Chapter Fifteen
The carriage moved down the path while Giacomo looked out the window and flexed his fingers. Constance was sitting across from him while Cross sat on her wrist and her heart hurt, seeing the anger and pain in his eyes. The carriage stopped at the marble stairs as the coachman hopped down and opened the door. Giacomo got out of the carriage then turned, helping Constance out of the carriage, and they walked up the stairs. Standing near the carriage, Giacomo calculated the thickenss of the door when he sighed then took her hand and they walked down the stairs. Looking around, Giacomo looked around when he half ran to the French doors and sighed. Kicking the French doors opened, he walked inside the room while Constance followed him and Giacomo looked around the room.
The walls were a cream color with crystal chandeliers on the ceiling and elegant furnishings and ivory pots with large plants sat in the corners. Portraits of his sister and her family were on the walls and white tiles covered the floor. Giacomo walked around the room while he checked for bodies or blood trails but the white tile floor was clean and he turned, seeing Constance standing next to the white, stone fireplace and she was looking up at the portrait of his sister. Sighing, Giacomo walked to her when he slid his arms around her waist and she leaned against him.
"Why?" she whispered while he stroked her hair and he turned her around to face him.
"I don't know," he whispered then took her hand and they walked out of the room. Most of the morning was spent searching the first floor and several bodies were found, making the anger in Giacomo's heart grew hotter. By late afternoon they had found more bodies when they came to the master bed chamber and Giacomo slowly opened the doors. His heart caught in his chest when he walked further in the room and blood covered the white tile floor, spread across the white, satin duvet and he stood at the foot of the bed. "No."
The mutilated bodies of his sister, her husband and his nieces and nephews lay on the bed as he looked at them when something made him look up and what was on the wall made his blood ran cold. ROBERTO VINCENZI, YOU TOOK MY FAMILY AND NOW I TAKE YOURS! had been written in blood as he balled his hands into fists and Constance walked closer, placing her hand on his shoulder. Not speaking, Giacomo turned then stormed out of the room and she followed close behind him. Storming outside, Giacomo headed for the carriage when he heard something and saw a carriage coming closer. Drawing the silver blade out of the scabbard, he stood in front of the carriage while the other carriage stopped and the coachman hopped down, opening the door. Constance stood behind Giacomo when a tall figure got out of the carriage and Giacomo smiled, placing the silver blade sword back in the scabbard.
"Brother," Roberto Vincenti said with a nod of his head and Giacomo walked to him, hugging him.
"Thank God," Giacomo sighed as Roberto leaned his head to one side.
"What is going? Why did you send word to meet you here? Where is Antonia?" his brother asked in rapid fire succession.
"All will be answered once we're gone," Giacomo said then introduced Constance to Roberto and Roberto nodded his head to her. Helping them into the carriage, Giacomo got into the carriage then pounded his fist on the ceiling of the carriage and the carriages headed down the path. No one noticed the curtains moving in one of the room on the fourth floor and Giacomo turned around, watching the house growing smaller in the distance.
"No, I do not believe this!" Roberto said while Giacomo hushed him and looked around the room. They had stopped off at a local inn as they sat at a table near the fireplace and Roberto growled, folding his arms over his chest.
"Brother, I wish to Heaven that I was making this up, but the truth of the matter is it's real. Father is dead and so are Antonia and her family," Giacomo said and Roberto picked up the glass of wine in front of him and tossed the wine back, swallowing the wine in one gulp.
"But that is impossible. There are no such things as….," he said then leaned closer and locked eyes with Giacomo. "….Vampires."
"I never thought there were as well, but it would explain what Father was doing during those "trips" he took every other week or so. Don't you remember that time when we were children and you found that bloody shirt in his wardrobe?" Giacomo asked in reference to the time they were playing Hide and Seek and Roberto was hiding in his father's wardrobe.
"Yes, of course I remember. He told us that he had a bloody nose and had changed his shirt," Roberto said and Giacomo gave him a blank look.
"That was a good amount of blood for a nose bleed. And why didn't he burn the shirt? Why did he keep it?"
"How should I know?"
"And why were there times that he would either be limping or wouldn't allow us to hug or touch him? It was because he was injured."
"But you would think Mother would have noticed."
"Yes, she did know, but she wouldn't speak of such things to us or anyone else or people would think she was mad," Giacomo said and Roberto sighed, sitting back in the chair.
