I'll Justify My Reasons With Your Blood

As I contemplated this whole initiation business, I began to feel slightly light-headed. I sat myself down in the first room that I found unoccupied and drew in deep breaths. The world was spinning again and I knew another flashback was coming to me. I just hope that it isn’t as heart breaking as the last revelation was.

The castle, grand and previously decorated for Christmastime, with its huge tree lit up in the center of the living room, was being decorated even further for a second special celebratory occasion. The year was 1909, Romania. And the occasion just so happened to be the initiation of King Edward, who just so happened to be my own father.

You see, a vampire king typically serves a 100-year reign, which would explain how it was determined when Jared’s initiation would begin. There were three requirements that would qualify a vampire to be eligible of ruling the kingdom: be born of royal blood from the line of Dracula, be married to another vampire, and be the eldest son of the family. As for the process itself, well a large Cathedral is prepared to accommodate every single vampire who either lives in the area or wishes to watch the ceremony out of respect for his or her new ruler.

Once every seat was filled, the doors were sealed shut and the process began. The previous king walks down the aisle first, followed by his wife, and then any of their children. Then the new king’s wife walks the aisle wearing a white dress, which looked like a wedding dress. The new king follows next, dressed in his best suit. At the altar, a brief wedding ceremony takes place before the actual crowning. After that, the previous king steps forward and holds the crown above the new king who steps down on one knee.

It is at this time that, like in a wedding, anyone may step forward and announce any reasons why he or she believes that this king is not worthy of ruling. With the exception of the Leto Clan’s overtaking of the Shadows Clan’s rule, this is a very rare occurrence. The silence is accepted as the audience’s approval, the king chants a few Latin phrases, and places the crown on the new king’s head, thus beginning his official ruling.

With a bit of a startled jump, I woke myself up from my memory and stared around, confused, at the room I was in. Then I remembered why I came in here in the first place and allowed myself to relax. I had just witnessed my dad’s initiation, which should provide me with enough information to anticipate exactly when Shadows would plan on interfering. And my best bet would be either with the wedding or during the part where someone can speak his or her negative opinion on the matter.

But I just don’t see how he could succeed with that, when everyone in that building, most likely, hates his guts. Gah, I wish I had mental capabilities like they do! Then I’d gladly read all their malevolent minds and stop their plan before they can even act on it. I sighed as I stared up at the black ceiling and wished that I could go back to my normal life, regardless of how many times I had wished for some sort of excitement to occur. What a mistake that was.

*Shadows’ POV*

A bluish glow reflected back on our faces as we stared into the computer screen, repeatedly running through our brilliant plan. “It’s hard to believe that after all these years, we finally are going to regain what’s rightfully ours,” Zacky commented.

I nodded, “That’s for damn sure. And even better, we’ve got Jared’s little sister on our side as an eternal hostage now that she’s a clan member!”

“Speaking of her, I’ve noticed you’ve kind of left her alone mostly since her transformation. You wouldn’t be showing any signs of sympathy would you?” he teased.

“Yeah, in your dreams, Vengeance. I just want her to feel more on our side than her family’s. in fact, since you’re so interested, why don’t you go talk to her or something? You know, say some stuff to make her despise her family even more,” I suggested.

Zacky grinned as he stood up to leave. “With pleasure.”

*Shannon’s POV*

In anyone else’s misfortune, I would’ve found this situation to be slightly humorous – how fast a happy occasion turned so dismal. “Mom,” I assured her, “we’re trying our hardest to look for Nikki. We know she’s with them, and we know they’re keeping her alive.”

She nodded, and tried to remain calm even though her body was shaking from her attempts to hold back tears, “I know, sweetie, I just can’t fathom the thought of those monsters and what they could be doing to my baby! They did enough to her last time, and most certainly don’t need to witness that again!”

The room fell silent, and it was kind of obvious that no one could say anything to make this situation seem even remotely better.

So instead of suffocating from the silence, I decided to take my thoughts back to this strange feeling I was getting from Lillian. I know I’ve seen her before, I can’t allow myself to deny that…but where could it have been? I’ve been around for a while now and I’ve seen hundreds of faces. But, suppose she is evil, like I’m thinking…then there has to be only one group of people I could have associated her with. And that would be Shadows and his gang.

