Moonlit Hike

It was around midnight that night and all the occupants were wide awake as usual. The girls in the castle were running around their rooms trying to get ready for their regular night hike.

In Alena's room she had a red four poster canopy bed with black silk sheets and red silk pillow cases. On the walls were various movie posters that were Pirates of the Caribbean, Jack and Will and a plain one of Jack from the movie as well. In other places she had music posters of her favorite artists. On her desk lay her black ipod with silver headphones. Her c.d.'s were scattered all over the room. Her books were stacked neatly on her bookshelf as she looked for her shoes.

"Where are my shoes? Why can I never find my shoes?" Alena asked while she rummaged around under her bed.

"You know," A voice drawled from the doorway, "speaking to yourself is a sure sign of insanity."

Alena yelped and crawled out from the bed to see a smirking Gia looking down at her with the shoes she was looking for in her hands. Alena sent a mock glare at Gia who continued to smirk at her. Alena stood up and Gia through the shoes at her.

Gia was wearing her usual outfit of a dark purple shirt and black pants while Alena wore a crimson shirt and black pants. Alena watched as Gia looked around her room, she watched as different emotions flickered through her sister's eyes yet knowing Gia she would not say anything.

"What are you thinking?" Alena asked, never taking her eyes off Gia. Her sister slowly looked towards her and smiled slightly.

"Just thinking about how life turned out. Are you ready for our nightly hike?" Gia asked. Alena blinked in the sudden turn of conversation. She knew there was something Gia was not telling her. What it was she did not know but hoped to find out. She did not get a chance to answer as Gia turned and started walking down the stairs. Alena scrambled to keep up with her sister.

Gia and Alena stopped into the dining room to tell the boys where they were going as was custom for them. Once they were outside and walking along the path Alena turned to her sister.

"Okay spill," Alena said turning her eyes back towards the path they were following.

"What?" Gia asked confused.

"You know what. What were you really thinking in my room?" Alena asked. Gia looked at Alena and thought about how much she wanted to tell her. She eventually decided to tell everything.

"What do you think it would be like if we stayed at home and did not leave?" Gia finally asked. Both girls remained silent while each thought about what could have been.

"Life's better now than when it was. There is no need to remember the past. The past brings nothing but pain and sorrow. We are all happier now than we ever were and that is all that matters now." Alena told her sister gently. Gia let a ghost of a smile appear.

"Your right sis," Gia replied.

"Of course I am right. I am always right," Alena said smirking. Gia snorted and Alena slapped her arm lightly. Both girls started laughing lightly.

"Let's head down to the creek. We have not been done there in a while," Gia said. Alena nodded and the two headed towards the creek in silence.

BACK AT THE CASTLE

Giovanni and Gabriel were still sitting at the dining table reading the newspapers' that scattered the table. They had been sitting there since the girls left a few hours earlier. They were reading up on reports about people disappearing under mysterious circumstances. Of course, they had an idea how and why the people went missing but they were not going to tell any time soon.

"What do you make of this attack?" Gabriel asked his brother as he handed over the article in question. Giovanni, or Vanni as his siblings called him, took the article from him and skimmed it, looking for anything odd or unusual.

"Looks like another werewolf attack from what they described," Vanni responded handing the newspaper back to his brother. They had been keeping a close eye on the recent attacks to see where they happened and what they thought killed the victims. Vampires and Werewolves got along despite common belief. Sure they had their disagreements but that was normal considering they were complete opposites.

They knew werewolves never went anywhere near their castle without informing them first and even then it was far and in-between. After glimpsing a few more articles Gabriel stood up and stretched.

"I am going into the kitchen for a drink. Would you like some Vanni?" Gabriel asked knowing his brother could not refuse a glass of blood. Vanni looked up from the article he was reading and smirked.

"You know I would like a drink as well brother so why ask?" Vanni asked still smirking at Gabriel who stood near the doorway.

Gabriel smirked while he replied, "Because it annoys you brother. What other reason do I need?" Gabriel ran from the room laughing as Vanni threw an apple at his head. Vanni grumbled about missing Gabriel's head and returned to his article.

"I swear he is as bad as the girls," Vanni muttered to himself as he shook his head and snorted thinking of his sisters. Both of the girls were forces to be reckoned with and both had fierce tempers which no one liked to be on the receiving end.

"I heard that," Gabriel yelled from the kitchen. Vanni snorted again and muttered, "Why am I not surprised?" Gabriel took that moment to walk back into the room with two glasses of blood setting both on the table and reclaiming his seat. After finishing their drinks they retuned to looking at the various articles that still littered the table.

