Almost four thousand words. I'm proud.
Loads of writers have considered stopping writing because Young Dracula has ended. I want you to know that I'll keep writing. I need to get to the end of this story.
THE ANGELS WILL ALWAYS CRY - THE ANGELS WILL ALWAYS CRY
It was late that night when Vlad got the phone call; he couldn't pretend to be that upset. He had barely known Emarni. Sure, he was sad but he wasn't taking it as hard as the others.
"What's wrong?" Talitha asked, as Vlad put the phone down.
"Emarni's... Dead..." Vlad was more taken aback then anything, "She just... Died..." The pair both looked at each other. The Count looked up at the pair of them.
"This is serious now." Talitha said, sounding shocked, "Anyone of us could die next."
"They're playing games with us." Vlad said, "They want us to be afraid."
"That is the Council's main idea." The Count said, "They feed off fear, it makes them strong."
"So, they've put us in a... Position, where we're all scared." Talitha said, "After all, who isn't afraid of death?" Who isn't afraid of death? The question smacked Vlad in the face, slapping him repeatedly. He knew it was important.
"Emarni... She wasn't afraid of death." Vlad said, "Malik said that she wasn't scared. She knew her day was coming. She knew she was going to die and she was fine with it."
"Then, why did she die?" The Count demanded, "If your sister wasn't afraid, why would she die?"
"She wasn't scared anymore. All her fear was taken. That's why she wasn't scared." Vlad paced the length of the room, "She was of no use to the Council, once all her fears had been taken."
"So, if we're not scared..." Talitha said slowly, "It's because we're about to die..."
"You're not scared, are you?" Vlad said.
"I was trained not to be." Talitha's voice didn't shake in the slightest. She stood tall, her hands pressed together like in prayer. The other two vampires looked at her.
"You have to leave." Talitha said, "I don't want you to watch me die." She didn't sound scared, it was true. But Vlad couldn't just leave her here... Could he?
"Agreed. The girl is already doomed." The Count said, "Pack the bags, Vladdy."
"You can't walk and Talitha..." Vlad turned to her, "I don't want you to die. We'll find a way."
"You're signing your own death warrant, Vladdy." The Count said.
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Malik was sitting in silence, a letter held in his hand. He didn't want it to be true, at the same time it was the best moment of his life. Elisabetta was dead. She had been staked and turned to ash. And he had only just got the news.
'Malik Hellfire Vaccaria.
I killed your mother.
I killed your sister.
Don't make me kill you too.
The Head of the Council.'
That was all the letter said. Breathing heavily, Malik threw the letter down. Because any minute now he was going to start crying and he didn't want to. He didn't want to be weak.
"Malik." Grayson knocked on the door. Quickly, Malik kicked the letter under his bed and flopped back on his bed.
"What?" Malik snapped, trying to sound angry. His voice broke in the middle, so he failed to sound annoyed. Grayson pushed the door open a little, leaning the doorway.
"You alright?" Grayson frowned at him.
"I haven't been killed by my bracelet yet, no." Malik was failing to sound even a little bit cross. He just sounded miserable, upset and maybe on the verge of tears. Ugh.
"That's not what I meant." Grayson said. He didn't sound upset but Malik knew he was just putting on a strong front.
"I was such a terrible brother." Malik said, his voice cracking, "I should've been the one to die."
"Hey, hey, hey." Grayson walked into the room, standing over Malik, "Don't say things like that."
"She was such a sweet person." Malik groaned, "And, damn, am I tired."
"You have get up." Grayson said, hitting the boy with a pillow, "You can't mope around forever."
"My sister's dead!" Malik exclaimed, "And I'm stuck in the Slayers Guild! And I'm going to kill you, Grayson!" Malik threw himself on top of the other vampire and pinned him to the ground. He snarled, showing his fangs.
"Malik! How is this my fault?" Grayson was trying his hardest to kick Malik off of him. The vampire was insistent, slamming Grayson's head repeatedly against the ground.
"You should've told me my sister was this bad! She died from fear! That's what everyone's saying!" Malik punched Grayson in the gut a few times for good measure.
"You couldn't have helped her, Malik!" Grayson choked, as Malik grabbed him around the throat.
"She called out for me! She needed me!" Malik snarled.
"Nobody could've helped her. Even Chloe couldn't help her!" Grayson cried out.
"Are you suggesting that she loved the half fang more than me?" Malik growled. That was when he was grabbed around the waist by two slayers and pulled him off of Grayson.
"Malik!" Mina shouted, "I order you to calm down!" Because the vampire was fighting against her, she was forced to hold a stake to his chest. Malik gave up, his muscles feeling weak, and collapsed against Mina, breathing deeply.
"What the hell were you doing?" Jonno demanded, "Do you want to be thrown out of here?"
