I know it's been a while... *ducks as people throw things, probably shoes or cats or something* I wish I had an excuse. But the truth is, I was trying to get to the end. I've written up the last chapters now but I feel like they're not complete. I don't know. So here. Have a crappy chapter on me. I can post the last chapter and the epilogue tomorrow, if you want.
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"All three of them?" Vlad demanded, shouting down the phone, "We've lost all three of them?" He was not having a good day. Sitting in the back of a hearse, on the phone to Grayson. He was on his way to view a private vampire school with his father.
"They're fine. They're on their way to Romania." Grayson reassured him, "We can reach them via phone." Vlad rested his head against the window and sighed. The glass was cold against his head but he didn't feel it.
"Bye Grayson." Vlad ended the call and slid the phone into his pocket.
"Excited, Vladdy?" The Count asked, "A real vampire school! None of that breather nonsense!"
"Dad, I'm eighteen." Vlad rolled his eyes, "I've finished school."
"You need re-educating!" The Count declared, "You're too soft!"
"Dad, I'm the Chosen One!" Vlad groaned.
"But you've only bitten one person, Vlad. If you're to be the Grand High Vampire, you must set a bad example." The Count brandished a leaflet in his son's face. Then, he flicked his son's forehead in his usual Count-esque way.
"I don't want to be Grand High Vampire!" Vlad protested, folding his arms across his chest.
"Stop being so selfish. It is your destiny. You can't choose it!" The Count told him and ignored his son's further protests.
They were greeted by an overenthusiastic head teacher, who seemed absolutely thrilled.
"Mr Count." She shook the Count's hand and beamed, "And you must be Vladimir."
"That's me." Vlad said, "The Chosen One."
"I'm your headmistress Mrs S. Bastille." she smiled.
"What does the S stand for?" Vlad asked instantly. He recieved a dirty look from the teacher and knew that he was no longer her favourite pupil.
"Let me show you around." Mrs Bastille said, giving Vlad a bitter look. Maybe it was something to do with the brightly coloured t-shirt that Vlad was wearing.
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It was kind of cute that her body clock was all over the place. And Chloe couldn't help but smile at Emarni's sleepiness. Her eyelids were falling closed as she walked.
"How much longer?" she groaned, as they struggled up yet another hill. There were lots of hills in Romania, Chloe was learning that quickly. As well as, awful weather and a nice type of bread called Cozonac during holidays. That was all she had got out of Emarni on the endless walk.
"Emarni, be quiet." Malik ordered, as they ran down the hill. They would've sped but most of them were exhausted and Katherine couldn't run at vampire speed. They couldn't summon another portal because it was too difficult and painful.
"I do not like all this walking." Emarni complained.
"You're so lazy." Katherine smiled at her.
"I was locked up for nearly three hundred years." Emarni moaned, "My legs are not used to walking around this much." Eventually, her brother gave in and let her climb into his back. He carried her easily because she weighed scarcely anything.
"You should eat more." Malik said, as his sister's sharp knees and elbows digging into his sides. She was all points and angles.
"I am not a hungry person." Emarni said, her green eyes drooping closed. She rested her head on her brother's shoulder, her curls falling in her face.
"Am I the one who's holding us up?" Katherine said, playing with her bracelet. It was a pretty thing with purple beads and feathers strung on a ribbon.
"Of course not." Chloe said. Never before had Emarni and Malik mentioned Katherine- it seemed like Chloe had missed out an a lot. Personally, Chloe wasn't sure what to think of her. The witch wasn't particularly mean or unkind. But she made Chloe feel a little uneasy.
"I am, aren't I?" Katherine stopped where she was, leaning against a tree. She was almost entirely out of breath and her face was flushed a pale shade of pink. The other thing that Chloe had noticed about Katherine was that she seemed to blush an awful lot. Especially when Malik was looking at her.
"She likes him." Emarni whispered, making Chloe jump. It was as if she had read her mind.
"It's fine, Katherine." Malik said, scowling a little. For some reason, Emarni didn't think that he could hear her talking to Chloe. She was telling stories about Malik and Katherine, making it up as she went along.
