Moonlight Denial: Shades of Moonlight Book One

Ethan walked through the woods with his family and the two youngest of the Fairbrooke family. They had emerged from the teleportation spell in a secluded area near Tree Valley and were heading towards the mansion Dimitri was hiding in. His insides were quaking, but he kept his back straight and strides strong. He probably would have felt more confident if the whole Fairbrooke family was with them, but they had stayed behind to continue the spell. They had to keep up their chanting in order to keep the teleportation portal open or else it would close and they would be stranded and screwed.

Ethan was pulled from his thoughts when Conrad, who was leading the group, abruptly spoke.

“Remember, everyone, we are here for one reason and one reason only. To extract Nicoli from Dimitri’s grasp. Once that is done we need to retreat and retreat immediately. No one is to stay behind to try and carry out any form of revenge. We go in together and we come out together. Does everyone understand?”

Everyone murmured their agreement, though Ethan knew Amelia and Preston were confused by the order, since what Conrad spoke of had nothing to do with them.

“I will say this, though, if any of you get the chance to take out one of them, do it. You all deserve that much, but just remember to be careful. All of you.”

Ethan wanted more than anything for Conrad’s words to inspire him, but he was still filled with a suffocating fear. He had built himself up for this moment, but the truth was he wasn’t ready to see Evan again. Not the man that had hurt him so deeply. Not the man that had shattered his entire world and the man that he had promised to kill with his own hands. Not his brother.

Ethan shook his head. No. He had to be strong. Evan had killed so many people that Ethan loved and cared for. Evan wasn’t his brother anymore. He possibly never was. That was why he had left his family a year ago. To go confront his brother and make him pay. He just had to keep that in mind. To take his mind off the oncoming battle he looked around at the others.

Everyone’s faces were set with determination. They each knew what was coming and what was expected of them and none of them would be hesitant to do it. His eyes settled on Faith, who walked beside him. At a glance her expression was as steely as the others, but when Ethan looked closer he could see her brows tremble and there was a slight shiver running through her body.

Ethan wanted to kick himself. He had been so wrapped up in himself that he hadn’t thought how hard this was going to be on Faith. He knew her feelings on the matter. She had lived with Dimitri and his two daughters the greater part of her life. They had been her family. Not to mention that Evan’s betrayal hadn’t only crushed his heart.

“Faith, are you going to be okay?” he asked telepathically.

“That’s a silly question,” she replied curtly, her gaze never lifting from in front of her.

“Of course. That was dumb of me to ask,” he said.

“What about you?” she asked.

Ethan was silent. Would Faith think less of him if he told her his fears? No, she wouldn’t because he knew she was having the very same ones.

“I don’t want to see him.” he told her and was sure she would know who he meant. “I don’t think I will be able to bear to see the monster he has become…I also can’t stomach the thought that I have to fight him.”

“I don’t blame that thought one bit. You know, you don’t have to fight him.”

Ethan winced at the hope in her voice. The hope that he would refuse to fight and find some other way to put a stop to everything.

“You and I both know that’s not true. I may not want to, but he’ll force me to. I’m sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am. I have to fight him for Felix, for Aria, for Stephen, and for the one life he hasn’t taken yet. Nicoli.”

“…I know.” Faith said softly. “I don’t want to see him either. If I do…I may just break down right there and then. It seems I have an unlimited amount of tears to shed for him.”

There was a stretch of silence between them and Ethan’s chest only tightened with thoughts of what was to come. Finally there was only one thing he could ask of her. Forgiveness.

“Faith, if I do kill– ”

“Stop, Ethan,” she said. He saw her close her eyes, as if fighting off pain. “Please, don’t say anymore.”

No more was said between them as the group closed in on the tree line that would bring them in full view of their destination. Before they emerged Faith slipped her hand into Ethan’s and squeezed tightly.

When they reached the boundary between dense forest and open space Conrad made them halt.

“This is where you will wait,” he said, looking at each of the members of the rescue team. “The rest of us shall go in and when we have Dimitri’s and the others full attention I will tell Faith that it is time for you to act. Is that clear?”

Faith, Felix, Amelia and Preston all nodded.

“You got it. We’ll get in and get Nicoli out before you know it,” Amelia said, pumping her fist in prepared victory.

“I trust that you will,” Conrad said with a nod. He then looked to the other members of his family. “It’s time.”

With that the majority of the clan was off, leaving the two witches, the ghost, and the littlest vampire behind. Ethan took a deep breath. He was about to fight against his own demon, whether he was ready or not.

************************************************************************

The tall, oak front doors blasted open. Splinters rained down onto the marble floor as Conrad stepped through the opening he had made. With a simple glance he knew that the dwelling was exactly to Dimitri’s tastes. Even dilapidated the mansion breathed refined finesse and high class.

He came to a stop in the middle of the entry room, his clan following suit. Directly in front of them were two curved staircases on either side of the room that both went up to the second floor. Dimitri was up there, somewhere. He could feel it. But that was not what had made him stop.

It was a trail of blood smeared across the once pristine white floor that gave him pause. It started from the left staircase and disappeared down a hallway between the two sets of stairs. He didn’t have to use his nose to know that it was human blood. Nicoli’s blood.

Ethan was close enough to him that he felt his child tense at the sight of the bloody streaks. He reached out to place a hand on Ethan’s shoulder. He knew that, if given the chance, Ethan would dart off to go find where the morbid trail of breadcrumbs ended.

“Easy, my son, easy,” he said softly. “Use your ears. The child is still alive. Leave him to the others. Our attention must be elsewhere.”

Ethan nodded, but the tension in his shoulders did not leave. Nicoli was still alive. His single heartbeat was the only sound that resonated through the building. They could all hear it somewhere below them and it acted as a war drum for the battle ahead.

“Dimitri!” Conrad roared and his voice boomed through every inch of the mansion. “Come out and show yourself, you coward!”

As if on queue a door somewhere above creaked open. Slow, unhurried footsteps filled the air accompanied by a third noise. A thunk. Thunk. Thunk. A figure appeared on the upper landing directly between the staircases and if Conrad still had breath in his withered lungs he would have lost it.

There stood his brother, as proud and as confident as always with his pleasant smile and kind eyes. The devil himself behind the mask of a gentleman.

“A coward?” Dimitri said, arching a black brow down at Conrad. “Since when have you resorted to petty name calling, Brother? That’s so beneath you.”

“It’s not name calling if I’m just stating what you are,” Conrad replied, trying to keep his voice as level as possible when all he wanted to do was snarl and spit.

“If that is how you want to see it then I know I can’t change your mind,” Dimitri said simply as he lifted his wolf headed cane and began casually rubbing out a smudge with his thumb. “So, what do I owe the honor of your presence within my new humble home? And with such happy faces, might I add,” he asked, looking from clansman to clansman.

Conrad released a growl then. He used to admire the way Dimitri could play off any situation as if it were a joke, as if nothing could ruffle him, not even death itself, but now it licked hot fury through his veins.

“Don’t play coy. You know exactly why we’re here.”

