Harsh, frosty winds slapped me across the face as I exited out into the dark night, nothing but black skies greeting me.

Void of the beautiful stars that once guarded this forest.

"How are we gonna know when they're coming?" Kenzo whispered as we crouched down behind a bush, scoping out the scenery. "They have the advantage over us when it comes to scouting."

He was right.

They could smell our blood and hear us from afar with their inhumane hearing. They were vicious beasts, and their senses alluded to that.

"Honestly, I don't know," I shrugged. "Maybe they'll be too focused on the actual vampires to notice us. Besides, they may want us alive, should the worst happen. You know because human blood is precious to them," I explained, wincing at how it sounded.

"Of course, I'm not expecting that to happen. I know that our vampires are strong. They're led by the strongest of them all," I smirked, remembering the countless times I walked by the giant training gym to see Zander training his executives and fellow vampires. It was so attractive seeing him twist his body in such ways, changing forms and sweating all over the place. It was beautiful to me to see how much work he put into training his people to ensure that they knew how to keep themselves safe.

Wished he did that for us humans though.

I glanced back to the trees, hearing a variety of sounds. Devil's Tombstone was vast and large, covered with dozens of thick trees, so thick that they hid the night away. We could hear screams, snarls, and growls, and if you listened closely, you hear the swooshes of vampires dashing past the trees, many of them.

"Fuck!" I heard a familiar voice and Kenzo and I snapped our heads to where it came from, seeing a girl crouched down behind a tree, wiping off something silver. The person appeared to be human, so I motioned for Kenzo to get behind me as I inched closer to where the girl was. 

"There's so many of them," The girl grumbled and I blinked, knowing who it was as I got closer and closer, able to stand up straight.

"Tatianna?" I screeched incredulously, watching the figure stiffen in place. It may have been too dark and too loud yet silent, but I knew it. "Oi, tell me that's not you!" I could hear my blood rushing through my veins in my ears, and I swallowed, hoping that my eyes were deceiving me.

"Ah."

But there was no mistaking that voice, tinged with that familiar Cuban accent. I may have been away for some time, but I could never forget where I came from. 

"Eli."

I stared in shock as the person I once called my little sister turned around and fixed her light brown eyes on me, nothing but pure rage coloring her orbs. She looked...different. Her once long brown hair was no cut to her shoulders, and the once sweet and genuine expression morphing her face was gone.

All that was left was a shell.

"Tati...." I trailed off, tears filling my eyes once I put together the situation, and what she was doing here. 

"Don't call me that." She sneered. "You're nothing to me." I was rooted to the ground, unable to do nothing but retract the hand that reached out to her. I recoiled in disbelief, letting a frown crawl onto my lips.

"You-you don't mean that," My lips quivered, a semblance of hope filling the air. "You don't..." I whispered, eyes darting between her face and her eyes, waiting for a sign that all of this was a joke, that she missed me as much as I missed her.

"It seems that you aren't understanding," Tatianna demurred in a hollow tone, crouching down to the ground to pick up her sword. "E-Eli," Kenzo reached out to try to grab me but the pointy edge of her sword swiped out to stop him. 

"Don't you dare move," She growled and he squeaked, stopping and stammering in fear. "P-please don't kill me!"

Rage barked at me from within and I swung my arm to grab the end of her sword, ignoring as it nicked me on the wrist. "Tatianna, just what in the fuck are you doing?" 

I couldn't believe the sight before me: my sister, a slayer.

"Let me make this clear for you," Tatianna held her grip on her sword and her stare hardened at the sight of me. "If you get in my way, I will kill even you, Eli Matteo Velacruz."

There was not one lie hidden in her tone.

She meant every word.

I wonder if she could hear me crying on the inside.

"Get away from him!" I heard a loud voice scream from the left of me, and all of a sudden, a large body zoomed in front of me. I heard the crash of her sword and the next thing I knew, Tatianna was being slammed to the ground and pinned.

"Ow!" She yelled, and I blinked, recognizing the body on top of hers. "Are you okay, Eli? Kenzo?" I locked eyes with Demetrius, who appeared to be out of breath, eyes red and teeth stained crimson.

I slowly nodded. "I didn't think there would be any humans in this bloodshed but alas," He muttered, twisting Tatianna's arm tighter, enticing a pained yowl from her. "She's, she's my sister," I murmured, wondering what I intended to happen by saying that. "Oh?" He raised a brow, licking his lips to get the remainder of the blood off.

