Ch. 7: Sister's By Soul…or Lack There Of

"El, I'm going hunting!" Sparked yelled up the stairs to me.

I can feel my face form into a smirk. I get up, having just been stretched out on the hardwood floor of our New Zealand home, and am down the spiral staircase in the blink of an eye. The smirk on my face deteriorates quickly and I let her feel some agitated emotions.

She gives me a questioning look. "What?" She asks, completely oblivious as to why I'm so agitated.

"You know what." I put my hands on my hips and huff, letting more agitation seep off toward her.

Spark takes a step back as if I'd physically hit her. Her, normally golden, eyes are full of confusion. "El…"

"You're not going hunting…" I said firmly.

"But…but…but El….I'm…" she stuttered.

I cut her off. "You're not going hunting…"

The time, she cuts me off. I can feel the rage, annoyance, and defiance seeping off of her and can actually see the spark of defiance in her eyes. "No. I AM going hunting. I'm bloody thirsty!" If I hadn't pissed her off, she would have laughed at the irony of her statement. I, myself, fought to keep a straight face. She continued. "Not everyone can go for a whole two weeks without anything. It's a…"

I cut her off again. "You're not going hunting…"

She opened her mouth again.

I put my hand over her mouth. "Let me finish oh Queen of Impatience." I rolled my eyes and fought to keep a straight face. "You're not going hunting…alone. I'm going with you." I smirked at her.

My hand was still over her mouth, so, of course, she licked it.

I drew my hand away from her mouth, grimacing. "Oh ew Spark." I wiped my hand on her shirt. "I mean, come on."

She smirked, all her annoyance gone. "Exactly; come on." Spark grabbed my hand and pulled my outside. "And just be happy I didn't bite you." She flashed her dazzling white teeth at me, as if to make a point.

I laughed. She was right; if it had been anyone else she would have bitten a hole through their hands. But ever since France, 70 years or so ago, we've gotten closer; much more sister like.

***

We walked in a stony silence. We didn't run, didn't look at each other; we just walked. We ended up walking through the woods toward England. The pace for me was tauntingly unbearable and slow. The worst part of it all was the absolute emotional cut off. It was like she was feeling nothing at all. We walked in this silence for three days, and two nights. On the third night, we reached a clearing with a brook. Sparked walked into the center of the clearing and laid down and looked up at the starry sky. I walked over tentatively toward her and sat down. Without looking at me, she began talking slowly.

"Okay, I need you to know my full past so you can understand my anger towards it." She sighed and I could tell she was hesitant. "If you looked at that picture you'd notice it's from the 1700s, not 1800s, I'm 296 years old, and as you also know I was an artist, I worked under the name Franklin DiNardo, Something that was very different from my own name. Well the artist, and vampire, Antonio DiMarcini is the man that caught me. He caught me at this gallery putting a piece up, he ripped the hood of my cloak down and saw that I was indeed female, so he thought to use me and exploit me for my flaws. He used me, held me hostage in his basement, well back then they were still known as dungeons. Even though he didn't he torture me physically he did force me to pose for him, all the while calling me his beautiful Jenna. I was his muse, his angel, he has many portraits of me in galleries, all of them have the words beautiful angel somehow worked into the Italian title. It didn't take long for him to develop feelings for me, and I maybe loved him at one point. He changed me on what was my seventeenth birthday, telling me he was going to help me become immortal, now being so young I assumed he was helping me with my art, and not making me a vampire. The last words I heard as a human were 'I love you with all the heart I used to possess Jenna'. He abandoned me shortly after he created me. Do you understand now?"

As Spark told me her past, I found myself lying down next to her. I reached over and touched her hand gently, and we just laid there, just like that, until the sun came up the next day. I understood everything.

***

I looked at Spark, having just finished eating; or drinking as one may look at it. "Aren't you done yet?"

She looked up at me, wiping her mouth. "I was just thinking…"

"How's that going for ya?"

She rolled her eyes at me but smirked lightly. "Oh haha."

