"Ooh! I'm going to go see what that's all about." Angelica smiled as she watched a few people in the village sitting down and tying string together around pieces of wood. Clara guessed what they were going was some sort of traditional task.

Clara gripped Angelica's arm and stepped away from Cage and the others.

"Please don't get yourself hurt or killed. I can't handle any more surprises today." Clara have Angelica a worried look.

"I promise I won't do anything stupid! Relax. I'm just going to try and have some fun. Might as well make our time here not so serious. Go on with Cage, I'll be fine." Angelica nodded.

"Okay." Clara muttered and turned away from Angelica.

"We can talk more privately in here." Divin held open the curtain to his large tent in the forest. Cage and Divant ducked and stepped in. Clara followed right behind them.

Talking a seat on the floor beside Cage, Clara exhaled and leaned her head on his large shoulder. It still felt as if her stomach was about to burst open. She knew the wound had healed, but it still hurt like hell.

"Are you okay darling?" Cage asked quietly as everyone else took a seat. Clara nodded in response.

The inside of the tent was clean, and yet Clara could tell it was definitely lived in. Books and shelves full of papers were everywhere. Big books, little books, thick books, skinny books, worn looking books, new looking books, and even single sheets of paper were strewn about.

"Nope. Not that one." Divin stood and searched through a few piles of books. He was looking for a certain one.

"Ah, here it is!" He smiled and lifted up the largest book Clara had ever seen in her entire life.

As Divin sat and set down the large book in his hands, Clara studied the worn cover. Although the book was old, she found herself almost smiling as she glanced at the cover. The color was a dark red, and swirls of black ran up the sides. In the center was a word Clara couldn't make out.

"Whoever made the cover definitely could have done a better job."
Clara chuckled.

"Your great great grandfather made the cover." That made Clara suddenly stop laughing. Was he serious?

"I'm confused." Clara's lips pressed into a hard line.

"This is every morsel of history, religious belief, and prophecy that most vampires believe in. Including the Tallahi." Divin flipped through some of the pages of the book and stopped when he reached a place where a chunk of pages had been torn out.

"This is one of the last copies to ever exist, and just like any of the others in the world, this one has a portion of the prophecies and stories torn out. One of the prophecies that was partially left untouched, is here on page two thousand and forty nine." Divin read a few of the lines on the page and traced where he had read with his finger tips.

"Partially?" Cage eyed the book skeptically.

"Yes. I've read this entire book, and only two parts are torn completely out, 'The Light Beneath The Lagoon', and 'To Open The Iron Gate', as well as the final pages of the most important prophecy."

"How do you know the titles of the parts torn out?" Clara glanced at Divin.

"Because the Table Of Contents page is still here. Look." He flipped back the pages and showed Clara the table of contents. The names Divin mentioned were written like he said they would be.

"Care to skip to the part where you explain what Dani and the dagger have to do with all of this." Cage held Clara close to him, one of his hands was placed on her lower back, and the other held her small hand.

"The prophecy that was only partially torn out explains everything. Why don't you both read it for yourselves." Divin slid the book cover and turned it around.

Clara began to read the text slowly and she turned the pages as she read along.

‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿୨•୧‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿
~•~
The curse of the moon brought upon the earth the monsters of the water sea. The curse of the sun brought upon the earth those who are locked away beyond the iron gate.

Those in darkness, and those in light, will know when the time has come to release those who have fallen.

A crown dagger. A key that opens the stone door.

The red moon will glow on the tenth day of the eve. Once a sacrifice of stone blood stands on the grounds, it will be time to release those buried beneath the Willow.

Hidden away, the crystal of blood must be in place before it drains.

The eldest daughter

                                ~•~
‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿୨•୧‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿

Clara stopped reading abruptly as she realized that there were no more words written. The next page of the book was torn out.

"Half of that didn't make any sense. How do you know that this dagger is the one the book is referring to?"

"Are you the oldest out of any siblings you have? And did your father or a relative give you the dagger?" Divant asked.

"I'm the oldest, and yes, my father gave it to me." Clara glanced to Cage.