Finally, they had given up and collapsed underneath a tree at the bottom of the one of the rolling hills. Katherine had her jacket tied around her waist and was soaked in sweat.
"For a three hundred year old witch, you seem incredibly weak." Malik commented.
"For a three hundred year old vampire, you seem incredibly irritating." Katherine retorted instantly; Emarni giggled nervously and waited for her brother to lash out, either with insults or injuries. She was surprised when he just flopped back and looked up at the snow that was falling gently onto them. It had been snowing gently for a while but now it was heavy enough to slow them in their tracks. Snowflakes glistened in Chloe's long blonde hair like glitter and Emarni was smiling softly, as snow tickled the back of her neck.
"Why don't you mention your mum?" Chloe asked Emarni, turning around suddenly. The snow fell from her head, spiralling downwards in frozen fractals.
"What?" Emarni murmured, dreamily. She was watching as Chloe frowned and shook more snow from her hair. Then, she lay back on the ground, resting on her elbows.
"I'm cold now." Katherine complained, throwing her jacket back on top of herself.
"Why don't you talk about your mum?" Chloe repeated. Her girlfriend was trying to ignore the question, rolling onto her front. Snow stuck to her all over as she rolled around like an animal seeing snow for the first time.
"She is not my mother." Emarni muttered. She threw out her arms dramatically and clawed herself back into a sitting position.
"While you two argue, I'm going to sleep." Katherine said and Malik nodded in agreement. He shrugged off his jacket and offered it to her. Shyly, she took it from him and wrapped it around herself. She buried her nose in the leather and inhaled deeply.
"God." she said, "You smell nice, Malik." The vampire looked at her in alarm and shuffled away from her.
"Me and Ingrid. We're together and we have a child on the way and, uh, you're nice, Katherine, but I don't like you like that, okay?" Malik sounded as alarmed as he looked. The witch girl laughed lightly- but she looked disappointed- and lay down on the snow covered ground.
"She abandoned me. She did not want me." Emarni said. She sounded like she might break down in tears. Chloe decided not to question her further.
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"I am worried about Malik." Emarni decided, as she tumbled head over heels down a hill. She could see her home, a great castle that stood on the edge of the cliff. Mist surrounded it in a frothy cloud, making it look even more mysterious than usual.
"Why?" Chloe laughed a little lightly, running after her girlfriend. She tripped, just as Emarni pulled to a stop, and they smashed into each other. They both giggled.
"He is acting really weird around Katherine. I do not understand." Emarni said, "Is he sick?"
"Yes, I'm sure he's going to die from being kind to Katherine." Chloe rolled her eyes, as they struggled back to their feet, gripping each other for support.
"I do not want him to die." Emarni said, her voice wobbling. Out came her bottom lip, as she pouted miserably.
"I was joking." Chloe said.
"I do not want anyone I love to die." Emarni said.
"Does that include me?" Chloe asked softly.
"Of course." Emarni said, "You, Malik and maybe, Katherine."
"Ingrid?" Chloe suggested.
"She does not like me." Emarni replied. She was stopped by a hand resting on her shoulder.
"Firstly, Ingrid does like you." Malik assured her, "Secondly, how do we tackle that?" As Katherine joined the group, gasping a little, they all looked up at the cliff that towered over them.
"Climb?" suggested Chloe doubtfully.
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It was a domineering building that was freezing cold with no central heating. Obviously, that didn't bother the vampires or Vlad. But it made it more unnerving all the same. It was eerily quiet, even though the pupils were out of lessons. There was none of the happy chatting that Vlad had heard at human schools.
"Dad, I don't want to go here." he said, for the millionth time. His father never seemed to hear him right.
"I know you're excited, Vladdy." His father clapped his son on the shoulder.
"Vladdy." a boy with dark blue hair sniggered as he past, ramming his elbow into Vlad's ribs. The Chosen One let out a yelp and scowled after the blue haired boy.
"Why can't you be more like that?" The Count sighed at his son.
