. Lyle had speculated it could be Human blood to try and get us addicted. We were preparing for anything at this point. We spent the remaining week trying to train me to resist the scent of Human blood. None of the others had accepted I was really going to be so foolish, but the fact neither Ramona nor I had changed our minds perhaps had prompted them to at least try and prepare me. My training consisted of trying to resist the scent of Human blood, and to try and force myself to choose the animal blood over the Human blood that had been taken from a blood centre. Carlo had invited the Mayor over for dinner too as my final challenge the day before we went. If I could resist that, I would be ready to be among Humans. I passed with flying colours, though the Mayor’s wife swooping down and kissing both my cheeks didn’t help. Her neck was very exposed and I had to force ever muscle and sinew in my body to deny my urge to kill her and drain her blood

It was cruel training to say the least, but I knew it was necessary. The remainder of the time I hadn’t been on blood resisting I was training with Brock. He was an exceptional fighter normally, but he seemed to have taken to beating me down during our training, perhaps with the hope he would injure me badly enough that I couldn’t go. Whilst he trained me in strength, Lyle and Jasmine trained me in endurance, speed and agility. The fact I didn’t need to sleep helped. I had made the most of the two weeks I had (Ramona had been training me in the first week before the family agreed). I hadn’t had time to work with my gifts, but then that was the whole point of going to see Fate. To find out exactly what was going on. After a blissful night with Ramona to celebrate resisting the Mayor and his wife’s blood, we finished our preparations. At last we were ready

The black taxi pulled up outside the house at 11am sharp. After last minute goodbyes and good lucks, we climbed in. The driver was a Vampire and said nothing as he drove us to a private section of the Haven Town runway. We saw it from a mile away, the luxurious private jet that Fate had lined up for us. We presented the guard with the two tickets Fate had sent us and got on board. The pilot, also clearly a Vampire, came out to greet us
“Ah, so you are Mr. Fate’s guests?” he spoke, with an Italian accent
“Yes. We are” we said taking our seats. The only two seats on the plane
“Mr. Fate is very kind, no? There is blood in the cooler back there. Anything you need, please ask the Stewardess”
He climbed back into the cockpit, having ignored the fact we had exchanged glances at the mention of Fate’s ‘kindness’.

Soon enough we were in the air. The journey would take around 11 hours, so we had plenty of time to relax. The pilot gave us regular updates, though they weren’t needed. I pulled out my book that Carlo had lent to me so I could read more about the different types of Dark Gifts Vampires could possess.
‘The ability to manipulate the elements is a rare gift in itself. That is to say, the ability to manipulate a single element. However, the ability to manipulate all four elements is extremely rare. It is unknown whether or not the ability to manipulate all four elements could be considered a single gift or multiple gifts. Theoretically, being multiple gifts would make the acquisition of the powers even rarer due to the rarity of multiple gifts alone. Very few Vampires have ever possessed the ability to manipulate fire, which is of intrigue above and beyond the other elements. Whilst all have their uses, Vampire vulnerability to fire makes it the most dangerous and the most coveted of the elemental abilities. It is said that in the year 1740, a Vampire by the name of Deni Polpusetti sought to have control over all four elements. His natural Dark Gift, to turn himself invisible, had served him well in his quest. He had managed to track down three Vampires with the abilities he sought, eventually finding a fourth who controlled Fire, which he stole. The danger of the ability was evident to those who met him as his left arm was severely burned to the point it couldn’t fully heal itself, leaving him with a permanent scar. His danger was said to get to the point that the Avveruncus stepped in to dispose of him. It is rumoured even they struggled to contain him to the point that Fate himself stepped in to dispose of the threat’

I couldn’t help but wonder if Fate had stolen the elements for himself. My question was pointless, I already knew the answer. Deni Polpusetti. He was the Vampire I had seen Fate kill and steal a gift from. Would he have stolen them all? Could he pick and choose and just steal the coveted power of fire? I wondered whether I would have the courage to ask Fate these questions when I saw him. Would he define our meeting or would I be able to take control and simply ask what I wanted to ask then leave? It seemed obvious that Fate would conspire to keep us there for as long as possible. I had no doubt in my mind he would make us witness Ashanti being punished. He would make us see that he wanted to protect us…guard us…help us…Fate could and would play a long game, and we had all the time in the world…

I looked out the window. It was the dead of night. How much time exactly had passed since we had left Haven? I looked over at the Stewardess. She was fast asleep. I hadn’t even realised she was Human. My attention was focused elsewhere, that was good. Ramona was the best distraction for me as far as the scent of Humans went. All I needed was one sniff of her flowery scent and I was away with the fairies. I reached into my bag and pulled out a thermos flask of blood. Before I had a chance of drinking from it, the Stewardess, who had awoken in the moment since I had looked at her, had approached me
“Sir?” she asked in a kind voice
Her neck was slightly exposed, but I contained myself
“Yes?” I asked, trying to maintain as much politeness in my voice as I could
“If you would like a drink sir, we have on board?” she said, gesturing to the cooler near her seat
“No thank you. I’d prefer to stick with what I know until I have time to learn to hunt”
I opened the thermos and took a long gulp of blood. The tingling in my throat was soothed instantly and her neck didn’t look anywhere near as tempting as it had the moment before

She looked nervous. I watched her as I put the thermos away. Ramona was tactfully pretending to be engrossed in the book Carlo had given her. ‘100 ways to expand your Telekinetic abilities’
Her soul stood out in my mind. It wasn’t hard to read. The only other soul I didn’t know was the Pilot, but his was boring. Full of Fate worship and desperation to be a higher ranked Vampire. Ramona’s soul I knew all too well. It was so familiar and warm to me. I could run to it for comfort. But since becoming a Vampire I had developed a liking to reading new souls. It was refreshing sometimes
“You’re wondering what it’s like to be a Vampire, aren’t you” I asked matter-of-factly
She blushed. Something I could never do for the remainder of my existence
“The…the Avveruncus promised me that if I served them for 5 years without question, they’d turn me”

“And you agreed?” I asked curiously
“Didn’t you?” she asked, a little taken aback by my words
“Yes and no” I said calmly. I had never told my story. The family had been witnesses, and Ramona had told it better than I would have been able to at the time. Fate would have found out from Ashanti, so there would be no need to recant my tale for him either
“I was in a battle. I was struck through my heart by my own sword, though by somebody else’s hand”
She seemed lost for words
“I only lost a week of life though. When Ramona and I married, she agreed with the rest of her family that I should be a Vampire. I wasn’t sure after what I had seen them do, but my desire to be with her forever, and on their encouragement, I agreed. I was to be turned a week after that battle, so it wasn’t as bad as if I had no choice in the matter like some”
I gestured wordlessly to my wife

Words still seemed to fail her. My soul reading didn’t
“Yes, it hurts. A lot. It’s like fire and ice are raging, a war inside your own body and your head. Time loses all meaning so it feels like it goes on for an eternity. But that first shining moment is worth it. Well, to me it was. To see the beauty of the one I love in a way that no Human eyes could possibly see…it’s indescribable”
I saw a smile creep over Ramona’s face. I had never told her just how beautiful she looked in that first moment. Not that she didn’t still look just as radiant all these moments later of course. She leaned over and gently kissed my cheek. If she could have blushed she would have

