Chapter 29: A Small World

I am not a monster.

Elizabeth repeated the sentence over and over, as if chanting a spell to change the fact that she was a vampire.

She tried to push it out of her mind and reverted her attention to Stefan who was lying helplessly beside her. His fangs were in between his lips, smothered with her own blood. She could see her reflection on Stefan's grey eyes. A reflection of a monster. A bloodsucking monster who just sucked a precious soul out of the person she loved.

" Aww. Stop whatever you're thinking. This is your fate, Elizabeth! Why can't you accept it? You're a monster. Say it! " Danae yelled, her chuckles intesifying the air even more.

Elizabeth shook her head vigorously. " This isn't happening," she whispered.

" It's already happening, " Danae grinned, ' Soon, human race will extinct and we shall rise out of the shadows that protect our secret, our existence."

The thought of every inch and ounce of an innocent human's life and many more lives taken for the sake of building an empire was just mind-boggling. A world inhabited by souless beings would be an apocalypse and it all started with... her.

She screamed, burning the once golden, elaborated room then her vision went black like it was a regular thing.

---

Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes and caught sight of a chaos. Vampires and blood everywere. A male vampire was holding Danae Vaughan in his arms. She seemed weak, contributed by the long sleep she endured. Finally realising that they were in the middle of the battlefield, Elizabeth's face was lifted by the tip of a sword. Blue eyes met her green ones. She gasped in horror, tears streaming down her face

Will...

His 'men' surrounded him in a battle position, protecting Danae and himself. She squinted her eyes and saw another party opposite them.

The vampire council?

They were here. The last time she remembered they looked like princes and princesses going to the ball but now.. they looked like warriors in their polished, shining armour. Elizabeth tried to keep her eyes open, wanting to know what was going to happen, but she couldn't resist the exhaustion that hit her.

---

The sharp bite of canines into her skin was agonisingly painful as Mike, the handsome blonde vampire closed his mouth upon her neck. Then, just like that, the pain disappeared only to be replaced by a rush of bliss and joy. It was... indescribable. Nothing mattered than the sweet sensation of the bite. The bite was the only thing she wanted everyday since she was captured to the underground palace full of the Ancient Ones. A plan to escape was the last thing she wanted to do.

Suddenly, there was a bang on the wall and all the wonderful feeling flowing through her stopped abruptly, causing her to fall limply on the bed. This irritated Elena. She tried to adjust her vision to see why the bite had stop. She glanced up and realised she wasn't looking at a blonde guy anymore but instead a tall figure with jet-black hair. He seemed familiar but she couldn't make up who he was. She didn't want to think. Her thoughts were cloudy. All she wanted was the bite.

" Salvatoire's sister?" the man asked monotonously.

The name made her froze. Salvatoire? She knew this.. Yes, it was her last name, she thought. Elena nodded.

" You're high."

" Who are you? " Elena whispered, slowly making out the words.

" William Carstairs."

The name was familiar. She heard this name before from.. Lizzie. Lizzie... the girl his brother was protecting. Elena was trying hard to remember. The bite had made her memories to be cloudy.

" C'mon. We have to get to Elizabeth. " William lifted Elena up and headed out the room.

William's fast movement was faster than a normal vampire and this made her very dizzy. Her eyes became heavy and her sight turned blurry. The last thing she saw was Mike lying on the the ground, unconscious.

---

Will drove fast to the De Arc. He didn't care about the traffic. All he wanted was to go to Elizabeth.

" Ugh. Can't you get any slower? " Elena groaned, waking up.

Will glanced at her, giving that 'Excuse me?' look and sped up the car. He took out a bottle of water under the chair and handed it to her. Elena hesistantly took it and drank the whole bottle in one gulp.

" The endorphins should disappear in a few minutes," Will exclaimed.

" My head hurts." Elena replied, slightly ignoring him.

" You're bitten everyday since you were captured. I don't find that a surprise."

" What happened? I don't remember a thing, " Elena stopped as she remembered the joyous feeling she experienced the last few days. " Wait, I do remember that I was.. "

William continued her sentence, " ... high. Yeah, it happens when human got bitten. They're like drugs. They're addictive. You were addicted too and you willingly wanted it, y'know."

Elena still felt the amazing feeling that poured into her everytime she was bitten. It was like all the happiness in the world entered her. He was right, they were addictive because she currently tried to resist the urge to offer herself to get bitten by William. It was quite embarrassing to admit so she didn't say a word after that.

Elena looked at William who was staring straight on the road.

" Hey, what were you doing in the palace with the Ancient? You're Lizzie's boyfriend, right? Stefan said you died."

Will gritted his teeth, trying to hide his anger when Stefan was mentioned.

" I live there. "

" What? You live there? What do you mean? I thought you're the good guy. " Her fear was blatant in her voice.

" I am. I just... they saved me from the council. I was going to die using my power the other night. I think I actually did die."

" How? But they are all under Danae! She wanted to kill Lizzie!''

" You don't understand, Salvatoire..."

" What the hell, boy?!Yes, I don't understand! Don't you want to save Lizzie?! She's been through a lot! How could you be under Danae?!" Elena yelled as she boiled in anger.

William instantly pulled over, held the stirring wheel tightly and glared at Elena. Elena squinted at him, but felt herself back up in her seat under his glares.

" Danae is the only family I got. That's why I'm under her. "

" Danae.. she's my half sister. "

A/N: Hey, it's Fifi here. Got a message from Izza Romzi at 5.43AM. She asked me to proofread the chapter, so I did. Well, I'm not a good proofreader, but I did try my best editing this. I hope all of you enjoyed reading Forbidden Blood because we're currently on the climax of the story and that means we're near to the end of Forbidden Blood. One of you did ask whether we planned to make a sequel. To answer that, we are still uncertain. Besides, this blog is all about being random. Hehe. See ya! =)

Chapter 26

Like most nights in her life, she had expected another terrifying nightmare that could haunt her for the rest of her life. And to her cleverness, she decided not to sleep. Considering the fact that Danae, and God knows who ever else she would bring with her on her probably very last midnight. Her blue satin nightgown was now wet without her realising it. At least not until her palms became sweaty. She ,however, realised that it was cold sweat. A sign showing her fear about something.

It was already ten in the evening and her eyes were still wide awake. Horrible thoughts enter and fade endlessly throughout the last few hours of her consciousness. Defeating Danae and bring Elena back was her only optimistic idea. In fact, that was the best she could come up with. And the worst? It was something even her mind refused to admit. Let alone speak it out loud. She sighed and sat straight on her queen sized bed, staring blankly at the window.

William Carstairs.

The name suddenly appear on her mind. Her eyes, still fixed on her gaze, finally dropped a tear. Reminiscing her memories with Will was just plain sweet. There was no such thing as "complicated matter" in their world. Everything was simple. Not much of an obstacle getting on their way. Until, like what she was told, the Council came to the lovely ball. The ball where she was supposed to achieve her happily ever after with William Carstairs, the man whom she had always loved. But now her dreams had vanished. William Carstairs was now resting in peace. Or so she thought.

Her topaz coloured pendant hung loose on her neck and she smiled. She knew what would calm her down. Her fingers soon lingered on the pendant, as if observing it, and memories soon flooded her. Memories of William Carstairs. Her sorrow faded just like that and a smile was plastered on her flawless white face. The recollections were just too pleasant that she fell asleep with a blissful dream.

She was with William Carstairs in her dream. Not just with him, but living with him. They were a family.

"Elizabeth, will you pass me the newspaper, please?" William asked, with his dazzling 70s look; back at the time they were together a couple of years after the ball incident.

"Why, yes, my husband," Elizabeth had replied in a rather cheerful tone.

Elizabeth and her husband were having their regular breakfast in an average-sized dining room. Two children, a boy and a girl, aged about 3 and 2 respectively, were running and giggling as they entered the room.

"Mommy, daddy!" the boy had said, both hugging Elizabeth and William.

They were such a happy family Elizabeth almost believed her eyes. She was grinning with joy when Danae, or rather, Danae's spirit, joined in.

“What are you doing here?” Elizabeth asked sternly.

“My dear, can you not differentiate between reality and fantasy?” Danae replied, sarcasm filled her voice.

Elizabeth was confused. What was this all about? Before she could think of anything else, the images of Will and her children started to fade. Everything went from sharp to blurry and more blurred and gone.

Elizabeth woke up. Danae’s words were still playing in her mind.
Elena. Elena was in great danger in Danae’s hands. And she was sure Stefan would insist on going with her later to the battle. The one-on-one battle with Danae Vaughan. The one Danae promised would be a win-win battle.

Elizabeth glanced at her alarm clock beside her and the clock just struck eleven. An hour to the battle. She then tiptoed to the kitchen and started planning her strategy. Her neat bun was not messy. She really hoped that Stefan was sleeping. And of course, every other person staying there that night. She doubted anyone was awake, though. So, she began her search.

She found what she had been searching for after about a minute. The kitchen was that small that she could search anything within a minute. The sleeping pill was due to expire the following year. She quickly boiled the water and made a cup of hot milo for Stefan. She knew, this would be the only way for Stefan to not follow her to the battle.

The hot milo, mixed with a sleeping pill, was then put in Stefan’s side table. Just as she suspected, Stefan was snoring loudly, probably feeling very exhausted after a long day. With no weapon in hand, she left the safest place to a place where she would risk herself.



Danae stood perfectly still with an expecting look plastered all over her face. She smirked at Elizabeth’s presence. Somewhat somehow, she found it funny. Everything suddenly seemed slow. The time was ticking slow, the motion was slow as well. Wind was blowing towards Danae making her hair look.. well, blown. She looked just perfect.

But that didn’t matter. What mattered then was saving Elena and get that over with.

“Let me see Elena!” Elizabeth exclaimed.

“Give me first what I want,” Danae replied, as calm as ever.

“Fine!” she snapped, slitting her palm with her own, bare nails.

Blood started dripping from her palm and Danae’s expression changed. She had been craving for the blood and Elizabeth was wasting it. Danae ran to her, in an unbelievably high speed, and collected the dripping blood using her fingers. With that, Elena was released.


Unfortunately, that wasn’t exactly what happened. Elizabeth had a change of plan. She didn’t go to the Arc. She didn’t come to save Elena. But she was still going.

