Chapter 4: Awaited Information

I clenched my chest and tried to sit up-my face twisting in agony. I could feel my father's hands start to take hold of my lungs again, making sure they were functioning properly.

"Are you okay?" Dante asked, grabbing my face.

I shook my head from side to side and closed my eyes, feeling more pain.

"We have to get her home. She'll be better there," my dad said.

Just then, Dante scooped me up, ran outside, and transferred us home. He ran into the house and laid me on the couch while I winced. Every move he made on our way here hurt and I just couldn't seem to get my breathing under control.

"She's still not breathing right," Dante said, kneeling beside me and taking my hand.

My dad appeared above me and extended his hands out over my torso, closing his eyes and wrinkling his forehead. I started to feel warmth on my lungs and slowly but surely, I was cured just as fast as I was broken. To say the least, I felt great.

But just as I felt relief, my dad fell backwards, catching himself before he hit the ground. He grabbed his chest and breathed heavily and I ran over, supporting his back.

"What's wrong?!" I asked loudly, looking around to everyone.

"I'm fine, kid. Just give me a minute to breathe," he whispered. He bent down with his hands on his knees and inhaled deeply. "Healing someone takes a lot out of you-especially someone with the injuries that you had."

"I'm sorry!" I said, spinning in front of him, hugging him tightly. "Thanks for saving me though…"

"Of course I was going to save you! Dante, what exactly is going on here?"

"It has begun," he said softly.

"What are you talking about?" I said anxiously, looking at my father and then back at Dante.

"The thirst has begun. Soon, the strong will kill the weak. I knew this would happen," he muttered, putting his hands over his face.

"Dante, what are you talking about?!"

"Seeing as there aren't any humans left, the vampires will start to become extremely thirsty. They may start killing each other off."

"But I thought you said we could survive without drinking blood!"

"We can survive, but the problem is whether some of us have the will power or not."

"But I don't understand. I thought vampires were only full of venom. Where did the blood come from?"

"Our bodies run off of blood, but we manufacture venom. I guess we're kind of like snakes, in a way."

"So, people are going to start killing each other because they're going to get too thirsty to take it anymore?"

He nodded, "Exactly."

"Oh no, this isn't good at all," my mom muttered. I felt her pain. Seeing as she had only just been turned-there was no way she'd be strong enough to fend off any senior vampire.

I was only waiting for something like this to happen. I knew my questions would turn up with answers somewhere, and it was only more frustrating that those answers were going to have terrible outcomes.

"Well, who out of all of us do we have to worry about the most?" I asked, keeping my head in the game. If people were going to come after us, we would certainly need to protect ourselves.

"Your mother is the most vulnerable right now, but I wouldn't worry, Destiny, we will all protect you," Dante said, grabbing her shoulder. Nikki stared up at her, teary-eyed, but I didn't pay much attention. It was sad, but it was almost like I was getting used to be disappointed and betrayed by everything I had once known.

"Vic, are you gonna be okay, kid?" My dad asked, waving his hand in front of my face.

"You know, I just want things to go smoothly for one time-but it seems like I'll never really truly be happy."

"Don't say that, my love. All will be well soon."

"You always say that, and it seems like every time you say that, something else goes wrong."

"I'm sorry, but I guess I'm just optimistic."

"Well, how are we going to get through this, Dante? Answer me that. How are we going to survive when everyone is going to be going crazy?! How are we going to have a beautiful wedding when our friends are going to show up and want to kill us?!"

"Please calm down. Only sorrow will come from worrying so much. I promise you that everything will be fine. Believe me, you've survived from much worse than what's about to happen. And anyway, we must take our spots as rulers as soon as possible. Once that has been accomplished, our entire family will be as safe as you were when you were human."

"I wasn't very safe back then, either," I muttered, staring down at the ground.

"Victoria, please look up. Please, I beg of you not to lose faith in me," he whispered, lifting my chin up to look at him.

"Fine. But I can't guarantee that I'm going to be happy while any of this is going on."

"All I ask of you is that you try, my love. I will always be here and I don't want you to worry or to be scared. We will all be fine and our wedding will be perfect."

"Okay, I believe you."

"Now," he said, looking around to the others, "Victoria and I must make our rounds and make sure that everyone knows where they stand. We must make sure that everyone knows we are now in reign."

"Dante, where is John?" I asked, staring at Allison.

"Your father took care of him."

