This is actually the final chapter of Into The Dark. Who would've thought that we would've got this far? While I might go back and rewrite some of the previous chapters- the cruddy ones at the start, specifically- I think this is where I'm leaving the story. I did have an epilogue planned but thought that it might be a tad too much. So, this is it. And the THANKS at the ends. Because I need to thank a lot of people.
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Everyone looked peculiar and Vlad looked peculiar because he didn't look peculiar. If that even made sense. And as he sat in his first ever lesson at Bastille Vampire Boarding School, he couldn't help thinking about Ingrid. She had gone into labour only a day ago. Had Seraphina been born yet? He had no idea.
"Excuse me, can I borrow, like, a pen?" The girl in front of him turned to face him. She had bubblegum pink hair and about seven piercings in one ear. Her lipstick matched her hair colour.
"Like a pen?" Vlad asked, "Or a pen?" The girl spat on his desk. Rolling his eyes, Vlad handed her a pen. She spat at him again, as if to say thanks.
"You're welcome." Vlad rolled his eyes.
"You're The Chosen One." The boy behind him tapped Vlad on the shoulder.
"Yeah." Vlad said, carving his initials into the desk with a pen. At his old school, he would've been killed for destroying school property. Here, he would probably get rewarded.
"If you're The Chosen One, how'd you end up here?" The boy asked.
"My dad thinks I'm soft." Vlad replied, "You?"
"I've been going here since I was twelve. I don't think I'm ever getting out." The boy sighed. He was tapping his pencil against the desk rhythmically.
"I don't think I'm ever getting out either." Vlad said. With that he turned away and rested his head on his desk. He wondered how Ingrid was doing. Probably better than him.
It wasn't until lunchtime that he spotted her, which was surprising because the school was reasonably small and select with it's students. Only the wealthiest and most famous families could get in here. Naturally, Vlad was recognised and he recognised a few faces from his studies with Bertrand. Bertrand. The guilt hit him again in a sudden wave. That was when he decided to go for a walk. He wasn't hungry anyway. That was when he saw the girl. The grounds were huge, masses and masses of... Graves? There was a huge graveyard instead of a playground, which unnerved Vlad a lot. He was walking on dead people. Dead breathes judging by the names on the graves. Vines tugged at his ankles and he nearly fell over. But then he saw her. Sitting on her own, was the girl with the purple hair. She was resting with her back to one of the graves.
"Hey!" Vlad called instantly. The girl looked up at him, a frown on her face. Then, she realised it was just Vlad and her face relaxed again.
"Hey." she replied. He wandered over to where she was sitting.
"I didn't catch your name. Um, last time we met." Vlad said.
"You're the Chosen One." The girl looked away, "Why are you interested in me?"
"I'd like to make one friend today. At least." Vlad said. He threw his bag down and knelt beside her. She was doodling in her notebook absentmindedly.
"Uh, Amorette." the girl said, "My name's Amorette."
"Amorette." Vlad smiled, "Pretty."
"Thanks." Amorette brushed a lock of purple hair out of her eyes.
"What did that boy take from you?" Vlad asked. He glanced at the purple haired, pale faced girl expectedly. She shrugged and held out her hand. A dark purple ring sparkled on her finger, a white gem glistening in the centre.
"That's it?" Vlad was a little taken aback.
"It's my family heirloom." Amorette said, "Don't you have one?"
"Not an official one." Vlad said. He knew about family heirlooms. They were given from the head of the family to the heir of the family. It could be anything but it was usually a small piece of jewellery or a crown or something. Jewels were rarely passed on. Vlad had been given several items over the years but never a proper heirloom that he could carry about himself as a sign of his family.
"My sister has a locket." Vlad added. It had never occurred to him before but thinking about it now... Why did Emarni have an heirloom? It was normally the son or the eldest that received the heirloom. Emarni was neither.
"Really?" Amorette was just as surprised; she chewed the end of her pen and looked at Vlad.
"You do." Vlad said.
