TWO WEEKS LATER

I wake up at 5:30 and go to take a shower. I get out feeling refreshed and get dressed into some denims, a grey sweater and a grey beanie. I put on some black boots and start the coffee machine while mixing the batter for waffle. After finishing my breakfast I check to see if I forgot anything before locking the apartment and heading towards the academy. I reach 10 minutes earlier and go sit in the Aesthetics class and start reading the books provided. Soon enough everyone is here and the teacher arrives too. I haven't really made any friends but I don't mind, I have Ares. The teacher starts talking and I start to take notes. After sitting through the two theory classes its time for the practical class and to submit our very first weekly assignment. I have worked on it the whole weekend with help from both Ares and Noah. The assignment was to draw something beautiful using the darker and colder shades. I hand over the assignment which is a painting of a girl standing holding a flower in her hand and looking down on it. The only colours I used were black and silver grey. The painting made it seem like the moon was the only source of light. After all the classes are over we are handed our logbooks back and I have to physically stop from opening it to see my very first grade, since they hadn't given one for the first week. I resist the urge to open and look as I see many glare at their logbooks. I quickly leave for Noah and Ares's house.

I reach within fifteen minutes and go up to the penthouse. As soon as the elevator door opens I step out and rush towards the living area in hopes of finding Ares but only find Noah there. "Hey Noah, where's Ares?" I ask as I sit down on the sofa chair. "He's at the boutique, working. Ready for our lessons?" Noah questions while setting down the book he was reading. "Yeah. Lets go." I say and go up the stairs and to the room Ares has officially declared mine. Seriously it even has clothes and canvases and paints. I change into some leggings, t-shirt and shoes. I go towards the training room. "Start with the machines today." Noah orders as soon as I reach. This is how it has been between us. While I have developed a close bond with Ares, Noah and I have grown apart. I don't hate him and he doesn't hate me but he's stopped trying to be my friend. I honestly wished he hadn't, I hate this; it's as though we're complete strangers. My fighting skills have improved drastically though. According to Ares I'm a natural. As I finish the last machine Noah gestures me to the mat. We both start fighting, well I start to attack and he defends while occasionally attacking to see how my reflexes are. After about fifteen minutes we take a break. "How about vampire hunting tonight? To test your skills?" Noah asks as we sit down. I think about it before nodding. "Sure. Sounds fun." I tell him while drinking some water.

We were done practicing and were sitting downstairs waiting for Ares to come home so we can go to some club and hunt a vampire. I'm reading The Maze Runner and hear my phone ring upstairs. Great. I sigh and walk up. I get in my room and close the door and lock it. Locking the door activates some sort of a spell that prevents Noah from eavesdropping. I check my phone to see its Elena, again. I have ignored her calls for the past two weeks in hopes that she would get the message apparently not. I sigh again and answer already regretting it. "Hey Elena." I greet dryly. "Arielle are you crazy..." Elena starts and I take the phone away from my ear and put it on mute before keeping it beside me. This way I don't have to listen to her and I can get it over with. After an hour there is a knock at the door. I have been painting while Elena has been shouting through the phone. Yup for an hour. I open the door to see its Ares. "Hey." I greet him and give him a hug. He smiles before frowning looking at my clothes which are covered in paint. "Sorry?" I say more like a question and Ares just sighs. He comes and looks at my phone questioningly. "What? Who is that?" Ares asks as Noah comes in too. "Its my sister Elena. I have been avoiding her for the past two weeks and she's pissed." I tell him sitting back down and continuing my painting. "Huh. Alright then. Change. We're leaving in 10 minutes." Ares says while setting down a dress on my bed. I frown at it but nod anyways. "Okay." I say and they both leave. I lock the door and go to change.

