Chapter 58 - Skeletons in Closet

Valerian's POV

I am known to be ruthless.

I am known to be a devil.

Both by humans and vampires.

I am often labeled as cold.

As stern.

As hard.

I've lived hundreds of years in this lifetime and I already came to terms with that, that even I, myself believed that I am. I had to.

But, upon hearing my sister's voicemails to me, I felt weak. Upon hearing that Natasha was crying and that my sister is also in danger in the middle of nowhere, I once again hated being immortal because the pain and worry that I feel felt like it could kill me but I could not be killed and it's the fucking worst. It's hell.

"Drive faster, Ezra," I ordered Ezra and he did so.

I could see him gripping the steering wheel tightly as he drove my car, almost wanting to make it fly.

"Tell me what happened to Elyse, Valerian." He gritted his teeth.

I fell silent.

I had outlived my parents years ago. I saw my friends die. But there's nothing like the pain of losing my sister.

I breathed sharply as memories of me and Elyse started flashing in my mind.

Elyse is my ray of sunshine. My breath of air. My anchor. She kept me steady. She's the reason why I still chose to continue my life knowing that I could just end it all. She is my everything.

When we had lost our parents, I became a parent to Elyse, and she had been a great daughter and sister. A great person in total.

I'd like to think that Elyse was a human in another universe because of how empathetic she was. She's had a good heart someone could ever have.

"Valerian, please. Please tell me what happened to Elyse. Is she alright?"

Ezra. . . We've been friends with Ezra for so long that we have become a trio.

If I am hurt, Ezra is surely hurting too and I don't know what or how to tell him.

I don't have the courage to.

Ezra and Elyse have come a long way.

This will be hard.

This is so fucking hard.

Elyse, please.

I did not answer Ezra because I don't think the answer could slip from my lips. I don't want to say it. I am a vampire known for his skills and strength but right now I don't think I have the strength to say, hell, even think about it.

"That's the sign." I pointed at the side of the road that read 'Redwood Heights'

This must have been Natasha's hometown.

The moment Ezra parked the car, I wasted no time and went out and ran inside the town, Ezra followed me.

This place is way too different from the city.

I have lived in a town like this before too. This isn't a new sight to me and it feels nostalgic. I didn't know that despite all the technology and innovation, there was still a town like this that existed, and the woman who was mated to me lived here.

As we roamed the place, I was badly hoping to see Elyse around.

Oh please, I want to see Elyse.

Suddenly, Natasha's smell lingered on my nose.

She's close. I can smell and feel her presence from a distance.

I continued to search the place looking for Natasha and Elyse.

My heart dropped when instead I saw Natasha with someone behind her.

"Natasha," I called as I gritted my teeth.

Natasha was just looking at us with a blank expression on. Her eyes are so emotionless. She's way too far from the Natasha that I knew.

My heart ached.

I quickly stopped Ezra when he was about to attack.

I shook my head at him as I stared at him seriously.

"No," I muttered.

Ezra gritted his teeth at me but he knew he could not do anything.

"Oh, look, Natasha-- your prey has come and made it easier for you."

The voice that I loathed for a hundred years filled my ears and it was like a poison.

"Acanthus," I muttered as I spit.

"Valerian Fenrir, we have met again." He smirked. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

I gritted my teeth in his direction. "What did you do?"

" I did not do anything, Valerian." Acanthus glanced at Natasha's direction. "But my daughter here. . ."

Daughter?

Acanthus is Natasha's father? My mortal enemy for years?

I refused to believe it.

Acanthus is a monster, but Natasha is not. He must have been fooling me because there's no fucking way.

"Oh, did you know that your sister paid us a visit earlier too? Too bad you are too late, she had already turned into ashes--"

Before I could even stop Ezra, she quickly ran towards Acanthus's direction and attacked him. But Acanthus is no ordinary werewolf, he is quick to turn into his werewolf form and manages to claw Ezra.

I quickly ran to Ezra using my super speed and ran out of the town back to my car.

I dragged Ezra inside the car and I quickly went into the driver's seat.

"Fuck." Ezra groaned.

There was a long claw wound on his arm and it was bleeding heavily.

"Hold on, Ezra."

I drove like I've never driven in my life before.

"I know where to go," I whispered to myself.

And I went exactly to the place I was referring to.

It's a town. But unlike the town we were just in a while ago, this town was way too bigger than that.

It's a vampire town.

The vampires that are used to living peacefully and out of human sight choose to continue living in this place.

My parents built this place hundreds of years ago, way before I was born.

The place had changed too much over time.

From the medieval style of the houses to modern houses.

Everyone who lives here is a vampire. My kind.

I hadn't been here for years so I didn't know where to go and where to find the person that I need to see.

I dragged the already passed-out Ezra out of the car after parking in the middle of the town.

"Who are you?!"

I was just about to take a step but was stopped by three men.

"What are you doing here?!"

"How did you get here?!"

They are new faces to me. I don't know them and I'm certain that they don't know me either.

I wanted to commend them for their actions of making this place safe from outsiders but there is no time for that. I need to see someone.

"Valerian Fenrir," I introduced.

"Fenrir," one of them muttered as their expressions changed from hard to welcoming.

Certainly because my last name was also the name of this town.

"Where is Victorio?" I quickly questioned.

There is no time to waste, I have Ezra here who is bleeding and poisoned by Acanthus claws, and I got to save someone.

"Come with us."

I followed the three men and they brought me into a one house.

"Victorio!" They knocked on the door of the house and it only took a few seconds before it opened.

"Valerian." Victorio gasped upon seeing me.

He hurried to me and helped me with Ezra upon seeing him bleeding.

"What happened?" Victorio asked. "What on earth? This looks like a werewolf claw."