"Have you ever encountered any vampires who may have wanted to take you or any of your relatives captive? Or perhaps tried to kill you?" Divin's question made Clara close her eyes. She didn't want to talk about it.

"There have been a few instances." Clara breathed out, not wanting to share too much.

"Then that's it. You are the one." Divin nodded.

"This is all crazy. We should have just left." Clara began to get up but Divant and his father stopped her.

"Please, hear us out." Divant begged and Clara sat back down in defeat.

"The man who wrote this- Stewart Jon Mainne had three sons. Gregory, Dallas, and Jhon. Are one of those names your fathers name?" Divin flipped through the old book frantically.

"My fathers name was John. And my last name isn't spelled 'Mainne', it's Mainn." Clara answered after reading the names Divin pointed to every few seconds when he found them.

"Close enough. Maybe your father went by John instead of Jhon. They sound similar, just spelled different." Divant was adamant.

"Suppose what your saying somehow is true, why wouldn't my father or mother tell me any of this? How does being written in a book of vampire mythology go unexplained?" Clara officially had enough.

"It's not mythology, and I'm not sure. Maybe your father kept it from your mother for certain reasons."

Clara. Was. Panicking. Officially. And. Couldn't. Stop. Her heart rate accelerated to a speed she didn't know it could.

What if it was true?! What if it wasn't? There is too much that is similar to deny, and there isn't enough that is similar to be completely sure. It was confusing beyond words.

"Then. . . Then explain why I am his soulmate? Why is a werewolf my mate?" Clara asked, tears in her eyes.

"That is something I can't answer. Werewolf history and prophecies differ from vampire history and prophecies, but you know that." Divin shook his head.

Clara's hands began to shake, and she rubbed her eyes as she muttered, "Clara, you're really losing it now."

Cage heard Clara mutter what she did and he furrowed his brows.

"Who's Clara?" Cage asked as he hugged his mate.

Clara sobbed harder into Cage's chest at the realization that he had heard her. Dammit.

"T-this isn't a conversation I can have right now." She sobbed and let go of Cage suddenly.

Clara turned to Divant and Divin and smiled the best she could, trying not to seem too upset. "Thank you for sharing your thoughts and beliefs. I have to go now." She said quickly and ran out of the tent.

~~~

Clara ran into the forest, away from the noise and distractions. She needed to get out her frustrations and worries alone. Wiping tears from her eyes, she glanced down at the dagger at her side. She unfastened her belt and threw it on the ground angrily.

"That's what I think of a prophecy that I somehow play a major role in. Screw you vampires." Clara spoke, her voice slightly scratchy.

"I do hope your not talking about all vampires." Orion's voice made Clara jump, and breathe a sigh of relief when she realized it was him.

"No." Clara sniffled. "I wasn't talking about you." She frowned and turned away.

Orion moved and stood in front of Clara in a flash. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"Stop doing that!. . . Please. I just don't want to talk about it." Clara hugged herself tightly.

"You're clearly not okay Dani. . . But I understand that you don't want to talk about whatever it is that is bothering you. I'll always listen if you ever want to talk."

"My name isn't Dani. It's Clara." More tears streamed down Clara's face.

"You lied." Orion looked bemused.

"Yes. I'm sorry." Clara hung her head.

Orion took a step forward and placed his arms around the crying girl in front of him. He placed a kiss on Clara's forehead sweetly and said, "Don't feel bad. We all have secrets. I'm just glad that you told me. Did Cage find out?"

Clara nodded meekly as she glanced up.

"If Cage gets upset with you over this, he's a fool. A man with any small amount of common sense shouldn't let a little lie tear apart everything. Why did you lie?" Orion spoke slowly.

"At first, I got close to Cage because I wanted to find answers I was searching for, so I gave him a fake name." Clara's tears subsided.

"So you used me? You used me, and lied to me from the start!" Cage suddenly growled as he stepped around a tall tree and pried Clara away from Orion.

Clara shuddered and watched as Cage's eye filled with the gleam of rage and sadness. The moonlight was now the only thing illuminating his strong features and scary expression.