“Why do you want to be a Vampire?” I asked
It was somewhat rhetorical. Her soul told me the answer, but I felt as though I needed to hear her speak the words
“My boyfriend…ex-boyfriend. He abused the hell out of me for years. I managed to break free. I want my revenge, but I want to make him suffer too. I want to make him see that I’m perfectly happy without him. Stronger than him…if I’m a Vampire…then I will be”
“Courage” I started, “comes from within you. No one can provide that for you. Vampirism can make you feel strong, but it comes with its own issues. The courage you need won’t come from our kind. In fact, if you stop your heart you might never find the courage, and your life will be missing something forever. Find that thing, that one thing that fills you with such hope, power, strength and courage that nothing your ex can ever say or do will hurt you again. And only you can find that thing, whatever it is”

There was a long pause as my words echoed inside her. I could feel something changing already
“There…there’s this girl who lives down the road…she gives me a lift to work every single day. I don’t think she knows the way I look at her...”
She blushed, a deeper red this time
“Do you have a photograph?” I asked
This might have seemed like an odd request, but she produced one moments later
They looked brilliant side by side. Two strawberry blonde girls, one with green eyes and one with blue. They looked like a perfect fit. I took the photograph and examined it for a minute
“It… might be impossible to read someone’s soul from just a photo, but I figure I’ll give it a go”
She didn’t seem fazed by this statement. Clearly she had some knowledge of the things Vampires could do
“What are your names?” I asked, not looking up from the photo

“I’m Shelly, and she’s Hestia”
“Hestia…” I muttered
Ramona had abandoned all pretence of pretending to read and was now staring intently at me. Clearly she was as interested as I was to see if I could pull off the feat I was about to attempt
“Do you know basic facts about her? Like where she grew up, immediate family and all that?”
“Yes, I think I know some of it” Shelly said quietly
“Good” I said and went back to studying the photograph
Ramona took my hand gently
“Can you do it?” she whispered curiously
“I’m not sure. It’s difficult”
Why not start with Shelly?” she asked, glancing up at her
“I’ve already read her soul, it wouldn’t work, I might just be calling up memories of seeing her soul”
Ramona nodded and looked me dead in the eyes
“I know you can do this”
She gave me a long, soft kiss. It was utter bliss

When we broke it moments later I finally felt ready. I took a long hard look right into Hestia’s green eyes. It was a good thing Humans were easier to read, more so now I was a Vampire, because this was difficult. I put all of my effort into trying to read a soul that was probably thousands of miles away from me. Things were swimming at me, but they were hazy at best. I could barely make out clouded images and memories
“She’s….twenty eight…no…twenty-seven?” I asked
Shelly seemed a little taken aback
“Yes, yes she is”
“Well done sweetie!” Ramona said, giving me a peck on the cheek
I smiled a little and carried on

“Three family members? Her Dad died when she was young…older brother…two…twins…four years older than her”
I gasped a little. This was taking every ounce of my strength
“Yes, she does have two twin brothers…and her father died when she was 12. That’s all correct” she sounded impressed yet scared at the same time
“Memories are very hazy…I can only make out basics right now…”
I concentrated as hard as possible, trying to force one thing to come to the surface
“Take her…to…the Verity bar….get her…a lilac…and tell her how you feel” I said. I took a massive gasp of air, despite not needing it. It still felt like a relief. I handed her back the photo
“Her favourite bar and flower, and I’m pretty sure she likes you too Shelly”
I managed a smile. I’d never felt exhausted, even after the training. I suppose that was physical. This was mental. Something else entirely

Shelly smiled at me and hugged me briefly, but recoiled
“Your skin…it’s…”
“Yeah we’re all like that. You get used it” I said exchanging a knowing smile with Ramona. I knew all too well the feeling of warm hands on cold Vampire.
A voice echoed from the cockpit
“Please take your seats, we’ll be landing soon”
Shelly gave us both a small nod and went back to her seat, gazing at the photo of her and Hestia, unable to keep the smile off her face
“That was a really nice thing you did you little liar” she whispered
“I won’t even bother to ask how, you know me too well”
“She doesn’t feel the same way?”
“There are feelings there, I felt them. The bar and the flower should bring them out I think. There’s about a 79% chance of success”
“You better hope she says yes to her or I’m gonna go south on you for the winter” she smirked

Before I could say anything, I felt the plane begin to tip downwards. We were landing at last. Fifteen minutes later we had touched ground. The pilot came out and thanked us, asking us to speak highly of him to Fate. Shelly thanked us both and we got off the plane. It was 7am in Italy and the sun burned brightly. We both put our shades on to protect our eyes and got right into the second black taxi waiting for us. Fate had planned every aspect of our trip as carefully as he could. He wouldn’t take a slip up or a deviation lightly…

Chapter X – The House of Fate

The hotel we were to be staying at was luxurious to say the least. It was at least 30 floors and was so poshly decorated even Carlo’s house seemed to pale in comparison. We had plenty of money on us in cash and in card form, but the driver gave us a sealed envelope that bore the same OCD like neat writing that was Fate’s. We were instructed to give it to the Manager, and no questions would be asked about our presence there. It seemed Fate’s influence extended beyond the world of Vampires…
We went to the desk and asked for the manager. The man scoffed at us but did as he was asked. The manager was a regal looking man dressed in his finest suit. He was a little balding and quite fat. He took the letter and seemed to immediately recognise the writing as his eyes widened in terror
“Ah, you are uh, guests of Mr. Fate then. Of course, right this way please”
He clicked his fingers and a Bell Boy appeared almost instantly to carry our luggage

We got in the lift and were taken to floor 27. It was a single room that occupied the entire floor. The room was more like a lush apartment, or a penthouse suite. A massive double bed sat against the wall with tables either side. The bathroom was easily as big as the one Ramona and I had back home. It was decorated in ebony black tiles that were heated from underneath. There were three very comfortable looking sofas pointed towards the 50 inch television. None of this compared to the incredible view of the city, enhanced by my ability to see further than the manager or the bell boy. The town of Ophelia was beautiful indeed. No doubt Fate’s doing. A beautiful town for his beautiful wife. She paled in comparison to Ramona though.
The Manager headed for the door
“If you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask. You have been given priority status. Anything you want will be given as soon as we can physically have it to you. I hope you enjoy your stay”
The last words seemed a little strained. He rushed out of the room and to the lift. I heard him mumbling to himself in Italian in the lift, what I was sure were curses against Fate.

