Chapter 31

After Mitch had recovered a little, Anna walked up to him and gave him a small smile.
"I believe you Mitch, and I am still sorry," She told him.
"Thank you, Rebeca and I call him Michel," Mitch informed her and she nodded.
"You have my condolences and you may stay here as long as you need," Thomas told him, nodding. Mitch took a breath after Rebeca's parents and Rosa, Rebeca's parents were going to bed and Rosa went upstairs, probably to her post at Rebeca's bedroom.
"Don't be up too late you two!" Mitch heard Anna say still walking to her and Thomas' room.
"We won't mom,' Rebeca said back to her mom.

They both stood there in silence for a minute.
"Do you trust what Michel said?" Mitch asked Rebeca.
"Yes," She said. Sure of herself.
"I know he is telling the truth, I can tell. At least I know I don't have to worry about hurting you on accident..." Mitch said smiling softly at Rebeca.
"Yeah..." She trailed and walked over to him and hugged him hard. Mitch returned the hug and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
"So... with that bit of unpleasantness out of the way. Do you want to know what I found?" She asked, whispering.
"Sure," Mitch said softly.
"I don't want my parents to hear this," She said looking very serious and Mitch nodded at her, also serious.
"So..." She trailed and started laying her books out. Pages open and she gave Mitch a stare that could've melt stone when he was about to comment on her treatment of the books, which shut him up right quick. She started explaining that she had gave him a kind of Cliff notes version of their origin stories but there was much more.

"Soon after the families were formed and learned what had happened to them. They wanted to have slaves that were like them, for companionship, as protectors, labor, food... For these reasons the 11 families came together to create a ritual that is now known as the Ritual of Creation. This ritual would allow any of the current, then, and descendants of the Pure Blood families as they started to call themselves, to create slaves. They would be stronger, faster, tougher, with enhanced senses and they would have a life span to match their masters and they would be completely bound to the Master who created them. That was the intention of this ritual, it didn't go exactly according to plan as the Bond between Master and slave wouldn't last forever, in fact it only seem to last a few months to a few years depending on the will of the former spirit of the person brought back to life. This process took some time to piece together, it doesn't seem to be common knowledge now and days. But... Any Pure Blooded vampire could create a Slave by feeding a recently deceased corpse their blood, and the blood would reanimate the corpse." Mitch took a second after Rebeca was done speaking for the moment, taking a few moments.
"I was not dead when you gave me some of your blood was I?" Mitch asked looking up at her, he didn't remember when he moved but he was sitting on a couch and Rebeca was sitting in his lap.
'No! Of course you weren't," Rebeca said with a start.
"Listen... Listen for heart beats," Rebeca asked him and Mitch did. It took a few moments but he could make out two distinct hearts beating, his and Rebeca's.
"Sorry... It just seems I mostly match that description," Mitch told her.
"I'm not finished with the story and haven't gone into my theory as to what happened. Just give me a little time k hun?" She asked looking down at him.
"Of course Angel," Mitch said smiling. Rebeca smiled and looked away, blushing a little.
"Is that your new pet name for me?" She asked still looking away.
"Yep," Mitch said smiling.

"Anyway... As time went on, the Slaves were treated as slaves, they resented this, naturally. Especially since they were treated worse than slave in most parts of the world. Not only were they a labor force, they were more expendable because of the ease of their creation and they were also blood bags for the families who owned them and wished to partake of the vampiric nature of their heritage. It was common for no one in the family to not be fed blood during those times. Now and days it is still rare for those who are vampires to be one, it is not unheard of though. Back on topic though. Under these conditions... Rebellion was inevitable and when the first wide rebellion happened a dozen Pure Bloods were murdered by their slaves and all were punished," Rebeca explained. Mitch would tell she was getting uncomfortable. She took a breath before continuing.

"The nobles created another Ritual, it is known as The Ritual of Hunger. This one was similar to the Ritual of Creation but it targeted the Slaves rather than the Pure Blood. The point of this ritual was to make the Slave need the Masters. The effect was to create an insatiable, unending thirst for blood in all slave, current and every slave created after the ritual was complete. Since the first attempt to Bond slaves to masters didn't work entirely. They tried to make the slave bound to their masters by the Slave's base needs." Rebeca took another moment, clearly upset retelling this part of her people's history.
"You do not need to continue, love," Mitch told her his eyes with pity as he could see what telling him was doing to her.
"No.. I need to finish," She said resolutely. She gathered herself before continuing.

"The Slaves grew more coordinated, more united in the desperation their Pure Blood masters created in them. One night... About 100 years after the first rebellion. An entire vampire clan was slaughtered by a well coordinated slave rebellion. The rebellion was stamped down eventually but conditions grew even worse for the Slaves, or Kindred as they had started to call themselves. The nobles gathered one last time, they vowed this would to be the last time they would create a ritual and they have kept to that promise since then. The Ritual of Sundering as it was called was enacted with a grander and more sinister purpose than rituals before. At the completion of this ritual. Every Kindred's spirt was sundered, fractured, split in two, the Man and the Beast. The purpose of this ritual was to break the coordination and unity of the Kindred, the Pure Bloods figured if a single kindred is constantly fighting with itself, it won't try and organize the people around them. And for the most part they were right... But as each of these rituals showed. Their was a flaw, or unintended consequence. This newest change however sounded the death knell for large scale slave keeping and creation. Slavery was being outlawed around the word around this time but the splitting of the Kindred's souls while making them less united, also made them less useful slaves. Typically over a short amount of time each Kindred would be dominated by one or the other of their spirits. Either they would be docile, timid and submissive which was not well suited to typical slave work. Or they were aggressive, alpha and dominating which typically would require them to be put down before they became a threat. Not only that but vampiric powers against Beast dominated Kindred were not as useful as they were before," Rebeca took shuddering breath as she finished her story. Mitch held her tight against his chest.
"I know you are not like that," Mitch told Rebeca.
"I know but... Their blood runs in my vains. I know I and my parents do not keep Kindred slaves but there are those in my family and others that do," She finished and started crying softly.
"Hey there..." Mitch trailed holding her.
"You can't do anything about other people, only what you do," Mitch finished. Rebeca nodded and they were silent for a time, just holding each other on the couch.

