A Different Path

Chapter Three

A woman screamed and rushed towards them. Chills ran down Felicity's spine as she recognized Anna's mother, her face contorted in horror. An older man grabbed her and held her tightly, muffling her cries.

Gerhardt surveyed the scene, his gaze lingering first on the fallen child before meeting Felicity's shocked gaze.

For once, she ignored her brother. Her attention was fixed on the humans surrounding them. Some gasped in horrified disbelief at the gruesome sight they had just witnessed. Others covered their mouths with trembling hands, wide-eyed with terror, fighting back screams.

Gerhardt paid no attention to them. His gaze remained fixed on Felicity's face, a cruel smirk curling his lips. He was enjoying this.

Felicity took a step forward, wanting to console Anna's mother, but Gerhardt grabbed her arm and forcefully dragged her away from the gathering crowd that had formed around the girl's body.

As Felicity looked back at the small form crumpled on the cobblestones, something snapped inside her. This was all wrong. The Covenant was nothing more than an elaborate charade. These people weren't participating by choice. How had she not seen it before?

She had no idea where these thoughts came from.

Their father strode towards them, his mouth set in a hard line. Gerhardt was in for it now, she thought. Tough.

A strange mix of relief and dread washed over Felicity. Relief because Gerhardt would finally face justice, and dread because she knew her brother would find a way to make her pay somehow.

Gerhardt sensed the danger too and released his grip on Felicity's arm as their father glared at him.

"What have you done this time?" Her father's voice was low and menacing.

Gerhardt began to speak but their father dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

"I can see what has happened here. You will deal with the consequences, Gerhardt, do you understand me? Your actions can no longer be tolerated in this family! You shame us all!"

Her brother seethed with fury as their father continued to berate him. Felicity looked away from them, feeling ashamed and embarrassed for witnessing such a display of parental displeasure for something she had no part in.

But beneath those feelings lay something deeper—an intense pain rose in the back of Felicity's throat, constricting her breathing. Gasping for air, she launched herself unsteadily into the sky. Heedless of the cries from below ordering her to return she streaked towards her secret glade, her chest cracking open with grief and impotent rage.

Her secret glade was the place where she retreated to when the world became too much for her. It was a small patch of in the vast forest surrounding the town, where the trees grew tall and thick. The ground was soft, covered in a cushioning layer of moss. She took a deep breath of the cool, crisp air and let out an impassioned scream. The sound reverberated through the trees—a cry filled with sorrow and anger. She couldn't bear to be a part of this world any longer, burdened by the pain and suffering it brought.

Restlessly pacing back and forth, Felicity's footsteps left deep imprints in the soft earth. She was filled with an energy she couldn't contain. The anger that had been simmering inside her since Gerhardt's attack on Anna boiled over. She wanted to tear something apart, to shred it into a million pieces. She craved revenge on a world that caused so much pain.

Exhaustion, both physical and mental, washed over her like a tidal wave. Collapsing onto the bed of bracken she had made, she gazed up at the starry night sky, dry-eyed. Tears wouldn't change anything now. A heavy weight pressed on her chest, crushing her into her soft nest while her limbs felt numb and lifeless.

It's wrong, wrong – so very wrong. The injustice of the world tormented her, with no solution in sight.

The night sky was a blanket of stars, twinkling brightly in an endless sea of darkness. Felicity lay on her back and looked up at the vast expanse. Her eyes were drawn to a cluster of stars forming the shape of a serpent, casting an ethereal glow upon her glade. A chill ran down her spine; this was the symbol of the Herd—the belief that a celestial serpent known as the Celestial Serpent created their world and held all wisdom.

Felicity sighed as she rolled over onto her stomach. Humans had such vivid imaginations, crafting stories filled with heroes and villains, love and death, chivalry and honor. Night after night, she would sneak into her father's library and lose herself in these captivating tales until dawn arrived.

Her family ridiculed what they called her romantic notions about human nature, but Felicity knew better than to dismiss their capacity for good completely. She had seen it in countless stories, witnessed how some humans reacted with disgust when faced with injustice or cruelty against their own kind. It gave her hope for a better future—a world where the noble and good prevailed, even if only in theory.

But there were also stories of unspeakable cruelty, where people committed atrocities against one another simply because they had the power to do so. Those stories were labeled as history.

As Felicity's thoughts swirled, she drew parallels between those stories and Gerhardt's brutality towards Anna.

A rustling in the bushes made her tremble, fearing that Gerhardt had come to torment her further. Instead, a magnificent creature stepped delicately into the glade—a unicorn with a single horn, twisted like a barber's pole, red and black. The creature's golden tail swept away twigs and leaves as it moved closer.

"A unicorn," Felicity breathed in awe. A faint blue light played across his silvery coat and sparked from his golden mane. Mesmerized by the spectacle before her, she froze in place, not wanting to startle it.

Felicity was stunned—she had never seen a creature like this before. The unicorn met her gaze with her glittering cobalt eyes and began to approach.

"What's up, kid? You look like you could use a friend."

You will see what I will do to your friends. I will destroy them whoever they are.

The thought of Gerhardt finding out about the unicorn slashed through her like a knife. She couldn't bear to see him harm this beautiful being too. "Shoo, shoo!" she leapt up flapping her arms to scare the creature away. "Go away!"

The unicorn stopped and with a tap of her front hoof, causing lush grass to spring forth. "Sit down, Felicity," she commanded. "Gerhardt can't hurt me; he can't even see me. It will never even occur to him that I exist."

Sinking onto the lush grass Felicity whispered, her voice filled with wonder and curiosity, "Who are you?"

"My name is Spirit," she said. Her voice filled with a melodic resonance. "Now, tell me what's happened."

She lay down beside Felicity, and as she stroked the golden mane blue sparks danced up and down her arms, raising the little hairs.

Then it all came out in a rush. It was the worst day of her life. And as she told the unicorn about Anna, her talent, and her death at the hand of her vindictive brother, Spirit made the odd murmur of sympathy.

"I hate everything they stand for," Felicity concluded, her chin went up and her eyes flashed.

Spirit regarded her with compassion. "And that makes you different from every other vampire girl your age how?" she asked, a hint of amusement in her voice.

An idea formed. There was a better way. She stood up and briskly brushed off her clothes. Spirit rose beside her. She put her arms around the unicorn's great neck. "I don't have to be like them," she declared, meeting Spirit's gaze with unwavering determination. "I can be different."