After putting Ethan to bed for the morning and showering I went out to the balcony. Surrounded by the scent of early morning and a fading blood moon. I leaned over the rusted gold balcony rails and allowed last night events to playback in my mind with every detail. Direct playback was a skillset every vampire possessed. No matter when we experienced it, if need be, we could recall the moment in detail as if it was currently happening.

Before Ethan distracted me with his begging. Begging that I happily to accepted. Elloren told me that the invader was a girl named Alexandera. This Alexandera girl was apparently a gifted demon. One of the ones that did not require summoning. If the barrier of hell could not keep her, then no other barrier stood a chance. Elloren said that she never saw the girls face, but she would always remember her scent. Hell’s ash is how she described it. Elloren refused to recount exactly what this Alexandera girl did to her, but Elloren’s body told me everything I needed to know. From her wrapped arms, to focusing on one spot on the ground cause if she moved her eyes even once tears would fall.

Rubbing her neck where the knife wound no longer existed, she exhaled,

“Before she slit my throat, she said that she had lied. That I wasn’t what she was looking for and she held zero intentions of bringing me back home. She said I could die for all she cared. What she found was more important. But she said important with a French accent.”

With my back against the wall of the staircase, I asked Elloren,

”Do you think your mother sent her?”

“No, why would she? Alexandera had me she let me go.”

“Oui, but was it by choice or force? How would she have gotten out of here?”

“The same way she slipped in. If you would have lost her visually for any amount of time, I am sure she would have escaped. She escaped hell after-all This girl is no rookie, Alucard. She slipped into not any vampire’s home but The Royal Vampire family’s home on the night of The Hunting Games. We only knew she was down here because she wanted us to know.”

“Why did she want us to know is the question.” Elloren nodded her head in agreement. After a few moments past she stood with question in her eyes. Patting her dress as if she was trying to remove its invisible wrinkles. She bore her eyes into mines and said,

“Alucard, Godric told me where you went last night. We both want answers after all it’s me The Holy Trinities are after. Why go there and not at least warn me? What if you died?”

I could hear concern in her voice, but on a higher level, I could hear hurt.

Pushing myself off the wall I replied, “I didn’t tell you because you needed to rest. Your mother couldn’t kill me on her best of days. (I left out the part about the sun bubble). Oui The Holy Trinities are after you, but I would never leave you alone to fight a war.”

“So, you run off to fight one alone?”

“Your mother is hardly a battle.” I said waving my hand in a dismissive way.

“Stop it, you don’t know what she is truly like. You believe things have been peaceful because she is scared? You went to her domain Alucard. Do you believe she has been sitting peacefully for a decade while I roam the earth free of her grasp? Non, Non Non. So, stop dismissing everything when it comes to that woman. Demons like Alexandera, they seek her out Alucard. I don’t know how you managed to get me from her, but I do know it’s not because you are more powerful, or she fears you.”

Taking a breath from her monologue, Elloren rubbed her temples. Before turning to head back up the cellar staircase. With my blood fresh in her system, she could easily find her way out. Tilting her head back she took a hard look at me. Normally it was the kind of look she would give that was followed by a smile or “But you are who you are”. This time nothing followed that stare. Nothing but unshared necromancer knowledge that I apparently needed to be afraid of. I thought all this time it was trauma that made Elloren so afraid of her mother, but it turns out it was Elloren’s mother that made Elloren scared of her mother.

Following her lead up the staircase, I guess it was a good time to tell her what I learned from her mother, consciously leaving out the part surrounding Godric. “She informed me I am the spell. Apparently, it’s how I found you and I would bet it’s the reason I was able to release you from her.” That stopped Elloren mid-step. Her foot literally pausing above the next stair. That we for some reason were taking one by one. Glancing up from her foot to the back of her head I asked,

“Elloren? Are you okay.” No response, “ El..lo.re..n..” Still nothing. Finally, I moved in front of her and could see while her body was here her mind was somewhere else. Her eyes vacant, but not inactive. Creepy. “Ele..”

“I hear you. Shut up and let me process.”

Rolling my eyes and turning my back towards her, I continued the journey out the cellar. This place no matter many times, time would circle around and pass again. I would never be comfortable just hanging out here. The air reeked of layers of violence and not the chosen kind. Above ground I could hear people screaming and vampires feeding. I tried to locate Ethan’s voice but no luck.

Eventually, Elloren called up with a question, “If you are the spell then what could have Alexandera have found if not me and the spell?”

That is the question I needed an answer to. Just then Ethan walked out onto the balcony with me. Wrapping himself in a thick white wool blanket, he took a deep breath. The morning sun just started to peak over the mountains and the bright light made Ethan squint his eyes and divert them to my face. Afterglow and morning glow suited him well. His skin a little flushed and the bruises on his neck looked worst than they did last night. He would heal just fine. Touching the bite marks, I smiled. “My bites always did suit you.” Nodding his head, he turned to face the morning light once more.

As the sun rose, so did the cold. For a few more moments, there was soothing silence between us.

