Fated Fangs

Chaoter 9: Answers and More Questions

Eleni walked behind the timid woman down a hallway, a set of stairs, another long hallway, past an elaborate entryway, and down yet another hallway until they were standing before a large set of oak doors. Eleni looked up, taking in the imensity of the doors. The small woman cleared her throat to get Eleni's attention.

"The Master will see you now." She said in an even smaller voice than before. She pushed the doors open as if they weighed nothing, but Eleni could hear them groaning in their hinges.

The doors opened up to the same hall she had been whisked away to the night before. It wasn't as empty as before, though. There was a handful of people standing at the far side of the hall. They were all talking over each other, and not all too happily either. The shy woman stayed in the hall and shut the doors behind Eleni. There was nothing for it. She had to put an end to the pit that was eating away at her stomach.

The small crowd quieted and stepped back as Eleni walked towards them. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought they were wary of being close to her. Bram stood in the center of the group. He wasn't sitting on a throne this time, at least. Eleni caught sight of Tuer to Bram's right and Cassandra to his left.

Eleni could feel her heart racing. She was so nervous, but she put on her bravest face and walked up to them with as much dignity as she could muster. At least they were on an even plane here. She was ready. She nodded to Bram and came to a stop just a few feet away from him.

"Hello, Bram. You wanted to see me?" She asked politely.

"Good night, Eleni. I trust you are feeling better than last night?" Bram said in a fatherly tone. He did look like he cared about all she had been through. His cold demeaner of the night before had defrosted.

"Uh, yeah. I guess you could say that." Eleni replied with a small nervous chuckle.

"I'm so sorry about everything, Eleni. I didn't intend for you to find out about us that way. I thought we had more time." Bram began. Eleni could tell he was winding up for a big speel. "I didn't think you would be that afraid of blood, either. It was insensitive. Are you rested? Did you eat?"

"I'm fine, Bram. All I want are some answers." Eleni sighed.

"And you will get them. I don't know how to say this delicately, so I will just come out with it. I'm your uncle, in a way."

Eleni couldn't hide the shock on her face. She couldn't speak. Her uncle? A vampire? How was that possible?

"Allow me to explain. Your father is also a vampire. I wish he could have told you this himself, but he will be here soon, and you can talk things over yourself, but you need to know that. He and I were brothers, not by blood but because we were turned by the same vampire a long, long time ago. We spent much of our lives together with our siblings, much like we do here.

Your mother was human. Well, she was mostly human. She came from a long line of witch hunters whose genetic makeup is close to human but has more interesting qualities; qualities that make her kind stronger and more capable of dealing with the paranormal world. She was originally hunting your father to kill him, but they fell in love.

They hid their love affair, but when Ina became pregnant with you, they decided to leave both of their families and ways of life behind them for good. A vampire and a human having a child is quite rare, but one with a vampire hunter isn't heard of at all. It didn't end well, as you know. Your mother died shortly after giving birth to you.

Your father loved you as much as he loved your mother, so he raised you on his own. He chose to continue to stay away from other vampires and raised you as a normal girl. He eventually found a distant relative of your mothers who didn't participate in witch hunting. He knew he couldn't be around you forever, as you would eventually start to ask questions about how he never appeared to age, so he sent you to live with Josephine, who claimed to be your aunt.

Your father rejoined the world of vampires, where he belonged from the beginning, and we have been keeping watch over you ever since. We always knew you were special, but as you grew older, your scent became stronger. Witch hunters can release a scent similar when hunting so as to lure vampires to them, but you don't seem to have control over yours, and it is much more potent.

I knew it would become an issue, soon, even with us protecting you. I just didn't expect it to be so soon. Maybe you can't control your scent because you weren't raised as a vampire hunter, or maybe it is stronger because of the vampire blood. Either way, you have blossomed into a scent that would drive most vampires to want to drink your blood."

Here, Bram paused, looking around at the vampires present. They had all drawn away from her as soon as she had walked up to speak with Bram. Eleni had thought it was because they were offended by her, but as she looked around, she came to a different conclusion. They weren't looking at her in disgust. It was quite the opposite. As she looked around, most of the vampires present had a hungry gleam in their eye, though they were all resisting the temptation.

She didn't blame them. Bram had ruthlessly murdered Athan for trying to hurt her. Eleni was certain he would have no qualms killing anyone here who attempted the same. Eleni shivered. It was good to have someone so scary in her corner, but she still felt like a mouse in a room full of starving cats. One of the cats was on her side, but it wasn't a very comforting image.

"I will protect you, for now, but it is too dangerous for you to remain human. We will turn you after Dyrk arrives." Bram said with finality.

That was it. Her whole life had been lie after lie after lie. Her aunt wasn't even her real aunt for crying out loud. Eleni felt as though her entire life was crumbling beneath her. Everything before now had just been a sweet, gentle, false world created for her to live in until it was rudely taken away. And it had been taken away.

Hot tears streamed down her face as she glared at Bram. He had known everything from the beginning, long before he started frequenting the cafe Eleni worked in. He had known she was doomed as soon as she was born. She felt so stupid. How could she have lived so blindly. She had never suspected her father of anything wrong when he chose to leave to travel for work. She had believed everyone who had ever been in her life. But they were all liars.

Cassandra walked up to Eleni and offered her a tissue. Eleni didn't look away from Bram as she took the tissue from Cassandra. She held the tissue in a ball in her cleanched fist and nodded to Cassandra as a thanks. She was so sad and angry, she couldn't even speak.

"It will be alright, really. Just think about all of the things you won't have to worry about anymore." Cassandra attempted to comfort.

"Take her back to her room, Cassandra. She has much to contemplate. It will take time to adjust." Bram ordered, turning back into the cold, indifferent man. Any fatherly (or uncle-y in this case) tone had disappeared. He turned away and began walking to his throne.

"Here, come with me." Cassandra encouraged. She walked forward and took Eleni by the arm, gently guiding her back towards the door.

Eleni felt numb. She allowed Cassandra to guide her all of the way back to her room without protest. The answers to her questions had only brought more questions. Everything in her mind was screaming at once. It was altogether too overwhelming. Before she knew it, they were before the door to her rooms.

"Please, miss Eleni, get some rest. I-" Here, Cassandra hesitated to speak. She cleared her throat and shook her head before going on. "If you have any food requests, write them down and slip them under the door. We will be happy to get you anything you need. Anything." She emphasized.

Eleni walked into her rooms. Cassandra slowly closed the door behind her, but she still jumped when she heard the lock loudly thud into place behind her. She was finally alone, at least. Eleni fell to her knees, her palms pressed into her eyes as her fingers scraped at her scalp.

She let it all out, crying out loud.