"So, if I'm to believe any of this, I have to take your word that this… De'Avante not only is a vampire, but he also killed our brother, caused our father's death and had just slaughtered our sister, her family and her household staff?" Roberto asked and Giacomo nodded his head. Roberto thought for a few moments then sighed and pinched his eyes closed. "This is insane. There are no such things as vampires, werewolves or witches."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Constance said as he looked at her and Constance looked around, waved her hand over the candle sitting on the table and snapped her fingers. The flame appeared on the wick of the candle as he looked at her and she slightly smiled.
"My word," Roberto said as she blew the candle out and he looked at Giacomo. "You knew that she's…that she is…?"
"Yes, but that is beside the point. De'Avante is after our family and we need to go home and make sure that Mother is alright."
"And if he has killed her?"
"Then I am going to hunt him down and send that bastard back to Hell!" Giacomo said and lightly pounded his fist on the top of the table.
Las Vegas, Nevada 2011
"Peter?" Jane asked as he blinked his eyes and pushed the book toward Charlie. Sighing, Peter leaned against the side of the table when he looked at the floor and pinched his eyes with his fingers.
"I'm ok," he said with a nod of his head and Charlie looked at the picture.
"Shit, according to this, De'Avante belonged to one of the most powerful vampire families in Europe. He was first seen during the French Revolution and was in charge of the night guard of the Bastille," Charlie said while Peter walked around to his side of the table and looked at the book.
"It makes sense. No one would suspect the head of the night guard if people started disappearing. They would just believe that they had been executed," Peter said.
"Does it say when he was last spotted?" Cassandra said while she and Jane walked closer and Cassandra slid her fingers against Peter's fingers. Peter moved his finger over the page then turned the page and frowned. On the page was a drawing of the silver blade sword and Peter moved his fingers over the drawing. "What is that?"
"It looks like a sword," Charlie said and Peter nodded his head. Peter walked to the shelf when he opened a wooden box and took something out of the wooden box. Walking back to the table, he held the magnifying glass in his right hand as he looked at the drawing and could just see tiny writing on the blade of the sword. "What does that say?"
"I can't tell. The writing is too small," Peter said as Cassandra looked at the tiny writing and moved the magnifying glass up to the handle of the sword.
"Fuck," she whispered as they looked at her and Peter arched an eyebrow.
"What?" he asked and placed the magnifying glass on the table.
"I've seen that sword before."
"You have?" Jane asked and Cassandra nodded her head.
"Where did you see it?" Charlie asked and Cassandra looked at them then sighed.
"I'll show you," she said as she took Peter's hand while they left the room and the pages of the book moved back to the drawing of Jean-Phillipe De'Avante and a low growling came from the page.
The car stopped at the curb as Cassandra got out of the car and Jane followed her. Peter took the cage out of the back of the car while Charlie closed the door and they looked at the house.
"Oh, now that's what I call a classic," Jane said with a grin as Peter gently nudged her in the side and smiled.
"This isn't time for Real Estate Jane to come out and play, Love," he teased as she gently slapped his arm and they walked up the front path then walked up the stairs. Cassandra opened the front door as she stood in the doorway and looked at them. She held her hands out as Peter handed her the cage and she placed the cage on the floor to her left. "Right, ask us in."
"Jane, Charlie, please come in," she said as she stood back and Charlie rolled his eyes and Jane softly laughed as they walked inside and Cassandra held her hand out, placing it against Peter's chest. "Hold on."
"Hey, why can't I come in?" he asked when she lightly puckered her lips and he laughed, shook his head and kissed her lips.
"Now you can come in," she teased as he sighed then got a snobby look on his face and sauntered inside. Closing the door, Cassandra watching him swinging his hips side to side and he looked back at her, giving her a wink. Cassandra removed Cross from the cage while Jane looked around the front hall, looked up at the staircase that winded up to the second floor and placed her hand on the railing.
"Amazing," Jane said softly while Cassandra walked into the main parlor and placed Cross on the wooden perch in the left corner. She watched Peter walking around the room when he stopped in front of the stone fireplace then titled his head to one side and Charlie stood next to him. A picture frame was facing the wall as Peter looked back at Cassandra and she walked closer, standing next to him.
"Is there a reason that's facing the wall?" Peter asked.
"It's always faced the wall," Cassandra said when Peter looked at Charlie, walked over to the high back chair with red cushions, picked up the high back chair and carried it back to the fireplace. Jane came into the room while Peter stood on the high back chair, reached for the picture frame and turned it around. He hopped off the high back chair as they looked at the portrait and their eyes went wide.
"Shit," Charlie said as they looked at the two people in the portrait and Peter looked at Cassandra.
"They look like…"Jane said as she stood near Peter and he nodded, slowly blinking his eyes.
"They look like me and Cassy," he said softly as he looked at the portrait of Giacomo and Constance and folded his arms over his chest.