Chapter 3 Familie Treffen Part I
~November 4, 1847~
A hooded girl crosses a street. She ducks into an alley, entering a room. She shuts the window blinds, pausing ever so slightly to look outside if anyone followed her. Once she made sure she wasn't, she removes her hood, revealing long blonde hair. She sighs.
Evangeline Athanasia Katherine McDowell has been called many names through the years, chief among them were High-Daylight Walker, Dark Evangel, Disciple of Catastrophic Noise, and, as a distinct number of people in the current era knew her as, The Blood Hunter. She was well known throughout the bounty-hunting world. It was even said her contract efficiency was nearly perf-…
"Aren't you embellishing the story too much?" asked Yue. "Shouldn't we get on with the story?"
"I'm getting there! For a librarian, you seriously don't have the patience for it…"
"Another job well done I suppose."
The assassination went off without a hitch.
It was rather easy to lure the target to a secluded spot, and from there, Evangeline had finished him off, by using a localized and heavily modified Κοσμικη Καταστροφή, and shattered her target with a snap of a finger. No one would be the wiser, as all she left was a red carpet, albeit a very wet one.
She began to leave the place, when she heard a voice she had not heard in a very long time, calling her by a nickname nobody but her family should have known.
...
"Enca?"
...
She spun around, to meet eyes with a person so similar to herself.
"Big Brother?"
A blonde little girl runs around grass. She giggles; a happy smile on her face. Her birthday is coming.
"Mistress Eva!" She frowns, as someone shouts her name, her play time cut short. It had been such a long time since she was last allowed to go out. Ever since her mother's death a year ago, her father had been clingier, refusing to let her get out of the grounds, barely even allowing her out of the mansion. She had just looked so much like her late mother that her father felt her mother was still alive whenever he saw her.
Playing in her room wasn't so much fun though.
"Mistress! Your Brother calls for you."
"Oh Well." She whispers. She follows the maid home.
"Plenty of time to play around. There's still tomorrow until Father gets home. Wonder what he got for my birthday?"
They walk briefly along the beaten path. Feeling a bit anxious, the little girl strikes up a conversation with her maid. "What do you think my brother needs me for Lenna?" she asks the maid.
"Nothing too important I suppose. He's probably requiring you for a fitting. He's nearly done with your birthday dress after all, Mistress." Lenna replied.
Her elder brother had a knack for sewing the most incredible things, but he worked best on women's clothing. In fact, nearly all of the little girl's dresses were sewn by him, along with some of their late mother's best dress gowns. He even dabbled in doll-making, as Enca's favorite plaything was a doll she had named Zero.
They come up to the mansion entrance hall as the little girl pouts. "That's booo-ring."
"Boring or not," someone whispers in her ear, "We still have to do it, Enca."
"Big Brother!" She nearly jumps, a bit surprised. "Don't scare me like that!"
"I didn't do it on purpose. Anyway…" he grins.
"Uh-oh, I don't like that look." Enca whispers, mostly to herself. She prepares to run.
"A certain someone seems to have forgotten her chores for today." He says in an authoritative voice. "Looks like I have to punish her with a little…"
Enca starts running, giggling all the while.
Eventually though, her brother catches up with her, saying "A little tickle torture!" then immediately proceeding to tickle her.
"Stop it! E He Hee! Please! Ah… Ha! Ha! Ha! I give up!" her brother stops.
"Seriously though, you should start taking your chores to heart." He said. "Ever since Mama died, Father has not been the same. We wouldn't want him angry at us for no reason, do we? "
The little girl frowns sadly. "Do you think he blames me? Do you think he…" she gulps. "Hates me?" she looks up to her brother as he looks down. She's a little teary.
He sighs. "He doesn't hate you."
He kneels down and hugs her. It wasn't your fault. Mother got sick. It was never your fault, and nobody blames you. So stop over-thinking things! Your tenth birthday is coming up! It's a cause for celebration!"
"What's so special about my tenth? Won't it be just like every other birthday I've had?" she asks skeptically.
"Technically you've lived ten years." he replied sarcastically. "And in our day and age, that's saying a lot."
"Uh-huh."
"Okay!" he exclaims, making Enca jump. "Let's get the fitting started so we can end it quickly. Besides, I have a little something I want to show you today."
About an hour and a half later, Enca was outside her brother's workshop.
She hesitated, but just when she was about to knock, the door opened.