"I'd love that." Malik growled.
"He doesn't mean it! He doesn't mean it!" Grayson was on his feet, "He's just angry about his sister!" Malik pulled free of Mina's grip and stood still, his chest heaving. Why was this taking so much out of him?
"We've been developing a medicine. It won't get rid of the poison, but it'll help." Mina said, "We want to test it on you first."
"Why?" Malik snapped, "I'm nothing special."
"On the contrary." Jonno said, "Your human side makes you incredibly special. We've only tested it on Slayers and that makes it more likely to work on you." Malik scoffed, following her from the room.
The needle was incredibly sharp and Malik could only watch as Mina cleaned the top of it. She looked up at him and noticed him staring.
"I'm sorry." Mina said calmly.
"About my sister?" Malik said. He shrugged off his leather jacket and let it fall on the bed. He hoped he wouldn't bleed all over his favourite t-shirt.
"That we couldn't save her. And about Ingrid." Mina said.
"What about Ingrid?" Malik was concerned immediately.
"She broke off your engagement, didn't she?" Mina turned to him, the needle gripped tightly in her hand. All Malik could do was close his eyes, as Mina drove the needle into his arm and the liquid leaked into his bloodstream. It ached like someone had burnt him with a poker.
"Aaaaaauuuugggghhhhhaaaauhhh." was the noise Malik made, as he peeled his eyes open again.
"Don't be such a baby." Mina laughed and it wasn't entirely bitter, just a little bit.
"Hey! I've never had an injection before, so shut up!" Malik snapped. The slayer took pity on him, grabbing some cotton wool to press on his arm.
"You can't save the whole world, Malik." Mina said suddenly. She was dabbing at his arm, soaking up the trickle of blood that was rolling down his arm. Malik winced.
"What do you mean?" Malik said.
"This isn't a book, or a movie: this is real life. You are not a superhero. You cannot just assume that everything is down to you to fix." Mina said.
"I'm far from a superhero. I'm more of a super villain type guy." Malik said, tearing his arm out of Mina's grip.
"You don't have to keep beating yourself up." Mina turned away from him, "That's all I'm saying." She didn't throw the cotton away, sliding it into a Petri dish.
"Burn that." Malik ordered. Then, he got up and walked away, pain forgotten. He was gripping his jacket in one hand.
"Heard your conversation." Chloe was beside him instantly; why wouldn't anyone leave Malik alone today? He was going insane.
"Yeah?" Malik laughed bitterly.
"Mina thinks that you have a god complex." Chloe said, "Pretty soon she'll be asking where you're hiding your hammer, Thor."
"Haha." Malik rolled his eyes, "I told her I'm more of a Loki kind of guy."
"Don't be ridiculous. You're not as hot as Loki." Chloe said, as they turned the corner.
"I didn't know that you found evil guys hot." They began up the stairs, "I didn't think you found guys hot at all, to be honest."
"Oh no, I do." Chloe laughed, "But they don't turn me on."
"And my sister did?" Malik scoffed, "The blonde skinny little thing that was scared of her own shadow?"
"She was brave. With hair that always flopped in her eyes and a nervous laugh. It was sweet." Chloe paused on the stairs, looking over the banister like she was considering throwing herself over it.
"Ingrid's acting really weird." Chloe turned to face Malik; she had to look up at him to be able to look him in the eyes, "I think there's something wrong with her."
"Well, duh!" Malik rolled his eyes, "Bracelet voodoo!"
"That's not what I mean." Chloe said, "I spoke to her yesterday and she burst into tears for no reason whatsoever. I think you should talk to her. I think-" That was when Grayson bumped into them, nearly pushing Chloe down the stairs. She grabbed the banister to steady herself.
"Have either of you seen George?" Grayson asked. He sounded breathless.
"Not since I first got here." Malik said, in bewilderment.
"No." Chloe said, "Why?"
"She's been missing." Grayson said, leaping down the remainder of the stairs. The vampires looked at each other and shrugged. They turned around and ran back down the stairs.
"Grayson, we want to help!" Chloe yelled, throwing her jacket on as they ran after him.
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The Slayers were very reluctant to let them go, in case 1. They collapsed 2. Turned to ash or 3. Betrayed the slayers. But Grayson managed to talk then around, ("She's a twelve year old child! On her own!). The scent was long gone, but that didn't stop the vampires from searching. They split up and agreed to meet again in a while; it had been almost three hours, when Malik next saw Chloe.
"George! Georgie! George!" Chloe was yelling, blending easily into the crowd, "Excuse me, have you seen a twelve year old girl with dark curly hair? About said high?" Nobody had.
"Chloe!" Malik caught up with her, "Any luck?"
"Killing my voice." Chloe rubbed her throat and she was sounding a little croaky.
