The Royal Hunting Lodge

Sophie Reese

The air crackled with electricity as Casper's gaze flickered between Sally and Blood. I wasn't sure how much of the conversation he had overheard, but is was clearly furious. His eyes, now black bore into Sally.

"Why didn't you tell us that you were related to Sophie?" he demanded.

"The poor girl has been through enough! I didn't want to overwhelm her," Sally explained unapologetically.

Casper shook his head in disbelief, "You knew she was in danger, yet you decided to withhold vital information regarding her safety from us."

"Like I said, I didn't want to overwhelm Sophie," Sally stated, but this time their was an edge of uncertainty in her voice.

"But you could have at least told ME that she was in danger!"

"I owe you nothing, while you were chained to a prison floor, I was taking care of Sophie! It was me who watched and protected her for all these years before you came along. My loyalty is to her, not to you!" she spat at him.

Silence fell between them and I could see tears of anger burning in Sally's eyes. It shocked me how much she truly hated Casper. Her fists were clenched by her side and I could see Blood placing a restraining hand on her shoulder.

"Sally," Blood breathed, "Relax."

She didn't relax. Her whole body was coiled like a snake ready to strike. She stood in front of Casper with no fear or remorse in her eyes. 

"You don't deserve her," she eventually breathed.

Casper's eyes softened and he replied, "I know."

The tension between them eased as an icy wind blew around us. There was a smell in the air that was coming from between the pines.

I could smell the blood spoiling in the snow and the danger beyond the wall was pushing in, moving silently moving forward, and claiming lives as it went.

It wanted me.

It wanted Mia.

But why?

"Sally?" I called.

Sally's gaze turned towards me and her eyes softened with love and warmth.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I asked her.

"Back when you were human, I thought the only one way to protect you was to hide you from the past. I wanted you to live a long happy life as a human, not as vampire. I knew the danger you would be in if he," she said giving Casper a glare, "Came looking for you."

"So you're blaming Casper?"

"This is all his fault. If he hadn't turned you into a vampire then you would be safe. No demon would've bothered with a human. Don't you see? Casper took away your single chance at a normal life."

I finally understood why she hated him. He had ruined her plans to safeguard from the monsters, demons and vampires that wanted to kill me. She thought that keeping me human was safest way to protect me from world... but that wasn't necessarily true. After all, it wasn't a demon or a monster that stabbed me in the neck behind a restaurant - it had been a meth addict suffering from the effects of withdrawal.

"I think you are being unfair to Casper. My shot at a normal life ended the moment I got stabbed in the neck by a human," I explained.

Sally shook her head, rejecting my argument. "He would have turned you into a vampire anyway. Getting stabbed, simply helped move his plan along."

I raised my hand to my neck and massaged the area where the blade had cut into my artery. I still remember the pain and blood pumping out the open wound. It had been so frightening, but Sally had come to my rescue, beating the likes of Casper and Nico. She had been the one to feed me her blood and turn me into a vampire.

"You were the one to turn me into a vampire. If you never wanted this life for me, then why didn't you let me die?" I asked.

"I thought about it, but I couldn't - you're too much like him," she confessed with tears in her eyes. "I see so much of my brother, Gustave, in you."

Gustave.

It was so strange to hear my father's name. Growing up, I never knew his name. There were no pictures of him or stories. I was never given any kind of reference from which I could have built a picture of him in my mind's eye. He was a ghost; an unseen presence that haunted my family, years after his sudden disappearance.

Sally was now my only connection to him. She was his half-sister, born to his father's mistress. I struggled to see any family resemblance between us. She was a tall willowy ethereal vision, while I was shorter, curvier and earthy. Her hair was poker straight and fine, while mine was wild and curly. I wanted to see something of her in me, but there was nothing.

"Do I look like him?" I asked.

"Yes, your eyes and nose are like his. He was so kind, Sophie. I wish you could have met him."

"Did he love me?"

Sally nodded, "Very much so. He didn't want to leave your mother when she was pregnant with you. But, he knew something wrong. A couple of nights before he died, he came to me. He was tired and drained, and not making sense. He said demons were trying to kill him. I thought he was having a mental breakdown, but then Blood found him a few days later, frozen dead in the snow. Something had attacked him and removed his heart."

"Was it a demon?"

"I don't know. It might have been a demon, or might have been the same people who sacrifice women in these woods."

"I would have liked to have met him," I said.

I turned away from the group, feeling empty inside.

There were so much death and blood... I didn't know how to process it.

I walked towards the nearest tree, which was an old silver birch that was covered in strange carvings. As I drew closer, I saw the tree was riddled with black rot. I reached out to touch it, but before my fingertips could make contact with the bark, Casper grabbed my wrist.

"Don't," he whispered softly, "It's poisoned."

"This is my fault," I breathed.

He shook his head, taking my hand and placing it over his heart. "I love you, Sophie."

"I'm the reason why my mother and father died. There must be something wrong with me for so many people to hate me."

"You did nothing wrong. I will find the people who were responsible for your father's death and kill them. I swear to you, I will annihilate your enemies."

The fire in his words gave me hope and for a brief second, I really believed him. However, he was just an ordinary vampire. He didn't have the power to slay a demon. The only person who could kill a demon was me, and this truth only added to the burden that I already carried.

This mess was my fault. My existence created this chaos, and whether I liked it or not, I felt a sense of duty to take responsibility for it.

"Casper," I breathed softly, reaching up on my tiptoes and pressing a kiss against his jawline, "Thank you, but I am the only one who has the strength to protect me and everyone else."

He shook his head, refusing to accept the truth. "No. I can keep you safe. We'll go back to the palace and I'll increase the number of guards."

"We're not going anywhere without Luc and Mia. I know you want to protect me, but all I really need from you is to shut up and listen. Those symbols on that tree mean something, and we need to figure out what they mean. Do you know someone who could help us?"

"I could send photos of them back to the palace and see if any of the scholars at the Royal Archive recognise them," he suggested.

"Don't bother," Sally interjected. "I know an old witch who lives not far from here, and she owes me a favour."

Casper shot her cold stare and replied, "The scholars would be a much better option."

"Those scholars have never cast a spell or touched a cauldron. They wouldn't know the first thing about this dark black magic," Sally snapped.

"I'm not going to some crackpot on the side of a mountain," Casper bit back.

"She's a witch from a long line of witches. She has grimoires and books of shadows that contain secret knowledge which is not available for a public archive. Your welcome to waste your time with your scholars, but I'm going to visit my contact and get the information my Queen requires."

Thunder cracked overhead and I could sense Casper losing his temper.

"I should have you taken away for questioning," he growled at Sally.

"Are you suggesting I'm a spy?" She replied.

I inserted myself between them, gesturing time out. "Okay, we don't have time for this bickering. Casper, you contact your scholars. Sally, you contact your witch. Gather as much information as you can and meet me back at the main house before dawn."

"The main house isn't safe. Luc is close to losing control," Casper replied.

"He's not going to lose control. We're going to find a way to save Mia, come heaven or hell." I said firmly.