Dark Chronicles

Chapter 21

Symbol of the Dragon

"You were supposed to call me Anna! I can't believe you let Charlie go into the microwave!"

"W-What! You've got it wrong April! Your fault!" Anastasia yelled desperately as her older sister shook her dog by the scruff of the neck. Charlie's normally rich chocolate coat was now a charred black colour with steam smoking off the singed fur while the puppy gave a pathetic whine. April shook her head causing her halo of strawberry blond curls to ripple. Anna couldn't quite remember why her sister was in her flat screaming at her but she must have done something wrong again.

"You're so reckless Anna! How could you be so selfish to just let him go? He needs you!" April prosecuted enraged as her eyes were narrowed into slits giving Charlie another determined shake. Anastasia felt something heavy seep through her body weighing her down until she felt like crying. Hollowness and emptiness filled her creating a void inside her gaping and screaming at her demanding her attention. Pain throbbed in her chest, her neck and her head as she tried in vain to shake it away. Anna reached out for her faithful dog who was in so much pain that each of his cries were torture to her ears. Then, suddenly she was falling through nothingness feeling the air rush past her face crippling her body and roaring through her hair.

"Sivamet…"

A voice called to her through the darkness. Waves of agony exploded in her head and riddled her body like a disease but she felt her whole being stand on edge just waiting to hear that voice. The warmth, the mesmerising and haunting beauty of it was almost worth the pain. Each moment without it felt like an age until her chapped lips and sore throat formed words to ring out against the silence.

"You left me…" So pale and faded was her voice she was sure he would not hear. Alone in the cold and darkness with nothing and nobody. Who was Anastasia? Just a name, a voice, a body but a soul? So much pain and destruction was this existence worth it?

"I am with you always…" The voice - relief mingled with the excruciation as her back arched as muscles tightened and clenched. The fire was blazing an inferno in her head flames licking down her spine into her gut and abdomen. That voice though, she needed it almost as much as she needed some escape from the pain. Something damp trickled down her cheeks - she had lost something and failed. She was worth nothing in this life.

"I can't stand this!" Anastasia cried feeling her chest heave with each breath. How could she go to the light so unworthy and dishonourable? Harsh stony chains pulled at her body dragging her in various directing tearing her apart as she tried to break free.

"I am with you…wither you wish it or not I am with you…"

Anastasia flinched as a groan left her lips. The room shifted back into focus with alarming sharpness and she jumped in momentary surprise lurching upright trying to remember for fleeting moment who she was and where she was. Blinking she stared down at the laptop in front of her dazed before she suddenly recalled her initial purpose. She'd been trying to do more research into Amanda's parentage…it was after dinner, some peace away from the noise of the children playing in the living room. She'd only meant to shut her eyes for a few moments.

Eyeing the shadows around her and the closed curtains evidently a few moments had lingered into a few hours. The only light entering the room was the pale moonlight creeping in through the curtains reflecting off the shiny surfaces and glistening cutlery. With a panicked feeling she realised she'd left Amanda completely vulnerable and unprotected. Placing her head in her hands she raked them agitatedly through her hair. Even after a few hours of undisturbed peace she felt like death being thawed out over a volcano. Nobody had bothered to wake her, then again nobody had probably been able to wake her since she wasn't exactly a light sleeper going into a comatose state.

"Did I wake you?"

"Holy-!" Anastasia was on her feet chest heaving as she spun around on end as a melodic voice broke the silence of the shadowed kitchen. Her eyes widened as but she let out a long sigh clutching her heart trying to control it's rapid thundering as she recognised the tall handsome figure of Prince Mikhail. His concerned brown eyes glimmered through the darkness and she gulped trying to recompose herself before uttering an apology, "I'm sorry, I didn't see you…"

"The fault is mine. Raven is always saying I should announce myself more when I enter a room," Mikhail smiled gently.

"No, I really shouldn't fall asleep on other peoples kitchen tables," Anastasia said the edge of her mouth twitching into a semi-grin unwittingly as she turned around scooping up her laptop. Amanda at least might be pleased with her findings, unfortunately she might have to wait until morning to let the ten year old view her discovery. Spluttering she almost dropped the laptop as she coughed feeling her throat ache, it felt like it had been rubbed with coarse sandpaper, "H-How long have I been asleep?" Through her sleepy haze she didn't really care if this counted as fraternizing with the enemy.

