Notes: Thank you for all your comments and nice words, they mean a lot to me! I'm sorry for the chapter being shorter and less detailed as usual, I'm still struggling with my left eye. I promise I'll try to make it up to you in the next chapter, the big one, where our group finally faces Miranda in an emotional battle. Stay tuned!
Eastern Europe, Castle Dimitrescu - Present Days
Once upon a time there was a lonely girl who lived a boring and ordinary life. She used to live in a small and old house in a village that didn't even exist, according to most of the maps. Her daily routine included waking up very early in the morning, do some combat training in the woods, showering and then going to the pub, where she worked serving tables until the night. She lived like that for at least a couple of years, until her nineteenth birthday...
Right now she was driving her dying truck through the dirty roads of that doomed village, headed to the castle where people were rumored to be taken to have their blood drained and their flesh consumed by the mistress and her daughters. Some would even risk to say the scarecrows around the castle's lands were made of the remains of the men who dared to cross that property.
But who cares about them right now?
Before that, our hero started a riot in the village she lived, convincing all the villagers to not leave their houses when the evacuation warning came. None of them would want to have their houses bombed and trust some shady agency to grant them a new life, in a new country. Especially after she discovered in her brother's laptop they'd all be taken to their facility, where they were going to live controlled, monitored and studied. They'd still become experiments, but in another hands.
"Please... please, don't die..." I begged, to my truck mostly. But also to my girlfriend, who should be in serious danger right now. "I need to make it to that fucking castle."
I punched hard the truck's panel, what made the radio turn on for some reason and start playing an old Country tape Adrian had stuck on the player for ages.
"He stopped loving her today
They placed a wreath upon his door
And soon they'll carry him away
He stopped loving her today."
Such a motivational soundtrack for that dramatic moment. Thank you, dad.
Speaking of Adrian, I remembered his small secret weapon storage in the basement of our house, where my twin brother was locked. Unconscious, after I hit him hard on the head with a rifle. He'd have to forgive me eventually. I'm sure he'd have done the same for me, if I was doing something so stupid as he was.
I finally crossed the gates, the castle was fully dark, which meant Miranda had already been there for her assassination attempt. I had to stop her, but how? How could I kill a creature that made herself immune to almost everything in the world?
I took some of Adrian's weapons with me, as well as a bottle of vodka. With a flashlight, I lighted the way into the main hall. The first thing I noticed, the windows were all shattered.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" The air in the mountains would get quite cold at night, even during Summer, which could seriously harm Bela and her sisters.
Second thing I noticed, the strong smell of blood and rotting flesh. Every room I walked into, I could find signals a murder happened. Considering the absolute silence in the castle, it was safe to assume Mrs. Volkov hadn't been the only servant to be killed. Mother Miranda and Lady Dimitrescu had killed them all.
I had to find Bela. She wasn't in her bedroom, or even in that creepy room with the blood pool in the center. She wasn't in the library either. I swallowed hard, remembering my nightmare. Among all the crazy things running through my mind in that moment, I was starting to wonder if she had turned into ashes, like vampires usually did when they died in movies or TV shows. Or did that work only when they were weak to the sunlight?
That was when I heard some coughing coming from Lady Dimitrescu's chambers. I kicked the door opened as fast as I could. Bela and Daniela were embraced together in front of the fireplace, trying to keep themselves warm.
"Aleena," Bela stood up with some difficult. The cold was already starting to affect her. Her skin was paler than usual and she seemed to be having trouble to breath. I noticed she was wearing my jacket. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to save you," I said, already grabbing her by the wrist. "There's no time to explain, but I need you and your sisters to enter my truck right now."
"But why?" Daniela wanted to know. "Isn't Miranda after you?"
"She is. But there's also a fucking agency planning to explode the village, especially the Lords' houses."
"Damn it," Bela lamented. "I can't even die in peace."
"You can't, because you're not dying at all. To my truck now. There's more winter clothes and blankets in the seat, enough for us to drive to my house, where I can keep you guys warm and safe."
The two sisters quickly agreed. They wore a heavy winter coat as they started to walk away from the room, but I noticed Cassandra wasn't with them. I found the brunette sister on her mother's bed, lying by Alcina's side. The Countess seemed to be in a very bad shape, almost unconscious and having hallucinations about her past in that castle.
