The king's Mark

Finding the kingdom

Emily had been discharged from the hospital two hours ago. She lay on Sienna's bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. She hadn't spoken much since they left the hospital.

Her mind kept returning to the same thing.

The crystal. The strange red crystal with the letter D carved into it. The exact same crystal Sienna had shown her the night before.

Emily swallowed.

So the vampires were real, the thought still felt impossible. If they were real, why had they killed her parents?

What had her parents done?

Who was the vampire behind it?

And why had he left that strange crystal behind? Too many questions crowded her mind, and she didn't know which one to ask first.

Emily suddenly sat up and grabbed her head. She could feel her heart beating so loudly in her chest. Her eyes began to burn as though she were staring directly into flames.

Vampires? The same creatures Sienna had been trying to convince her existed. Was she beginning to see this differently? Or was this just a mere coincidence?

"Ah!" Emily let out a scream.

Sienna looked at her from across the room.

“Emily?”

“The silence is killing me.” Emily looked at her desperately.

“Say something, Sienna.” Sienna sighed.

“What do you want me to say?”

“I don't know! Anything!” Sienna moved closer.

“I told you they existed.”Emily stared at her.

“How? I'm about to go crazy.How can any of this be possible?”

Sienna didn't answer immediately.

“And why would they kill my parents?”

“I don't know.”Sienna's voice softened.

“I'm trying to figure that out too.”

Emily looked down at her hands.

For several seconds, neither of them spoke.Then Sienna reached for the crystal.

She placed it on the bed between them.

“This is the part that scares me.”

Emily stared at it.

“You said this was called the King's Mark.”

“Yes.”

“And you said the person you interviewed told you that the vampire king leaves these crystals behind after important events”

“After battles or killings.” Sienna corrected.

Emily's stomach tightened.

“So what does that mean?” Emily looked at Sienna, waiting for an answer. Sienna hesitated.

“I don't want to jump to conclusions.”

“But if the information I've gathered is accurate, someone connected to the vampire kingdom was at your parents' house.”

Emily's eyes filled with tears.

“So they really did it.”

“We don't know that yet.”

“The crystal was there!”

“I know.”

“Then what else could it mean?” Sienna rubbed her forehead.

“I don't know, Emily.” Emily looked away.

"My God! I... I don't even know what to say about this, Emily" Sienna let out after

"Although... that looks a lot like their crystal, As a matter of fact, IT IS the same crystal. I just don't understand what it was doing at your parents's murder scene".

"Oh, Sienna." Emily felt like she was insane from where she sat on the bed

"I know I told you I didn't believe in supernatural sh!t. But, this..." She paused and sniffled.

"Could this just be a coincidence? I mean, you just told me about this people like yesterday and now, I'm seeing their killing crystal in my house right after my parents were murdered”

" This...is this even real?"

"I think so" Sienna whispered

"I’m a reporter, Emily. I don't make stories up. I find them from genuine sources. So, if I tell you vampires exist,then they do. Trust me. Even some people i’ve interviwed know about them" She paused and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Emily but this is the only explanation I can think of".

"I honestly do not know, Emily" Sienna's sighed.

"But… A vampire can’t come all the way here just to kill someone they have no connections to. I mean, they don’t just go home to home, killing strangers." Sienna suddenly said.

"And what connection could my parents possibly have with them?" She yelled tearfully.

"I've never even heard of this before."

"Same way you've never heard of your relatives" Sienna's reply nearly left her dumbstruck.

"Listen to me, Emily" She leaned forward.

"I'm not trying to accuse your parents of anything. I mean, they've been one of the coolest people I know of. But...if you look into this deeply, you'll realize you don't even know much about your parents. The much you know is the company they control and that's it - just business. You hardly know their friends, you don't even know a single relative of yours, Emily! Remember when I asked you the reason your parents never introduced you to your relatives? You simply said they had told you they weren't important. Really?”

"I know this sounds crazy, Emily. But right now, I just feel there might really be some connections between your parents and..."

"No" Emily cut in tearfully, her throat cracking.

"I can't believe this".

Emily suddenly turned her gaze to Sienna.

"The detectives will be back for more information. I need to tell them everything," Emily said as she ran her a palm over her face. She stood up and grabbed her bag.

“I need to tell them about the crystal. Everything.”

“Emily, wait.”

But Emily was already heading for the door.“ Sienna, if a vampire really killed my parents, the police need to know.” With that she walked out.

Sienna grabbed her jacket and followed.

They arrived at the police station several minutes later.Emily marched inside.

“I know what killed my parents.”The detectives looked up.One of them stood.

“Miss Wilson, please sit down.”

“I know what did it.”

“Emily—”

“A vampire!”

The room falls silent.

The detective exchanged a look with his colleague. Emily pointed toward the evidence bag containing the crystal.

“You found this at my parent's house.”

“Yes.”

“My friend has one exactly like it.”

Sienna stepped forward.

“She has been investigating these crystals for years.”The detective looked at Sienna.

“You're the reporter?”

“Yes.”

“And you believe this is connected to vampires?”

“Yes.”

The detective sighed.

“"Miss Wilson, I understand you're upset, but we need facts we can verify.”

“Then believe me!”

“We need evidence that can be investigated and verified.”

“You have the crystal!”

“We have a crystal.” Emily's frustration grew.

“You know what it is!”

“No. We know what it looks like.”

The detective pointed toward the evidence bag.

“We don't know who left it there.” Emily fell silent.

"It isn't like we just don't want to believe, you. We need to work with evidence"

The detective exchanged a tired glance with his colleague before nodding.

"We understand, Miss Wilson. We'll look into it." Emily then realize they're just trying to calm her down.

"What God-forsaken evidence are you talking about??" She yelled.

"You have the crystal right here!! Take a look! that is the evidence, what other evidence are you talking about? I'm not even asking you to arrest them immediately. All I need you to do is track them down and bring him over for questioning and see what happens! That's all I ask!"

“Sienna say something!”

“She telling the truth.” Sienna backed her

“see! I'm telling the truth.”

"Dear, it's not as easy as you make it look. We need to follow protocols. And by protocols, we mean taking the bodies for autopsy and knowing what exactly happened to them". a female detective said.

"Autopsy?" Emily scoffed.

"Can you even hear yourself? You want to carry out an autopsy on a body that was obviously shot? What the heck is wrong with y'all?"

"Exactly, Miss Wilson. You said it yourself—a gunshot wound, not a bite mark," the male detective said. Everywhere became silent for a while

"It's okay, Emily. Let's go.”

“Go where sienna,The hell! I just gave you a suspect, but you trying to ignore them asking me to relax for your investigations? For how long will I wait?? I don't have such time!! Loneliness would eat me up and make me go mad Why can't you do something??" A stunned silence stormed in right after.

“We have to investigate,” The detective said gently. “But we can't arrest someone simply because we believe vampires might exist.” Emily's hands curled into fists.

“How long?”

“We don't know.” Emily shook her head.

“I don't have time.”

“Miss Wilson—”

“I said I don't have time!”

Sienna stepped toward her.

“Emily, let's go.” Emily looked at her.

“Why?”

“Because you're exhausted.”

“My parents are dead!”

“I know.”

“And everyone keeps telling me to wait!”

Her voice broke.

“I can't just sit around and wait for whoever did this to disappear.”

she held Sienna's hands

"I have to find their kingdom Sienna” She said.

“What?” Sienna asked in a whisper

"I have to find this vampire, ask him why he killed my parents. And when he's done explaining, I will drive a stake right into his chest, and watch him die".