"I'm the only child in my family." Amorette said, "Your sister clearly is not. She's your sister."
"I'll have to ask her about that... During the Christmas holidays..." Vlad frowned. It was weird not having Emarni and all the others just around the corner.
"Maybe you don't need a family heirloom. Everybody knows who you are." Amorette said, "Even me."
"Even you?" Vlad raised an eyebrow. The girl tried not to laugh, the corners of her lips turning up into a perfect smile. Vlad raised his other eyebrow. And they both burst out laughing.
"I don't really know about celebrities and stuff." Amorette shrugged, still smiling.
"I'm not a celebrity." Vlad said, "I'm a normal person."
"Vampire." Amorette corrected.
"Vampires are people too." Vlad said.
"No, we're bloodthirsty psychopaths!" Amorette bared her teeth, as if they were fangs.
"Some of us are." Vlad said, "I'm a vegetarian."
"I'm not a full vampire yet." Amorette said. They nodded to each other and then Amorette returned to drawing in her notebook and Vlad watched her.
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George was very confused about why everyone was panicking. It had started about the day before, very late at night. People had been running about, up and down the corridors. People had been yelling things to each other, as they passed each other. People had been very confused and very well informed and overall, quite noisy. The whole time, George had been sitting in her bedroom, leaning against the door. She had tried to sleep but there was too much racket going on. Every time she turned over, Ingrid would yell at Mina to "GET OUT AND STOP TRYING TO HELP ME, FILTHY TRAITOR!". And then, Mina would scream something back like "IT'S FOR THE GOOD OF BOTH OF OUR WORLDS!". Eventually, George had given up and just listened. And as George leaned against her bedroom door, she overheard a vital conversation.
"Is it going to be a girl?" The Count was asking, as he strode down the corridor.
"There's no way of telling yet." Grayson had replied, "I will inform you once we know."
"And Ingrid has no idea that this is my plan?" The Count asked.
"She thinks that Mina and I are behind it, yes." Grayson said.
"Good. We'll need the child as a weapon to use against the Council and the rest of my enemies." The Count said.
"Er, Count?" Grayson said, "We can't promise that the child will be a perfect weapon. Emarni-"
"Who?" The Count said, in a confused tone.
"Your daughter." Grayson reminded him, even though he was sure that the Count knew.
"Oh, yes." The Count said, as if he had just remembered, "The blonde one."
"She had similar medication when she was a child and she was not the flawless weapon Lizzie wanted." Grayson said. There was a pause.
"Ah, Elisabetta." The Count sighed, a touch wistful, "My psychotic wife. How sad I was to hear of her death."
"Mhm, I think we were all sad. With the exception of Emarni. Nobody has told her as of yet." Grayson said, "Maybe-"
"So, we're clear on the plan?" The Count interrupted.
"I take the child. I give it to our secret contact. He raises it for us." Grayson said, "I'll see you later." There was the sound of footsteps as the pair walked away. Neither of them realised that a small, dark haired twelve year old could hear them on the other side of the door.
Carefully, George pushed open the door and tiptoed down the corridor. It was absolutely silent. So, when George bumped into somebody, she screamed a little.
"It's cool, it's cool! It's just me!" Chloe whispered. She pushed the younger girl off her gently.
"Why are we whispering?" George hissed back.
"The others don't know that I'm back." Chloe replied, "Something's up, isn't it?"
"The Count, Mina and Grayson are working together to kidnap Seraphina." George told her.
"What?" Chloe exclaimed.
"Keep your voice down!" George hissed, "They're going to kidnap her and give them to a secret contact to raise."
"The Count's in on the plan?" Chloe was a little shocked. She knew that the Count was evil, as well as set on defeating the Council. But she never imagined that he would kidnap his granddaughter, seconds after she was born. That was pure evil. And to have someone else raise the child as their own? What if Seraphina was lost forever?
"We need to save Seraphina!" Chloe grabbed George by the hand and ran down the corridor, pulling the twelve year old behind her. But they were already too late.