"Cassandra, let's go," I ordered. "We don't have much time."
"I'm not abandoning her, Aleena," I noticed she had tears in her eyes. "S-She... She's dying!"
"But... is she weak to the cold too?"
"No, it has to do with Miranda's ritual. The goblet she took, it was used when my mother was mutated. It had a link to Miranda's source of power. Now she's absorbing all its strength for the ritual, it's slowly killing the Lords."
So Heiseinberg was right. And now everything made sense. Alcina's goblet, Donna's scissor... I could risk saying two other items were also part of the ritual, and they were taken from both Heisenberg and Moreau.
"If you stay, you're going to die," I insisted. "Come with me and we can come up with a plan to stop the ritual and restore your mother's health."
"It's too late!" I saw a tear rolling down her cheek. From all of her sisters, I never thought I'd see Cassandra crying. "We can't stop her. Nobody can! Mother was the only person who could protect us. And how are we even supposed to live with her gone? We can't barely leave this place."
I saw in her eyes the same insecurities I had when I lost my parents. I was scared and alone. I had no money and nowhere to go. But I had people I knew I could rely on, my brother and my friends.
"Your sisters need you. You're Daniela's role model, Bela's best friend and also the best hunter I've ever seen. You can survive out there, Cassandra. We are strong enough to defeat Miranda, as long as we fight together. Please, come with me."
I extended her my hand. She gave her mother one last look before taking it.
"That's what she'd tell me to do," she squeezed Alcina's hand one last time. "I'll come back, mother. And I'll save you."
With the three Dimitrescu sisters safe inside my truck, I drove back to the village. Now, we needed a plan to stop not only Miranda, but the agency too.
Eastern Europe, Aleena's House - Present Days
This time, Bela had no control over the situation. Everything was going completely opposite to her plans. In her mind, Aleena would go away. She'd be fine. She'd be safe. She'd find happiness someday. But now she was stuck in that place again, running away from Miranda and leading a rebellion with the other villagers, who were about to have their houses exploded by an agency who assumed all of them were some kind of bio-weapons.
And there was Lady Dimitrescu. Miranda's ritual was slowly draining all the forces who turned her into who she was. She was becoming human again, frail and sick. The removal of those forces were accelerating the effects of her blood disease. It was possible she'd die, anytime soon.
"I want you to have the dagger, Bela," she told when they were alone, while the eldest Dimitrescu daughter sat by her side on the bed. "If anyone can destroy Miranda, it's you. You're the smartest and strongest of your sisters. How do you think I even picked your name?"
Bela's name was related to bravery and character. Although it wasn't the name she was born with, the one she was given by her real mom, it didn't mean Alcina didn't have any affection in her heart when she picked it. A hint of a smile appeared on the corners of Lady Dimitrescu's mouth. Bela couldn't help but smiling too. At the same time she was angry, truly angry, at the woman in front of her, she also felt some kind of pity. She didn't deserve to have such a cruel fate - to die because of the betrayal of the woman she adored as a mother, a role model, a goddess.
"And it's done," Aleena announced as she finished lighting up the fireplace and turning on the heater. "It's not so powerful as the castle's, but it'll help you to recover."
"This is bad..." Cassandra walked around the house, examining every detail and looking so unpleased as the day Daniela accidentally locked her in a dungeon with the remains of a man. "Very bad. My bathroom is larger than this house. Imagine if we're trapped here forever? We can't barely move without bumping into each other!"
"Stop being so ungrateful. Right now, you'd be freezing in your fancy big room."
"If the agency actually blows up the village, this place will be the first thing to vanish. The castle is a fortress, we'd be safe there."
"Not if you were in your popsicle form!"
Bela held her middle sister, preventing her from strangling her girlfriend. They had been bickering from the moment they entered the truck.
"Aleena is right," she told. "Besides, this is temporary. We'll find the bomb and disable it. Then, we'll kill Miranda."
"Because this will be a piece of cake, right, Bela?" Cassandra argued. "Let's kill a woman who calls herself a Black God. It'll be so easy as luring men into our sickles."
"It won't be simple, but..."
"IT WORKS!" Daniela's voice on the top of the stairs interrupted their argument, having all the three young woman to turn their attention to her. "My cell phone. I have signal and internet too."
