I used to feel scared whenever anyone left me alone. I used to wonder whether they would come back, and whether I would ever see them again. I'm insecure. I know this as well as I know that the world is not just a place where nothing bad happens. So when Dante and Trish told me that I would be left alone, with Orion, I felt scared again. I wish I were more confident. I wish I had the strength to rely on myself. But I don't. I always feel that someone has to be near me, has to be talking to me.
I understand and realize that I'm not the most social person around. But even I need someone to be near me, someone who'll understand me. After having a childhood like mine, in which I didn't have anyone, I've always felt a big empty space inside me. Nothing can fill it. Don't think for a second I'm ungrateful. The truth is, I know I would have died had I been left to live with my mother for much longer.
I'm watching Dante and Trish leave now and I feel as though the whole of my world is collapsing. Why do they have to go? Why can't they take me with them? This does, after all concern me…they tell me I'm not experienced enough, but how can I gain experience, if they never give me the chance to prove myself? I often ask myself, whether they secretly think that something is wrong with me, but then I refuse to believe it. If there was something wrong with me, they would have already disposed of me. Orion seems to sense my grief. But is this grief? I don't know…I can't explain the feelings that run through my own head…Arson's also looking at me. I think he is feeling the same as me. And who can blame him? Ophelia, our mother, is trying to kill us and Kryder, our father…well…no one really knows what might be going through his head. Arson has risen and he is walking towards me, a warm smile on his face.
It seems like such an age since he was a little kid. But he must feel the same way about me. We've both grown so much without really realizing it. It's shocking, in a way. Arson has often asked me about what Mother meant when she had said those things to me, when we were trapped in the alley.
Once Arson had left after that blast, I felt as though a part of me had gone. I've always been under the belief that a brother and a sister share a bond that is unique to them and them only. No one can break that bond, even if someone tries to get in the way and if either one of their vision gets clouded, somewhere, deep down, the bond still exists. It just needs time to resurface. Luckily for Arson and I, this hasn't been the case. As twins, I think that we will always be close, and that we will never be separated for too long again. Once he had left, I withdrew into myself, wanting nothing but my brother's company. I knew that it might have cost him his life if he returned, but I was selfish and I cared only for his company, and not for his life. Anyway, I found that I could no longer talk to people. I always felt as though when I would talk, I would be sick, or start crying. It's hard to explain the kind of emotions that ran through me at that time. Most of the time, it was a feeling of loss. I'd lost my father, and I'd lost my real mother a long time ago. Mom had gone, now there was only Mother. The warm, kind-hearted Mom who'd make me feel safe had died and been defeated by a monster, a woman who cared nothing for the feelings of her offspring.
I remember actually feeling relieved when I came home to a smouldering house. I remember rushing in and seeing no sign of Mother anywhere. I remember how I had silently rejoiced. I found no sign of Arson either, so I knew that he had somehow escaped. As for my mother, there was no way in which she would be able to survive. I knew Arson was still alive, because I knew that fire and heat seemed to strengthen him instead of cause his death.
Imagine my surprise when I hear her coughing behind me, and when I see her slowly pulling herself free from underneath fallen furniture. It was like something out of a nightmare. Her face was blackened by ash and her clothes were black and torn. Blood seemed to ooze out of her mouth in black globs of liquid. I remember screaming but then I fainted.
When I woke up, I was in a new place. It turned out that Mother had invested in buying a spare flat. She told me she had done so "just in case". The flat was even smaller then the one we had been living in. But that didn't bother me in the slightest. The only thing that really scared me was waking up to find a dagger in my throat. Mother became impossible to live with, she started cutting me on purpose and bruising me and beating me if I did not do the chores quick enough.
Arson was right when he told Dante that no one could escape her. Not even I escaped her wrath.
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Arson smiled at Val and looked at the problem she was working on. Chemistry. Arson grinned.
'You need help?' Val nodded and beamed at him. Arson smiled at her, his eyes shining with warmth. It felt good to make his sister smile. He knew what it had been like for her. It was important that she learnt to smile again. 'Okay let's see…' Arson gently took the sheet from her and looked at the question. Val cleared her throat.
'I've got to draw the electronic structure of a Chloride atom…' she said quietly. Arson grinned and took a pencil from her pencil case.
'Okay…just draw a normal chlorine…and then add one extra. Be sure to put a minus sign next to the symbol though…' Orion stretched and yawned. Arson looked up at him and took in his features with interest. Orion had grey, calm eyes, with a faint tinge of blue in them. His hair was blonde, and slightly messy. He turned his eyes on the door and stood up.
