I choked on my tea, spluttering between coughs. Reaching out of my seat, I headed to the sink. Amelia beat me to it and filled a glass with water, handing it to me. "Drink small sips."

The cold water soothed my inflamed oesophagus, ignoring the persistent frog in my throat.

Samuel rolled his eyes and took off his suit jacket, laying it on the back of the chair. "And this is why I dislike humans. So fragile." 

Amelia turned her attention back to Samuel, leaning against the countertop. "Who's Akrsna? Another vampire?"

I sunk back in my chair, clinging to the glass. The more questions Amelia asked, the more curious I became. I didn't have a great deal of knowledge about him, either.

"You wish." He grabbed the bottle, pouring more scotch and held out the half-filled tumbler towards Amelia. "Go on. Loosen up a bit."

She pursed her lips, shaking her head. "I'm technically on duty. I can't administer chemo whilst under the influence."

"Hmph." He grunted and shrugged, swirling the liquor. "More for me."

We waited as he downed the drink, puckering his lips from the aftertaste. "Akrsna practised black magic for centuries and sacrificed humans, sucking the energy from their souls. It's what gave him a dark spirit."

Woah, I wasn't expecting that. But then again, this is Shadowbrook. Nothing fazes me now.

Samuel continued, delicately placing the tumbler back on the table. "He was the most powerful witch in the 1720s, and unfortunately for us, his distaste for vampires drove him over the edge. A sacrifice ritual of humans allowed him to gain the strength to 'put us down,' so to speak."

How can someone dislike vampires so much that he murders innocent humans out of spite?

Akrsna used them as pawns to get what he wanted.

She gave a short chuckle, gesturing the length of him. "I see he didn't succeed."

"On the contrary, he succeeded in other ways." Leaning on the back of the chair, he gripped the wooden frame, turning his knuckles white from the pressure. "Many of us had a second chance at life, but Akrsna didn't care who he killed as long as it impacted us in some way. Human relatives, witches and werewolves got caught in the crossfire, and some lost their lives. Nadine created a war where all downworlders stood together."

"Why are you defending her? Nadine killed Edwina, and I bet she has my dad," I said, grinding my teeth from the resentment towards her.

The vampires chased my dad for decades, hunting him like a pack of wild hyenas. Nadine always held the upper hand. It was like staring into my living room window from afar, watching the blurred outlines of my family as an outsider.

She knew about me. Nadine had been spying on my family for years, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce on her prey.

Samuel snapped, "Let's not make this about you now, shall we." His narrowed, icy stare sent shivers along my arms. "As I said before, if she has your dad, then he's a goner."

"Shut up." I raised my voice, slamming my balled fist on the table, instantly regretting it afterwards. A sharp ache spread across my knuckles and travelled down my arm.

I didn't believe him. Samuel wanted a reaction from me, and I gave it to him.

"We will find him," Amelia said with conviction, directing it towards Samuel as a hint. "Nadine isn't fearful of anyone."

He dismissed my outburst. "Every vampire fears Akrsna, but Nadine more so. Downworlders need to protect their own. The vampires with this tattoo," Samuel picked up the piece of paper, "They each declared their allegiance to help save us."

"It doesn't make sense. Vampires are protecting their own, but that vampire who chased me was out to kill me." I knew that from the desire in his eyes and his predatory style.

An abrupt sarcastic laugh echoed around the kitchen. "I'm impressed at how you make everything about you. Like father like daughter."

My cheeks flushed with rage from what Samuel assumed about my father.

"That's enough, both of you." Amelia frowned, lifting her hands on her hips. "So I take it you're not loyal to Nadine? Not like the others."

Clicking his tongue against the side of his mouth, he smirked. "I work on my own. No loyalties. No commitments." His expression dulled, and his eyes hardened, boring into me. "If he sets foot on earth, we're all doomed."

Can he see right through my facade?

When I bumped into him, I had a vision. I wondered if he sensed something was off from my touch. 

"Please say he's dead, and there's no chance of him coming back?" Amelia said. "Witches are mortal, and that was over three hundred years ago."

Akrsna was invisible to the eye, meaning he wasn't a ghost but an entity. Only Edwina could communicate with him from the other side. She was the puppet, and he was the puppeteer.

Samuel said, "A witch trapped him in a coffin and buried him deep underground. He's probably too busy eating worms and sucking the nutrients from the soil."

I knew one thing for certain, Akrsna wasn't dead.

A distant childhood memory resurfaced as the window shattered, sprinkling transparent shards as they hit the tiled floor like pelts of rain. It brought me back to the days when Mum had clumsily dropped a bottle or two on the floor, smashing her prized luxury.

Flinching, I ducked under the table for shelter.

"Erika?" Amelia crouched on the floor as Samuel covered her body like a shield.

Samuel knitted his brows, giving me the once over. "Stay low," he whispered.

Brushing the jagged pieces of glass off my clothes, I noticed a brick lying on the floor, inches from where I sat. A rag of dark material wrapped around it. Somebody threw a brick deliberately through the window.

Am I the target?

Crawling along the floor, I reached for the culprit, minding the confetti of broken glass decorating the centre of the kitchen.

"I smell blood." He snatched the brick from my hands, untying the string in a rush. A finger with a golden wedding ring dropped to the floor. The wedding band looked familiar because of all the times he twisted it around his finger when he was nervous.

No. No. It can't be.

Sudden dread hit me like a wave, crushing me with force. Choking back the bile, I sunk into Amelia's embrace as my heart cracked in two.

A/N

Word Count: 1,091

Do you think Akrsna really is alive, or do you think Edwina is going crazy?

Is that Richard's finger, and most importantly, do you think he is still alive?

Have a fantastic day!

(㇏(•̀ᵥᵥ•́)ノ)