"Because I'm nice." Vlad said.
"We do not have niceness here, Mr Dracula." Mrs Bastille snapped at Vlad. He hadn't even joined the school yet and the headmistress already detested him.
"Sorry." Vlad said and both the headmistress and his father sighed at him.
"Go and make enemies Vladimir. I think me and your father need to have a discussion." Mrs Bastille said.
"Friends." Vlad corrected under his breath, as he walked away.
It was hard to make friends when nobody seemed to want you around. That was something that Vlad had known all his life. And it was proving itself right now. Nobody wanted to speak to the weird boy that was wearing- gasp- colour. It was a vampire school and everyone was wearing dark colours and looked dangerous. Vlad was walking down the corridor, leaning over so that he slumped as he walked.
"Hey, give it back!" There was a girl and she was jumping up and down frantically. At first, Vlad couldn't understand why she was squealing. Then, he saw the boy that was towering over her. The boy was tall and well built, with almost perfect muscles. He was holding something over her head and laughing, as the girl leapt up and down.
"Give it back!" The girl squeaked.
"Say please!" The boy teased meanly.
"Please!" The girl replied. She was a small girl, even with her combat boots on. She was wearing the school uniform: a black blazer over a white shirt, black jeans and a tie hung around her neck. Her long purple hair was tied up in a ponytail, bobbing up and down as she jumped.
"Say pretty please!" The boy wouldn't give her whatever it was back. That was clear.
"Pretty please!" The girl said, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear.
"Hey!" Vlad said, nervously. The boy looked startled and dropped whatever it was. The girl caught it easily in her hands.
"Thanks." she said, as the boy scarpered. He may be well built but he knew to fear the Chosen One.
"I'm Vlad." Vlad said.
"I know." The girl smiled shyly, "I'm-"
"Vladimir!" The Count choose to spring up at that moment and grab his son by the arm, "The tour's over and we need to get you fitted for the uniform."
"What? No-!" Vlad tried to protest, as his father dragged him away. He didn't get to hear the girl's name. But he hoped that he would soon.
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After painting a symbol on each of her hands, Katherine began up the cliff first. It only made sense for her to lead. That way, if she fell, one of the others could catch her. Watching in awe as her friend began to scale the cliff, Emarni didn't notice as Chloe's hand slid into her own. But then she felt her shaking. She glanced over at Chloe, who was trembling a little.
"What is wrong, dragă?" Emarni asked, softly.
"Nothing." Chloe lied. Even though she knew that the girl was lying, Emarni decided not to push it. That was the thing about their relationship. If one of them didn't want to discuss something, it was just dropped like that. It was a little odd, yes, but they were fine with it.
"Are you cold?" Emarni asked. She had not quite dropped it yet.
"Enough, Emarni." Chloe said, wishing that she had a pet name for her girlfriend.
"You next, Em." Malik turned to look at his sister.
"Okay." Emarni said. Carefully, she placed her foot on a rocky ledge and yanked herself up. Her fingernails dug into cracks in the rock. There was very little to support her, up there on the cliff. Chloe chewed her fingernails nervously. Of course, they were vampires. The fall wouldn't kill them and they should be able to scale the cliff easily. But that didn't ease Chloe's fears in the slightest.
"Scared, Blondie?" Malik smirked.
"No." Chloe laughed uneasily, "Why would you think that?"
"Because it's obvious." Malik replied, "Scared of heights, huh?"
"No!" Chloe snapped. She would show him.
"Up you go then." Malik looked amused. Nervously, Chloe slid a hand into a gap in the rock and pulled herself up. She felt dizzy already, her head spinning. This was going to be a very long day.
It was a very large cliff, especially because they had no harnesses or anything to catch her if she fell. But Katherine hadn't fallen as of yet and she wasn't intending to. Chloe actually had fallen earlier on in the day. Her hands had been shaking and she looked terrified. She had fallen right into Malik's arms. Katherine had watched in terror and hoped that she wouldn't fall as well. Around midday, they pulled to a stop. Katherine crawled onto a large ledge on the side of the sharp rock face. The others caught up slowly.