As I come back out I take my phone and put it on my ear. "Look Arielle you can't just tell Jeremy things like these. Its dangerous and I just want to protect him. Tell Stefan that you don't mind erasing Jeremy's memories..." I roll my eyes before taking my phone off mute and shouting Elena's name. She shuts up. Thank god. "Look Elena while ignorance is bliss, in this situation its only death. Jer has every right to know what you're dragging him into. I won't tell your boyfriend that I'm okay with Jer's memory compulsion, cause I'm not. Jer's my brother too and while I am worried about him, he can make his own decisions. I also don't care what you think or want. So bye." I tell her sarcastically for the most part. "Well did your brother tell you what I told him?" Elena asks emphasizing your brother. "No Elena I have no idea what you're talking about." I tell her while rolling my eyes again. "Well then let me tell you. We're adopted." She says and I can almost see her smile. I freeze for a second before answering, "Big deal Elena. Our mom and dad are still going to be Grayson and Miranda Gilbert because they are the ones that raised us. Besides Elena I'm not a drama queen like you." I tell her while trying not to think about how Jer knew and didn't tell me. "What do you mean? Don't you care? I even found our birth mothers name." Elena exclaims shocked. "No Elena I don't care. Why should I care about the people who abandoned me? I'm not going to waste my time thinking about the people who abandoned me, instead I will do right by my parents and respect them for raising us as their own." I tell her before cutting the call and sitting on my bed. I sigh and focus on vampire hunting for the night.

I go downstairs to see Ares and Noah waiting. I walk towards them and give them a smile. We soon reach the club I don't bother to see the name of. We go inside and Ares leaves to get drinks while Noah looks around and I do the same. I tap Noah's arm and point towards a guy who seems to be busy seducing someone. Noah nods his head signaling that the man is vamp and is most probably seducing his next meal. Ares comes back with our drinks. "How did it go with your sister?" Ares asks. I grimace before shrugging and Ares gets the idea. Noah taps my arm and I see that the man is leading the woman towards the back. "I'll handle the woman. Think you can take care of him alone?" Noah asks. "Yeah. I think so." I tell him. We both get up and follow the couple. Noah zooms and the woman disappears. The man looks around confused and I take my chance. I lunge towards him hitting the back of his knees with force and before he can process anything I empty a vervain dart in him. I stand in front of him with a stake in my hand but hesitate looking at him, I don't know if he has done anything wrong. How can I just kill him? What if he's innocent? As questions run through my head I'm slammed into a wall. I look around confused before screaming in pain as I see the woman standing on my leg and applying pressure to it. I can feel it breaking and bite my lip to stop from screaming and in a blur the woman is dead on the ground and Noah is standing above me with a heart in his hands and a pissed off look. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why did you hesitate?" Noah asks angrily while pulling me up. I hiss a little at the pain in my leg before looking down at ground ashamed of myself. Noah sighs and places his bloody wrist in front of me, I sigh but take a little blood none the less. We walk back towards the club.

I look at Noah and stand in front of him to stop him. "I'm sorry. It just felt wrong to kill him." I tell him and he nods. I smile at him. I sigh looking down at my dress knowing Ares is going to be mad. "Why? Why did it feel wrong?" Noah asks. We are near the club and I see a bench outside. I gesture for Noah to sit and I do the same. "I used to think my dad was a hero. He was a doctor. He saved lives. I always saw him in that light, like a superhero who would save the day. Once when me and Elena were playing in his office our ball fell down the stairs towards the basement we went down even though it was restricted and hear weird noises. Elena decided to go back up the stairs and ignore it. I was curious and went towards the door. Before I could see what it was my dad was already there telling how I shouldn't be there. I kept trying to see what was in the door and one day I did. It was a man, he was strapped to a table and I sneaked in curious as ever. I watched as my dad started to... I kept watching until dad went to literally scoop the mans eyes out and I screamed. Dad was shocked and tried to convince me he was doing good. Looking for a cure for all diseases. I couldn't stop looking at him, the man. He looked so helpless and tired, I smiled at him when he looked at me and he did the same. No matter what my dad said, it wasn't right and I knew it. I would go down everyday, sneak in and talk to him. He would tell me about his life as human and as a vampire. I realized he was more or less innocent, even if he wasn't; no one deserved that, no one deserved to be experimented on, to be in pain every single day and to starve every minute. I met him everyday for two years and had finally gathered enough courage to let my friend go. But when I went back downstairs everything was gone. My dad knew and he took the man away. His name was Enzo. I couldn't save him and I knew dad was still experimenting on him. I hated it. I don't like taking someone's life Noah. Its not my decision to make. I don't get to decide who lives and who doesn't, I never want to... I don't want to be a monster. How do I know Noah? When I have crossed the line to become one? How do I know my dad hadn't crossed it?" I ask Noah crying a bit. He pulls me to him and I wrap my arms around him.