"Oh, for fuck's sake..." Cassandra huffed and stomped away to another corner of the house, where she could be alone and deal with her rage without committing homicide.
Bela was alone in the living room with Aleena. It was different from all the other previous times they had been together by themselves. There was a strange tension in the air, a discomfort.
"So..." Aleena spoke first. Between the two of them, she was the one with more talent to break the ice. "Things didn't go as planned, huh? You thought you'd be finally free from me and go back to your old habits of dragging servants to your bed. I mean, at least they have some experience."
"Do you think that's what I really wanted, Aleena? Is that how you still see me, even after everything we went through? After I told you how I feel?"
"That's how you sounded when you sent me away."
From the pocket of her jacket, Bela took a small wooden box. She opened it, carefully retrieving the content: the Dagger Of Death's Flower.
"Why do you think I wanted this so badly?" She asked, without expecting a response. Her golden yellow eyes reflected on the weapon's blade, as she considered what she was about to say. "To kill Miranda, of course. But then, it's the only weapon known for being able to kill any monsters and demons. I could use it to finally end my immortality too."
"Bela, don't say that..." Aleena approached and touched the hand she was holding the dagger so firmly. "I'm so sorry. Oh my god, it was so selfish of me to assume you'd be okay without me."
"Being dead seemed less painful than imagining a life without you. Or picturing the day I'd be able to leave the castle, in a decade or so, and I'd meet you in the village with your wife and children."
The girl slowly took the dagger from her hands, placing it back inside the box. Then, she wrapped her arms around Bela's neck as tight as she could.
"I was so scared when I arrived in the castle and I saw the windows broken," Bela felt as some hot tears start to wet her shoulder. "I thought you were dead, as in my nightmare."
"I know, love," she touched the girl's back, feeling her unsteady breathing rhythm as she continued to cry. "I was also desperate when my mother told me you were dead. I was so sad it hurt physically. The world seemed to stop around me and I just wanted to die too."
"I love you. Let me try to find a way for us to be together. To have that life we were planning."
"Only if you promise to live. That you won't let Miranda hurt you again."
"Of course," Aleena brushed her lips on Bela's, inviting her for a kiss. She accepted it, pulling her closer by the waist and kissing her hungrily.
Her sweet little Aleena was becoming more cheeky on her tricks. She pushed Bela on the couch, straddling as she continued to move her tongue against hers seductively.
"We're going to kill the bitch. And I'll take you on a proper date in California," Bela grinned, taking the girl's lower lip between her teeth playfully. Her hand went through the fabric of Aleena's shirt, slowly lifting it up and exposing the skin of her stomach.
"Then, you're going to fuck me on the beach. Right under the stars."
Though the blonde blushed a little bit, she absolutely loved the idea.
"Aren't you a little funny thing?"
Still grinning, she lowered herself, applying some small bites on Aleena's belly. The girl started to laugh and moan at the same time and damn, she loved those sounds.
"Bela, Daniela! I finally found the fun part of the house," Cassandra's loud voice interrupted their moment. "There's booze, weapons and... oh my god, there's even dinner hidden here in the storage."
"Oh no!" Aleena quickly stood up, rushing to the basement. "Auryk! I forgot about him."
Eastern Europe, Aleena's Kitchen - Present Days
We had been sitting around the table for at least 10 minutes in complete silence, exchanging glances and wondering who'd be the first one with enough courage to speak.
All the five of us.
"Okay..." Auryk was the one to exhale deeply and break the silence. "Who's going to tell me what crazy shit is happening here?"
While I tried to find the best explanation to give him, Cassandra already anticipated herself.
"Who's given the manthing the right to speak?" She argued.
"I have three vampires sitting on my kitchen and I have the right to know what's going on."
"The only right men have is to keep their mouth shut."
"And their pants down," Daniela let out a small, silly laugh.
"Enough!" I slammed my first on the table. "Cassandra, that's my brother, Auryk. And in case you don't remember, this is his house too, so he's allowed to speak and move freely. Most of the time, at least."
"Aleena!"
"Auryk, I brought the girls home after Miranda attacked the castle and left them to die. Lady Dimitrescu is already in a bad shape, Miranda has been draining all her forces to prepare for the ritual."
"And that was exactly the Alliance's intention!" My brother angered. "You ruined everything! With the Lords weakened and Miranda vulnerable during the ritual, all the Alliance had to do was to blow up this place in pieces. They'd kill these freaks for once!"