“Do I?” Dimitri said as he used the head of the cane to scratch his head in thought. “No, can’t say any ideas come to mind. I would hope it was for a fun little family reunion, we haven’t talked in ages, but I’m guessing that’s not the case.”

Before Conrad could say anything Ethan stepped forward. His face was twisted in rage.

“What did you do to Nicoli, you heartless son of a bitch!?” he yelled and Conrad was just able to snag the back of Ethan’s jacket before his son launched himself up at Dimitri.

“Ethan, calm yourself,” Conrad hissed as he pulled Ethan back.

Dimitri continued to stare down at them, but now his head was tilted in mild perplexity.

“Nicoli?” he said in confusion. “I’m afraid I don’t know who…oooh,” he said, recognition coming to his features. “You mean that little human boy that my children picked up in Whixton?” His brows then knitted in concern and he placed his free hand on his face. “Oh no, don’t tell me that little human belongs to you. I had no idea.” His smile returned, but it wasn’t the pleasant one from before, but a subtle, sinister one. “Seth just thought he looked like so much fun. He just couldn’t wait to get his hands on the little dear so I said he could have him.”

Conrad cursed his brother. Now he was just provoking Ethan. They all knew what that twisted, madman was capable of and just the thought of what Seth could, and maybe had done, to Nicoli was enough to send Ethan into an uncontrollable wrath.

With a meager gesture of Conrad’s head Gavin took hold of a now flailing Ethan and held him back. That gave Conrad the ability to address his brother fully.

“Enough games, Dimitri. Just give us back the boy now and I won’t personally tear off every inch of skin from your body.”

Dimitri tilted back his head and laughed at the threat.

“You mean give back what’s left of the boy,” he said, his lips pulled back into a full, malicious grin. “Now, while that is an appealing offer, since I like my skin where it is, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

Conrad tore his eyes off his brother as four more figures appeared above them and began to descend the stairs. He recognized all of them right away. On the left staircase were Dimitri’s daughters, Ira and Lillian and on the right staircase was the tall, psychotic Seth himself and behind him was none other than Conrad’s third child.

In his peripheral vision he saw Ethan stop his struggles as he locked eyes with his twin brother. What color was in Ethan’s vampiric skin fled at the sight of the other. Conrad hoped that seeing Meier would put the fighting spirit back into Ethan. Lord knew he needed it if he was going to get through this.

His thoughts of his sons were disturbed when Dimitri leapt over the railing and fell gracefully to the floor below. He landed with a whisper of a sound just as his children’s feet touched the same floor.

“You see, my dear little brother,” Dimitri said as he stood to his full height. While Conrad was taller than his brother, Dimitri had an incredible air of power and poise about him that made Conrad feel much smaller. “The boy hasn’t given me what I wanted yet, so I’m afraid I’ll be keeping him for a little while longer.”

That sent a jolt through Conrad. Nicoli hadn’t given what Dimitri wanted? Did that mean the boy hadn’t talked at all? The thought seemed nearly ludicrous that a mere human could resist Dimitri’s charm or his cruelty, but Dimitri had just clearly said so himself and it was further proven since the boy was still alive. Maybe there was hope for him yet.

“I don’t think so,” Conrad said, his voice like steel. “We’ll be taking him. Now.”

Dimitri chuckled softly as his children went to either side of him.

“My brother, the great Conrad Areli, who would slaughter hundreds without a single thought, women and children alike…is fighting for one little human boy?” he said with an incredulous look. “And here the boy told me you didn’t like him.”

“Whoever said I’m fighting for him?” Conrad spat. “I’m fighting for all of the people you’ve taken from me and, as I see it, that boy is our property and I’ll be damned if I let you keep him.”

“Ah, there’s the cynical brother I know and love,” Dimitri said with a light laugh. His eyes then went to Ethan. “Tell me, is this boy nothing but “property” to you? You seem a little too riled up for him to be nothing but a possession. Is he perhaps something akin to the last boy you had?”

Conrad threw out his arm to stop Ethan from advancing. Dimitri knew all the right buttons to press to drive someone mad. It was one of his annoying skills.

“Don’t you ever talk to my son,” Conrad snapped, his own anger rising.

“Oh, you have nothing to fear,” Dimitri told him. “I already have the son I wanted.” He reached out and brushed the back of his hand against Meier’s cheek. “Isn’t that right, Meier?”

Meier smiled as he leaned into the hand.

“That’s right, Father,” he said.

The words cut into Conrad like a knife. The man he had turned and raised as his own now belonged to his brother so completely and willingly with more devotion than he had ever had for Conrad.

“I would rather not fight you, you know,” Dimitri said as his hand floated down to rest on top of the other on the cane. “We don’t have to do this.”

“Sadly, I think we do,” Conrad said. “The option to let bygones be bygones ended with the first life you took.” His eyes grew hard. “I’ll never forgive you for killing Isaak. If anyone had to die it should have been you. He was a greater man than you will ever be.”

He was sure his words had some sort of impact. Dimitri’s face changed so slightly he almost didn’t catch it. He wasn’t sure what emotion had leaked through. It almost seemed like…sadness, but it was gone before he could put a definite name to it and the easy smile was back. He disregarded his first initial thought. Dimitri had no ounce of remorse for what he had done. Taking Nicoli only proved that.

“Too bad,” Dimitri said with a shake of his head. “I gave you a chance, but it appears you leave me no choice.” His clan shifted as one into offensive positions and Conrad’s clan moved to match them.

“No, Dimitri, you are the one that has left me no choice,” Conrad said, flexing his fingers that would soon be around Dimitri’s throat. “I won’t let you bring anymore pain to this family.”

“Experiencing pain isn’t so bad,” Dimitri said as he idly lifted his cane and rotated it so the light caught the wolf’s head. “It helps remind you that you are still alive.”

Conrad narrowed his eyes as his fangs descended. He was done with talking.

“Soon you won’t feel anything at all.”

The clan was in complete sync with him and they exploded into movement, rushing at the enemy. The others disappeared around him, even the mansion melded away into nothingness. Dimitri was the only being that existed in Conrad’s eyes. The one being that he was about to destroy.

With his first strike Dimitri dodged nimbly, as well as the next and the next. It was like trying to catch the wind. The marble floor cracked and caved as Conrad’s fist slammed into it, narrowly missing Dimitri, who flipped away like a world class gymnast.

When Dimitri landed he took the wolf head of his cane in hand and twisted it. Conrad took a step back as a lethal, pure silver spike came out of the end of the cane. He really hated that thing. In an instant Conrad went from offensive maneuvers to defensive ones as Dimitri was on him.

One who gave a brief look at Conrad would never imagine how extremely agile or flexible he was. He bent nearly completely back in resemblance to a bridge as the spike aimed for his torso, and he was just as quick to go onto his hands and use his feet to block another blow when it came back.

The two brothers were well matched for each other in everyway. They had grown together and, once Conrad was turned and strong enough to fight, were trained together. They knew each others strengths and weaknesses and were also well aware that the other had learned how to make up for those same weaknesses. They continued their back and forth dance, neither being able to land a blow on the other.