After she put Stefan to sleep, she ran as quickly as possible to Heather’s house. It wasn’t exactly her house as Heather lived somewhere in the USA. It was where Heather lied unconsciously under Danae’s influence. Elizabeth didn’t know why she headed there, but she had a strong feeling that what she did was right.

Elena was in trouble because of her and God knows what Danae would do if Elizabeth didn't show up right in time.

Elizabeth sneaked into the room and found Heather lying there, probably sleeping. Or unconscious. She wasn't sure how to wake her up, so she tried using the traditional way. Surprisingly, splashing Heather with water did wake her up. But Elizabeth wasn't welcomed with warmth. Heather was as cold as an ice queen. Elizabeth was given the most chilling glare ever.

"Hold on! You have to listen to me. You have to help me, Heather," Elizabeth pleaded.

"What do you want, Elizabeth? Hasn't Danae destroyed you yet?" Heather snapped.

"I just want-" Elizabeth paused, considering. "Did you say.. Danae?"

Heather laughed. "Yes, surprised that I know her?"

"Well, you aren't supposed to know her.."

Heather scoffed. "Then you must be more shocked to hear this; I WORK FOR HER."

Elizabeth couldn't help but flinch. She jerked backwards with her mouth hanging open. Shocked wasn't even the right vocabulary to describe what she was feeling then. She needed a deeper vocabulary that wasn't even stated in her dictionary to describe it.

"B-but.. Why?" was all Elizabeth managed to blurt out.

"Because I hate you!" Heather exclaimed, emphasising the 'hate' word.

Elizabeth was speechless but quickly regained her stability. She had to make sure her plan works. And so, she did the craziest thing in her life. She put on her pendant at Heather's necklace. It was certainly a surprise for both of them. Elizabeth was surprised how she managed to do that. And apparently, Heather was thinking of the exact same thing.

And the unbelievable happened. Heather's hatred towards Elizabeth vanished. She realised working for Danae was a huge mistake, that it wasn't worth it now that Will was dead. More importantly, her sanity had returned.

"Oh my God, what am I doing?" Heather cried.

"Heather, you're back!" Elizabeth replied, sounding rather pleased.

"What are you doing here?"

"I need your help. Danae wants me to give her my blood, and in return, she'll release Elena. She said it would be a win-win situation, but I doubt it."

"What should I do? Keep the pendant on, perhaps she can't control you with that on."

Heather agreed and they went straight to the Arc. It was fifteen minutes to twelve. It was about time for Danae to control Heather, and there they stood, fingers crossed.

"Well, well, well.. Look what we have here." A voice said.

It was a familiar voice; Danae's. But neither Elizabeth nor Heather could see who was talking. Undoubtedly, it sent chills to their spines. It was Danae's spirit.

Chapter 22

"Lizzie!" called a faint voice that was barely heard.

Elizabeth felt light-headed although her eyes were still closed. The faint voice slowly reached her ears, slowly registering into her mind. She felt as if she was pulling herself together again. Her vision was unusually unclear and the scene of Stefan and Elena seemed, smeared but quickly restored to normal.

Stefan was unbelievably worried -more worried than he usually was- whenever she was out. Images of her dream when she was unconscious suddenly flashed through her memory. Very brief yet very apparent. Elana, too, was somehow concerned about Elizabeth's condition. She wondered whether Elizabeth was suffering from some kind of disease. Well, it was because Elizabeth faints a lot.

"Stefan?" Elizabeth croaked, uncertain whether she was conscious or it was all a part of her dream.

"Your breathing is not constant. Are you alright?"

Elizabeth realised she could hardly catch a breath. A normal one at that. She was already back at her bed, at the hotel they were in. She then glanced down at her neck and found a topaz pendant hanging freely just above her chest, lower below her neck. Warily, she reached for the pendant and memories of Will flooded her thoughts in an instant. She jumped in astonishment as she just figured. About how magical it could be.

Stefan was watching Elizabeth in amusement. And in curiosity. He didn't mean to pry into Elizabeth's thoughts, but he was eager to know whether it was him Elizabeth was thinking about.

"Lizzie? What are you thinking about?"

Millions of thoughts suddenly occurred to him that it might not be him. Of course, he wouldn't want to frustrate himself if the man -or possibly anyone- Elizabeth was thinking of wasn't him.

"I just remembered about my.. dreams when I fainted. It was more of a sleep, isn't it? I just felt so peaceful." She turned to face Stefan. "And then you woke me."

"Well, you don't want to fall into a peaceful sleep, do you?"

Elizabeth knew what he meant. He meant to die. Elizabeth smirked and said, "I see no one wants me to. Thanks for waking me. But really, I still need rest."

Elena was out of sight by the time Stefan did something very sudden and unpredicted. He leaned forward and kissed Elizabeth on the lips. Elizabeth could feel her adrenaline rose from her feet to the top of her head through her veins. It was a warm, subtle kiss. Until Will's images came back to her mind.

She broke away the kiss and shoved Stefan an inch away from her. Stefan realised he might have overdone it and rushed things through. He knew Elizabeth wasn't ready after Will's death. He simply nodded and wished her goodnight.

Elana wasn't back in the room yet and Stefan shut the door gently. Elizabeth stared at her topaz pendant and wondered about Will's words when she was dreaming. Do I really love Stefan? But Will's alive. she thought. She recalled again that even Will said to her that he's only alive within her. Elizabeth smiled and kissed the pendant a goodnight and soon drifted to sleep.

Little did she know, William Carstairs was watching her the whole time since she was conscious.



"Can you still track her?" Charlie's voice could be heard from the intercom machine.

A group of people, from the Council, jumped almost an inch from the ground as they heard their master's voice. The cards they had been playing, as if they were jobless the minute before, were now scattered on the table. Conrad, the naturally French guy who just recovered from the ice incident, was testing his luck on winning the "Big Two" game. Which, unfortunately, he failed. He was winning, of course, until Charlie's voice interrupted.

"Jesus! Does he not know the 'Perfect Timing'?" Conrad exclaimed, still stunned.

"I heard you, Conrad!" Charlie replied, annoyed.

One of the guys there, Alvin, mouthed "YOU'RE DEAD" to Conrad with his hand gesture of cutting through his neck. The others stifled a laugh by covering their mouth and Conrad flushed.

"Still there, Conrad? I asked you a question." said Charlie, who sounded as amused as Conrad's friends.

"Yes, sir. Should we prepare for another attack or should we give it a rest?" Conrad sounded as if he was pleading towards the end of his sentence.

"Why why, I see someone is still distressed about his injury,"

This time, Conrad's friends couldn't stop themselves from laughing out loud. And so did Charlie.



Charlie hadn't laughed so hard since the absence of Danae in his life. Even Poesy hadn't made him laugh like that. Not that Poesy hadn't tried. In fact, she's tried a lot of times, but Charlie refused to open his mind for children's jokes. Now that he came to think of it, he was aware that he hadn't spent any precious times with his only daughter.

"Daddy?" came in Poesy's voice.

Charlie didn't notice Poesy's presence and he straightened his position, forgetting what he just thought about. Forgetting about his realisation.

"Poesy." he replied sternly.

"Daddy, I miss the old you."

Charlie looked at his 12 years old daughter who was craving for her father's love and attention. She was about 149cm tall with a blonde hair hung loose just below her shoulder. She was dressed in a simple yet attractive sleeveless shirt with three quarter blue jeans. Her eyes reminded him of his late wife, Danae. Charlie pulled his daughter to an embrace and promised her that he'll try his best not to neglect her again.



Stefan couldn't keep his eyes close that night. He was contemplating why Elizabeth murmured 'Will' before she fainted. Is Will alive? a thought arose in Stefan's mind.

He was now sitting up straight on his bed unsure of what to do, or what to think of. He felt some kind of stabbing on his heart. A pang of jealousy. The thought of Elizabeth still loves William frustrated him. He knew, of course, that Will was her first love and he wasn't. He sighed and had no choice but to sleep. To abolish any kinds of thoughts in his mind. In other words, to run away for a while.

Chapter 20

Danae stood back and inspected the long descending ladder that led to the catacomb under the famed Arc de Triomphe. It descended about twenty feet below the ground level and she could hear the sound of water dripping steadily.

Shaking out her long lustrous mane of fiery red hair, Danae slowly knelt down and further inspected the entrance. A light breeze blew around her and she saw a figure stop metres away from her from the corner of her eye.

It was the Arc's night guard.

'Vous! Vous n'êtes pas autorisés à être ici!' he yelled, waving a flashlight at her. ' You're not authorised to be here,' he yelled again, trying to inject more authority into his voice. A wide beam of bright light hit Danae and she refrained herself from flinching. She always had an issue with bright lights.

Slowly, she stood up and the guard stopped. She knew what he was seeing. Danae was still clad in black and with her swirling red hair and the light surrounding her, she almost looked...ethereal. Then, Danae intentionally let her two long and sharp canine teeth lengthen and relished in the guard's fear.

The flashlight clattered to the pavement and the guard slowly backed off, finally breaking into a run when she took two small steps forward.

Danae watched him for a while and then waved a hand dismissively around her. Instantly, white mist swirled around her, covering her from view. Lightly, she placed her palms on either side of the entrance and landed gracefully on her palms and feet. Ahead of her, a narrow tunnel stretched out, illuminated only by the street light coming from the entrance above.

She stepped forward cautiously and heard a splashing sound. Heather was suddenly screaming at her from inside her mind.

' You! You could've ruined my boots! Do you know how much Christian Lounboutin costs? Do you know how much trouble I got in just to get it OFF THE RUNWAY?!'

Sighing, Danae walked forward and soon, Heather was silent once more. Danae walked further down the tunnel, which slowly grew darker and darker. Her hands felt around in the dark and encountered something hard. Something made of stone. She flicked her fingers impatiently at a nearby torch hanging from the damp stone wall and it lit up immediately. But instead of burning with fire, a flickering white sphere of light was in its place.

The heavy iron torch felt heavy and foreign in her hands and rust and grime stuck on her hands but Danae ignored that. She held the torch up to her eye level and immediately, a door appeared in front of her.

The door looked ancient, with large brass knobs. There were etchings on the door, meaningless lines and spirals on the door, as if made by a talentless wannabe Picasso.

