ALMIRA THORN- Knowledge of Another Kind. [Editing]

Chapter 22- Part 2

I stared back, my mouth unable to form words as the word replayed over and over. Uncle. Uncle.Uncle. He’s family. I felt as if the walls were closing in on me, the air becoming thicker as something inside me clicked, something dark. Another lie, another bloody lie and Papa could have told me. I wanted to run and jump into those arms, to allow him to tell me everything I needed to know about the mother that gave her breath away for mine to continue, but I felt the burn of betrayal at this secret. What made the knife stab deeper was how Ray and Michael didn’t seem shocked.

I turned to Ray, feeling tears slip down my cheeks. “Y-you knew?” I stuttered, my breaths coming out sharp. His own purple ones looked at me with guilt and pity, two emotions that sent my anger racing through my body. I couldn’t control this anger, this pain that clawed at me. I felt my hands turn into fists as I stared at him, not replying. When he saw this he started walking towards me but before he could get any closer, a hand grabbed his upper arm, causing him to halt in his tracks.

Tom was the source, his own eyes held anger, anger for him not telling me sooner.

“You’ve done enough.” He snarled.

Ray looked at Tom and pushed him to the side, walking up to me, only to be hit by an invisible barrier. Tom had his palm out and was concentrating on the air around me. Of course, his ability was a shield. Ray didn’t know and merged his eyebrows in confusion, ignoring how Tom walked through the wall and stood in front of me, his palms out as he pushed the wall forward, causing Ray to step back.

I tried to control myself, to allow reason to flood into my mind. This rage was a darkness that scared me, it’s fire burned with passion, and its mercy was non-existent. Something’s happening, I thought. The way that Tom’s emotions increased, the way my anger raged was not normal, it was the change, it had to be.

Looking up, I placed a hand on Tom’s shoulder and forced him to look at me.

“It’s okay.” I croaked, trying to smile. He relaxed and let the wall fall, letting his palms fall to his sides but continuing to stand in front of me. I knew it was to protect me from doing something I would regret.

Aries chose that moment to walk forward, the footman standing near him, keeping guard probably.

“Almira, we couldn’t of told you. Your mother’s sacrifice was not to be told until you were ready and you would understand what awaits you, out there.” He gestured to the window, the moonlight glowing on the streets. I kept my face blank and walked closer to him.

“My life I’ve been hidden away from what is OUT there. I’ve been trained like a dog and forced to kill to survive, do you know how long I tried to find more family? The nights spent in Papa’s office, trying to open locked draws and cupboards, to find anything. A letter, a name, a cress and you knew I was out there somewhere.” I responded strongly, a newfound courage replacing the darkness that I’d felt inside.

He flinched and lowered his head, obvious guilt crossing his emotions as I stood my ground. The footman took a step closer and looked at me, something crossing his gaze as his nostrils flared and his pupils dilated. At the sound of his sniffing, Aries’ head shot up, looking at him with concern.

“What is it Nathan?” He whispered, looking around the room and at Tom, obviously looking at him like a threat seeing as he wasn’t known as well as the rest of us.

Nathan looked up, his eyes turning to Aries as he stiffened, gazing at the far end of the room and at me.

“Get down!” He boomed seconds before something slammed against me, sending me crashing to the ground. I lifted my arms above as nails tried to rake down my face and a snarl sounded above me. I opened my eyes and saw a man, not much older than me, his eyes black and empty, his nails like needles as he snapped his teeth at me. It only took a moment to see the fangs protruding from his gums, the saliva dripping onto my face as he tried to get his teeth into me. I clenched my jaw past the sharp pain his nails brought to my arms, keeping control and hoping he’d tire.

As the thought processed, he was suddenly flying off of me, the sound of a crash against the far wall as he slumped to the floor in a heap, breathing harshly as he rose to a crouch and continued to snarl like an animal.

Nathan stood in front of me, the sound of cracks echoed in the room as his hands began to shape and re-form into claws, a growl coming from him that was completely inhuman as he advanced towards the vampire, not even flinching as it swung a punch and he grabbed it by the throat, slamming him against the wall and leaning in, both of them growling at each other.

“Who sent you?” He spoke, except the voice was deep and animalistic.

The vampire merely sneered, “You know exactly who.” He spat. The sneer began to turn to a laugh as we all stood frozen in shock at what was happening.

“Burn in hell you leech!” Nathan roared back. The response was silence, the whole room took a breath as the vampire’s face went blank for a moment, it’s eyes staring around the room, taking each of us into his gaze before laughing, the laugh growing until it boomed across the room.

“No. You will burn. Each and every one of y-“ The last of his words were chocked as Aries ran, a sword now in his hand and he beheaded the man.

Nathan stood back, his eyes and hands returning to normal as he tried to control his anger. Aries hunched over the body, his own trembling in anger as he turned to look at us, a pain in his gaze.

“Tomorrow, you must find your answers fast. The Order are influencing too many, their allies grow. We can’t allow this vampire’s words to take hold.” He spoke, gesturing for us to leave.

We all walked out, trying to come to grips with the events when Aries grabbed my arm.

“The conversation before isn’t over. Your questions will have answers Almira, I’m just sorry it has taken so long.” He murmured, quickly kissing my forehead and stepping back, allowing me to leave and prepare for a fight I was struggling to have hope in.