"Freak?!" Cassandra stood up, raising her dagger. "I'll show you what the freak can do. And guess what? It involves torture and screams."
"Can I use him a bit before we kill him?" Daniela asked, while she drowned herself in a sack of potato chips and drank soda. According to the red haired sister, my kitchen was the most amazing place she had ever been before. "Aleena never told us he was so handsome."
"No!" I yelled screamed. "We need to find a plan to disable the bomb and then kill Miranda. No one is going to die or have sex here."
"No one, except for you and Bela. Right?" The brunette sister dropped the information I wasn't ready to deliver my brother yet. I was going to wait until we were alone, calm and in private. She left the room, locking herself in the basement.
Auryk stared at me in manner he had never done before. Upon my brother's eyes, I was always his perfect little sister. He always tried to shelter me from people and their nasty comments. He always tried to prevent me from having my heart broken. And now he just discovered I was sleeping with the creature my father always warned us about.
"I... I'll be in the living room," Daniela noticed the heavy tension the air. "I want to see more episodes of that show."
In the end, it was me, my twin brother and Bela. None of us dared to say a word, afraid of the reaction it could cause.
"Auryk..." I said. "It's not the way you think. We are..."
"Aleena, no," he stood up, pushing the chair away. "Just leave me alone for a moment, okay? I need to think."
I squeezed Bela's hand tightly, to assure her we'd be okay. I knew it was supposed to happen eventually and I also knew I wouldn't give her up. For anyone.
Eastern Europe, Auryk's Bedroom - Present Days
After our father died, multiple times I caught girls sneaking out from my brother's bedroom in the morning. The house wasn't big either. During the night, I had to sleep with my earphones on if I wanted to avoid the noises. Though I felt uncomfortable, I never complained. He was living his life. Enjoying it at its best. Differently from him, I was locked inside my bubble. Not only because I was terrible flirting, but mostly because I feared relationships and intimacy.
Until I met the right person.
I knocked, even if I knew the door wasn't locked. Auryk didn't answer. I opened the door and entered anyways. He was sat on his bed, holding an ice package against his forehead, in the spot where I hit him earlier.
"Ouch!" I looked down, embarrassed. "I'm sorry about that. The whole bomb thing, it freaked me out."
I let out a small, nervous laugh. He barely raised his eyes to look back at me. It took him a while to respond..
"It wasn't the bomb thing that freaked you out," his voice came out completely emotionless, as he kept staring at nothing. "Now I finally understand your behavior. I should've known. I should've known you don't simply get killed once you enter that castle. You get manipulated, toyed with... seduced. Then, once they get bored, they'll finally get rid of you."
"Auryk, I know what it seems but let me explain..."
My brother finally stood up, looking taller and stronger than he actually was. Trapped in the corner of the room, I had no choice but face him.
"No, Aleena! You are going to listen!" He raised his voice. "Do you know how miserable I felt when I left that trial, knowing you were paying the price for my mistake? Do you know how many times I cried, fearing you were already dead? I didn't sleep for days trying to find clues about that goblet. Days! And once I figured out Miranda was involved I got desperate. I started planning a million things. Anything to rescue you."
"And then you called Adrian's contacts," I concluded. "The Alliance people."
"They have been keeping an eye on Miranda for a while. Especially after some weird shit happened in United States. We were the excuse they needed to end this place, once for all."
"But you never considered the other villagers! You never considered what I wanted! Is that how you want to spend the rest of your life? Trapped inside a facility, being studied and monitored like a fucking lab rat?"
"No, of course not." He yelled, punching his wardrobe. "It's going to fucking suck! But it's still better than dying on one of the Dimitrescu's bed, don't you think?"
I was about to answer but he gave me no time. He took his hands to his face, still in disbelief about his recent discoveries.
"God, I can't believe you're having sex with her! After everything we always learned, after what they did to those teenagers not so long ago."
"We're dating," I told him, without expecting it would make the situation better. "We're in love. Bela's coming with me to California."
"What?! Are you even listening to yourself? You're going to take a bloody monster to a foreign country, to the civilization, where she's going to openly murder people to drink their blood. You're going to be an accomplice."
"It's not like that, Auryk! She doesn't need to feed every single day and she can live with small amounts. I'll find a way, okay? No one is going to get killed."
