RINI
Souta-kun looked about twenty years now. His blue hair was a tiny bit longer, but not by much. He was taller too, at least a head taller than me and he has muscles. It’s hard not to notice them, since he’s only wearing pants.
“I guess I can’t call you Souta-kun anymore. Not since you grew.” I laughed. “How old are you now anyway?”
He chuckled too. “Since it’s been a year, I’m technically only thirteen, but if you look at me you can see that my body’s about nineteen years old.” His voice was deeper too.
“So you skipped six years of your life?”
“Yes and no, I may have skipped six years, but now I’ll stay like this until I decide that I don’t want to be a werewolf anymore... Enough about me, what happened after you were kicked out of the village?”
I told him all about what happened, only changing a few parts like the killing of the human King. I said Amaya did all of that and I didn’t mention Seth. That could be a later topic, or not and I know that Amaya was coming closer now, soon she would hear us.
“I always had the feeling she would fall for a leach.” Souta said.
“He’s a jerk, it always creeps me out when he gets so close to her neck and she doesn’t even flinch, it’s like she wants to be bitten.” I replied. But at least she’s found love, I thought.
“Still, I can’t believe her-”
I stopped him. “Are you here to sass Amaya, or was there a better reason?”
“We don’t want to be ruled by a leach, the world should be ruled by someone more competent, a werewolf,” he growled.
I nodded. “Are you going to continue your attack on the palace?”
“There’s no point, Amaya’s probably told them it was us. We’re heading back to the village, the others have already left. Oh, and thanks for healing Smith, that was some wound in his gut.” I sensed Amaya coming closer.
“Take me with you.” I demanded. This is what Amaya needed to hear if things were going to go the right way.
Shocked, Souta asked, “Why?”
“I hate vampires.” Not entirely true... I mostly just hate Miranda, Kyle isn’t that bad. “The only thing they’ve done for me is give me new clothes, the chance to kill my ‘father’ and a room almost identical to my old room!” I exclaimed.
“What about your Amaya, how’s she going to take this?”
“Knowing her, she’s listening to us right now,” I could feel her eyes skim over me, “but I don’t care! I can’t stand another minute of this place!”
Souta looked around. “I thought I smelled something funny, I thought I might have been catching the scent of one of the guards,” he pondered aloud. Amaya left.
We talked a little more and Souta agreed to let me stay in his hut at the village, but he warned me that not all the werewolves would be too welcoming. A little while later something moved. I pulled Souta lower as something just missed his head. It must suck being tall.
“Amaya?” I asked and Souta snorted. All I could see was her purple eyes and some shiny metal.
“Goodbye, Rini,” she answered and spun around.
“Wait, Amaya!” She paused. “I’m sorry.” Then she kept walking. She disappeared before she could notice my worrying eyes change to smiling ones. The truth is a couple days ago, two days before the dance, I had a vision.
Raz, The brown werewolf Amaya hurt was chained up in a dark dungeon. Amaya and Lucifer were in there too and everyone looked angry. Raz growled. "Because of you that girl is coming with us to the village. It’s your fault she met Souta!" he screamed.
"SHE MET HIM BECAUSE SHE KNEW A WOMAN IN A VILLAGE WHO SENT US TO TWO OLD HAGS WHO HE WAS LIVING WITH!" Amaya screamed back, twice as loud. She dropped her voice to a hiss. "She was the one who wanted to leave the castle in the human world. If SHE hadn’t been so intent on leaving, she wouldn’t have met him."
I didn’t know she felt that way. It sounds like she’d have rather stayed a blacksmith.
Raz growled and spit at her foot, missing. She laughed in his face and turned to stalk out of the room. Lucifer reached for her shoulder, saying something about how she shouldn’t go through that room, but a yell drowned him out, coming from the next room. She pulled open the door and stopped. Kyle was chained to the wall in diamond shackles. He was thrashing and yelling with a crazed look in his blood red eyes. She screamed and cringed into the wall, he glared at her, his eyes filled with malevolence. His arms continued thrashing as his angry eyes kept hers. A chain broke.
Souta stayed with me in the forest. If I was going to save her I knew I had to get back to the castle before that chain broke. I’d keep an eye on Raz and make sure he didn’t get captured until the time was right and I was ready to burst in there. Raz was sitting just outside the cave we were in watching us.
“Tell me when he leaves.” I told Souta. I laid my head on his chest and closed my eyes. I could hear him breathing, the heat of his burning skin seeped through his shirt and into me. I heard some footsteps, but my eyes stayed shut. I fell asleep. The whole time ‘Save Amaya’ was my only thought, the chain breaking was all I could see.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Do you think she’s sick?”
“I don’t know,” answered Souta’s voice. “I can’t find anything wrong with her, but it might be a human sickness.”
“I think she’s waking up.” A man with brown hair was crouched over me. My head was no longer on Souta’s chest, but now on a sweater.
“WHERE’S RAZ?!?” I jolted up and got a little dizzy. Souta’s hand pushed me down.
“Get some rest. I think you’re sick, you’ve been sleeping for two days.”
“Shit. I have to get to the castle now.” I pushed Souta away and tried to fly, but fell down. I started running and he was beside me. “I’ll explain on the way. Amaya needs me.” He disappeared and returned as a wolf. He shoved between my legs and I put my arms around his neck.
