-CHAPTER 2-
Ms. Renard was outside of the Belmont Estate when Clara pulled her car outside of the gates. Clara typed in the security code hidden under a fake brick and opened the gates. When they got closer to the doors, Kurt stopped. "Ms. Renard?" he asked, wondering why she was there.
"Outside of school, please call me Lilith. I may be more formal than Mazier, but not that formal," she said, turning to Clara. "Mazier, Eric, and Alucard are waiting for you. They requested that," she turned her attention to Sora, "Sora is not to attend the meeting."
"Gee, I feel loved. What about you?" Sora asked, folding her arms over her chest. Lilith shrugged. "I'm choosing not to attend."
Clara nodded. "Okay... is it okay if Sora and Kurt wait with you?" Lilith nodded. "Thanks," Clara said with a smile, and hurried inside.
*
The three were in the estate's library, which was the only quiet room available around nighttime. Mazier was sitting behind a desk reading a book, Alucard was standing casually near a lamp, and Eric smiled when he saw Clara.
"Did you bring the locket?" Alucard asked. Clara reached into her pocket and pulled the golden locket engraved with a dragon out by its chain. She reached into her other pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.
"I got this letter asking about the locket just yesterday," Clara started, "As we all know, the locket supposedly contains Elizabeth Bartley, who was defeated in 1917 by Eric Lecarde, and, at least to my knowledge, no one but you three, Sora, and Lilith know that I have it."
"What does the letter say?" Mazier spoke up, not looking away from his book. "And who's it from?"
"It's anonymous, but whoever wrote it is requesting, no, almost demanding that I give them the locket by a certain date or they will come to me themselves and retrieve the locket by force. Gee, I love threats."
"And they fail to know that you have a Belmont, two vampires, and two Dunpeals who would jump to aid you," Eric said daringly. Clara giggled.
"Not to mention my powers have gotten stronger," she told him. Alucard quirked an eyebrow as he asked, "Have you been able to cast the Ice spell yet, milady Belnades?"
Clara's gaze fell to the floor. "Um... I'm halfway there... all I'm getting is... well, slush... not ice. I have every other Master Witch spell down, though! If I can master Ice, then I can move on to the more powerful spells that are only granted to sorcerers and sorceresses."
"Good luck," Mazier said blandly.
Eric chuckled and shifted in his seat. "Do you have any idea who the letter could be from, Clara?"
"My guess would be Jadin," Mazier interrupted, "After all, he was Bartley's lover. I don't have any idea as to why he'd know about you having the locket, though, and according to the online records, he hasn't been in Romania since her death. Rumors say that he actually fell with Castle Proserpina."
"You don't believe in rumors, Mazier," Clara stated matter-of-factly.
"I never said I thought he was dead. Anyone else you think about?"
Clara shook her head. "No one."
Eric leaned forward in his seat. "Do you want the Belmonts to watch over the locket for you, Clara?"
"That would be ill-advised, Eric," Alucard spoke up, "You must look ahead to see what consequences may confront you on your actions. If this estate were to hold the locket of which contains my cousin, and whoever wrote that letter does indeed approach Miss Belnades without the locket within her grasp or property, he or she may indeed inflict harm upon her. I would suggest leaving the locket with Miss Belnades. Sora is very capable of protecting her, and now that she is housing a foreign exchange student, I would advise you, Miss Belnades, to tell him of any and all ways in which to contact the Belmonts in case any... unnatural harm... comes to you."
Clara stayed quiet for a moment and turned to Eric. "Sorry, honey, but I'm gonna have to go with his idea."
Eric just shrugged.
Mazier closed his book and stood. "Well, Lilith and I have to go out hunting before it gets too late. Clara, Eric, you wanna come?"
"Not really, I have to get back. It's Kurt's first night here, so I have to make sure he'll be okay during the night," Clara said.
"Not this time, sorry," Eric told him.
*
Lilith and Sora were chatting when they came back out, and Sora quirked an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"I'll tell you when we're back home," Clara said. "Kurt, you ready to go?"
Kurt looked up when he was addressed, blowing a strand of his black hair out of his face. "Yeah."
Clara unlocked her car and looked back at Lilith. "Hey, Sora and I might go with you and Mazier tomorrow night."
"Whoa, what about tonight?" Sora asked, looking quickly to her friend.
"We can't, Sora. Besides, I have to talk to you."
Sora made a face and got into the front seat just before Kurt climbed into the back. Clara waved good-bye to everyone and got in the car, starting it up and driving away.
*
Clara was getting ready for bed when Sora came into her room, closing the door quietly behind her before walking over and sitting on Clara's bed. "Kurt's asleep; I checked on him before coming here."
