Author's Note: Thanks for reading. In this chapter Kennedy finds out some truths about her life.

Chapter Two

I must have finally drifted off to sleep because at about two o'clock in the morning I woke with a start. It was raining heavily outside and the lighting flashed brightly. It was just a little freaky. Sweat covered my body and I had no idea why but I had a really eerie feeling in my stomach; like something was going to happen. Deciding I needed something to drink I walked downstairs and into the kitchen. But before I could get to the kitchen I saw my parents and Vlad whispering in hushed tones in the living room. The lights weren't on and when the lightning flashed outside they looked eerie. When they saw me they stopped. I was confused to say in the least. "Kennedy," my dad stated, "what are you doing up so late?" "I came to get something to drink," I said. Vlad looked at me, and the way his hair was mussed I thought he looked really sexy. When his eyes met mine I looked down at the floor and back up at my dad. "Oh, well get something to drink and head back up to bed," he said calmly. Glancing at him in a weird way I asked, "What were you all talking about in the middle of the night?" They all appeared to get nervous and a little pale. "We were discussing your birthday party. It was supposed to be a secret but the cat's out of the bag," my mom fretted. No way in the world did I believe that but I was groggy and I really wanted to go back to sleep. "Okay," I said. Going into the kitchen I got a glass of water and as I walked back up the stairs I glanced back in the living room my parents and Vlad watched me like they couldn't wait until I left. Odd…I knew my birthday was in another day technically but didn't it seem just a little odd that they were discussing it in the middle of the night?

The rain splashed on my windows and the darkness seemed to swallow my room. Taking a sip of my water I sat it on my vanity and sat down on my bed. I really wanted to know what my parents were talking about but I was kind of scared to go downstairs and find out though; it was just so creepy. Running a hand through my hair I sighed; placing my hands on my forehead. I was still confused about the whole Vlad-kissing-me-thing. Did that mean he liked me or something? Or did it mean he just did it to calm me down. I was just so confused. Laying down under my covers I stared out my window, watching the rain coat it and the lightning flash made me calm. I didn't know why but it always made me calm for some reason. Finally sleep drug me under and I went into the land where dreams came true.

When I woke up the rain was gone and the sun was up and shining. Stretching I winced when my wrist got scratched by my bed sheets; I felt kind of uneasy over why I had done that last night. Making my way to my closet I got out a long sleeved shirt and some shorts. A weird choice in clothes but no way in the world was I going to let my parents see my wrists. Pulling my hair into a ponytail because I really didn't feel like fixing it, I made my way down the stairs. I purposely stomped on each one to let them know I was coming because I really didn't want to catch them discussing anything else in secret.

But when I got to the kitchen I didn't see any remains of last night's secret meeting. My mom was cooking breakfast and my dad sat at the breakfast table, reading the paper. Vlad sat on the couch, his arm slung over his eyes. Sitting down on the chair opposite Vlad I flipped on the TV and tried to find something to watch. No one brought up last night and for that I was thankful. When breakfast was done we all ate and didn't really make much conversation. When I was done eating I hurried up to my room, sadly Vlad followed me. Entering my room he slowly shut the door and sat down on my bed beside me. The golden light filtered in through my tinted windows and warmed my skin where it touched. Looking down at my folded hands in my lap I really didn't want to talk about last night which I knew was exactly what he wanted to do. "Kennedy," he started off. My heart melted at the sound. "Vlad I really don't want to talk about last night," I said calmly. "But we need to," he said, taking my hand in his. His hand was warm on mine and my heart fluttered nervously. Daring a nervous glance up at his deep emerald eyes I quickly looked back down at my lap. His other hand reached down to my face and pulled it slowly up to meet his. "Would you like to explain why you cut yourself last night?" he asked, stroking my cheek with the back of his hand. Bringing my head back down I got up and walked over to my window, peering out of it. Crossing my arms over my chest I let a tear escape from my eye. I heard him walk up to me. Wrapping his arm around my waist he pulled me around and pressed me against his chest.