“He spoke about you. Not romantically though. It was more like gathering information.” Gathering information? For what reason, thinking to myself.

“What sort of questions did he ask?”

“None about you directly. Only how long you have owned me. The normal things that we do with and to each other.” Ethan replied, with heat escaping his body behind every word.

“Nothing else?”

“Nothing that would make me think he is an enemy. But at some point, during the night he told me it was best to keep close. That’s when he started the games.” A gust of wind blew causing Ethan to wrap the blanket around himself tighter.

“Cold?” I asked.

“Oui. However, I want to stay out. It’s rare to witness sunrises like these.”

“Liar. You rise before the sun.”

“Before the sun, never with the sun.” Ethan replied, shrugging his shoulders.

Just then I witnessed a secret thought die out on his face. The sun finally made it over the mountain tops and with its warmth a thought sprung into my mind. Turning to face Ethan I asked, “How long did the games with you and Godric last and when did they start?”

“They lasted maybe an hour. They began shortly after The Hunting Games. He just appeared out of nowhere and not like the vampire out of nowhere.” Using Ethan’s side profile as a focus point, I recounted how long Elloren, and I must have been in the cellar. Matching up the times, I wondered if Godric really kept Ethan safe. Did Godric hear the chanting as well? Or maybe just maybe it was all one big distraction. Maybe Godric was behind it all. From the meeting at Pink Matter, to the student uniforms, even gaining an invitation to my parent’s Hunting Games. It all seemed a little to convenient.

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Snapping his bruised fingers in front of my face. Ethan’s full profile pulled my attentions from my thoughts. Bruised fingers? Just want kind of games did they play?

“It’s not him Alucard.”

“And how would you know?” I asked walking away.

I needed to rest and reset. Tonight, I would fill my parent’s in on what has been happening. My father had to know something about the chaos that brought him into this world. My coffin wasn’t required for today’s rest. My bed would do just fine. Sliding myself between the lien sheets, I laid on my back. Using my telekinesis I slid the stained glass shut. One would have never guessed that those ceiling glass doors were made from the stained glasses of several churches my father burned down. After demolishing the people of course.

Coming inside, Ethan closed the thick curtains that wrapped around more than half the room. Blocking out the sunlight altogether.

“I know because I saw the way he looks at you. That’s not the look of a man who wants to kill you. Hurt you yes, but not harm.”

Rolling over on my side bringing a pillow with me to place over my head. I replied, “Ethan you are a pain slut. For all I know he could have brainwashed you.”

“Precisely! Because I am a pain slut I know when someone is interested in giving pain. And Godric wants to give you a lot of it. Hurt of course, not harm.”

Ethan came over to me bringing with him the white wool blanket.

“It’s not him Alucard. I am not sure what is happening, but I am here whenever you need to clear your head.”

With that, Ethan placed the blanket on top of me and exited my room. Leaving me behind with more questions, more speculations. My life is beginning to become parallel to a drama series. This must end. Solving crimes, trying to prevent murders, stalking, random people becoming interested in me and those around me. And then there is Godric. I am not going to complain about him, not yet anyways.

I awoke to the sound of my name being repeated like a scratched record. That could only mean one person. Elloren. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she gave me a “I’m sorry smile.”

Slowly rising to the brink of nightfall I said, “You have nothing to apologize for.”

Pushing my curls out of my face. I pushed my chest out and pulled my shoulders back. Deep stretches felt good no matter the species.

“I have general guilt. You are only in this because of me. The home invasion was because of me. When we tell your parent’s will they blame me?”

Squinting my eyes for no other reason, then me mimicking human confused behavior. I threw my legs over the edge of the bed. My parents should be up by now. We needed to talk.

“Yes, they will, but will they hold that against you non. Will they help you? Oui.”

Sighing, Elloren dropped her head, chin to chest. “We agree then. The next best thing is to tell your parents.”

“Of course, Elloren.”

Using my index finger to tilt her head back upward where it belonged. I said, “Elloren it will be fine. I am not going to leave you to fight a war by yourself and my parents most certainly will not leave me to fight a war alone.”

Closing her green eyes, Elloren took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”

An hour later, Elloren and I sat outside inside the garden house. This place was my mother’s favorite. The soothing aromas from the Birds of Paradise plants eased the worry in Elloren shoulders. Sitting in the center of the room surrounded by poisonous plants and golden statues of feral birds. I balanced my oval back black velvet chair on its hind legs, while my parents digested the information we had given them. During the recount, Elloren could not bring herself to look my parents in the eyes. General guilt is what she called it. It is not a trait I wish to copy.

During the entire recount of events. My father did nothing to hide his disapproval of the fact that this is now also his problem. I would remind Elloren later, that when you become my father’s age, everything is disapproving.

Tapping her long black nail on the stained black glass that seated us in a circle, my mother broke the silence. “Mr. Cravemount has been possessed, the Gatekeepers were unable to contain him, Godric decays your school’s hallways, my darling daughter is some form of spell, there was an intruder in our home, Elloren was poisoned, and The Holy Trinities will return for her in three years? Are there other important details I am not conscious of?”

