The Past
"Victoria, where have you been?" Her father asked as soon as she entered there mansion filled with glistening silver. "My men have been looking for you for hours." His strict voice followed behind Victoria until they finally entered the library on the ground floor.
"Nothing Papa, I just rode my horse to get some fresh air." She let out a sigh, getting used to her father's strict and paranoid side. Victoria sat on one of the chairs and put her bow and arrow at the table in front of her.
Seeing her arrows with a hint of leaves and flowers, Ruscoe instantly knew that her daughter went to the forest at this late hours. "Didn't I told you not to go to the forest alone? You could've been hurt, Victoria Amare!" He quietly scolded, completing her name to emphasize his anger. "You know there are wild animals lingering around at this hour, how can you be so unguarded!"
"What are you so worried about, Papa? That those vampires would come and kill me just like what they did to Mama? Pa, I'm old enough to take care of myself. I can fight on my own now." She breath out her annoyance and tried her best to controlled her voice in front of her father.
Veronica Amare grew up with her father, her mother died when she was seven. She was killed by several vampires who mercilessly offered her dead body to their so called god. Veronica haven't seen it since she was too little, naive and innocent.
Her father stared at her intently, his jaw clench and she can hear his gritted teeth even with the table distancing them from each other. "You are not going out of the mansion without my men coming with you, do you understand that, Victoria?"
Her eyes widen at the decision her father made all of a sudden, "But Papa-" he didn't gave her enough time to talk and raised his hand, stopping her before going out of the room. Victoria on the other hand, let her body fell on the ground as her feet wobble in weakness. She couldn't believe her father would do such thing but she knew that she can't do anything about it either.
Unable to change his mind, Victoria decided to go to her room to rest but as soon as he got out of the library, a well fined man came into her view, Oliver Allen who has been her suitor for months gave her a cheeky smile that every lady in their town would fall in love with, but not her.
"A happy evening for you, gorgeous lady." He held her hand and kissed the back of it without taking his stares from her. "Your father invited the whole town for a small celebration, I know you don't know about that since you have been missing ever since the sun broke to set." The smug smile on his face made Victoria force a smile, wanting to end their conversation but a bit curious about the reason for their celebration.
"What is this celebration for, if I may ask?" Her polite and soft gesture made her want to puke, she was used on pushing away every man that would get in her way but since she wanted to get information from Oliver, she have to act nicely.
"Oh, didn't you heard that your father caught a witch? You know how witch is associated with vampires, right?"
The whole town believed that the witches, vampires and wolves all lived at the deepest of the woods, therefore where there is witch, there is a vampire.
Victoria's deep thought fell into interest that she forgot about her plan on going back to her bed and rest, "Where could be that witch now? I hope they cage her somewhere safe you know.." She shrugged her shoulder, acting like she was less interested of the topic. "I don't want to sleep knowing that I might be in danger because of your prisoner." Her eyes roam around to find her father, making sure that he wouldn't read what she was trying to do.
"Oh, don't worry, My Victoria, that witch was imprisoned at the basement filled with hunters and Argentinian Mastiff..." He walks closer to her, causing her to step back until her back slightly hit the wall, "And beside I won't let anyone hurt nor frighten you, darling." Oliver was about to kiss her on the cheeks when Victoria immediately step on the side to avoid him.
"I need to go, my father put me in ground for a whole week and it includes not attending parties like this." Without waiting for his response, Victoria flew her way to the hallway up to the garden where no one could see her, she wanted to see the witch.
Her father already told her about how dangerous this kinds of creatures are. At the age of sixteen she was different from all ladies of her age, she doesn't go to school and would want to spend her time hunting like what her father is doing. Though her father doesn't want the idea of her coming with them when hunting because he doesn't want her to see how terrifying they look like.
Victoria secretly look back at her track, easily peeking to see if someone was following her but when it was all clear, she took the door at the very back of the huge mansion.
She knew every part of this mansion like at the back of her nose, no matter how her father would tell her not to go to that place her curiosity would always drive her to finding out what's inside of that place. And knowing that there is a witch imprisoned under there mansion, she took no time to spare and immovably took her way at the basement.
Seeing the three hunters playing cards with their dogs on their sides, Victoria immediately think of a way to cast them out. Biting her lower lip, an idea came to her and showed herself to the guards. "Lady Victoria!" The three of them jolted in surprise upon seeing her but she remained the stoic and cold stares on her face.
"My father wish to talk to the three of you. He sent me here as your exchange for some minutes." She was her father's pride and joy, Roscoe doesn't like it when someone would talk badly about her daughter and to everyone who didn't know that her father would often scold her secretly, they knew that she could be trusted with her words.
With that in their thoughts, the three hunters immediately followed her command but left the dogs on stand by. Her eyes trailed their back until they disappear from her sight and after a few minutes, she hastily looked for the key to open the old and sturdy basement where they imprisoned the witch. But she had been searching every corner of the room and found nothing, she doesn't have a lot of time and surely her father would come in frenzy together with his men.
So the only thing she can thought of was the pin she used in her hair, she expertly took it off and used it to unlock the cabin, without any seconds the barks of the dogs loudened but Victoria was so focused at what she was doing until it finally broke open.
Unexpectedly, the whole place became eerily quiet, the dogs sat like a behave animals and the cold wind touched the sensitivity of her cheeks. Her deep breaths can be heard around the whole room, her fingers clenched into fist as she held her bow tightly.
She can feel someone behind her but she knew that she didn't opened the door yet, except for the small opening that only an insect can enter, she don't think the witch will be able to go out.
"You are lucky that someone is guarding you from afar."
She abruptly took an arrow from her back and pointed it at the person whispering on her ear. She was expecting an ugly looking creature as how everyone declare them to be but when she came face to face with the witch, her eyes were astounded at how pretty she was.
She looks like a goddess, she inwardly mutter and couldn't pull the string of her bow.
The pretty woman patted the dogs head, before walking towards her. She was fully conscious but she couldn't control her own body. "Do you really think that those men could easily caught me?" She asked in a teasing manner, holding a wand made of roots with her and using it to caress Victoria's chin, down to her flawless skin. "You are the reason why I came here, but I didn't know you'll have a lot of guardians outside your mansion. Too bad, they can't enter a house filled with silver."
Veronica couldn't understand what the witch was trying to say. "What do you mean?" She asked, trying to allure the witche's attention so she can try pulling her bow's string again. But to her mishap, she failed as her body was stiff as a rock. "Stop controlling me." She utter under her gritted teeth. Her eyes flare fiercely at woman.
"Oh, don't worry. Even if I try to kill you now, I'm sure I can't do it alone–"
"Veronica! Veronica, where are you!?" The witche's words were cut by the loud screams coming from outside the basement.
As soon as her father's voice echoed through the whole room, the witche's magic seems to disappear. The dogs starts barking and Victoria's body became normal that she easily aimed the arrow back to the witch.
"Get back to the chamber if you don't want my father to kill you." Her voice was filled with warning but not an ounce of worried can be seen in the Witche's eyes. With that, Victoria let the arrow fly but made sure that it wouldn't hit the witch. "I don't like it when I repeat my words."
"I am the heiress of all witches, my power is much stronger than yours thus you have no rights to command me." Said the witch that made a mischievous grin to Victoria's lips.
"And I am a huntress, thus you have no rights to disobey me."