Part 17
The next morning Juliana was tired and irritable. Flashes of the past had been haunting her drams all night, plaguing her, reminding her of the people she had hurt and hunted. Now she knew their fear and terror, how could she have ever done this to anyone?
It...it *was* her fault, no matter how hard she tried to convince herself otherwise, *she* had hunted and killed...and enjoyed it. She was just as bad as...whoever the woman in the visions actually was. She was a key figure in the whole thing, Juliana was sure of it.
She didn't talk to anyone that morning, and remained silent during all her classes. She had seen Rhea, or Orchid, or Aries at various points, but talking to them all separately was no good. She needed to get them all together.
When she went into the cafeteria at lunch Paige, Jackson and Charlene were waiting for her. Juliana was surprised. "You said you had an idea about what was going on," Charlene said.
Juliana sighed. She had wanted to talk to Rhea and her friends alone. Paige and Jackson were *human*. Humans weren't supposed to know about the Night World. The law said death to those who found out - and to those who told. She didn't know how serious about the law these Night People were.
She noticed Aurora and Orchid eyeing her choice of company with distaste. They walked over, bright smiles on their inhumanly beautiful faces. "Hi, want to eat with us?" Aurora asked.
Juliana didn't smile back. "Get the others. We need to talk. *All* of us." Orchid eyed her suspiciously. "Just get them. We'll need an empty classroom. Somewhere we can talk without being overheard."
Juliana gazed briefly around the cafeteria. She wondered if the normal students had already figured out something odd was going on. With the sudden and mysterious death of a popular jock, the arrival of an odd new girl, they were bound to have noticed something. The last thing Juliana wanted was word of the Night World spreading.
"What's all this about? How come *they're* here?" Aries demanded.
The group left the cafeteria. People got out of the way. No one said anything when they headed inside and English classroom and shut the door. "We won't be disturbed, even if the bells go," Rhea said.
"Now is someone going to explain what the hell is going on?" Brandon said, sitting on a desk rather than in a chair.
"This was *her* idea," Paige said, glaring at Juliana.
Juliana explained what was going on. She didn't know if these people could help, but had convinced herself they could at least do something, although what, she wasn't quite sure.
"So you're *both* Night People?" Aries said, looking from Juliana to Charlene.
Juliana nodded.
Aries sighed. "Serefina isn't going to be pleased about this."
That name set of warning bells in Juliana's mind. The caller had called her Serefina. She had thought it was just a crank call. Charlene looked equally annoyed. "That's what he called me! That...*Hunter*!" She shuddered.
"*Who* is Serefina?" Juliana demanded.
Silence struck the group. They were all afraid. Too afraid to even talk about whoever this Serefina person was. They were all glancing at Paige and Jackson. "*They* can't know, it's against the law," Brandon said.
Juliana's eyes rolled. "Get over it."
Paige smiled unpleasantly. "So if you're that bothered, kill us."
"*Don't* tempt us," Aurora snapped, her eyes flashing dangerously.
"I don't *want* to be killed!" Jackson protested.
Juliana looked over to Rhea for some sort of sense. Rhea seemed to be the leader of the group and the most mature. Rhea sighed heavily. "Nobody's going to kill anybody."
They began to discuss various options. Juliana found her attention drifting. She'd hoped things would turn out here. She still wasn't sure whether she trusted anyone yet. Serefina...a vampire goddess, ancient, powerful, the woman who had been haunting her dreams.
At least if the Hunter kept calling her and Charlene by the name of Serefina...Then Serefina was the last part of their triplet. The one who had brought them into the darkness of the Night World.
It was *her* the Hunter was after. Not Juliana. Not Charlene. Serefina was the one who had done something terrible to the Hunter.
The only choice she had if she wanted to find out, and what they were going to do about it, was stick around for the ride.
* * *
It wasn't fair. So far everything had always gone her way, she had always gotten what she wanted. The only mishap, perhaps, as far as Serefina could see was when her sisters had abandoned her two thousand years ago.