“Well…this is…” Ramona began
“Overindulgent” I finished
“No more so than we have at home”
“I guess so. It shouldn’t have surprised me. We are in Fate’s territory now. And Vampire such as him and Carlo have had centuries to build up massive fortunes with nothing to spend it on but sheer luxury”
“True, but compared to Fate, Carlo is modest” I laughed
“In every respect” Ramona finished

We looked around the place for a while and unpacked. We had no intention of staying longer than we had to, but were resigned to the fact Fate would try and keep us for as long as possible, not that we would let him though
There was a note from him on the dining table telling us a car would come for us at 6pm sharp
“We should shower” Ramona said
“We don’t need to shower” I said, looking at her curiously
She laughed
“Vampires can’t keep the dirt away forever, and with pale skin it shows more. Of course we only need them like once a week, and we can stand impossibly hot showers so it only takes a few seconds”
I laughed a little. I still wasn’t used to the ins and outs of everything

“You go first then. I’ll go second”
“You’re a little dim for a Vampire, aren’t you?” she said, taking her clothes off in such a way that I’d be hard pressed not to see
I stood silent for a minute, gazing at her slender, perfect figure, not grasping her meaning. Then the light bulb flickered into life
“Penny’s dropped” she smiled, gently biting her lip
“You are just too much” I roared with laughed
I grabbed her hand, pulling her to the shower. By the time we were there I was in my boxers and she was in her bra and underwear. Perhaps this trip wouldn’t be so bad after all

As we lazed on the sofa in our dressing gowns, Ramona flicked through the channels on the Television. After we had come out of the shower we hadn’t really wanted to read the book, and there would be time to sight see another day. This was the closest thing to a Honeymoon we had after all. Ramona’s head lay in my lap as my fingers caressed her long hair. I stopped for a moment and lifted it to my face and sniffed it. The same scent I loved so much. Ramona just laughed
“I think you have a fetish for my scent”
“Mmmm, who wouldn’t?” I asked dreamily
She laughed again and kept flicking through the channels. Eventually she settled for the Italian interpretation of Dracula. It was clear Fate had more of a hand in this town, maybe even this country than it first seemed. It was evident when Dracula killed Van Helsing and paraded his corpse around the town, followed by the citizens declaring him their king

“Well that was…different” Ramona said, a little taken aback
“Certainly different from how the story goes” I sighed
“Fate always has his way then it seems”
“Not always, he didn’t get Carlo, and he won’t have me either”
“Good, cause if he does, I’ll kill him myself”
“Good to know” I smiled
“That’s why I came” she said turning over slightly to look at me
“I thought you came so we could have a honeymoon of sorts and have copious amounts of sex?”
“Oh, yeah, that too” she giggled

5pm came around quicker than I thought. Ramona got up and went to get ready. The note had given us a dress code alongside the time. I too got up and went to the closet. I wore a velvet black suit with a perfectly white shirt. My tie was one that had belonged to my Father. It was blue and black stripes with his initials sewn into the back of it. It still carried the faint trace of his scent. I stared at it for a long moment. I couldn’t help but wish they were still with me. Ramona broke me out of my daze. She was wearing a long black cocktail dress that stopped just over her knees. It was jet black and low cut with straps over the shoulders. Her shoes had heels, the first time since the wedding I had ever seen her wear heels
“You look beyond stunning” I said, barely able to find the right words
She smiled at me kindly
“You clean up well” she grinned
“We should go”
We made our way down to the lobby, our hands firmly holding the other. A lot of heads turned to us as we made our way out into the dry heat of the Italian summer evening

The same black car and the same driver ushered us in. We sat and waited. The journey only lasted 20 minutes, but in that time not a word was spoken in the car. We both got out and looked at the place to which we had been brought. Mansion wouldn’t describe the grandeur. It was more like a palace. Fitting of a King, which Fate undoubtedly saw himself as. So this was the headquarters of the Avveruncus Coven? We were taken inside. The grandeur only seemed to increase. Paintings of what I assumed to be members of the Coven lined the walls gracefully, their poses trying to convey their nobility and power. Expensive vases and artefacts were everywhere. A grand staircase met us twenty feet from the door. Fierce looking Vampires prowled throughout the place and every room had two guards on both sides of the doors. We were taken up the staircase which twisted beautifully to the left and right. Both eventually came together to the entrance to a new room. The door was even grander than the front ones. It was mahogany, beautifully carved with ancient symbols and finished with the crest of the Coven. I had no doubt in my mind that Fate was behind this door

The doors opened with a loud creak. Soft music was playing with faint words in Italian. It must have been set at very low volume if we could only just hear it playing. In front of us, some fifty feet away, two lavish and large thrones drew my attention, clearly the centrepieces of the room. Upon the left throne sat Ophelia. She was every bit as beautiful as she was described to be. The paleness that came with Vampirism only complimented her features. Her eyes were blood red and yet at the same time they were stunning. Her figure was slim and perfect. Her nails were a blood red, as was her lipstick. Her hair was a deep blonde and sailed gracefully down to her waist. She was dressed in a dress that had jewels all over it, one truly fitting of a Queen. Yet still she was not even close to the beauty of the woman whose hand was tightly clasped around mine

On her lap was a child of about seven or eight. She was the spitting image of her mother, though she was not quite as beautiful. She had Fate’s fierce, cunning eyes. She was playing with a strange doll. It looked like a Human that had been tortured. She was slamming it care-freely against her mother’s leg. Fate was sitting, very slightly leaning back. His eyes were transfixed on me. They were as blood red as Ophelia’s were. He was dressed in a navy blue suit. His shirt was pure white and the top button and the first button were undone. He also wore a cape made of a regal red which fluttered lightly around his ankles. His hair was as spiky as ever

“Welcome” came Fate’s calm voice
“I was almost worried you wouldn’t come”
“He could not turn down an invitation from you Master” a new voice came
It was deeper and colder than Fate’s voice. A new figure stepped out from behind Fate’s throne. He was taller than me, easily six feet. He wasn’t obviously muscly but gave off an aura of strength nevertheless. His hair was straight and black and touched his shoulders. His eyes were also blood red. His chin and face were chiselled, but his voice was gruffer and deeper than Fates. Fate simply laughed at this man’s statement
“Lorenz, you should know the Orion coven by now. The play by their own rules”
“If I’m not very much mistaken, you do the same Fate” I said, not keeping the coldness from my voice
Fate just laughed

Lorenz took two giant strides forward
“HOW DARE YOU ADRESS FATE THAT WAY!”
“Lorenz, stand down”
There was calmness in Fate’s voice, the irritation was minimal, like he was used to this happening. Lorenz glared at me and retreated to Fate’s side
“You must forgive him. He is very protective of me. Aren’t you Lorenz?”
Lorenz said nothing, he kept his cold glare transfixed on me, but it didn’t bother me
“Let’s cut to the chase Fate” Ramona said
He seemed genuinely taken aback by this. If I had lived with anyone else, I would have believed he wasn’t acting
“But my dear, you only just got here! You must stay for a little while”
His voice sounded persuasive, but we were ready for anything he could throw at us. Carlo had prepared us well

“It is a very generous offer from you, but we don’t like to be away from the family for too long. I am just a newborn after all, and they worry”
“Plus he still needs to learn to hunt”
Lorenz let out a mirthless laugh. Fate looked at me curiously
“You haven’t learned yet?”
“No, I haven’t had the time” I replied
He must have known instantly why
“We can teach you” he said with a smile, clearly believing he had found the excuse to keep us here
“No thank you, I’ll be hunting animals, not Humans”
Again the coldness in my voice was evident, but it didn’t perturb Fate, even with Lorenz’s growl