It was only by chance when Conrad’s foot slipped on a piece of rubble he didn’t notice. It was the only opening Dimitri needed. Conrad had just enough time to jerk his head to the side as the spike came. He felt the skin of his cheek tear and burn as the silver point grazed past and when it withdrew a long, seared gash was left in its wake.

Conrad barely had time to register the wound when he was sent careening into the air by a mental wave. When his back met ground a foot stomped down on his chest. His hands shot up and caught the cane as it tried to pierce his head. It was less than an inch away from his nose and he used all of his strength to keep it away, but it slowly came closer and closer. He held on even as the skin that touched the silver began to burn and splinter.

Past the silver spike Conrad saw Dimitri leaning over him. His jaw set and his eyes fierce as he put all of his bodyweight down on the cane. Dimitri always became a different man in the heat of battle. Normally he was a regal, kind gentleman, but in battle he was a ruthless and skilled warrior. Conrad always found the switch astounding.

“I really don’t want to kill you, Conrad,” Dimitri said through clenched teeth, all the while never letting up on the cane.

The spike was so close that Conrad had to turn his face to the side. The tip tickled his cheek and he was just able to push it a fraction away. Through the imminent prospect of death Conrad was still able to scoff.

“You’ve already killed so many of your family. Even your own son. What makes me so special?” he asked, hoping the conversation would distract Dimitri just enough for him to find a way out of the situation.

“You’re my brother.”

“So was Isaak!”

Dimitri said nothing against that and Conrad knew it was the guilt of his crime that made his tongue still.

“It doesn’t have to end this way,” Dimitri said instead and for one brief second his weight on the cane eased. Exactly what Conrad was waiting for.

“You’re right and it’s not going to!”

Bracing one foot on the ground Conrad kicked up the other so far up he was able to hook his heel on the crook of Dimitri’s arm and pull. With Dimitri’s balance lost Conrad pushed up with all of his might and rammed the head of the cane into Dimitri’s face. With a blast of his own mental energy he was able to knock Dimitri off him completely and across the room.

Conrad jumped to his feet the moment he was free. He calmly licked one of his seared fingers to ease the burn as he watched Dimitri also stand back up.

“No,” Conrad said. “I have a completely different ending in mind.” And then he launched himself right back into the battle.

************************************************************************

Ethan ducked as a hand clawed at his face. He felt the tips of the fingers graze strands of his hair before he jumped away.

“Where are you off to, Ethan?” A snide voice said as his attacker was on him in a second, making him dodge another blow. “Running away like you always do?”

Ethan felt like he was in a dream as he watched a duplicate of himself come at him over and over, watched as the face that he grew up seeing and loved was twisted into a hateful sneer, watched as his brother tried to snuff out his life. He had sought Meier out for almost a year, being fueled by his anger and hatred to complete the revenge he wanted so badly, but now, being face to face with his own flesh and blood, his brother, he felt an unwilling helplessness he had never felt before.

“Evan, come on, don’t do this. You’re my brother. I don’t want to hurt you,” Ethan pleaded. He wanted so desperately to get through to the Evan he had known, the sweet, loving little brother he had when they were children, but the teal eyes that grew sharp and deadly as he spoke only belonged to a stranger.

“Don’t you ever call me by that name!” Meier yelled.

Ethan cried out as mental energy erupted from Meier and streaked past him, ripping his clothes and tearing skin. When it ended Ethan was left with deep scratches on various parts of his body. That had been a teasing shot, he knew that. Meier could pierce him with his mental abilities like a blade and Ethan realized his brilliant and powerful ability had only become stronger since he had sided with Dimitri.

“Evan is gone,” Meier spat. “I buried that spineless weakling forever the night I took your precious little human from you.”

Ethan winced and felt like he had just been slapped. Felix. His poor, beautiful Felix. A flash of that horrific night appeared before his eyes. The still, almost eerie night he had gone to the place he had kept Felix in to keep him safe. The haunting silence that filled the little place. The stench of death that assaulted his nose the second he set foot in the dwelling. The walls and floor painted red with streaks of blood and Felix, his lovely, fragile Felix left broken on the floor. His body mutilated and nearly beyond recognition. What always clawed into Ethan’s nightmares was the laugh that followed his discovery, a soul piercing, hollow laugh that dug into his open and bleeding heart that had followed him to this day.

Ethan shook his head to rid himself of the visions that he had tried to bury so many years ago. The anger he had tried so hard to reconnect with flared inside him and he glared heatedly at the one he was supposed to call brother.

“How could you do it?” Ethan asked. “Felix loved you, he looked up to you, idolized you even. How could you have killed him so ruthlessly?”

“Don’t look at me like that,” Meier said with a toss of his head. “You have no one but yourself to blame. You were the one that brought him into our lives, placing him right into the line of danger. I told you to go put that little stray back where you found him, but you wouldn’t listen. You are the one that made him such an easy target to strike you where you would hurt most.” He smiled. “I just simply took advantage of your folly. You made that so easy to do.”

Now the rage and hatred Ethan had felt for so many years escalated and his fangs appeared as he hissed. He had no idea who this man was that stood before him, but he certainly wasn’t the brother Ethan had known, or thought he had known anyway.

“Did I strike a nerve?” Meier teased. “You are such a slave to your emotions, it’s almost sad.”

Ethan lunged, but his strike was too slow and sloppy and Meier dodged easily.

“Tsk, tsk, Gavin would just be gravely embarrassed to see such a poor display. Do you know what I find interesting, though?” Meier asked. “That Felix’s death affected you so much, but you were more than willing to put another human in the same position. Such selfishness.”

Ethan’s eyes flew to the blood streaks not far from them and in that instant he realized how similar they were to the smears he had found on the floor before he discovered Felix’s body.

“What did you do to Nicoli!?” he demanded. Images of Felix’s death were replaced by Nicoli until all he could imagine was Nicoli’s torn and broken body and then the two images flipped between each other until they melded into one.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Meier said with a smirk. “The poor boy, you should have seen how happy he was when he first laid eyes on me because he mistook me for you. Then he was positively crushed when he realized how much you’ve been keeping from him.”

Ethan snarled and guilt gnawed at his innards. He never wanted Nicoli to learn his deepest, darkest secret this way. There was no possible way for Ethan to make it up to him, except to fight Meier and make sure he got home safely.

“I’ll make you pay for everything you’ve done,” Ethan growled.

Meier simply laughed.

“I’m sure. Such brave words filled with such false conviction. We both know you won’t lay a hand on me.”

“Oh, really?”

Ethan lunged again, but this time he did it with purpose. He would defeat Meier and get Nicoli back, he just had to. As he closed in on his brother Meier let loose a barrier of mental energy and Ethan smirked. He picked up speed and, just when he reached the barrier, pulled back his fist and smashed it into the mental wall

Under the fierce might of Ethan’s fist the shield cracked before shattering completely. With it gone Ethan swooped in and with an uppercut sent Meier right across the room.

