Serpent Twins: The Fall

The Council

Alexander’s POV:

I stood up in front of the queen’s chamber, her guards bowed down their heads.

her voice was toneless.

Once my mother permitted me to get inside, the big double doors were swung open. She was laying on her side in her white nightgown on Gabon ebony’s camelback sofa.

“Mother,” I came over her, kneeled down and kissed her hands.

She motioned me to sit, she directly asked.

I pulled out my phone and showed her picture of Vladimir Botkin aka Vladimir Kirillovich which I took at Lord Botkin’s manor. My mother got up to sit straight and held my phone for few seconds before returning it back to me. Then I put an enameled metal box I took from Andrei when I was calling him from Bucharest. Andrei was in Greenland to find leads of the hybrid werewolf after I managed to recognize Greenland’s glacial mud during the soil test from one of the specimens Lord Adrian Frumos brought from Alaska.

I opened the box and showed the contents to her. The diamond ring brooch was found in an enameled metal box along with a piece of barely decomposed silvery garnished cloak which only wore by the wealthy during fourteenth to fifteenth century. She took a long dead stare on the brooch, but didn’t bother to touch. The dull gold loop was circled by our house symbols with four vivid green diamonds attached and rusty bronze snake-shaped pin connected to it in the middle. The dirty diamonds lost their sparkles, but they were the same diamonds as Nicholas, Adriana, and I have on similar brooches, given by mother.

I asked, assuming that at least she could explain why the diamond ring brooch with our house symbol was found in an underground secret room below old fake tomb in Greenland.

Andrei informed that our Ground-penetrating radar located secret passages leading to three empty rooms almost a hundred feet below the tomb. The box was found hidden in the wall, previously camouflaged by the stone walls. Andrei wouldn’t be able to see if only there wasn’t huge crack on one of the room’s wall, probably was formed after several earthquakes struck off Greenland over the years. I need to check it myself after meeting with The Council, to find any missed leads later.

she finally responded.

I asked.

The door was knocked and then opened. A servant came bringing a golden tray with jewelry box on it. She kneeled down to her queen and lowered her gaze.

“Let my son see it,” mother said to her.

I saw the exactly same brooch but with shiny golden color and brilliant green diamonds. I took it, examined for few seconds, then returned it into its container. The servant left with it soon after.

I asked.

she replied, running her fingers through her long strawberry blonde hair.

I nodded, thinking whether the brooch we found was the king’s, but if it was, what relation he had with the hybrid werewolf?

  she looked at me in the eye.

I asked.

My father is a simple-minded person, he hates complication. 

she spoke, opening her arms for me.

She cupped my face when I came closer and kissed my forehead.

she said.

I took a light bow and left her chamber to father’s, to arrange meeting with The Council members in the great hall after Nicholas arrived in the next four hours. Instead of teleportation, I walked slowly through the underground passages as my father castle is partially beneath the ground. It was dark, cold, and even small noise would make an eerie echo for humans.

For Kimberly.

Although most humans would appreciate the impressive and preserved ceiling murals alongside the castle, I doubt they wouldn’t feel anxious by the ambience. I sighed, started to think about her last call. All I wanted to do was hugging her, but seeing her smiles, laughs, and even kiss to the human I almost killed the night before meeting her, broke my already broken heart. I asked Jan to stop sending me her pictures or footages and just reported for extraordinary events. Nicholas was right, she would eventually forget and move on. 

Still, I don’t want her to get hurt, feeling the obligation to protect her, especially because one she knew was our natural enemy. Andrei will arrive to New York in eight hours. Although I have other guards to watch over Kimberly from distance that wouldn’t conflict with Nicholas’s, I would feel better if Andrei was there to support the team as well as to work on the tenants’ relocation fast. 

øøøøø

“This is an outrageous insult, Your Grace,” Countess Lilith Martel spoke in taut voice.

Her sectoral heterochromia blue-hazel eyes were glowing slightly red, she had her platinum blonde styled in high up do, with a black lace dress and crimson red silk cloak.