“Of course, I forgot you’ll be a Vegetarian Vampire. Carlo never ceases to find ways to amuse me”
Ramona let loose a little growl. The child in Ophelia’s arms growled at her
“Oh come now Ivanka, we must treat our guests kindly. We would at least like you to remain for dinner. And yes, we have animal blood for you both. We can have Lorenz taste it for you if you like. He’s been so busy he’s not had time to train for anything, so if it isn’t Human blood you’d see it in his face right away”
He gave a smile, but we both acknowledged the threat in there. He knew we’d been training for this moment. He smiled a little more
“Come now, let us sit”
He clapped his hands and a table appeared in the centre of the room. It was as lavish as the doors with carvings all over it and the Avveruncus crest in the middle. Six chairs appeared, just as ornately carved, moments later. Two on both sides and one on either end. Moments later a seventh chair appeared in between the two closest to Fate and Ophelia. Fate gestured for us to sit down. We looked at each other again. Ramona silently communicating herself to me through her soul, and her reading me like an open book, the way she always had

We sat in the chairs. Fate and Ophelia stood up. Fate sat opposite me, and Ophelia opposite Ramona.
“Lorenz” Fate said quietly
Lorenz seemed to struggle with himself, then sat on the end chair next to Fate and myself
“Ashanti” Fate said, a little louder
I let out a harsh growl, and so did Ramona
“She will be on her best behaviour, she knows that” Fate said calmly
Ashanti came into the room. She said nothing to either of us and took her place opposite Lorenz. Ramona shifted uncomfortably in her seat

Ophelia gently put Ivanka down. She whispered something very quietly to her. Moments later she glowed, it was a blinding light. The light faded and in her place was a beautiful 17 year old girl. She was even more like her mother, but still had Fate’s eyes. She sat between her parents
“Dark Gifts, aren’t they wonderful? That is why you’re here after all. Our precious Ivanka can change her age at will. We lost track of just how old she really is a long time ago”
Ivanka laughed a little and kissed her father on the cheek, then did the same for Ophelia. They both smiled in unison

“Aralio” Fate said, louder than he had said Ashanti’s name. A man dressed like a waiter appeared moments later with a tray. He placed a Goblet in front of Fate, then Ivanka, then Ophelia, followed by Ashanti, Lorenz and finally Ramona and me. The goblets were deep and just as ornate as everything else. They easily held a litre of liquid, all of it deep crimson. I leaned down and sniffed the blood. It was unfamiliar to me, but then I had only ever had deer blood so far. Ramona did the same and her face seemed to show recognition
“Very rare” she muttered, shooting a glance at Fate
“Only the best” he smiled. Lorenz snorted derisively
“What is it?” I asked curiously
“A rare breed of Lion, only a few hundred of them in the world. They’re omnivores so their blood is better than most other animals, though they prefer meat”
I sniffed the blood again. It was more enticing than the deer blood. Perhaps it was because it was fresher also. It wasn’t quite as alluring as the pulsing, exposed neck of the Mayors Wife, but perhaps it was second best. No doubt part of Fate’s plan. Give us blood we couldn’t possibly get anywhere else. Something better than what we would normally settle for

“Well everyone, drink up!”
Fate lifted his goblet and took a small sip. The rest of us followed in suit. The blood was exquisite. It tasted far better than the deer from the fridge. I imagined if Human blood tasted better than this then I would be in heaven if I drank it. Ramona saw the expression on my face as I had sipped the blood. Worry was etched into her soul. She was wondering if Fate’s plans were working on me after all…

Chapter X – Dark Gifts

Fate had to believe they were, and from the glint in his eyes, he thought they were.
“So tell me then Fate” I said after another sip of the blood
“You know why we’re here, so answer my questions”
“Ask them first” he laughed
I didn’t
“You know perfectly well what they are”
He sighed a little
“Can’t you just play along?”
My expression didn’t change. He rightfully took it as a no

“Fine, fine. Before we start you have to know how complex and unpredictable this science is. Dark Gifts are routed in many things from the one who sired you, to your personality, your force of will and so on. They’re routed in your very soul. Drinking the blood of another Vampire won’t do anything. It’s why you have to take their soul to take their gift. But you should know what else lives within the soul. Memories. All of their existence lives in you. Their memories are your memories”
“Yet you still saw fit to take souls like Deni Polpusetti’s?”
Fate didn’t laugh this time
“Circumstances friend. They are everything. I would even take your soul if I saw it absolutely necessary. Deni was a vile creature. Even among the Avveruncus he had an aura of fear and maliciousness. I put a stop to him because that is what was required. Nothing more, nothing less”
“Yet you still saw fit to take his soul?” I asked, leaning forward a little
Fate looked me in the eyes
“Circumstances”
I could feel that would be all I would get from him on that particular issue, for now anyway

“So is my gift one or four?” I asked
“I don’t know” Fate said leaning back
“There’s a first time for everything” Ramona smirked
Fate laughed at her statement
“There is plenty I am not privy to, such as why you see me as a threat. I’m trying to help you. I’m extending my home, my hospitality and my family to you, and yet you see it fit to ask things and say things any other Vampire might be killed for? Carlo has raised you in an environment so far cut from reality you think you have power, but you do not. This is the House of Avveruncus, and if you want me to help you, then perhaps you ought to show some respect”
There was no hint of anger or frustration in his voice, but we knew he was serious. Lorenz had a massive smirk stamped across his face. It was time to rectify that

“If I’m not very much mistaken Fate, you extended your house to us as you said. The key is in that, you invited us. We didn’t have to come and grace your home, but we did”
“Purely for the knowledge I possess” he snorted
I had never seen him even come close to losing his cool before. Impatience seemed to be creeping on him
“You appeared in our house and told me to come to you. We know for a fact you covet my gift”
“I do not need to control the elements” he smirked
“You know I didn’t mean that one”
I stared him dead in the eyes, and he knew what was coming. I was a Vampire now, he couldn’t keep me out like he could before, I was sure of that

The room went deadly silent. No one made a sound. The only thing that mattered was Fate and I staring at one another, perhaps to see who would break first. I could read his soul much easier this time around. I found his genuine desire to help me, aside from his desire to have me join his Coven. He hadn’t hid anything from me this time. He was letting me see the truth of himself. I saw the love he had for his wife and child. How he cared for his Coven, even though he ruled rigidly over them.
Fate was not the man I thought he was. And he knew I knew it. True, many plots and plans swirled around. The eventual plan to get Carlo and the family to re-join the Coven, even if it didn’t happen for centuries. The desire for Ramona and I to join him…to be like his children…He was jealous of Carlo…that he had us and Fate did not. There was a vision there of us with him…on fate’s side…persuading Carlo we could work together…that the Avveruncus weren’t evil.

