I didn’t mean to kill her.
Just want to use her as a sacrifice.
That’s all.”
“A sacrifice to what?” I had wondered why this vampire would want to use her as a sacrifice.
If she thought she was being important to us in her death, then that made me even more suspicious of her.
And then her powers started getting stronger.
It didn’t make any sense.
What did he expect to gain from all of this?
Crazy thing is, what I figured could happen actually happened.
The Order of the Black Rose was so set on having her join them and serve, that their blood lust was causing them to go crazy with power.
It didn’t take long before they were knocking each other out and tearing each other’s hearts out.
Every time she went to the coffin to get her weapons back, she was sure that the coffin would start to fill up with vampires…and it was.
For how long, though, she didn’t know, but it must have been days.
Then one day, another one of the members came back from a mission and told her she wasn’t the only one that was back.
She had been too, but she wasn’t alone.
She was hiding with someone.
When they told me about it, I couldn’t believe it.
Even when she said that he was from the Order of the Black Rose, I refused to believe it.
How could vampires ever respect a person like that, I asked?
The fact that they were stronger than even her when they were both inside the coffin didn’t make me any happier.
I was glad to hear that she was with somebody…other than us.
The days went by and still nothing.
I didn’t know what to do, but was beginning to wonder if she ever existed in the first place.
Sure, she had made her presence known to me and Andrea, but why?
I had actually thought that maybe she was meant to be a sacrifice to help start our efforts with the Order of the Black Rose, but I was pretty damn sure that she was some kind of traitor.
Maybe I was wrong about all of it.
Could she be the good vampire that they needed to be from the Order of the Black Rose?
Andrea finally got tired of waiting for any kind of response from my supposed fiance and I felt bad about that, but I couldn’t wait for her anymore.
I went back to the coffin, but was too late.
There was no one in the coffin now.
Only blood and spider web residue on the bottom of it.
I lifted the lid and carefully lifted the top.
When I opened it up, the top half of the body was missing, but the bottom half was stuck in the bottom of the coffin.
I ran out of the room and began to frantically check the walls and floor for any kind of writing or anything else that could tell me what happened to her.
It didn’t take me long to find her weapon.
It was right behind the coffin.
She had been planning this all along, I thought.
I had completely forgotten about her secret weapon.
She hadn’t let me in on that little detail.
She had one secret weapon.
She had the book, but she had taken something even more powerful from me.
I opened up the book and there, on the first page, was the word “COATRACK”.
The next page was blank and the next was a bunch of scribbles.
I read the last page, but it only talked about spells that would steal the powers from the necromancers.
I closed it and decided to take the book back to Andrea.
I tried to think of what could happen next.
I had been so sure that she was my future bride, but she had betrayed me like this.
Maybe she was a Necromancer, too, I wondered.
Maybe she had followed me here and was going to do something.
Maybe she was going to torture me.
I was so terrified.
But if she was a Necromancer, she would know of all of the Necromancer and vampire tactics.
How had she killed our leader?
I couldn’t figure it out.
If I hadn’t missed her coffin, then she probably had just done it to save her own hide.
She had been like a baby deer when I found her with the body of the men’s leader in the tree.
She had been so scared and so tiny.
All she cared about was survival.
If she was like that all along, then maybe she would be ok.
Maybe I should go to her and tell her the truth.
It was almost sunset when I finally left the house, but when I got there, there was still no sign of her.
I found my way back to the crypt and was so exhausted from running that I just slumped down on my bed.
I was too tired to be frightened any more.
My mind wandered.
I must have fallen asleep right away, because I was awakened by someone shaking my shoulder.
“What time is it?” I asked in a very deep voice.
“It is three in the morning.
Get up, now,” Andrea said.
“Get up!” she screamed, and I got out of bed and stood in the dark of my room.
“Why am I awake?” I asked.
“You were only supposed to be gone for a few hours, you had everything under control,” Andrea said.
“Why is it so dark?” I said as my eyes finally adjusted to the darkness.
“I’m afraid to leave our safehouse for one second,” Andrea said.
“I did it so that you could feel safe, but if she follows me I am afraid that she will find me.”
“I am going to find her,” I said.
“There is no time.
The sun is going to rise in a few minutes,” Andrea said.