"Yeah..." he laughed sarcastically. "Until the day she loses control. Maybe no one else is going to get killed, except for you."
"Bela would never hurt me," I argued. "She protected me from the moment I was taken to the castle."
"Because it's a sibling rivalry and she doesn't want to share her prey with her sisters."
"She's not a monster!"
"But she isn't a person either. She's a... a thing made of flies. Nothing about her is real. Not even her feelings."
Auryk started to pack his bags again. He thought it'd be better if he stayed with Olga for the night. I agreed. The situation could escalate very quickly in case one of the sisters decided to step in.
I went to my own bedroom and crawled to my bed, crying my eyes out. I wasn't supposed to have to choose between my brother and my girlfriend. The two people I loved the most in the entire world.
Eastern Europe, Aleena's Living Room - Present Days
My house was a mess. Daniela wanted to enjoy everything the modern life had to offer. As I passed by the living room, she was spread on my couch, eating my ice cream and exploring social networks on her cell phone.
"Girls' sleep over party!" Her eyes were glowing when she spotted me. "We should throw a sleep over party once we're done with Bitch Miranda."
"Yeah, we definitely should," I didn't want to upset her. Maybe later I'd even allow her to have her full teenager experience after all. I never had friends enough for a girls' night. But right now, I had other needs.
I followed to the basement. Cassandra was throwing knives on the wall, using my father's picture as target, while she sank down an entire bottle of whiskey.
"Where's Bela?" I asked. She surely heard my argument with Auryk and I had a feeling it had caused a great impact on her fragile mental health.
"I don't know," Cassandra shrugged. "Hiding somewhere, brooding and dwelling on the words your brother said. That's how Bela deal with absolutely everything."
"I'm sorry."
I apologized. The insults Auryk shouted also applied to Cassandra and Daniela.
"For what? Did that stupid manthing even lie about anything? We are monsters, Aleena. We need to feed on humans to live. We hunt, we kill, we torture. And yes, we are made of flies."
"Not really," I took some of the whiskey myself, "your DNA is half human, half blowflies. It only makes you a mutant, like I probably am too. I wonder if that dagger could kill me."
"Probably not," Cassandra hit Adrian's picture right between the eyes, "you're the fucking special snowflake. The sacred vessel. The holy body who could bring Eva back to life."
I also risked throwing some knives, but I was getting way too drunk to beat Cassandra. Vampires probably had a better tolerance to alcohol effects.
"How do you think she'd look like? Eva, I mean."
"A 10 years old kid in your adult body, which is creep as fuck if you ask me."
"I'd call you Aunt Cassie," I mocked her. "And since your mother is always busy, you'd have to babysit me when Miranda is doing whatever bitchcraft she does in her laboratories."
"Hell no," she scowled, but laughed. "I'd rather exposing myself to a snow storm and die."
I stopped by the living room to sing some Disney songs with Daniela. According to the youngest sister, that would made me feel better because they made her feel more optimistic and strong. She was kinda right in the end. Next, we had a pillow fight. It was extremely hard for an almost-regular girl to hit a blowfly-vampire with pillows. But at least we shared a good time. That could be the last night of our lives.
"Aleena," she confessed when we were both exhausted, lying on the floor. "You were the best thing that ever happened to us. The maids, they'd never treat us like you do. They were either scared, horny or both. But you... you're fun. You're like our younger sister."
"Thanks, I guess," I squeezed her hand. "Strangely, the castle was the first place I actually felt like I belonged in my entire life."
"Mutated freaks stick together?!" She extended me her closed fist.
"Hell yeah!" I bumped it with mine.
"Aleena?"
"Yes?"
"If mother dies, can you take us to California with you too?" Daniela asked, looking more serious than I had even seen her before. In that moment, I could see no traits of the teenage girl, but of a grown woman. "I promise to behave. I won't even kill anyone now I know there's another way."
"Really?" I asked surprised. "What did you find out?"
"Yes, I just saw this on a vampire TV show. We can rob the blood bank!"
I broke down into laughs but the question remained in my head. Taking Bela with me was one thing, I would find us a small apartment, where I'd be able to handle the bills and expenses with a part-time job or with the money my parents left me. But how could I take responsibility for her two younger sisters? After living secluded in a castle for six decades, it'd take a while for them to adjust to the world and find a source of income.