I smiled and sat down next to her. "What are you thinking?"

"We need a shopping trip. Where haven't we been in forever?"

I sat back on my heels, thinking. "England." I said after a moment.

"Exactly." She stood up and started running.

"Aw Man! That's cheap." I raced after her.

I groaned and followed Spark's lead. My thoughts went back to our house in New Zealand as we ran. I couldn't help but smile. Spark and I had decided, just after we left France, to "purchase some real estate" so to say. We decided to go somewhere fairly unpopulated and that got a fair amount of rainy days. We agreed on New Zealand; more importantly, we agreed upon the old hidden forest that was supposed to be haunted. Not even the most diehard adventurer would step foot in these woods. Not that it mattered; Spark and I had the house hidden in the trees and we specifically left some beast-like and haunting like marks in the woods. As far as our appearance and our striking beauty to the other citizens of New Zealand, they thought we were simply movie stars. Spark and I always had to be careful about when we walked outside. Throughout the last six decades, Spark and I skipped out on school and college and all of that good stuff. It's not a matter of we didn't want to go, or that we didn't trust ourselves, or that we didn't have the financials. It was more a matter of not being able to look like we were senior college students, or even a graduate's student. We both have obtained enough money over the years to live more than comfortably; granted, we didn't live as grand as Edward did with Carlisle, two people neither of us have seen for a while, but money wasn't really a problem for us. We built our house in the haunted woods, deciding on New Zealand for the simple fact of not a lot of people travel there, except for movie productions. We keep to ourselves, the locals thinking we're just standoff-ish movie stars.

We got to England without any problems. We ran to London and walked around slowly, forcing ourselves to act more like a human. Spark almost instantly found a store and quickly pulled me into it. I groaned, but I couldn't help but smile. Shopping with Spark was always, and probably will always be fun. We tried on tons of clothes, and as Spark paid for all the ones we ended up buying, I went a found us another form of transportation…can you say motorcycle? I pulled up next to the store and walked in. I walked next to Spark and grabbed one of the bags from her hand, going through it for a clean set of clothes.

"Did you get us a car?" she asked me, arching an eyebrow.

I nodded, finding a beige sweater and a pair of jeans. "Yeah, I got us a means of transportation." I said as I headed into the changing room.

"Oh?"

I smirked at her curiosity. "So while I was finding our means of transportation…" I paused and held back a laugh at the new wave of curiosity that rushed over Spark. "…I overhead some people talking about a cute little magic shop in Ottery St. Catchpole. I was thinking we could probably head out there…find something to laugh at." I smiled and walked out of the changing room. I pulled my long golden hair up into a parted pony tail, leaving a few strands to frame my face. I smiled at her.

Spark looked at me in confusion. She'd changed into a warm green sweater and a pair of jeans. "Where is that?"

"Not too far away." I smiled at her. "So what do you think?"

She nodded. "I'm game." She smiled brightly at me, almost revealing her teeth.

I hit her lightly. "I'd pull your hair up." I offered with a smirk. "It's gunna be a windy ride." I winked at her then headed out of the store, grabbing our bags. I set them down in the passenger car, which I'd bought solely for the purpose of shopping. Spark and I would fit comfortably on the bike itself.

I straddled the bike and kicked it into life, it roaring quietly underneath me. I smiled over at her. "Well, are you coming?"

"You…you got a motorcycle?!"

I laughed at her expression. "Yes, Princess, I did. It's fast, it's cheap, it's freaking awesome, and I can weave in and out of cars faster than with another car. Now get on."

"But…but…It's gunna mess up my hair!" she whined as she hopped on behind me.

I rolled me eyes. "You'll be fine. I swear." With that, I began racing through the streets of London, and headed toward the little village in Devon.

***

We drove up a dirt road, into a small, quaint village; it had a warm, cozy feel. I glanced back at Spark to see her expression; she looked at peace with the world. I laughed quietly and looked back at the dirt road. I drove us up a hill, seeing a sign saying "Mischief Maker Magic Shop." I pulled to a stop and waited for Spark to get off the bike.