Resting my arms on his chest I looked up the foot and a half needed to look into his eyes. "You know you can tell me anything, right?" he whispered. "I know, but you wouldn't understand why I cut myself. Sometimes I just feel really depressed," I said solemnly. I didn't like being chastised by him. "But why," he said, emerald eyes gleaming. "I don't know. See I knew you wouldn't understand. How the hell am I supposed to know why I'm like this?" I yelled. Whenever I cussed, which was rare, I was always very upset. In this situation, however, me being upset was an understatement. "I don't know. But I know that something is wrong and I want to help you," he was equally upset. "I wish you could but I don't even know what's wrong with me. When I figure it out, I'll let you know," I said, looking down. When I looked up again he lifted his head down and kissed me. It was gentle and sweet, like he was trying to let me know he cared for me. When our lips parted though my mom just had to interrupt us. "Vlad, could you come down here for a second?" she yelled from downstairs. His arms let go of me and with a glance over his shoulder he walked down the stairs.

Sighing I fell onto my bed. I was so confused! When he questioned why I was depressed I was dumbstruck. Why did I feel depressed? I knew my life was good but I just really didn't know. Maybe I was crazy, maybe I was one of those people who shaved their head and lived with thirty cats. I just didn't know. My thoughts got more and more jumbled with each second that passed and I must have passed out. I woke up when the light outside was starting to fade from the sky, leaving it lonely. Straightening up my pony tail I walked downstairs; I was surprised that no one had come to wake me up. Yawning I trudged into the living room and threw myself onto the couch; right on top of Vlad. He was asleep and when I fell on him he jolted awake, muttering a cuss word and seeming clearly surprised. When he saw that it was me that had awakened him he still seemed surprised but not angry. "Hey sleepy head," he joked. "Sleepy head? You've probably been sleeping all day too," I joked back. Whatever tension or anger there had been before the fight vanished, not a trace of it remained. His arms encircled me and I felt safe. Snuggling into his side I still didn't really know if he liked me or not but somehow I could tell that he did. If not he was still my brother, right? Cuddling with him on the couch would be a brother and sister thing right?

Vlad's scent swirled in my nose and with his body pressed against mine with his heat radiating out towards me I felt generally and truly comfortable and safe. But all good things come to an end. Someone came thudding down the stairs with loud foot steps. I quickly shot out of his embrace and positioned myself at the end of the couch; Vlad did the same. It was my dad who had come to see if we had any chips in the kitchen that he could much on. When he finally got some and hurried back up to his room I once again returned to his arms. Laying my head on his chest his arms encircled me protectively. Looking over into his deep green eyes I decided something. I had to know if he really like me, it was bothering me not to know. I mean he had kissed me and here we were cuddling on the couch but he never said anything. Leaning up I whispered softly into his ear, "So, since we've kissed and everything, does that mean you like me?" Looking down at me again he said, "I more than like you." With that he leaned down and kissed me. It was sweet and passionate and the emotions it made me fell were marvelous. I know it was kind of weird that I was kissing my brother but technically he wasn't actually my brother… While I wanted the kiss to last forever, people had other ideas.

I guess we were so lost in our kiss that my mom had snuck right up on us and scared us half to death. "What in God's name is going on here?" she yelled. Immediately I jerked back from Vlad and scooted over to the cushion next to him. Smoothing my shirt down I looked down at the floor. I was so embarrassed! What in the world was my mom going to do! "Well, which one of you would like to start," she said exasperated as she sat down in a chair in front of us. "What do you mean?" I questioned, trying to play dumb. "I come downstairs to get a simple glass of water and find you two making out quite brutally! What do you think?" Gosh, she must have thought we were on the verge of eloping or something when honestly all we had done was kissed for Pete's sake! "Mom, all we were doing was kissing. Is something wrong with that?" I asked, clearly frustrated. Glancing over I could tell Vlad was as mad as me, but something told me he wasn't as mad at my mom questioning us but rather her interrupting us. "You could have at least told me you liked each other! How long has this gone on?" she yelled again. I was surprised my dad hadn't come downstairs to see what all the commotion was. "It just happened, like yesterday," I stated solemnly, leaning my head against Vlad's shoulder. I didn't care if she saw; she was making me very angry. Putting her head in her hands she began rubbing her forehead slowly; like we were giving her a headache. "God, I knew this was going to happen, I knew it!" she muttered into her hands. After a few more seconds into her trip to Crazy Ville she looked up and stated, "You two, go to your room's. And by that I mean Kennedy you go to your room and Vlad you go to your's." "Why are you being like this? It's not like we're going to do anything! If you wouldn't have caught us kissing you wouldn't even know. It wouldn't have made a difference either!" I shouted. Did she think we were going to have sex or something? Good god no! "Kennedy Alcholi Cassidy, you go up to your room right this instant and do NOT talk to me that way again!" she yelled, her face was red from anger. Vlad quietly stalked up to his room, me behind him. On the way up my dad passed us, like he knew he needed to talk to my mom then.