Bela was lying on the roof, where she had gone to through my bedroom's window. It took me a while to figure out she was up there.
"Hey, I was searching for you everywhere," I told, joining her and hoping the old roof would be able to handle both of us.
"It's peaceful here," Bela closed her eyes and sighed. "And it's a beautiful night. I couldn't let it pass, so I wore some extra clothes to keep me warm."
"I'm sorry for the things my brother said."
"Don't worry, love. It's not the first time a man insults me," she opened a sly grin. "But it's the first time a man insults me and lives."
I let out a long laugh, before I noticed her forehead was frowned in apprehension.
"Don't worry," I spoke. "We'll do this. We'll kill Miranda."
"This isn't the only thing I'm worried about, Aleena. If my mother passes away, I'm the eldest daughter. All the responsibilities will be mine - my sisters, the properties, the patrimony... and what am I supposed to do?"
"This is a lot to take, I know. I kinda felt the same when my father died. I was alone, I had no money... but things adjusted with time."
It was completely different, I knew. I had friends. I had my grandparents. I could take a job. There was no Countess title, a huge fortune, lands or a business to administrate.
"Is there even a document she left, passing her title to me?" Bela was truly freaking out. "I'm not her biological child after all. What if... what if I have nothing?"
"Bela," I kissed her forehead. "Let's not think about this yet, okay? Let's enjoy our last night to relax. We need to be in a good shape tomorrow, when we face Miranda."
"I agree."
She lay on my chest and I wrapped my arms around her, keeping her safe from the insecurities, from her fears, from the wind. We stayed on the rooftop until the morning started to come and then, it was time to give start to our plan.
Eastern Europe, The Pub - Present Days
Miranda wasn't stupid and if they wanted their plan to succeed, they'd have to act smart and careful. When the Dimitrescu sisters forged an attack to the village in that morning, forcing the villagers to stay locked inside their homes, they already had a plan in mind.
Aleena, Auryk, Gustav, Elena and Olga were already locked inside the pub when they entered through the back windows in their form of flies.
"No signs of Miranda," Bela told. "But I believe we were convincing."
"How?" Cassandra complained. "No one even died!"
Bela rolled her eyes at her. Some villagers were kind enough to provide them a decent amount of blood to keep them in shape for the battle.
"What comes next?" She asked the group of humans.
"I'll surrender," Auryk announced. "Miranda needs my blood too for the ritual. I'll go home and wait for her to capture me."
The Alliance's initial plan included capturing Aleena too, but they'd have to postpone this part. They had to make Miranda vulnerable, tired and very very angry first.
"Then," the boy extended a map on the table pointing the location where the Alliance had planted the bomb. He also showed instructions of how it worked on his computer, "somebody needs to disable the bomb. I could do it myself, but... I'll be a prisoner."
Bela cocked her head to the side, analyzing the blueprints, the instructions. It didn't appear to be so complicated if she had some time to study it more closely.
"Okay..." she pointed to the screen, "if I push down this lever, I'll interrupt the bomb's source of power, correct? Then, all I have to do is to cut these wires right here, connected to the explosives and these others... there, in this other extremity. These are connected as a chain under the Lords' houses."
Auryk stared at her in disbelief. It seemed like the stupid boy couldn't believe a thing, as he named, could be so intelligent as he was.
"What?! I don't paint my nails and sacrifice innocent virgins all day."
"You're right," he admitted. "Gustav will stay here, you both will be wearing an ear plug to communicate. He'll disable the security system the Alliance installed. I already hacked it to intercept their communication system and know what they're up to. In case you run into any soldiers or guards..."
"I'll knock them down," Bela needed to earn his trust. She could easily kill any humans that came her way but she wouldn't do that, unless it had no other way. She promised herself. She'd be better for Aleena.
"No, you kill them. Or they'll kill you. They'll see your face, they'll collect data about you and you'll never live in peace again until they end you."
She nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, the other part of the group should be discussing the remaining details of the plan, but Daniela was far entertained stuffing herself with the special breakfast Olga prepared for them, while Cassandra and Elena exchanged weird glances.
"My grandmother had a cousin..." the girl stared telling, attempting to elaborate a theory about their similar looks.
