Chapter 14

The Feud Becomes Dangerous

Just as Lukas had said, Brent was sent up here. I quickly pulled up the blanket to keep some modesty around him at least, because he was a gentleman. We shared a smile for a long moment, and then he walked in and closed the door behind him. "Hey. You wanted to see me?" he questioned, taking a seat at the end of my bed. I handed him my tray and then leaned back.

"I know this is probably random, but I want you to teach me how to block my mind."

Brent looked at me curiously a moment, and I realized he was concentrating on reading my mind. He grimaced. "Rylan does some unusual things sometimes…and Alec, well, he wouldn't have been much help anyways."

I blushed slightly, and then wiped sheepishly at my face. "So…can you?" I asked hopefully.

He thought a long moment and then nodded. "Yes, but first things first. How are you feeling?"

"Better. I can sit up by myself." I smiled a crooked smile. Brent returned it.

"Then would you like to meet my mother? She seems to have taken quite the liking to Elly and Max, so maybe she's okay with you living here."

My eyebrows shot up. "Elly and Max are here at this moment?" Brent nodded in response. I nibbled my lower lip for a moment and then sighed.

"Okay. But you have to wait by my door for a moment. I'm going to try to get dressed." As I spoke, I began to slide off my bed. I was still weak on my feet, I realized as soon as I stumbled forward. Brent caught me easily.

"I can help you stand." he offered softly. Then he raised a free hand over his heart. "I swear I won't peek."

I gave a tired laugh and nodded. He lead me to my dresser and I quickly pulled out a pair of nice, black sweatpants and a purple shirt with a black, gothic rose adorning the hem. I held onto Brent's arm as he helped me slip the shirt over my head and then down over my stomach. Then he awkwardly held my shoulders, with me giggling manically the whole time at such a graceless situation this was, as I pulled on my sweatpants.

Finally, he actually brushed my hair and tied it into a nice ponytail. My hair was slightly dirty, and I knew I was in desperate need of a shower after I met Cassidy. Then Brent helped me down the stairs, and I took a deep breath before we entered the living room.

I came into a room where a beautiful blonde woman that appeared in her early twenties sat across from Elly, Max, Rylan and Alec, and between Claude and Lukas. Her and Elly were laughing softly about something, and I felt a slight pang of jealousy toward Elly. How had she managed to win the mother over so easily?

As if my entrance was full of eeriness as if from a catacomb, everyone turned to look at me. I finally saw the woman's face, and nearly gaped at her beauty. She looked like a model, with high-cheekbones and long eyelashes. Her eyes were also a beautiful emerald green. The green of Rylan's eyes. Her lips were painted red and plumped, and to my shock, they were turned down into a sneer as she peered at me.

"So you're Avanni. The little rebel I've heard so much about." she greeted. Though it didn't sound much of a greeting. More of an insult.

Brent tightened his grip around my elbow, as if keeping me from retorting with the comeback evident on my tongue. Instead, I gave a sickeningly sweet smile. "It's nice to meet you too, Cassidy."

Brent let go of my arm and strode toward the armchair. He took a seat, and motioned for me to sit on the loveseat beside it. Instead of sitting, I stretched out onto it, and attempted to give Cassidy my forced smile. She watched me with those piercing eyes. They were just as emotionless as Rylan's were, which freaked me out just a tad. Could she put images into my mind too?!

"Now what? Do I call you Ava, Avanni or Rebel?" She suddenly asked…err, more of demanded.

"Just Ava, please." I said. Oh God, I was going to wipe my mouth out with soap. Please? Puh-leez.

Cassidy leaned against Claude slightly, and he hesitantly wrapped an arm around her. I could see him tensing. "In that case," Cassidy drawled, "you can call me Cassy."

I froze, and my mind went flying back to my dream. The woman had been called Cassy by Claude, right? I didn't have much time to think about it, because Claude started a conversation regarding the nightwalker.

"So far, the only information we've required from this nightwalker is his name." he began, looking to each one of us as he spoke. His eyes landed on me. "And he also suddenly seems to want Ava as his bride."

"Which is slightly unappealing." Cassy interrupted. Claude sent her a look with raised eyebrows, and she shut up. I bit my lip and kept myself from glaring at her for Brent.

"Anyways," Claude continued, leaning forward and releasing Cassy. "It will take at least two or three weeks to properly track down and kill Jakobi, now that he is most likely aware we have a tracker among us."

I raised an eyebrow. "How did you find out his name?"

Claude and Cassy shared an uneasy glance. "He was a -uh… living brother of the nightwalker we thought we had killed years ago. After we killed what we thought was the last of them, we've interpreted this new nightwalker looks a lot like the one we kill and tore in half all those years before. So, Cassy did some research, and it would seem that Jakobi is the escaped brother of that dead nightwalker."

I stared at him in surprise. "Seriously?! So basically, he wants revenge?!"

Claude nodded. "But of course. What nightwalker would do otherwise after his brother is brutally murdered while in shackles?"