"Thanks."
Sora narrowed her eyes, worried. She pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them. "Clara, what's going on?"
Clara lightly twirled the golden locket by its chain between her index finger and thumb. Before sitting down with Sora, she rubbed the wicks of some burnt out candles, which then lit up when she pulled her hand away. The little bit of light was all she really needed. She pulled out the letter and handed it to Sora.
Sora scanned over it quickly and handed it back to her. "I think it's a threat."
"I do, too."
"You know if you get another one you're gonna have to sleep in a different room each night?"
Clara nodded. "Any idea who could have sent this?"
"What did Eric and all of them say?"
"Mazier suggested Jadin, and that's as much as we got. I don't think it's him."
Sora watched as Clara folded the letter up and put it on a nightstand. She sighed lightly. "Did anyone from the Belnades clan know you have the locket? Your parents?"
Clara shook her head. "Why?"
"Never mind, that rules out my guess."
Clara stared at her blankly, cocking her head to one side. "Sora, it couldn't be him. He wouldn't hurt me."
"You never know, kiddo. I'm worried about you, y'know."
"Yeah..."
Sora squeezed Clara's shoulder. "Well, I'm gonna go to bed. You get some sleep, scream if anything bugs you."
"Yeah, okay."
Sora kissed Clara's forehead. "Good night."
"'Night."
Clara watched her leave, and briefly called after her. "Sweet dreams."
Sora just waved her hand in the doorway. Clara smiled, and took her glasses off, folding them up and setting them next to the folded up letter, and put the locket in the lockable drawer in her nightstand. She slipped under the blankets, her back facing the window, and snapped her fingers, the room becoming just a shade darker from the candles going out.
She didn't have school the next day, so she didn't have to worry about being so nervous to the point of not sleeping, but she was worried. She usually didn't take threats seriously, but if they knew she had the locket, it was worth worrying about.
What worried her most was who Sora thought it was... no, it couldn't be him. No member of her family would hurt her. Especially him.
=-=-=-=-=-=-
Sora was running, searching... all of the doors were locked; she couldn't get out. Lucian grabbed her as she tried to run a corner, and held her wrists together with one hand, attempting to force her pants off with the other. She screamed and writhed, kicking his shins in a sad attempt to break free. Lucian slammed her up against a wall, but she still kicked. She wouldn't let him take her; she would die before giving herself to him.
He cursed her in Latin before baring his long vampiric fangs and slamming them into the region between her neck and shoulder, biting deep and hard. It hurt like Hell. Sora couldn't scream. She felt his fangs scratch against bone.
Managing one bout of strength, she kneed Lucian in the gut, forcing him away from her. She ran for the nearest window, since all of the doors were locked. Lucian was still recoiling from the blow. Sora held one hand over the bite wound, distantly hearing Lucian unsheathe a short sword. She backed up a few steps, and charged, jumping through the window. The shattering glass scratched her all over, and she landed on the hard concrete twenty feet below—
*
Sora screamed, sitting bolt upright, her head jerking back and forth. Forgetting she could see in the dark, Sora fumbled for a lamp, clicking it on and flooding the room with light, looking around. She was paranoid about that... always having to turn on a light whenever she had a nightmare about her father. She didn't know why, she just felt that he was stalking her constantly.
She slowly turned off the lamp, laid back down, and curled into a fetal position, not bothering to pull the blankets over herself, despite the room being chilly and she hated the cold. She squeezed her eyes shut, keeping back tears. Sora refused to let her fears overtake her, but she could never face her father. She was more afraid of him than anything in the world.
The room was too quiet for the moment. Whenever Sora was upset or scared, she couldn't stand the room being quiet unless she wasn't alone. She was afraid that whatever she was afraid of would really happen. It sounded childish, yes, but given her life and childhood, anyone would be the same way. She sat up, opening her nightstand drawer and pulling out her discman which was loaded with an Evanescence CD, and headphones. She turned it on, and reached back into the drawer, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.
Getting halfway through the cigarette, and into the fourth track of the CD, something twitched in Sora's senses. She hit the stop button and waited. There was someone nearby, no... they were a good distance away, but she could feel them.
A giant aura of magic? It wasn't Clara, but it felt very similar to Clara's magic. Alucard was a strong magic user, maybe he was out with Lilith and Mazier? No... his magic was dark and felt nothing like this. This magic was dark as well, but also light.
After awhile, it went away. Sora shuddered, and drew in another breath of the cigarette. Maybe it was the demon Mazier and Lilith were hunting? Finishing the cigarette, she decided she wouldn't bring it up. Maybe Clara was just having a nightmare or something...
...But that wouldn't explain why the magic felt so distant yet powerful.
