I COULDN’T BREATHE OR MOVE THE SLIGHTEST OF AN inch. The truth couldn’t be real. I knew it couldn’t. I wouldn’t let it.

            How could she be my sister? I thought with disbelief. I never remembered having a sister. At least I don’t think I do. When I dig deep down into my memories of my life as a Reckoner, I only remember me, living happily with my boyfriend, having fun and talking gossip with friends. But I haven’t done that in five-hundred years.

            I couldn’t meet my eyes with either Enyo’s or Sebastian’s. I could feel the venom throbbing through my veins. It felt as if I was going to explode with every pump going throughout my body.

            I could feel their gaze on me. It felt like my whole body was on fire. I felt like I was wearing a sign that said, “Look at me! I just found out I had a sister, and I’m half a century old!”

            I ripped my long gaze off my hands to look up at the two.

            They looked at me as if I were crazy. They’re eyes were wide with confusion and mouths were slightly open.

            “What is wrong, Kali?” Sebastian said respectfully. He never seemed to be rude.

            “I—I, um, I’m fine…” I said as I shook my head slightly, trying to get my cool back for a second. I couldn’t let them show that I had figured this out. I realized that I had let go of Enyo’s wrist in the meantime, which left a pretty bad red mark around her hand.

            Enyo looked at my suspiciously, narrowing her dark sapphire eyes. “Really, now? Are you positive?” she said as a toothy grin pulled up onto her lips.

            My hands started to shake with rage. My breathing went sharp and rigid. It felt like my insides were set on fire and burning to ash in seconds.

            In a flash, I was on top of her, trying to tear her eyes out the sockets. I took her by her shoulders and I propelled her at a tree, making the whole thing collapse down onto the earth with a loud crash!. I clawed at her face and neck as a deep snarl came from down low in my throat. She screeched in udder horror and tried to kick me to release her from my hold, but that only made me even angrier. She gave up and covered her face with her arms to protect her eyes from my sharp fingernails.

            At that moment, I realized we here covered in each other’s blood from head to toe. I had made deep fatal wounds to her neck, face, shoulders, and even chest that were welling up quickly with blood. I had ripped her shirt open, revealing her cleavage—which was soaked in the dark liquid.

            But there was something strange about both of our bloods. One was dark, thick and sort of mucus-y. The other—light red, a lot less thick, and a lot more like liquid. Almost like the color of Enyo’s hair.

            She was not like me. She was clearly something else, but…what?

            I thought of the possibilities. She couldn’t be a vampire, obviously. She couldn’t be a shapeshifter, they have white blood. What else was there? I couldn’t think of any. Maybe something from a different world… No, that couldn’t be. She’s my sister.

            Enyo noticed I had paused. She peeked through her arms cautiously to see what had caused me to stop. I stared at her with disbelief. I couldn’t talk or breathe again. I felt my blood hammering through my veins again. It felt like I were about to faint. My vision was blurry at the edges and I almost lost my balance.

            “Kali…” I heard Ares whisper from behind me. It sounded like he was a million miles away, but he was only right next me, speaking into my left ear. He turned to the frightened Enyo. “She… She knows…” He whispered. I could feel his eyes travel quickly to my bloody hands and back up at Enyo.

            Enyo’s eyes slowly began to get wider as the news soaked into her mind. Her arms slowly came down from her face and I heard a low hissing sound come from between her bared teeth. She quickly turned around, suddenly wild and crazed, and bolted into the deeper depths of the forest. The mid-morning sun shone on her skin when she glided past it like a sleek arrow soaring through the air. Her flaming red hair licked the trees softly as she blew by, making a whipping sound as it hit the bark.

            She was so beautiful and striking, yet so horrific and unpleasant.

Sebastian and I sat in silence for a few minutes before we made the move to start a conversation. I eyed him awkwardly as he stared out into the distance. I could see his nostrils softly rising and deflating.

He could smell something.

            “What is it, Sebastian?” I asked suspiciously.

            He stared even harder into the darkness, but shrugged it off quickly. “Nothing,” he said, not turning to look at me. His serious expression did not change when he spoke. “I’m just… Curious,”

            “About…?” I challenged gently. I didn’t want to push any of his buttons. Then I’d be all alone for sure.

            He finally turned to look at me. “Nothing you need to know,” he snapped suddenly, his lip rising over his teeth to show his light pink gums.

            I looked at him with apprehension. “Fine,” I muttered under my breath, not looking away from his eyes.

            He glanced away from the trees and eyed me up and down, his eyes sharp and narrowed. That’s when I sly smile creped up onto my lips slowly. I licked my lips lightly, and tasted blood. Not my blood, someone else’s. Enyo’s.

            I instantly dropped down to my knees to examine the blood that soaked the grass and trees and dead leaves on the ground.