Danae carefully touched the knob and her fingertips suddenly burned. Quickly, she pulled them away, feeling her fingers throb with pain. Then, she remembered. Elizabeth said something about blood. Excited, Danae reached down and broke of a piece of the torch and held the sharp end to her palm. Quickly, she scratched her palm with the piece of the torch and pressed her hand to the door.

Then, as if blown by a strong gust of wind, Danae was thrown backwards and hit the wall with such a strong impact that the catacomb shook.

Elizabeth's blood, she thought, cursing the blasted girl. Only Elizabeth can open this door.

Snarling under her breath, she set off towards the entrance and could only console herself by feeding on the night guard.






Elizabeth Davenport felt someone call to her. Summoning her to walk towards them. It was like a music pleasant to the ears and it made you want to hear more.

Slowly and without realising that she was doing so, she sat up and hopped off the bed lightly. Still dressed in her silk empire waist night dress, she opened the French doors that led to the small balcony. Inside the bedroom, Elena was still asleep, snoring delicately into her pillow.

The voice called to her again and Elizabeth leapt of the balcony with such grace and poise, you would you think she's been jumping off balconies for centuries. The thorny bushes of red roses snagged her dress but she was beyond noticing. The voice still called to her and she was...hypnotised by it.

A dark figure was resting against the orange brick wall and the figure looked up when Elizabeth's ghostly white figure came into view. It was Conrad, the most talented Caller or the Council. His ability to attract people to him was unmatched and not one person could restrain themselves from his calling.

Conrad whistled under his breath and more dark figures crept out from behind the various bushes of flowers.

All at once, the voice stopped calling to Elizabeth and she suddenly realised where she was. The cold night breeze whipped around her harshly and her night dress was no match for it. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness and saw dark figures closing in on her.

Her first instinct was to run but they would probably catch her in half a second. Then, she resorted to using her powers. Kneeling down and touching the ground, she closed her eyes and felt the earth respond. Suddenly, the rose bushes clamped themselves around the vampires and dug their thorns in. Elizabeth chose that moment to escape but a figure stepped out in front of her. With one simple wave, Elizabeth was thrown off into the centre once again.

The roses immediately loosened themselves when they felt her weaken and the vampires closed in on her.

Suddenly, there was a great gush of cold wind and perfect little five-pointed glaces started attacking the vampires one by one. The pointed ends of the ice was so sharp, it almost broke through the brick wall.

The vampires had no hope of surviving the ice and started to slowly disappear, leaving Elizabeth all alone in the garden, now blanketed in white ice. A shadow started to approach her from beyond the icy ground.

With her excellent eyesight, Elizabeth could see that the shadow had familiar tousled black hair and shining pale blue eyes.

' Will?' she whispered, tears stinging her eyes.

The shadow simply gazed at her before he, too, disappeared.

Chapter 19

Elizabeth felt as if life in the airport had all stopped when she faced Danae. With her long red hair billowing around her by an invisible wind, she couldn't help but feel a bit...terrified.

Here was the woman who had single-handedly ruined the ancient's coven, the woman who had bewitched dozens of men to do her bidding, the woman whose powers if gone into the wrong hands would probably cause the Third World War.

And Elizabeth was about to duel with her, right in public. She began to realise how incredibly stupid accepting Danae's challenge was, and losing control of her powers made her feel weak and tired. Right at that moment, Elizabeth suddenly felt unusually dizzy. Staggering slightly, she pressed the tip of her fingers to her temple.

' Elizabeth!' Stefan rushed forward, concerned. Elena was about to step forward but hung back when Danae turned her glare onto her.

' The old 'i'm-getting-weak-please-help-me' game is getting kind of old, Elizabeth,' mocked Danae, inspecting her long French manicured nails.

' She really is weak,' Elena spoke up, defending Elizabeth. ' She almost used up all her energy back at home, when she lost control of her power.'

Danae raised one perfectly curved eyebrow and looked up, her eyes flashing momentarily at Elena, causing her to shrink back again. Then, she turned her attention back to Elizabeth, whose face was getting paler with each passing second.

Sighing, Danae straightened up and fluffed her hair casually. ' Since I don't fight weak and helpless enemies, I guess our little date will have to be postponed. It's a shame, really. I was quite looking forward to this.' Slowly, she turned around and headed for the crowd who seemed to be ignoring them. Then, just as she was walking away, she muttered under her breath.

' Amateurs. You can never depend on them for a decent fight every now and then.'



Back at the main headquarters of the Vampire Council, Charlie sat with his head in his hands, feeling as if the weight of the whole world was on him. Centuries ago, he had failed his coven in trying to protect them. Today, he was going to fail them again if Elizabeth wasn't found immediately.

The heavy, deep red curtains in his office were drawn, making the spacious room eerie. The large grandfather clock at the far end of the room ticked by noisily and the only light in the room came from the digital clock on his desk.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door and Charlie raised his head up. The door was pushed open hesitantly and Poesy, his adopted daughter poked her head in. He smiled at her and told her to come in. Judging by the red tint that had taken place on her usually pale pink cheeks and how windswept her chestnut coloured hair looked, he guessed that she was probably back from her riding lessons.

' Back from horse riding?' he asked her, snapping his fingers twice. The room was instantly flooded with bright light.

Poesy quickly made herself comfortable with the plump armchair in front of him and started lifting up the various files on Charlie's table and flipping through them aimlessly. Then, she started turning the miniature globe on the desk, spinning it loudly.

' Why are you here, Poesy?' he asked her, slowly rearranging the files back into their usual stacks.

Poesy stopped spinning the globe and leaned back into the armchair. ' I just wanted to ask you....for your permission because our school is having a trip to Cabo San Lucas and I have to be there, dad. If I don't show up, Rin is going to have a blast ordering people around. Not to mention that not showing up is equals to social suicide.'

Charlie just stared at the frame he kept in his secret drawer while his daughter babbled away. It showed a very tall and beautiful woman, with golden hair waving gently down her back. In that picture, Danae was sitting on a large rock, her chin resting on her hands. Braided around her head was a crown made of tiny leaves and she wore a goddess dress.

He remembered that day. The vampires had a get together day when this picture was taken. Everyone was required to arrive wearing a costume and Danae had arrived wearing that. Of course, the rest of the female vampires had thought her costume too much but to Charlie, she was just perfect.

He also remembered the day after that day. The day when Danae led an army of vampires into town. The memory brought with it great pain.

' Dad?' Poesy whispered uncertainly. She was leaning forwards nervously, eyeing her father with concern.

Without looking up, he spoke slowly. ' Who sent you here?'

' I told you. Cabo San Lucas.'

Looking up, he fixed her with his most penetrating stare. Poesy froze, gulped and looked down.

' Poesy.'

Still looking down, she fingered with the buttons on her riding jacket. ' Meredith thought you might go crazy in here,' she whispered. ' She said you've been in here for almost nineteen hours.'

Charlie exhaled quietly and looked down. Neither one of them said anything.

' You must know about Elizabeth Davenport,' he said out of the blue. Poesy nodded slowly.

There was another long moment of awkward silence.

' I just need to be alone for now, Poesy. You should probably go home. Tell Compton if you want to go anywhere.' He didn't look up when she slowly exited the room.

Charlie turned his chair away from the desk and faced the dark curtain in front of him, not actually seeing anything. Again and again, he saw that horrible bloody night, how the spotless white hall turned red in just moments.

He couldn't let that happen again. He wouldn't let that happen again. Elizabeth Davenport is to be caught and he didn't care if she was caught dead or alive.





Elizabeth inhaled in the aromatic scent of croissants and turned her head to the right. The scent was coming from the various trendy little cafes and eateries littering the Parisian street. Once, she saw a brief flash of fiery red hair and Elizabeth felt her heart beat faster, but the car was moving too fast for her to make sure if it really was Danae. Or Heather. Or Danae-Heather.

' Where are we going?' she turned around and asked Stefan, who was clutching the steering wheel tightly that his knuckles went white.

Stefan suddenly looked up, as if she had interrupted him from a long train of thought and quickly looked back at the road. ' We're going to find a place to live while we're here, and I prefer it be somewhere public, where Danae wouldn't attack unless she isn't afraid of being revealed for what she is.'

Suddenly, the car skidded to a stop and Elizabeth looked out automatically. The building outside was quaint and very old-fashioned. It was as if it was designed by a British rather than a French architect. An old woman in a bright yellow sundress looked up from her mail at them curiously.

' Wait here,' he instructed both Elizabeth and Elena in a low murmur and got out of the car. He and the woman exchanged a few words, which involved a lot of gesturing at Elizabeth. Then, the woman smiled at him and Stefan made a hand gesture at them to follow him. The old woman led the way into the bed and breakfast, the skirt of her flowery yellow dress swishing behind her.

They entered a small hallway, with brightly coloured patterned wallpapers and dull red carpeting. Flowers of every type were arranged all around the hall, some in crystal vases others in elegantly painted ceramic or porcelain vases.

' If you could please follow me,' said the old woman and Elizabeth was surprised to hear a soft English accent.

They followed her up the wooden carpeted stairs that creaked under their weight. The old woman was talking as they walked along another hallway, this time narrower and clad in darker wallpaper.

' Breakfast is served at 7.30 until 9.00 every morning, lunch from 12.00 to 1.00 and tea from 3.00 to 4.00. Dinner will be served at7.30 sharp. The kitchen is closed at 9.00. No alcohol, no parties, no night-visitors, lights out at 10.00.' The woman stopped in front of two doors and turned around to face them.

' These are your rooms and payment is highly appreciated in cash.'

They were quiet for a long time.

' Highly appreciated in cash,' the woman repeated, looking at them meaningfully and Elena nudged Stefan with her elbow.

Stefan started and immediately reached into the pocket of his long coat, pulling out a wad of cash. ' Here you go. You can keep the change.'

The woman smiled at them. ' I'm Thelia and enjoy your stay at Bonnie's Bed and Breakfast.' With that, she left them with their keys, counting the money under her breath.

Elena snorted and muttered,' Bonnie's Bed and Breakfast,' in disbelief. ' How corny can she get?'

Stefan ignored her and tested the door, finding it unlocked. ' Elena, you can share a room with Elizabeth. It's got connecting doors, so I'll just be next door.'