“How’s that for not laying a hand?” Ethan called after him, rolling out his shoulder with a cocky smile.

While Gavin had stressed to Nicoli how important developing the mental prowess was, there was one lesson Gavin always saved for much later. If a vampires physical was the same or stronger than another vampires mental it was possible to overcome or deflect a mental attack. Of course the same was said for the other way around.

That was why Ethan focused so much of himself behind his strength. If he couldn’t be a master of his mind he would be the master of his muscles. Meier was the complete opposite. While he had the average strength of a vampire his mind was a wicked weapon, but Ethan’s strength had always been a good match for it.

Meier stood and his sneer was replaced by anger and he reached for something at his waist. Ethan wasn’t surprised when a sword was extracted from a sheath tied to Meier’s side. Even when they were kids Meier had been enthralled by the art of fencing. He had studied it for years and had become a master. When they had become vampires’ Meier went on to learn every sword art there was and was lethal when he had a blade in hand.

Ethan swallowed and braced himself. He knew that this night was going to be a long one and he hoped to have all of his limbs intact.

************************************************************************

Gavin’s leg swung out and barely clipped Seth before the tall vampire got away.

“You’re going to have to do better than that, old man,” Seth sneered. He jumped away just as Gavin’s fist came at his skull.

Gavin grunted and calmly tried to relocate Seth, who had disappeared. Compared to him Seth was young, barely over one hundred and fifty years old. Even so he was one of the most feared vampires in the vampire society. Not just because of his love of killing and ruthlessness, but because he was fast, faster than any vampire known to exist. Even Gavin had trouble keeping him in sight and it was much harder to catch an enemy he couldn’t see.

In a blur Gavin twisted around and sent out a mental blast that had such force it made the floor crack and crumble as it passed over. Seth narrowly escaped by leaping over it, but before he could land Gavin was there to meet him and his fist connected with Seth’s stomach.

Gavin tried to strike while Seth was down, but Seth was already gone by the time he swung his fist, making knuckle meet destroyed marble.

“Oooh I think I have a few broken ribs and I’m quite certain a few organs ruptured,” Seth said from his crouched position a few feet away. He pawed at his torso and disregarded the blood that dribbled from his lips and nose. “You’re so much fun. It’s going to be such a pleasure to rip you to shreds and then we’ll see just who is the strongest.”

Gavin didn’t reply. He wasn’t about to sink down to Seth’s taunting level. He knew that Seth had an obsession with seeking out strong vampires and defeating them. That was how his reputation had spiked so dramatically in such a short time. Gavin had been one of the only opponents Seth had that would not go down and that was how Gavin had become his main obsession. An honor he could have done without.

“Are you ready?” Seth asked. “Because you won’t be leaving here tonight and I’m going to keep your head in a box under my bed. A suitable trophy, don’t you think?”

Again Gavin said nothing. Instead he rolled his neck and shoulders, cracking and popping bones and joints to make the muscles looser.

“So quiet,” Seth said with his twisted smirk. “I’m going to get so much pleasure when I make you scream in agony.”

The two charged at each other and the collision was enough to make the Earth tremble.

************************************************************************

Cora cried out as fingers twisted in her hair and threw her into the nearest wall. She had just enough time to sit up from where she crumbled before she had to scramble away. The wall shuddered behind her as Ira collided with it, but just as quickly chased after Cora.

A blow to her shoulder sent Cora to the ground, but she was able to roll back and use her hands to spring away before Ira could strike her again.

Cora was at a severe disadvantage, she knew that. She was little over a hundred and Ira had over three hundred years more experience than her. She knew she could do no serious damage to Ira, but she had never planned to. Her goal was to try and stay as far away from Ira as possible and just dodge as much as she could until the others could get Nicoli and get out. It was all she really could do against someone like Ira.

Her plan was quickly backfiring as Ira caught her, landing blows to her face and chest and sending her to the ground again with a swift kick that sent her rolling. Ira was a force that just wouldn’t stop coming. She took no pause to think of her next action, she just acted. It hardly gave Cora time to think let alone defend.

In a desperate attempt to save herself she sent out her mental force and succeeded in throwing Ira back. Ira skidded to a stop and calmly stalked towards her.

“You’re far out of your league, little girl,” Ira said.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Cora grumbled.

“And yet you will still fight me?”

“Yes.”

Ira raised a brow and studied Cora intently. She then asked one thing.

“Why?”

“To get Nicoli back. If you really care about someone you will even fight a nearly hopeless battle for them.”

“Brave words, but they are misplaced. That boy is hardly anything to fight for,” Ira told her.

“You’re wrong, every life is worth fighting for, even little human boys. I’m also fighting for Stephen and what you monsters did to him.”

Ira scoffed and shook her head.

“He chose his bed. He should have known where it would end. For hurting Dimitri I would have killed him myself. Don’t be too saddened, though. You will be joining him soon enough.”

Cora furrowed her brows when Ira didn’t look at her, but over her. She gasped when she realized what Ira had done. She had been distracting Cora with talk and in doing so she never felt the presence that was sneaking up behind her.

Cora whirled around just in time to see Lillian leaping at her with malicious intent.

“Nighty night, Blondie!” Lillian roared.

Cora shielded her head with her arms, bracing for the blow that was about to come. Lillian cried out as a black blur came out of no where and knocked her right out of the air and into the same wall Cora had just been introduced to.

“No way are you two hags doing your double teaming on my daughter,” a voice said as the blur landed next to Cora.

She lowered her arms and sighed in relief.

“Phew, thanks, Andre,” she said with a radiant smile.

Andre smiled too, but then it quickly faded and he grabbed Cora’s arm.

“Don’t thank me yet,” he said and yanked her out of the way just as Ira went barreling by with a fierce cry.

“How dare you touch, Lillian!”

“You touch my daughter, I touch your sister. It’s called tit for tat, Ira,” Andre taunted after her when they successfully dodged.

“I always found you so irritating,” Ira growled when she faced off with them.

“And you were always far too prudish for my taste.”

Cora listened to the back and forth and remembered that Andre, Ira, and Lillian had all lived together before the clan split. So that meant Andre knew the sisters much better than she ever would.

“Don’t let him get under your skin,” Lillian said as she appeared from the crater in the wall and joined Ira. “His talk is all that he was ever good at.”

“And you were always good at being the cutsie-tootsie little sister that ran to big, strong Ira every time you got into a little bit of trouble,” Andre retorted.

“You shouldn’t flaunt those words of yours like that, Andre,” Ira said icily. “I may just have to tear that tongue of yours out.”

“What, you mean this tongue?” Andre asked and stuck it out and wiggled it at her.

Cora nearly couldn’t stop a roll of her eyes. Here they were in a life or death battle and Andre was blowing raspberries at the enemy. He would never change.

“That’s enough,” Ira snapped. “I am going to tear off each of your limbs and as you lay on the ground like a defenseless bug I’m going to kill your little girl right in front of you.”

