Chapter 13

As morning broke upon a stylish villa, a girl with dirty blonde hair was already out of bed. Her sapphire blue eyes gazed upon her collection of childish stuffed animals that filled her the corner of her blank room. All that was there was a wooden vanity and dresser. Her bed was queen sized had a black comforter that complimented the white pillows. At sixteen years old she would rise before the sun and finish all the trivial self duties. When the sun rose, her real duties began. She would start out with a hundred chin ups, then a slow two hundred sit ups. As she continued she would take an hour she would practice her martial arts with her teacher, an old man with a face of many scars and the blindness in the left eye but the brightness of his brown good eye. His silver hair and draped his wrinkled face with wisdom that could only come with age. His voice was deep and raspy but warming as he spoke with a Japanese accent. The accent wasn't too fairly light since he had been teaching her since she was five.

"My you have grown within the past few years haven't you,…Angela," she smiled at him kindly as she always did. He was the only one who would show kindness to her inside the home. Even her father was cold to her.

"Yes, Takuma. Uh, I mean, Sensei," she said remembering that he had preferred her calling him that. He laughed softly as he began to circle around her a couple times. She stood perfectly still, following him with her eyes alone, never letting her guard down. Suddenly he lashed out but she caught the blow and countered it by tossing him onto the padded mat. He lost his breath for a second then stood back up.

He dusted himself off. "I don't see why you still train if you even surpass me," he said a little disappointed.

She giggled slightly. "Probably to keep my sanity. You know how I'm treated her, a prodigy that won't use her gift," Angela bowed her head a little. "Even my father looks down on me," the happiness in her voice faded as she looked back up at a smiling Takuma.

He walked over to her and placed a understanding hand on her shoulder. "You feel compassion for them. There should be no shame in that. You see no reason to kill, therefore you don't. They think you a coward, when you just have a big heart," he said kindly.

Angela smiled up at the tall, scar-faced man with admiration. "Thanks, Takuma," but the heartfelt moment was quickly ended with a scrawny boy rushing into the room. He slid the door open fast and panted wildly.

He spoke in broken gasps. "Angela…Serenity…her grandma…was murdered…Serenity…is missing," and with those words she rushed past the boy with unbelievable speed. She had changed quickly into her jeans and black tank top. Eyes narrowed as she ran out the door passing her father. The head of the vampire hunters. She had been raised in this family, to murder any vampire at the sight of them. Angela was rather rebellious and refused to kill vampires that hadn't done anything wrong. Although her skills matched those that had taken most of their lives to achieve by the age of ten, she refused to use them for pointless means. Angela was also best friends with Serenity for 6 long years. She ran down the hill that her home sat on and around a few corners, of course, going at a speed no one could believe. She halted in front of the rickety old 18th century home. Her eyes widened at the sight of the body bag being carried out of it. This should have never happened.

Angela overheard the reporter that was a good fifty feet away talking into her microphone. "It was a tragic event. Seventy five year old Ruth Lightner was brutally murdered at approximately 7:45 last evening. Officers say that the woman's throat was ripped by a some kind of animal. The location of the granddaughter, Serenity Lightner, is still unknown. There is evidence that Serenity was at her home shortly after the attack but disappeared without a trace," the red haired woman continued on but Angel couldn't bare to listen anymore. Then noticed something very peculiar. There were footsteps leading away from the house, but no one seemed to notice them. Was she the only one that could see them? Angela compared her feet to the footsteps and saw that they were larger than hers. They couldn't have been Serenity's since they were the same shoe size. She followed them as they ran northwest away from the home. Angela was now determined to find where they would lead.

Serenity arose that morning feeling light and relaxed she looked down to see that she was still in her dress but not on the couch. Instead she was in a nice warm bed. She looked at a note with nice handwriting. She figured it must have been Damian's. It read;

"Dear Serenity,

Sorry you're still in that uncomfortable dress, but I wouldn't allow anyone change you into more comfortable wear. We are all men after all. Anyway, please join us for breakfast in the dinning room.