After I calm down a bit I go to pull away but Noah holds me in place. "Its okay Elle. If you don't want to kill. I don't think there is a definite line that tells you if you're a monster. I don't know if your dad was one. But I know you aren't. I know you never could be." He pulls back and looks at me, "Never let anyone tell you otherwise Elle. Because you aren't a monster and you never could be. We won't do this again I promise. We'll just train. No hunting." Noah says and wipes my tears. "Thanks." I whisper before leaning into him. I see him text someone probably Ares. "Do you hate me? Do you think I'm a monster?" Noah asks and I sit upright. What? "No. I don't Noah. I don't hate you or think that you're a monster. I just don't know you. I know a bit about Ares. I know nothing about you. That's it. I don't hate you." I tell him with a smile. He smiles back. "Do you want to then? Know me?" He asks and I smile and nod. I do want to be his friend. "I'm not just a vampire, I'm a hybrid of vampire and Warlock, now known as Heretic. My mother was a witch and my father a human. I was born without any powers of my own. I soon found out that I could draw power though, from anything magical. Mostly known as Siphoners now, that's what I was. When my mother found out she was furious and basically shunned me, called me an abomination. I still had my siblings though which was good enough. All my life my mother treated me like a slave and when I turned I became powerful since vampirism is magic and I could draw from my own blood. My mother was furious as I became more powerful than her and even more so when she found out my brother had trained me all these years. Up until I met Ares I couldn't help but always feel like an abomination, like my mother had raised me to believe. He's the one who made me realize that I'm anything but that. My life truly started after I met Ares as cheesy as that sounds." He tells me with a soft smile. I smile at him before saying, "He's right. You're not an abomination. You're just different and unique. Your mother on the other hand sounds like a cruella." He laughs at my term. "I guess she was." He agrees and we both laugh and I hug him again. "Thank you. You saved my life." I whisper and pull back when I hear Ares shout, "What in the world happened?" Noah just smiles at him and leads us back to the penthouse.

I go up to my room and change into some shorts and t-shirt. I go downstairs since its dinner time. I sit next to Ares as Noah is preparing food. "You alright?" Ares asks and Noah glances back and smiles at me. I smile back before answering, "Yeah Ares. I'm fine." I say and hand him my logbook, he looks at me questioningly. "Please see what grade I got." I beg him. He laughs before opening the book. He smiles before saying, "Congratulations, it's a B." I laugh happy with it and give him a hug. Soon dinner is ready and I eat while my mind keeps drifting off to the fact that I'm adopted and Jer knew and didn't tell me. I feel a tap on my arm and turn to look at Ares. "Everything alright? You seem particularly upset since the phone call." Ares asks worried and Noah nods in agreement. "Yeah its just...Elena told me that we're adopted. It doesn't bother me since I loved... love my parents and I don't care about the people who abandoned me. Its just that Jer knew and he didn't tell me. Why?" I ask Ares feeling vulnerable. "Maybe he just thought you would think of him as less of your brother if you knew." Ares tells me and I realize he is right. "Thanks Ares. I have to go and call him." I tell him and kiss his cheek which is normal since he has become like a brother. "Of course. Are you sure you're okay with being adopted though?" Noah asks. "I think so. I mean family isn't about blood at least according Dean Winchester and he is never wrong. On a serious note though, I'm fine. I don't care that some people abandoned me, I care that my parents were amazing enough people who took care of us like their own and never let us feel any less than Jer or let us feel unwanted." I tell them honestly and they smile at me.