"No," Cassandra interrupted. "Don't even suggest what I'm thinking you're suggesting. We're not related. This is a freaky coincidence Miranda's mutations caused."
"How's that even possible?" Aleena lowered her voice, passing Bela a mug of coffee. "Do you think they really belong to the same family or something?"
"I don't know," she laughed. "But anything that bothers Cassandra is funny to watch."
"So, you got one of the major parts of the plan. Are you sure you'll be safe?"
"Absolutely, love. Now we need to talk about your part."
Bela never assumed it would be easy. Yet, she never thought she'd be so worried about the following steps of their plan. Elena and Olga would be responsible for keeping the villagers at home. Daniela would pretend to be the traitor, she'd take Aleena to Miranda as a prisoner, in trade of a cure for their mother's life. Then, Cassandra would step in, engaging in a direct combat with Miranda, trying to weaken her as much as possible until Bela was back from the cave and stabbed her with the dagger.
And there was the problem. She didn't trust her sisters completely for something so big. Right now, they could be plotting behind her back. They would really exchange Aleena's life in trade of a cure for Lady Dimitrescu. There was only one thing she could do to prevent this from happening. One last risky change in the final plan. A secret only between the two of them.
"Aleena," she spoke before they started getting ready to leave. "I need to talk to you."
Eastern Europe, The Pub - Present Days
"I'll be back soon," Auryk touched my shoulders as we said goodbye. "I promise you."
We had said those words a thousand times during the last year, when he took our father's job as a merchant and started to travel away. The first few times were difficult, yet we managed to find manners to stay together, through texts and video calls. I'd always feel lonely, insecure and afraid until the moment I heard the door being opened and my brother coming through it. There were also the cute surprises he'd prepare me when he came home during my work shifts.
"It's not like you're going after a cursed artifact or stealing a necklace from an old rich woman this time, Ryk."
"I know. But if we don't do that, it's not like you'll continue to live in safety, working here on the pub as usual. We have to stop her, Leena. We need to put an end to her legacy."
I nodded and forced a small smile. This wasn't like our Summer was supposed to go. Right now we should be in California with our grandparents. Ryk would be going to the observatory and I'd be failing at learning how to surf. We would be visiting the Hollywood sign, the Walk Of Fame and Disneyland. Instead, one of us, or even both, could be dead by the end of the day.
"I'm sorry," I spoke. "About Bela, I mean. It was sudden, unexpected and surprisingly awesome. I entered the castle with the idea I'd be meeting monsters but... they're only girls. Like me. Girls who never asked to be transformed and were forced to adapt to this life. I'm not asking you to accept or even understand but..."
"This is okay, Leena," Auryk sighed. "I can't say we'll ever be best friends or that I'll hug Bela on the Christmas dinner, but if she makes you happy, if you're sure about her feelings for you. You have my full support."
"Thank you."
I wrapped my arms around my brother's neck really tightly. And then, we knew it was time to go.
"I'll be right back," he told me. "Until then, Leena."
"Until then, Ryk."
I returned inside the pub and broke down into tears. Bela was already ready for the battle, dressing her usual hunting outfit.
"Are you okay, love?" She asked, kissing my forehead.
"I'll be. Once we're all safe and alive."
She held both of my hands, squeezing them tightly. Then, she looked down searching for her next words. Although she was in silence for almost a minute, I already knew what she was planning to say.
"It's my turn to leave for the caves," Bela finally announced. "Once I'm done, I'll meet you at the ritual site."
"If you're done right?!" I was fighting hard to not break, to not fall apart, but in that moment I simply did. "If you don't run into the Alliance's soldiers and they kill you first."
"This isn't happening, love. I promise you."
"Don't make promises you can't keep!"
"I never do," she pressed a kiss on my lips. "And this is how I know we're going to live. Because I won't accept anything else but going to California with you."
"Don't you ever dare, Bela Dimitrescu," I punched her playfully on the shoulder.
"I love you, Aleena. Be careful yourself."
"I will. I love you too!"
Bela stopped at the door before leaving and turned around, giving me one last lingering look. Then she smiled and vanished into flies.
I followed to the toilet, checking the object she handed me earlier one last time. I had the Dagger Of Death's Flower. All I had to do was to take the perfect opportunity, the one moment where Miranda would be weakened and distracted and stab her to death.
And this part, not even her sisters knew about. I had to act all by myself.