Elena fluffed her hair and started for the door to the right. ' Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty tired myself.'

Stefan and Elizabeth were left outside at the hallway, an awkward silence hanging between them.

' I guess...I should..go in..too,' Elizabeth said slowly and walked towards the door when Stefan finally spoke up.

' No, wait. You haven't had anything to...eat yet,' he said, grabbing her arm. Quickly, he released it.

' Eat?' Elizabeth echoed, nervous. ' You mean..eat for me?'

Stefan nodded.

' How?' she asked him. ' I don't want you to volunteer,' she added quickly when he opened his mouth to reply.

Stefan smiled despite himself and answered,' I found someone suitable to feed you.'

' Who?' Her voice came out as a whisper. A terrified whisper.

' Well,' he continued, sounding braver than her,' I might have lied to this..particular person so that he'll meet us.' He hastily added,' Don't worry. He's okay. Come with me.'

Elizabeth cautiously followed him out of the bed and breakfast and didn't say a single word throughout the journey. They passed the row of cafes again but this time, the scent of baked bread didn't entice her. All she saw was herself, sinking her teeth into a stranger's neck and feeling the quick pulse of his veins and the sweet taste of the warm red liquid-

' Elizabeth. Elizabeth. Elizabeth!' Stefan shook her. Her eyes had a glazed and faraway look.

She suddenly blinked. ' What?'

' We're here,' he said and pointed at a lone man sitting on a vacant park bench. They had arrived at and abandoned park. The trees were tall and the branches were gnarled. The hedges and flowers surrounding the park could have been pretty, if someone had tended to them regularly.

' Stefan!' yelled the man, raising a hand up as if greeting him.

' Sorry we're late, Phil,' Stefan said in return.

Phil glanced at Elizabeth curiously but made no comment. ' I hope you have it with you,' he said, leaning back against the bench.

' Yeah, I do.' Stefan moved to check his pockets and took out something hidden in his fist.

Phil smiled and whistled under his breath. Stefan held his hand out to Phil but he suddenly covered his mouth with his hand. Moments later, Phil slumped forward, unconscious.

Elizabeth looked at him, horrified. ' Was that really necessary?'

He shrugged off-handedly. ' If you want to feed, yes.' He than sat Phil up on the bench and motioned at Elizabeth.

' Now?' she whispered and Stefan just nodded in reply. Slowly, she walked forward, feeling very self-conscious with Stefan watching her every move. Then, she tilted Phil's head back and sank her teeth into his throat...




Elizabeth carefully arranged Phil in a more acceptable sitting position on the bench. The two dark wounds on his neck were quickly disappearing.

' Are you sure he wouldn't remember a thing?' she asked Stefan doubtfully.

' He won't,' he assured her. ' Humans tend to react differently when vampires feed on them. They all forget what they did and can never recover their memory.'

' What about the time when I fed on you?' She couldn't help but ask this.

Stefan grinned. ' Vampire Guardian, remember?'

Elizabeth smiled to herself and followed him to the car, feeling awake and stronger than before. Just as she passed a whole group of wild flowers, her eyes focused on one.

' Isn't that an oleander?' she said to Stefan.

He stopped and peered at the beautiful flower bathed in moonlight. ' Yeah. Don't go anywhere near it, they're dangerous.' He stared at it curiously for a while before heading off towards the car.

Elizabeth looked at the flower and to her shock, it suddenly burst into a full bloom. Shivering in the cold, she walked right past it and they drove off. If only Elizabeth had stayed longer, she should've seen that the unusual fiery shade of red beyond those trees wasn't from a flower.



Danae stepped out of the shadows of the trees and bent down to touch the oleander. The flower moved towards her, as if attracted by her very presence and when she set off to follow Elizabeth and Stefan, the flowers returned back to their usual wilt.



' Where are we going now?' Elizabeth asked Stefan, absorbed by the city lights flashing past them.

' For a little bit of sightseeing,' he answered and made a sharp turn to the left. ' Welcome to Paris,' he declared, exaggerating his French accent.

Elizabeth giggled. She felt oddly...high tonight. ' What's that over there?' she asked him, curiously. They had just passed the Arc de Triomphe.

' That's the Triumphal Arch a.k.a Arc de Triomphe, built in the 1800s. It is famous for its fast food franchise, the Burger of the Arc and is place to this years....pinball tournament!!!!!!'

Elizabeth playfully whacked his shoulder. ' That's not true.'

Srefan put on a knowing look and looked at her. ' Oh yeah? Let's see what you know about the Arc.'

Elizabeth cleared her throat but just as she did so, she saw herself standing inside the Arc. Unconsciously doing so, she started talking.

' There's a long and narrow hallway in front of me. It's made of stone walls and there is a smell...a smell of rotting flesh. It's so dark here but I can see everything. I can see the puddle of water at my feet. And it's cold..so cold.

' But, wait! Why am I suddenly in another place? It's a room in the dungeons of the Arc, I can see. There is a...tomb..in front of me. A plain gray coffin and there...there's something written on the coffin. Engraved. It says...Danae of the Vaughan Clan and nothing more. There is a door behind me. It's made of stone too, with heavy brass knobs. I have to leave.

' The door wouldn't open! It's..it's speaking to me. It demands blood. My blood.'

Elizabeth was suddenly jolted out of that bizarre...thought and found that the car had stopped. Stefan was staring at her, his mouth open and his gray eyes wide with horror.

Smiling suddenly, he forced a laugh. ' Okay. You win. Your description was better than my Burger of the Arc. We should go home now.'

They were silent for the rest of the ride and Elizabeth can't help but feel like someone was watching her.




Danae lowered her velvet hood and pursed her lips. Her body was mere metres away from her and all she needed was a little bit of blood. Elizabeth's blood.

Sighing, she stood up and fingered the tip of her dagger resting on her hips. Things are about t get interesting tonight, she thought.

Chapter 18

Stefan was secretly pleased with the absolutely normal condition at the Brooklyn Airport. It was none other than crowded, which somehow helped their current situation. Stefan believed the council could track where Elizabeth was now. And that worried him. The tickets were set, but he hadn't told neither Elizabeth nor Elena about their destination, and the last person he would tell would be Elizabeth. Well, since The Council couldn't 'see' the Salvatoires but they could actually see Elizabeth. Thanks to the powers of each vampires in the Council.

Stefan was just starting to relax when he spotted a tall and broad-shouldered man fully equipped with a black wire connected to his ear, which was probably an earpiece, connected to a line, which Stefan assumed, Charlie, from the Council. And then he saw another pack of people fully clad just like that. That was when he took action.

"We have to go," he spoke all of a sudden and grab hold of Elizabeth's hand. Elena had an alarmed look on her face, just like Stefan.

"Let's go," Elizabeth said as she nodded in comprehension.

They all tried to look as normal as possible when they had their boarding pass checked just before they entered the aeroplane. They took their seat in the middle row which was just right; three seats, so no one else would know what they were up to. Elizabeth sat in between Stefan and Elena with Stefan on her left, and Elena on her right. Stefan was surprised when Elizabeth held his and his sister's hand. Was he scared? thought Stefan.

"Are you scared, Lizzie?" he asked, more in a concerned way.

Elizabeth had a big smile on her face, which showed Stefan that he was wrong. "Not at all. Well, since none of the vampires can track you, I must hold your hand to be invisible as well. Being with you is enough, but they could find me easily. With me holding your hand, they might find it more difficult to track me. You are a descendant of a Vampire Guardian, aren't you? And the reason I'm holding Elena's hand is.. If that's not obvious enough, two is always better than one. Right?"

"Wow, you're a genius! Have you been thinking about this?" Elena beamed.

"It just came around," she smiled.



The phone lines in Charlie's office were disappointing. Although he was connected to all the airports in America, through his men, of course, none of them could find Elizabeth and the two mysterious companion of hers. Charlie dialled Meredith's intercom number and she appeared in less than 10 seconds. Don't mess with the power of an old, thought Charlie, partly surprised.

"You need me, Charlie?" she spoke, interested.

"Yes. No one could find her. Elizabeth, I mean. So, if you can help.."

She closed her eyes and found nothing to her disappointment. Charlie could tell that she failed to see anything through her psychic power. He nodded and gave her a hand sign that she could leave.




Elizabeth suddenly felt uneasy. She still couldn't tell what was wrong with her since she was changed. Stefan could feel the uneasiness through his hand which was holding Elizabeth's. He turned to Elena and she nodded in agreement. It stunned Elizabeth that the Salvatoires could read each others' minds without the psychic power. It was known as telepathy. Elizabeth just remembered the word.

"Is something wrong with me?" she asked.

"You're thirsty." he replied sternly.



They landed at the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport after what Elizabeth felt like forever. She could barely handle her thirst as she hadn't drunk in about a week. Stefan and Elena had tried their best so that nothing could possibly go wrong in the plane which could've sacrificed many innocent lives.

They, Elena and Stefan, thought they had just passed a catastrophy, to their relief. Elizabeth too, was grateful she managed to control her thirst.

And then the least expected happened. Heather stood model-likely about a mile away right in front of them, wind rushed to her face blowing her below shoulder-length hair freely like in a movie scene.

They all stood there dumbstruck for a second, while Heather was pleased with herself. Or Heather-Danae combined together. Combined and more dangerous.

"Hello, Elizabeth." Heather-Danae spoke.



It was when Heather spoke that Elizabeth realised it wasn't Heather's voice. Her physical features, of course, looked like the Heather she knew. It was her voice that distracted her. The voice belonged to Danae.

"You're using Heather to do your dirty trick, Danae!" Elizabeth exclaimed, partly surprised, hate and disgust.

"You don't think you can escape me, do you?" Heather-Danae replied with a smirk, hands on her hips. "You have my power, Elizabeth. There is absolutely no way you can escape me."

"You've given me your power willingly. You can't take it back."

"Elizabeth, we should just get out of here." Stefan finally said after listening to the long negotiation.

"Why, why, are you scared, little human?"

For a second, Elizabeth forgot about everything; about Will, about her thirst, about.. basically almost everything. All she could think of was a battle. Just between her and Heather-Danae.

"Let's do it. Just you and me." Elizabeth decided.

Chapter 17

" They killed Aunt Medeline. " Elizabeth eyes' were blazing red.