"Do you feel the peace and serenity this place has?" Spark asked as she got off the bike. She had the most peaceful look in the world on her face.

I laughed quietly. "Of course I do Sparkle." I tapped my head with my pointer finger. "I feel the same thing you feel so long as I'm around you." I got off my bike before I felt this light warmth coming from inside the shop. I froze and tried to tap into the power, but nothing happened. I frowned as I felt another flame just like the first, with the slightest difference.

Spark sensed my hesitation and my curiosity. "El…" she whined. "You're killing my buzz. What's wrong?"
"I feel two powers…but I can't figure out what they do…" I frowned.
"Oh come on." Spark grabbed my hand and pulled me into the shop.

"Sp..." I stopped; it was useless. I sighed and looked around.

The shop was quaint, like the rest of the village. There were wands and cards and cloaks and those stupid hats. There was a beautiful necklace that sparkled in the light, a sign next to it saying it was supposed to be a charmed pendant; whoever wore it would see a doubling in their magical abilities so long as it was around their neck. The light of the store made the stones sparkle and glimmer; truly eye catching.

However, my golden eyes weren't on the pendant; they were on the tall, skinny, red-haired, freckled boy who was laughing with a boy who looked almost identical; he was just a little shorter. As I looked at them joking around, I know they were the two with the unidentifiable powers. I nudged Spark and nodded toward them. I whispered to her "That's them...but they're human..."

Spark glanced at them and whispered "Are you sure?"

I turned around, pretending to look at the wands behind me, nodding slightly. I noticed the shorter of the two catch my nod earlier and had turned toward the other one. Out of the corner of my eye I watched the taller one turned around. I felt his eyes on me as I walked toward the pendant.

Spark walked towards the cards that were close to the pendant I was looking at. "They're kind of cute..." she whispered so quietly their human ears wouldn't hear a thing. "Especially the shorter one..."

I rolled my eyes. "First off, they're twins; they aren't much different. Second, and more importantly, they're HUMAN."

She nodded slightly, only my keen eyes could catch the movement. "Doesn't make him any less cute."

She paused and then frowned. "The taller one is attracted to you..."

I looked at her in shock. But before I could say anything, I felt him next to me. He was looking at the pendant and I could feel his confidence. That surprised me. Spark and I generally get nothing but stares and quick glances away; our unnatural beauty threatened most humans. Our nature makes humans instinctively stay away from us. The fact that he was standing so close to me was shocking enough; but the lack of fear had me thoroughly confused.

"It's beautiful; isn't it?" he asked me softly. I couldn't help but notice his scent, it was like honey and pastries and then some kind of chemical smell. I wondered what it was.

I nodded, not mentally prepared enough to taste his scent. My hand farthest from him balled into a fist as I thought about how good it was that Spark and I had come across those deer on our way here.

He looked at me curiously before opening his mouth to say something.

Spark interrupted him. She grabbed my arm and whispered "I need to get out of here. He's making me love you in unnatural ways." she paused. "I'll just wait by the bike El." She said a little louder.

I watched her walk away; I thought she'd be my ticket away from hell. I sighed then looked back at the twin in front of me.

He was smiling. "El?" he asked looking rather amused. "Is that short for Elizabeth?"

I shook my head. "Elanor." My bell-like voice rang out softly. I watched his eyes glaze over. I noticed the other twin head for the door; at least he was smart enough to keep away. I sent Spark the strongest cautious emotions I could muster, knowing she'd probably be trying to block all the emotions from inside the shop; lord knows I was.

"Elanor? That's a beautiful name. But isn't it a little dated?"

I narrowed my eyes slightly; he may have been right, but I loved my name. "My mum and dad were a little old fashioned you could say."

He smiled; he liked hearing my voice.

"Ah, I see. Well my name is Fred; Fred Weasley." he looked at me with twinkling hazel eyes, as if I should know him.

"Never heard of you." I said with a shrug. His initial lure was decreasing rapidly as I got accustomed to his scent.