Sincerely,

Damian"

She felt a strong relief rush over her about not letting anyone change her. Serenity turned the paper over to see a map that leads to the dinning room. Good, now she wouldn't get lost. She quickly changed out of the dress and into a pair of pajama pants and the big t-shirt at the end of her bed. After she slipped on the shirt she quickly realized that it was Damian's. His smell was the same as the time when she had remembered. She smelled it for a minute or two before she heard a knock on the door.

She quickly turned around and raced to the door. "Hello?" she quickly opened the door only to realize that it was Damian. She let out a small scream. He was obviously confused when she ran from the door and to the vanity. She frantically brushed her hair to get the disobedient knots out of her now curly hair.

He let out a small chuckle. "So that's what's was the matter," he said with a grin. She stuck out her tongue but noticed he had pulled his hair back into a neat ponytail. His t-shirt seemed to hang from his muscular but soft body, although his jeans weren't tight they weren't falling off his backside either, but his lips were what caught her attention. They were full and kissable. It was the first time she had noticed them. It took everything in her not to stare and look back at her reflection as she finished up. She placed down the brush and quickly ran back to the door where he leaned against the doorway. "Well, are we all prettied up for breakfast?" he said sweetly.

She gave him a warning glare. "Excuse me but around others than my grandma I like to look semi-decent," her voice seemed dangerous but what was really going on was her heart was pounding. She hoped he had mistaken it for the near heart attack of being indecent.

He gave her a soft look. "Jeez, calm down. I know. I did have a mother you know. And she was ten times worse," he said with a relaxed tone. She felt like she was going to get caught in loving him at any minute. This was getting ridiculous. "Come, I'll walk you to breakfast. I know I drew you a map but I heard you moving around and I decided against going alone," he said with a smirk that was devilish but handsome at the same time. He lent out his arm and she took it graciously. She tried to calm her heart but only felt more nervous of being caught. She then looked up at his sure deep blue eyes looking straight forward. She felt a sudden feeling of warmth in her heart but instead of racing it was calming it down and she closed her eyes and let the feeling take over. She then leaned her head on the arms they had linked together, she could almost feel the heartbeat in the veins of his arm, she could hear it rising in pace, just like hers. She felt relief but her shyness would prevent her from confessing right then and there.

When they arrived at the dinning hall both Roy and Eric looked extravagant. Eric simply wore pajama pants showing of his washboard six pack abs. Roy, however, wore a jeans and an old fashioned green sweater. Although they were supposed to be out of date, it looked rather nice on him. He didn't look anything like a grandfather, more like another older brother. His hair was as black as Damian's but it was cut short. They were both munching on toast with grape jelly on it, although Eric was reading a comic book and Roy was reading the newspaper. They both looked up at Serenity and smiled. She had only met them yesterday and they already seemed like she had known them for a life time. Although this seemed fairly warm she still felt as very lonely. She was the only female there. There was no one she could talk to, but she couldn't just go out, find Angela, and say, 'Hey, I'm living with a bunch of guys that just happen to be vampires, besides the butler, and I'm in love with one! I need to talk to you about some advise.' Yeah that wouldn't go over smoothly. Serenity sat herself down next to Roy who was at the end of the table. Damian would have thrown a fit if she weren't there, so he took the seat next to hers. Edward appeared from the right hand side with two small trays of toast. With a side of strawberry jam, unlike the grape jelly the other two were feasting upon.

Edward noticed the small curiosity as she glanced to the other two then back to the tray. "Damian, prefers strawberry," he said gently. She nodded then took the side of the jam and put it on the corner of her toast and Damian watched, intrigued by the short conversation they had.

She took a bite of the corner without hesitation. Her eyes widened. "Delicious," her voice was quiet and quite amazed. "I've never tried that before. It's good," she said as she happily applied more. Edward smiled slightly then left the room. The boys watched in amusement as she ate the bread. "What?" she asked biting down on another one.

Eric laughed before answering her. "You humans are so strange. You do so many funny things when you like something," his voice childish and playful.