There was a long pause around the room as I deciphered what he said. "Shackles?" I asked curiously. Everyone in the room looked over at me. "Shackles…in a dark dungeon…somebody killed a vampire in a dungeon….they sliced him in half from the chest up…" I trailed off, my eyes wide as the memories from my first dream of living here came flooding into my brain painfully. The horror and cries of the nightwalker getting killed made me shudder in disgust.

I saw nearly everybody except Elly, Max, Rylan and Brent sit up on the edge of their seats. "You shouldn't know that." Alec said distantly, staring at me like I had suddenly grown fangs too.

Claude leaned forward and touched my arm, knocking me out of my daze once more. "How do you know that? That happened long before you were born. That was Jakobi's brother… so how…" he paused, sharing a confused look with Alec.

"My dream…the morning I woke up screaming. It was that dream." My voice sounded so far away to me. I felt dizzy. I had dreamt something real. I had dreamt of a true murder. And the same with the Cassy and Claude dream. That had to have been Alec, because Alec had changed Claude and… I quickly stood up and put a hand to my head. "I don't feel good. I need…"

I never had a chance to finish my sentence. My weakness from loss of blood and nutrients caught up to me and I collapsed to the floor. I heard someone gasp my name, but that was the last thing I heard before the darkness overcame me.

"So now what will you do?" An unfamiliar woman asked Jakobi. He was sitting next to a body laying on the ground motionless, face up. The hair was spread around the girl's head like billowing smoke, and there were bloody bitemarks all over her naked body. Jakobi looked up at the stranger woman and smirked, his mouth coated in red liquid as well.

"I'm going to allow her to die, firstly." he replied, slowly reaching to touch the unconscious girls' bare chest. He stroked her ivory flesh, as if savoring the way the blood contorted the beauty into something dangerous.

"And then what? What do you think the Darquecaster's would say, hnn?" the woman demanded, crossing her arms. Jakobi sent her an irritated look.

"You mean what would they do? Though they couldn't achieve much. Not with her life at stake after all." Jakobi stroked upwards, nonchalantly cupping the wounded girl's chin and tilting her head upwards toward the light. Her face came into view, and Jakobi's chuckle sounded through the room like rain clashing against aluminum foil.

I shot up in my bed, feeling an adrenaline rush. My body was shaking nearly uncontrollably, and I was trying to breath. I felt like I was having a panic attack. "Whoa, hey, hey! Breath! Ava, you need to breath!" Brent's soothing voice sounded beside me, and I looked over barely to see him, Claude and Alec standing by my bedside. Brent's cool fingers touched my cheeks gently, and it was enough to let me breath.

"What happened?" Claude asked, nearing my side. Alec remained where he was, staring hard and thoughtfully at me.

"Her dream. She had another one. Do you mind?" Brent asked me softly, running a reassuring hand through my hair, which had fallen discreetly out of its hold. I shrugged weakly. Brent closed his eyes and touched my temples. I waited a long few moments and Brent snapped his eyes open and pulled back.

"Did you see my dream?" I asked breathlessly. My heart was still hammering against my chest, though not as painfully. Brent was staring at me in shock.

"You… that was…" he trailed off, finally out of words to say. Alec and Claude were studying him.

"It was me." I choked. I felt hot tears brimming my eyes. The girl who had been naked and wounded and bloody on the floor had been me.

"How is this happening?" A new voice asked anxiously from the doorway. I looked over. Cassy was standing against the doorframe, arms across, and hair flipped casually over her shoulder.

"How is she having these dreams of the past and future? I have no clue." Brent replied quite bitterly. "Not even I can do such a thing."

"The future?" I asked, horrified. Then that was me in the future with Jakobi?! Oh God, no.

Brent gave curt nod, a grimace on his handsome face. He stood up and looked to me straight on. "Do you know of anyone in your old, biological family who may have had strange powers that humans could achieve? Like sixth senses or something? Witches?"

"Witches? Don't be ridiculous." Alec snorted.

I shook my head to Brent, ignoring Alec. "I haven't spoken to anyone in my biological family for…years." I couldn't quite remember how long, because I was currently distracted by everything that was going on.

Cassy stood up and strode into my room. "Well then, looks like we'll need to find out. If you have these strange human powers, then we could train you and use them in the hunt. You could be a great asset."

"I don't know whether that's a compliment or a sacrifice on my part." I muttered under my breath, but Cassy heard it and smirked in a careless way.

"Take it as a sacrifice, sweety. And remember not to get in my way until you've figured out if you can train these powers of yours." she seemed to be mocking me, but I wasn't sure. She turned and left my room without another word or glance. Brent stared after her in frustration, and Claude sighed and shook his head.

"I was really hoping she wouldn't act like this." he murmured. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Parents never really understand me." I replied.

Brent decided to change the subject. "Okay, first things first. We need to confront one of your family members. Someone who had spent a lot of time with you before you left. Someone who knows a lot about you." he eyed me, and I felt my horror and hesitation well up inside of me.

"You mean…" I trailed off, my eyes widening. "Oh no…"

Brent wrapped me into a hug. "I'm sorry. It's the only way."

We were going to see my biological father, who was currently in prison. I had to face my abusive father again. I suddenly felt like I wanted to go back to the darkness of my dreams then face him.