" I know I know. But we have to go before there are others coming. They had spotted us. " Stefan approached Elizabeth whose body was trembling hard, hand clutched into a fist.

Elizabeth didn't move but instead red aura was starting to form around her. Stefan looked at her as she was no longer looked like Elizabeth Davenport because her face was fierce, full of anger. She didn't look human, she looked like a vampire. Not that she wasn't one already. Fangs emerged. Then, Elizabeth was holding a ball of fire, which was getting bigger every second.

" Lizzie! what are you doing? Cut it out!" Stefan yelled, trying to get near her but could't since a massive heat wave was radiating from her. And it was hot enough to get him burn to dust.

" They. Killed. Aunt. Medeline, " Elizabeth repeated word by word.

" She did nothing and they killed her. Monster..they're monsters, " Elizabeth said through her teeth.

The wallpaper around her was dissolving. Flames swirled around her.

" Elizabeth, stop! You have to take control of your power! "

" I can't stop.. Stefan, help." Tears were on her cheeks.

Stefan rushed out of the room and stood infront of the doorway because the wall was now burning. He changed the setting of the anti-vampire gun and then aimed at Elizabeth. He didn't want to do it but he had to since Lizzie was about to burn the whole room. The bullet hit Elizabeth and all the flame dissappeared. She fell lifelessly to the floor.

Stefan instantly rushed towards her and lift her up. Elena then appeared on the doorway. She stared at the burnt room.

" What happened here? I just woke up and I sensed fire. And where's aunt Me.. " She didn't continue as she saw a a corpse on the bed. Which didn't look like it anymore since it was now black coloured and most part of the body turned into ashes. But she knew and immediately covered her mouth.

" No time to expain. We have to go. Get the car key, " Stefan replied, trying to get control of his voice.

Charlie couldn't stop thinking. He could feel Danae's presence but.. it was impossible. And this Elizabeth Davenport, she was her descent. She inherited Danae's power. It was obvious of how powerful she was. Or could it be she was Danae herself? But Danae was locked up long time ago and it was impossi-

" Sir! We found her! Meredith see her!" One of the member of the council emerged from the door cutting through Charlie's thoughts.

Meredith was an old vampire from Belgium. She was very useful to the council since she could locate anyone in a second. It was her ability to see anyone's location everytime she closed her eyes. But in Elizabeth case, before this, she could never locate her. She didn't know why but everytime she was looking for Elizabeth, she only saw a blur image. And she seldoms get blurry image. Actually, she never did. Now finally, Meredith finally caught sight of her.

Meredith entered Charlie's room with her eyes shut and walk towards the nearest sofa. It was as if she could see where she was going." It's hard to see where she is.. but. She was using her power and the power seemed to.. I dont know. Struck an image to me or something. Just now, she was in a room. Everything was burning. The walls. Smoke everywhere. But now, no more. She's.. in a car at the back. " Meredith was shivering and sweating. " Image.. getting blurry. A.. girl beside her. With dark brown hair. A guy in front driving. He's driving towards an airport in..." Then, Meredith's eyelids fluttered open.

Charlie looked at her waiting for another clue of where Elizabeth was.

" I'm sorry, sir. I can't see anything anymore. The power in her seemed to lessen and somehow I can't connect with her. The image is blurry, just like before, " Meredith said sadly, blinking her eyes several times.

" How about the person she was with? Can't you see them?"

Meredith shook her head.

Charlie frowned. " How come you couldn't see those persons she's with? Who might they be.. " he trailed off. "Airport.. She must be going somewhere far probably. " He was talking to himself now.

Meredith only nodded. Sweat was dripping from her face.

" You can go. Thank you for your help, " Charlie bowed at the old vampire.

Charlie took his phone from his pocket and dialed a number. " Search her in every airport now in every country before we loose track of her."

She wore a long black robe that glittered with her every movement. Underneath that robe, she wore a shimmery little black dress, belted around her slim waist by a black leather belt. Held in place by the belt was a silver dagger that glinted in the moonlight. She also wore a pair of black metallic boots, the kind you could only get off Christian Louboutin's runway. Her fiery red hair blew around her in the cold night breeze.

Heather smiled to herself under the full moon.

" And you thought you could run from me, Elizabeth Davenport."

Chapter 16

Elizabeth Davenport stared at the wide window that covered most of her room for a long time. Outside, the rain showed no sign of slowing down or stopping. In fact, it seemed to be getting worse. She tilted her head to the side and that simple movement made her realise something.

Someone else was with her in the room.

Elizabeth froze and felt all her insides turn to ice. Her heart doubled their pace and Danae, the very woman who has been haunting her dreams for so long, smiled in a satisfied way.

' What's the matter, Elizabeth?' Danae sauntered slowly towards her, the fangs getting more prominent. ' Cat got your tongue?'


Elizabeth Davenport woke up with a start, cold sweat beaded on her forehead. She gripped her blankets tightly in her hands, trying hard to calm herself down. Suddenly, the air in her temporary bedroom seemed to suffocate her. It was too thick, smothering her.

Something crashed to the floor near her bedpost and the wind blew in her room through the open window. The open window that was locked before.

And next to that window, there was a dark silhouette resting languidly against the bare wall.

Slowly, Elizabeth eased herself towards the end of her bed and put her foot down on the wooden floor quietly.

The dark shadow moved and stood up straight. ' I have had enough of chasing you around all day, Elizabeth. Just make this easy for everyone and keep quiet. It will be a quick death anyway.'

Elizabeth clenched her shaking hands into fists and focused, thinking of only one word that could really help her right now. Fire. She kept running the word in her mind and soon, her palms were glowing a subtle red. Quickly, she thrust her hand forwards in a throwing gesture and the white gossamer curtain next to the unknown shadow burst into wild flames. There was a yelp from the shadow.

Using that as her chance to escape, she quickly scrambled up and ran to the dark hallway, only illuminated by the moonlight from outside. Behind her, inside her bedroom, a male voice was yelling out profanities and a brighter orange glow was emanating from inside the room.

Find Stefan, she thought desperately. Stefan, Stefan, Stefan.

Her hands groped around in the darkness and found something round and cold. A doorknob. Quickly, she twisted it and slammed the door behind her, locking it twice in the process. Then, she realised where she was. This wasn't Stefan's room. This is Aunt Madeline's.

The lights suddenly switched on by itself and the room was suddenly bathed in a harsh yellow glare. Somebody suddenly grabbed her arms, pinned it behind her back. The door to the bedroom suddenly burst open and a faint scent of smoke lingered in the room.

' I have the little witch, Cam,' declared a voice behind her.

' Good,' replied another voice. ' She almost set me on fire.'

' Almost?' Elizabeth intervened. Maybe she could keep them talking long enough for her to do something. ' I already did.'

The guy named Cam walked around to face her, his white blond hair sooty, and tilted her chin up. Then, he quickly dropped his hand, smiling a pained smile.

' I see that what Heather said about touching her was true,' he said, leaning back as if examining her. Elizabeth looked away from him and for the first time, noticed Aunt Madeline's bed.

And Elizabeth didn't know whether to vomit, scream, or cry.

Because the crisp white duvet was stained and smeared with ruby red blood and Aunt Madeline's lifeless corpse was lying there, her glassy eyes staring blankly at the ceiling and Elizabeth could see from where the blood was coming from. On the side of Madeline's throat, there was a long red open gash.

Cam followed her gaze and laughed softly to himself. ' Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Elizabeth. You are a vampire now. It's no time to cry over a little blood. These human vermins have too much of those anyway.' He waved a dismissive hand, as if to emphasise how little he cared about killing someone.

But Elizabeth saw differently. For a moment there, all she saw was red, angry red, and the next thing she knew, her red glowing hands were around Cam's neck, which was blistering and sizzling. His partner was advancing on her but with just one quick shove, Cam's partner was sprawled on the floor, beating out the small spheers of flames dancing on his coat.

' You,' Elizabeth snarled to the choking Cam,' are going to regret the day you ever came here.' She tightened her grip on his neck but Cam suddenly went limp and dissolved into a pile of white dust. Turning around, she saw Stefan standing at the doorway, holding one of those big guns with the anti-vampire bullets she remembered so well.

Stefan's face paled visibly when he saw his aunt but he seemed to gain control of himself. ' We need to leave. Now,' he ordered.



Heather stared at the slim silver phone in her hand disgustedly. It's been three hours and still, Cam, her new recruit, hasn't called with news yet.

They've failed, she thought, sickened. They have failed catching Elizabeth. An easy task and they managed to screw it up.

In a rage, she threw the phone at the wall opposite her and it shattered into millions of tiny silver pieces.

' Now, now. Let's not start throwing things around.'

Heather whirled around at the sound of the chillingly hypnotic voice but saw no one. ' Who's there?' she called out, her voice breaking a little at the end. Nervously, she cleared her throat.

' I shall only reveal myself to you when I can trust you, Heather.'

' Trust me with what?'

The voice laughed lightly. ' I believe that we may want the same person dead. For entirely different reasons, of course, but the same person nontheless. Or shall I say, the same girl.'

Heather froze and when she did speak again, no other voice in the world conveyed more hatred than the one in Heather's voice. ' You mean, Elizabeth Davenport?'

' Yes.'

' How are you going to kill her?'

' Easy. You just have to agree to co-operate with me.'

Heather shrugged. ' Fine. I agree.'

' Good,' came the reply from the chilling lilting voice and someone suddenly materialised in front of her. A woman. A very beautiful woman at that.

And suddenly, Heather was drifting away. She was watching her body from a far. Her body which was now some else's.

' I'm Danae, by the way,' said the person inside Heather's body. ' Heather, right? ' Heather watched herself strike several poses in front of the full length gilded mirror. ' I have to say, I chose quite a...hot...body.' Then, Danae-Heather smiled at herself and the real Heather realised that she had just given up her body for Elizabeth Davenport to be destroyed.

chapter 14

"Any news yet,Heather?" Charlie asked, concerned, instead of angry.

"No, Charlie. No one in this Council has managed to track Elizabeth down," she replied professionally, and added "yet" silent enough for only her to hear.

Charlie, as the head of the Council was furious of the news of Madoc's death. Although Madoc was only on the lower rank at the Council, he was still a part of it. Charlie, however, still had doubts regarding the mysterious murder. Although Heather's words were very convincing, he felt something not right. For one, Heather was the only witness of the murder. Not that he didn't trust Heather or anything. He just felt something odd was going on.

