Vampire's Secrets - Black Moon

Chapter XXII - Full Moon

They stepped outside the hideout to get some fresh air, as the air inside the hideout was corrupted with the ashes of what used to be a being. They breathed it deeply, letting their lungs get filled with the nice pine scent from the forest. It was only then that they noticed it was a full-moon night. They had been so busy with their plans that they didn't take the time to appreciate their surroundings. Wolves were howling far away, it sounded almost like they were crying, as Rael and Raed were on the inside. Their father was dead. Raed couldn't help but feel guilty about it. If he had not been selfish and had not wanted to be by his family's side, he would still be alive. Why couldn't he be happy by only observing them and taking care of them from a distance?

Rael noticed his brother's expression and wanted to ease his anguish in some way, even though there was never a right way to do such a thing in a moment of grief. "Let's take a walk. It will do us good. Let's visit the place where I came from."

"Uhm? What place is that?" Raed asked.

Rael wanted to divert Raed's attention to other things, even if it was just for a bit. "It's nearby. It's right on top of this mountain."

Raed forgot about the warning he had received about not going to the forest on a full-moon night. It was said it was when strange creatures came out of their hiding. However, they didn't come across anything outside of the ordinary and their walk was peaceful.

"What are you going to tell Draven?" Rael asked.

"The truth. He will probably see on the news about something that took place in my house. I'm going to tell him what Damion did and I'm going to tell him that Dabria died, because she drank sylph's blood," Raed replied with the same dry tone.

"Do you think he will be ok with it?"

"I don't know. I hope he will be. I haven't really been there for him lately. He knows me pretty well. I was afraid if I hung out with him too much he would figure out the truth about you. He has his own issues, you know? And now I only added more," Raed said with a sadder voice.

"I'm sure he will understand," Rael said and hit Raed's back, trying to comfort him a bit. "Don't beat yourself too much over it. I was the one who killed them, wasn't I? I was the one who made the final decision. Why put the blame on yourself?"

"I don't even know who to blame anymore. We are all guilty of something," Raed replied, looking at the ground. Rael sighed without knowing how to respond.

Dawn was only a couple of hours away when they finally reached the top of the mountain. The white moon still shined brightly above them with all the stars around her. The moonlight showed Raed something he did not know was there before, even though he had lived in that town for all of his life. Taken by nature were the ruins of an ancient place. It seemed to have been huge, to the point that Raed couldn't quite figure out the exact proportions. What looked like towers and tall walls were now all in shambles, hidden by trees and plants.

Rael sat on a pile of rocks which used to be part of a building and Raed sat underneath him on another pile of rocks. "What is this place?"

"This was the castle where I used to live before the massacre," Rael replied.

"When are you going to tell me about that story? I feel like I hear about that massacre all the time and yet no one bothers to explain to me what exactly happened," Raed said.

"Fine. It's not like we have anything better to do right now anyway," Rael said and sighed to prepare himself for the memories he was about to unravel. "On a night very different from this one, when the moon was black, I was doing my prince's duties and went to..."