"A few hours, it is nearing one o'clock. Amanda has been asleep for some time, allow me to get you a drink," Mikhail said softly and a moment later Anastasia accepted the glass of cold water being nudged into her hand. Taking a deep sip she felt it cool the blazing heat in her throat before she realised that it could be drugged or any number of things. In trepidation she awaited some sort of sensation but none came and she sat down setting the drink on a coaster.

"Thanks," She said gratefully before yawning. Mikhail drew up a chair quietly next to her scrutinizing her through the darkness. Anastasia guessed she didn't look the epitome of a healthy person with dark shadows under her eyes and various bruises and cuts riddling her body. Her wrists ached sharply and were tender, lifting heavy weights made them sorer and more stiff than before. Aware of his present unrelenting gaze she fidgeted before plucking the courage to speak, "It's not so bad."

"Anastasia I want you to know that if you have any fears you can confide them is us, I know you do not trust us but it is difficult for us to witness your suffering, it goes against our nature," Mikhail admitted soothingly, there was something harmonious about his voice. Anastasia couldn't help but feel guilty as she averted her eyes to the drink in front of her. Every little girl dreamed of being a Queen but they never realised how much work was involved and the pressure. In all honesty she found herself wondering this man beside her coped under the burden of an entire species. It made her own problems seem petty and selfish.

"I'm sorry," Sighed Anastasia, "I know I'm not the easiest house guest. This must be difficult for you…how do you cope without cracking up? Five minutes in your world and I go loop the loop." Mikhail smiled wryly shaking his head while Anastasia quirked a little bit. This wasn't strictly true, the revelation of Carpathians was scary but it was prompting this complete abandoning of sensibility into paranoia. Her mind was so fragmented now she was finding it harder and harder to distinguish between what was real and what was not.

"I have Raven…before her I had no emotions. I was born into this Anastasia, everyone of the humans converted has had problems taking it in. You are no exception and you're not alone in feeling afraid," Mikhail reassured. Anastasia shook her head, having problems was fair enough perhaps they had their problems but she was sure none of them had failed as spectacularly as she had. She'd almost killed the housekeeper by throwing knives and attempted to shoot them several times and knocked unconscious one of their friends.

"I know…don't you get tired of being dictated to? I mean…you believe so much in fate and destiny but can't a person shape their own future? I mean being a life mate must be some sort of wonderful experience but isn't it annoying being told who your to spend the rest of your life with?" Anastasia asked curiously. If she'd been raised from birth to be some sort of leader she'd start to ask herself that. Being told to rule was one thing but being told who to love was something entirely different. She knew now that was the only reason Zacarias would look at her twice, strangely she almost felt pity for him now.

"No. When I was young I often found It irksome that I had to be the Prince and I did rebel but when I was older I grew to accept it. Having a life mate is different though, they are the other halves of our soul. Humans are born with their soul complete but we are not," Mikhail confessed honestly. Anastasia felt a little bit nervous…she had half a soul? She'd never really felt that way before - sure a little lonely and angst through her teenager years but that was normal wasn't it? Half a soul but her and Zacarias were too different even for ying and yang. Was it normal to want to recoil and run from your own soul? Was it normal for them to cause you pain? And yet…as much as she didn't want to feel the way she did she strangely missed him. Not that she'd ever confess it to Mikhail or herself.

"I don't have any problems with Carpathians…I mean I am a little amazed and terrified but that doesn't make me act like a paranoid maniac. I just…it just feels like any bit of control I have has been snatched away from me. I can't fight Vampires, I can't just give up my life and hop it over to Brazil, I can't live forever…I feel guilty…I do but…urgh this is confusing!" Anastasia gave up attempting explain the confused jumble of her thoughts in an exasperated growl of annoyance at herself. An amused chuckle sauntered her way from Mikhail.

"Very few our women fight vampires Anna and I'm sure you wouldn't just have to 'hop it' as you say over to Brazil," Mikhail said.

"That's another thing…I'm a feminist okay? Go back a hundred years and I'd probably be a suffragette launching flour over the Prime Minister. I'm not saying I want to go out and kill vampires or anything…but if I had enough power I'd resent somebody telling me it wasn't within my rights to fight," Anastasia said honestly. The idea of having such power was appealing, the ability to have the strength to protect herself and to know she didn't have to be afraid was engaging particular in her powerless circumstances. "It's not just that…my thoughts, what I think, what I do…I just couldn't let somebody control me. I couldn't…I couldn't live my life like that. I can't survive in a cage…"

"Zacarias is the oldest of his brothers therefore he has always been completely in charge of everything, now he feels as though he has control over nothing. He wants to keep you safe but he can't knowing that it would take your happiness away…two instincts are battling inside him," Mikhail said pensively eyeing her with intense brown eyes that forced her to look away, "You are both at war with yourselves." No, she didn't want to hear him say that. She didn't want to understand or feel sympathy for the man who she was terrified of, the man who she despised. And yet she couldn't make his words vanish once said. This wasn't what she wanted, it wasn't what either of them wanted.

