Vampire Residence

XXXVI

By the time Dorothea returned, the entire room had descended into utter chaos. Avery had his back to the far wall, looking across the room at Daci, who was being restrained by her wife.

Dorothea, who had been expecting to find everyone quietly sitting in the living room after her warning, was surprised by what she saw.

"What is the"

She was cut off momentarily by Garret, who, not wanting to let her walk into the middle of everything, stuck an arm out in front of her to stop her from fully entering the room.

Dorothea, looking down at his arm briefly in irritation, finally fully walked through the door to get a clear survey of the scene before her.

"Would someone care to explain to me what has happened here while I-"

She cut herself short, noticing Daciana's expression.

Something was very, very wrong.

Dorothea now looked Daci up and down, noting everything.

The expression of rage in her eyes, her sharp fangs that appeared to be fully extended, the way her entire body was tensed like a coiled spring ready to be released, and the way her wife was holding her back.

Dorothea took a large step back.

"What is going on."

It was less of a question and more of a demand for an answer.

Avery, who was currently frozen against the wall at the far end of the room, looked like he had been caught in the headlights of a train.

He opened his mouth, prepared to speak, but all that came out for a moment was a strangled noise.

"All I said was that maybe she should consider taking better care of her friends instead of shoving them in closets for years on end and she just lost it!"

Daci, hearing this from the other side of the room, let out a feral snarl and began to struggle in Eleanor's grip, but to no avail.

Dorothea, now beginning to connect the pieces, shot a pointed glare in Avery's direction.

"And I suppose you had nothing to do with instigating this? Not intentionally provoking her? We told you that she's been losing it, and now-"

Avery, looking almost guilty, interrupted Dorothea. "I- I might have made a few rather... ill-intended statements?"

Dorothea, now fixing him in a look that was a mix between disappointment and aggravation, spoke in a tone full of disappointment. "You might have? Did you, or did you not, make ill-intentioned comments aimed specifically at her?"

Avery, now looking highly uncomfortable, let out a groan of frustration and responded in an equally frustrated tone. "Yes, I made ill-intentioned comments at her! I was instigating her, yes! What of it, hm?"

Dorothea, now beginning to get truly irked with his attitude, shot him an icy glare. "Oh, I don't know, perhaps you should have considered the fact that she was already on the edge of a violent rampage and maybe not purposefully tried to make it worse by provoking her? Have you gone mad?"

Daci, who had previously been struggling in an attempt to break free from Eleanor's grip, shot Avery a look filled with pure hatred and spoke in a rage-filled tone. "You should keep your mouth shut. I will teach you a lesson you ungrateful, petulant-"

Eleanor cut her off before she could continue, speaking in a tone that was almost pleading. "Please, Daci. Don't-"

Daci, seemingly ignoring her wife's plea, continued her sentence, now speaking in a tone filled with almost psychotic levels of anger.

"You little- you stupid- you self-righteous little bastard!"

Daci, who was still writhing in an attempt to break free of Eleanor's grip, looked positively feral and was speaking in a tone so full of anger it was almost venomous.

"You have no idea what I have gone through, trying to keep this family together! And I have done what I have to do, even if it meant sticking you in a bloody closet! You do not get to judge me!"

Avery, upon hearing her last statement, felt his anger rise rapidly, and he spoke in a venomous tone. "Oh, 'trying to keep this family together?' Is that what you've been doing?! I suppose that locking me away for ninety years was just a necessary step in that process-"

Eleanor, who had been struggling to contain her wife, was now caught off guard and was unable to stop Daci from lunging at Avery.

Daci now barreled towards him, teeth bared and snarling, hands outstretched, ready to seize him by the throat.

Just before she could reach him she was knocked out of the air by a cloaked figure. She landed on the floor with a sickening thud.

Eleanor screamed.

Not even a moment had passed before Daciana's body was nothing more than a pile of ash.

The room was silent. Absolutely, completely silent.

No one spoke. No one moved.

Daciana, the woman who had led this family for nearly nine centuries, and who had been seen as a pillar of strength and wisdom, was now nothing more than a pile of ash on the living room floor.

The silence was suddenly split by a strangled cry from Eleanor, who had been momentarily frozen in shock.

"No- no, no no no-"

She suddenly dropped to her knees in front of the pile of ash, bringing a trembling hand towards the pile, as if to confirm on some level that her wife was dead.

Then, she let loose a blood-curdling scream of pure heartbreak as she collapsed. 

The rest of the room remained silent for several seconds, no one knowing what to say, what to do, or how to react.

Their silence was broken by the voice of the blonde-haired woman who was standing in the doorway.