“Alexander already explained to me, this is crucial thing to do for the sake of our kind, Countess Martel. He needs us to make group of DNA database as most of anyone below our age are our descendants,” my father said with bored face, “What do you say, Count Frumos? Count Boyar?” he looked at the other members who were sitting with blank stare as if they weren’t in meeting.

“I see no problem with the idea, Your Grace,” Count Victor Boyar responded.

“Neither do I, Your Grace. If that can be a great help to catch the dog as I am sure someone gave birth to it,” Count Gregor Frumos spoke in gruff voice.

“Please excuse my brother’s blunt request, Countess Martel. We surely can do it without yours, but time is the essence now. We have no months to collect and analyze the data to determine the bloodlines,” Nicholas spoke, defending me.

“Fine. What do you need from us, Prince Alexander?” Countess Lilith finally asked to me.

The others were also looking at me with curious eyes.

“Buccal swab and blood sample, Countess Martel. I need those two to make sure adequate samples for the test, just in case one of the samples was damaged,” I replied swiftly.

She laughed, “This is hilarious! Two methods?”

I actually prefer buccal swab over blood sample for the test as it’s easier and need no refrigerated to store the blood, but I certainly don’t want to get samples twice from anyone. I already divided the team into two, to avoid mistake from the analyzers during the test, as the result must be a hundred percent accurate and reliable.

“Yes, I need both, Countess Martel,” I kept my voice calm.

“Who will dare to do it?” she asked.

“I will do it myself, Countess Martel,” I replied.

“That’s enough, Countess Martel,” my father spoke, “Alexander, just take what you need here,” he continued, “And anyone who refused to have them checked will be sentenced to death. You can pass my words to other rulers, Alexander. Once the data have been collected, any unidentified one will be killed for treason. Go help and inform your uncle and your sister on this.” 

I took a bow, “Yes, Your Grace,” and teleported to my lab to get the DNA kit and back to The Council with it.

øøøøø

Nicholas asked me after I told him about the brooch.

I replied shortly.

he spoke.

I told him before teleportation to Uncle Thomas’s castle at Ngorongoro, to check on his brooch also to help him preparing for the sample collection.

Fifty percent of our kind were residing in Nicholas’s territory, he actually has a lot of work things to do. Whoever the werewolf is, must be gotten help by important ones, so having trustworthy team members would be our top priority as the bloodlines determination will be failed once the samples weren’t reliable.

Nicholas’s POV:

“This is Alyona Botkin, Mother,” my son Nicholas spoke when his guard brought a girl with red long hair into my chamber. 

I already saw the frightened girl with few days ago and decided will take her as my private servant as she is actually a noble. She’s only a collateral damage to the werewolf case.

“Come, my Child,” I put my hand out to her.

She came over, took a bow with face and clothes covered in her own blood.

“My…Queen,” she cried out, kneeling before me.

“Don’t you bloody dare to whine about the dead here or I’ll throw you away,” Nicholas scolded her.

I scolded him back.

he replied, but gave the girl a stern look.

I sighed, I commanded to one of my guard behind the door.

Olaf came inside and took Alyona away.

“Now, what do you want to say, Nicholas?” I put my attention to my second child. 

he asked with rare serious face.

I was surprised he could utter such question as Nicholas was used to be the most self-confident one.

He was quiet for a second, he said.

“Come here, my Son,” I asked him to come closer.

He kneeled before me with unreadable look. I cupped his face, closing my eyes as event fragments flashed in my mind.

“Just treat her with respect no matter what, Nicholas. You’ll do good for your family,” I spoke, feeling restless as what I just saw was different to prior ones.

Was there something happened somehow has changed the future?

Nicholas kissed my hands, “I will try, Mother.”

Alyona’s POV:

I was pushed into a small room in the dark dungeon. The king’s castle wasn’t like I imagined before. It’s even worse than everyone said, but perhaps because they have been living for too long, the living world has no longer attracted them. We have never heard The First Ones coming out from their lair in South Pole, as all of their offspring’s weddings were held there. Most of us have never seen them, but rumor said that they are the most beautiful vampires, Radu with heterochromia blue-brown eyes and Amalia with the most strikingly pretty blue eyes.