“Like I’m just gonna roll over and let you?” Cora asked, finally speaking out. “I’ll give you one hell of a fight first.”

“Ooh, Blondie, has guts,” Lillian sneered. “Let’s see what they look like.”

The sisters moved together and lept at the father, daughter pair. Both Cora and Andre were able to dodge and put some distance between them and their attackers.

“Are you ready to give this fight your all, Cora?” Andre asked as they landed together. “Because they’re going to bring it either way.”

“Yep, I’m ready whenever you are, Andre. Just make sure to keep up with me.”

Andre laughed as he shifted his stance, the sisters coming for them again.

“Hey, your old man still has a few tricks up his sleeve. Just watch and learn.”

Cora smiled and felt confidence that wasn’t there before grow within her. With Andre by her side she could get through this fight and anything else thrown at her.

************************************************************************

In the midsts of the numerous battles going on in the giant entry room, none of the fighting vampires noticed the small group that slipped into the house. Amelia, Faith, Preston, and Felix ran across the destroyed floor as best they could to stay together, trying not to trip or fall and reveal their location.

They were out in the open, but no one would be able to see them thanks to Preston’s protective shield that surrounded them like a giant bubble and made them invisible. None of the vampires outside of it could see, smell, or hear the living accomplices’ heartbeats. The only down side was that their footsteps clattering against the ground could be felt and heard, but in the chaos no one noticed.

“So, where do we start looking?” Amelia asked as they went. She tried not to get distracted by all of the bodies locked in combat and focus on the task at hand.

“He’s somewhere below us,” Faith said, who was leading the group.

“How do you know?” Preston asked.

“I can hear his heartbeat. There must be a basement here or something.”

Amelia was filled with relief. That meant Nicoli was alive! The group screeched to a halt as what looked like Gavin and an outrageously tall, black haired man ran by in a vicious tussle. The two came very close to Preston’s shield, which would be disastrous for everyone. If one of the enemies breeched the protection spell they would see the little rescue group and the whole plan would go to hell.

“Come on, I’m pretty sure if we go that way we’ll find him,” Faith said and pointed to the hallway between the two grand staircases.

“What are we waiting for then?” Amelia asked and they continued on their way. They were nearly there when Felix flew in front of them and threw his arms out.

“Wait, stop!” he cried.

Just as they did a man fell from the air and crashed in front of them. When he pushed himself up Amelia gasped.

“Oh my God,” she whispered. “That man looks just like Ethan.” And he did. Every bit of him looked like Ethan except for a few, minor differences and save some bruises and gashes that covered his skin.

“He would,” Felix murmured. “That’s Ethan’s twin brother.”

“What? You never told us he had a twin brother,” Preston hissed.

“It never came up,” Felix retorted.

“Shhh!” Amelia hushed them.

The man had stopped in his attempt in getting up and was looking curiously in their direction. She knew he couldn’t see them, but it was obvious he knew something was there. He slowly stood, but his eyes never left them, only moving minutely around them. His eyebrows then lifted in astonishment and he reached out a hand, almost desperately. One word uttered from his lips.

“Faith?”

Amelia’s eyes widened and she looked down at Faith. The little vampire had her hands over her ears and her eyes screwed shut. Before Amelia could even question how the man knew Faith was there Ethan appeared, seemingly just as banged up as his twin, and tackled the man out of their way and the two fought and snarled until they were out of sight.

The rescue group stood there for several seconds, unable to explain what just happened. Finally Amelia looked down at Faith, wanting an answer.

“…Faith?”

“Let’s go,” Faith said, preventing Amelia from saying more. She turned her head just enough to look at them and her eyes and voice were hard. “We need to get Nicoli out of here.” Preston and Felix nodded, but as Faith turned forward Amelia could have sworn a red tear trailed down her delicate cheek.

The group pressed onward and disappeared down the hallway. As they ran Amelia couldn’t help but notice the red streaks on the ground. Even though she knew Nicoli was alive she feared the worst for him. She simply took solace in knowing they were on the right path and pushed the worry away for now.

When they turned down another hallway they all slowed then stopped all together. The blood trail ended at a door, but guarding the door was a vampire that looked like he’d be more at home at a rave party. The man must have heard their approaching footsteps because he rose from the destined door he was leaning against and was looking towards them expectantly. Unlike the other battling vampires this one seemed nervous and edgy.

“Well, we’re definitely at the right place,” Felix muttered.

“What do we do now?” Preston asked.

“Lower your spell,” Faith told him.

“What? Why?” Preston demanded, looking at her like she was insane.

“That’s Van. The youngest and the least experienced of Dimitri’s clan. He is no threat to us,” Faith replied. “If he even thinks of moving wrong I’ll have his brain smeared against the wall in an instant.”

Both Amelia and Preston’s eyes widened and they glanced at each other uneasily. From such a little, sweet looking creature the threat was almost laughable, but Faith’s expression and level voice told them she was being completely serious. The confirming nod that Felix gave only reinforced that Faith was able and willing to do what she said.

“All right,” Preston said after swallowing thickly. “I’ll just have to trust you on that.”

He waved his hand and the protective bubble around them shuddered before starting to disintegrate from the top down. When it was gone the vampire guard’s eyes widened and he took a step back.

“Holy fuck! How did you fuckers get down here?”

“Simple enough,” Faith answered. “Dimitri has underestimated us and our contacts. Now, I suggest you step aside unless you want to get hurt.”

The fear and surprise that had overcome Van’s features drained away and he scowled.

“Ha, like I’m scared of a little pipsqueak like you?” he scoffed.

Faith gave a fanged smirk and Amelia swore it almost looked evil.

“Oh, you should be scared, Whelp. I don’t have any attachment to you like I do some of the others.”

Amelia gasped and Preston stepped back when Faith’s eyes went completely white and even started to glow a bit. Faith’s hair and clothes shifted as an invisible wind swirled around her. A strong, collective force shot from Faith, it was nearly invisible, but Amelia was just able to make it out as it sliced through the air. The wall beside Van exploded and dust and debris went everywhere. When it settled a deep slash was left in the wall. Amelia was sure if that had actually hit Van there would be nothing left of him.

“Wow,” she whispered.

“Holy…remind me to never piss you off,” Preston muttered.

Faith laughed, her green eyes coming back into focus.

“Oh, Preston, you’re far too cute to get mad at,” she said.

As Preston flushed Amelia could see that Van looked like he was about to collapse in fear. He was staring at the missing chunk of wall and trembling greatly. Faith was right, he was nothing compared to the others. The blood on the floor caught her attention and she narrowed her eyes. Now Van wasn’t a threatening, scary vampire, but a weakling that had a hand in hurting her friend.

“Now stand down, Van,” Faith told him. “You are highly outmatched and outnumbered. You try and fight and you’re only going to get hurt.”

Van looked to each of them in turn. He was still shaking, but his face turned hard and he stood his ground.

“Then bring it on. Gramps asked me to guard this door, so I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

Faith sighed and shook her head as the eerie wind picked up again.