I broke eye contact with him
Everyone around the table now looked at me, assuming I would be the first to speak
“Those are some very…ambitious dreams of yours swirling in your soul Fate” I said calmly
“I hope one day they shall be a reality and not just dreams swirling in the mass of my soul”
“I too hope that Orion and Avveruncus can get along, but something tells me Carlo knows more about you than he lets on”
“You saw my soul for yourself. You know the things I want and feel are genuine. I’m not evil. I’m Fate”
“I know…”
I looked at Ramona and held back my sigh. There was no denying that it would be nice to not be on a knife’s edge all the time. But I knew Carlo had his reasons for wanting to be away from the Avveruncus, not least the fact he would not drink Human blood…

What was this? Was Fate’s plan truly working on me? I needed time to think…we couldn’t leave just yet. If there was the slightest chance I could stop the hostilities…improve the entire Vampire world…I had to try…
“I’ll make you a deal Fate” I said calmly
“I’m listening”
“You help me, and we stay for 1week”
A smile crept up his lips
“I’d prefer a compromise”
“I’m listening” I said, my hand firmly closing around Ramona’s to reassure her I knew what I was doing, though that was a complete lie
“Perhaps we should indulge each other’s way of life? The previous deal stands, but you try Human blood and we’ll try Animal blood”
Lorenz cried out and anger, but Fate ignored him
“All of us” he said looking around at the others at the table

I looked at Ramona. I couldn’t willingly force her to drink Human blood, but this was a chance to convert them…
“I’ll do that, Ramona won’t”
“You don’t talk for me all the time Anthony. If you’re doing it there’s no way you’re doing it alone”
I looked at her. I couldn’t put her through that…but then she gave me a look. One of her looks that told me I wouldn’t change her mind. That no matter what, as long as we had each other, we’d make it through
“Fine. Agreed”
“One more thing” Fate said quietly
“What is it?” I asked, unsure now of what more he could possibly want
“I want one hour of your time. That’s all. One hour in the next week where we can talk to one another openly…and alone”
He looked at Ramona, whose eyes widened. Before she could so much as speak I held out my hand. Fate took it
“Deal” we both said, despite Ramona’s horror-struck look

Chapter X – The shape of the Soul

Ramona was absolutely livid with me. She said nothing to me on the car ride to the hotel, and blanked me whilst she sat writing a letter to Carlo to update him on everything that had happened, one of the conditions of him agreeing to let us go. I knew he would share Ramona’s feelings over what Fate had asked of me. Of the blood, and of the one to one talk, where it was almost certain he would try to impose his thinking on me without Ramona there as a shield, as a link to the world I would have to leave behind…until of course Fate convinced me to convince her to join me… That was of course suggesting Fate got his way. He knew nothing about me, and if he thought it would be so easy, he had another thing coming. I had tried telling Ramona this, but it only made things worse…

Chapter X – The meaning of Fun

I sat staring at each and every one of them for around a second. It felt like forever ago I had been in Italy staring down Lorenz, on the brink of bringing war between our coven and Fate’s. But that was what Lorenz wanted after all. If Ramona hadn’t been there I don’t think I could have stopped myself from tearing his throat out. For now though, everything was settled. I was back at home, Ramona and I were married and I was a Vampire…those had been the only two real things on my to-do list. I was to learn to hunt next week after we’d had some time to relax. But like so many words I would need to redefine relaxing. I didn’t need to sleep. I could force myself to if I needed, out of habit or for something to do more than anything, but I was brimming with energy right now. I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself and I thought it showed. Carlo, Lyle and Jasmine were all looking intently at me

“I forgot what it’s like. It’s probably nearly as bad as the hunger at some points” Jasmine sighed
“Um, what is?” I asked curiously, knowing she was talking about me somehow
“The restlessness of it” Carlo said calmly, “We don’t eat or sleep like normal Humans and we only hunt once a week if that, so some weeks we have 168 hours to expend however we want. It takes almost as much getting used to as hunting and feeding does. Even more so than the senses, though from the sounds of it, you’re getting the hang of them pretty quickly”
I smiled a tiny fraction
“I’ve been watching all of you, learning in preparation”
“Even so, you had guts to take on someone like Lorenz. New-borns don’t scare him because he’s trained plenty…he knows how they work. But from the sounds of it, your control and mind-set freaked the dead daylights out of him. Brilliant for us of course” Lia chuckled

There was a pause that felt a lot longer than it truly was
“So….what do you actually do for fun then?” I asked hesitantly
They all laughed, even Ramona. I forgot, I was still the odd one out. Would there come a day where someone else was sitting here and I would be laughing for being in on the joke? It didn’t feel like it, but time was still a strange entity right now. Like I had been told so many times, it gets so much better after the first year so much so I had secretly started wishing it would pass faster. Carlo had told me I would look back and laugh at my impatience one day
“What’s the joke?” I asked, trying not to say it coldly, and mostly succeeding
“It’s just, there are plenty of things we can do with you around now that were too dangerous for you whilst you were Human” Petra said, giving me her usual sympathetic smile

Too dangerous for me? Somehow I had to know more…
“What do you mean?” I asked leaning forwards slightly
“You know we have tougher skin and much faster reflexes and senses than Humans. Well some things we like to do abuse those gifts, and would be dangerous to do if we had someone who ‘couldn’t keep up’ so to speak” Brock said with a slight smirk
A small growl slipped from my lips. I had to remember I was one of them now, but it still felt like he was treating me as a Human
“I can take whatever you got” I said confidently
“Bang Bang it is then” He smirked
There was a collective ‘Ooooh’ of excitement from the family. Clearly I was about to be privy to one of their favoured pastimes I couldn’t have seen before

“Ramona, why don’t you and Anthony grab the equipment, and the rest of us will go set up” Carlo said, standing and gesturing the rest of us to do the same
‘Equipment?’ I mouthed to Ramona. She simply smiled and held out her hand. I took it and she led me to a room I had never been in before as the rest of the family headed to the back gate
“What’s in this room?” I asked looking at the plain wooden door
“You’ll see” she smiled. She turned the key that was in the door and pulled me inside
It was full of things. It was the best term I could use to describe the broad range of everything that was inside. There were golf clubs, tennis rackets, footballs and basketballs to name a few. There were board games, some of which seemed to date back over a hundred years. Stacks of decks of cards with every kind of back from plain to ornate with ancient price tags still attached. Everything was stacked to nearly as high as the ceiling and all perfectly arranged. She led me to a shelf that was around her height and lifted a rectangular box. It was wooden and ornate with strange carvings. There were five of them. She lifted them all up and handed them to me

“What are they?” I asked, full of curiosity
“You’ll see” she said with a knowing smile
We left the room and she locked it. We headed to the back gate. The others had already left, but Ramona knew the way as she started leading me towards the forest
“Come on, give me those and we’ll run”
She grabbed the satchel that had been left there by one of the others and slipped all five boxes into it. They all fit perfectly. She did it up securely and slung it over her shoulder
“Ready?” she asked me, giving me another smile
“Of course my love” I grinned