'I wonder who that is…' he murmured more to himself than anyone else. Arson and Val looked at each other quizzically. They hadn't heard the bell ring, or even anyone knocking on the door. Orion opened the door and looked down, smiling upon a bewildered looking Rayne.
'Uh…hi' said Rayne. Orion smiled at Arson.
'Come right in,' he murmured softly. Arson waved at Rayne. Rayne smiled and then flinched slightly as he came under the light. Arson frowned as Rayne made his way to a dark corner of the room.
'Are you okay, Rayne?'
'Yeah I'm fine.' Val looked at Rayne curiously but then got back to her work. Orion smiled at Rayne.
'I think I'll dim the lights. Val, you can do your work upstairs.' Arson looked at Rayne and Orion curiously but said nothing.
'What's up Rayne?'
'Man…that lady was looking at you like a piece of shit or something.' Orion flinched slightly at the word but then smiled uneasily. Arson caught the look on his face and lowered his eyes. Rayne looked at Orion and grinned, but then suddenly stopped as he saw Orion frown.
'So what happened?' Arson explained. Rayne frowned.
'So let me get this straight, that lady just chased after you for no reason?' Arson nodded, feeling the back of his neck grow hot as he felt Orion's eyes upon him.
'Y-yeah…that's right.' Rayne grinned. Arson's stuttering was not lost upon him.
'You have nothing to worry about. I'll keep your secret a secret.' Arson looked at him coldly.
'I don't know what you're talking about,' he said, his voice low. Orion stood up at that point.
'We'll promise to keep your identity a secret, vampire.' Rayne's eyes widened.
'What?' Orion smiled gently.
'I'm an angel. I know as well as you do what you are. So does Arson. That's how he knew that you were not like everyone else.'
'Arson? You're an angel?'
'No! I'm a demon!' Arson made sure he sounded proud. He looked in Orion's direction as he did so, making clear that he was no longer ashamed of who he was. Rayne nodded slowly and then smiled. Arson saw only then that Rayne had two small fangs, which only showed when he smiled. Orion suddenly tensed.
'I sense trouble. Stay here.' Rayne, Arson and Val all looked at each other as Orion left the room.
'Are you going to listen to him?' said Rayne at length. Arson nodded. Val shook her head.
'No way! Let's go! I want to follow Trish and Dante!' She said loudly. Arson looked at her and saw how alive her face looked. She looked towards Arson. 'You wanted to too! So why wait? Let's go!' Rayne grinned.
'I might as well come along. It's a long time since I had much fun…' his voice was relaxed.
'I don't know…' said Arson slowly. Val tugged his arm pleadingly.
'We can show them what we're really made of!' Arson shook his head and folded his arms, despite noticing that this was the most energetic and confident look that had ever come across Val's face since she had stayed with them.
'I'm not going!'
'Fine! Me and Rayne will go! C'mon, Rayne!' Val bounded out of the door, Rayne following.
'You sure you're not coming, Arse? You'd be missing out on a lot of fun!' Arson made no answer but stubbornly stood in the middle of the room, his eyes hard.
'No way!' Rayne shrugged and then scampered out of the front door, after Val. Arson looked around the room and then picked up Val's problem page. She hadn't even got half way.
'Hey Val, wait!' he yelled. No answer. Arson sighed with frustration and then quickly threw a rope, food, and his two swords into his school bag. He shouldered his bag and then folded the sheet neatly in two, running out of the building. He suddenly skidded back into the house, unscrewing his pen lid, which he always kept in his pocket. He hastily wrote on a clean sheet of paper before running back out.
'Val! Wait! You haven't done your homework!' In the distance, he saw two figures stop. Val groaned and rolled her eyes as Arson came running up, waving the sheet of paper about frantically. He handed it to her. 'You've got to do your homework! I'm not going to let you slack off!' He turned to Rayne at that point. 'And Rayne, you might be older than me but you sure are thick! How are we going to go after Dante and Trish without food, drink, rope and stuff?' Rayne and Val looked at each other sheepishly. Arson regained his breath.
'Right…well…come on then. We might as well go now. Considering I packed everything.' Arson marched off. Val beamed while Rayne looked puzzled.
'He makes it sound as if we're going to fight things.' Val grinned.
'Sure we are!' Rayne turned pale.
'Uh-oh…maybe this isn't such a good idea after all!'
'What are you talking about? My bro knows everything! He's going to protect us!' Rayne watched Val bound off happily and then groaned.
'That's what I'm afraid about…'