"I want you to join us," he said and held his arms out, gesturing towards his hunters.
Did I hear correctly? Was I having trouble hearing or was I hallucinating?
"Wh-what?" I stuttered.
"We need you," was all he said.
The guard's words popped into my head, You're the ultimate weapon.
"How am I the ultimate weapon?" I asked, interested.
"Ah, the hunter told you."
He didn't say anything else and I started to become impatient.
"Half bloods tend to have a special poison in their system. When they bite a vampire, it causes a virus and kills the vampire slowly. Consider it a plague."
"What? No, I don't believe you," I shook my head. I couldn't be … poisonous. My parents would never have kept something like that from me. My parents would have told me. They would have, wouldn't they?
"You're parents never told you?" the man asked with surprise. My silence confirmed it. "Don't you think that's a bit odd, that they wouldn't mention this to you?"
"I don't believe you," I said. But I had a bad feeling in my stomach and it wasn't because I was tied to a chair and surrounded by hunters.
"You have no choice in the matter," he snapped at me and I flinched.
The man clicked his fingers and the hunter that had nearly killed me just a few moments before stepped forward with a needle in his hand. My heart started to pound and my wrists hurt from the tight ropes that kept them in place. The man was no longer in the room, only the hunters. The one with the needle was raising it in the air when I heard movement behind me.
"Don't you dare touch my daughter!" I heard my father's voice booming in the silence. I breathed a sigh of relief as I looked away from the man towards my father. He was angry, his brown eyes turned black, evil. He was wearing his work clothes, a black suit.
"Your daughter? She's not your …"
The hunter didn't finish his sentence because my father was suddenly tackling him to the ground. I looked around at the other hunters' bodies on the ground. I knew my father had the upper hand, but I couldn't stop the rocky feeling in my stomach.
I could only watch as they fought. The hunter got a few punches in, but my father blocked most of them. I looked down at my wrists. They were swollen from being tied up too tightly. I could feel my hands starting to tingle from the numbness. I twisted my wrists, trying to get the rope to loosen, but it was no use the rope was too thick for me to break. I looked over beside me, my mother was still unconscious.
Suddenly, I heard a thump and I looked up frightened. A hunter from across the room had hit my father with a crossbow while he was fighting another hunter. I gasped as I saw blood seep through the clothing on his chest. He fell to the ground.
No, no, no.
The hunter looked at me with a wild look in his eyes and ran. I wanted to run after him, kill him, but I couldn't. I had to save my father. I felt the tears surface and run down my face. My mother was still knocked out and I felt sorry for her that she didn't know what was going on, but I also envied her for not having to watch my father die.
Once more I pulled on my wrists, the ropes slightly loosened but it was enough. I ran over to my father who was slumped against the wall. He barely had his eyes open. I saw a sad smile form on his lips when he saw me.
"Ana." My father never called me Tati, he had always called me Ana.
I sniffled as I looked at his wounds, his swollen cheek, and purple eye. But when I looked down I sobbed. The blood was spreading. Vampires didn't turn into ash or evaporate straight away; in my world, they suffered just like humans. They could be staked in the heart and still live to see how they bled to death.
I saw the crossbow and reached out for it. Gripping it tightly in my hands, I pulled. My father groaned and spat out blood next to him. His shirt ripped open from the crossbow. I threw the weapon across the floor, seeing the huge line across his chest where his heart was. The blood kept on flowing and I put my hands over it trying to stop the bleeding. Even though I knew it was no use, I applied pressure as I sobbed.
"Ana … please … let me go. Save yourself and your mother," he said in a hoarse whisper.
"Dad, please. I can't let you go … I need you," I said, losing control over my tears.
"Ana, I love you. No matter what happens, I love you and Jamie both," he said and I saw a tear rolling down his swollen cheek. He reached out his hand and touched my face.
I grasped his hand and held it against my cheek. With tears rolling down my face I sniffled, "I love you, Dad. I can't lose you."
His eyes slowly closed and his hand against my cheek would've fallen limply to the ground if I hadn't been holding it. Then a moment later, he was nothing but ash.
I cried out in pain, not because my throat throbbed or because my arm was sliced open, but because I had lost someone and seen the whole thing. I sobbed and I got up, looking around frantically. I helped my mum up and tried my best not to hurt her any more than she was and ran outside. I stopped outside the house and leaned my mum against the brick wall of the house only to look up and see Brad standing there in shock. His eyes were wide, looking at me. My tears blurred his face as he stepped towards me and wrapped me in his embrace. I didn't want to be held or comforted; I wanted my father back.
I pounded my fists against his chest and screamed, "No, no, no, no, no! Go away!"
I cried, but he didn't go away. He only held me more tightly against him; not allowing me to escape. It felt like my chest was ripped open and my heart was exposed. I didn't feel whole anymore, just hollow; lost and alone. I had never known what it felt like to lose someone and I didn't expect it to be so soon. Not like this. He shouldn't have died this way, he deserved better. I couldn't feel anything; only pain in my chest that would consume me as it exploded. It was a nightmare and I was going to wake up any moment.
"Tatiana, come on. Let's go to my house and you can tell me what happened."
"We need to get Jamie."
"He's at school. I'll get my mum to pick him up," Brad said and I sighed with relief.
I knew my father wouldn't want the police to get involved, so I knew what I had to do. I reached for Brad's pocket and he gave me a questioning look. He always had matches in his pocket since almost every weekend we would hang out and he would smoke. His mother hated lighters in the house so he had matches instead.
I grabbed hold of the matches. When I pulled them out, his eyes widened and I gave him a sad smile. Picking up the match, I lit it. Now knowing what I was going to do, he laid my mother next to my feet. He ran into the house and came back with a can smelling strongly of petrol. He ran with speed around the house and inside, pouring petrol wherever he went. A few seconds later, before the match went out, he came back and I threw the match with incredible force. It flew past the front door and we both ran with my mother in Brad's arms.
I felt a sudden warmth surrounding me as the shockwaves of the massive explosion threw me through the air. My ears were ringing. I could see Brad running towards me, shouting, but I couldn't hear him. I squeezed my eyes shut and felt the tears rolling down my cheeks. That was the last thing I remembered.
I felt something warm against my forehead and I could hear people whispering. Then everything came back to me. Flashes of images came to me all at once and I gasped awake. I sat bolt upright.
"Honey, it's okay."
I looked over at the woman who had spoken. I realised with relief that it was Brad's mother, Janice. I looked around wildly, for my brother and mother.
"They're okay, honey. Brad is playing with your brother and your mother is resting."
"What happened?" I asked.
"After burning your house down, you fainted from the force of the explosion. Brad came here with both you and your mother. You've been resting for two days. Your mother hasn't been coping much since she found out about your father …"
The loss of my father hit me again, causing tears to form and goose bumps to rise all over my body.
<
br /> "Does … does he know?" I asked, knowing she knew who I meant.
Janice shook her head. "Your mother doesn't have the heart to."
Tears rolled down my face and I choked on a sob. Janice comforted me as I cried silently.
"What's wrong Tati?" I heard a voice call out. I sniffed, then pulled back from Janice. I smiled at my brother who was standing in a new pair of clothing, a frown on his face.
"Come here, I need to tell you something important." I gestured with my hand for him to sit on my lap. He walked cautiously towards me and sat down. I knew this was going to break his heart and damage him for a long time, but I was the only one who could tell him. I knew that if my mother told him she would lose it. I heard Brad and Janice leaving the room, giving us some privacy. "Daddy isn't coming home anymore, he's gone."
"What do you mean?" he asked, but I sensed that he knew what I was saying.
"He loves you Jamie, very much, but he's in a happier place now."
"But I want him here," he whispered, looking down at his hands.
"I'm so sorry," I said, tears forming again.
Jamie looked up and saw my face and his lower lip trembled. He hugged me tight as we both cried together. I clutched him to me, feeling comforted by his presence. Nothing hurt worse than to see my brother in pain. He had always had a special relationship with our father. The knowledge that he was gone forever was the most terrifying thing I had ever experienced.
Memories of the days my father and I spent together took over my thoughts. The day my father took me to the fare and won a stuffed panda for me. When my dog ran away and my father did his best to cheer me up. I remembered we spent hours making jokes about each other and other people we knew. Those rare moments I had with him were the ones I cherished the most.
"We're leaving," I heard a voice from above me.
My mother looked depressed, like she had lost a part of herself, but then again she had. Her cheeks were red and still wet from her tears. She was wearing a new pair of clothes and I looked down to see that I was too. Jamie still clung tightly to me and I didn't mind.
"Where?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
"Somewhere far from here, where they can't find us," she hissed.
"Mum …" I warned her.
"It's what your dad would have done. We're starting over – new home, new school, new friends, new everything," her voice cracked.
I knew she had made up her mind, so I didn't argue any further.
Ethan
S
on, you home?"
I had heard him way before he called out to me. I had watched him get out of his car and walk up the stairs. It had become a habit of mine to watch him walk in and walk out. Then a few weeks later he would be back only to get another phone call and walk out again.
"Yeah, I'm in my room."
"How was school?" my father asked when he opened my door.
I was lying on my bed, with my beats around my neck. I could still hear the music playing even though it wasn't placed over my ears. "Which day? Last Monday, this Monday, or yesterday?"
My father was now leaning against the door frame, wearing his usual jeans and a black sweater. His brown hair was short and his green eyes pierced mine. He sighed like he was suddenly tired and irritated.
"I'm sorry," he said, but it didn't seem like he meant it.
"What do you want?" I asked. He rarely came to my room, except when he wanted something.
"We lost the girl. We know that her family will be moving soon, to get away from the hunters, so I'm going to have to find them."
"Goodbye dad," I said, not looking at him as I felt my heart ache.
"Excuse me?" he asked in surprise.
"Well, you're going away now, aren't you? Since this girl is way more important than your own son." With that I closed my eyes and I put my beats over my ears blocking any sound other than my music.
