Chapter 21
1136 Words
Four pairs of blue eyes stared at me from across the room. They each had a different expression plastered on their face but one thing was in common—they all looked at me like I was lunch.
"You sure you had no idea where you get this?" Blue repeated for like the tenth time today.
I groaned. "I told you I don't know. I was already wearing it when my mom found me in a train station! That's it! I didn't steal it if that's what you wanted to hear."
I was sitting in a round circular table in a different room to where Hannah had dragged me. This feels like an interrogation of some sort.
"Don't mind Blue," Elle said, throwing scratches of paper on Blue face who attempted to retort at her words. Elle stopped him. "Don't even bother opening your mouth."
Blue rose from his seat to protest but Elle spoke again. "You already know that we are fighting vampires here," she said to me. The necklace dangled between her fingers. She stared at it like it was something valuable. "This letter V stands for Valerious. I've seen it before and I couldn't be wrong. It's an Elder's necklace."
I raised a brow. What am I supposed to say? I don't really know what they're talking about. "Look guys." I shifted in my seat. "I don't know where that came from, really!" Them giving me stares like I'm a burglar started to annoy me.
"But which Elder? There's only one left now," Blue told Hannah. Elle muttered something to Jared to which Hannah nodded as if to agree. In an instant, I no longer exist in the room, left in between their blabber to which I couldn't relate and understand.
I lifted both hands in the air. "Hang on! I have a lot to catch up on this one but what on earth are you guys talking about?"
They all faced me. Jared looked bored, Hannah annoyed, Blue grinning and Elle casual, as usual.
"I don't understand why this thing is so important to you. And given that you're all acting weird. I think I deserve the chance to know."
I was tired of listening to things and not understanding a thing. If this is all about me, even if it's this creepy, I still need to know. Hannah grabbed the empty stool across the table and sat infront of me so we could see each other better. The faint light inside the room made her eyes sparkle.
"Guess I have to tell you a little story," she said.
"Bedtime stories? I love that!" Blue grinned behind her, earning a weak slap from the serious-faced Jared. He remained silent the rest of the day.
"The vampires don't exist in the early days. Our kind doesn't either. There was one man named Marsias Valerious. He was a lord in the kingdom and Serenia. He got bitten by a mysterious bat infected with some kind of unknown powers that changed him into something the world didn't quite understand at the time. And so, he became the first vampire."
"Lord Marsias had three children. They were all boys. At first he was successful in hiding the sort of monster that he had become but then the eldest son Lucian found out his father's secret and so Lord Marsias turned him to keep this secret with his son. He eventually turned the other sons as well and from them emerged the vampire clan Valerious. They turned many others and soon there were hundreds of them and even thousands, spread out across the globe. Lord Marsias son's became the Elders, the coven's leaders."
"For many years they thrive on the earth, turning many more. But then, the three brothers had a disagreement and they quarreled amongst themselves. Until one brother was left. The eldest Lucian. He leads the Valerious clan now."
"What happened to the two others?" I asked.
Hannah shook her head. "No one knows. It was said that Lucian killed both of his brothers and dismembered them so they can never come back. But no one was sure of the tale. It was said that they were both still alive. But no one proved it either."
"So what does that have to do anything with me and the necklace?" I groaned.
Jared placed his elbow on the table and lifted the necklace near my face. He's been mulking in the dark while the three others were torturing me with questions and stories and now he decided he wants to grill me too. Great!
"This Valerious medallion is a symbol of rank and authority, Peter." His dark blue eyes pierced through me. "It was from Lord Marsias, a gift to his sons. A token that they are the very first of their being. And you happen to be carrying one of their necklaces, Peter. Which leads to one thing. You are directly related to one of the elders." His face turned serious, eyes not leaving mine." But which one? Which Elder's blood runs in your viens? Whose blood are you?"
I don't know. I mean how was I supposed to know? They all stared at me as if the answer is written all over my face. I met Hannah's eyes, dark blue and piercing.
"We've been gathering halfbloods for decades now Peter," she said. "As you already know, we try to get as many halfbloods as possible to safety. But we've never come up to something like this. This is probably the reason why they were after you. Not just because you're a halfblood they needed dead. Maybe because you are Valerious just like the rest of them."
I felt my air suffocating my lungs instead of making me breathe. "And that means?"
"You're either lucky or very very... unfortunate."
I wanted to asked what that means but the door opened and a lean dark-skinned boy emerged into room, chest heaving and panting. All the attention shifted to him in an instant.
"Jared!" he called. "They found two other halfbloods in York street. And they're in trouble."
Jared's gaze turned even grimmer. He threw us a look and shifted towards Hannah.
"Hannah, take care of this man here and make sure he doesn't make a fuss." He glared at me, eyes like hot blue wax. "Enlighten him of the things he needs to know. Blue, Ellie, let's go!"
Jared zipped into the door and disappeared from my sight. The rest followed him, leaving me alone with Hannah. Silence lingered between us for quite a while before I decided to talk.
"What now?"
She turned to me and placed her arm the table, slightly tapping the table with her fingertips. She seemed to be thinking deeply.
She faced me. "Story's not over yet."
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To be continued...
- Writer