"He has power…I have none," Anastasia sighed wearily, "Every day, every minute, even right now I expect you to kill me. I'm already trying to work out how many seconds I'd have and if it would be enough to get a shot in. I know…well I hope you wont but the point is I know that if…that if one of you wanted to I could be dead in seconds. I…just feel it all the time. I can't sleep, I've failed cause I left Amanda unguarded…I just can't do anything right." Anastasia raked a hand through her hair and lowered her head. She had just told him and now he would think she was insane. How could she explain it though? Why did she always have to open her mouth and tell people things - thinking they could help when she knew they could only make things worse. There was no one though…just a diary she filled in each day but it didn't talk back to her did it? There was no advice, no warmth, just ink on pages.

"Amanda Is safe, you are safe. I know it doesn't help but none of us want to hurt you," The Carpathian Prince reassured kindly, "You're fears…they are only products of your mind. It wants you to fear us, it wants you to run." Anastasia knew this was true but it didn't calm or sooth her any to know that some fragments of her mind where not entirely her own and that thus far there was no solution. The Vampire wanted her and she couldn't even understand why.

"I found some stuff out about Amanda," Anastasia said changing the subject as she lifted the screen on her laptop. Artificial blue light from the ocean screensaver flooded the dark kitchen and temporarily blinded her teal eyes as the start engine warmed up directing her automatically to the internet. After clicking off a few E-Mails from her mother and Nathan she quickly located the folder newly saved into her documents. It had taken her hours of sifting through information to finally find it. The census results had showed that Amanda White was a common place name in Scotland but after endless hours of scouring the web she had hit gold in typing the name in on the search engine on Facebook. "It took a while but her mother is originally from California near Salt Lake city but moved to Aberdeen in Scotland when she was twenty to stay with her cousin. There she met Angus White a local GP and three years later Amanda was born."

"Impressive, what does your mother think of you adopting?" Mikhail enquired politely.

"That I've lost the plot," Anastasia snorted, "That I can hardly handle paying rent, that I've no idea what I'm getting myself into but she'll help. It'll be fine though, If I can get Collins to pay up then I'll have enough money to relocate, bigger flat, more money less stress or at least that's the game plan." Why was she divulging this with him? It was the early hours of the morning and she was opening her mouth and spilling out everything. This could all be used as ammunition, what was she thinking? "Anyway, after having Amanda they moved to Linlithgow and settled there for five years until Nina divorced Angus and moved back to California."

"Have you any idea what followed for Amanda to end up in the hands of Morrison?" Mikhail asked seeming quite interested at the rapid progress Anastasia had made in only three days. If you stayed up all night you had to do something to keep yourself awake, this was Anastasia's way of finding something to divert her mind. Nina White nee Robinson had became an enigma. Her face book page had not been accessed for two years but there were a number of photographs all set on white sandy beaches with deep blue oceans.

"No…she just vanishes…no records, no comments…I think he must have gotten them there," Anastasia said biting her lip as she clicked onto one of the photographs. A full screen picture lit up the room displaying a slim pretty woman with shining green eyes and long blond hair in a pink bikini dangling an infant Amanda dressed in a blue bathing suit with her honey coloured hair billowing in the breeze. Nina was beautiful, a lawyer so intelligent, perfect. Not the type of woman that would lead her daughter into a lair of vampires unguarded, to the type of mother unable to provide, the type of person who could support and be there for her daughter everyday. Not like flawed Anastasia…not like her…

"A tattoo?" Mikhail murmured curiously. Anastasia blinked clicking on the zoom button as they zoomed in on the left side of Nina's exposed abdomen. A light imprint of a dragon - Anastasia admired it for a moment wondering how such a delicate mark could be created on skin. Sometimes she toyed with the idea of getting a tattoo, maybe stars or a crescent moon on her shoulder.

"It's pretty…" Anastasia mentioned filling the sudden silence. Mikhail's eyes seemed glued to the screen before they flashed towards Anna and the force nearly burned her. She jumped back instinctively feeling her heart pound yet his voice was perfectly controlled and eloquent as he spoke.