I touched my index finger to my top lip and saw that it the tip was bright red. It was for sure Enyo’s. But it didn’t taste like my venom blood. It tasted like human blood.

            But she wasn’t a human… What is she?

            I looked up from my finger to Ares. He was staring at me with wide, astounded eyes. The sun shone softly on them, and I saw my reflection. To my surprise, his eyes were also a deep sea blue.

            I must ask him why this is. I look down back at my bloody finger, and back up at him, my eyes narrowed, deep in thought. “Why…” I whispered, looking into his eyes with sadness. My voice shook with slight fear. “Why must you be something different from me?”

            He stared at me for a while before answering. He had pain in his eyes. I could tell this was not an easy topic for him to talk about.

            He shifted uneasily beneath his feet. “You know why, Kali,” There was deep pain in his voice, which made it sound low and soothing.

            The truth was, is that I didn’t know. However I did not feel like arguing with him. Maybe if I thought hard enough, I would understand.

            “I—I don’t, Ares,” I stuttered. The wind suddenly picked up and blew hard in my face, making my hair fall from beneath my shoulders. It flew in the breeze like a snake slithering through sand. “I don’t understand…” I buried my face in my arms, making my voice muffled.

            “Well, I can help you understand, Kali,” He said, his voice rough and full of hope as he reached out to me and tugged on my arm softly. He wanted me to feel better. How nice of him. I only knew he was speaking of the truth and the truth only.

            I slowly took my personal shield away from my face to look into his eyes again. When my black onyx pair met his harsh sapphire pair, I felt a beam of electricity go throughout my veins again. For some reason—and I don’t know why— it seemed like we always did this; looked into each other’s eyes, felt a shock when our eyes met, got surprised, shrugged it off like it was nothing, and went about what was happening. But this time—this time, I couldn’t keep my eyes off him. I didn’t want to look away—I couldn’t. If I did, I thought I’d break out crying. But suddenly, I felt a thick, black drop run down my cheek. I was already crying—crying blood.

            “You…You—“ He didn’t quite know what to say.

            “I know,” I snapped as I sniffed and wiped the blood tear away.  It smeared all over my cheek. “I cry blood, okay? I thought you would have known that. Or maybe not,”

            “Oh, well, I am very sorry, but no. I did not.” He said softly, not wanting to set me off even more.

            I sat, looking at him with sorrow in my eyes. I shifted nervously on the ground, trying to think of how to start a conversation again. I could not think of anything at all.

            When I did not reply back, I could tell Sebastian was surprised. “Again,” he repeated, “I can help you… I just want you to know that. And I will. I promise. I wouldn’t let you do this on your own. I’d probably go crazy if I found out my enemy was my sister. And that she is half vampire half human.”

            My jaw dropped open that instant with astonishment, and I froze like a block of ice. I could only stare at my bloody hands—the blood crusting on like glue by now—that were covered in Enyo’s blood. I have never—not in my five-hundred years—heard of a half vampire half human. I never thought it could be possible.

            That explains it all! I thought with gratitude. Even though I didn’t exactly figure it out on my own, I know! I know what she is! That’s the explanation for everything! Why her eyes are not completely black, why she has red blood, why her blood tastes and smells like human blood!  I felt like running to Sebastian, burying my face in his shoulder, and balling my eyes out until I was completely out of blood to shed my tears for. I wanted to run a million miles, never to stop, never to sleep again. A rush of adrenaline raced through my veins, making my hands shake with excitement.

            I could feel Sebastian’s eyes burning onto me again. I could feel excited energy reflecting off him, too.

            I looked up at him from my hands. The words flew out of my mouth without even thinking. “Will she be back? She must, mustn’t she? She has to come back. She must—“

            “Shhh,” he cut me off in midsentence. “I know you are excited, Kali. Just… try to stay calm; I know it’s exhilarating for you. She will be back. I am not sure quite when, but I know she will. If not, we can go looking for her,” He soothed me with a taunting voice that I would be able hear miles away. I don’t know why I was so fascinated by this immortal, but I was. I probably will never know the reason why I like anything at all. Especially with all of the hard things I have been through. I should hate everything and everyone I set my eyes on. But I don’t. I look at the bright things in life, things to look forward too—most of the time. Things to make the bad memories go away. But it doesn’t always help take them away. They still linger in the back of my mind like fog; smoky and hard to see past. It never really stays, but never really leaves, either.

            I look back down at my hands again, and I suddenly my insides filled up with guilt. “I know, okay. I trust you,” I replied to Sebastian, “Just to let you know, I never really like to be the weak link. And when you get to know me, I can kick you’re ass. I just thought I’d give you a bit of a heads up before hand,” I said, a smile beaming on my face suddenly. My sharp teeth glistened in the sun’s rays like crystals. I always dazzled ones with my beautiful smile.