"What do you mean? Wait, what was up with him anyway? You know, being half-dead must have affected my memory a little bit," I said sarcastically.

"As I told you with April-John had certain powers that he obtained from years of practice. He learned how to shape-shift but he could only turn into one creature-the dragon."

"But, how could he grab my lungs like that? I just didn't understand any of it and I still don't. How did dad kill him? Where's he now? What did he want with Allison-"

"Wow, one question at a time," Dante laughed. "First of all, he had a very strong mind, which is what he used to attack you. He grabbed your lungs with his mind and that's why you and your father could stop him."

"I see. So, his brain was pretty much extremely strong, then? So, he could shape-shift and control with his mind."

"Exactly. Now, your father killed him by shaping into his own creature-the grizzly bear. As you have seen, those animals are quite large."

"But, a bear wouldn't have a chance against a dragon."

"No, not a regular bear-but you're forgetting how powerful your father is. No amount of years put into practice for a vampire could equal the intensity that a darkling holds in his mind."

"Yeah, that's right, kid. I guess your dad is pretty damn strong," my father said, walking up and sticking his chest out. I gave him an odd look and he slumped back down, laughing softly.

"So then, what did you do with his body?"

"We burned it, of course. We can't very well have him piecing his body back together, can we?" Dante said.

"Okay, that makes sense. But, what did he want with Allison? I didn't even think she talked to the elders all that much."

"He wanted my blood," she muttered, walking forward to face me. My eye widened, but I now understood what Dante was talking about. If we wouldn't have shown up, she would have been killed.

"But wouldn't John's mind be strong enough to fight off the urge?"

"That's a good question," Dante started, "But another thing I have forgotten to explain to you is that every time a vampire uses a learned power, it drains our blood-supply. It's almost like how you need sleep to re-fuel your system. Well, we need blood, of course."

Wow, this was all too interesting for me. I knew I was a vampire now, but I wasn't a true vampire like Dante and my mother were. I was a hybrid, so my needs were quite different than theirs. Every time I used my powers, I was completely fine and ready to use them again-well, all except my healing powers.

"Then, I would prefer if you didn't use your powers, anymore, Dante," I said softly.

"Oh, my love, the powers you have given me are much different than the powers John held. I didn't learn these on my own, they were acquired, which makes them mine. They are a part of my body, soul, and mind now. I do not need blood to fuel them-they fuel themselves, just as yours do."

"Wow, well, that's good to hear. At least I know you won't be trying to kill me any time soon," I chuckled. But something struck me. What about my mother?

I stood there for a moment in Dante's arms, staring at the fibers that made up his shirt, and tried to picture what was going to happen. I pictured the entire house running after one-another and a complete blood-bath ensuing.

"What are you thinking of?" He asked, peaking down at me.

"What about mom?"

"What do you mean?"

"Isn't she going to start wanting our blood, soon?"

"Considering your mother hasn't ever tasted blood; that would be a 'no.'"

"So, since she hasn't ever tasted blood, she won't feel the need to drink any of ours?"

"Precisely. She can smell our blood, of course, but she isn't desperate for the taste of it, since she's never experienced drinking it."

"Would you prefer us to leave?" Summer asked.

"You may leave if you want, but we are not going to force departure upon you. You are our friends and I trust you completely."

"We will stay for a little longer, but once things start to lose control, we will leave."

"Very well, but I hope that you won't feel obligated to leave. Victoria and I will leave first thing tomorrow morning to announce our reign and we will return later, hoping to find you staying here."

"I'm sure that we will be staying until this ordeal is over," Allison stated.

"Where is Michelle?" I blurted out.

Instantly, Allison broke down, falling to her knees. I ran over and grabbed her shoulders, hugging her tightly and staring at Dante.

He shook his head from side-to-side slowly and I understood. She had been taken. I couldn't believe it. How could someone kill such a nice, caring, innocent girl?

"I'm so sorry," I whispered in her ear.

"It's….ok….it was….her fault…." She said, breathlessly.

"Her fault?" I muttered.

"She went after John. She was the reason he attacked me. Sure, he wanted my blood, but he mostly wanted revenge. She died because she wanted his blood."

"Why would she do that?! She knew how powerful he was."

"I don't know. She was going crazy for awhile and she just couldn't stand it anymore. He was the closest person to her other than me and of course she wouldn't try to kill her own sister."

This just keeps getting deeper, doesn't it? I asked Dante in my head.

There's much more to this story, he responded.