“Stupid child.”

Before her irises and pupils could fade away Amelia put a hand on her shoulder. The wind stopped and Faith looked up at her.

“What is it, Amelia?”

“Let me take care of him,” she said.

Faith’s brows furrowed and she glanced at Van before looking back up at her.

“Are you sure?”

“These people hurt Nicoli. If I don’t get a crack at someone I’m going to get very grumpy, so, yes, I’m sure.”

With a little smile Faith took Amelia’s hand and gave it a little squeeze.

“I understand. He’s all yours.”

She released Amelia’s hand and stepped back to stand with Preston and Felix. Preston gave her a worried look, but an encouraging nod. He believed in her and that was enough of a confidence booster to get Amelia through anything.

Now it was just Amelia and Van and she took a few steps closer to stand off with him. He obviously didn’t think much of her because his fear ebbed and a mocking smile appeared.

“You?” he said with a laugh. “I may be young, but a little, weakling human like you can’t do shit to me.”

It was Amelia’s turn to smirk and laugh. He had no idea what he was facing. Not only was she a Fairbrooke, but she was a pissed off Fairbrooke. A force that would even make the sky tremble.

“Oh, I’m not just a human,” she said. Blue magic erupted from her skin and enveloped her body. The magic resembled sparks, but soon grew into such intensity that it appeared that she was engulfed by blue flames. “I’m your worst nightmare.”

************************************************************************

Nicoli was up on his knees staring at the ceiling. He had been hearing thuds and crashes for quite a while now and his heart leapt with each sound. What was going on out there? Had the clan finally come for him? As he listened to the vicious battle rage above a deep, sinking fear started to wash over him. Was everyone going to be okay? Could they fight Dimitri’s clan and get out in one piece? How was Ethan fairing against his brother? Then there was Nicoli’s worst fear. What if someone died because they were trying to save him? It made him nearly sick to think about it.

His head perked and he stared up at the basement door when he heard a commotion. He could hear people talking, but he couldn’t make out who it was. He jumped and nearly fell over when what seemed like a bomb went off above. The entire basement shook after the deafening blast.

Silence followed and Nicoli warily glanced up, wondering what had just happened and if the basement was going to collapse on him. The blast was banished from his thoughts when he saw a white, transparent form slip through the solid door and fly down towards him. He recognized what it was right away and tears nearly came to his eyes, never being so happy in his life to see the figure that floated towards him.

“Felix!” he cried out and a few tears did slip down his face.

“Hey, Meatbag,” Felix greeted with a grin then looked him over. “Damn, you look like shit.”

Nicoli knew it was true. His bandaged, bruised, ragged form was probably hard to look at, but at the moment all aches and pains that had flooded his system left.

“Yeah, and I feel like shit. Now come here, damn it,” he demanded, reaching out towards Felix. The ghost must have known what he wanted because he came close and turned solid. The moment he did Nicoli hugged him and hugged him tight and Felix even put his arms around the other in return. It was a moment the two would never speak of and pretend never happened.

When Nicoli had his fill of the first true, friendly contact he had in ages – and his body couldn’t take Felix’s spectral being sucking the heat from him – he let go and pulled back. He wiped more tears from his eyes, and he secretly thanked Felix for not teasing him for it, and looked up at the other, for the first time feeling hope and relief.

“How are the others? Are they okay?” he asked, worried for everyone’s safety.

“They’re fine. They’re big vampires, they can take care of themselves,” Felix assured him. “Let’s just worry about getting you out of here.” Felix turned towards the door. “He’s down here!!!” he called.

The next second Nicoli jumped as that blast came again and the basement door soared overhead and landed in pieces near the back wall. The door was soon forgotten as three figures ran down the stairs. He had been expecting to see Ethan coming towards him, but instead he saw a vision of fiery red hair and he was filled with nothing but horror.

“Amelia!?”

“Nicoli!” she cried out as she jumped the last few stairs and hit the floor. She then threw herself on Nicoli and hugged him tightly, confirming for Nicoli that she was solid and real. “You’re alive, I’m so relieved,” Amelia said as she pulled away, but then she actually got a look at him and his surroundings. “What did those monsters do to you?”

Nicoli didn’t hear her. All he could do was stare at her and terror and fear filled every inch of his being. He grabbed her shoulders and nearly shook her.

“Amelia, what the hell are you doing here?” he demanded, sounding almost in a panic. “It’s too dangerous. You could–they could–Amelia, you have to get out of here, these people are vampires. Do you understand me? Vampires!”

He expected some kind of reaction. Shock. Fear. Anything. Instead Amelia stared at him with sympathy and gently took his hands in hers.

“I know, Nicoli, I know,” she told him and her expression was almost pained. “I know this is the worst time to tell you this, but I…Nicoli, I’m a witch.”

He didn’t know what he expected her to tell him, but it certainly wasn’t that. All he could do was stare at her as her confession resonated through him.

“A…witch?” he said.

“Yes, actually my whole family is. Me, Mom, Preston,” she said, gesturing to the person standing beside her.

Nicoli hadn’t really looked at that person and realized it was indeed Preston. He smiled softly down at Nicoli as he crouched beside Amelia.

“It’s true, Nicoli,” he said, placing a reassuring hand on Nicoli’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I should have told you so much sooner,” Amelia apologized profusely.

“As touching and necessary as I know this is for you two,” a voice said beside them. “We need to leave. Now. The others must have heard what you did to Van and it’s only a matter of time before someone is able to break away from the battle and see what happened.”

Nicoli was surprised to see that the speaker was Faith. He must have been really thrown off by seeing Amelia that he hadn’t realized everyone she had with her.

“Faith…” he said in astonishment and seeing her filled him with such a sense of security.

She smiled and closed the distance enough to hug him.

“I’m so glad you’re all right,” she whispered. “Don’t worry, you’re safe now.”

Nicoli choked down a sob and hugged her back. Even though he had just been socked in the stomach by Amelia’s confession, he was so happy to see them all.

“Come on, let’s go,” she said, and tried to coax him to his feet. Amelia and Preston instantly rose and helped heft Nicoli up.

The second he tried to put weight on his feet his legs shook and collapsed from under him, luckily the others still had hold of him so he didn’t fall. When he tried again it was the same.

“I-I can’t stand,” he said when he tried a third time. His body was too weak from the blood loss and trauma it had gone through. There was no way he’d be able to stand on his own let alone make it up the stairs and out of the house.

“Here, get on my back,” Preston offered and he was immediately down on his knees in front of Nicoli. With help from the others Nicoli clambered onto Preston’s back and lifted into the air piggyback style.

With Nicoli secured the group made it up the stairs. Once there Nicoli saw that the whole hallway was damaged, scorched and cracked. His eyes widened when he saw the figure of Van slumped against the end of the destroyed passage. He was unconscious and it looked like he was extremely burned.

“What happened to him?” Nicoli asked.

“I did,” Amelia answered.

Nicoli’s head whipped around.

“You did all this?”