            Sebastian returned a bright smile of his own. “Okay, I’ll work on dealing with that. Thanks for telling me,” His smile disappeared as soon as it had emerged, and he was suddenly serious. “Now, must we not go and try to look for your sister?” He asked sensitively.

            I winced when he said of my sister. I will have to get used to the fact that I have a sister now. And that my sister is my enemy.

            I scowled darkly at him and snapped, “Fine. But I will get to lead the way.” If we will have to venture off together, he is not going to be in charge, no matter what. I don’t even care if I die in the process of trying to be the dominate one. I would die in victory and triumph.

            “Whatever you say, ma’am,” Sebastian’s smile came back to his face, and he was himself again. He motioned with his hands if I wanted help getting up.

            “I can get up myself,” I muttered under my breath harshly as I got up onto my feet abruptly. I wasn’t a little kid. I could do things by myself. …Couldn’t I? I knew that I couldn’t handle the whole sister thing on my own. How sad, a five-hundred year old vampire cannot even deal with the fact that she now has an evil sister she never knew she had, that is trying to steal her silver pendant that was given to her from her loving father on her thirteenth birthday. I’m not over-exaggerating at all, right? Well, I sure hope not.

            I led the way deeper into the gloomy forest, Sebastian following at my heels. Once and a while we would bump into each other, and it would become very awkward. He’d smile, and I’d have to smile back out of embarrassment. Sometimes I would just give him a dirty look and smile sarcastically. But I didn’t really mean it. I don’t think I did…

            We did not speak for about five miles. I could hear the oxygen escaping both of our sets of lungs with every step. We took our time, not wanting to hurry and pass something up. I could hear Ares’ nostrils expanding and relaxing as he smelled our surroundings. The crunch of our feet on the ground seemed to keep a constant rhythm, crunch, crunch, crunch

            Suddenly, a thick hand flew out in front of me. My eyes shot over to Sebastian immediately. His eyes were wide with excitement, and I could tell he heard something. At first, I couldn’t hear anything. But when I really listened, I could hear a faint crunch of the ground a few miles ahead. I took a swift sniff of the air leading ahead, and I could smell human blood. It had to be her, it had too.

            Sebastian and I looked at each other like two crazed criminals who are about to get shot down by the police. I could see the tension in his eyes. We both shot forward in the same instant, and didn’t stop to bother and look at each other.

            The semi-warm afternoon air coaxed its way through my thick hair as I forced myself against its strength. I turned my head to look at Sebastian. His ash blonde hair moved with the wind and was out away of his face.

            I got to really look at his face now. The deep olive complexion of his skin tone made his blue eyes look fierce and dangerous. I could see his strong muscles move gracefully with his body. Who ever though a buff vampire could look so beautiful while running.

            He caught me staring at him. My heart sank down in my chest and I felt all cold in my stomach. He couldn’t help but smile at me. I could tell he was embarrassed. I would be too if someone was staring at me like that while I was running.

            If I were a Reckoner, I would have been blushing right then. I gasped, surprised, and looked down instantly, not wanting to meet his eyes again.

            And we were back to running. The only thing I concentrated on was my feet hitting the ground with all of my strength. The tips of my leather boots dug into the soft soil, making it easier to run faster.

            After a few more minutes, the crunching that sounded from ahead became louder and louder with every second. If this was in fact Enyo, she would have known we were searching for her for miles. And the odd thing was, was that the footsteps were headed our way, and sounded more rapid and quick than before. Maybe this wasn’t her. Or perhaps this was just our minds playing a trick on us, and we just thought it was her.

            Shrugging that theory off, Sebastian and I decided to slow down a bit, just in case this was not Enyo, and it was in fact a Reckoner. If it was a Reckoner, we would have to destroy them or drink from their blood and kill them. Either way, they must not know of our existence. If they do, we would be indeed doomed.

            There are rules for being around humans. A few are, one, don’t—and I mean don’t—show yourself or tell yourself off to the humans. Two, don’t get to close to a human or fall in love with one, or bad things may happen. No, bad things will happen. And, three, whatever you do, never think another Sorcerer won’t find out you’re conversing with the Reckoners, because a lot of the Sorcerers have Telepathy—like me—and can read others’ thoughts from distances that may amaze you. Without a doubt, you will get caught.

            Soon, we stopped in our tracks completely. The footsteps sounded like they were coming from right next to us—but they weren’t—it was my acute hearing that was making it sound so loud.

            Sebastian listened closely again, focusing all of his concentration on the footsteps. I could tell they were less than a mile away. Ares glanced at me with a grin that could only say, let’s get this bitch! I nodded my head and returned an amused smile. I don’t know why, but I was entertained by this, and by far, was one of the most exciting things that had happened to me since finding out she was my sister. I never really though this would be possible though.

But now, I know not to underestimate yourself before you know the real truth about things.