Second, he felt something strong, something powerful. And to him, there's nothing stronger than this one thing he had ever experienced. The existence of Danae. Somewhere out there in the world, wandering. He could sense it. And it wasn't good.

"How come none of you can track where Elizabeth is? We always manage to track people with the record of time, 10 minutes the longest!" Charlie yelled to the Council members, in a huge meeting room. "And how long has it been now?"

"We're sorry sir, there's no sign of her." A member apologised.

"I asked you, how long has it been? Are you deaf?"

"I'm sorry, sir, It's been three days."

"Damn it! In this tiny world, consisting 195 countries, 7 continents, across 5 oceans, you cannot find ONE single person?"

"We've tried our best, sir. For the first time ever, we combined all the vampire forces just to search Elizabeth."

Charlie was shut by that. Could Elizabeth really be the one who inherited Danae's powers? Charlie began to think the most feared thought. He shook his head vigorously, not realising where he was at.

"Are you okay, Charlie? What were you thinking?" Heather asked, eyes widening.

"Nothing important," Charlie snapped and disappeared from the room.



Elizabeth rushed upstairs to the room once she finished her breakfast. Literally. She finished her break very fast. Very fast to avoid Stefan's curious stare and Elena's questions. Very fast which increased Stefan's curiosity. And very fast that Stefan was unable to catch up with her eating, which also means he couldn't question Elizabeth further more.

Stefan got up from the dining table and brisk-walked to Lizzie's room upstairs.

"Lizzie, come down. I know you don't want me to drain you with the questions you're thinking i might ask. Well, I want to, but if you don't want to, then I won't. I promise. Open the door, Lizzie." Stefan begged her, almost fell on his knees.

Lizzie opened the door, slowly, and steadily. She peeped through the door as she opened it, and saw Stefan, well, begging.

"Fine, let's go down. What's the occassion, anyway?" Lizzie replied, trying hard to fake a cheerful tone. Which again, failed.

"Don't fake it, Lizzie. I know. But I just don't understand how your wrist turned out that way,"

"I thought you promised, no questions!" Lizzie stopped on her tracks, in the middle of the staircase.

"Hey, that wasn't even a question."

"Fine, you got me. I don't even know. When i woke up from the dreadful dream-"

"Dreadful dream?"

"Y-yes.."

Their conversation ended as the flight of stairs reached the end, to Lizzie's relief. They found Madeline, Stefan's trusted aunt, sitting cross-leggedly on the single couch.

"Morning, Stefan, Elizabeth." she nodded to each of them. "Where's Elena? I need to tell all of you something, although I assume Elena knows this already."

Stefan narrowed his eyes in confusion but obeyed his aunt and called Elena. Madeline cleared her throat and began her speech as Stefan arrived with Elena.

"We are all gathered here today-"

"Oh come on, aunt Madeline, no need to be so formal. It's just us here." Stefan groaned.

"True. Just, straight to the point." Elena added.

"I'm sorry, I'm just a little exhilarated." she said as she rolled her eyes. "So, I was saying, that, Stefan and Elena here, my nephew and niece..-"

Madeline paused to see Stefan, Elena and Elizabeth weren't leaning back anymore and were waiting expectantly and impatiently for her story. In fact, their eyes were widening, craving for information.

"are actually the descendants of former Vampire Guardians, Mason and Sylvia Salvatoire."

"Vampire Guardian?? What do you mean?" Stefan shouted, taken aback.

"I know," was all Elena's reply.

"You knew about this all along? And didn't even tell me??" he stared at her in disbelief.

"What are Vampire Guardians, aunt Madeline?" Elizabeth asked, still interested in the story.



Charlie was tapping his foot impatiently while sitting on his comfortable chair in his office, which, at that time, didn't feel comfortable at all. His curiosity was growing each second passing by. He couldn't stop thinking about why Elizabeth couldn't be found. Still. It was as if the Vampire Powers were very weak considering the combined forces of the vampires couldn't find her. The thought of Danae was also interrupting his mind. He felt the connection to her very close. Yet unreachable. He quickly put the thought aside as there was a more important matter to solve.



"Vampire Guardians, are actually humans. They were created, not exactly created, just given the privilege of immunisation against Vampire Powers."

"So that explains why Stefan experiences no effects whenever he touches me. Unlike any other people I know. Including Vampires themselves!"

"That's a very good news, Elizabeth!" Aunt Madeline cheered.

Stefan just nodded in response and was secretly thankful for the gift. "But aunt Madeline, how come I wasn't informed about this but Elena was?"

Aunt Madeline smiled at her nephew and said, "That's because you kids are only to be informed upon reaching the age 16. Elena stayed with your parents until she's sixteen, while you? You were fifteen, when you left, weren't you?"

Stefan flushed and didn't argue more. Elena, Elizabeth and Aunt Madeline stifled a laugh as they watched Stefan flushed with embarrassment. Now he knew why he was immune to Elizabeth. They all knew then, but the Council.




That night, Elizabeth slept peacefully, without the interruption of the horrifying dream; Danae. She was shocked, yet content, that Danae, the mirror image of her, didn't pay a visit. Or maybe Elizabeth already knew how to use her power against Danae. She couldn't tell just yet. And she still had a lot to learn about herself, mainly how to apply, or control her tremendous power that everybody was up to. And she still hadn't figured out why and how her wrist was as if tattooed. Beautifully tattoed with spiral patterns.

Chapter 13

Orange shadows flickered over Elizabeth's own eyes. Slowly, she opened them and felt fear course through her.

Large ember flames were dancing around her, licking her skin and dress, emanating heat as they drew closer towards her.

Where am I? she thought, panicked. All she could see were bright orange flames that were greedy for her.

Suddenly, the flames departed and gave way to an approaching shadow. The shadow was cloaked, but it was apparent that the shadow was female. Her body was tall, slim and slender, her movements graceful. Strands of her hair floated around her and as the shadow drew nearer, Elizabeth saw that the woman had golden hair. The same shade as hers. When the woman was close to her, Elizabeth realised that the fire was edging away, as if fearing the woman.

Slowly, the woman pushed off her hood and Elizabeth Davenport stared at Elizabeth Davenport. The woman in the hood was identical to her. Even her eyes were the same shade of emerald green.

' At last,' the woman said softly. ' I finally have the privilege of meeting Miss Elizabeth Davenport, in whose body runs my very essence of power.'

Elizabeth was speechless. The voice was definitely not hers.

The woman suddenly smiled, revealing two long and sharp fangs indenting her full lower lips. ' I thought I would die the other night,' the woman said. ' I thought my plan would fail so I decided on my Plan B. You made a great candidate to carry on my special talents, Elizabeth. But, I'm still alive, so I.....' The woman suddenly looked sad and a tad bit regretful. ' I need to destroy you.'

Elizabeth tried to move or at least say something, but she was frozen on that spot. It was as if something invisible was holding her in place. Her lips moved soundlessly and the woman laughed.

' You have double the size of my powers but you don't even know how to use it, do you?' Danae laughed and her laughter was cold. Lazily, she made a small waving gesture and the flames once again cornered Elizabeth. This time, they were bright red.

' Ironic, isn't it?' Danae drawled, examining her nails as if this wasn't worth her presence. ' Fire is your specialty but they're the ones killing you slowly now.'

Elizabeth saw one particular flame lash out and wrap itself around her wrist, slowly melting her flesh.

' I've marked you, young Elizabeth, and you cannot escape from me now,' Danae declared.

Then everything went pitch black.



' Elizabeth!' Stefan shook her awake. Elizabeth's face was pale and droplets of cold sweat slowly trickled down her white cheeks. She was trembling and screaming. Elena watched from behind, not shocked but interested.

Then, she woke up with a start. Colour slowly returned to her face and she looked fine, all of a sudden. Confused, she stared at Stefan's hand on her arm, which he slowly withdrew.

' Why were you screaming?' he asked her, stopping in front of a beautiful house. It was one level, long and narrow with many windows covering the walls. White gossamer curtains covered the windows and soft orange glows lined the driveway, giving it a romantic aura.

' Nothing,' Elizabeth answered and quickly asked,' Whose house is this?' Stefan gave her a curious look and decided that it was the best and only answer he'd get.

' My aunt's. We need to stay here for a short while until we have a chance to explain things to the Council. It's a good hiding place, though.'

Elizabeth was suddenly struck with a thought. ' And William?' she whispered.

Stefan froze, his hands on the steering wheel. His knuckles were white as he clenched his hands. ' He'll be fine,' he answered curtly.





Stefan's aunt was very nice and she was the only person he trusted. Madeline even knew about vampires and was prepared for the future consequences, but every now and then, she would throw in hints about Stefan and Elizabeth being together.

That night, Elizabeth went to sleep quickly, surprised at how exhausted she was. Just as she drifted off into oblivion, her dreams started to appear.

Her dreams were so vivid...so real..she almost believed it.

William was there in her dreams, holding up the shield for her to escape. The rain splashed down and soaked her through. William was yelling something, but his voice was drowned by the thundering rain.

Then, Stefan was there, pulling her towards his car. Elizabeth twisted impatiently in her seat and saw William collapse slowly as one of the guards shot him with precise aim. Right into William's heart. Elizabeth's heart felt like it was staked with many icy splinters when she saw Danae standing at the fringe of the crowd. Slowly, Danae looked up.

' He's dead because of you, Elizabeth. Good job. You're turning into me with every passing second.'



Elizabeth woke up with a start and felt something painful sear through her wrist. Looking down, she saw an intricate red mark with spiral patterns cover her wrist. At the place where the fire touched her.

There was a soft knock at the door. ' Elizabeth?' came Stefan's muffled call.

' Yeah?' Her voice broke at the very end and she cleared her throat slightly.

' Just wanna tell you that breakfast's ready.'

' I'll be down in a minute.' Panicking slightly, she looked around her for anything to cover her wrist and spotted a long piece of white fabric in the wardrobe. Elizabeth wound it around her wrist and quickly went down to have breakfast.

' What's that?' Elena asked curiously, looking up from her cheese bagel.

Elizabeth ducked into the fridge to avoid Stefan's stare. ' What's what?'

