firstly, I want to apologise for the way this chapter is set out. I had a lot of issues uploading it, for some reason. That's why there's a gap every time someone speaks.
Secondly, I want to apologise for taking so long to update. I've had school and such. Also, I'm actually not very well. I'm off sick today, otherwise I probably wouldn't have updated until tomorrow. My little sister's sick too :(
Finally, lots of love to everyone reading. Please read and review!
THE ANGELS WILL ALWAYS CRY - THE ANGELS WILL ALWAYS CRY
Even Vlad wasn't really hungry. He just pushed the pizza around his plate. Only Olga was willing to eat the pizza with him, but she seemed to have no problem eating enthusiastically. Her cousin stared at her from across the table and wondered where all the food was going.
"Vlad, you didn't even like the Vaccarias." Olga mumbled through a mouthful of food, "I don't see why you're so torn up about this." Vlad sighed, shoving his plate of food towards her. She peered at him curiously, like he was a science experiment.
"I don't know either." Vlad said, "But they're family, Olga. We have to do something."
"They're probably happy. They got their mom back." Olga reminded him, subtly pulling his plate over to her side of the table. She bit into a wedge of pizza and decided it wasn't poisoned. Couldn't be too careful these days.
"And you got your girlfriend back." Olga added, "The slayers are laying low. Everything's cool, Vladdy." With a sigh, Vlad thought about Erin. When he had arrived home, Ingrid and Olga had her pinned to the ground, questioning her relentlessly. He had to pull the pair off of her.
"Erin likes Malik now." Vlad said.
"But Malik likes Ingrid." Olga pointed out, "They're engaged, remember?"
"Whatever." Vlad muttered. He knew that Erin still liked Malik. It seemed like everyone liked Malik, much more than Vlad anyway. Ugh.
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He glanced over at his sister, who was hugging her knees and rocking backwards and forwards. Somewhere along the way, she had managed to lose the bracelets that had previously been clinking up and down on her wrist and received a slash down one side of her face. Malik reached over and pressed his hand to the mark on her face. Emarni flinched.
"Did Mum do that?" he asked. His sister muttered something under her breath and grabbed his arm. There was still a blotchy rash from his wrist to his elbow.
"This is proof that you're half human." Emarni said, "If Father was to see..."
"Well, he's not here, is he?" Malik rolled his eyes, "And nobody cares enough to come looking for us." They were sat in an empty warehouse and Elisabetta had locked the door. She didn't want them escaping just yet.
"It looks stress induced." Emarni said, "You really should put something cold on it."
"Well, if we were locked in a freezer, that wouldn't be a problem. But we're locked in a warehouse. So, shut up!" Malik snarled, pulling his arm away.
"You are not happy." Emarni stated.
"Well done. Do you want a gold star?" Malik stood up and paced the length of the room. When he reached the other side, he sat down on a pile of crates and scowled at the floor. He did not want to see his sister right now. If she wasn't such an idiot, they wouldn't be in this mess.
"You're such an idiot!" Malik yelled at her, "I hate you and I wish you were never born! I was happy, before you turned up!"
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Eventually, Emarni sped across the room at vampire speed. She stood beside him and waited for him to apologise. The moment quickly grew awkward.
"Uh... You know..." Malik said, "Um... Erm..." "Sorry?" Emarni guessed, "It is okay. You do not have to say it."
"Oh, good. I was worried you might be upset or something." Malik said, "Now, how are we going to escape? Is there any way?" He didn't notice the dismayed look on his sister's face. Then, she faked a enthusiastic smile.
"I am sure we will find something." she said.
"Yeah?" "
Yes." Emarni said, "Let us start by checking for air vents. There must be something letting air in, or you would not be able to breathe."
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"But if Malik stole your girlfriend, why are you upset that Elisabetta took him away?" Olga was still bemused. Her cousin was trying to confuse her, she was sure of it. Vlad shrugged, like he didn't know the answer either.
"Draculas stick together, right?" Vlad said, as they turned the corner. They were on the way to the library, which is where the answers to most of their previous problems had been found. Olga and Ingrid had managed to kill off the Shadow Warriors using knowledge they learnt in the library.
"No. We bitterly resent each other and try to kill each other." Olga said, easily reminding Vlad of her morbid nature, "Besides, Malik isn't even a Dracula."
"Shut up!" Vlad said, "If Dad hears you..."
"Why do you care? You don't like Malik!" Olga exclaimed.
"Even if he isn't proper family, he's still related to us through Emarni! And maybe I do like him! Just a little bit! I don't want to just leave the Vaccarias to rot!" Vlad exploded- not literally, that would be weird.
"You're still the same old Vlad then." Olga rolled her eyes, "You'll be wanting my help, I guess."