BACK AT THE CREEK

The girls sat on a fallen tree and just stared up at the moon and stars not saying much, just enjoying the sound of the creek, crickets and other night animals. They both loved coming to this very spot to think or to get away from the others. This was their spot and no one else's. It was sacred to them and only them.

After a few more minutes of silence and star gazing Gia turned her eyes to the creek and watched it in silence once again. She was so lost in her thoughts she did not notice Alena watching her with a concerned look. After a few more minutes of watching her, Alena gently placed her hand on Gia's arm. The response was immediate as Gia yelped and pulled away sharply. Gia looked around and saw it was only Alena who touched her.

"Sorry Alena, just thinking of our other friends. The mortals. Do you sometimes wonder what their doing and who their with? Do they still think of us or have we been forgotten?" Gia asked softly not wanting to look at her darling sister, her best friend.

Alena turned away and watched the creek in silence for a few moments before she answered. "I wish I knew the answers to those questions darling but I do not. Sometimes I wish we could go see them but we can not, it is too dangerous for us if we do. That is why we remain hidden from the outside world. Here we are safe. There we are not. You know this, we all do. We must accept what was given to us and embrace it. This was what our life was leading up to. This had to happen this way. We were never meant for the mortal world. We were always meant for this world and this world alone."

"I know all that. Sometimes I wonder what life would be like as a mortal. To grow old and have kids. I love being a vampire and roaming the world in the dead of night when most people are in their cozy little beds asleep, never really knowing what happens at night. Never knowing there is a whole other world out there that they know nothing about. The same world they think does not exist. What would they think if they really knew the truth that vampires and werewolves actually exist and got along with each other? Well, mostly anyway," Gia said still watching the creek.

"They would probably think we were insane and lock us away for life," Alena smirked.

"That will not work. We can always fly out or something," Gia shrugged and smirked at the thought of being locked away from the world she knew. "Then again they would not be able to catch us even if they did find out who and what we are." She smirked at the thought. Oh how she loved her wings. Yes, not many people knew that vampires have wings that could retract back into their backs at will. All of them had different colored wings.

Alena's wings were crimson, teal and black in color. The outside edge was crimson with the middle colors as teal and black swirling in places.

Gia's wings were lavender, golden and black in color. The outside edge was golden with the middle of her wings lavender and black swirling the colors towards the middle of her wings.

Giovanni's wings were metallic silver, dark grey and black. The outside edges of his wings were metallic silver with the middle of his wings dark grey and black appearing jagged.

Gabriel's wings were dark blue, silver and black. The outside edges were silver with the middle as dark blue and black mixing and swirling together towards the middle before becoming jagged. Each person's wings were unique. No two of them were identical.

Without warning Gia released her wings. "Shall we go flying around the clearing darling sister of mine?" Gia asked revealing her fangs which slid into view.

"Yes we shall," Alena said releasing her wings and fangs as well. Both girls grinned evilly to each other and took flight into the air savoring the wind in their hair as they flew. Neither said anything as they flew to the clearing. They were both just enjoying the clear night and slight breeze. After a few more minutes of flying Gia stopped short and Alena almost collided into her.

"What is your problem Gia? Why did you stop?" Alena growled. 'It is not like Gia to stop in mid-flight.' She thought to herself. Gia motioned for her to be quiet and Alena rolled her eyes slightly.

A howl broke the darkness and both girls nearly fell out of the sky.

"What in the name of all that is holy is that?!" Alena asked, startled. 'That sounded like an injured werewolf. But it can not be a werewolf. Can it?' She thought. Clearly she heard wrong but by the look on her sister's face she heard correct.

Gia was still staring in the general direction the howl came from, debating whether or not they should investigate. In the end she flew towards where she thought the werewolf was. Alena, not quite sure what Gia was doing, followed at a slight distance not sure if she wanted to get close.

Gia looked around and sure enough spotted an injured werewolf. She carefully looked around using her senses to spot any sort of trouble. Finding none she looked behind her and spotted Alena a few feet behind her looking paler than normal.

"Wait for me here Alena. No arguing. If there is any trouble I will whistle and then you must leave and get the boys," Gia said seriously. Alena nodded her head showing she was not going anywhere. Gia sighed and nodded back before flying to the ground quietly. Gia looked around from her hiding place before she crept towards the injured werewolf. Gia quickly withdrew her fangs and wings before stepping out of the shadows completely.

Glancing around again, Gia made her way quickly towards the fallen and silent werewolf. She could tell he was breathing but that was all. The scent of blood filled the air as she got closer and she wrinkled her nose at the smell. Vampire did not drink from werewolves, no matter how desperate.

Gia finally made it to where the werewolf was laying in a heap and bent down to get a closer look. She had to turn him over to get a better look at him. So slowly, carefully, she rolled him over and let out a gasp.

"Oh this is not good," She muttered