My mother asked the question to me. While Elloren understood French when spoken slowly, my mother has never adjusted her fluency or speed to accommodate this.

“Non mama.”

Exhaling slowly my mother stood from the table. Black silk casting a physical shadow of her mood followed in suit as she glided towards the storage cabinet. She did her best thinking when in motion. Grabbing a carbon blade from the storage. She began decapitating flowers. Following her movements with his eyes only, my father remained in place at the circle table.

I knew that stillness very well. He is deep in a past life.

Elloren hummed “Sorry” under her breath for the fourth time during this conversation.

“Mon cher, we do not require your sorries. Save them, s'il te plait.” Leaning my head back over the oval back of my chair, I glared at my mother. Holding a hand full of stems, she tossed them in a waste basket.

“Now that, I understood.” Said Elloren, as she placed her head on the glass.

“Why would I be The Spell? What defines me as being different from the others of my kind?”

“Alucard, we have been down this road before. Remember when I attempted to summon you? I couldn’t. It was as if you did not exist in my dimension span or any other dimension.” Elloren replied, lifting her head.

“I remember. The Holy Trinities could locate me well enough. She delivered the message regarding their three-year waiting period just fine.”

“I wonder if that’s because you were close by. Like vampire hearing. You can see deep into different forms even locate people on the other side. But you can’t hear them unless they are within a certain distance of you. Maybe The Holy Trinities can only contact you if they are close?”

Clasping her hands together. I could see Elloren searching through her knowledge base to see if that theory made up one puzzle piece of this bigger picture.

“That theory may hold relevance. In a time before I divided me by one, certain entities could only communicate with me telepathically if they were in my orbit. No matter how powerful they envisioned themselves.” My father said, finally joining us back in the present.

“Where did you go papa?”

“To remember my birth and the woman who cared for me.”

“Someone took care of you Mr. St. Vincent?” Elloren’s statement came out more surprising than she intended. I could see her eyes widen at the first-hand embarrassment of her statement. Without missing a beat my father replied,

“I once required assistance in order to survive. You are currently living a time I have experienced.”

“Great history is repeating itself just for me. Not so great, Alucard is the woman I need assistance from.” Elloren replied smiling at me.

Nightfall was in full effect now according to the stillness in the main house. The servant’s served all night and cleaned all day. Their time for rest has finally come. Before opening my mouth to ask my mother about my original father, something caught my ear’s attention.

I could hear clawing of some sort. Nails digging into glass. “Does anyone else hear that?” I asked.

“Oui. The new servant has not grown into her new role as of yet.” My mother replied as she continued to trim things that did require trimming.

“What does it sound like?” Elloren asked, attempting to hear what the rest of us heard.

“Sainty leaving one’s soul.” My father answered, drinking in the girl’s misery.

Standing from the table, a thought crossed my mind. What if that sound wasn’t her sanity leaving her soul. What if it was a call for help? Many moons ago, Elloren led me to her by the slamming her chains against the stone floors of her childhood basement. Otherwise, I would have never found the house.

What if, this girl led Alexandera to her last night and that girl was who Alexandera found? There would be no possible way for Alexandera to release the girl from that room. Some of our servants were witches whose bloodline was brought out my father centuries ago. If he wanted you locked in a room, you would be locked in a cage.

Turning to face my mother I asked, “Mama the new girl what is her name?”

“Clarissa.”

“How long has she been Clarissa?”

The question was rhetorically to my parents, however Elloren could follow my line of thought. Asking a question of her own.

“Does she have red hair? Unable to see without her glasses?”

“Red hair Oui. Vision decay, I am not certain.” My mother finally placed the double-bladed back in the storage draw.

In her eyes, I could see her knowing what I am about to say. Gliding across the room back to the glass table. She sat in the chair closet to my father. Black silk spilling at her feet as she adjusted her evening dress.

The Sun Eater and the Maker of the Underground sitting side by side in matching midnight blacks. Reaching over my father stroke my mother’s long red hair and in return she placed her hand on his thigh.

“Clarissa is that not the tag given to the girl whose mother would be one of The Holy Trinities?” My mother asked.

Elloren picked up on the French word “étiqueter”. Which translated in English to “Tag”. Mouthing the French word, “étiqueter” to me. I mouthed back “name”. Elloren nodded her head in understanding.

“Which witch can allow me access to see this girl?” I asked.

It was my father who replied, “The one with the raven’s hair.” He really should learn their names the way my mother did.

“Pourquoi?” My mother asked just as the moon’s light graced her face.

“I am still working on the theory. Will you allow me to explain the “why” later mama?”

Nodding her head, my mother dismissed us and by us I meant me. Elloren just came along because she would rather suck blood then to be alone with my parents. They made her uncomfortable. It’s to be expected. The only thing that separated them from the violence she knew parents could give, was that my parents did not wish to hurt her. In their own way they loved her because I loved her. However, to someone like Elloren all dark love feels like violence.