"Get off of me, you bloodsucker! I'll kill you!" Tatianna exploded, wiggling her body from beneath his grasp. "Yeah, yeah, be quiet before I snap your neck." He hissed. "I don't have time for this. Eli, it's bad out there. There's a lot more enemies than we thought, and we still haven't found the Master," Demetrius explained and I understood what he was trying to say.

"I know she's your sister, but right now," Demetrius tightened his grip on her, ensuring she was secure. "She's the enemy, Eli. What do you want me to do with her? I can't leave her out here, where she could harm one of ours."

I sighed and straightened up, willing all sense of familiarity to leave my soil. As much as it hurt me deep in the core, I had to realize that he was right. She turned her back on me when I needed her most, and it was clear that she was willing to do it again. Only this time, she was willing to kill me and everyone else.

She narrowed her eyes and spat at my shoes, glaring me down from head to toe in disgust. "Yeah, Eli. Whatever you thought I was to you is over now."

I stared into her eyes, trying hard to hide my shock. Apparently I was not good enough because a single tear left my eye, and she watched as it leapt from my cheek to the dirt beneath my feet. Her eyes widened, the mask of hatred slowly lifting. 

"You're the best big brother I have ever had," A kiss was placed on my cheek as arms wrapped around my neck. "Don't tell Anthony though, he would cry," She whispered and we both broke out into giggles.

"Maybe, you know much of a loser he is," I teased, shoving her head into the sand. "But that's payback for putting whip cream in my shoes!" I cackled, getting up to run away, the beautiful and warm sun rays soothing my skin as I glanced out towards the waves.

"I prank you because you're my best friend, Eli!" I heard her call out from behind me and I smiled, letting myself be tackled by her.

"Yeah? And you're mine too, Tati."

I bit my lip to keep the tears at bay. "Yeah," I whispered, unable to hide the pain coating my tone. "You're right." My voice was hollow and I willed myself to snatch my gaze away from her softening one, nodding to Demetrius.

"Take her. I'll let Zander deal with her once everything is over." I whispered and he nodded, snatching her up to her feet. "Let's go!" He barked at her, and she began to sputter. "W-wait! Eli, I'm sorry!" He began to drag her on her feet, heading towards the coven dungeon. "I didn't mean it!" Her voice was bordering hysterics, one that I recognized, but it was too late.

"Hey..." Kenzo grabbed my shoulder. "You okay?" He asked.

"...no," I muttered, hearing my heart break once more. I let out a shuddering breath. "Absolutely not, maldita sea!" I yelled, squeezing my hands so hard, I was sure my nails were digging into my palms. It felt like everything was falling apart, crumbling to bitter pieces faster than I could put everything back together.

Just when I was finally starting to breathe again.

"Come on," Kenzo grabbed my hand, the sound of snarling and screeching enriching the forest. "We need to go hide somewhere."

We started off in direction of North, hoping that we could find Zander along the way. I knew he was out here. As quiet as he had been and as secretive as he was, he wouldn't abandon his coven.

I knew it was bad though. It was a miracle we hadn't come across any enemies thus far. It must've meant that somehow, our team was succeeding.

But damn, I did not expect to see Tatianna among the numbers of enemies.

It hurt.

"I'm looking for Zander," I mumbled, knowing Kenzo was probably questioning what we were doing. "He's the only one who can end this shit."

I heard a groan, quiet as it was, I heard it. I whirled around on my feet before I knew it, and I took off in the direction it came from. "Eli!" I heard Kenzo yell, but I couldn't stop myself. "Hide! I'll be back in a second!"

My heart was drumming beneath my chest, thrumming with life as my body recognized the familiarity of that groan, one that I heard so often. A smile took over my lips as I registered hope in that silly part of my brain.

He was alive.

A big tree came into sight, and slump against the base of it was my fated.

Happiness surged through my body, and I wanted to cry in joy and cuss him out all at once. He was here. "He-"

My voice cut off once I saw thick red liquid gushing out of a hole in his right shoulder. His skin looked pale, eerily pale. His chest was moving slow, almost as if he was trying to catch his breath and breathe at the same time.

I could see the blue veins beneath his skin and my eyes widened, never having seen him in this state in my entire time that I've been here.

"Zan, what happened to you?" I sobbed, running to him. Tears left my eyes without control. "What happened, Zander!?" I dropped down to my knees, immediately shedding off my jacket. "Why are you bleeding so much?" I whisper-yelled, tying my jacket around his shoulder. 

Hot liquid covered my hands, but I ignored it, grabbing his face. "Hey, wake up!" I whimpered, watching as his body trembled and shook beneath it. He was cold, colder than usual, and his eyes were rolling to the front and to the back of his head.