"Hey, it's okay. We can take a break." Malik said, wrapping an arm around her.
"Stop it." Chloe frowned.
"Stop what?" Malik frowned back at her.
"Flirting with me." Chloe took a deep breath and said it, out loud for the first time "I like girls. You know that." Nobody stopped to stare at her, everyone just kept on walking. And Chloe felt relieved that she had finally admitted it to herself. Like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
"I'm not flirting." Malik brushed his fringe aside, "I just... You remind me of my sister... I'm sorry, I..."
"You really do miss her, don't you?" Chloe said quietly.
"I told you that! I miss her, I miss her, I miss her. Okay? And every time I look at you, I see her!" Malik snapped, "So, just stop talking about her?"
"Say her name!" Chloe shrieked, "Say it! Why can't you say it?"
"EMARNI!" Malik shouted at her, "Are you happy now?"
Partly because people were staring and partly because Malik was exhausted, the pair made their way to a small coffee shop. Malik collapsed in a chair, pressing a hand to his forehead.
"I'll be back in a minute." Chloe told him, darting across the room.
"Yeah." Malik said, watching as Chloe leant across the counter. She really did remind Malik of his sister. They were both blonde, reasonably tall and slim. Although, Emarni had big green eyes, but Chloe had small blue eyes. Ingrid had blue eyes. Wait, why was he thinking about Ingrid?
"Hey, again." Chloe was back, sliding a cup of coffee across the table. She still sounded sad and was slumping in her chair, picking at a chocolate muffin.
"Something's really bothering you." Malik was surprised that Chloe was the one telling him that. Surely, it should be Malik telling Chloe.
"My sister-" Malik tried.
"Don't give me that rubbish." Chloe said, "You're worried about Ingrid."
"I wasn't! Until you brought it up!" Malik exclaimed, "Now, I am!"
"I didn't mean to worry you." Chloe said, "She's just... I think you should look after her. She looks peaky and... she's very oversensitive."
"What did you say to her?" Malik sighed, swirling his coffee around with his finger.
"I just suggested that she might be ill for... A different reason. And she threw a shoe at my head and started crying." Chloe said.
"What reason-?" That was when Grayson showed up and collapsed in the third chair at their table.
"Not interrupting anything, am I?" Grayson looked slightly amused.
"I like girls." Chloe said, "And, unless something every unfortunate has happened, I'm pretty sure Malik's a boy."
"You couldn't find George either?" Malik asked.
"He did, actually. She's just invisible." Chloe said, dryly.
"What is up with you today?" Grayson said, "I've never seen you so confident before!" There was a pause and then Chloe lifted her foot up. She pulled her shoe off, revealing her anchor patterned socks, and kicked off the bracelet. It clattered to the floor.
"I don't like this." Chloe said, "I feel all... Unlike myself."
"Join the club." Malik said, throwing his bracelet across the room. But both bracelets reappeared on their owners, a second later.
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Morning was about to break, when there was a knocking on the Slayers Guild door. Everyone looked at each other hopelessly.
"Aren't you going to get that?" Chloe was flopped on the sofa, her feet pressed against Malik's. She was directing the comment at Mina, who was sitting nearby.
"It's Vlad." said Grayson in surprise; he was standing at the window and looking out at the vampires standing outside, "And The Count. And the girl with the weird hair."
"Your relatives. You get the door." Jonno said. Both Mina and Jonno lived inside the Slayers Guild, in Building A. There were five different buildings in the Slayers Guild, all of them encased with an argentalium fence.
"I can't get up." Malik said, "Chloe's squishing me."
"I'm not touching you." Chloe protested. Eventually, Mina went to the door and invited the vampires in.
"Thank you." Vlad muttered. Talitha and Vlad were carrying The Count between them.
"Dad!" Malik sat up, nearly kicking Chloe in the face.
"Watch it!" Chloe ducked out of the way.
"Chloe!" Vlad and Talitha lowered The Count onto the other sofa, Vlad rushing over to Chloe instantly.
"Oh my god, Vlad!" They hugged each other tightly.
"Don't I get a hug?" Malik said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"You must be Malik." Talitha said, "The annoying one."
"That'll be me." Malik gave her a lazy thumbs up, "Malik the annoying one Vaccaria."
"Much more fitting than Hellfire." Chloe said, receiving a cushion to the head.
"I'm sorry." Vlad said to Malik, "About Emarni." Silence fell, as Vlad tried to squeeze in between Malik and Chloe on the sofa, succeeding in falling on top of them. Chloe laughed shakily, as she tried to push Vlad off. He clung firmly to the sofa and they all ended up in a huge pile of flailing arms and legs.
"Get off." Malik growled in frustration.
"Bad topic." Grayson said, turning away from the window.
"Where's Ingrid?" Talitha asked.