"It is," I answered. "Acanthus' claws."

Victorio fell silent for a solid second before he gritted his teeth.

"Go get the medicines!" he ordered to the other vampires.

They laid Ezra down on the sofa and Victorio quickly attended to his wound.

"This is deep," Victorio whispered. "I can see Acanthus' wrath in this wound."

I balled my fist.

If something happens to Ezra, I will crush Acanthus into pulp. Something that I should have done years ago.

I shouldn't have let him get away with his evilness at that time.

I should have done something better.

Victorio tended to Ezra's wound.

"Elyse," Ezra whispered Elyse's name as he groaned.

He's having a nightmare.

"Wake him up," I ordered.

Victorio softly tapped Ezra's face. "Wake up, Ezra."

Ezra woke up gasping for air as he tried to get up.

Victorio pushed him back to the sofa again. "You shouldn't get up. You have to rest."

"What happened? Where am I?" Ezra questioned in distress.

"We are at the town. You are clawed by Acanthus' poisonous claws," I explained.

Ezra's gaze focused on me. He squinted his eyes at me and gritted his teeth. "Why did you stop me?!" His voice thundered across the room.

"You could have died in there," I calmly said.

"They killed Elyse!"

"What? What the fuck happened to Elyse, Valerian?" Victorio questioned, his voice was just as sharp as Ezra's.

"She was killed by Valerian's werewolf mate," Ezra was the one who answered.

"Werewolf mate? You met your mate, Valerian? And a werewolf? I'm lost. What do you mean?"

"I meant exactly what I said. Valerian's mate killed Elyse and he let it happen."

I felt my fingernails dug into my palm because of how tight I was balling my fist.

"Valerian's mate is Acanthus's daughter." Ezra spits the words like poison. "Valerian did nothing about Elyse's death."

I took a deep breath. "You don't know what you're talking about, Ezra."

"She fucking killed Elyse!" Ezra exclaimed and was about to get up and attack me but he was quickly stopped by Victorio.

"If you want to avenge Elyse's death, calm down and regain your strength. You were poisoned you have to rest and heal," Victorio coldly said to Ezra.

He then grabbed my arm and dragged me out of his house.

"You met your mate?" he asked as we say down at the chair just right outside his house.

"Her name is Natasha. She is beautiful and kind-hearted, she has also become Elyse's closest thing to a sister. Natasha is such an amazing woman—"

"And she is a werewolf." Victorio cut me off.

I nodded.

"Never in years of my life did I imagine that it was possible for a werewolf to be mated to our kind. Werewolf is our mortal foe. You know that right, Valerian?"

I nodded once again. "What did you think I felt upon learning that my mate is a werewolf? After years and years, I finally met my mate and she is a fucking werewolf."

Victorio heaved a sigh. "That's not possible. Maybe you were fooled, Valerian."

"I thought that too. But no." I shook my head. "I confirmed it by her blood. We are mates."

"Did she really kill Elyse? Is Elyse really gone? I can't believe it."

I refused to believe it either. Maybe the reason why I still can handle my shit right now is because of the thought of Natasha and because it hadn't really sunk in that my sister is gone.

"That was not Natasha. The person that Elyse saw was not Natasha. Natasha could not ever do that to Elyse," I firmly said as I gritted my teeth.

"How do you know? Maybe you were just fooled, Valerian. Maybe that woman planned it all. Acanthus was surely behind all of this. You weren't mates, Acanthus fooled you, and you—"

"We are mates, Victorio!" I cut him off. "I feel it. I know it."

Victorio fell silent. I know there's still uncertainty inside him about everything that I'm saying.

"When Elyse went to look for Natasha, she told me that she saw something in her vision when she touched Natasha's palm. She told me that she had to save Natasha. She was desperate to see Natasha and save her," I said as I balled both of my fists.

I could feel blood already dripping from my palm but it didn't bother me even a bit.

"I need your help, Victorio." I looked at Victorio. "Help me save Natasha."

Victorio is my father's youngest sibling. He is way older than us but he looks exactly the same age as me in my youth face right now.

He is a healer. A good warrior.

I went here because I knew exactly that he was the one who could help me.

"Elyse was killed by your mate, Valerian," Victorio coldly said.

I frustratedly groaned. "That was not Natasha!"

"How do you know huh, Valerian?"

"Because Elyse told me."

I remember when I called Elyse earlier and when she picked up.

I could hear her enthusiasm through the phone when she said that she found Natasha. And I also heard her pain when she got betrayed— but she wasn't betrayed by Natasha.

Elyse's last words still linger in my mind.

"I-I-I'm s-sorry. . . Natasha. I was too late to save you."

I repeated exactly what Elyse said before she disappeared into this world.

Victorio fell silent beside me.

"You know Acanthus, Victorio. He uses witches to create witchcraft. He uses black magic to manipulate anyone he wants."

"Natasha was controlled. . ." Victorio muttered.

"She was."

She really was.

I'm more than devastated by the death of my sister but I could not imagine the pain that Natasha will feel the moment she learns that Elyse is gone and she was the reason why. The pain of the truth could kill her. I know it.

"Valerian," Victorio called my name with a tone that I could not distinguish.

"Do you remember when a war broke off between the werewolves and vampires because of Acanthus many years ago?"

I did not answer.

I remember.

I remember it all too well.

I shouldn't have let Acanthus get away from everything he did.

We lost so many of our kind that war.

"Do you remember that baby that was stolen from a couple here in our town that night of the war?"

I remained silent.

"It's impossible for you to have a werewolf mate, Valerian. You know that." Victorio breathed deeply. "I think I know who stole that baby and we both know who was that baby right now."

"Natasha. . ." I blurted out.

"Natasha is our kind, Valerian. She is a vampire."