Amelia smiled her usual Amelia smile, only it had a dash of mischievousness added into it.

“Didn’t know I could kick that much butt, did you?”

“Okay I’ll put the shield back up so we can get out of here,” Preston said before Nicoli could gape at her for long.

“Shield?” Nicoli said.

He was offered no explanation. Preston began to murmur under his breath and the next thing Nicoli knew he felt energy leap from Preston’s body, pass through him, and it surrounded them all. He looked around at the dome that now encased them and felt like he was in a snow globe.

“My God, you guys really are witches,” he whispered in awe.

“I swear we’re going to sit down and have a nice long talk about it later,” Amelia told him.

With the protection spell in place Nicoli was swept down the hall on Preston’s back. He felt like he wanted to cry again. He was finally going to reach safety. He was finally going home.

************************************************************************

The rescue group reentered the battle zone and Amelia noted that the entry room was no completely in shambles. Faith was able to navigate over the wrecked floor flawlessly, and Felix simply flew, but she and Preston had a much more difficulty not tripping over the rubble and craters.

“I’ll tell the others to retreat,” Faith said as they neared the front door.

Sure enough, in just a few seconds, members of the clan began breaking off from their battles and headed to the exit. Those from Dimitri’s clan were obviously confused; some calling after their opponents and Amelia knew that the bad vampires would be coming after them to continue the battle.

“Preston, now’s a good a time as any. Give me the sphere,” she said, referring to the secret weapon they had brought.

“Sphere? What sphere? What are you two planning?” Faith asked.

“Planning a way to keep these guys off our tracks,” Amelia told her.

“We’re supposed to all leave together,” Faith retorted sharply. “No one gets left behind.”

They were coming close to the door, some of the clan had already slipped out and the enemy was coming after them. Amelia had to convince Faith her plan would work and fast.

“Faith, it’s our best escape. If they come after us they could disrupt the teleportation spell and we’ll be out of luck. Please, Faith, you have to trust me.”

Time was almost up. They were closing in on the door. The clan had already escaped. Thankfully, Faith decided quickly.

“All right, I’ll trust you. Do what you have to then get out. Don’t make me have to come back and save your butt,” she said.

“Thank you, Faith,” Amelia said. “Preston.”

“Right,” he said then released one of Nicoli’s legs in order to dig in his pocket. “It’s all up to you, Amelia,” he said as he withdrew a palm sized, white orb and tossed it to her.

“They won’t know what hit ‘em,” Amelia said with a grin as she caught the orb and slowed her running till she stood still. She saw Nicoli look back at her worriedly and open his mouth to say something, but the protection spell moved over her and the group disappeared from sight.

She took a deep breath and spun around to meet the enemy. Each of the vampires screeched to a halt, surprised by her sudden appearance.

“Now just who might you be?” a man asked. He was the shortest male with black hair, and just by his presence Amelia knew right away it was the man Dimitri. The man behind all of this. Just that knowledge made the fear of confronting an entire clan of vampires disappear.

“The names Amelia. Amelia Elizabeth Fairbrooke,” she said, her voice as strong as she could make it.

The mention of the Fairbrooke name made the vampires eyes go wide and look at each other.

“Fairbrooke, you say?” Dimitri asked.

“Yes, and I just wanted to leave you a message.” Before Dimitri could even open his mouth Amelia threw the sphere at him. He caught it easily in his free hand and all of them stared at it oddly.

“This is your message?” he asked, holding up the sphere. Just what she hoped he’d do.

“It’s part of it. The other part is this,” she replied. Her eyes grew hard and her voice rumbled with a growl. “Don’t you ever touch one of my friends ever again.” She threw out her hand and a giant spark of magic leapt from it and shot out at Dimitri.

The vampire leader flinched in reaction, but the magic didn’t touch him. Instead it entered the white sphere and it glowed for a second before fading and then it lit up again before dimming once more. It continued to do it and Dimitri looked up at her oddly.

“Have fun,” Amelia said before spinning on her heel and running out the door. She wasn’t about to stick around for what was about to happen.

************************************************************************

Dimitri stared after the peculiar girl until she was swallowed by the night. He then looked down at the little orb in his hand as it pulsed with the light.

“Dimitri,” Ira said, drawing his attention away from the orb. “What do you want us to do?” he looked from each of his children. He could see they were itching to continue the fight, especially Meier. Besides, he was curious on how the little witch fit into all this. He nodded, making a decision. “All right, after–”

His order was cut short when the little orb caught his eye once more. Was it just him or was it pulsing faster? Yes, it was. As he watched the light flashed faster and faster. His eyes widened when he realized what it was he was holding.

“Everyone get down!!!” he yelled. His body twisted around and he lobbed the orb up over the staircase banister and through a wall. It wasn’t going to help.

************************************************************************

The clan waited near the end of the path towards the mansion in the spot they would cut through the forest to get to the rest of the Fairbrooke’s. They were waiting for the rescue team and Ethan paced back and forth with his still battle geared family.

“Where are they?!” he finally shouted, not able to take the wait. “Faith told us to get out so where are they?”

Before Conrad could try and calm him a voice spoke from the empty air.

“At least try to have a bit of patience, Ethan.”

He whirled around just as Faith, Preston and Felix materialized from the darkness. The uncontrollable anxiety that had flustered Ethan’s body for the past day drained away when he spotted a roughed over Nicoli on Preston’s back. He looked battered, bruised, and worn, but he was alive.

Without a word Ethan went to Nicoli. Not caring about anything else but getting to him. Nicoli must have felt the same way because the second he got close Nicoli held out his arms and let himself be pulled off Preston and into Ethan’s arms.

Ethan nearly crushed Nicoli against him and relished the arms that went around his neck and clung to him with such strength. He closed his eyes and buried his face in Nicoli’s hair when a soft, weak voice sounded against him.

“E-Ethan…”

“Nicoli, I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” Ethan murmured over and over as he held the poor, beaten human.

“Wait, where is the girl?” Conrad asked, making Ethan lift his head, but he would not relinquish his hold on Nicoli.

The clan looked around, but Amelia was not in sight.

“Apparently Amelia and Preston concocted some sort of plan behind our backs and Amelia stayed behind to carry it out,” Faith informed him.

“What!?” Conrad roared and turned on Preston in a heartbeat. “I told you to go in together and come out together!”

Ethan expected Preston to cower under Conrad’s might, but instead he stared at the clan leader with a level gaze and didn’t even flinch.

“We were making sure to cover all of our bases. We had to make sure those vampires didn’t follow us and I trust Amelia to pull off our plan without compromising her safety.” He then lifted his chin defiantly. “We weren’t going to let those bastards off that easy.”

Everyone watched as it appeared that Conrad was about to rip off Preston’s head and Preston continued to glare back with no fear.

“That wasn’t your decision to make,” Conrad growled.

“I made it my decision.”

Just when Ethan was sure Conrad was going to kill Preston Faith looked off into the distance and pointed at something.

“Wait, here she comes.”