We quickly arrived at the castle, but Mira and Miranda were in the way. “Move!” I screamed. The image of his chain breaking played in my head over and over. ‘Save Amaya’ were my only thoughts. I jumped at Mira and caught her by the neck. Miranda was all over Souta, but he pushed her away. Mira and I quickly changed places when she realised what was going on. She clawed at my arms when I kicked her in the stomach. She caught my hair and wrapped her arms around my throat.
“Rini,” Mira and Miranda backed off at the sound of Amaya’s voice. She was alright. I let out a sigh.
“Go back to the castle, Amaya,” I yelled. “I think you love one of the bloodsuckers there!” She can’t know I cared for her. I can’t let that other future happen.
“No!” she yelled back.
“We just want Raz back, then we’ll leave.”
“Wait here without killing each other and I’ll talk to Lucifer.” She took off. I stood there and waited. A flower beside me was wilting. I reached out my hand and it wiggled, but did not much more. ‘Are my powers gone?’ I thought. Amaya came back and passed Raz to us.
“Thank you, now we shall be off.” I said for Souta. I turned, but hesitated.
“I hope you realize that you’ve put Seth into a state of depression!” she yelled. Raz covered his laugh. I kept on walking and wiped away my tears before she noticed. At least she was safer here.
“Tell him sorry.” I tried to keep my voice steady so she wouldn’t notice. Then I disappeared behind the trees. Raz took one look at me and ran off. Souta helped me back to the camp. I took a step into the cave and almost hit the ground before Souta caught me.
“Rini?” He sounded so far away, like a whisper. “Rini!” He wrapped his arms around me, trying to warm me up. I felt like ice and his hands were as hot as the sun. Everything went black. Someone else’s hands grabbed me.
“It might just be a flu or some hypothermia, but her breathing is too deep and her heart is pumping slowly with occasional quick bursts.” Raz laid me down and covered me with something. “We should keep her warm, but she can’t overheat.”
“I should’ve known when her powers vanished.” I could hear Souta beside me and reached out. I felt his hand before I fell asleep.
I had a dreamless sleep. All I could see was Amaya. She was lying in a bed, but she was on fire. I was still really cold, but my body felt really light.
“I’m sorry Souta.” Raz was whispering. “Nothing is working. Her heartbeat has already slowed to half that of the average person and she keeps getting colder. She’s dying.” There were a lot of crashing sounds. Things were falling and hitting the ground. “There’s only one way to save her.”
“I can’t.” He whispered back. “She won’t survive the transformation. Only one person has.”
“If you don’t, she’ll die anyway.” Some howls were heard. I heard the flick of a pocketknife opening and Raz held my mouth open. I shivered.
And I screamed. My eyes opened and my body crashed back into the ground. Souta had a slit on his wrist, but stopped the blood before it reached me when he saw I was awake.
“Rini?” I could feel my body shaking. Everything went black again then I saw Amaya on a bed with Kyle biting her. Lucifer and someone else were injecting something into her. Then the imaged switched. Two babies were beside each other, one with blonde hair and the other with black. And again. This time a little girl with black and orange hair was sitting on a stool watching an old man hit a sword. Now she was presenting a sword to my father. Then it was the night we left. Now I was watching Yuuki and Ada die. I saw Kyle on the street. We met Lucifer. A lot of the following images were Kyle or me. It was the dance. Souta and I were fighting. I yelled at Amaya. I saw Raz, then Seth saved Amaya. She was crying and he comforted her. I saw us fighting. Kyle in chains. Amaya’s powers went haywire, then she blacked out. I could hear people fighting then I saw Kyle biting her again. He was saving her, and I think me.
My body calmed down. I wasn’t cold anymore. The colour returned to my skin. I sat up. Raz pushed me down.
“She’s fine.” said Souta. “She’ll still get up even if she isn’t, no matter what you do.”
“Thanks.” I told Souta. I went outside and sat on a rock. My hands rubbed against my face and I let out a sigh. I thought about what had happened. I seemed to be getting the reverse effects of what was happening to Amaya when she was going through both of her transformations. When she was hot, I was cold; where her heart was beating quickly, mine was too slow. Her breaths were shallow and mine were deep. Our connection as twins must run deeper than I thought. I started fidgeting with my bracelet.
Also who was that new guy? He was injecting her with something and it looked like Lucifer and Kyle trusted him, but I’ve never seen him before in my life. He looked like a mini Kyle, maybe his brother.
Finally there was Seth. I didn’t think he cared so much. He was really hurt by me, but he stuck by Amaya when she was sad. He comforted her and saved her when I couldn’t. I have to give him my thanks and I’ve really wanted to see him again. I’ve missed him, but how could I get back into the castle? I can’t walk in the front door, especially if Amaya will be able to hear me from far away. I don’t want her to know what I’m doing. It’ll ruin my plan and ‘that’ will happen if she finds out. I kept fiddling with my bracelet when I noticed that one of the little silver charms was a wardrobe. If I could take clothes in and out of the wardrobe, why couldn’t I do the same with people? I just need a time to do it. My answer didn’t come until 2 days later.