"Lubi," He gasped out in a husky tone, sputtering up blood as he spoke. "Lubirea mea, is that you?" He sighed as if he was struggling to breathe. "Yeah, it's me, Zander," My lips quivered as my vision blurred with tears. "W-what happened?" I whimpered, feeling all sorts of emotions bombard me all at once.

The last trickle of hope I had crumbled to ashes beneath us as he reached out a shaky hand, one drenched in blood, and interlocked our fingers together. "You," He wheezed. "You shouldn't be out here. I don't want any harm to come to you."

I chuckled, squeezing his hand harder. "This wouldn't have happened if you would've told us what was going on, you bastard," I smiled, but that was to keep the pain from swallowing me whole.

"Are you," I swallowed.

"Are you dying?" My voice was as quiet as ever, but I knew he heard me.

It was silent before he spoke.

"I think so." He replied in a hollow tone, fixing his flickering gaze on me. I bit my lip in an attempt to stop the tears from falling.

"Did Cecelia do this to you?" I asked quietly and he shook his head, frowning. "She wouldn't use silly tricks such as a wooden stake. No, unfortunately, this was the work of humans," He spat out the word coldly, but I knew he wasn't directing that rage towards me.

"That must mean..." I trailed off and he nodded in agreement with my thinking. This had to have been the work of Hunter and Michelle.

But more important things were at stake here.

"You can't die," I mumbled. "We haven't even gotten the true chance to truly know each other yet," Sure, we spent time together, but that was just building up the chemistry between us. We hadn't had a chance to truly love, to truly be with one another without expectations, past baggage holding us down, and time as a constraint.

But then I remembered what Leticia told me.

"There's a way!" I beamed, looking at my wrist that was slowly starting to heal. I scratched at the wound, hissing in pain as the blood began to pour down my arm. Zander's eyes widened almost comically once I raised my wrist up to his agape mouth.

"Lubirea mea, w-what are you doing?" He rasped, gripping my wrist tightly. "Do you have any idea what you are about to do?" He growled, his eyes shifting between red and blue as he groaned. "Yes, you fucking bastard!" 

Zander closed his eyes, clenching his teeth tightly. "...I can't. I won't." He looked as if he was remembering something so horrible, and I could only have speculations as to why he was so afraid of drinking from anyone.

"Ah, Zander, come out, come out, wherever you are~" I heard a sing-song voice call out a few feet away from us and my body stilled, knowing who this was. "I know where you are, but this game wouldn't be fun if it ended so soon," A dark chuckle filled the air, and I looked at Zander in fear.

"Fucking take it." I shoved my bloody wrist in his face once more, watching as he licked his lips in desire. I didn't know much about how blood worked in vampires, but I knew it smelled good to him.

"Look! I know you're afraid to drink from me, but I promise you, you have better self control than you think," I grumbled, thinking of all the times he was able to ignore his executives feasting on blood right in front of him. "I know you don't want to, but we need your help, Zander," I looked into eyes, begging him.

"Please," I whispered. "You are our only hope. If not you, then who?" 

Zander tightened his jaw, clenching it as he looked between both of my eyes. I could see the apprehension slowly draining from his ever-so-handsome face, realizing that I wouldn't be asking him this if it weren't detrimental. "Well, when you look at me so prettily and beg, how can I decline?" He gave me a soft grin, reaching his hand up to grab my wrist.

I could feel a rush of adrenaline rush through my body as his lips encircled the nick on my wrist. "I'll do my best to stop before I drain you."

I smiled and nodded.

"Tick tock, your time is up," A dark, feminine voice called out from in front of us, and in walked in with darkness surrounding her,  a very beautiful woman, strawberry blonde hair framing her fair face as red eyes gleamed at us. "I was hoping you would make this more entertaining, considering I've been chasing after you for centuries now, Mr. D'Angelo."

I swallowed tightly, feeling the air change around us. The atmosphere darkened and tightened, the pressure on me pushing me down, forcing me to submit. I felt unable to move, fear grabbing me by the throat and holding me against the tree. The woman laughed, raising her hand, and I watched as her claws elongated from her nails.

There was no mistaking.

This was Cecelia Radcliffe.

The first and the oldest ever vampire in existence.

"Oh?" The beautiful woman raised a brow with a smirk on her red lips. Her red eyes zeroed in on my hand clutching Zander to me. "No wonder you wanted to surrender," She grinned, revealing perfectly white fangs drenched in blood. 

"You didn't want me to kill your fated."