"Katherine." Emarni was struggling a little. Her friend grabbed her by the hands and pulled her onto the ledge.
"Thank you." Emarni squeaked. They sat there for a few minutes, trying not to look down. Eventually, Malik reached them, Chloe in his arms. Her eyes were tightly closed.
"Chloe, dragă!" Emarni cried. Her brother climbed onto the ledge.
"How high up are we?" Chloe said, her voice shaking. She was shaking too and she didn't dare open her eyes. Emarni looked down at the massive drop and felt a little sick herself.
"Not that high up." she said, "But maybe keep your eyes shut."
"Okay." Chloe said. And with her eyes firmly closed, she wriggled out of Malik's grip and fell into Emarni's arms.
"It is okay, dragă." Emarni soothed, "It is okay."
"You keep calling me that." Chloe said, resting against Emarni, "Dragă." She opened her eyes for just a second to look at Emarni. Emarni raised a hand to Chloe's face and caressed it lovingly.
"Do not look down." Emarni instructed. When Chloe went to look down, Emarni kept her hand under the other's girl chin.
"I said do not." Emarni smiled softly, "Just look at me."
"What does it mean?" Chloe asked.
"Dragă?" Emarni sounded surprised, "It means "love" or "dear". Occasionally, "sweetheart"."
"Can I ask you a question?" Chloe said.
"We are half way up a cliff." Emarni said, "It is the best place to ask a question." She didn't sound like she was being sarcastic. That made Chloe laugh a little bit.
"How do you tell someone they're beautiful?" Chloe pushed a strand of fair hair behind Emarni's ear.
"Esti frumoasa." Emarni replied, after a moment. Then, she frowned, "I cannot believe that I had to think about that." She hugged her knees to her chest.
"Esti frumoasa." Chloe smiled, "Kiss me, ingerasul meu."
"Did you just call me your little angel?" Emarni laughed, raising an eyebrow. She was still laughing, as Chloe's lips crushed her own.
"Not in front of me, not in front of me!" Malik covered his eyes. He looked disgusted as his sister pulled away from her girlfriend shyly and ducked behind her hair.
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After a while, Malik got up and began to climb back up the cliff face. Katherine followed him, swinging herself off the ledge and onto the rock. The two blonde girls looked at each other.
"Emarni, I can't do it." Chloe blurted out suddenly.
"What?" Emarni was confused. She blinked her big green eyes innocently, looking utterly baffled.
"I can't go any higher. I'll have a panic attack." Chloe shook her head as Emarni began to protest, "Emarni, I can't! It doesn't matter what you say."
"But I need you." Emarni said, tears filling her eyes, "This is a hard thing for me to do. I had the worst years of my life in that castle. I need you there. I need you to calm me down!" A tear dripped down her face and rolled off her nose. Another one swiftly followed and then another. Her voice was a little shrill.
"I cannot breathe. We are too high up!" Emarni tugged at the collar of her t-shirt, "Is it hot up here or is it just me?"
"Emarni, you're fine." Chloe laughed a little, "But I really can't come with you. I'll be at the Slayers Guild, okay?"
"This is not goodbye." Emarni kissed her girlfriend on the cheek before grabbing a small ledge above her head and climbing away, leaving Chloe to contemplate how she would get down.
She couldn't believe that Chloe would just abandon her in her time of need. She needed her here. Her fingernails dug even deeper into the rock. Emarni had always been there when Chloe needed her- well, not always. But most of the time. So, Chloe was scared of heights. Well, Emarni was scared of her mother but she didn't let that stop her.
"You're muttering." Malik said, looking down at her.
"Then, pray dear brother, let me mutter in peace." Emarni said. Shaking his head, Malik looked back up and kept climbing. He thought that Emarni was crazy. But she wasn't. A step up and then another.
"I am not crazy." Emarni murmured.
"Muttered the crazy girl." Malik added helpfully.
"Funny." Emarni said, sarcastically.