Roy nodded with agreement as he set down his paper and picked up his glass mug of coffee and took a delicate sip. Damian left out a chuckle as she pouted. Suddenly a question revealed itself to her. "Well if that's different then do you guys fall in love differently too?" she asked and they all looked at her with surprise but differently. Eric's was more of an admiration, as if he were proud she had found the question. Roy's was more of an impressed shock that a human thought so deeply. Then her eyes fell on Damian, his was blank for a moment then kind of amused. She actually felt fear of being right.

He shock his head from side to side. "No we don't fall in love differently. We're the same on that level," he said, with deeper feelings then she realized. Then suddenly there was a loud knock at the door that could be heard by the whole house.

Everyone was startled but Damian was more shocked then any. "Who the hell could that be. You'd have to be insanely strong to slam that knocker three times that loud," he said, thinking aloud.

A voice from the kitchen called to the dinning room. "I'll go see who it is," it was obviously Edward. Silence filled the room as they waited for his return. All of them were eyeing the door. Minutes felt like hours as they waited with curious intent. Then, finally the door began to open and Edward slid out through the opening. "Um, Serenity, it's for you," he said as Angela walked through on her own.

Angela's eyes widened at once when she saw Serenity was safe and unharmed. "Serenity! My God, are you okay?!" she said as she crossed the room and Serenity stood up immediately.

Serenity was shocked. "What are you doing her?" her eyes wide with disbelief.

"What the hell do you think?! I heard about your grandma and I went to go find you," Angela was so wrapped up in the fact that Serenity was safe she didn't realize who else was around. She came to notice soon enough when she saw a pair of familiar black eyes. "You," she breathed.

Eric stood up straight and threatening. "You," his voice deep and serious. Damian stood protectively beside Serenity.

Angela now knew what his mind set was and her eyes hardened. "I have no business with you. I was just worried for the girls safety," suddenly the room felt tense. He stared Angela down like she was filth, not even worth his presence. That hit a nerve. "Excuse me, but stop sizing me up. I already told you, my business here is not with you. It never was," her voice went a little soft at the end.

He remained a severely pissed off vampire. "So you just happen to be a hunter that has no business with her prey?" he said with vicious growl.

Serenity looked at her. "Angela?" she didn't respond to her.

Angela locked gazes with Eric. "Quit it. You knew I had nothing to do with her death," she said very strongly and the conversation now involved only those two. All others watched in amazement. Even with a new truth unraveling Serenity didn't move from Angela's side.

Eric's teeth were clenched and his lips curled back into a snarl. "You were a coward back then. You did nothing out of fear. You are lucky you ran," his voice dangerous but her eyes never flinched as she glared at him with her eyes as cold as ice.

"It's true, I ran out of fear. It was because that was my first hunt and I saw the horrors of what my father did for so many years. I wasn't afraid of you, I was afraid of what they were about to do. I was afraid for the girl. They wouldn't let me save her, but I wasn't going to sit around and watch. I was scorned for my beliefs but I never faltered. I've never killed a single vampire, even though that was about five years ago," the truth spilled from her lips like holy water from the grail. The words seemed to bring new realization not only to Eric but to the whole room that waited quietly for their questions to be answered.

Damian stood behind Serenity, ready to pull her away if necessary. Serenity looked at Angela with shock at the new light that was shone on her friend. Edward watched from the door as if watching a favorite television show. While Roy merely waited for a chance to speak. When Eric's realization had hit and there was a short silence, he thought it to be appropriate. "A vampire hunter family, huh?" Angela's eyes found their way from Eric's to Roy's. "Interesting, but what I find even more interesting is how you found us. It's obvious you had no intent from the start that involved us. You didn't even seem to notice that we were vampires until you spotted a familiar face," his eyes quickly glanced at Eric. "So what exactly brought you here?" his question had brought up a subject that she wasn't quite sure of herself. Which was printed all over her face.

Angela took a deep breath and hoped they didn't think she was crazy. "I followed a set of footprints. They lead away from Serenity's house so I followed them. Since no one else saw them," she said cautiously and Roy's eyes flickered with amusement. Eric and Damian watched their grandfather carefully as he cleared his throat. Serenity, looked at him with less enthusiasm, still getting over what had just happened.