The minute she'd discovered the Night World, or World of the Night, as it had been known back then, she had known this was the place for her. It hadn't taken much to seduce the idiot vampire who had changed her. So much for following so-called unbreakable Night World laws.
She had decided if she was going to get the benefits of being a Night Person, then the two people whom were more important to her than anything in the world should enjoy those benefits as well.
Who else but her beloved triplet sisters? Deadly and beautiful. Powerful and perfect. Feared yet worshiped. What more could anyone want?
So at first instead of the traditional three exchanges of blood Serefina had made the change more species, into a proper ritual to the goddess Trivia, of the moon and dark magic, the Roman equivalent of the Greek's Hecate.
Everything had gone according to plan, although Julia and Charlotte had refused to cooperate when they had finally realised what they were. Juliana and Charlene, they were calling themselves now, and both were here in, her town. Juliana was already mixing with *her* Night People, while Charlene was being pathetic and hanging out with those strange vermin friends of hers.
And as for her own Night People...they weren't like regular vampires and 'shifters. They were new and different. She was the one who had trained them, taught them how to use their powers. Apart from djin Brandon. He was something else. Not a Night Person. At first having a new toy to play with had been fun.
Now Brandon was more of a liability than everyone else. His Power was spinning out of control. Particularly with incidents like last night at the burger bar. If that continued to happen then people would catch on in no time. If they did, Brandon would probably make a fortune out of it, she thought sourly.
Shame he was just too cute to kill.
Serefina flitted about the dark house, empty now her Night People were at their human school, not sure what to do with herself. She was restless and too keyed up to sleep, though unsure why.
It was most annoying that she didn't know, and couldn't figure it out. Her Night People weren't being much help lately. Maybe she should go find some new ones. She'd stick around for a while longer, if things didn't get better, then it was time for her to move on.
Maybe she should try a big European city. She missed Rome. Maybe it was time to go home.
It all depended on how things worked out here.
* * *
The next morning Juliana was tired and irritable. Flashes of the past had been haunting her drams all night, plaguing her, reminding her of the people she had hurt and hunted. Now she knew their fear and terror, how could she have ever done this to anyone?
It...it *was* her fault, no matter how hard she tried to convince herself otherwise, *she* had hunted and killed...and enjoyed it. She was just as bad as...whoever the woman in the visions actually was. She was a key figure in the whole thing, Juliana was sure of it.
She didn't talk to anyone that morning, and remained silent during all her classes. She had seen Rhea, or Orchid, or Aries at various points, but talking to them all separately was no good. She needed to get them all together.
When she went into the cafeteria at lunch Paige, Jackson and Charlene were waiting for her. Juliana was surprised. "You said you had an idea about what was going on," Charlene said.
Juliana sighed. She had wanted to talk to Rhea and her friends alone. Paige and Jackson were *human*. Humans weren't supposed to know about the Night World. The law said death to those who found out - and to those who told. She didn't know how serious about the law these Night People were.
She noticed Aurora and Orchid eyeing her choice of company with distaste. They walked over, bright smiles on their inhumanly beautiful faces. "Hi, want to eat with us?" Aurora asked.
Juliana didn't smile back. "Get the others. We need to talk. *All* of us." Orchid eyed her suspiciously. "Just get them. We'll need an empty classroom. Somewhere we can talk without being overheard."
Juliana gazed briefly around the cafeteria. She wondered if the normal students had already figured out something odd was going on. With the sudden and mysterious death of a popular jock, the arrival of an odd new girl, they were bound to have noticed something. The last thing Juliana wanted was word of the Night World spreading.
"What's all this about? How come *they're* here?" Aries demanded.
The group left the cafeteria. People got out of the way. No one said anything when they headed inside and English classroom and shut the door. "We won't be disturbed, even if the bells go," Rhea said.
"Now is someone going to explain what the hell is going on?" Brandon said, sitting on a desk rather than in a chair.