She darted off without warning, but my eyes caught her ever step. I dashed after her. My newborn skills let me catch up to her in no time at all. Soon enough we had synchronised our pace. We ran for what felt like five minutes. At the speed we seemed to be going we must have been well over 100 miles away from the city. We stopped in a dense part of a forest that was slightly warmer than the one we had started in. We walked the last fifth of a mile in a speedy pace and arrived in a small clearing where the others were
“Where are we?” I asked
“Far enough away from civilisation that no one will hear us” Lyle said, tying some kind of bandana to a tree
“Hear us doing what?” I asked, my curiosity now in the extreme
“Shoot each other” Brock said matter-of-factly

I did a double take
“Do what now?”
“Our ability to heal and not die from gunshot wounds comes in very handy”
“So…we just shoot each other?” I asked sceptically
“No of course not” Ramona laughed
“Then what?”
“Watch” Carlo said
Each of the family was now standing in front of a tree with a different colour bandana tied around it. The eight trees had been placed in a perfect circle. Ramona was to my left, and Lyle to my right. Carlo was opposite me

We each had a gun laying on the ground and a tonne of ammo by the side of the tree. Brock, who was opposite Lyle, picked up his gun and aimed it at him
“Watch carefully brother” Brock said, aiming the gun at Lyle’s heart
Before I could so much as turn my eyes towards Lyle, Brock fired the gun. I watched the bullet, my eyes able to see it as it blasted towards its target. It seemed like it was going to hit Lyle. I was getting ready to leap in front of him, but it turned out to be unnecessary. As the bullet came close, Lyle made a swooping motion with his right hand and the bullet was gone. He held out his hand. The bullet was embedded in his palm. He pressed it with a little force and it dropped right out. The wound instantly sealed itself

“Now I get not being near civilisation…and not wanting a Human to be near…but what’s the point of the game?”
“You fire bullets in turn at your partner. They have to catch it. If you hit their body, they’re out and you take their bandana. Once four are out, the remaining four play trying to shoot any of the other three until there’s a winner” Jasmine explained
“Alright, I think I’v got it. So Carlo and me will be firing, Ramona and Petra, Brock and Lyle, Jasmine and Lia?” I asked
“We think that’s the best order. We generally do a free for all until one person is out then do one on one until there’s three, then do another free for all, but you make eight so it’s easier” Petra said, picking up her gun. Everyone else followed

I hesitantly reached down and picked up my gun. I was unsure about this. I had seen wounds heal instantly, but shooting people for fun?
“Are you really okay with abusing our abilities like this Carlo?” I asked
“I wasn’t sure at first, but trust me, once you get into it, it’s very fun. I don’t know a coven that doesn’t play this game. It’s like a Vampire wide sport, one of the few. Even the Avveruncus find time to play it” he said, giving me a reassuring and fatherly look
I looked at the gun nestled in my right hand for a long moment then pointed it at Carlo
“I’m sorry” I said quietly
“For what?” he asked
“For this”
I shot the gun at his heart. He caught it the second before it hit him and dropped the bullet to the floor
“Nice try” he smirked

“My turn” Ramona grinned, aiming her gun at Petra
She fired it, but just as Brock had done, Petra caught it. Jasmine fired at Lia, who caught it too. It was Carlo’s turn. I was deeply nervous as he aimed the gun at me
“There’s a few things” Ramona said
“First, don’t focus on the trajectory of the bullet as it’s fired as it might change. Focus on the bullet”
I looked at her with worry
“Let him try first. Oh, and Dark Gifts are prohibited by the way” Lyle said looking at Carlo
Carlo smiled at me
“Call this your freebee, I’ll fire at the right side of your chest and give you a countdown this once”

Chapter X – Revenge

I had had more than enough. The Avveruncus had gone too far. I hadn’t known Ammaronti that well, but he was as good as family to Carlo, and that had made him as good as family to me. I stared into Lorenz’s eyes. It might be that neither of us left alive, but I would make sure at least one of us died at this place. Lorenz’s expression was calm and collected, yet he wasn’t even trying to hide the largest smirk I had ever seen. I wanted nothing more than to tear it off and kill him with it somehow
“Fate,” I started
“Oh here we go” Lorenz laughed cruelly
“You have 10 seconds to get anyone you don’t want dead that isn’t Lorenz out of my sight or I’ll kill them. I will burn them in the Hellfire of my rage”
Lorenz laughed even more cruelly than before
“This…this I have to see!” he said tauntingly
Flames erupted around my hands and I leapt towards him. I felt four hands grasp me tightly. Brock and Lyle were holding me back, stopping me from exacting Lorenz’s long awaited fate

I growled deeply at them, but it only made them tighten their grasp
“LET ME GO” I roared
My entire body began heating up. It felt like I would erupt in flames, but I didn’t care. The only thing that mattered at this moment was Lorenz suffering a thousand lifetimes of pain at my hands
“Did you even know him?” Lorenz asked with a mocking laugh
I growled again
“That’s what I thought. Pathetic as you were in life, so you are un undeath. You’re not worthy of the title ‘Vampire’”
Not even Brock and Lyle could hold me back any longer. The flames around my hands became white hot and they fell back, both grasping their hands

I stared at Fate and then Ophelia for a moment, then back at Lorenz
“Only one of us can leave here alive” I said plainly
“NO” Ramona screamed, but I didn’t seem to hear it properly
“And you honestly believe you can defeat me? A mere…child”
I lunged at him so fast he didn’t have time to dodge. My hands were around his neck in an instant, my hands starting to burn the flesh right off
“I’m going to enjoy this” I smirked as he writhed in pain, held in place by my immovable grip
“Let…go!” he choked out and slammed his fast hard into my stomach. I didn’t let out the gasp of pain that my tongue was playing with
“You don’t even hit a fraction as hard as Brock does” I smirked, and tightened my grip

“Enough, Anthony enough!” cried Carlo, but his words never reached me
If Ramona’s didn’t no one else had a chance to reason with me
“He’s right Anthony, stop this”
This time it wasn’t an Orion, it was Fate. Of all people…how dare he?! I had the urge to kill him too, but Lorenz had to die first, but not before he had suffered again and again. I heard him choke in pain, his skin blackening from the flames
“Hurts doesn’t it Lorenz?” I smirked
“You always were a sadistic fuckface, after all, who else would date a Vampire whore?” he choked

My rage snapped. I threw him with as much force as I could to the ground and before he could move I had one knee on his stomach and the other on his leg, holding him down. I slammed my fists into his face as hard as I could. Again and again as he roared with pain, it was amazing. I loved it. I slammed my hand down on his face so that the flames burned him
A second later I had leapt off of him
“Stand up, fucking coward I said stand!”
I grabbed him and threw him against a tree. The tree splintered and snapped. Lorenz swayed, barely conscious
“I guess I should wake you up” I smirked
I waved my hands in a strange motion, yet it felt natural. The water of the nearby lake rose up, seemingly of its own accord, but everyone there knew it was me doing this. The water seemed to dance menacingly in the air. I gave a simple motion with my hand, directing it at Lorenz. The water slammed into him and he let out a roar of pain. No doubt the burns would blister and crack thanks to the water. I couldn’t help but laugh sadistically at his suffering. He didn’t even deserve a second of mercy. I raised my hand again, but then my world shattered into a million pieces