"Time to hunt," Kyle said, taking Amaya’s hand. She now had flawless white skin and long slender nails. I couldn’t see any of the scars she used to have. Her hair looked healthier than before and her eyes were reddish-purple. "You want help?" he asked her after jumping off a balcony. Amaya jumped off and landed just as gracefully as he did. They started running through the forest with crazy speed.
"Quit holding back!" Amaya commanded. Her voice was musical and sweet, but you could still hear her confident edge.
"I’m not!" They continued running.
“What am I hunting?" Amaya asked.
"A human, we’ll be at the border in ten minutes," he replied. He looked like he was struggling to keep up.
"Ten minutes!?"
Ten minutes. If it took her ten minutes to get there and ten to get back, I had at least twenty minutes to get in and out. That was enough, or at least I think it is. Getting in would be easy, I just have to find Seth and come across a way to get out without being spotted. I played the vision again in my mind. It was around noon and since it was already almost dusk, they would be hunting tomorrow. I should get ready. I walked back over to the cave and saw Souta lying down. When I took a step towards him, his eyes opened.
“I have to go now. I’ll be back tomorrow around sunset.”
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“To town,” I lied. Well, it isn’t really a lie. I’ll have to go through town to get to the creek.
“Ok, I’ll come with you.” He looked at me and knew what I was going to say. “It’s dangerous at night. We’re still on the vamps’ land. What if you lose your powers again.” He stared me in the eyes like he had already decided that he was coming.
“It’s just to town.” I said. I couldn’t have him coming. He’d blow my cover and probably wouldn’t want me seeing Seth, or any vampires. I hadn’t told anyone about the new Amaya yet. “I’ll be fine. I won’t lose my powers again.” He didn’t look convinced.
“Fine.” He said. He kissed my forehead then I left, going south. I flew there and got to the town in thirty minutes. Like I said, nothing happened. I walked into the closest inn and bath. I bought a room for one night.
The bath was pretty small and lucky for me; I was the only one there. I pulled off my clothes and my backpack and put them in the corner. I took the only thing I had in my backpack out. It was a small bundle and when I unwrapped it, I saw a little square of pink soap. It was the soap Kyle had given me when we first met him. I put the old clothes in the backpack and placed them in the garbage. I wouldn’t need them anymore. The water was calm and very hot. I swirled the water around, making sure my whole body was covered. The super strong soap mixed with the water, turning it a light pink tint. I washed for a long time, making sure all the smell was off me. When I was done, I got out of the bath and grabbed my charm bracelet. A light emitted from it and I was wearing some black leather pants and a black tank top with my belly showing. It looks like they haven’t emptied my wardrobe yet. Of course, I had some leather boots to match. I looked in the mirror and concentrated. My hair turned black and a few inches shorter. My nose grew a little longer and face was slimmer, but I didn’t alter my eyes. I leaned against the vanity and played with my bracelet again. Light came again and beside me was a small leather backpack. Inside it was some more of the scented soap, parchment and a pen, an extra change of clothes, some provisions and a picture I drew of Seth, Kyle, Amaya and I. In the front pocket was some money. I knew it would be smart to keep a few of these backpacks in my wardrobe.
I walked, with my new look, out of the inn and onto a street. I walked by an alley where I saw a blue wolf, but it didn’t recognize me. I found a bench in the town square and started drawing. It was Seth from the night of the dance. We were dancing. I saw this from Amaya’s eyes when she was bitten by Kyle. My smoke grey dress shone more like silver and my loose wavy hair bounced around. My dress matched Seth’s silver hair and eyes. He was in a black tux. Seth was trying to teach me how to waltz. I flipped the page and drew another picture. This time it was Amaya beaming when she said ‘Good Morning’ to me. Obviously she was happy about something, probably Kyle’s doing. It was around eleven so I went back to the inn and fell asleep. When I woke up it was almost noon. I grabbed my backpack and left the inn, heading east. When I was out of the town, I waited. Nobody followed me so Souta still didn’t recognize me. I looked to the sky and saw the sun almost overhead. ‘In three, two... one.’ I thought. I grabbed the charm and this time instead of the bracelet glowing, I was. The glow covered my whole body and in a matter of milliseconds, I was gone.
There was wood all around me. I moved to the side and some sparkles fell on me. I’m hoping that was my dress. I pushed on the wall and a door opened. My room looked exactly as it had before. It was still covered in green and black silks. The furniture was all in the same place. The only difference was that a chair in the corner looked like someone ‘accidentally’ lit it on fire. ‘Amaya’ I thought. Now I just had to find Seth. I stuck my head through the door to see no one and took a step outside. I took another step, but instead of walking forward, I fell backwards and into a wall. Now I was beside my balcony.
“What are you doing here?” a growl escaped his throat. Now I was pushed onto the bed. His hand covered my mouth before I could scream from the pain. My arm had snapped.
“How did you know it was me?”
“You smell.” The pain in my arm had reached me. I blinked and he had backed off. He was sitting on a chair on the other side of the room. My disguise slipped away. “What are you doing here?” Seth repeated.
“I came to see you.” I said. “I need to thank you.” I focussed on my arm and felt the bone heal. “When Kyle was in chains, you saved her before he broke free. He could have killed her.”
“Is that all?” He interrupted. A growl escaped his lips.