I sighed, thinking about what Prince Nicholas said, that my father and sister have been dead. I cried again, cursing the cruel prince and mourning for my family when door was suddenly opened and the prince came inside with cold look.

his voice was raucous, then I was thrown out to the wall as the prince lunged forward and grabbed me by the throat.

I was lifted high, feeling that he would decapitated me in few seconds.

Vladimir. 

he hissed and released his hands.

I fell down and screamed as the prince stepped on my knees. I could hear two loud cracking sounds as his shoes landed on my knees. Those knees would heal, but his intention to hurt me was frightening. I tried to not sob, lowering my head as a submissive sign, wishing that he would just leave.

he finally asked.

I tried to sit, but feeling painful. I haven’t feed yet since being captured, so the healing process was slower.

“He said he didn’t remember anything about his parents, Your Highness,” I replied, sitting with my back against the stone wall.

The prince knelt down, harshly pulled by my neck, and sank his fangs into my flesh. I tried to not scream nor move even with the unbearable pain coming. The last time I remembered before the darkness fell on me was being sucked to dry.

I woke up to hear scratching noises. I was in my bed, wearing my linen nightdress. I got off the bed and tried to seek for the source. I went out to the hallway and stopped in front of another bedroom door as the sound was clearer, then I opened the door, seeing my brother, Vladimir, drawing some kind of sketches on his study table. He looked up to me and smiled.

“What did you draw, Vlad?” I asked, coming closer, but he hid one particular sketch with another plain paper.

“Just sketching random things,” he calmly replied.

“Can I take a look, please?” I asked, giving him puppy eyes.

He smiled and passed me on a sketch, it was a faceless woman wearing well-embellished dress and cloak, she was posing as if she wanted to lift something. I noticed a ring brooch was drawn over the left breast. It was unclear, but the pin was in snake shape.

“Who is she?” I curiously asked.

He shrugged his shoulder, “I don’t know, but she appeared couple times in my mind,” he answered coolly.

“Could she be your mother?” I asked again.

“I honestly don’t know, Alyona,” he smiled.

“Can I see others?” I asked him again.

He passed me another and it was just a sketch of empty room in dungeon.

“What is this?” I lift up the paper and noticed there was a wolf shadow in the corner of the room.

“Me?” he asked me back, laughing, “You asked for too many questions, go away, Mladshaya sestra!” he lightly pushed me to the door.

“But I still want to be here, you’ve been away for too long, Vlad,” I pouted and tried to push him back, “Are you still be here until Ana back?”

My sister Anastasia was devastated knowing that Vladimir left our home thirteen years ago. She tried to pursue him, but father forbade her as Vladimir’s request.

“Perhaps, if she came back by tomorrow,” he replied and sat behind his study desk again.

“Tomorrow? Vlad, you’ve been here for only two days!” I complained.

My sister couldn’t be reached as she went with her ornithologist boyfriend to Burundi for over three months now. She would go bananas if Vladimir left without meeting her first. It wasn’t a secret that my sister is in love with Vladimir for so long, but he only took her as sister.

“I have things to do, Alyona,” he replied.

“Like what?” I stared at his light blue eyes, feeling left behind.

He’s six feet five beautiful face one with dark brown hair and now has nicely groomed short beard which made him even more attractive.

“Dealing with reptiles?” he replied and winked.

I hissed to his joke, “Please, don’t leave us,” I pleaded.

“You should come out to see the world too, Alyona. Don’t just stay here for eternal life,” he told me, “Father would be just fine here,” he continued and stood up to open his big double windows.

Seizing the opportunity, I quickly snatched one sketch he previously hid under a blank paper. Vladimir turned around, pushed and pinned me to the wall.

“Bad girl!” he grabbed me by my arms and took back the sketch, but I already saw it, a smiling beautiful woman.

“Who is she?” I smirked.

I doubted if she was his mother. Although his sketch was black and white, I could differ the physical appearance between the faceless woman and the smiling one because Vladimir is just a fine artist.

“Just someone,” he replied and went back to his desk, “Don’t tell Ana,” he asked, staring at me.

I chuckled, “I’ll make a promise as long as you would tell me who is she to you, Vlad.”

