I'M BACK! Yes, I'm back from the horrible experience that is Duke of Edinburgh. Practically raining ALL week, not impressed when I called my mother to find out it was boiling hot weather back at my home town. Anyway, I'm going to continue writing my fanfictions so enjoy the upcoming chapters!

Chapter Twenty-Four

The cause of Adrian's fever remained a mystery to the group. They came up with many reasons; going to bed late, stressing over school work and going through a lot of excitement in a short period of time were just some examples they thought off. But the next day all signs of a fever were gone and Adrian was well enough to go back to school and enjoy the lessons he had, which were English, Science, Maths, RE and Art.

"Christian told me you had a fever yesterday, how are you feeling?"

"A lot better, thanks for asking." It was just Adrian and Tasha talking as everyone else were concentrating on their work and Jill had skipped the lesson to do some club practice. Adrian looked over the classroom to where Mia normally sat, to see the girl wasn't there but her friends were. Curiosity filled his mind. "Hey, where's Mia?"

"Actually, I don't know. Girls?" The three girls looked up. "Do you know where Mia is today?" They glanced at each other.

"Should we tell her?"

"I'm not sure if we should."

"They're going to find out eventually."

"Find out what?" Adrian leant back in his seat. The girls stood up and walked over, seeing that no one else could hear as they all had music in and were working. The girl with brunette hair sat next to Adrian, with a sad look on her face.

"Mia was taken out of school yesterday. Her father came to pick her up, saying that her mother...was murdered." Tasha gasped to herself, covering her mouth. Adrian just sat there, his body going numb and beginning to shake. "Her mother worked in one of the Drozdovs' departments in the city. The office was attacked by a group who call themselves the Strigoi. Sixteen people were killed."

The Drozdovs were another one of the twelve families that were famous in the business world. They focused their business on Real Estate. Mia's mother worked with the family, in one of the offices. The girls looked worried at the two artists in front of them; they were also part of the twelve families. This wasn't the first time the group known as the Strigoi had killed family members of the twelve families.

This was all new to Tasha as she often kept out of the family business, focusing on her career and her nephew. But the Strigoi...Adrian had heard of them before. They were the ones who killed his Great-Aunt. Tasha noticed his trembling and lifted her hand up.

"Adrian, are you okay?" The moment she touched his shoulder his eyes shot wide open. The shattering, the screams, the gunshots, the blood, the pain, all of it flashed through his mind.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Adrian shot up, kicking his chair back and moving away from his art teacher. The girls also moved back away from him, slightly shocked and scared at his reaction. His hand slowly reached to his left shoulder and gripped it tightly. "I...I need to go..." He grabbed his bag and walked out the classroom, slamming the door behind him. That caught the attention of his classmates who looked up and started to mutter between themselves.

The loud noises that were coming downstairs caused Adrian to stir from his sleep and sit up slowly. He was sleeping around his Great Aunt Tatiana's house as his parents were out for the evening, and curiosity of the noise filled the ten-year-old. So Adrian slipped out of bed and walked to the bedroom door. Before he got the chance to open it though it was pushed open his aunt to run in.

"Aunty Tatiana, what's going on?"

"Adrian, hide in the cupboard." She grabbed his wrist and threw him in the cupboard, slamming it shut. Her guards ran in with guns in their hands and scattered around the room to protect the woman and her nephew.

There was a crack in the door so Adrian glanced through it, seeing the guards stand in the room and a couple leave. The sound of gunshots echoed through the mansion that his aunt lived in followed by painful screams and cries from the guards. Adrian covered his mouth to stop himself from screaming, hearing the gunshots get closer and closer.

His eyes shot wide open when he watched a guard in the bedroom fall to the floor, with blood flying out of his chest. The poor boy's body violently tremble and tears stung his eyes, but still he kept his mouth covered so that he wouldn't make any noise. Several more guards fell down after being shot, while others took fire. Groans came from outside. A man staggered in wearing black clothes and a black ski mask, taking aim towards Tatiana but was shot before he could pull the trigger.

There was so much blood in the room and filling the air. It was too much for Adrian, so he closed his eyes and knelt on the floor afraid he was not only going to be caught and shot at but that he was going to throw up. A struggle was heard, and a woman screamed. But not just any woman, Adrian realised.

"AUNTY TATIANA!" Adrian ran out of the door to see the guards were on the floor, and Tatiana was lying on his bed with a knife wound in her chest. The man who stabbed her pulled the blade out of her chest and raised it up above his head, ready to finish off his murder. "NO!" The boy ran forward and jumped on the bed, covering his aunt and getting himself bloody. He held her in his arms, trying to defend his aunt.

This didn't matter to the man. The boy in front of him was just another Ivashkov who one day could take over the company. He was just in the way. So he stabbed the poor boy in the left shoulder blade. Adrian screamed in pain, which drew attention from police officers and more of the mansion's guards who were exploring the house. Before anymore damage could be done on Adrian the man was shot.

"Aunty Tatiana!" Adrian shook his aunt, but it was too late. The stab wound to the chest was directly aimed at her heart. And there was so much blood on the bed. She was already dead, even before was injured.

"The Strigoi strike again." The young boy turned his head around and glanced at the police officers outside the mansion as he was taken away towards an ambulance. "They're attacking the twelve families. Damn Strigoi."

"We need to stop their plans. Or otherwise more people will die."