“No. You consoled her and were there for her. I should have told you I was going to leave, but its better this way -”
“How do you know what’s better?” There was another growl. “You’re staying with werewolves. If you think that’s better, then there’s something wrong with -” Seth was at the window and looked out.
“I -” his hand covered my mouth. Worry lined his face.
“Amaya and Kyle are back.” He whispered, “You have to get out of here. I don’t know what she’ll do if she knows you’re here, especially if she sees you.” He grabbed my hand and threw me onto the balcony. “I’ll distract them.”
“Bu -” he was gone. The twisted metal balcony was still fully intact. I crouched low when I saw two shadows exiting the surrounding forest. I peeked through the bars and saw Amaya, Kyle and Seth talking, but couldn’t hear what they were saying. Seth was the only one facing me. I stood up and kicked off. I didn’t go anywhere. I pushed harder and after hearing a rip, I soared like I was shot through a slingshot. I looked back and saw a backpack hanging off the balcony. ‘Shit’ I thought. Amaya leaned into Seth then turned towards the castle.
“Where is she?” I heard her scream. I dived for the cover of the forest. I could just imagine her eyes darting around. I didn’t stop.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
SETH
‘Save Amaya, Save HER!’ I ran through the hall. Lucifer was standing outside the dungeon. “Where’s Amaya?” He pointed inside the dungeon. I heard growls. It was the room where Kyle was. ‘Save Amaya’ it was Rini’s voice again. This time it was more worried than screaming like before. There was a scream. Amaya was up against the wall crying. I pulled her out and carried her to her bedroom. She immediately grabbed the pillow and brought it to her chest. I rubbed her arm.
“It’ll be okay.” I said. She looked at me then started crying again, but this time into my shirt. “I won’t tell anyone about this.” I whispered. She kept crying. I tucked her in after she fell asleep.
I must be going crazy if I can hear her voice when she isn’t here.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I walked the halls. This job is boring now that Amaya is always with Kyle and Rini is gone. A smell filled the hall. It was indescribable. I’ve only smelt one thing that came close to this scent before and that was Rini. I turned to walk away but my legs wouldn’t let me. ‘Seth’ said a voice. I hadn’t heard it since the Amaya incident. ‘Where are you?’ I followed the fragrance to the hall where I used to stand every day. A door opened and a head looked the other way. It had black hair and fair skin. I grabbed her and pushed her against the wall, then over to the balcony. I leaned in and took a deep breath.
“What are you doing here?” I growled and pushed her onto the bed. Inhaling again before I covered her mouth. Her arm had broken.
“How did you know it was me?” she really doesn’t know anything about vampires.
“You smell,” I whispered in her ear, taking another breath. Water was welling up in her eyes and she tried to blink the pain away. I jumped back and sat in a chair. How could I have let myself hurt her? She looked like the normal Rini now. “What are you doing here?” I repeated.
“I came to see you,” she said. “I need to thank you. When Kyle was in chains you saved Amaya before he broke free. He could have killed her.” I only saved her because Rini’s voice told me to, but I couldn’t say that.
“Is that all?” I rumbled.
“No. You consoled her and were there for her. I should have told you I was going to leave, but its better this way -” I jumped to the window. Someone was talking. I saw Amaya and Kyle emerge from the forest. “I -” she started, but I covered her mouth.
“Amaya and Kyle are back. You have to get out of here. I don’t know what she’ll do if she knows you’re here, especially if she sees you.” I threw Rini onto the balcony. “I’ll distract them.”
“Bu -” she said. I was already making my way to Amaya. I stopped them and turned them around. Thankfully the wind was blowing towards my front and away from Amaya and Kyle so they wouldn’t sense the trace of Rini on me. I think Kyle did already as he was looking at me with wide eyes.
“So how was your first hunt?”
“It was fun.” Amaya said. I tried to keep my eyes on Amaya, but they darted back to Rini. She was stuck.
“What did you catch?”
“A stray hiker around the border, he had no idea I was coming.” She smiled showing off her new fangs. My eyes darted back again as the wind changed. She wasn’t stuck anymore. She must have used her wind magic to get free.
“I remember my first hunt.” Amaya leaned in. She must have smelled something when the wind briefly changed. I took a step back, but she was faster with her new powers.
“Human?” she said, “but you don’t have to hunt until next year. The only human you hung out with was Ri- ... Rini.” Amaya turned towards the castle and ran. I couldn’t catch up to her and neither could Kyle, but he was closer to her. He must have expected this as soon as he noticed who I smelled like. “Rini!” she screamed. “WHERE IS SHE!?!”
When I caught up she was already on the balcony. She had a backpack in her hand. She reached in her hand and pulled out some soap, provisions, clothes, a pen and some parchment. She looked through the parchment.
“Amaya,” Kyle said. She flipped through the pages. There was a picture of the four of us. Rini and I were dancing in the second picture and in the last picture Amaya was smiling. She dropped the papers and looked at me.
“It’s all your fault!” she screamed. She threw me off the balcony then followed my body and landed on me. She punched me in the jaw. She was screaming something, but I couldn’t understand it.
“Amaya,” Kyle said again. She looked at him, if she was still human tears would have been streaming down her face. Her look said ‘stay out of this’ and he backed up. I just let her beat me. She punched and clawed and swore. Eventually she just stopped fighting and took deep breaths even though she didn’t have to breathe. She got up and walked away.