"That mark…have you seen it on Amanda?"

"I-I…don't know. I never looked," Anastasia said taken aback feeling her guard instantly rise - had she been a dog her hackles would have been raised as warning sirens blazed in her head, "Why? What is it? Is Amanda okay?" She demanded feeling a rise of adrenaline pump through her body as the blood raced in her ears.

"If I am correct in my assumptions then the mark on her mothers abdomen symbolises a rare and ancient Carpathian bloodline known as Dragonseekers, it could be she is a descendant much like Lara or Colby and it would explain her strong psychic abilities," Mikhail informed her. Anastasia tried to digest this information. Amanda was a distant relation to the Carpathians? Dread filled her inside - they had her and they would not let her go. They would demand custody, they would take Amanda from her and turn her into another life mate for them. They had no care for her as an individual only for her to save a male. Anastasia rose to her feet steadily eyeing Mikhail like a fox might eye a wolf.

"I need to go…you've done enough," Anastasia fumed feeling revolted at herself as she smacked the laptop lid down with more force than necessary as she picked it up turning away. Pain rose in her throat as she darted through the door feeling tears sting her eyes as she dashed up the stairs. Nobody bothered trying to follow her or at least not obviously as she flung open the bedroom door seeing Amanda's small form curled up under the blankets. Creeping gently forwards she parted the duvet slightly to slip a better view of Amanda's gowned figure, the flimsy pink material was gauzy allowing her a brief outline of skin. Raising the material slightly Amanda made no movements while Anastasia sucked in a breathe.

A pale dragon was etched on the skin faintly.

Now this changed everything.

"Magda! Dinner, come on!"

Anastasia was struggling to keep conscious and jerked awake suddenly as Alice's loud shout crashed through her sleepy brain causing it to register the room around her. Sitting upright she noticed a pair of deep blue eyes watching curiously. Melody titled her head to one side intrigued as her dark curls tumbled down her shoulders as she took in Anna's weary state. The look of interest was broken however by the arrival of her younger twin whose unnerving silver eyes glimmered as she took a seat next to her sister. Alice graced the room balancing Selene on her hip as she set the young child on a chair.

"Anna, dear go have a lie down. You look awful," Alice said concernedly. Anastasia shook her head watching as Amanda wolfed down her scrambled egg on toast. Couldn't leave her unguarded, had to stay, had to keep awake. Last nights discovery had only spurned her paranoia - they would take her away. They would turn her into one of them, they would take her away. Couldn't let it happen, had to stay awake. All night she had spent finishing off entries into her diary, sketching drawings, thinking of him…she couldn't get him out of her mind. At night…his eyes…his face…everything about him and she couldn't escape him. Sometimes she could swear she even smelled him. He was bothering her art - she could only draw strange bizarre things like forests and large predatory cats like Panthers and Jaguars.

"She's waiting for her next turn," Melody said unusually sincere for a child. Anastasia blinked in surprise. Turn? They weren't even playing a game…yet there was something strange about the way she stated it so clearly in her high childish voice before giggling and turning back to her twin stealing a forkful of egg off her plate.

"Come on Amanda," Anastasia murmured tiredly as she stood up leaving most of the food on her plate. She needed to take her nightly injections and reach the sanctuary of their bedroom. Obediently Amanda hopped off the stool and trailed Anna up the stairs into the room as Anna shut the door picking out her insulin kit from her black bag dumping it on the bed as she rolled up her trouser leg digging the syringe in. Amanda sat down on the bed picking up her English Workbook well accustomed to their routine. English was first - it was unfortunately her worst subject.

"I hate this!"

Amanda launched the textbook roughly on the floor huffing as she crossed her arms. Anastasia jumped feeling startled by the sudden act of defiance as she knelt down and picked the textbook up before sitting next to her young ward. "What's up Panda?" She asked softly. Had she found out about the photographs of her mother? Anastasia had put off showing her feeling troubled by the newest information she had on the young girls new bloodline. However distant she was related to these people, it felt almost as though they had stolen something from Anna. Claimed another who she loved, taken away another rope of freedom.

"I can't do this! I just…I can't do this! I don't want too, you can't make me!" Anastasia sighed in frustration as she tried to think of ways of reasoning with the stubborn child. Getting up she went over to her bag and pried out her laptop out and brought it over to the bed as she loaded it on to the start up screen. Amanda rested her head on Anna's shoulder curiously staring at the screen as Anna opened a number of documents and windows before finding the one she wanted. It was different from the one she had shown Mikhail last night containing a baby Amanda with a tall brawny man with soft dark eyes next to her blond mother. Angus and Nina before the divorce when Amanda was merely a year old.

