The Mirrored Souls

1.

Prologue 

Brother's always have a distinction to them even if they were a replica of their parents, with the Baird brothers one was surrounded by darkness while the other carried some light. Both boys were never alike until it came to loving the same girl. When love came in between the two, it created a deep wedge that till this day could not be fixed. Being scarred from love, Darce, the older brother, stood underground in the realm called the Specter. Neriah, the younger brother, wanting to make a difference within himself became an assistant to a woman named Aella Amadeus, my mother, to help with her soul purpose in this world besides being a mother to me of course. Soothsayers are like mediums, psychics, a gatekeeper to the world where souls need guidance. In this case, the Specter. You might be asking, how can two vampires even be able to be in such a realm? Well, if it was explained to me right, the two brothers are actually reincarnation of two brother's that once belonged to heaven and hell, letting them have blood of both evil and good including the fact that they are in fact vampires.

Now, the story of how my mother met Neriah is quite interesting.

My mother was in the middle of helping a soul not knowing it was the soul of the person the brother's once fed on.

The soul had something to tell the boy's and had my mother give the message to one finding Neriah actually feeding on cattle from a local farm dating back to the 1900's. Having the ability to go through realms and still remain the same age was some side effect of soothsayers, giving us a sense of immorality like vampires themselves. Seeing some similarities and  good in Neriah, she took him under her wing all while trying to have him ready to be my assistant once I turned a certain age. While teaching him what she knew she could, she made sure I wouldn't be introduced to him until it was time. What I mean by time is the fact that my mom was hiding the fact that her body was weakening from every soul she helped, not being able to travel through realms so easily. So leaving Neriah to support me and redeem the sins he committed, she stepped down and I took over.

Stepping out and being the leader of something I didn't know I was ready for made it quite nerve wrecking because with power comes great responsibility and these powers aren't something to take lightly.

Once my mother explained everything to me she went to the deepest side of the Specter to regain her strength but couldn't return. The rule of the Specter is, to get back a soothsayer another one has to guide them back once they've reached their full potential. Not being there at all, I have to learn as much and as fast as I can to save my mother but also become a greater soothsayer as she once was to keep the balance in a realm no matter what.

Present time

"Help me..." a ghostly voice whispers into my ear as I lay still in bed with my eyes closed, already feeling the air shift from warm to icy cold. The voice gets louder and louder causing my ears to bleed and having my head throb with this sharp pain. Opening my eyes I see a woman with a pale white dress on and midnight fringed hair. I make eye contact letting her know I can see her and grab some tissues to wipe the blood trailing down from my ears. "I need to send a message," the woman whispers out and points her bony finger towards a notepad on my nightstand. Grabbing a pencil and paper I write exactly what she says and once she's done the room grows warmer and my nose starts to drip droplets of blood.

Putting my head back I stuff my nose with tissue and hear footsteps in the corridor knowing it has to be the person my mother was speaking about before she left to the Specter.

Feeling for my silk cardigan, I wrap myself with it still holding the tissues I stuffed in my nose, reaching the hallway seeing the person from behind. His hair was tied back into a man bun as he was cleaning the book shelf with all my mother's journals and books left for me to observe and learn from.

Creaks from me walking makes him stop mid-dusting and turns his head looking to the side not fully showing his face.

"You must be Oriana," he says monotone.

Not sure If I was supposed to answer him or not I just give him a nodding gesture and he turns fully almost dropping the book he had in hand.

"Your name?" I ask low.

Dilation of the eyes signal a response of attraction, recognition and maybe even fear.

When he saw who I was and even spoke, that was the only reaction that made me believe we met before when we haven't.

"Sorry," he clears his throat and sets the book down wiping his hands on the back of his shirt. "I'm Neriah, your mother told you about me right?" Nodding again I take the tissue out my nose and he grabs the small trash bin for me to toss it in. "Are you going to be living here too?" I close my cardigan more, feeling the cold air pass through as the Specter starts to gain more souls around this time, enough for me to feel it.

Walking to the fireplace and bending down to toss in some pieces of wood, shows me he's already used to having these sorts of things happen. Missing my mother, I sit at her table with one of her journals, flipping through to a page we always read when she was here. Neriah continues tidying up then starts making something in the kitchen. Wanting some fresh air I go by the stone like windowsill, opening the bay windows, leaning out just to see the garden growing all around.

"Your mother said you're fond of anything pasta related so I gave it my best shot," Turning from where I was he almost dropped the plate until I went and caught it. When my hand touched his, there was no warmth, not like mine. I look up to him and see the resistance forming throughout his whole body language. "You should go rest, I can eat then clean up after." I say thinking he must be overworked and since he bows his head agreeing, I just let him be.