Souta-kun looked about twenty years now. His blue hair was a tiny bit longer, but not by much. He was taller too, at least a head taller than me and he has muscles. It’s hard not to notice them, since he’s only wearing pants.
“I guess I can’t call you Souta-kun anymore. Not since you grew.” I laughed. “How old are you now anyway?”
He chuckled too. “Since it’s been a year, I’m technically only thirteen, but if you look at me you can see that my body’s about nineteen years old.” His voice was deeper too.
“So you skipped six years of your life?”
“Yes and no, I may have skipped six years, but now I’ll stay like this until I decide that I don’t want to be a werewolf anymore... Enough about me, what happened after you were kicked out of the village?”
I told him all about what happened, only changing a few parts like the killing of the human King. I said Amaya did all of that and I didn’t mention Seth. That could be a later topic, or not and I know that Amaya was coming closer now, soon she would hear us.
“I always had the feeling she would fall for a leach.” Souta said.
“He’s a jerk, it always creeps me out when he gets so close to her neck and she doesn’t even flinch, it’s like she wants to be bitten.” I replied. But at least she’s found love, I thought.
“Still, I can’t believe her-”
I stopped him. “Are you here to sass Amaya, or was there a better reason?”
“We don’t want to be ruled by a leach, the world should be ruled by someone more competent, a werewolf,” he growled.
I nodded. “Are you going to continue your attack on the palace?”
“There’s no point, Amaya’s probably told them it was us. We’re heading back to the village, the others have already left. Oh, and thanks for healing Smith, that was some wound in his gut.” I sensed Amaya coming closer.
“Take me with you.” I demanded. This is what Amaya needed to hear if things were going to go the right way.
Shocked, Souta asked, “Why?”
“I hate vampires.” Not entirely true... I mostly just hate Miranda, Kyle isn’t that bad. “The only thing they’ve done for me is give me new clothes, the chance to kill my ‘father’ and a room almost identical to my old room!” I exclaimed.
“What about your Amaya, how’s she going to take this?”
“Knowing her, she’s listening to us right now,” I could feel her eyes skim over me, “but I don’t care! I can’t stand another minute of this place!”
Souta looked around. “I thought I smelled something funny, I thought I might have been catching the scent of one of the guards,” he pondered aloud. Amaya left.
We talked a little more and Souta agreed to let me stay in his hut at the village, but he warned me that not all the werewolves would be too welcoming. A little while later something moved. I pulled Souta lower as something just missed his head. It must suck being tall.
“Amaya?” I asked and Souta snorted. All I could see was her purple eyes and some shiny metal.
“Goodbye, Rini,” she answered and spun around.
“Wait, Amaya!” She paused. “I’m sorry.” Then she kept walking. She disappeared before she could notice my worrying eyes change to smiling ones. The truth is a couple days ago, two days before the dance, I had a vision.
Raz, The brown werewolf Amaya hurt was chained up in a dark dungeon. Amaya and Lucifer were in there too and everyone looked angry. Raz growled. "Because of you that girl is coming with us to the village. It’s your fault she met Souta!" he screamed.
"SHE MET HIM BECAUSE SHE KNEW A WOMAN IN A VILLAGE WHO SENT US TO TWO OLD HAGS WHO HE WAS LIVING WITH!" Amaya screamed back, twice as loud. She dropped her voice to a hiss. "She was the one who wanted to leave the castle in the human world. If SHE hadn’t been so intent on leaving, she wouldn’t have met him."
I didn’t know she felt that way. It sounds like she’d have rather stayed a blacksmith.
Raz growled and spit at her foot, missing. She laughed in his face and turned to stalk out of the room. Lucifer reached for her shoulder, saying something about how she shouldn’t go through that room, but a yell drowned him out, coming from the next room. She pulled open the door and stopped. Kyle was chained to the wall in diamond shackles. He was thrashing and yelling with a crazed look in his blood red eyes. She screamed and cringed into the wall, he glared at her, his eyes filled with malevolence. His arms continued thrashing as his angry eyes kept hers. A chain broke.
Souta stayed with me in the forest. If I was going to save her I knew I had to get back to the castle before that chain broke. I’d keep an eye on Raz and make sure he didn’t get captured until the time was right and I was ready to burst in there. Raz was sitting just outside the cave we were in watching us.
“Tell me when he leaves.” I told Souta. I laid my head on his chest and closed my eyes. I could hear him breathing, the heat of his burning skin seeped through his shirt and into me. I heard some footsteps, but my eyes stayed shut. I fell asleep. The whole time ‘Save Amaya’ was my only thought, the chain breaking was all I could see.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Do you think she’s sick?”
“I don’t know,” answered Souta’s voice. “I can’t find anything wrong with her, but it might be a human sickness.”
“I think she’s waking up.” A man with brown hair was crouched over me. My head was no longer on Souta’s chest, but now on a sweater.
“WHERE’S RAZ?!?” I jolted up and got a little dizzy. Souta’s hand pushed me down.
“Get some rest. I think you’re sick, you’ve been sleeping for two days.”
“Shit. I have to get to the castle now.” I pushed Souta away and tried to fly, but fell down. I started running and he was beside me. “I’ll explain on the way. Amaya needs me.” He disappeared and returned as a wolf. He shoved between my legs and I put my arms around his neck.