Everyone turned to see Amelia sprinting at them at full speed. Ethan found it odd that even when she drew close to them she didn’t slow down.

“You guys may want to start running!” she yelled as she dashed past them with curious looks following.

“Oh no,” Preston murmured, looking back at the mansion before following his cousins advice and running after her. “Amelia, you didn’t!”

“Maybe just a little!” she called behind her.

Deciding it was better to heed the warning and ask questions later the clan followed the witches, Ethan lifting Nicoli in his arms to do so. They hadn’t gone more than a few feet when a great flash of light erupted behind them, turning night into day, and an immense wind collided with them in moments, sweeping them off their feet and knocking them all to the ground.

Ethan kept his tight, protective grip on Nicoli as he rolled. When they stopped he was on top of Nicoli, shielding him with his body while trying not to crush him. Ethan looked up just in time to see a brilliant, shining light that came out in beams from the mansions doors and windows dim before going out all together. The windows were destroyed and pieces of the house fell as everything settled.

The clan stared on in stunned silence. No one making a sound or moving. Preston was the one to set reality moving again. He scowled at Amelia before hitting his fist against the ground.

“Damn it, Amelia! I said not even an ounceof magic! How much did you put into that thing!” he yelled.

“A dash, maybe more. Who cares, it worked, didn’t it?” she snapped back, dusting the dirt from her hair.

“People will have seen that for miles! That was the stupidest thing you’ve ever done!”

“Well, then next time don’t give the explosives to the pissed off witch!”

“Okay, I change my mind,” Andre said, straightening his eye patch and grinning. “Now I know I like her.

“What was that infernal thing?” Conrad asked as he got to his feet, staring at the mansion.

“It was a Blinding Sphere,” Preston answered. “Think of it as a high powered magical flash bomb or a nuclear flash bomb thanks to her,” he said, cuffing Amelia upside the head.

“Hey!” Amelia yelled, punching him back.

“Did it kill them?” Ethan asked as he sat up and helped a shaken Nicoli to sit up. It was hard to believe that all of their problems could have been solved by one blinding flash of light. He thought of Evan and he was surprised when a great wave of sadness hit him.

“No, even though that was a larger blast than normal a Blinding Sphere can’t kill someone. Those vampires will just be extremely blind for a little while.”

“Well, I guess we really don’t have to worry about them coming after us now,” Cora said, rubbing the back of her head where it had smacked against the ground.

“Even so we should move on,” Gavin said, looking off in the direction of the town. “Preston is right, many people will have seen that and I have no doubt the authorities will arrive shortly.”

“Took the words right out of my mouth,” Conrad said. “Everyone to your feet. We’ve accomplished our mission.” Ethan saw his eyes settle on Nicoli who was now leaned against his chest. Ethan was worried because Nicoli was hardly moving and said nothing, but he supposed that was to be expected after what Nicoli went through.

Conrad then looked to everyone in turn and, after gazing at the mansion, turned and slipped into the woods.

“We’re done here,” were Conrad’s parting words.

One by one the clan stood and followed their leader into the dark woods. Ethan looked up when Amelia stood beside him and stared at Nicoli with a worried expression.

“He’ll be all right,” Ethan said as he scooped Nicoli into his arms and stood up. “Let’s just get him home.”

Amelia nodded and with her on one side and Felix hovering over his other side he went into the woods after the others, happy to be done with the nightmare they left behind.

************************************************************************

Dimitri sat on a large chunk of wall as he rubbed at his burning eyes. He could hear the mansion creaking and whining around him, ready to crumble completely any second. He could also hear Seth ranting and raving somewhere close by.

“Those spineless cowards are going to pay for this! I am going to rip every one of them to shreds! Gut them and boil their skin in tar!”

Dimitri opened his eyes and looked around as best he could. He wasn’t completely blind, since he had the sense to cover his head after he had thrown the orb, but his vision was heavily blurred and his eyes felt like they were on fire. He was just able to make out the figure of Seth, who he knew had lost his sight completely, waving and punching his arms into the air wildly, attacking anything he came in contact with as he seethed.

“Seth, please quiet down,” Dimitri said as he went back to rubbing his eyes. “You are giving me a headache on top of the one I already have.”

Seth immediately lowered his voice, but continued to grumble under his breath. Footsteps approached and Dimitri didn’t even lift his head, knowing who it was.

“How are the others, Meier?”

“Lillian is completely blind and Ira was able to locate Van,” Meier told him.

“How is he?” Dimitri asked, lifting his head. He had been extremely worried to know what had become of his grandson.

“As far as she can tell he’s been extremely hurt, it’s impossible to know the full extent of the damage given our current states, but he’ll live.”

Dimitri, “Hmmed,” and placed his chin in his hand as he willed for his pounding head to ease.

“Who knew Conrad could have such a trick up his sleeve?” he murmured. “A full blooded Fairbrooke. I wonder if he’s recruited any others or if it was just that little one.”

“I’m afraid a number of them being involved is more than likely,” Meier replied softly.

“And what about the boy?” he asked, remembering about his little captive.

“He’s gone. Somehow they were able to take him as we fought.”

“I figured as much.”

“So what do you want us to do now?” Meier asked.

“They only thing we can. Crawl away into the night with our tails between our legs, lick our wounds and regroup,” Dimitri answered. As much as he didn’t like it, it was their only option.

“And what about the boy? We never got what we needed from him. We can try to get him back once we’ve recovered.”

Dimitri chuckled softly and shook his head.

“No, that won’t be necessary. I never expected to get anything useful out of that boy. He only served as a way to catch my brother’s attention, though I didn’t expect the little human to put up such a fight.”

“So he’s completely useless to us now?” Meier asked quizzically.

“More or less.”

Dimitri lifted his head when he heard sirens off in the distance. Of course. The little light show the witch put on wouldn’t have gone unnoticed. With a sigh he hefted himself to his feet. A hand was placed at his elbow to hold him steady when he swayed. He patted Meier’s hand gratefully.

“Go collect the others. We need to go as soon as possible. Dealing with the police is the last thing I need.”

“Yes, Father,” Meier said and disappeared from Dimitri’s diminished sight.

Dimitri tilted his head back and let out a low groan before picking up his cane. He tried to clean the wolf head with his tattered clothes, but of course he couldn’t tell if it was helping or if he was making it worse. Once he was done he twisted the head to make the spike go back in.

He exited the mansion, knowing his children would follow soon after. A light breeze teased his skin and cleared his head somewhat. He wished he had his full sight to see the sky that had turned black with night. The sirens were louder now.

He tipped his hat off to his brother. Conrad had caught him off guard and proved he had indeed become his own man over the years. A peculiar sense of brotherly pride settled over Dimitri, but bitterness came with it. Conrad had outgrown him, he didn’t need his big brother to fuss over him anymore, nor did he want it. Of course, Dimitri was completely to blame for that.

He sighed again as he felt his children draw close to his location. Something told him the war between the clans was reaching its end. In a way he was happy for it. He was getting old and he was just plain tired. So very…very tired.

=================================Ch. 57 End