Darkness (Book 1 of The Royals Trilogy)

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

ANA

Sunday I spent my day feeling numb, my aunt had taken us to the beach but I had refused to get in the water since my wound was still fresh. I had told my aunt that I had fallen while I was out jogging that morning and she didn't question it since one a month or so I went out jogging to clear my thoughts.

It was now Monday morning and I was driving to school slowly. The weather was warm so I had worn a t-shirt and khaki shorts while covering my wrist with a bandage. At school Clary didn't ask about it, I doubt she would've noticed even if I had shown it to her face. She could be so self-centered sometimes.

At lunch she kept on complaining about her boyfriend, Steve, and that he hadn't bought her the necklace she wanted, instead he'd bought her a pair of earrings. I only rolled my eyes and nodded, there was no use arguing with her. From across the room I could feel wierdo guy and Gothic chic's stare. We had yet to talk and I was actually waiting for it. I needed answers.

After school I managed to get away from Clary and push past the crowd to get to through the back exit leading to the football field. I had a feeling they would be there. "Anastasia Drew, you came," said weirdo guy with a surprised look on his face.

Gothic chic was standing next to him examining her nails smugly, "Bummer, I was actually looking forward to making you listen to us."

I stopped in front of them and crossed my arms over my chest, "too bad, maybe next time." Gothic chick stopped looking at her nails and stared at me surprised while wierdo guy next to her chuckled.

"Well , I'm here like you wanted, I want answers," I said coldly when they didn't start talking.

Gothic chic smirked and crossed her arms across her chest smugly, "answers to what Anastasia?" My fist were shut tight that they turned white as I tried to be patient, they were just toying with me!

"Sister, let's not be rude," said wierdo guy as he placed a hand on his sister's shoulder. Sister? Well if they were blood siblings they certainly didn't look anything alike. Wierdo guy had pitch black hair and matching black eyes that seemed to look deep inside your darkest thoughts. He was very tall and well built, he wore his tattoos proudly all over his skin.

Gothic chic had dark brown hair but there were strands of hair that looked red, it was like no other I had ever seen, her hair looked natural and she had wide grey eyes. Her frame was small compared to her brother's and she looked fit by the looks of it but looks can deceive.

Gothic chic was studying me without a shame and she turned to her brother as she whispered something I couldn't hear. Her brother murmured something that sounded like: behave and he turned back to me.

"Anastasia," he began but I interrupted.

"It's Ana," I corrected a bit colder than I meant. Wierdo guy nodded, "well Ana, let's start with a quick introduction. I am Gideon Stone and this here is my sister Blair."

I nodded but in my mind I had come to the conclusion they weren't blood siblings... Maybe their parents had decided to marry or something. "Well apparently you know who I am." Both of them nodded. "Why? Or how?"

Blair only glared at me. I was getting the feeling she didn't like me very much. "We chose you Anastasia because we have been watching you."

"You chose me for what, exactly?" I asked and I stepped back slightly. Gideon put his arms in front of him as if to show me he was no threat. "Ana, just listen to us, please," his normally cold eyes had now softened as he pleaded.

I nodded but a feeling of discomfort ran through me. "What do you want with me?" I asked sounding more confident than I felt.

"Well first things first, my brother and I belong to a group of hunters called "The Salvation", heard of it?" Blair asked and I shook my head.

"Is that a club or something? Do you guys hunt animals or preform weird rituals?" I asked warily. Gideon smirked and looked at me with humorous eyes, "you could say that we hunt animals, that's one way to put it."

"You're only confusing her," his sister replied back to him and turned to look at me.

"No we don't hunt animals exactly, we hunt creatures that walk this earth that pose a threat to all human kind."

"Like what?" I asked cautiously.

Gideon shrugged and was the one to respond, "let's see, there's vampires, werewolves, witches, wizards, demons and so on but our tribe focuses mostly on vampires."

My eyes widened, he was searching for a sign of recognition as he named those creatures. Vampires. Ethan was a vampire. My sister was a vampire.

"You guys are delirious! Those things are mythical beings, meaning they don't exist," I said but as I said it I tried to convince myself.

"Those things as you call them, exist but you already know that, don't you Ana?" said Blair with a smug look on her face. What did she know?

I gulped and shook my head a little too quickly. "You see Ana, we live in a world filled with dangers that few people know about. Dangers us hunters need to eradicate to save humanity," explained Gideon as he gave his sister a look.

I shook my head and turned away to walk away. Gideon grabbed my arm, "we know you know about this, it isn't hard to believe for you," he said skeptically.

I shrugged but didn't respond. "Anyway, we have been hunting a group of the elder vampires, considered royalty. A couple of days ago we found them in an abandoned building close from here," she said with a raised eyebrow.

"I can't deal with this," I said raising my arms in surrender and I started to walk to my car.

"Anastasia, tomorrow you're coming with us so be prepared," Blair called after me.

"As if I'd go with you," I said while I walked. I got into my car and sat there a couple of seconds. They were crazy, definitely. Hunters, my sister had mentioned them but, they really weren't hunters, were they? I didn't really know, how was a hunter supposed to look like?

I started the car and sped off home. I entered my house and found my aunt sitting at the table. She wore a serious expression on her face, something was wrong. "Aunt Daniela, what's wrong?" I asked worriedly.

"Oh, hey, Ana, come sit down," I did as I was told. "Remember when I told you that the police wanted to talk to me?" I nodded and she continued, "well today I went to the police station to talk to them and they told me about this abandoned building by your school."

My body tensed, my day just kept on getting better and better, I nodded. "They showed me pictures of what's left of that house, it seems someone tried to burn it a few days ago but some parts were saved, there was blood, claw marks and filth covering everything," she said sounding displeased and uncomfortable, she was probably recalling the images in her mind.

"Why did they ask you to go, then?" I asked confused, my aunt was a lawyer, nothing else.

"Because they took samples of blood that looked fresh and tested it... it was her's Ana, her blood," my aunt said with tear-filled eyes.

"Who's blood Aunt Daniela?" I asked as I reached her hand to comfort her.

"Emma's. She was there Ana, the tests came positive. Was that the place they were keeping her? Oh, Ana, did Emma ever mention anything to you about this?" she asked.

My eyes widened and I couldn't look into her eyes. "No, but I guess she didn't want to relive that awful experience by telling me." My aunt nodded her head and she got up.

"I'll call Emma, just to see how she's doing."

I quickly got up, "no that's okay, I can do it. I really wanted to talk to her." My aunt didn't question me, she just nodded and handed me the phone that had been in her hand.

"I think I need to rest, sweetie. This really drained me. Dinner's on the stove if you want to eat." I nodded as I watched my aunt walk to her room looking older than I'd ever seen her before. When she was out of sight, I sighed and put the phone down before heading into the kitchen.

There were enchiladas on the stove that were still warm. I took a plate and filled it with enchiladas. I sat at the table alone and distracted in my thoughts as I ate in silence.