"Were you just sarcastic?" Malik laughed at her.
"You must be rubbing off on me." Emarni shuddered in disgust. Because her brother was beginning to rub off on her a little. He had planted the thought in her head that she might be crazy; until then, she had never considered it. Now, she was wondering, was she going crazy? How would she know? Was she turning into her mother?
"No." Malik said.
"Stop listening!" Emarni shrieked. She was scared and confused about this whole thing. And what about earlier? She had to think about her Romanian before she said it. That had never happened before. Her home tongue and she was forgetting it already.
"I do not want to be English." she muttered, "Malik?"
"Hm?" Malik said. His younger sister pulled herself up a little higher, scraping her hands against the rock face.
"Do I sound British to you?" Emarni asked.
"Hm..." Malik said, again.
"Well?" Emarni said.
"You've developed a bit of a British accent and your English is rather impeccable." Malik said.
"But your Romanian's still flawless." Katherine called down to them. Not completely flawless but Emarni's Romanian was close to flawless. It was one of the languages that she had grown up with; her mother tended to use an odd mix of Romanian, Latin and English. She wondered how her mother could've known any English. Another secret that she could probably never uncover.
"Desteapta-te române! Din somnul cel de moarte!" Emarni began to sing. It was the most Romanian thing she could think of to do.
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The last thing Emarni remembered was her brother grabbing her by the hand. She had been nearing the top of the cliff, both Malik and Katherine already at the top. Then, quite suddenly, she had lost her footing and let out a small shriek. She was tipping backwards in slow motion it seemed, when her brother had grabbed by the hand.
"Keep climbing, Em." He had urged. He was leaning over the edge of the cliff, gripping his sister tightly by the hands. Emarni couldn't do it. She just couldn't do it. She couldn't find anywhere to put her feet.
"I... I cannot." Emarni was panicking. She knew that she was going to fall. She was going to fall and die. Of course, the logical part of her brain was screaming at her that she wouldn't die, she could turn into a bat before she hit the ground. And, lest she forget, Emarni was already dead. She couldn't die again. But her fear crushed all of those logical thoughts.
"Come on, Emarni." Katherine grabbed her friend by the arms, "At least try."
"I cannot!" Emarni screamed. She kicked frantically with her legs, trying to find someway, anyway up. Her brother and her best friend had tugged hard on her arms and lifted her a little higher.
"Calm." Katherine commanded. She was using magic, Emarni knew that. But she did feel a little calmer. She stopped flailing and managed to find a foothold. She didn't dare look down. She took a step up. Then, another. Another. And before she knew it, she was at the top. She crawled far away from the edge before collapsing in the snow.
Katherine could barely remember the events of the night before. Or why she was collapsed outside a huge castle. Or why she was collapsed on a heap of snow with two vampires. Then, she did remember. She had climbed up a cliff and collapsed at the top. She could see Emarni collapsed on top of the snow, completely still. Her curls stuck to her face and she was all curled up, in her typical Emarni-cat-like style. Her t-shirt and jeans were soaking wet from the snow. And Malik was flopped beside her, one arm flung over his sister. It was rather sweet actually. Malik was only wearing his t-shirt and not his usual leather jacket. And as she sat up, Katherine realised that Malik's jacket clung to her shoulders. She loved the scent of leather and aftershave- did vampires even NEED aftershave?
"Oh my god." Katherine sighed. She still had a thing for Malik. She couldn't help it; he was just so... Evil and seductive. All the time. Katherine loved him so much that she just wanted to punch him and choke him until there was no life left in his body. He was so perfect.
"What?" Malik groaned. He lifted his head out of the snow and it stuck to his face. His hair was all over the place.
"Nothing." The witch girl smiled, "Morning."
"Shove off, Em." Malik pushed his sister away from him and she blinked sleepily.
"What?" she yawned.
"Welcome home." Malik ruffled her curls and pushed himself up on his elbows. Emarni's eyes widened even more than usual and she looked up at the imposing. She winced.
"I am scared." she said.
"Join the club." Katherine said.