“She’s just someone from the school in US,” he replied.

“School? Like college?” I furrowed my brow.

“Like high school and college,” he replied, “Now promise me, Alyona,” he asked.

“What’s her name?” I asked him back.

He was quiet for a while and replied shortly, “Kimmy.”

No wonder my sister failed to get his attention, he’s been in love with the woman for years.

“Where are you going to, Vlad? Are you going with her?” I curiously asked and wondered why not bringing the woman along here to at least introduce her to us, his family.

My sister won’t dare to kill her contender if my father is around.

“I have my cabin in Canada and no, she’s in New York.” 

Suddenly I was like sucked up into a dark hole, I screamed and woke up laying on a hard stone floor with Prince Nicholas staring at me with unreadable stare.

“What…was that, Your Highness?” I was confused for a second after experiencing same event happened seven years ago, then I remembered that pureblood has the ability to go inside our mind and dug out the past through our blood.

But the prince has just left with a loud bang on the door. I couldn’t help but crying, feeling pain, weakness, and hopeless for being prisoner in the king’s castle, most likely forever.

Vladimir’s POV:

“Mother,” I nodded to a woman in a dark hoodie and black skinny jeans who was approaching my table at an outdoor terrace garden of the most famous club in the center of Bucharest.

She came to kiss me on my cheek and took a seat in front of me.

“Your presence attracted women, Cornelis,” she spoke and drank my beer.

As she forgot that she is one beautiful woman, I tried to remind her, “You should look to yourself, Mother. And please, I’m Vladimir.”

Humans would be difficult to hear our talks, but thanks to our super hearing, we could even perfectly hear the lowest whisper in crowded place like this, otherwise it would be super ridiculous seeing us calling ourselves as mother and son. With the vampire owned spy satellites, my only channel to communicate with mother was using advertisement in local newspaper here. We usually used job vacancy ad to cover our secret code. Occasionally, I would check the online newspaper and would meet her at unpredictable places like this.

“I’ll call you whatever I want, Son. And please hear me. Your father and Anastasia have been killed and Alyona was captured in the king’s castle,” she told.

I was about to stand up when hearing her voice again.

“Sit down. I’m not finished yet. You have to hear the rest. Now, I couldn’t do anything about Alyona yet, but I’ll try to keep her unharmed. The most important thing, all rulers will start to collect DNA samples to build a database in New York to track us down and you can’t go to Greenland as I heard the prince’s guards already found it. Here, a key and map to another safe haven for you in Sabah to lay down until I could figure it out how to deal with this bloodline tracing,” she gave me her leather of clutch.

I opened it for a little, seeing portable GPS, key, and bills.

“I don’t need any of these, Mother. I want revenge,” I spoke and pushed the clutch back to her.

“Cornelis, please. You knew the moment Anastasia killed three of our kinds and not to mention, two of them were the prince’s guards, her destiny had been decided,” she pushed back the clutch.

I sighed deeply, thinking about my poor father, Anastasia, and Alyona. I would endanger Alyona and mother if doing reckless action.

“I won’t be able to live in a hideout like a p***y, knowing that Alyona was imprisoned,” I told her.

“She’s going to be fine, I would try my best to keep her unharmed. You have my word,” she said, placing the clutch into my hands, “But if you’re seeking for revenge, you may try to kill the precious human of Prince Nicholas’s,” she stared at me with challenging look.

“A human? The prince found a human’s mate?” I was shocked with the news.

“Yes, so I heard, but he’s not yet to make official claim on her. She’s living in New York. I haven’t had the information further, but I think the prince’s guards must be on the watch for her. If you can’t kill her, just leave. Your life is more precious than a revenge, Cornelis,” she spoke and reached my hands, squeezing them.

“Yes, Mother,” I responded.

“Or do you want to go to Reykjavíkinstead of Sabah? I still think it’s better for you to just go to Sabah because I’m pretty sure their focus will be for Europe and North America. Asia and South Pacific are just too wide for the lazy princess,” she put a mocking face.

“Yes, Mother.”

I got up and took the clutch, thinking about to make another fake passport tomorrow.

“Please be careful, my Dearest. Remember me always,” she got up and hugged me.