Following Vlad into his room I collapsed into his arms in a fit of tears, if she caught us I wouldn't care at all. "Its like she thinks we're about to start ripping each other's clothes off the moment she leaves us alone! How could she think that? How could she jump to conclusions that quickly?" I sobbed into his chest. He was hugging me tightly to his chest, softly stroking my back. "Mom is just like that, but everything is going to be okay. She won't resent our relationship for long," he said back soothingly. Pulling back I sniffled a little and climbed out of his arms a little. "But if she finds us in here together we probably won't live long enough to see that happen. But if you go into your room you're not gonna…cut yourself? Are you?" he questioned softly. "No, of course not," I said reassuringly. In all honesty I really felt like cutting myself but if I did…Vlad would be mad. "Just promise me. And if I find out you did cut yourself, well…I won't be too happy," he said. "Fine I promise," I whispered looking down at my feet in defeat. Walking over he gave me one last kiss on the lips and I walked back to my room.

While in the corridor to my room, though, I overheard my mom and dad talking. What about? Why me and Vlad of course. "…I don't know if I should tell her or not. I know that Moira said she didn't want her to know about our world but…" I overheard my mom say. But her words soon stopped and I when I thought I head footsteps coming up the steps in bolted to my room. Slipping into my bed my mind began spinning. I knew that my real mom's name was Moira Ozera and my dad's name was John Dragomir but I had never really heard my adopted mom or dad talk about them much. I had no idea what my adopted mom said my real mom didn't want we to know about was and I was really confused as to what she meant by "our world". What did that mean? Not knowing what the world meant any more I fell asleep sobbing into my pillow. Little did I know that I would soon know all the secrets behind my life.

Waking up in the morning I smiled; the sun was out. Surely that would mean it was going to be a great day, huh? Suddenly I jolted upright, today was my birthday, April 13th. Would the fight last night make my birthday horrible? Hopefully not… Walking over to my closet I hastily threw on something to wear. Right when I was adjusting the hat on my head I heard a ferocious knock on my door. "Wake up Birthday Girl!!!" I heard Vlad yell as he frantically shook my door knob. "I'm coming, I'm coming. Give me a second!" I replied back. Stumbling out of my door I stared Vlad in the face. He was smiling, which was something he rarely did and made my heart flutter in response. "You're finally seventeen! Its time to celebrate!" he beamed, picking me up and twirling me around in a circle. "Put me down, Vlad!" I giggled, I could barely breathe he was squeezing me so tight. He did as I asked and held my hand as he walked me down stairs. My mom and dad were already at the table, when they saw us holding hands they narrowed their eyes and we released each other's hands quickly. They were scary when they were angry. The only place for us to sit was in between my parents, I wonder if they did that on purpose (I'm being sarcastic). My mom had two crepes on my plate, my favorite breakfast food. My mom and dad said happy birthday to me and I dug into my food, glancing up at Vlad every few seconds. His hair was in his eyes most of the time and it only added to his extreme beauty. After we ate I immediately knew what was going to happen. Every birthday of mine and Vlad's my mom would cook us our favorite breakfast, we would open presents, play with our presents for a bit, and then go out to eat.