"Yeah." Vlad said, "You cool with putting your life on the line?" There was a pause, where Olga thought about it. Throwing the library doors open- well, kind of, the doors were still broken from when Emarni had kicked them in- Olga turned to Vlad.
"Who doesn't love a suicide mission?" Olga drawled. Damn, her accent was really starting to bug Vlad. It sounded so fake.
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"Malik." Emarni said, after a while, "You know, when I said you did not have to apologise?" She was watching her brother pound his fist against the wall. He was trying to find a secret exit, hidden behind the wall or something. To be honest, Malik probably had no idea what he was doing. He just wanted to be doing something.
"Yeah." Malik grunted, kicking the wall in frustration.
"It would be really nice, if you did apologise." Emarni hinted, not at all subtly. Malik did not even turn to look at her. He gave no sign that he even heard her. After a few minutes, Emarni gave up on a response. Sighing, she crossed the room and began to claw at the wall.
"What-?" Malik frowned.
"Shut up." Emarni found the spot she was looking for and punched the wall hard. It broke under her fist.
"I'm a genius!" Malik cried, running over to the wall. His younger sister rolled her eyes. Clearly, Malik was going to take after the Count, even though they were not related. He found the air vent hidden in the wall and began to prise it open. What neither of them noticed, was their mother appearing behind them.
"Children." Elisabetta made them both jump, "What exactly do you think you're doing?" Slowly, Malik turned around, looking extremely guilty. Taking the opposite approach, Emarni spun around quickly, with an innocent expression on her face.
"Mother!" Emarni whined, "Malik was trying to escape. I told him not to, but he would not listen."
"Don't whine, Emarni. It's unattractive." Elisabetta said, before glancing questionably at her son, "Were you, Malik?"
"It was her idea!" Malik protested.
"Was not!"
"Was!"
"Was not!"
"Was!"
"Oh, for goodness sakes!" Elisabetta rolled her eyes, "Malik, act your age!" Her three hundred year old son scowled and looked down at the floor.
"Oh, so Little Miss Perfect, doesn't get in trouble?" Malik muttered.
"Don't be an idiot, Malik." his mum snapped, "Emarni's only a child."
"Mum, she's nearly three hundred years old!" Malik snarled.
"She's only a little girl. Nearly seventeen, aren't you, my sweet Emarni?" Elisabetta wrapped an arm around her daughter, who sighed and looked sympathetic.
"Yes, Mother." Emarni said gently, "Are you sure you want to keep walking? We could stop..."
"No!" Elisabetta said, much too quickly, "But it was considerate for you to ask. We need to leave, my children."
"What do you think we were trying to do?" Malik gestured to the air vent, "We're not stupid, Mum!"
"Do not aggravate her." Emarni hissed; before adding, "Where are we going, Mother?"
"Not far from here. I have a friend in the area. We need to be here for Vlad's eighteenth, in a week's time." Elisabetta said, "We must leave now."
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They traipsed through the long grass, mud squelching underneath their feet. Malik glanced down at the address scratched across his palm in ballpoint pen. His sister looked at him pathetically, not used to all this walking.
"My legs are tired." Emarni whimpered. Her older brother just rolled his eyes and kept walking. She was still looking at him, with her big Disney eyes.
"Malik!" she whined, "Carry me?"
"Stupid younger sister." Malik muttered; he lifted her easily onto his back. She wrapped her arms around his throat and nearly throttled him.
"Emarni." Malik gasped.
"Stop whining." Emarni said.
"Do not expect my help." Emarni muttered, "I am expressing annoyance towards you." She was annoyed, because Malik had given up on carrying her. She was showing unnecessary amounts of pale leg because of the miniskirt she was wearing. Elisabetta, who had been unusually quiet, turned suddenly to her children.
"Emarni Vaccaria." her mother said sternly, as if she had just noticed, "That skirt is incredibly inappropriate. And what on earth are you wearing on your feet?" She looked down in disgust at Emarni's bright pink Vans, which were splattered with mud.
"I'm not helping you." Malik muttered, feeling smug.
"Mother, it is simply modern fashion." Emarni sighed, "I am trying to "stay with the times"." Elisabetta frowned, repeating everything her daughter just said under her breath.
"I do detest this modern world." Elisabetta said, "My nice little girl turning into a hooligan. You can leave that to your brother." She looked at distaste at her children, like they were a disappointment. While Emarni looked at the floor in disappointment, Malik just rolled his eyes.
"Whatever, Mum." Malik said.
"Don't speak to me like that." Elisabetta scolded, smacking her son over the head.
"Mum, you can't just hit us!" Malik said,"That's not legal anymore! You can't just whip us into shape. Look at Emarni's face." He pushed his sister's hair back so that Elisabetta could see the red lash mark down the side of Emarni's face, "You really hurt her!"
