The Rosen Vampire Knight Series

Thread of Thorns: Chapter 18

Emma

She ran to where the man had been and fell to her knees, weeping the name Damion over and over again. I guess that must have been her boyfriend's name, which made her his fiance' he'd been talking about.

"YOU!" she growled, glaring hatefully at me while tears still strung down her face. "You caused all of this!"

I took a step back. If memory served, it was Keirrin who killed her husband-to-be, not me. I think this lady was a few colors short of a rainbow. I was just about to launch a comeback, but Jarred stepped out of the crowd.

"Elizebeth?" my brother asked and then looked again. "I thought you were dead." he muttered.

"Yes." Elizebeth huffed, getting up to her feet. She turned towards him in her crimsion red dress with white frills. "Dead to the world, but not gone forever." she growled in defence as she brushed herself off.

"What are you doing here?" Jarred inquired, staring in disbelief at her. "And why do you want Emma dead?"

"It's simple. I want the family purse." She stated matter-of-factly. "As the eldest, I should have inherited it the moment mother and father died, but unfortunately, that wasn't to be so. Father left all the money under HER," Elizebeth glared at me, "name." she finished.

"Wait..." I muttered. "She's Elizebeth? SHE's the older sister who died in the fire along with the youngest?" I asked the moment everything clicked.

"That's right." Elizebeth laughed. "I'm your oh-so-beloved older sister who perished in the fire." she boasted. "I would have allowed myself to be found alive if I had found that the paper's in father's desk said my name, but it didn't. To add to that, I discovered that you were still alive, but human, somehow. It threw a wrench in my plans. So," She paused for dramatic effect, "I decided to wait until you were older and a pureblood again so I could kill you and get the cash. Since Jarred is only the second oldest, I don't have to worry about him trying to take the money from me."

"But WHY?" Jarred begged her for the answer. "Why would you want our parent's money? What was so important about it?"

"Oh, you know." Elizebeth sung. "Mother and father had set me up on various dates to try and find me a husband. When I finally found one I liked, I found that he was a noble and broke. His family had been banished. I decided we could run away together on my parent's money by arranging their deaths. We tampered with the vampire hunter records of what clan was to be killed. The night the hunters came, I purposely told Maddision the wrong way. One of the hunters killed her while I snuck out the back way. Mother and father died soon after while dear Jarred hid in a closet. And somehow, Emmalene managed to live as well. I realize now, I should have stayed behind and made sure she had died as well."

"Maddision?" Jarred muttered, his voice cracking. As much as he wanted to cry---I could see the tears building up in his eyes---he didn't.

"And it all comes back to the marrige thing." I sighed, speaking loud enough so that all could hear. "First it was Kaito's crazy fiance', and now my own sister is trying to kill me for run-away money. But oh wait, you forgot that my cousin Keirrin just killed him, putting your plans to a halt." I spoke nonchalantly, acting as if I had all the time in the world. Elizebeth grinded her teeth as I spoke. "I suppose you'll try to kill me anyways for the cash though." I continued. "In that case, I might just let Keirrin crush you to death with her shadows. Or maybe I'll take care of it myself." I shrugged while I kept an eye on Toran who was standing perfectly in line with her back. He caught my eye, and I believe he understood my plan. "Or, even better, we let you die the way you were suppose to years ago."

Toran took out the cigarette lighter he'd recieved from one of Kaito's family's butlers and flipped the lid. Elizebeth heard the click it made and turned on her heel. The exact moment she was facing him, a jet of fire expelled from the tiny lighter. Her body was bathed in flames from head to foot. When Toran closed the lighter, only her ashes remained. They floated to the ground and laid exactly where her husband's were.