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It was a little easier the rest of Vlad's first day with Amorette at his side. It wasn't a lot easier but a little. He had somebody to walk around with. Sure, that someone was one of the quietest, most unpopular person in the entire world. But it was someone.
"Amorette?" Vlad asked, "How'd you get stuck here?" The girl looked up from where she was drawing a heart on the back of her hand.
"My parents split up when I was four and my mom doesn't like me." She had a slight American twang that Vlad hadn't noticed previously.
"Really?" Vlad said, "My parents just try to kill each other."
"Really?" Amorette wasn't really interested. Her eyes were focused on a spot just over Vlad's shoulder. He turned slowly.
"No!" Amorette hissed, "Don't be obvious!"
"What?" Vlad asked. There was a boy standing behind him. A tall boy with floppy brown hair that fell in his eyes was standing behind him. He had a bag slung across his body and was talking to another girl.
"That's Marlon." Amorette whispered, "He's so cool."
"Ah." Vlad said, "You like him."
"Hush!" Amorette slapped him on the arm.
"You do, don't you?" Vlad said. And even though the girl shook her head hard, he could see Marlon's name inked inside the heart she had drawn on her hand. Oh. Maybe vampire school wasn't so different from human school.
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It was a huge castle that towered over the three of them; it was twisted and warped like a horrible creature from beyond the grave. Emarni looked up at the building that leered over them with a mix of fear and excitement. She was back again.
"You can wait outside, if you want." Malik told her. His sister stared at the building blankly for a few more moments before snapping out of a daydream. She glanced at her brother.
"So much sadness." Emarni said, in a sing song tone, "So much pain. So much suffering."
"You can wait outside." Malik repeated.
"And so much anger in there as well." Emarni looked into Malik's eyes, "So much hidden and locked away." She pushed the doors open and darted inside. Her brother was about to follow when Katherine caught him by the arm.
"I think we underestimate her." Katherine said, quietly so that the other girl couldn't hear her. Emarni was spinning around in the main hall, a wistful expression on her face.
"Emarni?" Malik scoffed, "She's a pretty face with whimsical thoughts."
"Sometimes, I just think that she knows us better than we know ourselves." Katherine said. With a laugh, Emarni fell over and landed on her back. She didn't seem to feel anything, looking up at the glittering ceiling.
"She wasn't talking about the house." Katherine said, "She was talking about you." They both stared at each other for a second and then glanced at Emarni. She was lying on the floor, kicking her legs in the air and chewing on her lip. Malik couldn't help wondering what she was thinking about.
"Up you get, Em." Malik walked over to her and grabbed her by the hand. He yanked her to her feet.
"The world's spinning." Emarni laughed, grabbing hold of her brother to keep herself steady. As she laughed, she leant forward and her hair flopped in her face. When she brushed her hair back again, her laughter had turned to sobs.
"I do not like it here." Emarni said, tears falling from her eyes, "Malik, make the memories go away." She hugged him tightly and refused to let go.
"I can't make them go away." Malik sighed, running his fingers through his sister's messy curls, "Memories are something that we all have to deal with."
Wherever she looked, Emarni could only see her past surrounding her. She had been locked away inside these walls for nearly three hundred years with scarcely any contact from the outside world. And her mother had always been so busy that Emarni always seemed to be alone.
"Why were we drawn here?" Malik kept demanding, slamming his fist into the table. He wasn't happy to be here either and he wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. Emarni could tell just from looking at the hatred that shone in his eyes.
"Because of the memories this town holds for us." Katherine would reply every time.
"Have you heard of the Stone Tape theory?" Emarni said, glancing up at the witch and the hybrid that were sat on the opposite side of the table. Quietly, Emarni drummed her fingers against the table as they thought. It was interesting to watch Malik and Katherine both process what she had said and exchange confused looks.
"No..." Malik said, slowly.
"It is a theory that inanimate materials, such as stone, can absorb an energy and form memories." Emarni smiled, "Chloe told me about it."
