Butterfly Rising

Chapter Six

It's true. The first vampires we've seen are Ingrid and the other troops. Even as we barged into the place, no one came out to greet us. As I stated before, the castle gave off an eerie feeling like something was wrong. Now that Cal has brought attention to the lack of anyone, that sensation is creeping back down my spine.

"They come and go as they please." Ingrid shrugs. Perhaps her lack of interest has to do with seeing a lot of her comrades succumbing to their animalistic side before perishing. Or maybe she's just a stone cold bitch now. "They don't listen and we've had a hard time keeping them in check."

Alexei narrows her eyes. "So they're just out and about doing as they please? Do you know how dangerous that is? This clusterfuck of a situation has already exceeded anything I may have thought was happening. You haven't even provided numbers to just how many humans have been killed and turned, now the newborns are out doing whatever. They could have slaughtered a whole town for all we know."

I grab Alexei's hand to calm her down, hoping she'll take a deep breath and return to her senses. She shakes her head and scoffs, but doesn't pull away. Things are kind of up in the air right now, so I understand her intense emotions. This all just sounds like a recipe for disaster, like part of someone's plan.

Plan?

"What if this is what's meant to happen?" I speak before I can stop myself. "If this was part of someone's plan... then they're getting what they want. Maybe the goal is to kill two birds with one stone, both vampires and humans?"

"But why?" Ingrid counters. "Who and why would they do this?"

"Revenge?" Cal says, adding to the list of ideas.

"For what?" Alexei joins, pulling her hand away from mine to cross her arms. "We don't do anything worth getting revenge for?"

True, though it's not like Alexei has been here every second of every day. There's a chance something could have happened in her absence, causing someone to want to even the score. I hate to think of accusations, but we just don't know.

Ingrid huffs and moves away from the circle we've formed. She walks towards her room, rubbing her head. "My head is starting to hurt. There's just too much going on right now and I can't think, okay? I'm going to bed, you guys do whatever you want."

So, we decide to call it a night. Alexei, Cal, and I make our way back up. For me, it's not exactly ideal to be staying here, but finding a hotel - or even motel- is a fat chance around here. We'd have to drive at least an hour to find one. Instead, Alexei and I choose to find a room that's in good condition.

Unfortunately, that room just so happens to be Ameri's when she was still alive.

With dust covering the place, I can see the space hasn't been touched since her death. I can happily say that this is the best looking room in the whole castle. I'm sure that was true when she was alive as well. Either way, I'm just glad there aren't holes in the walls and a lack of scratches.

"I know you may be uncomfortable," Alexei starts, "but this is probably the only unused place in the castle."

"No worries, I understand."

Grabbing the blanket from the bed, I shake it out to clear the dust away. Without me having to say anything, Alexei goes and opens the windows which are covered by dark blackout curtains. I had completely forgotten that we arrived here in the day. The sun is still shining outside even though I feel like we've been here for ages.

When Alexei and I have somewhat cleaned up, we plop down on the bed. Taking in the moment of silence, we bask in it, stuck in our own thoughts. We've been told a lot today, more than I'm sure either of us expected. I think Alexei thought we'd come, fix the issue, then be done. But now that we've been told the full story, there's just way more to it than originally thought.