"That's your mum and dad. They're called Angus and Nina…and that's you. These are your parents, your family," Anastasia told her forcing the words out trying to wrestle with the green monster rearing its head. Amanda stared her face expressionless before her green eyes widened as she stared at the photograph of her family her hand reaching out to touch the screen as her mouth opened with silent words left unsaid, "Your mother was a lawyer, she lived in California in America and your Dad was a GP from Aberdeen. I can show you more if you want…but I need to talk to you seriously Amanda." Amanda looked up and nodded hugging her arms around Anastasia.

"T-They're dead aren't they?" She murmured in a dull voice.

"No…no I don't know…there's nothing saying they are but I need to speak to you about the birthmark on your stomach…the dragon. You're mother has it too and I was talking to Mr Dubrinsky last night. He thinks you might be related to the Carpathians distantly…you might be related to Colby and Lara…I'm giving you a choice." She didn't want to admit how much she wished that there was no choice. She needed Amanda; her only sane thing she could focus and love freely, the person she had loved unconditionally even if a month had only past. Amanda that needed her too, Amanda that she had dreamed a future with however unsure and precarious. "If you are…then they might want you to live with them…it's up to you though. If you want to stay with me then that's okay and you will but you have a choice."

"Y-You can't leave me! Anna…p-please," Amanda begged gripping on to Anastasia's blue material of her blouse as it dampened with freshly sprung tears. Anastasia smiled trying not to ruin the swoop of delight and triumph. Somebody wanted her, not somebody perfect, somebody want her for being her. Kissing Amanda's forehead she grinned.

"Then that is that," Anastasia said positively, "Looks like you and me stay cause I'm not letting anyone take you from me. Got that? I'm looking after you one way or another." Let them hear her. She didn't care; they were not going to take Amanda from her. Tickling the girls ribs teasingly she found a Harry Potter book under the pillow of the bed and passed it to the awaiting preteen, "Here. Consider this English, the more you read the more you learn." It was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Perhaps a little ambitious but reading was a foolproof way of improving a persons literacy and vocabulary. If Amanda could divulge the book piecing it together in the long run it would help.

Turning back to the laptop euphorically she eyed the photograph feeling slightly guilty. Suppose these people were out there somewhere? Nina Robinson's records had vanished…and she still needed to find more on Angus. Clicking on the Google Search Engine she lamely typed in Angus Eugene White awaiting the result. A wild shot, it wasn't likely she'd get an accurate result through the worlds biggest search engine. Sure enough a long list of pages appeared but one article caught her eye.

The White Murders

An eerie feeling clouded her mind, a premonition of what was to come, a warning that this would not go well. Swallowing them back she clicked on the link as the article appeared - an excerpt from the New York Times with a bold heading and large photograph displaying a large house surrounded by yellow police tape. Her eyes widened and she felt a silent scream fall on her lips as an explosion took place in her mind.

Last night at approximately 9 am Angus White broke into the house of his ex wife Nina Robinson and brutally murdered her with a kitchen knife. Angus having been released from the mental institution he had previously been attending in San Diego had been diagnosed with a Personality Paranoia disorder - a mental illness triggered by extreme obsession or paranoia over a specific person. In this White believed that his wife was going to murder him and his eight year old daughter Amanda.

After stabbing her thirty-six times he then turned the knife on himself and slit his wrists. The Police were called after the neighbours heard reports of screams and arrived fifty minutes later too late. An enquiry is being undertaken as to why Mr White was released from the institution after three years of attending the clinic. The Doctors at the St Mary's institute had reported an improvement in Mr Whites behaviour after his admission three years prior and declared him no longer a danger to himself or the public.

Now we can only wonder why this tragedy was allowed to come to pass and is it a warning that perhaps it is time for America to ensure new laws protecting those endanger.

Paranoia. Lack of Trust. Extreme Obsession.

She could see the future.

Oh Good God…

Apologies for the lack of update but over stories have preoccupied me and I had an admitted authors block with this one. I'm thinking of maybe re-drafting some chapters - I seem to wander away from the plot sometimes and get caught up in things. This chapter might have been a bit plot-heavy all of a sudden but I might go back over it later; As for Zacarias he will reappear soon but not just yet - lots more to happen yet but the reunion will be worth it.

Please R&R

Daydreamer!x