We then left for different directions.

Kimberly’s POV:

Yay, hiking day finally arrived!

I sighed, brushing with my electric toothbrush while thinking about Dylan’s expecting face turned into a slight disappointment as I refused to be lip-kissed again during our foot bath in the hot tub, but he’s a grown-up man, even older than I am, so he would understand that I still need more time. I was staring to myself.

Okay, I lied.

I just couldn’t stop comparing his kiss with Nicholas’s and even Alexander’s. If I have to be honest, my heart was still craving for Alexander, but I like the way Nicholas kissed me and he seemed like the better version of Alexander, too good to be true. As for Dylan, I felt like a slight burden as his intention is to get married asap. It’s not like I don’t want to get married and he seemed like a very nice person and I feel safe with him, but I feel like I want more from him while he’s already perfect.

What’s wrong with me? 

I put my brush on its base and was using my water flosser when my phone in the bedroom rang, so I went out to the nightstand and took the phone.

Speaking of the devil.

“Hello?”

“Good morning, Baby. How are you?” Nicholas’s voice was over the phone.

“Good morning, Nicholas. I’m good, how about you? Are you still in Ukraine?” I asked.

“I’m good, but missing you a lot. I’m in Romania visiting my parents, but I’ll be there before evening. So, I’ll pick you up around five, is that okay?” he asked.

“Yes, that will be fine,” I replied, thinking about how easy for people like them moving from one continent to another in a day without worrying about flight delay.

“Do you miss me?” he asked.

“I… kind of,” I stuttered, imagining his smirk.

The fact was, I barely slept last night, thinking about the seemingly double date as Tony couldn’t make it because he has sudden business trip to Chicago by Saturday.

“Okay, I’ll see you soon, Baby,” Nicholas ended his call.

“See you, Nic,” I replied before he hung up.

 I went back to the bathroom to finish my shower, thinking to buy slouchy beanie during lunch hour later as I couldn’t find any in my dresser. 

Or perhaps I can borrow one from Carla.

øøøøø

“Kimmy, watch out!” Carla shouted at me from behind when I was walking with eyes focused on my phone in front of Roasted Masala after having our favorite spicy chicken tandoori and flavorful lamb shank.

 I felt an instant pain on my nose and almost fell when strong hands pulled out my shoulders to prevent me from falling. My phone fell hard on the concrete sidewalk.

“Miss, are you alright?” A disembodied male voice was heard.

I looked up and noticed a tall man releasing his hands from my shoulders, bent back to pick up my phone and gave it to me.

“Kimmy, are you alright?” Carla held my arm.

I nodded, massaging my nose, feeling more embarrassed rather than painful. Apparently, I hit his back quite hard.

“Thank you. I’m sorry, I didn’t see you coming,” I said to him.

He’s probably six feet three, same tall as Alexander. He’s a handsome young man with dark brown hair and rare bright blue eyes.

His bright blue eyes paused on mine, “Doctor Vanderwood?” he asked.

“Yes?” I frowned, feeling confused as he knew my name.

He was dressed in navy blue suits with no tie and a dark blue coat.

He smiled widely, “It’s partially my fault too because I jumped backward too fast to avoid a biker,” he said, “Are you going back to hospital?” he asked, gazing at me.

“Do you know him, Kimmy?” Carla asked me.

I shook my head, trying to remember his face.

“Did you take a cab here?” he asked again.

“No, we brought own car,” Carla quickly lied, “Excuse me, but who are you?” her voice was honeyed.

He was about to answer when a car was pulling over behind him, a black Tesla opened its rear falcon-wing doors.

“It’s my ride. We’ll meet again soon, Doc. Please be more careful on your way back,” he winked with a small smile and got inside the car at the back seat and left.

“Who is that hunk with your eyes, Kimmy?” Carla curiously asked.

“I have no idea,” I muttered slow and shrugged my shoulders, thinking that he’s probably just family of my patient.

I brushed my phone, the screen protector was slightly cracked, but fortunately it’s still on.

“If you knew him, we should just hitch on his ride,” Carla laughed, “Let’s get a cab, then,” she held my arm.