Roy's grin seemed to widen with as he spoke. "Do you think the footprints were Serenity's?" the question seemed meaningless, but the answer was what was unexpected.

Angela looked down at her feet and remembered how the feet weren't even close to the size of hers let alone Serenity's. "No, they weren't. They were too big," she said quietly. Suddenly all eyes moved back to her.

Although everyone was shocked, except Roy. No, he was very expectant of that answer. He then looked over to Eric. "Eric, how about you come here for a second," Roy's voice awoke him from his shock and he walked over to him even though he was standing next to Angela. He was too lost to even begin fighting with him. He stood straight and his six foot two inches towered over Angela's measly five foot 8 inches. "Angela, right? Is his foot the one you saw?" her eyes moved from hers to his and she stepped back in simple surprise.

Her breath returned to her in a few seconds for her answer. "Yeah, it was him," she said with shaken words. What did this mean? Eric seemed just as surprised as her.

Roy looked at the two and laughed. "Could it be that she's a Savior?" both of the two looked at the him as if he were a lunatic.

They screamed at him in unison. "NO WAY!" both very unacquainted with the idea. They glared for a second or two before they turned to be back to back.

Damian chuckled slightly. "A perfect match," he said more to himself than anything. Eric and Angela both glared at him as if they were going to kill him if they didn't kill each other first.

Serenity stayed silent for another moment before breaking the relaxed atmosphere. "Who did Angela not kill?" the question had manifested it's way directly to Eric's heart. He was no longer angry, but extremely sad. Angela looked at Serenity, and for the first time, she saw the sincerity in her eyes.

Eric folded his arms across his chest. "Our cousin. Damian never knew her," he watched Damian as his eyes widened with surprise.

Damian then processed the information. "Why didn't I know her?" the curiosity was eating away at him.

Eric simply smirked. "She was banned from the family too. She had fallen in love with a human, her Savior, and her mother, our mother's sister, banished her from the family," the room was silent. Roy sat back down, the same for Damian. Serenity and Angela looked at each other before they both took seats as well. Edward reentered the kitchen and began to clean a little to keep his mind occupied.

Roy saw Eric was having a hard time repeating the story that was, no doubt, replaying over and over in his mind. "Eric was extremely close to his cousin, Helen, since they were born around the same time. He agreed with her and therefore got banned as well. It's true he was defiant from the beginning but when he protected her human that was the last straw. That was almost a century ago. The only reason that Eric was aloud to see Damian if he never spoke of her or her human lover," he spoke barely above a whisper. Her death seemed to hurt them both very deeply. Angela was shaking so very slightly. She fought back the tears of anger and regret. No could have known what she was thinking at that moment. How much she hated herself for not being able to help an innocent person. The is, no one but Eric. He saw the reaction and instead of feeling glad he felt miserable, he felt bad for making her suffer. After all it wasn't her fault, she couldn't control who's family she was born. He fought back the urge to go over to her and tell her it'd be okay and the anger at her faded away. He didn't know that yet though.

To everyone's shock, Angela stood up walked to the door. "I'm not welcome here. I'll get going," she said quickly as she opened and shut the door. Serenity stood up but saw the door open and close again slightly. She looked back at the seat where Eric was sitting. As she had suspected, he had gone after her. Fear shrouded her eyes and she about ran out the door when an hand caught her arm.

It was Roy. "He needs to get over himself and except her. Let them go. Finish you're meal, they'll return shortly," she stood still in running position for a moment then straightened up.

She shivered slightly. "I'm just worried," she said as she sat back down. She then rested her arms on the table and laid her head upon them. "Now I just need to get over this headache it's given me," she said with frustration.

Damian chuckled slightly. "So fragile," he said as he began softly stroking her back. She sighed as she began to feel a little better. The pervious tension being to melt away with every moment his fingers danced along her spine. Although she knew that this didn't mean anything, or did it. She didn't know anymore. Vampires just left too many questions and she was left with little, if any, answers. Serenity was just only scratching the surface of a thousand foot block of ice, and her only tools, her fingernails.