Ramona screamed something I didn’t hear. She ran towards me and grabbed my arm
“STOP IT NOW!”
My rage was so intense I barely even registered who she was. I spun round and my fist went right into her face. She fell back, tears filling her eyes. I stared without seeing, my hatred at that moment, more intense than ever, now towards myself
“Ramona…” I muttered
She stared at me from the corner of her eye, her hands covering the rest of her face. The worst part, her eyes were filled with disappointment. I didn’t deserve to even be around her right now, let alone speak to her. I took off without another word, desperate to find solitude, somewhere I couldn’t be seen by the one person who’s disappointment was worse than a billion white hot knives slicing through my flesh. My life belonged to her. If she wished me dead, I would gladly have done all in my power to end my own life. I moved so fast through the trees, then the fields then a city, then I was nowhere, finally I was in a cave. I threw myself to the floor and cowered there, wanting nothing more than forgiveness I never deserved

Some unknown time later, for time still had no meaning to me, now more than ever, I heard a whisper of words from a familiar voice, though I didn’t know who it was
“Anthony? Please say something…everyone is so worried…Ramona most of all. She doesn’t blame you…she just wants to see you, to know you’re okay”
I muttered something. I didn’t even hear my own words any longer
“You know that’s rubbish” came the voice
I muttered something else that made him gasp. Whoever he was, he stood up and looked down on me, as the whole world now did. I was broken. Whoever it was leaned down and looked me in the eye. It looked like someone I knew…Lyle maybe
“Snap out of this. You’re better than this. You did what any of us would have done, you just took it too far and got to it before us”
I said nothing this time
“I wonder what you’ll say when Ramona comes…will she see you being so pathetic?”
“NO!” I screamed, hearing myself this time
“Then snap out of this…”
I said nothing again

Lyle sighed and stood up
“I’ll be back for you soon…if you do anything dumb I’ll kill you with my own two hands…”
He turned and stepped forward
“Tell..tell….”
I couldn’t finish my sentence, as important as it was
“You have no idea how long it took me to find you…and this is what I get? You are the man I think you are, you just need a reality check…”
He left and I was once again alone, devoid of other life as I should always now be, for the remainder of my life which would be a very long time…

Chapter X – Our hearts beat as one

I sat on the bed, my head buried in my hands. If I could cry then the house would be flooded by now. The burn from the punch had gone within minutes, but the pain in my heart was ever present. There was a glass of blood sitting on the bedside table that I hadn’t touched. It had been there for 24 hours now, but the burning in my throat didn’t matter anymore. I didn’t want blood, I wanted my husband. I felt a warm hand on my back
“Lyle’s back sweetie” came the soft voice
“Thanks mum” I said softly
“You really need to drink some blood Ramona. It’s been nearly a week since you last drank anything”
“I don’t want blood…I want my husband…tell me Lyle came back with him? Please?!” I said looking up at her, my voice was desperate
Her expression was sad
“Drink up sweetheart”
She kissed me gently on my forehead and left the room

I reached for the glass of blood and clasped it between my hands, staring into it. It didn’t smell appealing whatsoever. I closed my eyes for a moment and when I opened them Lyle was sitting on the end of the bed. Neither of us said anything for a long time, I was almost too afraid
“Just say it” I whispered, my voice strained
“He’s not good. He hates himself for what he did” Lyle said, not looking at me
I didn’t say anything, just kept staring at the blood
“I can see the outcomes…there’s two. He can get better, but I don’t know how” he sighed
“THEN A FAT LOT OF USE YOU ARE!” I screamed
I threw the glass as hard as I could towards him but he was faster than me and leapt out of the way
The glass shattered against the wall and soaked it in the crimson liquid

The others all came running into the room. They just stared and said nothing
“Ramona…” started Carlo after a few minutes of the silence
“NO! Shut up! All of you just shut up!”
I had leapt out of the window in an instant. The glass smashed with a resounding crash, but the sound of my body hitting the cold grass below was louder. I heard them all rush to the window, but before Brock could leap out to get me I was on my feet. I took off as fast as my feet could take me. I would run away too. No one would ever find me…

4 days and 79 unanswered calls later, I finally answered my phone. It was Jasmine who I spoke to
“What?” I asked, my voice quiet and breaking
“Come home Ramona, please. We all miss you, you belong at home”
“So does my husband, but I’m not coming back unless he’s with me” I said plainly
I heard a sigh and I growled
“WHAT WOULD YOU DO?!” I shouted
There was a long silence
“That’s what I thought” I said angrily
“Ramona…please…Carlo wants you to come back so he can talk about this with you…”
“Put Lyle on the phone” I said, ignoring her
“Ramona, just listen to-“
“PUT LYLE ON THE DAMN PHONE, JASMINE!” I screamed
“You need to stop this Ramona, we all want him back too, you’re going too far like him”
“Tell me where to find him Lyle” I said angrily
“Ramona, just-“
“TELL ME NOW!”
There was more than desperation in my voice and silence from Lyle
“Tell me…tell me…tell me…tell me…TELL ME!”
“No, not until you come home and calm d-“
I hung up the phone and threw it hard against a nearby tree. It shattered on impact

I stared at the smashed phone for a moment then walked a few steps away from it. My mind was racing at my mistake. Lyle was the only one who knew where he was and I had no way of talking to him now unless I went home, and there was no way I was doing that. There was only one person I knew who could find him for sure, and since he had been battered and burned by him, there was no chance in hell Lorenz would find him for me. Even if he hadn’t I doubt he would, but recent events had reduced that chance to zero. I sat down on the spot and looked upwards. He had told me I owned him when we got married. I knew how much he loved me because he loved me an infinite amount which was just a fraction of how much I loved him. Even doing something like losing his mind over punching me…it might seem pathetic to anyone else, but I knew how much it must have been hurting him given how much I was hurting too

“I can feel it, you know?” came a familiar sounding voice
“Feel what?” I asked, not looking at them
“Your pain. I feel pain when I’m away from Ophelia. Love does that to you”
“It’s not quite the…”
I stopped. Ophelia? I knew that name. Surely it couldn’t be? I turned my head towards the figure to find Fate sitting beside me. The gasp never quite left me
“Now I suppose you’re wondering what I’m doing here? I’m here to help of course”
“I…you…but…Anthony…Lorenz…um…what?” I asked, desperately confused
“Lorenz doesn’t need to know what I get up to in my free time. He was pretty badly beat up. His wounds have only started healing now the burns have calmed down. Your husband really is something”

I stared at Fate. Of all the people to offer me help? But then again, it was getting close to a month since I had seen Anthony…I just wanted him back…
“What Lorenz did was necessary yet inexcusable” Fate said grimly
I laughed
“Trying to play both sides are we? What’s your game Fate? Really…just be honest for once and tell me what you’re up to”
Fate laughed this time
“I want you and Anthony for my coven. I understand your affections for Carlo and your family, but you belong with the Avveruncus”
“So all this is just to lure us to you?”
“Lure? Heavens no. I want you to come of your own accord”
“It won’t happen Fate” I said bluntly
“Don’t be so sure” he smiled
He stood up and I did the same
“Now, we have someone to find”