Walking into the living room I sat down on the couch in front of a big pile of presents I knew were all for me. Before Vlad could sit down beside me though, my dad quickly sat beside me and proceeded to hand me one of my presents. Why were they trying to make us avoid all physical contact? Not wanting that to ruin my mood though I quickly tore into the paper of the present in my hands. Tearing open the box I immediately knew it was clothes. To be precise a black tutu skirt I had been admiring for quite some time was in it and I beamed. Saying my thanks I ripped open the next box to find a Prada leather jacket and Louis Vuitton pocketbook. The next present was a skateboard with a picture of the Beatles on the bottom and it was signed by Paul McCartney! I almost started jumping up and down because I knew something like that must have been expensive. Telling them my thanks I opened up a few more presents with clothes and books in them. But finally came Vlad's present to me. When he handed it to me himself I knew it had to be special. Ripping off the wrapping paper I smiled when I saw a black beanie with an intricate silver-silk pattern woven into it. Immediately I put it on and reached over to hug him. I knew my parents didn't like this because they cleared their throats when the hugging became too long. Looking at all of my wonderful presents I thanked them all and asked Vlad to help me carry my presents up to my room. "No, I'll help you," my dad intervened. They were really starting to get on my nerves by not letting Vlad be around me, however I didn't voice this.

Climbing up my stairs I put all of my presents on my bed and headed back downstairs. My mom and Vlad were quietly discussing something that I could see was making both of them mad. "Kennedy, Vlad, Chris, I think we all need to sit down and discuss something," my mom started, looking very perplexed standing before us. Spying that there was an open seat beside Vlad I quickly took the opportunity to sit there before anyone could protest. He slung his arm around my shoulder and the room's already thick tension seemed to become even thicker. "I'll keep this quick. I know you two seem to have a certain um…attraction to each other but I don't really approve," my mother said calmly. Wow what an opening. "Why not?" I asked calmly. "Because, you're brother and sister! You didn't even tell me this was going on!" she yelled, trying to keep her voice low. "We're not really related, and how could we tell you when it just happened. Like yesterday," I said serenely. I didn't like her yelling at us like this for something we couldn't control. She was about to reply when all of a sudden I had a queasy feeling in my stomach; like something bad was going to happen.

It all happened too fast for my eyes really to see. Someone jumped through the window in my living room with a demon-like shriek. It had red eyes and fangs; something from a horror film. My dad reached into his pocket and plunged a silver stake-like object into his heart. All around the house I could hear more windows shattering. My dad yelled at Vlad to get me upstairs as a ball of flames engulfed another creature that had come through my window. Vlad slung me over his shoulder and flew me up into the attack faster than I would have thought possible. After he closed the door I realized he had one of those silver things too. Wanting to know what in the hell just happened I breathed out, "Vlad, tell me what's happening." Before I could say anything else though he put his hand over my mouth and told me to be quiet. I hadn't realized it but I had been crying. Hearing something run up to the door one of the creatures ripped the door off its hinges and attacked Vlad. I screamed because I knew he was going to die. Only he didn't. He quarrled with the thing for a few seconds and quickly plunged the stake through his heart. Immediately another monster attacked him. He was trying so hard to protect me. But one of those things got past him and I started screaming, and screaming. Vlad finished the other thing off and grabbed me out of the things arms, plunging the silver thing into his heart. Immediately I collapsed into Vlad's arms, crying uncontrollably. He tried to calm me down but his efforts did little. I was confused by what had just happened. Vlad had just killed three people who had tried to kill me and barely broke a sweat. He kept trying to shush me. Bringing his lips down onto mine his efforts paid off a little but not by much. He then carried me downstairs where more bodies were strewn across the floor, thankfully neither was my mom or dad. My dad was on the phone with someone and my mom was sitting dazed at the kitchen table, running her hand through her hair. Sitting us down on the couch I asked him, "Please tell me what in the world just happened." He sighed out, "Just wait a little while and we'll explain everything. For now just relax." Relax? How could I relax! My house and family had just been attacked by monsters and I didn't know what to think of the world anymore. This had to be the worst birthday ever…

A/N: Hoped you liked it. Sorry I haven't updated in awhile but I've been busy. She finally finds out the truth next!