Ms. Renard was outside of the Belmont Estate when Clara pulled her car outside of the gates. Clara typed in the security code hidden under a fake brick and opened the gates. When they got closer to the doors, Kurt stopped. "Ms. Renard?" he asked, wondering why she was there.
"Outside of school, please call me Lilith. I may be more formal than Mazier, but not that formal," she said, turning to Clara. "Mazier, Eric, and Alucard are waiting for you. They requested that," she turned her attention to Sora, "Sora is not to attend the meeting."
"Gee, I feel loved. What about you?" Sora asked, folding her arms over her chest. Lilith shrugged. "I'm choosing not to attend."
Clara nodded. "Okay... is it okay if Sora and Kurt wait with you?" Lilith nodded. "Thanks," Clara said with a smile, and hurried inside.
*
The three were in the estate's library, which was the only quiet room available around nighttime. Mazier was sitting behind a desk reading a book, Alucard was standing casually near a lamp, and Eric smiled when he saw Clara.
"Did you bring the locket?" Alucard asked. Clara reached into her pocket and pulled the golden locket engraved with a dragon out by its chain. She reached into her other pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.
"I got this letter asking about the locket just yesterday," Clara started, "As we all know, the locket supposedly contains Elizabeth Bartley, who was defeated in 1917 by Eric Lecarde, and, at least to my knowledge, no one but you three, Sora, and Lilith know that I have it."
"What does the letter say?" Mazier spoke up, not looking away from his book. "And who's it from?"
"It's anonymous, but whoever wrote it is requesting, no, almost demanding that I give them the locket by a certain date or they will come to me themselves and retrieve the locket by force. Gee, I love threats."
"And they fail to know that you have a Belmont, two vampires, and two Dunpeals who would jump to aid you," Eric said daringly. Clara giggled.
"Not to mention my powers have gotten stronger," she told him. Alucard quirked an eyebrow as he asked, "Have you been able to cast the Ice spell yet, milady Belnades?"
Clara's gaze fell to the floor. "Um... I'm halfway there... all I'm getting is... well, slush... not ice. I have every other Master Witch spell down, though! If I can master Ice, then I can move on to the more powerful spells that are only granted to sorcerers and sorceresses."
"Good luck," Mazier said blandly.
Eric chuckled and shifted in his seat. "Do you have any idea who the letter could be from, Clara?"
"My guess would be Jadin," Mazier interrupted, "After all, he was Bartley's lover. I don't have any idea as to why he'd know about you having the locket, though, and according to the online records, he hasn't been in Romania since her death. Rumors say that he actually fell with Castle Proserpina."
"You don't believe in rumors, Mazier," Clara stated matter-of-factly.
"I never said I thought he was dead. Anyone else you think about?"
Clara shook her head. "No one."
Eric leaned forward in his seat. "Do you want the Belmonts to watch over the locket for you, Clara?"
"That would be ill-advised, Eric," Alucard spoke up, "You must look ahead to see what consequences may confront you on your actions. If this estate were to hold the locket of which contains my cousin, and whoever wrote that letter does indeed approach Miss Belnades without the locket within her grasp or property, he or she may indeed inflict harm upon her. I would suggest leaving the locket with Miss Belnades. Sora is very capable of protecting her, and now that she is housing a foreign exchange student, I would advise you, Miss Belnades, to tell him of any and all ways in which to contact the Belmonts in case any... unnatural harm... comes to you."
Clara stayed quiet for a moment and turned to Eric. "Sorry, honey, but I'm gonna have to go with his idea."
Eric just shrugged.
Mazier closed his book and stood. "Well, Lilith and I have to go out hunting before it gets too late. Clara, Eric, you wanna come?"
"Not really, I have to get back. It's Kurt's first night here, so I have to make sure he'll be okay during the night," Clara said.
"Not this time, sorry," Eric told him.
*
Lilith and Sora were chatting when they came back out, and Sora quirked an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"I'll tell you when we're back home," Clara said. "Kurt, you ready to go?"
Kurt looked up when he was addressed, blowing a strand of his black hair out of his face. "Yeah."
Clara unlocked her car and looked back at Lilith. "Hey, Sora and I might go with you and Mazier tomorrow night."
"Whoa, what about tonight?" Sora asked, looking quickly to her friend.
"We can't, Sora. Besides, I have to talk to you."
Sora made a face and got into the front seat just before Kurt climbed into the back. Clara waved good-bye to everyone and got in the car, starting it up and driving away.
*
Clara was getting ready for bed when Sora came into her room, closing the door quietly behind her before walking over and sitting on Clara's bed. "Kurt's asleep; I checked on him before coming here."