“But how…I have no idea where to even start, he could be practically anywhere in the country…”
“We start from the start” Fate smiled
He clicked his fingers and we were in the field in which Anthony and Lorenz had fought. I shuddered remembering what Lorenz had done
“I…never thought of that”
“It’s okay, stress can do that to you. Now, He ran in roughly that direction. So I say we run until you tell us to stop”
“I…what?” I asked curiously
“Your instincts will kick in methinks” he said moving so he was facing the right way
“Makes sense I guess”
I darted off without another word, Fate following close behind so he could see when I stopped

I couldn’t tell how long we were running for. It was soon night, then morning, and soon enough it was night again before I forced myself to a halt, Fate doing the same a second later
“Here?” he asked simply
“More or less I think…somewhere within a 50 mile radius…maybe…it’s been just over a month so his scent is gone, but I should be able to find him when we’re within 5 to 10 miles or so”
“Let’s start looking then” Fate said and we began walking in a random direction. It wasn’t until morning that I finally stopped again. The burning in my throat was more painful than ever. Fate seemed to know. He pulled out a thermos flask and handed it to me
“I’m fine” I said quietly
“It must have been days since you last had any, you need your strength”
“It’s human blood” I said bitterly
“There are no animals around, and I always carry some just in case, you should drink up”
I let out a mirthless laugh
“So this was your plan then? Probably have some saved for when we find Anthony since he’ll need a drink too. Clever. And here was me thinking you actually gave a flying fuck. You’re worse than I thought, Fate”
I opened the thermos and poured the blood onto the ground. Fate looked at me and sighed
“Carlo really has ingrained this stigma in you…perhaps someday you all might realise drinking human blood isn’t quite as terrible as you all think. We try to take from elderly…sick…those who are on the brink of death”
“And when you can’t you’ll happily murder some innocent human. And regardless, you’re still taking a life that’s not yours to take”
“Pot kettle black. You take lives that aren’t yours to take, they’re just animals rather than Humans. And from someone who believes so wholly in the value of each life I’m surprised Carlo doesn’t just starve himself. But then again, he needs blood to keep his strength to fuel his agenda against me and my Coven”

I turned away from him
“How dare you…” I growled
“What makes you so high and mighty that you think you understand what it is to be Human any better than I do? Sure you were Human more recently than I was, but I’ve lived for a thousand years. Seen and done things even Carlo couldn’t imagine. I chose my way of life because it was the best way to go about it. I lived off Animal blood for a year before I even sired Lorenz. Carlo thinks he’s some revolutionary. I’ve been there, I’ve done that and I’ve chosen my path. Perhaps it’s time you stop placing your faith so wholeheartedly in someone else and started trying to live your life your own way. That’s why I got you to try Human blood when you came to Italy. Not to be some ass who forced you to drink something you had such a stigma against, but to try and get you to open your mind despite Carlo closing it so firmly. I’m not the bad guy here Ramona, no matter what you think”
He took out a second thermos and handed it to me
“Animal blood. Smell if you don’t believe me. Good luck finding your husband. Maybe when you do you’ll bother to give some thought to my words”
With that he vanished and I was alone once more

I stood there for a moment, thinking over what he had said. Was I right in my belief that a Human life was better than an animal life? Who was I to decide that? Who was anyone? We struck down animals in their prime…they took Human lives at their end…that was more than we could say…was that better? Did drinking Human blood make you thirst for it more? Give you less control around Humans? Or did not drinking it make you thirst for them even more? Or was it just the individual? Anthony had no trouble not attacking Humans because he had been ‘raised’ around those who didn’t attack or drink Human blood, so it was natural to him. I had never been so confused in my life. Now wasn’t the time though. I opened the flask and sniffed it for a long moment. It was elk blood for sure. I took a nervous sip. It was Elk blood, just like it had smelled. I took a long gulp, draining a third of the flask and felt some of my energy return. It was time to get my husband back

I started searching nearby, he was close, I could feel it. A few hours later I came upon a cave. I had overheard Carlo and Petra say something about a cave…and I felt drawn to it. Was he really in there? Slowly I entered. It was strangely well lit for a cave. Lying on the floor, huddled, dishevelled and broken was Anthony. I placed the flask on the floor and knelt by him
“Anthony?” I asked nervously
He didn’t move. If he was dead…I couldn’t live…how could he be? Could vampires really die of starvation? Please let him be alive I thought…please…
“Anthony? It’s me…Ramona…”
He said nothing, he didn’t even move. I had to get him to wake up somehow. The idea came to me all of a sudden. I had been away for a week, so the smell would have faded, but it might still be strong enough. I leaned over his body so my hair was covering and surrounding his face. I gently kissed him on the cheek. I pulled back and stared at him for a long moment. Finally he weakly turned over
“R…a…mo…n…a…?” he muttered slowly
I couldn’t help but smile despite his appalling state

“It’s me my love, in the flesh”
“Tell…I…what?” he said, still mumbling, a confused look etched onto his face
“Listen to me…I forgive you…no…I don’t actually, because I was never mad to begin with, so you can come home now”
“Feel…pink….orion….rassafrassas?” he asked, looking even worse than before
My eyebrows furrowed in concentration. There had to be a way to get through to him. I leaned down so I was closer to him and took his hand
“Take my hand. It’s yours. You own me. Everything that I am. It’s yours. You said you’d love me forever, I believe you”
He turned a little and looked at me
“Our….” He groaned a little, “hearts…one beat…beat…as one…?”
“Yes, yes they do” I said softly
I took his hand and placed it on my chest where my heart should have been beating. I took my free hand and did the same on his chest
“Our hearts beat as one. Together forever, no matter what” I smiled sadly

His eyes widened, like he was waking up from a bad dream
“Ra…Ramona? Is that you?”
He rubbed his eyes with his free hand and stared at me, then looked away sadly
“I don’t deserve your love…I hit you…I hurt you…”
“It was an accident. You didn’t hurt me that much and it healed right away. And it doesn’t matter what you think. Or rather, it doesn’t matter that you think it matters, because it doesn’t matter to me…you understand?”
He stared at me with a blank expression
“Let me put it in simple terms as clearly your brain is still addled from being unused for a month”
“That might be…I was here for a month?!” he said shocked
I didn’t reply. Instead I leaned forward and kissed him passionately on the lips. I made it the most loving I could. He kissed back with all the energy he had left
“I’m so sorry” he said softly
“Don’t be” I smiled and hugged him tightly

I picked up the flask of blood and handed it to him
“Drink up. You need it”
He massaged his throat for a moment
“Yeah, I kinda do”
He took the flask from me and drained the contents of it in a single gulp. He wiped his mouth and kissed me again. I kissed back and smiled
“Come on, let’s go home. Everyone’s been so worried, about both of us”
“How am I gonna make this up…to all of you?” he sighed
“Well I know how you can make it up to me, but somehow I don’t think the same way would work for the others” I smiled innocently
“That right there. That’s why I married you” he grinned
We both stood up and walked out of the cave hand in hand