We quickly arrived at the castle, but Mira and Miranda were in the way. “Move!” I screamed. The image of his chain breaking played in my head over and over. ‘Save Amaya’ were my only thoughts. I jumped at Mira and caught her by the neck. Miranda was all over Souta, but he pushed her away. Mira and I quickly changed places when she realised what was going on. She clawed at my arms when I kicked her in the stomach. She caught my hair and wrapped her arms around my throat.
“Rini,” Mira and Miranda backed off at the sound of Amaya’s voice. She was alright. I let out a sigh.
“Go back to the castle, Amaya,” I yelled. “I think you love one of the bloodsuckers there!” She can’t know I cared for her. I can’t let that other future happen.
“No!” she yelled back.
“We just want Raz back, then we’ll leave.”
“Wait here without killing each other and I’ll talk to Lucifer.” She took off. I stood there and waited. A flower beside me was wilting. I reached out my hand and it wiggled, but did not much more. ‘Are my powers gone?’ I thought. Amaya came back and passed Raz to us.
“Thank you, now we shall be off.” I said for Souta. I turned, but hesitated.
“I hope you realize that you’ve put Seth into a state of depression!” she yelled. Raz covered his laugh. I kept on walking and wiped away my tears before she noticed. At least she was safer here.
“Tell him sorry.” I tried to keep my voice steady so she wouldn’t notice. Then I disappeared behind the trees. Raz took one look at me and ran off. Souta helped me back to the camp. I took a step into the cave and almost hit the ground before Souta caught me.
“Rini?” He sounded so far away, like a whisper. “Rini!” He wrapped his arms around me, trying to warm me up. I felt like ice and his hands were as hot as the sun. Everything went black. Someone else’s hands grabbed me.
“It might just be a flu or some hypothermia, but her breathing is too deep and her heart is pumping slowly with occasional quick bursts.” Raz laid me down and covered me with something. “We should keep her warm, but she can’t overheat.”
“I should’ve known when her powers vanished.” I could hear Souta beside me and reached out. I felt his hand before I fell asleep.
I had a dreamless sleep. All I could see was Amaya. She was lying in a bed, but she was on fire. I was still really cold, but my body felt really light.
“I’m sorry Souta.” Raz was whispering. “Nothing is working. Her heartbeat has already slowed to half that of the average person and she keeps getting colder. She’s dying.” There were a lot of crashing sounds. Things were falling and hitting the ground. “There’s only one way to save her.”
“I can’t.” He whispered back. “She won’t survive the transformation. Only one person has.”
“If you don’t, she’ll die anyway.” Some howls were heard. I heard the flick of a pocketknife opening and Raz held my mouth open. I shivered.
And I screamed. My eyes opened and my body crashed back into the ground. Souta had a slit on his wrist, but stopped the blood before it reached me when he saw I was awake.
“Rini?” I could feel my body shaking. Everything went black again then I saw Amaya on a bed with Kyle biting her. Lucifer and someone else were injecting something into her. Then the imaged switched. Two babies were beside each other, one with blonde hair and the other with black. And again. This time a little girl with black and orange hair was sitting on a stool watching an old man hit a sword. Now she was presenting a sword to my father. Then it was the night we left. Now I was watching Yuuki and Ada die. I saw Kyle on the street. We met Lucifer. A lot of the following images were Kyle or me. It was the dance. Souta and I were fighting. I yelled at Amaya. I saw Raz, then Seth saved Amaya. She was crying and he comforted her. I saw us fighting. Kyle in chains. Amaya’s powers went haywire, then she blacked out. I could hear people fighting then I saw Kyle biting her again. He was saving her, and I think me.
My body calmed down. I wasn’t cold anymore. The colour returned to my skin. I sat up. Raz pushed me down.
“She’s fine.” said Souta. “She’ll still get up even if she isn’t, no matter what you do.”
“Thanks.” I told Souta. I went outside and sat on a rock. My hands rubbed against my face and I let out a sigh. I thought about what had happened. I seemed to be getting the reverse effects of what was happening to Amaya when she was going through both of her transformations. When she was hot, I was cold; where her heart was beating quickly, mine was too slow. Her breaths were shallow and mine were deep. Our connection as twins must run deeper than I thought. I started fidgeting with my bracelet.
Also who was that new guy? He was injecting her with something and it looked like Lucifer and Kyle trusted him, but I’ve never seen him before in my life. He looked like a mini Kyle, maybe his brother.
Finally there was Seth. I didn’t think he cared so much. He was really hurt by me, but he stuck by Amaya when she was sad. He comforted her and saved her when I couldn’t. I have to give him my thanks and I’ve really wanted to see him again. I’ve missed him, but how could I get back into the castle? I can’t walk in the front door, especially if Amaya will be able to hear me from far away. I don’t want her to know what I’m doing. It’ll ruin my plan and ‘that’ will happen if she finds out. I kept fiddling with my bracelet when I noticed that one of the little silver charms was a wardrobe. If I could take clothes in and out of the wardrobe, why couldn’t I do the same with people? I just need a time to do it. My answer didn’t come until 2 days later.