' That thing around your wrist.'

Elizabeth glanced at it vaguely, as if it was there all the time. 'Oh. That. Just a bit of accessory famous during my time.'

Elena looked at her in disbelief. ' You actually wear those?'

Elizabeth couldn't answer so she just nodded, because Stefan's eyes were narrowed at her wrist, confirming her worst fear. Stefan knew what she was hiding.





Miles away, Heather stared at her reflection in the mirror in anger.

William was gone. William Carstairs, the only reason she went to all her trouble of accusing Elizabeth, was no more. He had to rescue her, Heather thought disdainfully. He had to sacrifice his life for her.

A single tear slid down her cheeks and Heather couldn't control herself anymore. Soon, her sheets were wet with her tears for the only man she loved who was now dead.

It was clear to Heather what she must do. Elizabeth Davenport has to be destroyed and rid away from her life no matter what.

Chapter 12

William stood under the rain, letting the power flow in him. But he knew, the ice shield won't last. He was getting weaker as he tried to hold on. Hence, the shield was getting weaker too. Will became dizzy and he felt his hands became numb. In no time, the vampires could get through.

Behind the ice shield, vampires were trying to destroy the ice shield. Each vampire used their ability to attack the ice, making it weaker and weaker. There were elemental magic everywhere. Fire, ice, water and lightning. Causing pressure to the shield.

" How are you sure she killed Madoc?" Charlie said hoarsely, hoping the fact wasn't true.

" I found her in a room with Madoc's corpse. Blood was all over her face. " Heather answered flatly.

Charlie nodded. He didn't sense any lies in her words.

Will couldn't feel his body as he felt the shield breaking. He shut his eyes, and whispered, " Elizabeth, be safe. I love you. "

The shield shaterred into million pieces.

Lizzie kept looking at the Convection Centre as it went smaller and smaller. Ice was covering the Cincinnati Convection Center, the biggest convection center. And now it was covered with ice.

" What is Will doing actually?" Lizzie asked suddenly.

" He made an ice shield. That's his ability, he can control water and turn it to ice. "

She didn't know what to respond. Will was that strong to cover that whole building? That must have took a lot from him. Lots. Something stirred inside her mind. What if the shield broke? She shrugged. No, he'll be fine, enlightening herself at that thought. Even though she denied the fact, deep inside, she knew something happened to him. It made her heart ached.

" May I know who you are? " Lizzie glanced at the girl beside her who was staring at her since she entered the car, her face almost identical as Stefan's.

" Elena Salvatoire. I'm Stefan's sister." Elena couldn't resist looking at Lizzie every second. She was so beautiful. So pale, even her the condition like this, her hair wet after going through the rain, her face shined. She looked.. unhuman. No wonder Stefan fall for her and react instantly when Stefan knew she was in trouble.

Silence fell. After several minutes, finally, Stefan spoke. " Lizzie, what happened there?"

Stefan's gray eyes were looking at her steadily. Lizzie didn't know what to reply at first. But later, she told him everything. Stefan was utterly shocked when he heard Heather was behind all this. The sweet and kind girl who helped him after he ran away from home to Brooklyn at the age of 15. Heather was 17 that time and she was independant, living by herself. She helped him get a house next to her's so she had someone to talk to. But now, Heather was responsible for Elizabeth's accusation. Stefan gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to turn back kill Heather right at that moment.

Elena listened to Lizzie's story. Vampire Council? Vampires? She must be crazy, she thought. But as she looked at Elizabeth closely, she was clearly not lying. Elena didn't question her as it was obviouly not the right time to ask but she expected answers from her brother later.

Lizzie realised she didn't recognised the surrounding outside. She had to squint her eyes to realise that Stefan was driving her out of Brooklyn.

" Where are we going? " she muttered weakly, her eyelids were half open.

" Away from here. Somewhere you can be safe," Stefan replied.

Lizzie mumbled something but Stefan couldn't make out of what she said.

" No matter what, I'll protect you and make you safe, Lizzie." he exclaimed, but Lizzie had already fallen asleep.

Chapter 10

Walking back and forth for the millionth time that night, Stefan still couldn't stop thinking about Elizabeth. Absolutely nothing and no one but her. "What's happening at the Convention Centre? Is Elizabeth going to be safe?" was all he could think of. Her safety. The safety of the woman he could possibly be in love after his last girlfriend about two years ago. The girl who had left him because he had a possibility of not inheriting his father's wealth. The girl who had crushed his dreams of ever falling in love again. To which, Elizabeth changed the very moment she came into Stefan's view.

Elizabeth Davenport isn't like any other girl he's met before. She shines brighter than anyone else. Her voice sweeter than nightingale. Her irresistable rosy cheeks everytime she blushes. "Why on earth did I let her go to the ball? Her first, and probably the last time going? Her biggest dream crushing into nightmare?" Stefan flinched at the thought of that.

Stefan clutched his fist as his thought dug further. The deeper he thought, the more hurt he felt. He tried to meditate himself by breathing in and out several times while sitting on his couch. Didn't work. He didn't know exactly when, but he was actually lost in thought. Again. Too lost to realise the reality.

"It's so nice to see you! Hey!" Elena Salvatoire stormed in to Stefan's living room, arms wide open expecting a big hug from her big brother.

When Stefan just sat there, reactionless, not even a glance at his sister, Elena's hands dropped. Not just her hands, but her jaw too. "Is this even my brother?" she thought silently. One minute passed, still, he was like a statue. Two minutes. Elena's pose changed every minute. Every second ticking by, she was getting hot; impatient to explode. Five minutes sharp.

"That's it. I can't take it anymore. STEFAN SALVATOIRE! HELLO! REALITY CHECK?" she screamed at the highest pitch of her voice.

"ELENA! You startled me. When did you arrive? Why didn't you call?" he asked, sweating, obviously shocked by the scream.

"Really? Want me to be precise or should I just tell you an assumption?" she emphasized on the word assumption, hands already on her waist."And about the 'why didn't you call' thing, why not check your dear phone?"

"Sorry, Elena. I just drifted for a little while." he apologised, and found 20 missed calls with 5 new messages as he checked his phone. From Elena.

"I've waited for five minutes, on the dot, waiting for you to respond, Stefan. What's it all about?"

Stefan took a while to answer her. He didn't really answer to that question, in fact.

"Why are you here anyway? Missed me?" Stefan joked, changing the topic.

Elena, who was unaware of the change of topic joined in and couldn't wait to catch up with his lovely brother. "Nice one, Stefan. Well, I admit, I do. Don't you?"

Elena was his younger sister, also his closest one. She also looks a lot like him. Her heart-shaped face looked as stunning as ever. As Elena has always been close to Stefan, they used to hang out together with Stefan's friends. Until before he left, that is. Elena's always been praised by Stefan's friends about her beauty. How slim and tall she is, how her long, curly brown hair always gleams her style. Not forgetting her flawless white face. Those are also Stefan's characteristics. Well, some of them. Whenever his friends complimented his sister, he never wanted to miss the credit by saying, "look from where she got her beauty" or some sort of like that.

"Of course, little sister. Oh wait, apparently you're not so little anymore," he laughed. "Why are you here again?"

"You know.."

"MOM" they said in chorus, rolled eyes and laughed.

They missed their moments of laughter. For a moment, he forgot about Lizzie and was replaced by the thought of his sister.

"Hey, we should go out tonight. Celebrate. I'm staying with you. Isn't it exciting?"

"You-" Stefan was interrupted by the ringtone he set up especially for Lizzie.

He made a hand gesture signalling for his sister to wait.

"Lizzie? Are you alright? What happened?"

"You've known it all along, haven't you?"

"Yes.."

"Why didn't you tell me before? None of you did! Not Will, not Heather, not even you!"

"I'm sorry Lizzie. I'm truly sorry."

"You owe me, Stefan. It's lucky they didn't kill me right away. Not that they will. I think. Anyway, I might've been killed, you know that? It was like risking my own life going to this ball!" she blabbered.

"I knew it, but I wasn't sure, Lizzie. You should understand."

"I don't know what to say anymore Stef- AAAAAAAAAA!!!!" Lizzie screamed all of a sudden causing Stefan's heart to beat fast. Again.

"LIZZIE! LIZZIE! ARE YOU OKAY??" he was practically shouting by then.

Elena stared at her brother in horror. "What's wrong with him? And who's Lizzie?" she thought.

"Stefan, who's Liz-"

"There's no time to explain. She's in danger. Lizzie's in danger!"

Stefan left the house with his blue shorts with a flower designed and a matching blue plain t-shirt with his stylish cropped hair and entered his new silver Mercedes Benz F700. Elena suddenly appeared at the passenger's seat without Stefan realising.

"What are you doing?" Stefan asked urgently.

"If it's not obvious enough, I'm sitting down, on the passenger's seat. Duh."

"I know how much you adore sarcasm Elena, but this isn't the right time."

"Fine, but I insist. I'm going with you." she gritted through her teeth.

Stefan shrugged and accelerated as Elena put on her seatbelt. For her, safety comes first.



"Let go of me! You-" she said as someone grabbed hold of her mouth, her nose, causing her to be unconscious.

"Target passed out," said Madoc to her partner in crime, Heather.

"Bring her in," Heather demanded.



"Who on earth just messed with the cables? ANYONE! FIND THE MAIN SWITCH! I CAN'T SEE A DARN THING HERE!" yelled Charlie at the meeting room.

Everything seemed chaotic although no one could see anything in the room as dark as a night without a moonlight. But with screams of "HELP", yells of "IT'S DARK", the sound of heels running and demands of "SWITCH ON THE F-ING LIGHT", it's absurd that the room, and everywhere else in the Convention Centre, isn't in a disastrous state.



"So, what do we do next, Heather?" asked faithful Madoc to his not so loyal partner.

"Well of course now that she's in the rightful hands, unlike Charlie, who's too coward to do any harm," she paused to scoff, "We can do anything! She has Danae's power, Madoc, I can feel it."

"What are her powers, actually?" Madoc replied, gaining greediness.

"Well, I suppose there's just too many to mention," was all Heather's reply. Truth be told, she didn't know exactly what powers Danae held. She was just craving for the power.

"So, how are we supposed to divide them equally?"