"Another bad topic." Grayson said, as Malik shot the girl a glare of pure hatred. Clearly, Malik was not in a good mood any longer.
"You should go and talk to her." Chloe muttered to him, "While everyone else is here." And Malik, kicking Vlad off him, got up and slunk out of the room.
The amount of stairs Malik had to climb was so phenomenal that he was sure the Slayers hated him and had built this many stairs on purpose. When he got to the top, he was out of breath and his legs ached. All that from climbing up six or seven flights of stairs. Oh yeah, Slayers Guild Building A has like eight floors because Slayers must be addicted to climbing stairs or something.
"Ingrid!" Malik gasped her name, breathing heavily. What was wrong with him? Probably just his weak human side. But... Damn.
"In here." Ingrid called out weakly. She was in the bathroom, which was where she had been earlier that day when Malik had left her. That concerned Malik. He was at Ingrid's side within seconds.
"You alright?" Malik asked, instantly realising how stupid it sounded instantly. Scowling, Ingrid turned and looked at Malik, like he was an idiot. Her eyeliner was smudged and her lipstick was entirely rubbed off. She was leaning over the sink, her hair falling in her face.
"I'm really not well." Ingrid said sarcastically, "Hadn't you noticed?"
"I had noticed." Malik frowned, "But I thought you'd be feeling better by now."
"So did I." Ingrid said, "But I think-" She doubled over, her shoulder blades shaking as she retched. She was shaking all over in fact and tears filled her eyes.
"I've got you." Malik said, holding her hair back for her. He liked the softness of her hair against his fingertips. There was a moment, where Ingrid was just gasping for breath, tears rolling down her cheeks. Then, she started coughing up a horrible yellow bile that stung her throat.
"Ugh." Malik was disgusted.
"Not my fault." Ingrid choked.
"I didn't say that." Malik said, "Feeling better?"
"A little." Ingrid said, pulling away from the sink and facing Malik, "I don't like this." She swallowed hard.
"It's the bracelet." Malik reassured her, taking her hands in his, "But if you really want, we could go and get Mina to check you over with her creepy slayer gadgets." Both of them laughed quietly and nervously.
"You're holding my hands." Ingrid said, nervously. Instantly, Malik dropped her hands.
"Um... I'll... I'll just..." Malik slipped out of the door and ran down the stairs.
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She was aware of the six members of the Council standing behind her, Julian standing at her side. It was unnerving, feeling their eyes bearing into her back.
"What's wrong, George?" Julian asked, touching his fingers to her cheek. He wiped away the tear that was rolling down her cheek.
"Not feeling sentimental, are we?" Julian smirked, "Still ready to go through with our plans?" George found herself nodding; he was so convincing, telling her that everything they were doing was okay. His emotional levels were unchanged, barely showing any feeling. It was so rare. Even when people were pretending not to show emotion, their emotional levels changed. But Julian... It was like someone had drained him of emotion. Like some kind of machine.
"Are you prepared to kill them?" Agramon said. Her voice shaking, George agreed.
"Who do you want to go first?" Domonius asked. Who could George bare to lose?
"Who is the most brave?" George's voice cracked as she spoke.
"Talitha Roquelaire." Neevaci said, in her clipped accent.
"Kill her." George said, trying to sound strong. Good luck Talitha, George thought, you're going to need it. Because the next six members would be arriving soon and then The Council would conquer the world.
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It was late that night, when Ingrid dared to approach Malik. He had returned to his usual scowl and was throwing knives at a target, in a manner of anger. The message was clear: he did not want to talk.
"Malik." Ingrid said, standing in the doorway. He ignored her, another knife hitting the middle of the target. A perfect throw.
"Malik!" she said, a little louder. Still nothing. So, Ingrid had no choice but to duck in front of the target. A knife whizzed past her head and struck the target next to her head.
"Are you crazy?" Malik snarled, "I could've hit you!"
"I just wanted to talk to you." A knife struck so close to her face that Ingrid visibly winced. She could feel the knife brushing against her skin, as it rested next to her face.
"I don't want to talk to you. Or anyone at all!" Malik shouted, throwing another knife. This time it missed, crashing to the floor.
"I just-"
"No!" Malik growled, "Get out. I don't love you anymore!" Was he lying? It was difficult to tell.
"Malik, this is important!" Ingrid screamed. She walked towards him, circling him like a vulture ready for it's next meal. He didn't look at her.
"What's so important?" Malik hissed. They were facing each other now, centimetres away from one another.
"I... I..." Ingrid didn't want to say it; she couldn't say it. Malik's expression didn't soften.
"I'm pregnant." Ingrid said. And Malik had never been so shocked in his unlife.
THE ANGELS WILL ALWAYS CRY - THE ANGELS WILL ALWAYS CRY
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