"Time to hunt," Kyle said, taking Amaya’s hand. She now had flawless white skin and long slender nails. I couldn’t see any of the scars she used to have. Her hair looked healthier than before and her eyes were reddish-purple. "You want help?" he asked her after jumping off a balcony. Amaya jumped off and landed just as gracefully as he did. They started running through the forest with crazy speed.
"Quit holding back!" Amaya commanded. Her voice was musical and sweet, but you could still hear her confident edge.
"I’m not!" They continued running.
“What am I hunting?" Amaya asked.
"A human, we’ll be at the border in ten minutes," he replied. He looked like he was struggling to keep up.
"Ten minutes!?"
Ten minutes. If it took her ten minutes to get there and ten to get back, I had at least twenty minutes to get in and out. That was enough, or at least I think it is. Getting in would be easy, I just have to find Seth and come across a way to get out without being spotted. I played the vision again in my mind. It was around noon and since it was already almost dusk, they would be hunting tomorrow. I should get ready. I walked back over to the cave and saw Souta lying down. When I took a step towards him, his eyes opened.
“I have to go now. I’ll be back tomorrow around sunset.”
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“To town,” I lied. Well, it isn’t really a lie. I’ll have to go through town to get to the creek.
“Ok, I’ll come with you.” He looked at me and knew what I was going to say. “It’s dangerous at night. We’re still on the vamps’ land. What if you lose your powers again.” He stared me in the eyes like he had already decided that he was coming.
“It’s just to town.” I said. I couldn’t have him coming. He’d blow my cover and probably wouldn’t want me seeing Seth, or any vampires. I hadn’t told anyone about the new Amaya yet. “I’ll be fine. I won’t lose my powers again.” He didn’t look convinced.
“Fine.” He said. He kissed my forehead then I left, going south. I flew there and got to the town in thirty minutes. Like I said, nothing happened. I walked into the closest inn and bath. I bought a room for one night.
The bath was pretty small and lucky for me; I was the only one there. I pulled off my clothes and my backpack and put them in the corner. I took the only thing I had in my backpack out. It was a small bundle and when I unwrapped it, I saw a little square of pink soap. It was the soap Kyle had given me when we first met him. I put the old clothes in the backpack and placed them in the garbage. I wouldn’t need them anymore. The water was calm and very hot. I swirled the water around, making sure my whole body was covered. The super strong soap mixed with the water, turning it a light pink tint. I washed for a long time, making sure all the smell was off me. When I was done, I got out of the bath and grabbed my charm bracelet. A light emitted from it and I was wearing some black leather pants and a black tank top with my belly showing. It looks like they haven’t emptied my wardrobe yet. Of course, I had some leather boots to match. I looked in the mirror and concentrated. My hair turned black and a few inches shorter. My nose grew a little longer and face was slimmer, but I didn’t alter my eyes. I leaned against the vanity and played with my bracelet again. Light came again and beside me was a small leather backpack. Inside it was some more of the scented soap, parchment and a pen, an extra change of clothes, some provisions and a picture I drew of Seth, Kyle, Amaya and I. In the front pocket was some money. I knew it would be smart to keep a few of these backpacks in my wardrobe.
I walked, with my new look, out of the inn and onto a street. I walked by an alley where I saw a blue wolf, but it didn’t recognize me. I found a bench in the town square and started drawing. It was Seth from the night of the dance. We were dancing. I saw this from Amaya’s eyes when she was bitten by Kyle. My smoke grey dress shone more like silver and my loose wavy hair bounced around. My dress matched Seth’s silver hair and eyes. He was in a black tux. Seth was trying to teach me how to waltz. I flipped the page and drew another picture. This time it was Amaya beaming when she said ‘Good Morning’ to me. Obviously she was happy about something, probably Kyle’s doing. It was around eleven so I went back to the inn and fell asleep. When I woke up it was almost noon. I grabbed my backpack and left the inn, heading east. When I was out of the town, I waited. Nobody followed me so Souta still didn’t recognize me. I looked to the sky and saw the sun almost overhead. ‘In three, two... one.’ I thought. I grabbed the charm and this time instead of the bracelet glowing, I was. The glow covered my whole body and in a matter of milliseconds, I was gone.
There was wood all around me. I moved to the side and some sparkles fell on me. I’m hoping that was my dress. I pushed on the wall and a door opened. My room looked exactly as it had before. It was still covered in green and black silks. The furniture was all in the same place. The only difference was that a chair in the corner looked like someone ‘accidentally’ lit it on fire. ‘Amaya’ I thought. Now I just had to find Seth. I stuck my head through the door to see no one and took a step outside. I took another step, but instead of walking forward, I fell backwards and into a wall. Now I was beside my balcony.
“What are you doing here?” a growl escaped his throat. Now I was pushed onto the bed. His hand covered my mouth before I could scream from the pain. My arm had snapped.
“How did you know it was me?”
“You smell.” The pain in my arm had reached me. I blinked and he had backed off. He was sitting on a chair on the other side of the room. My disguise slipped away. “What are you doing here?” Seth repeated.
“I came to see you.” I said. “I need to thank you.” I focussed on my arm and felt the bone heal. “When Kyle was in chains, you saved her before he broke free. He could have killed her.”
“Is that all?” He interrupted. A growl escaped his lips.