"Come in!" her brother cheerfully allowed her inside.
Different pieces of clothing were scattered along the floor, covering practically the entire area, along with a few buttons here and there. A bookshelf was converted to contain some doll parts, with an entire clear jar filled to the brim with crystal eyes in a corner of her brother's work desk.
"Wow…" said Enca. "It's just as messy as usual." she took a look around, her gaze stopping upon a nearly complete doll on her brother's work desk.
The doll, which had its eyes closed, had long white hair which was almost silver, with black wings on its back. Looking further to the left, Enca noticed that the doll's clothing was being sewn in a desk nearby.
"She's beautiful…" whispered Enca. Her brother sidled up beside her. "I know right?" her brother said. "She will be my greatest creation. An immortal tribute to the most important woman in my life."
She knew who he was talking about. Alice was her brother's childhood friend and fiancé. Everybody said that the two of them would have led a very happy and fruitful life together, but unfortunately she fell to the same disease which claimed their mother over a year ago.
They were supposed to be married when Enca turned thirteen.
"But…" her brother started. Enca turned to face him, a curious look on her face.
"There's something wrong." He frowns.
"What's wrong big brother? Doesn't she look good enough?" she asks.
Her brother shakes his head. "It's not that. It's just that, I might have made a mistake when I was making the parts." He gestures toward the doll. "She isn't supposed to have wings.*"
"Bu-but it makes her look cool! Surely that's got to count for something?"
He chuckles. "Of course that's what's it all about with you."
She pouts.
"No, it's something else. Even the slightest imperfection is unacceptable. "
"I'll never understand you, Big Brother."
He laughed. "You'll never do. You're too young I suppose."
She smiled.
Back then, I truly believed that my life could not have been better.
I had a caring brother, and a father that, although distant, showed signs of caring.
How was I so much naïve back then?
When my father came back, he bought along with him the seeds of his downfall, and the reason I became a vampire.
My mother's death seemed to have had a very large impact on him.
He had become obsessive with immortality, and used me as a test subject.
Ha.
He never found out if he was ever successful.
The process had the minor side effect of putting the subject through an unstoppable rage, which, coupled with the fact that my family always had enormous magic potential, made me kill everyone in the mansion.
Well, almost everyone, as my later meeting attested that my brother had somehow survived.
Anyhow, the meeting was an absolute surprise for the both of us.
After Evangeline turned around to face him, she continued walking, trying to walk pass him, pretending that she didn't hear him, but he grasped her shoulder, and turned her around to face him.
"Enca!" he exclaimed, "It is you!"
"I do not know who this Enca Is." She replied coldly.
He frowned. "Is that any way to treat you elder brother after not meeting for years?"
She narrowed her eyes. "I believe you have mistaken me for someone else. My family died years ago. Now if you'll excuse me…" she shook her shoulder, attempting to be rid of the arm on it.
He stubbornly held on, "I know it is you." he said with conviction.
"The ritual might have somehow made you older, but you still have your old mannerisms…" he continued, but Evangeline interrupted him, grabbing him by his collar, dragging him to a corner. She pulled out a hairpin, which worked as a magical suppressor, and pointed it as his neck.
"Nobody knows about that Ritual. Speak before I gut you. Who are you?"
"Still awfully moody I see." he chuckled. "I am your brother."
"Rubbish." she replied through clenched teeth. "I killed everyone in the mansion. I saw his body!"
He smiled. "Whoever told you He didn't test the same ritual on me?"
"What?" she nearly dropped the pin in shock. "Bu-but the body had no pulse!"
"Come with me." He said. "I know of a private room where we can talk."
Ok, time for a break.
"What? Just when it gets exciting you stop and take a break? Are you sure you aren't making this up?"
Of course I wouldn't! Why Would I?
"I don't know, maybe to make the story a bit more interesting."
What? My life story is very interesting!
"I'm sure it is. "
Author's Notes:
Wow, never thought I'd get around to uploading this chapter, but here it is.
I'm sorry for not uploading it sooner, I didn't really like the first, second and numerous ways it turned out so I kept rewriting the entire chapter.
Anyway, please leave a review if possible, as reviews are my way of deciding if the story's good enough or not, and please vote on my profile for Kanaria's Medium.
Whoever wins will probably determine how the story will turn out, and, as an advanced warning, Kanaria herself will be Extremely OOC.
PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW.