chapter 76

ARIELLA.

"If that's true, then you mean that you and David have drunk the Moon Goddess' tears when you were younger?" I asked Darius. "Because you said that you were teens when you became vampires. I don't even know that you were once humans."

"Well, our family's story is one crazy tale," Darius told me. "We used to be humans, yes. We were royal blood back in the early days of Europe. My father used to be the prince of a vast empire. His father was the emperor, but when he died, naturally some people didn't want my father to ascend to the throne for their own selfish reasons. His enemies sent assassins just to kill my father and our whole family. We were still children at that time. We moved from place to place, hiding from the public. But of course, Father didn't want the empire to fall into the wrong hands, so he did the unthinkable. Someone offered him to become a vampire and he accepted. In those days, vampires were feared. Father saw it as the only way so we wouldn't hide anymore."

I gasped. "So it was your father first who became a vampire?"

Darius nodded. "At first he hid it from us, even from our mother. It took years for us to find out the truth. We all thought that Father was odd, but we assumed that he had just an illness. When he became the emperor, he finally confessed everything. It gave us a shock that mother almost abandoned him."

"So what made her stay?"

"She didn't want to stay, but she contracted an incurable disease herself. Father had to turn her into a vampire for her to survive. But as the disease was contagious, we all got it and we all had to become vampires, even my younger siblings."

"I see... So that's how it is. Then what made you come to the Americas?"

"My father's enemies found out what he was, so they tried to execute him. We escaped along with our loyal subjects and some relatives who all turned themselves into vampires too. So basically, we became a kingdom here and spread across this continent. We also met the Moon Goddess in her human form here and we lived in peace as she was kind to us.”

“But as time went by, humans developed technology and the werewolves didn't want us in the land that we found first. We fought for the right to live in our own territory while also avoiding human persecution. But we lost, thanks to the Moon Goddess siding with the werewolves. We were forced to retreat here in the north where there were fewer humans. My mother, along with her brothers who joined us, built this castle for us to hide."

"So you're saying that the Moon Goddess was wrong in siding with the werewolves?" I asked calmly.

"Yes. But we didn't blame her. We still wanted to win her back, hence, it became my personal mission to find her once she returned here as a human. We did find her once, and that's how we collected her tears. We drank it and we grew up, David and I."

"I see. You know, Darius, I kind of understand now why you think that you were wronged, but it's hard to side with you when David and the rest of your family acted evil too. You said it too, that your parents were evil so I don't know if I could live with your kind even if I now know your tragic history."

"I did not say that we're all good. No one is, Ariella. I'm giving you the other side of the story. What David is doing might be wrong to you, but the years and years of despair have made him that way. Did you think that the werewolves would just let us live in New Forks if they found out that we were still there? I don't think so. Your kind wants our kind to die out. I kind of agree with that, but that's still wrong."

"You agree? How?"

"I agree that no one else should become a vampire. But we shouldn't be eradicated in this world just like what your kind wanted. That mentality is what made my twin brother who he is right now. He never had that will to bring the Heir into this world years ago. He only recently harbored it because my parents wanted him to. He parroted their beliefs."

"Okay, I understand what you're trying to point out. Maybe we could have peace talks if you want to. But right now, that's impossible for as long as David is after me and my mate. And I swear to you, Darius, if he ever hurt Eli I will kill your brother."

"That's up to you. His actions are his responsibility---"

Our conversation was cut short because we suddenly heard voices from below. It was Viel, and he was screaming so I had to climb down the hole to check what was happening. To my surprise, Darius came with me. "You're going down too? But I thought you didn't want Viel to find out that you're already awake?"

"Yeah, but I sensed some strong presence in here. He might be in danger."

"Oh, I wish this was Eli," I said with all my heart. I just missed him and I wanted to talk things with him about everything I learned about the vampires from Darius. But when we reached the hall, it wasn't Eli who was there but Blaire and Lawrence! They were standing near the entrance, but I couldn't see Viel anywhere.

"Blaire?" I called my witch friend, and she gave me a big smile when she saw me approaching. She was about to run towards me with her arms wide open but then she saw Darius behind my back and she stopped.

"Why is he here? We just got away from him!" Blaire said, distressed.

"It’s not David," I explained. "It's his twin, Darius."

"Oh. Oh. I think I heard about him from Julian before. But he said that David's twin was as good as dead because he won't wake up?"

"Yeah," the kid agreed. "Did you kiss him, woman? Is that how he woke up?"

"We are not in a fairy tale, Lawrence," said Blaire who finally went to me to hug me. It felt good to reunite with her, but I still couldn’t help but feel disappointed that Eli wasn’t with them. Then she looked at Darius apprehensively. "But why are you with him? Is he not dangerous?"

"Am I?" said Darius who seemed to find Blaire hilarious.

"He's not," I told Blaire. "He's okay. In fact, he's better than his evil twin. It's like he's David but smarter and has a little bit of empathy. Plus, he used to love my mother."

"Used to? I still love your mother."

There was an awkward pause because of that, only cut by Lawrence who finally went to his older brother and they hugged too. "I missed you, Darius! How did you wake up? I tried waking you up before but you didn't even budge! Not even when I pinched your nose so you couldn't breathe!"

Darius laughed at that. They were bonding, and it was actually a very wholesome scene. Meanwhile, I have a lot of things to ask Blaire so I started with the obvious. "Where is Viel? I thought we heard him scream earlier!"

"Oh. The butler? He did scream. But only because Lawrence sent him somewhere using his powers." Blaire gave me a worried look so I actually got worried. "Ariella, we came here to fetch you. David was after us but Eli let us escape. And as soon as we found out where you were, we came here using Lawrence's ability. We have to get you out of here though, because David is already on the way!"