Heather laughed aloud, hearing Madoc's naiveté. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'll never share it with anyone. Not even you, Madoc."

"What about our agreement earlier?"

The reason Madoc wanted to cooperate with Heather in the first place was because he wanted to be seen as someone with prestige and powerful. Heather had promised him that earlier as long as he would help her kidnap Elizabeth and grab her power.

"Look, honey, don't mind about the phony deal we made earlier. It's nothing!" said Heather as she hung her arm on his shoulders.

"I'll never forgive you for this Heather. I'll make sure Charlie finds out about your foul play."

"Firstly, you don't have to forgive me. Secondly, he won't find out because.." Heather said as she grabbed a sword and beheaded Madoc. "You're dead."

The deadly laughter of Heather's was unbearable. Elizabeth, who had actually been conscious since the conversation about Danae's power started, she had actually heard everything. She couldn't believe Heather could be that low just to steal someone else's power. She even wondered if Heather would do the same in fight for a man they both love.

Elizabeth squinted to find herself in a dim lighted room, a small one, with a collection of swords in a descending position from top to bottom. She noticed that one was missing, so she assumed that it was the one Heather used to behead Madoc just a few seconds ago. The walls of the room were covered in a blood red wallpaper, with frames of paintings hanging on them. Elizabeth quickly closed her eyes in case Heather was staring at her, to make sure Heather didn't realise her head had been was sligtly moving to screenshot the view into her head. And her instinct was right. Heather was staring at her.

"I can strangle Elizabeth to death right now. Her power is everything to me, but what would they do to me if they find out about Madoc's death?" Heather spoke a little too loud. Elizabeth could hear her vividly. "I say let's just play the game. Slow and steady. I will get her power eventually.. And Will too. Join the game, Lizzie."

Elizabeth wasn't sure whether Heather knew that she was conscious or not, whether she was talking to her or not, but she continued her little act; pretending to be unconscious. She, however, was certain, Heather was grinning with her newly invented plan. Elizabeth suddenly felt goosebumps all over her body. She had a feeling that Heather wasn't even close to joking when she mentioned her plan.

To Elizabeth's surprise, she felt something cool and sweet smelling at her lips. Heather's hand was the cool one, and, Madoc's blood was the sweet one. Elizabeth suddenly knew what Heather was doing. She was planning to accuse her of killing Madoc. Elizabeth panicked but she stayed still, trying hard not to lick the unbearably sweet blood.



"Where on earth are we going, Stefan?" asked Elena, panicking. "Why are you zooming like there's no tomorrow?"

"Hey, I warned you to stay. I'm on a mission to save someone." Stefan replied with the same intonation.

"Mission? What are you, a spy?"

"Well, no. Just my responsibility."

"My brother has learnt about responsibility, that's very good. Thanks to this girl- what's her name again?"

"Lizzie. Elizabeth Davenport." He rushed. "And, here we are."

Chapter 9

Elizabeth looked up at Heather, whose face was oddly animated.

' Where are we going?' she asked her, struggling to keep up.

Heather stopped walking and turned around to face Elizabeth. ' Oh, nowhere. The Council just wants to introduce you to everyone else officially.'

Elizabeth mulled over this reply for a long time because she sensed something else underneath Heather's answer and her perfectly composed poker face. ' Oh,' she finally said and remained silent for a long time.

They arrived at the end of the endless carpeted hallway to a big double door with many intricate carvings. A huge chain was hung over the golden knobs. Heather pushed the door open and stepped in imperiously, as if she owned the place.

Elizabeth followed her quietly, feeling small in the big room, which was more of a ballroom. The floor was made of shiny marble and the walls were paneled in light coloured wood. A huge chandelier made of thousands of shimmering crystals and diamonds hung from the ceiling. At the middle of the room,right under the massive chandelier, was a large polished mahogany table, with plush cushioned chairs surrounding it. The chairs were all occupied, except for one seat, which Heather promptly took.

Charlie Rafferty, the head of the Council, was standing at the end of the table, looking grim and Elizabeth suddenly felt fear. The rest of the members of the Council also wore the same grim expression. It was awkward for a few minutes and Elizabeth felt uncomfortable just standing there.

Then, Charlie cleared his throat as if preparing himself. ' Esteemed members of the Council, today, we have gathered here to address a problem that we thought had disappeared centuries ago,' he began.

Heather stared at Elizabeth as he spoke and enjoyed watching the growing fear forming on her face. She imagined her life without Elizabeth and having Will all to herself. Trying to hide her smile, Heather switched her attention to the new male vampire hired to help the council. He was quite cute, with dark brown hair and maybe a little too excited for the job. Heather waited until he met her eye and winked at him. A blush coloured his cheeks and he dropped the pile of papers he was carrying. Heather laughed lightly to herself.

Elizabeth listened in horror as Charlie started addressing the Council.

' Centuries ago, we were all united, a family,' he began. ' We had much rules to keep ourselves hidden, away from human life and the sweet scent their blood gave. We only had to hunt animals from the wilderness, where we lived, because we knew that once we set foot out of our Sanctuary, man would be on us as fast as lightning, killing us, for we were like demons to them. Monsters.' When he said the last word, there were snarls from all around the room.

' We were fine. Fine until one day, when the arrival of a woman, disrupted our community. She was like us, pale skinned and beautiful, as was our nature. She had many special abilities, when our kind only had one ability each. Quickly, she became friends with everyone, all of the women....and all of the men. Her name was Danae.' Again, the room was filled with outraged snarls and hisses. Charlie's voice twisted around the name and even Heather looked angry.

' One of Danae's abilities was to influence people,hypnotise them into doing...things. One night, under the full moon, she influenced the males of our family to lead an illegal hunt into town, where a ball was being held. Danae just sat back and watched thousands of innocent people murdered. To her, this was fun. This was entertainment. Danae also participated in the massacre but her purpose was different. She wanted to look for one person who she could transform into a vampire and carry her inherited abilities. Nobody knew why she did this but apparently, she found her victim.

' We disposed of the guilty males involved in the massacre but we didn't find the victim Danae chose. Our community broke up because of the deaths of many of the families. The new vampire was as dangerous as Danae, and probably even more dangerous than Danae. Every time we found a new vampire who remembered things from the past, we had to execute them. We had no other choice.' Charlie ended his story and Elizabeth no longer felt scared.

She felt terrified, horrified, scared and frightened.

Charlie turned to Elizabeth, his face sombre. The rest of them did the same and Elizabeth knew what was coming next. Her death.

Quickly, Elizabeth tried to come up with something to save herself. ' Wait,' she pleaded, holding her hands out. ' You said you killed those who had memories of their past, but I don't have any memories of my past.' The Council stopped in their tracks and Heather felt her plan blow up into dust.

Charlie slowly turned to face her. ' Is this true, Heather?' he asked and narrowed her eyes.

Heather stared at Elizabeth for a long time and had to tell the truth because sensing lies was Charlie's ability. ' She has not had any recollection of her past life,' Heather answered. ' Yet.'

Charlie seemed to be pleased by this answer and retreated towards his chair when a member of the council stood walked forwards and placed his strong hands around Elizabeth's neck. It all happened so suddenly but Heather was pleased by the turn of the events.

' What are you doing, Madoc?' Charlie asked him, his voice low and deadly.

' Are you going to believe this girl just like that?' Madoc yelled, his fingers tightening.

Elizabeth fought for air and tried to pull away from his grip but it held her there.

' She had no recollection of her past,' Charlie declared,' therefore she does not carry Danae's essence.'

Madoc appeared furious. ' Danae was a lying witch. How do we know that she isn't the same?'

Elizabeth saw black spots in front of her eyes and felt herself quickly drifting away when suddenly, Madoc ripped his hand away from her neck. When Elizabeth opened her eyes, Madoc's hands were blistered, as if they came in contact with fire. A slight scent of smoke lingered in the air.

The room was silent for moments, until Charlie chose to break the silence. ' Well, will you look at that?' He was smiling. ' Proof that she isn't Danae's descendant. Danae hated fire, remember?'

Madoc glared at her for a long moment and then stormed out of the room, the door slamming on the wall behind him. Heather followed him after a while and then the rest of the members also exited, casting Elizabeth awed and suspicious glances.

Charlie walked over to her and on his face was a sheepish expression. ' I'm sorry for trying to...get rid of you earlier on,' he apologised. ' You don't know how extremely dangerous Danae can be.'

Elizabeth looked at him curiously. ' You sound like you know her well, sir.'

Charlie looked away, a distant expression in his eyes. ' I did. She was my wife.' Elizabeth's eyes widened. ' We fell in love as soon as she came into our community but she was always flirting with the other males of the family. I kept quiet for a long time and kept telling myself that she was who she was.'

' How did she look like?'

Charlie smiled, a faraway look still in his eyes. ' She has golden hair, very wavy. Her emerald eyes were always glittering with mischief, probably why I fell in love with her in the first place.'

Elizabeth smiled along with him until his words sank in. The way Charlie described Danae, it was as if he was describing Elizabeth.

But before Elizabeth had time to feel alarmed, the door of the room swung open and William walked in. He was smiling broadly and looked animated and happy for the first time since she met him again. She was in his arms before she had time to react, her face pressed onto his chest.

' What's this for?' she asked him, her voice muffled.

William sounded like he was smiling when he replied. ' Because you're safe.' Then, he released her and held her close to him. At that moment, she didn't think about anything else, other than being with him.

Until she saw Heather standing at the doorway, glaring at her before stalking off.




Elizabeth stood at the corner of the large room, feeling awkward and uncomfortable. Everyone there were stealing glances at her, looking suspicious and some angry. Slowly, she exhaled and rubbed her neck, trying to lessen the feeling she had as if someone was watching her.

'Having fun?' someone said and Elizabeth's grip tightened around the glass. Turning around slowly, she came face to face with Heather, who wore a sickly sweet smile on her face.

Elizabeth tried to speak but it was as if she lost her voice.

'What's the matter, Lizzie?' Heather continued, stepping closer, causing Elizabeth to step back. Heather dropped her act and took another step forward until they were face to face. ' Listen to me very good, Elizabeth Davenport,' she said, almost snarling. ' I don't care if you were with Will in your previous life or whatever, but if you don't stay away from him from now on, you're going to regret ever coming here. This is my game, Elizabeth and I will win.'