I knew my father was angry at me, but he deserved it. He usually let me make snarky comments or slam the door in his face, but not this time. Instead he ripped my iPod out of my hands and unplugged it from my beats.
"What the fu- " I sat upright.
"Don't swear at me young man," he hissed.
I froze waiting for him to explode, but he didn't. "What?" I snapped.
"If you find this girl I need you to tell me straight away okay? I don't care if you like her, or if you think she's hot, because eventually I will find out. I know you've been hunting, Ethan," he said with venom in his voice.
"Whatever," I said annoyed and I snatched my iPod out of his hand and plugged it back into my beats. He left the room and I listened to my iPod until I fell asleep.
"Wake up!" I heard someone shout in my ear.
"What the fuck!" I had gotten such a scare that I fell off my bed, landing on the floor, tangled in my sheets, with a thump. I heard my older brother Brendan laughing.
I opened my eyes and found him there wearing jeans and a shirt. His blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail. His blue eyes were filled with laughter, reminding me of our mother. He had her eyes. I felt the warmth of the sun on my skin as the blinds had been opened no doubt will it start to get cloudy later on.
Brendan was twenty-two, five years older than me. Everyone loved him. When everyone at school found out I was Brendan's brother they welcomed me with open arms and I took the chance without even thinking why they wanted to be my friend. Yeah it stung a little that all of the girls I started talking to would ask me questions about my brother and not about me.
"Hurry up, stupid, you have school," he chuckled.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, shocked that he was standing in the middle of my bedroom.
"Dad isn't here so I thought I would come and visit, but I didn't realise you had school."
"Right, you liar. You just want all the girls to drool all over you don't you?" I smirked.
"Is it that obvious?" he replied sarcastically.
I shook my head thinking what an arse my brother was.
Tatiana
M
ichigan? That's where we are?" I asked incredulously, but understanding why it took so long to get here. I looked out the window, remembering all the lakes and rivers I had seen on the road; Michigan was known for them.
"Yes." My mother didn't say anything else until we pulled up next to a double storey house. "You're starting school today and I expect you to go every day. No ditching like your previous school."
"Today?" I asked wide eyed. "But we just got here!"
"Yes, but you slept the whole way, you should be fine."
I knew my mother was trying to get rid of me so she could deal with her loss. But it wasn't just her loss, it was mine too. My mother gave me a cold stare. I knew better than to question her, so I opened my car door and slammed it shut. I grabbed Jamie out from the backseat. Finding him still asleep, I held him to my chest and walked up the stairs to his new room. There was no light in the house as the shutters were closed but I was still able to see in front of me. I changed him into his pyjamas without waking him up, before placing him in his bed.
Laying my hand against his cheek softly, I brushed the hair out of his eyes. "Sweet dreams," I whispered as I kissed his forehead.
I closed the door behind me and got ready for school, as it was already eight in the morning. I opened the shutters in my room and decided to dress in a jean skirt and a white tank top with my old black converse shoes. I left my hair down, curling naturally down to my butt. My mother had put the registration form and my lunch on my bed. I grabbed them both.
"Bye mum," I called out as I closed the door behind me. I felt the cold breeze hit me and I shivered. I thought about getting a jumper, but I decided against it. I hadn't had time to look at my room or even explore it. I didn't feel like I should, not after I left Brad.
"You can't leave … you can stay with me," Brad had said.
"I can't leave my mum or Jamie, not now," I said sadly.
"Will I ever see you again?"
his voice cracked.
"I hope so," I said looking up. I hadn't expected him to grab my face and kiss me fully on the lips.
Reality was now in front of me – Michigan High School. Everyone was walking into the school slowly, already dying to go home. People stared at me as I tried to find my way towards the office.
In the distance, I found the office sign. I had never felt so relieved to see a sign in my life. I walked inside and was welcomed with warm air. I always envied the people that worked in the administration buildings because they could just turn the heater on and there wouldn't be a problem. I went over to the desk and found no one there. While I waited, I gazed around and found pictures of the school and various trophies lining the hallway walls leading to the principal's office.
"May I help you?" A lady suddenly appeared, sitting down on the desk chair in front of me. Her smile was welcoming.
"Um, I'm new here," I said uncertainly.
"Of course, you're Tatiana Cruz. Welcome to Michigan. Can I have your registration form please?" she asked me. I handed her the form and she wrote some things down. Then with a few clicks on her computer she printed a sheet of paper. "Here's your schedule, sweetheart, and I hope you enjoy Michigan."
"Thanks," I said, forcing a smile on my face.
I walked out of the office and slammed right into someone. My bag fell off my shoulder, the books falling out of the opening.
"Shit, sorry," I heard a male voice say as he went to pick up my bag from the floor.
I picked up my books and stood up, grabbing my bag from him. When I looked up at him, I found his bright green eyes probing my hazel ones. His brown hair was ruffled from the morning breeze and he was wearing a leather jacket with jeans and a shirt. The sight of him took my breath away. Next to him was another boy. I could tell they were brothers straight away, except the other boy had blue eyes and blonde hair.
"Thanks," I said smiling as my heart pounded in my chest.
"You must be new here," the one with green eyes said.
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