"Your point?" Malik sighed.
"I want to see my old room." Emarni pushed her chair back and got to her feet.
"Do you think she was trying to tell us something?" Malik turned to the witch. The girl had a faraway expression on her face, her dark eyebrows pulled together in a frown. Her eyes had a darkness in them, that made Malik wonder what she was thinking.
"Huh?" Katherine looked up at him. She caught his eye and her eyes sparkled. Malik wished that she would stop doing that, stop looking at him like that. While he didn't return Katherine's feelings, she was beginning to get to him. She had a weird crush on him that he had never been able to understand. Malik had liked her, once, when they were younger. But after their accidental kiss, Malik had done his best to bully her.
"Emarni. Do you think she was onto something with that stone theory?' Malik asked, "It sounded random but she might be right about something."
"Or she's being driven to craziness." Katherine pushed back her chair and rose to her feet. There was a clink of beads as her necklaces smacked into each other. She was wearing all sorts of symbols that Malik didn't even recognise.
"You said earlier that we were underestimating her." Malik said, as the girl walked to the door. As she reached the door, Katherine turned around and looked at him, with raised eyebrows.
"I take it back." Katherine said, "She's an idiot." And with that, she promptly disappeared from the room.
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Nothing was any different from when she had left just under a year ago, except for the thin layer of dust that covered everything. Her books were balanced neatly on her shelves, most of them unopened. Seeing as Emarni could only read about one word per line, not many of the books had been read. But she had always tried her hardest and sometimes she had managed to convince one of the servants to read to her- until all the servants had left because Elisabetta didn't pay them.
"Everything is the same." Emarni muttered, tracing the pattern that was engraved on her four poster bed. She sat on the edge of her bed, smoothing out the creases in the blankets. No matter how much she had begged, her mother would never let her have a coffin. Slowly, Emarni prised open the golden locket that hung around her neck- she still wore it under her clothes. Her parents looked up at her from inside the locket. She could still remember the day she got it.
"Emarni, this is a very special locket." Elisabetta had told her, opening the locket, "Your father gave this to me." She didn't tell Emani that it was cursed then.
"It is beautiful." Six year old Emarni had said in wonder, her green eyes wide.
"It is yours." Elisabetta offered her daughter a rare smile. Her mental health had already began to deteriorate at this stage and she was already beginning to plot against The Count. Her mother helped Emarni put the necklace on, doing the stiff clasp up for her.
"Emarni, I have never told you this but I... I have plotting to do." Elisabetta had swept out of the room. Now, Emarni ripped the necklace off and threw it aside. It was a reminder of how her mother used to almost care for her. The locket slid along the wooden floor.
Katherine was standing on top of the battlements, looking out at the Romanian landscape. How she had missed the old country. It felt much calmer here and more homely, than it did in England. She could see the spot, where her house used to stand. It wasn't there anymore. And that made Katherine sad.
"My Bunică." Katherine said quietly. She could see the spot where her grandmother was buried six feet underground. It had hurt Katherine when her grandmother had died- her grandmother was the woman who had brought her up and taught her everything that she knew.
"I can bring her back." a voice hissed, "In exchange for your soul." Katherine spun around. There was nobody there.
"Malik?" she called, "This isn't funny." There was no reply.
"Emarni?" Katherine called uneasily. Still, no reply.
"Katherine!" a warped demon-like creature appeared in front of her and Katherine let out a shriek. She stumbled towards the edge of the balcony and tumbled off, screaming all the way.
He could remember everything from the days when he lived here. And something was puzzling him. If Emarni had always lived in the same castle and roamed the same halls, how come Malik had never seen her? They had both lived here for around three hundred years and never bumped into each other! How was that even possible?
"Mum must have gone to great length to keep us apart." Malik sighed. He was sitting on the grand staircase, looking up at the cobwebbed ceiling. He was trying to think back a few hundred years.