“Do you think it is a good idea for me to leave?” I asked.
“The others will be waking up soon and we need to try to put together an escape plan,” Andrea said.
“Fine, I will go after her and see if she is there,” I said.
“You have to make sure she doesn’t hurt anyone else,” Andrea said.
I nodded.
“I promise, I will.”
I took a deep breath and turned on my flashlight.
I stepped out of my room and found my way to the place where I had left her coffin.
The noise was getting louder.
“Hello?” I said as I knocked on the door.
“Are you there?” I looked around but I couldn’t see anyone.
I stepped into the darkness.
“Is anyone there?” I yelled.
“You are not invited in,” a muffled voice said from around the corner.
My heart stopped beating for a moment.
“Celine?” I asked as I stepped around the corner.
“What are you doing here?
And why are you wearing the headband?”
“I am here to tell you that you are under arrest.”
“So that was it!
I thought you were coming here to destroy the vampire army?”
“We could try, but we are afraid of a great threat against us.
The vampires, not me,” she said.
“You are the one they were threatening?” I asked.
“Yes, they want to remove you from our leadership.”
“I don’t understand,” I said as I backed up towards the door.
“You are our threat to them.
I am helping them get rid of you.
I am glad that you found the body of their leader, but I knew it was only a matter of time before you came,” she said.
“I can help them if you want.
Tell me what I can do to help you?” I asked.
“You would help them?
I thought you were not a part of this,” I said.
“We can use you,” she said.
“Use me how?” I asked.
“You are very strong and we need someone like that to destroy the vampire army,” she said.
“I am tired of running and hiding.
If you want to take me, then let’s do it,” I said.
“We will start today,” she said.
“What do I have to do?” I asked.
“You must kill someone that is very important to the vampires.
I will get you the weapon that will destroy the vampire army,” Celine said.
“The one I saw when I was looking for you?” I asked.
“Yes, it is a weapon of a special class of vampire.
You must burn his heart, not the rest of him,” she said.
“Okay,” I said.
“But what about when I am done, will I be able to come back to you?” I asked.
“No, you will only be able to visit me and talk to me, never leave.”
I nodded and held my hand out.
She placed the red headband on me.
“Now go and kill someone who is very important to them,” she said.
I walked down the hallway and the walls were covered in blood.
I ran my hands over the walls to clean the blood.
I walked into the room and looked around.
It was empty.
The person I was supposed to kill was lying in the room across the hall.
He was not moving.
I ran over to him and put my hands over his chest.
I closed my eyes and felt his soul leave his body.
I opened my eyes and stood back up.
I ran over to where I left my things.
I grabbed a knife, some food and water.
I packed my bag and moved towards the door.
“Where are you going?” a female voice asked.
I turned around.
It was Celine.
“I am sorry, I have to go.
It’s for the good of us all,” I said.
She smiled and I ran away from her.
I ran all the way back to the woods.
I was tired.
I knew that I wouldn’t be able to go home, so I decided to go to the vampires.
I didn’t care about my family or what was going to happen to them.
They deserved to die, so I would kill them for them.
I didn’t know who these people were, but I figured they must be important.
It must be important to be here.
I wasn’t about to go into these woods and kill for a bunch of strangers, no matter how valuable they were.
I started to run towards the forest when I felt someone grab my arm.
I looked up and I saw a vampire.
“You are one of us now,” she said.
“I don’t want to be one of you,” I said.
“I do not care.
I am your trainer,” she said.
“Look, this is not a good idea.
If they find me, they will kill me and put my soul in a vampire’s body.
There is no way you can keep me safe,” I said.
“You will be one of us and you will never be alone,” she said.
“I have to get away from you.
I just can’t do it.
I will die a little bit every day,” I said.
“I would not let that happen,” she said.
She released me and I ran.
I kept running through the woods, through the moonlight, breathing in the fresh air.
I would have to sleep in the woods tonight, at least until the sun came up, because I didn’t want to go back to the vampires.
When I got back to the house, the vampire inside was the same one who had talked to me.
She looked at me with a strange look in her eyes.
“What was that for?” I asked.
“You are one of us now,” she said.
“The portal opened and there are so many vampires.
They need a guard for now until you are able to go back and fight them,” she said.