"I wasn't finished... My theory as to what happened to you," She said, looking up to Mitch.
"Oh right, so?" He asked.
"So... I was able to acquire a genealogical record of the family that was destroyed. I started thinking that it's pretty hard to destroy a entire family entirely. So I did some digging and found that the clan still had some living descendants. Ones who were not changed into vampires, I traced the family line down to Ruban Kalis,"She said. The name unfamiliar to Mitch. Rebeca got up, out of Mitch's arms and grabbed the book from his parent's house he gave her and opened it up to one of the first pages. She showed him a name, Ruban Kalis. Mitch's eyes widen.

"So... Your telling me that I'm a descendant of a couple hundred year dead Pure Blood noble house?" Mitch asked and Rebeca nodded.
"How sure are you?" Mitch asked looking up Rebeca.
"Rather. The names at the beginning of your book match to our records and I was able to match the records by two other sources as well," She continued.
"Wow... Ok... So your theory?" Mitch asked.

"When I gave you a little of my blood. Your body rejected it like we had thought but 'woke up' your vampiric heritage and maybe reacted with the Ritual of Creation. Again it's just a theory because there wouldn't be any way to be sure but you being the first, oldest and only Pure Blood descendant of a previous House... If you want you could refound your House..." Rebeca explained.
"Wow... I don't know how I feel about that," Mitch said.
"Well... If we decide to tell my parents they will get their wish of me..." She said wistfully and Mitch gave her a questioning look.
"They wanted me to merry a powerful member of another house to help my House's standing. And you being the First Scion of your house... Would make you the most powerful member of your House. They don't want that of me anymore since I met you though," She explained.
"First Scion?" Mitch asked.
"First Scion is a title given to the Founders or, in this case, refounders of a Noble House. You would also be a 'Lord' as the head of said noble house,"Rebeca explained. Mitch shook his head.
"Even if I wanted to I wouldn't know the first thing to go about it... And I'm not sure I possess the nature or demeanor required..." Mitch trailed.
You can do it. You will be successful. Mitch heard in his mind.
I can help you, protect you and Rebeca if needed. It is no coincidence you have the power of domination, it is not random chance. It is what you were made for, destiny, fate. Whatever you want to call it. You may have not been born for it, but you were shaped, 'awaken' for this task and I will insure your success. Mitch felt confidence surge in him, but doubt was not banished from his mind, it just didn't seem as insurmountable as it had seemed before.
"What was the House's name?" Mitch asked, Rebeca took note of the change in Mitch's tone.
"House Valentine," She answered.
"Michel Valentine," Mitch said, seeing how the words sounded outloud.
"I like it," Rebeca told him with a smile, she rested her head against his shoulder.
"Me too... It rolls off the tongue nicely," Mitch said. Leaning and resting his head on her's. Mitch closed his eyes and could feel Rebeca relax, starting to fall asleep. He just smiled and sat there with Rebeca until he was sure she was asleep. He slowly extracted himself from Rebeca and lightly picked her up and he felt her arms go around his neck as he carried her upstairs to her room. He took her shoes off and opened up the covers and set her down softly and she didn't wake when he put the covers over her and tucked her in and kissed her forehead before leaving her room, shutting the door quietly... He noticed that he could be very very silent when he wanted to. Much easier and quieter than before his Change.

Mitch noticed Rosa at her post in the hallway and Mitch put on a blank mask to cover the murderous look in his eye in record time.
"Vengeance will feel good but will not solve your grief," She said quietly, not looking at Mitch. He ignored her and went into his room. He changed into a black T-shirt, black Jeans and set his trechcoat on the bed. He fitted his combat knife and sheath to his belt before going into the bathroom. He showered and after he was done he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and opened them. A pair of shining green eyes were staring back at him... 'Power' filled his limbs and mind.
*When our goals align... The Man and Beast insynch... We are unstoppable. You are in control with my power.*
"Are you ready to hunt Michel?" Mitch said and smiled at the mirror. He face retained it's normal features, not bestial like when Michel took over but his eyes had changed, but only his eyes.

Author's Note:
Well that was a duzzy. Sorry if the chapter seemed like an information overload. I had a hard time coming up with a name I liked for the House name. I've got the 11 houses in mind now but I had narrowed it down to 3 names that I had to choose. Delacroix, Valentine or Geovanni. In the end I choose Valentine. Delacroix and Geovanni sound rather villainy or evil but not Valentine or... at least not as much. Could you let me know what you think? What name would you have chosen? Between those 3 or another name you can think of and send me a PM. Also, if you enjoyed the story, follow it. If your in love with this story, favorite it so you can find it easy. If you have a criticism, comment or question you want to share, give this chapter a review. If you have any questions you want to direct straight to me, PM me. Thank you for reading though and I hope you have a good day.