"Malik." Emarni's eyes widened, "Shush. You are going to make her angry again." Then, she began to cry.
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They were getting nowhere. Vlad was snoring gently, curled up on the wooden floor. His cousin was sitting cross legged beside him, her hair flowing in a dark curtain down her back. She had a bored expression plastered across her face.
"Hey guys." Erin was standing in the doorway, hands in her pockets. She had ditched the leather gloves and dresses; now, she was just wearing jeans and a patterned top. Her denim jacket was slung over her shoulders.
"Oh, hello Erin." Olga sneered, "Come to screw Vlad up some more?" The slayer was taken aback; did Olga already know about her plans to infiltrate the Draculas?
"No?" Erin guessed, shrugging her shoulders.
"Because you should know that Vlad has been very depressed and confused because of you! And while I like to see him suffer, this is ridiculous!" Olga folded her arms in defiance.
"I'm only here to pass on a message." Erin sighed, "The Count has an announcement."
"I'll go." Olga rolled her eyes and got to her feet. She swept out of the room, swishing her cloak- why did Olga always wear a cloak?- dramatically. Then, Erin knelt next to her ex boyfriend and shook him gently.
"Vlad..." she smiled her kindest smile, "Wake up, Vlad..."
"Wha-?" Vlad muttered, sleepily. Somehow, he managed to look even cuter half asleep. And his voice was all husky and tired.
"Erin!" Vlad was shocked, "Um, hey."
"Hi Vlad." Erin said, "How's things?"
"Elisabetta is planning to return in a weeks time for my birthday. She's got Malik and Emarni on her side. She can probably force them to obey her, they could destroy us!" Vlad ran a hand through his hair, making it stand on end.
"But we outnumber them." Erin said.
"We?" Vlad asked. If she could, Erin would have blushed a pale shade of pink. Flirting with Vlad was much more difficult than it seemed.
"The Count wants to see you." Erin said, "Something about an announcement." Vlad sped downstairs, leaving Erin to follow him.
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The Count held up an official document stamped by the VHC.
"Oh, yeah. I probably should've mentioned that." Ingrid said. Nobody had seen her since the Vaccarias had vanished, because she had refused to leave her room. She didn't look any different from usual on the outside, but her voice sounded different. Like she had been... Crying?
"What is it?" Erin demanded, frowning at the piece of parchment. She couldn't read it, no matter how much she tried to.
"All students must complete a series of exams- a Batalaureate- before their eighteenth birthday. They are forbidden to leave their homes after nightfall, until the exams are over." Vlad read aloud, for her sake and for someone to confirm what he read was true, "You did this." He turned to Ingrid.
"You think I'd do this?" Ingrid snarled, "I'm on your side, Vladarella!"
"Actually, there was a VHC meeting." Olga said, "I was there. Malik put the idea forward and there was a vote."
"Me and Olga voted against, for your information." Ingrid said, "But the others won."
"Malik!" Vlad growled, his fangs lowering.
"It's probably just Elisabetta forcing his hand." Erin said, "If you can't leave, then you can't track them down."
"WHY IS EVERYONE DEFENDING MALIK?" Vlad yelled, vanishing back up the stairs.
"Because no matter how much we hate him, he's family." The Count called after him. Everyone else exchanged looks.
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"At least you tried." Emarni said to her brother, as they followed their mother through a thicket of weeds. She was looking at the perhaps permanent scar down the side of his face. Well, at least they looked more alike now.
"You could've tried a little harder to help me." Malik scowled at his younger sister.
"I thought you could handle it." Emarni shrugged. They fell silent, as Malik stamped the plants under his feet into the ground. Emarni was careful not to get in his way. "Why does Mum think you're still a child?" Malik asked.
"I do not know." Emarni sighed, "You know how confused she gets sometimes."
"Yeah. But she's always known how old I am." Malik frowned.
"Well, it does not change anything." Emarni shrugged.
"Emarni, she barely knows you. We can't let her push us around anymore." Malik grabbed his sister by the wrist and looked her in the eyes.
"You think you can defy mother?" Emarni said, "Try it." She hurried onwards, catching up with her Mother.
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There was a knock on the door late at night. At first, nobody dared open the door, in case it was a trick. But as the knocking persisted, Olga rolled her eyes and swung the door open. There was a small girl, with dark brown curls.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" The Count demanded.
"My name's George." the girl said, "I want the help of the infamous Draculas."
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That was a long chapter...
So, if you've been paying attention, you'll probably be wondering how Malik was out a VHC meeting, when he's been locked up by Elisabetta? I'll explain that in the next chapter. BYE! :)
READ AND REVIEW PLEASE :)