"Emarni never went to school." he said, thoughtfully, "And she wasn't allowed out after she turned sixteen." His sister had told him that much. So, she must've just been sitting around inside the castle. But Malik could never remember seeing a blonde girl anywhere. Except...
"I have seen her somewhere." Malik leapt to his feet and ran down the corridor. He skidded around the corner and into the gallery.
"Emarni." There was a painting of Emarni, as a small blonde girl. She looked pretty much the same; the same messy blonde curls, the same skinniness and some bracelets on her wrists. But she was dressed more for the time, wearing a blue dress.
"How did I never notice her?" Malik asked, "Emarni!" He began up the stairs and ended up falling down one of the many trap doors. He yelped.
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She could've sworn that every bone in her back broke as she hit the ground. Stars danced before Katherine's eyes as she blinked several times. When the world finally spun back into focus, she was able to move just a little bit.
"Katherine..." someone was standing over her, "Katherine..." It was Malik, cobwebs clinging to his arms. A thick layer of dust rested on top of his hair.
"What happened?" Katherine groaned, rolling onto her stomach. Her foot hit a metal bar and she squeaked in pain. Looking around, she could clearly see that they were surrounded by metal bars. Which could only mean one thing...
"We're in a cage." Katherine said in disbelief. She pushed herself onto her knees; there wasn't much room inside the cage and Malik and Katherine were crammed in together.
"Well done, Sherlock." Malik said bitterly. He was gripping the bars of the cage but they didn't even bend slightly.
"Help me up." Katherine muttered. Malik grabbed her by the hand, both their palms sweating.
Emarni was forced into the cage by a pair of invisible hands. Her face was buried in her hands and she wasn't making a sound.
"Emarni?" Katherine said. Nothing. Not so much as a sniffle or a sob from the blonde girl.
"Em?" Malik tried softly. Still nothing. Emarni sank down to her knees, her face still behind her hands. That time, she did let out a small sob.
"I do not like it here..." Emarni said, staring down at the floor. She couldn't stop the tears falling from her eyes.
"This is not my home!" Emarni kicked the side of the cage. It shook a little but held completely firm.
"Emarni, calm it a little." Malik told her.
"We do not belong here!" Emarni yelled, "She cannot hold us here anymore!" With a sigh, Malik offered her his hand and pulled her to her feet.
"We're going to get out of this." Malik told her. And, uneasily, he hugged his younger sister.
"I believe you." Emarni said. And she hugged him back.
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"Well, well, well." They all knew the sound of that smooth, smug voice and they turned to face Julian in perfect synchronisation; the vampire girl still clinging to her brother, hugging him tightly. Katherine looked at Julian in surprise.
"What on earth are you doing here?" she demanded, looking the ex slayer up and down.
"Dearest Katherine." Julian smirked at her. The witch shook the bars of the cage, glaring at the boy.
"Let us out, Julian!" Katherine cried.
"I'm not Julian!" the demon roared, "I took Julian's body and used him like a puppet!" Both the vampires snarled, showing their fangs. The witch just stood and glared through the bars at the boy, who used to be her friend.
"You shall never take us alive!" Emarni yelled dramatically.
"You're already dead." Malik reminded her.
"I was being dramatic." Emarni snapped, "Give-"
"You some artistic license. Yeah, I know." Malik rolled his eyes.
"Phone call for you, Malik." Julian said, holding out a mobile phone for him. Shooting Julian a look of pure hatred, Malik took the phone from him and held it to his ear. All he could hear on the other end was sobbing.
"Hello?" Malik was puzzled.
"Malik." Ingrid choked, "Malik, they've taken her."
"Who?" Malik was instantly on his guard.
"Seraphina." Ingrid sobbed, "They took our daughter. I tried to stop them but I just couldn't! I'm sorry, it's all my fault." Seraphina was... Gone?
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Thank you very much for reading and reviewing. The sequel, Into the Fire, will be up as soon as I can write it. It will be set three years after the event of this one.
- Angels xox.