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They stood awhile in front of the old castle, looking up at the twisting towers and long, thin windows. Silently, Emarni pressed one hand to the door and stroked it like it was her pet. Her eyes brightened a little as they filled with tears.
"I wish Mother was here. We could be a family again." Emarni said. That was when Malik remembered that he had never told her about Elisabetta's death. Lots of stuff had got in the way and he had kind of forgotten it himself. He couldn't not say anything.
"Emarni, can I talk to you?" Malik said. His sister looked to him with her wide innocent eyes, waiting for him to speak. Malik shot Katherine a look and she nodded, wandering over to stand a distance away.
"I got a letter from a VHC a while back." Malik told her.
"Who is on the VHC nowadays?" Emarni asked.
"Um, I think Vlad got tired of running it. So, he picked some vampires to run it for him." Malik said, "It doesn't matter."
"Is Ingrid still on the Council? Or is she busy being pregnant?" Emarni asked.
"Em!" Malik snapped, "Mum's dead." He regretted it immediately. His sister shrunk back, her eyes all huge and scared. She ducked behind her curtain of blonde curls.
"W-what?" she stuttered.
"I was going to tell you! Eventually..." Malik trailed off because Emarni flung her arms around him.
"Why did Mother have to die?" Emarni asked, her head pressed against her brother's chest.
"Um, because she was evil and crazed?" Malik supposed, trying to escape his sister's clutches. She clung to him like he was the only thing holding her to the planet.
"She was fine!" Emarni protested, "This is all your fault! All your fault! All your fault!"
"Alright, alright." Malik said, because his sister was punching him in the stomach repeatedly. It didn't really hurt, her punches were pathetic. He grabbed her angry fists.
"What did I miss?" Katherine said, appearing back at their side.
"Mother is dead and it is all his fault!" Emarni said, trying to pull her hands free. Her brother didn't let go, keeping a firm grip on her fists and wrists.
"I doubt it's all his fault." Katherine said.
"See?" Malik said, as his sister kept trying to squirm free of him. He barely even struggled to keep a hold on her. She was just a girl. That was when his sister kicked him hard and he dropped her to the ground.
"I am not talking to you." Emarni said, "Forget that, I like talking to you! But I will never forget this! Never!" She pouted and folded her arms.
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He felt like a total idiot in his school uniform. It was much too black and it made his skin look significantly paler than usual. His hair looked even darker, even closer to black than usual. And he was thinking about the girl with the purple hair.
"How's it going, Count Dorkula?" Ingrid called.
"What do you think?" Vlad turned and looked at her. His big sister was standing in the doorway and staring at him. She sniggered a little and didn't reply.
"You're right. I look like an idiot." Vlad sighed.
"You always look like an idiot." Ingrid corrected him, "But now you look like an idiotic schoolboy. You're eighteen; what's Dad thinking?"
"He thinks I need reeducating. This school. It's for twelve to twenty two year olds." Vlad rolled his eyes.
"And you'll be crammed in with them." Ingrid said, "How bad was it when you went to see it?"
"Dad loved it. It was... Depressing." Vlad said, "Nobody talked to each other. I can't believe I'm going to be stuck there for like four years."
"Maybe you'll be a proper vampire when you come back." Ingrid said, "When are you going?"
"Tomorrow." Vlad said. His sister looked a little taken aback: she hadn't realised it was so soon. It was funny: she had always wanted to get rid of Vlad. But now that he was actually going...
"Don't tell anyone." Ingrid sighed, "But I might miss you. A little bit." Ingrid stepped forward and they had a really awkward hug. Both of them pulled away almost instantly, not looking at each other.
"How's the baby?" Vlad asked, rubbing the back of his head.
"It's funny you should mention that." Ingrid said, gritting her teeth. She chewed her lip a little nervously, smearing red lipstick on her teeth.
"Funny?" Vlad checked.
"Because I think my waters just broke." Ingrid swallowed hard, trying not to sound as panicked as she felt.
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Please read and review, my lovelys.
- Angels, xox.