Blake, The Vampire King

Chapter 13: This Means War

After being stuck in the room for over an hour and half, Maria was relieved to finally see Jeremiah retreat, to go relieve himself perhaps.

The smile that tugged at her lips was a big genuine one that soon died on her lips. The handsome man from earlier who had all but bewitched her in a matter of seconds was back.

"What do you want?" She bit out with more venom than she had intended.

She saw as his face went from open and friendly to distant and closed off in the blink of an eye, and she could have grimaced at that. Instead of saying anything, he moved aside, revealing a blue-eyed blonde she knew only too well.

"Kelly!" She exclaimed happily.

"Maria," her friend hugged her tightly, almost too tightly, and she returned the hug.

"Do you know who this man is?" She asked in a hushed tone while stealing glances at him.

"Don't you?" Her friend's words were tinted with sadness –a sadness Maria couldn't understand.

Something very fishy was going on.

"Mom!" A teenager's voice reached their ears.

And she watched as the man's face contorted into a disapproving frown.

"Ana!" He chided the brunette who entered the room.

Said brunette flung herself at Maria for a reason this latter couldn't fathom.

"I believe you have the wrong person, miss..."

The unfamiliar green eyes –that were not unlike that of the handsome man whose name she still didn't know– filled with tears.

"Mom," the teenager choked back on a sob.

"Do I look like her?" Maria asked in a puzzled tone.

All looked at her with something akin to sympathy in their eyes.

"You are her mother," the man who made her want to drool openly told her matter-of-factly, a disturbingly icy smile plastered on his face.

Maria rolled her eyes at him. "Oh please! She looks my age."

"And what age would that be?" Kelly asked her cautiously, almost as if she was afraid Maria would bolt.

And that was a very big possibility, considering all she had been through.

"Eighteen, duh!" She rolled her eyes.

"Isn't that magnificent?" The green eyed man laughed humorlessly. "Not only has she forgotten all about me, she has forgotten all that had transpired the last few years too."

"Maria," It was a dark haired hazel eyed teenager's turn to enter the room.

"And who might you be?" She eyed him suspiciously, eyes narrowed.

"I'm Harry, obviously," he told her calmly, eyes unflinching.

"Yeah right!" she rolled her eyes anew. "I do believe my brother is only four years old."

"That would be sixteen years ago," the man who had been leaning against the wall let out in a hushed tone.

"Bitch please, how is it that I still look like an eighteen year old then? By all means, explain," she challenged them.

"How about we show you?" he offered kindly.

"Show me how?"

"You'll see," he winked at her.

"What's your name?" She blurted out all of a sudden and could have face-palmed at her silliness.

"My name's Blake," was his response.

Such a fitting name! She thought as she followed the four of them outside.

                                                              ******************

Pictures.

All of them showed her so many pictures on their phones, hell on hers as well. She didn't know what was right or wrong, what was true or false.

Maria was confused. She was lost, and didn't know who to turn to. She had no memories of these pictures' events. She had no recollection of her past.

"Bloody hell, I am a vampire," she let out in a stunned tone.

"You are," a few voices told her, confirming it for her.

"Then what happened to me? Why can I not remember the past decade? For heavens' sake someone please tell me what is going on!"

"You have been cursed," Blake told her in a rather bleak tone.

"Cursed why?" She turned wide eyes to him.

"That I do not know," he shrugged but something told her he did know. Under her intense scrutiny, he carried on, "The reasons may differ, to hurt you personally, to get to me. But the end game is the same. Both of us get hurt. Both of us become weak and vulnerable."

How was it possible that an explanation seemed to confuse her even more? "What do you mean?"

"Honey, you are Blake The Troublemaker's mate. That should be enough," Kelly told her. "Blake is a legend."

"And you are dad's only weakness," Ana let out sadly.

"Yeah, and this means war," he said firmly.

"War?" Maria all but shrieked, rising to her feet from where she had been sitting in the armchair.

"What do you have in mind?" Andreas, who had been silent up until then asked.

"I intend to wage war on the witches," Blake let out almost nonchalantly.

"None shall go unpunished," was Ace's input.

"Agreed," Kelly said.

"Ditto," his daughter let out as it thundered angrily.

"Ana!" He admonished her rather stiffly.

"What dad?" She crossed her arms. "I can't help it. I don't have complete control over my powers like you do. I'm still a newbie at this."

"I know. I know," he let out in an apologetic tone.

He was Blake the Troublemaker and he didn't do apologizing. He didn't do a lot of things, because of pride. But he wasn't above hitting below the belt as he intended to strike the witches.

They would all expect him to remain with Maria first, take care of her first, and then take actions later... when it might be too late to do so.

But that was not the plan. That had never been the plan.

He was going to strike before then.

They should be prepared for his wrath.

The Carrywell punk shall meet his ancestors tonight... for good reason too.