"Thanks."
Sora narrowed her eyes, worried. She pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them. "Clara, what's going on?"
Clara lightly twirled the golden locket by its chain between her index finger and thumb. Before sitting down with Sora, she rubbed the wicks of some burnt out candles, which then lit up when she pulled her hand away. The little bit of light was all she really needed. She pulled out the letter and handed it to Sora.
Sora scanned over it quickly and handed it back to her. "I think it's a threat."
"I do, too."
"You know if you get another one you're gonna have to sleep in a different room each night?"
Clara nodded. "Any idea who could have sent this?"
"What did Eric and all of them say?"
"Mazier suggested Jadin, and that's as much as we got. I don't think it's him."
Sora watched as Clara folded the letter up and put it on a nightstand. She sighed lightly. "Did anyone from the Belnades clan know you have the locket? Your parents?"
Clara shook her head. "Why?"
"Never mind, that rules out my guess."
Clara stared at her blankly, cocking her head to one side. "Sora, it couldn't be him. He wouldn't hurt me."
"You never know, kiddo. I'm worried about you, y'know."
"Yeah..."
Sora squeezed Clara's shoulder. "Well, I'm gonna go to bed. You get some sleep, scream if anything bugs you."
"Yeah, okay."
Sora kissed Clara's forehead. "Good night."
"'Night."
Clara watched her leave, and briefly called after her. "Sweet dreams."
Sora just waved her hand in the doorway. Clara smiled, and took her glasses off, folding them up and setting them next to the folded up letter, and put the locket in the lockable drawer in her nightstand. She slipped under the blankets, her back facing the window, and snapped her fingers, the room becoming just a shade darker from the candles going out.
She didn't have school the next day, so she didn't have to worry about being so nervous to the point of not sleeping, but she was worried. She usually didn't take threats seriously, but if they knew she had the locket, it was worth worrying about.
What worried her most was who Sora thought it was... no, it couldn't be him. No member of her family would hurt her. Especially him.
=-=-=-=-=-=-
Sora was running, searching... all of the doors were locked; she couldn't get out. Lucian grabbed her as she tried to run a corner, and held her wrists together with one hand, attempting to force her pants off with the other. She screamed and writhed, kicking his shins in a sad attempt to break free. Lucian slammed her up against a wall, but she still kicked. She wouldn't let him take her; she would die before giving herself to him.
He cursed her in Latin before baring his long vampiric fangs and slamming them into the region between her neck and shoulder, biting deep and hard. It hurt like Hell. Sora couldn't scream. She felt his fangs scratch against bone.
Managing one bout of strength, she kneed Lucian in the gut, forcing him away from her. She ran for the nearest window, since all of the doors were locked. Lucian was still recoiling from the blow. Sora held one hand over the bite wound, distantly hearing Lucian unsheathe a short sword. She backed up a few steps, and charged, jumping through the window. The shattering glass scratched her all over, and she landed on the hard concrete twenty feet below—
*
Sora screamed, sitting bolt upright, her head jerking back and forth. Forgetting she could see in the dark, Sora fumbled for a lamp, clicking it on and flooding the room with light, looking around. She was paranoid about that... always having to turn on a light whenever she had a nightmare about her father. She didn't know why, she just felt that he was stalking her constantly.
She slowly turned off the lamp, laid back down, and curled into a fetal position, not bothering to pull the blankets over herself, despite the room being chilly and she hated the cold. She squeezed her eyes shut, keeping back tears. Sora refused to let her fears overtake her, but she could never face her father. She was more afraid of him than anything in the world.
The room was too quiet for the moment. Whenever Sora was upset or scared, she couldn't stand the room being quiet unless she wasn't alone. She was afraid that whatever she was afraid of would really happen. It sounded childish, yes, but given her life and childhood, anyone would be the same way. She sat up, opening her nightstand drawer and pulling out her discman which was loaded with an Evanescence CD, and headphones. She turned it on, and reached back into the drawer, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.
Getting halfway through the cigarette, and into the fourth track of the CD, something twitched in Sora's senses. She hit the stop button and waited. There was someone nearby, no... they were a good distance away, but she could feel them.
A giant aura of magic? It wasn't Clara, but it felt very similar to Clara's magic. Alucard was a strong magic user, maybe he was out with Lilith and Mazier? No... his magic was dark and felt nothing like this. This magic was dark as well, but also light.
After awhile, it went away. Sora shuddered, and drew in another breath of the cigarette. Maybe it was the demon Mazier and Lilith were hunting? Finishing the cigarette, she decided she wouldn't bring it up. Maybe Clara was just having a nightmare or something...
...But that wouldn't explain why the magic felt so distant yet powerful.