"This was *her* idea," Paige said, glaring at Juliana.
Juliana explained what was going on. She didn't know if these people could help, but had convinced herself they could at least do something, although what, she wasn't quite sure.
"So you're *both* Night People?" Aries said, looking from Juliana to Charlene.
Juliana nodded.
Aries sighed. "Serefina isn't going to be pleased about this."
That name set of warning bells in Juliana's mind. The caller had called her Serefina. She had thought it was just a crank call. Charlene looked equally annoyed. "That's what he called me! That...*Hunter*!" She shuddered.
"*Who* is Serefina?" Juliana demanded.
Silence struck the group. They were all afraid. Too afraid to even talk about whoever this Serefina person was. They were all glancing at Paige and Jackson. "*They* can't know, it's against the law," Brandon said.
Juliana's eyes rolled. "Get over it."
Paige smiled unpleasantly. "So if you're that bothered, kill us."
"*Don't* tempt us," Aurora snapped, her eyes flashing dangerously.
"I don't *want* to be killed!" Jackson protested.
Juliana looked over to Rhea for some sort of sense. Rhea seemed to be the leader of the group and the most mature. Rhea sighed heavily. "Nobody's going to kill anybody."
They began to discuss various options. Juliana found her attention drifting. She'd hoped things would turn out here. She still wasn't sure whether she trusted anyone yet. Serefina...a vampire goddess, ancient, powerful, the woman who had been haunting her dreams.
At least if the Hunter kept calling her and Charlene by the name of Serefina...Then Serefina was the last part of their triplet. The one who had brought them into the darkness of the Night World.
It was *her* the Hunter was after. Not Juliana. Not Charlene. Serefina was the one who had done something terrible to the Hunter.
The only choice she had if she wanted to find out, and what they were going to do about it, was stick around for the ride.
* * *
It wasn't fair. So far everything had always gone her way, she had always gotten what she wanted. The only mishap, perhaps, as far as Serefina could see was when her sisters had abandoned her two thousand years ago.
The minute she'd discovered the Night World, or World of the Night, as it had been known back then, she had known this was the place for her. It hadn't taken much to seduce the idiot vampire who had changed her. So much for following so-called unbreakable Night World laws.
She had decided if she was going to get the benefits of being a Night Person, then the two people whom were more important to her than anything in the world should enjoy those benefits as well.
Who else but her beloved triplet sisters? Deadly and beautiful. Powerful and perfect. Feared yet worshiped. What more could anyone want?
So at first instead of the traditional three exchanges of blood Serefina had made the change more species, into a proper ritual to the goddess Trivia, of the moon and dark magic, the Roman equivalent of the Greek's Hecate.
Everything had gone according to plan, although Julia and Charlotte had refused to cooperate when they had finally realised what they were. Juliana and Charlene, they were calling themselves now, and both were here in, her town. Juliana was already mixing with *her* Night People, while Charlene was being pathetic and hanging out with those strange vermin friends of hers.
And as for her own Night People...they weren't like regular vampires and 'shifters. They were new and different. She was the one who had trained them, taught them how to use their powers. Apart from djin Brandon. He was something else. Not a Night Person. At first having a new toy to play with had been fun.
Now Brandon was more of a liability than everyone else. His Power was spinning out of control. Particularly with incidents like last night at the burger bar. If that continued to happen then people would catch on in no time. If they did, Brandon would probably make a fortune out of it, she thought sourly.
Shame he was just too cute to kill.
Serefina flitted about the dark house, empty now her Night People were at their human school, not sure what to do with herself. She was restless and too keyed up to sleep, though unsure why.
It was most annoying that she didn't know, and couldn't figure it out. Her Night People weren't being much help lately. Maybe she should go find some new ones. She'd stick around for a while longer, if things didn't get better, then it was time for her to move on.
Maybe she should try a big European city. She missed Rome. Maybe it was time to go home.
It all depended on how things worked out here.
* * *