“Um, if you all would excuse me for a minute, I need to run upstairs,” I said as I awkwardly made my way through the group of depressed vampires.

Immediately, I ran up the stairs to my room. I clicked the mouse and brought my computer out of its standby. I pulled up every single database that I could within the small window of time I had to work with. It was a bit complicated to search for someone whose last name I did not know, but after trying to narrow it down to Shadows, it became slightly easier. After sorting through the pictures, I finally found her.

Lillian Plague. The Reverend’s very own sister. I knew she worked for them! And what’s more, there was some sort of drama surrounding his family. I just can’t remember exactly what. And after my brain had ached from trying to remember, I searched the database for the Rev this time around and found just what I was looking for – his biography.

James Owen Sullivan was born to a vampire and a demonic prostitute, more commonly referred to as a Succubus. As it turns out, when two mixed species have children, their children develop a majority portion of one species and a small amount of the other. This means that the Rev got most of the vampire genes, which explains why most people consider him to be solely a vampire.

Also, that would make Lillian mostly a Succubus with a part of vampire inside of her, which allowed her to fool Jared into believing that she was just turned into one.

Obviously, I need to stop this wedding from taking place, but Jared probably isn’t even going to believe me. He’ll just think I’m jealous, or something stupid like that. But I need to warn someone, so that it can be stopped by the majority at the initiation tomorrow night. This would be so much easier if Nikki was still here!

I groaned as I forced my way upstairs and spent the next hour or so letting my thoughts wonder and sending casual glares at Lillian. And something tells me that she may have caught on after a while…

*Normal POV*

I couldn’t help but wonder what Jared and Shannon were up to right now. With Jared’s initiation being tomorrow, did they even care to try and find me? I wonder who’s the girl that Jared is going to marry. He hasn’t had a girlfriend in a couple of months, so I’m kind of surprised in imagining him suddenly committing to some stranger.

But, in thinking about all of that, it made me miss them even more. I didn’t want to be here. I didn’t want to become a vampire. And I’m almost rather being ignorant of my past than knowing because now I can’t get rid of this heaviness I feel in my heart…this hatred I feel for what’s been done to me. And I still don’t fully understand what caused such a horrible fate to be bestowed upon me.

The door behind me opened and shut, revealing that I wasn’t alone anymore. “Have you just been sitting in here all day?” Zacky asked as he sat down on the coffee table in front of me.

“I wouldn’t sit there if I were you. Your weight might break that table, and I don’t think that would make Shadows very happy,” I sneered, not exactly wanting any company at this moment.

It was funny to watch his face look like he was about to go Hulk-mode before he suppressed his anger and forced a smile. “No need to be mean, I just came in here to see how you were doing. And I figured I’d give you some of this in case you were thirsty,” he said, tossing a packet of blood into my lap.

Up until he said something, I hadn’t felt any thirst at all. But, watching that blood slush back and forth in the package as I picked it up seemed to trigger something inside of me. My mouth went dry, my teeth grew sharper, and my vision turned red.

Angrily, I ripped open the package and held it high above my head so that the blood fell into my mouth as fast as a rushing waterfall. And just as fast as it arrived, the thirst was gone and my body felt such an immense sense of satisfaction.

I licked the blood from my lips as I stared suspiciously over at Zacky, who was still in the room. “Any other reason why you’re still in here?” I asked.

He shrugged, standing up. “Not really. Oh, just to let you know, tomorrow is the big day, so I suggest you get a good morning’s rest.”

I scoffed, “Yeah, it’s the big day for you. You’re insane if you think I will help you dethrone my brother.”

He looked confused, “So, you’re going to help the people who ruined your life so many years ago?”

I avoided his stare. “I don’t want to think about that.”

“Your own parents killed you in the worst possible way, and you’re going to let that go unpunished?” he boomed.

I bit my lip. “I don’t know what to do. I hate them for what they’ve done, but I can’t take it out on Jared. He wasn’t a part of it.”

“Then don’t; just think of it like you’re getting revenge on your parents instead. Ruin their control of the vampires and take away all that they have, like they did to you.”

I didn’t want to let it get to me, but it did. I couldn’t help but let Zacky’s words enter my mind. I couldn’t help but feel the urge to join in on their plans. And it scared me.