Chapter 5 : The Bloodline
487 Words
Lucien didn't speak again until they had left the old church.
The streets of Raven Hollow were empty, wrapped in a thick blanket of fog. Every shadow seemed alive.
Elena walked beside him in silence, replaying Damien's words.
"He'll use your blood..."
Finally, she stopped.
"No more secrets."
Lucien turned.
"You owe me the truth."
He sighed.
"You're right."
The two of them sat on an old wooden bench overlooking Raven Hollow Lake. Moonlight shimmered across the water.
"For centuries," Lucien began, "vampires believed there was a bloodline that disappeared forever."
"What bloodline?"
"The descendants of the woman who created the first seal."
"The first seal?"
Lucien nodded.
"A thousand years ago, the First Vampire wasn't killed."
"He couldn't be."
"So the witches of that time trapped him beneath Raven Hollow."
"And they created a magical seal that could never be broken..."
"...unless someone carrying the blood of the lead witch willingly or unwillingly broke it."
Elena's stomach tightened.
"You think that's me."
"I don't think."
"I know."
She laughed nervously.
"That's impossible."
"My family isn't special."
Lucien reached into the pocket of his coat.
"I found this."
He handed her an old silver locket.
Elena gasped.
"My mother's necklace."
"I thought it was lost after the accident."
"It wasn't."
She opened it.
Inside was a faded portrait of a beautiful young woman she'd never seen before.
On the opposite side was an ancient symbol carved into the silver.
"What does it mean?"
Lucien's face went pale.
"The Seal Keepers."
Elena looked closer.
On the back of the locket was a sentence written in tiny letters.
When darkness rises... the daughter shall choose.
"Daughter?" Elena whispered.
"My mother never told me any of this."
"She couldn't."
"Why?"
"Because someone was hunting your family."
───
Back at the Hart house, Elena quietly unlocked the front door.
The house was dark.
Too dark.
"Aunt Margaret?"
No answer.
She switched on the hallway light.
The living room was destroyed.
Furniture lay overturned.
Picture frames were shattered.
Books had been thrown across the floor.
"Aunt Margaret!"
She ran toward the kitchen.
There...
Pinned to the wall with a silver dagger...
...was a note.
Tell Lucien he cannot protect you forever.
Elena's heart pounded.
"Aunt Margaret?"
Then she heard it.
A weak voice.
"Elena..."
She rushed downstairs to the basement.
Her aunt was sitting against the wall, bruised but alive.
"Oh my God!"
Elena hugged her tightly.
"I'm so sorry," Aunt Margaret whispered.
"They came looking for you."
"Who?"
"The vampires."
Lucien knelt beside her.
"No..."
Aunt Margaret shook her head.
"Not vampires."
She looked toward the basement stairs with terror in her eyes.
"They were hunters."
Just then...
A loud crash echoed upstairs.
The front door exploded inward.
Heavy footsteps shook the house.
A deep voice called from above.
"Search every room."
"Bring the girl to me."
Lucien stood instantly.
His crimson eyes flared.
"They found you."
The hunt had begun.
- Writer