He laughed and the sound made me smile; he has a nice laugh and something told me he used it a lot.

I felt myself look at him curiously. "What?"

He chuckled again. "I doubt any of your kind would have heard of me." he said, still chuckling.
My heart froze, figuratively of course, and I looked at him, taking a step back.

"Whoa, it's okay. My brother is dating one of you." Fred held his hands up in an "I come in peace" fashion.

I took another step back. I could feel the shock register on my face. "WHAT?!?!" I couldn't believe a vampire would date a human...

"Yeah. Fleur. She's a Veela..." he smiled at me, as if that should mean something.

I opened my mouth to ask what on earth a Veela was, when multiple things happened...sorta.

Fred's freckled face blurred out of my heightened vision. Instead I saw a clearing Spark and I would be heading to, saw two faces I've grown to love, and saw that this would be occurring in a few moments. I groaned and held my head, which was now pounding. "Alice..." I said softly.

Fred looked concerned. He reached forward to touch my arm and help hold me steady, but he pulled back his hand at the slightest touch; he actes as if he'd been shocked.

I headed toward the door. "I have to go." I muttered. My head was still spinning.

"Elanor! Wait!" Fred took a step toward me. "When will I see you again?"

I looked at him. "Right here, this time next week. One week exactly. I have to go." I flew out the door and looked at Spark with wide eyes.

***

Spark walked outside quickly. "Ewwwwwwww." She shook her head and walked over to the bike. She sat down on it, trying to concentrate only on the serenity of the village. She kept her back to the door and ran a hand through her ebony hair. Then she felt the love increase, as if the person feeling the emotions was walking closer. Then she smelt the rich scent of human, and could hear a heartbeat. She turned, wide eyed, and saw one of the twins, the one she'd said was cute, walking toward her.

"Hi." He said softly.

Spark looked at him with wide amber eyes for a moment. "Err…" Since Spark was as old as she was, and never tasted human blood, she didn't have to deal with the horrible burning sensation that most vampires dealt with. "Hi." She said softly.

"I'm George. George Weasley." He smiled charmingly at her, his hazel eyes twinkling gently.

"Jennifer. " she nodded once. "But you can call me Spark." She managed a soft smile. There was something about him that made her want to talk to him.

"Spark? That's an interesting nickname. Does your wand spark a lot?" He smiled at her.

"W…oh, erm, yeah. It does." Spark shrugged, wondering what on earth he was talking about.

"That's cool." He smiled then saw the bike. "Whoa! No way. This bike is wicked." His hazel eyes grew about twice their size.

Spark got up and looked at it. She laughed softly, careful not to show too much of her sharp teeth. "It's El's. She's in love with this thing." She shook her head.

"Oh it's beautiful." George nodded. "Though I'm not really one for muggle contraptions."

"Muggle?" Spark tilted her head to the side slightly.

"Yeah. Non-magical people. Do you not call them muggles wherever you come from?" George looked at her curiously.

"Umm…no." Spark managed a small smile. It was easy to talk to him. She noticed a warm feeling she'd once identified as love. She shook her head; it was just that twin inside with El…there was no way she was feeling this way about him. She couldn't, she wouldn't.

George smiled at her charmingly. He hesitated, then said slowly "Would you like to g…" but he was cut off.

"Right here, this time next week. One week exactly. I have to go." Elanor said as she flew out of the door.

Spark looked at her curiously, then felt the emotions coming off of her. "Wh…"

***

I looked at Spark who was standing rather close to the twin. She opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off. "We need to go. Now." I gave her a 'I'll explain later' look.

Spark looked at me with…disappointment? I shrugged it off. Now wasn't the time to think about that. I straddled the bike and kicked it into life, watching Fred walk out of the store.

Spark grabbed onto my waist. "Sorry George. I have to go."

"When will I see you?" he asked in obvious disappointment.

I could feel Spark's eyes on me.

I rolled my own eyes. "Right here, this time next week. One week exactly. Good bye." And we were speeding off before anything else could be said.