I call Jer as soon as I reach my room and lock the door. He answers at the fourth ring. "Hey Elle. What grade did you get on the first assignment?" Jer asks excitedly as soon as he answers the call and I chuckle. "Hey Jer. I got a B. I wanted to talk to you about something though." I tell him with a little worry in my tone. "Of course Elle. What is it?" Jer asks sounding a bit scared. "Why didn't you tell me? You knew I was adopted so why didn't you tell me?" I ask him with my voice only a whisper and almost cracking. "Elle... Elena told you, huh? I'm sorry. I just didn't... I didn't want you to think I wasn't your brother anymore. I'm sorry Elle, I didn't mean to hurt or upset you." Jer whispers and I can tell he's on the verge of crying and is probably filled with guilt. "Its okay Jer. Just because we aren't blood related doesn't mean you aren't my brother anymore. It doesn't change anything Jer, you're still My Jer, My brother. Okay? This doesn't change anything, not for me; does it change anything for you?" I ask while wiping away the few tears that escaped. "No Elle. Of course not. It doesn't change anything. You're still My Elle, My sister." Jer says and I can imagine him grinning. When we were little people would always say that someday Jer and I would have to leave each other and that we would each find someone who matters more and I would always say that he would always be My Jer no matter who comes in his life. Jer would do the same and people would be shocked at how possessive we are of each other. And it sort of became a reassurance over time. "How is everything? Are you okay?" I ask Jer after we just slip into a silence for a minute. "Everything is fine. I'm okay too. I have my grades back on track, even though they aren't A's but still. I... I'm not friends with Anna anymore either. Vicki and I are friends... I am happy. I just can't wait for you to come back." Jer rants and I laugh a little. "I'm glad you're happy. And good to know that you aren't friends with the vampire that tried to kill me. Just be careful okay?" I ask him worried that he would get hurt in the supernatural hurricane. "I will be. I promise. I'll call you tomorrow?" Jer asks and I smile, "Yeah. Okay. Love you Jer. Take care." I tell him. "Love you too Elle. Be safe." Jer says and I cut the call. I lie down on my bed which is way too comfortable.

After just lying in bed for a few minutes I go back down to see Ares working while Noah is reading again. I sit down next to Ares who is trying to make a suit design for Noah's award party. Apparently his hotel is winning an award. I think. "Need help?" I ask Ares. Even though I'm not big on dresses or makeup, the past two weeks of being friends with Ares has changed a lot. For example, I can actually do makeup on my own; I usually don't but I can if I need to. I can also apparently design clothes, I don't know why Ares thinks I can. And I also wear dresses occasionally now. "Yes. Definitely. Noah is no help whatsoever." Ares says with slight anger but Noah just chuckles, not even bothering to look up. I take the sketchpad Ares hands me and start to draw what I imagine Noah would gladly wear. An all red three piece with blue or white shirt and no tie. I color it and hand it over to Ares. "So...?" I ask Ares as he stares at the page along with Noah. "I like it." Noah says and smiles at me. "It's nice. Thank you Elle." Ares says and relaxes back into the couch. I smile at them and lie down with my head on Ares's lap. It had become a habit to stay at their place most of the time. I sometimes even sleep here rather than in my own apartment. "You're coming too right?" Ares asks me. "Coming where?" I ask him confused as to what he was talking about. "To the award function. It's not a question by the way, you're going wether you like it or not." Noah says. I sigh knowing there's no way out. "You can wear the dress I bought you last week." Ares says, that was something Ares has been doing, if he finds a dress he thinks would look good on me, he gets it and keeps it in my room here. He had forced to wear the dress he bought me when we went to tour New York just a few days ago when he dragged me to some event since Noah was busy and he didn't want to go alone. "Sure Ares. Whatever you want." I agree knowing that he will have his way, whenever I say no to something Ares wants he either gives me the silent treatment or gives me these looks that make it feel like I threatened to kill Noah and he's begging me to spare his life; which means I eventually have to agree with him. So I don't argue anymore.

We were all sitting in silence, Noah was reading his book again, Ares was sketching; something he does when he's bored and I have my head in Ares's lap and have my eyes closed since my head hurts. "Staying here tonight?" I hear Ares ask. "Yeah. I think I'm going to go to sleep." I tell him and stand up. "Alright. Goodnight." Ares says and I hug him before doing the same to Noah who seems surprised. "Goodnight." I tell them and go up the stairs. I get to my room and lock the door. I clean up all the things that were just laying around in my room and then go clean up myself and then go before lying down on my bed. I close my eyes and try to sleep but my head keeps throbbing. I sigh before deciding to ask Ares if he had something for a headache. I go downstairs and neither Ares nor Noah are there. I debate wether or not to disturb them. I go back to my room and look through the cabinets in the bathroom to see if there's any medicine for a headache. I finally find Ibuprofen and take a pill while swallowing it with water and then wash my face with cold water. I sit back down on my bed waiting for my headache to go down. After a few minutes I feel the pain lessen and sigh in relief and lie down on my bed in hopes of getting enough sleep so I'm not tired the whole day at the academy tomorrow. I turn off the lights and close my eyes as I finally feel sleep taking over and the pain dulling to a numb sensation.