“No. You consoled her and were there for her. I should have told you I was going to leave, but its better this way -”
“How do you know what’s better?” There was another growl. “You’re staying with werewolves. If you think that’s better, then there’s something wrong with -” Seth was at the window and looked out.
“I -” his hand covered my mouth. Worry lined his face.
“Amaya and Kyle are back.” He whispered, “You have to get out of here. I don’t know what she’ll do if she knows you’re here, especially if she sees you.” He grabbed my hand and threw me onto the balcony. “I’ll distract them.”
“Bu -” he was gone. The twisted metal balcony was still fully intact. I crouched low when I saw two shadows exiting the surrounding forest. I peeked through the bars and saw Amaya, Kyle and Seth talking, but couldn’t hear what they were saying. Seth was the only one facing me. I stood up and kicked off. I didn’t go anywhere. I pushed harder and after hearing a rip, I soared like I was shot through a slingshot. I looked back and saw a backpack hanging off the balcony. ‘Shit’ I thought. Amaya leaned into Seth then turned towards the castle.
“Where is she?” I heard her scream. I dived for the cover of the forest. I could just imagine her eyes darting around. I didn’t stop.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
SETH
‘Save Amaya, Save HER!’ I ran through the hall. Lucifer was standing outside the dungeon. “Where’s Amaya?” He pointed inside the dungeon. I heard growls. It was the room where Kyle was. ‘Save Amaya’ it was Rini’s voice again. This time it was more worried than screaming like before. There was a scream. Amaya was up against the wall crying. I pulled her out and carried her to her bedroom. She immediately grabbed the pillow and brought it to her chest. I rubbed her arm.
“It’ll be okay.” I said. She looked at me then started crying again, but this time into my shirt. “I won’t tell anyone about this.” I whispered. She kept crying. I tucked her in after she fell asleep.
I must be going crazy if I can hear her voice when she isn’t here.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I walked the halls. This job is boring now that Amaya is always with Kyle and Rini is gone. A smell filled the hall. It was indescribable. I’ve only smelt one thing that came close to this scent before and that was Rini. I turned to walk away but my legs wouldn’t let me. ‘Seth’ said a voice. I hadn’t heard it since the Amaya incident. ‘Where are you?’ I followed the fragrance to the hall where I used to stand every day. A door opened and a head looked the other way. It had black hair and fair skin. I grabbed her and pushed her against the wall, then over to the balcony. I leaned in and took a deep breath.
“What are you doing here?” I growled and pushed her onto the bed. Inhaling again before I covered her mouth. Her arm had broken.
“How did you know it was me?” she really doesn’t know anything about vampires.
“You smell,” I whispered in her ear, taking another breath. Water was welling up in her eyes and she tried to blink the pain away. I jumped back and sat in a chair. How could I have let myself hurt her? She looked like the normal Rini now. “What are you doing here?” I repeated.
“I came to see you,” she said. “I need to thank you. When Kyle was in chains you saved Amaya before he broke free. He could have killed her.” I only saved her because Rini’s voice told me to, but I couldn’t say that.
“Is that all?” I rumbled.
“No. You consoled her and were there for her. I should have told you I was going to leave, but its better this way -” I jumped to the window. Someone was talking. I saw Amaya and Kyle emerge from the forest. “I -” she started, but I covered her mouth.
“Amaya and Kyle are back. You have to get out of here. I don’t know what she’ll do if she knows you’re here, especially if she sees you.” I threw Rini onto the balcony. “I’ll distract them.”
“Bu -” she said. I was already making my way to Amaya. I stopped them and turned them around. Thankfully the wind was blowing towards my front and away from Amaya and Kyle so they wouldn’t sense the trace of Rini on me. I think Kyle did already as he was looking at me with wide eyes.
“So how was your first hunt?”
“It was fun.” Amaya said. I tried to keep my eyes on Amaya, but they darted back to Rini. She was stuck.
“What did you catch?”
“A stray hiker around the border, he had no idea I was coming.” She smiled showing off her new fangs. My eyes darted back again as the wind changed. She wasn’t stuck anymore. She must have used her wind magic to get free.
“I remember my first hunt.” Amaya leaned in. She must have smelled something when the wind briefly changed. I took a step back, but she was faster with her new powers.
“Human?” she said, “but you don’t have to hunt until next year. The only human you hung out with was Ri- ... Rini.” Amaya turned towards the castle and ran. I couldn’t catch up to her and neither could Kyle, but he was closer to her. He must have expected this as soon as he noticed who I smelled like. “Rini!” she screamed. “WHERE IS SHE!?!”
When I caught up she was already on the balcony. She had a backpack in her hand. She reached in her hand and pulled out some soap, provisions, clothes, a pen and some parchment. She looked through the parchment.
“Amaya,” Kyle said. She flipped through the pages. There was a picture of the four of us. Rini and I were dancing in the second picture and in the last picture Amaya was smiling. She dropped the papers and looked at me.
“It’s all your fault!” she screamed. She threw me off the balcony then followed my body and landed on me. She punched me in the jaw. She was screaming something, but I couldn’t understand it.
“Amaya,” Kyle said again. She looked at him, if she was still human tears would have been streaming down her face. Her look said ‘stay out of this’ and he backed up. I just let her beat me. She punched and clawed and swore. Eventually she just stopped fighting and took deep breaths even though she didn’t have to breathe. She got up and walked away.
