Fate's Path

We got back to my dorm, I hadn’t explained my limited magic to Julian, so the walk seemed agonizingly long with nothing to talk about. I opened the door. “We can leave her here to rest and go eat,” I suggested. Julian laid the somehow still unconscious Lucinda on my bed and looked up at me.

“I can stay with her. She will probably be freaked out when she wakes up.” He shrugged and looked back at Lucinda. I nodded, and started to leave the room. I really needed to think. “Piper.” I turned to see him standing and holding his hand out to me. “I guess this makes us allies. For the time being.” I smirked. He would never say the word ‘friends’ around me, would he?

I obliged in shaking his hand. “I guess so.” He returned to Lucinda’s side while I slipped out of the room and down the hall. I got to the cafeteria and was instantly greeted by Kiera, Connor, and Chris. They looked at me worriedly, and I realized Lucinda’s blood was still on my hands.

“Piper? Are you okay?” Connor asked me, his eyes examining me from head to toe. It felt like a trick question. Like saying ‘Hey, Piper, your friend got stabbed! You want to have a party?’ I had no idea how to answer that. On one hand, I didn’t want to worry them any more than they already were, and on the other hand, Lucinda was still unconscious on my bed. Plus, it would be kind of hard to pretend I was perfectly fine when her blood coated my hands. I just wanted everything to go back to normal. Back to before the black blood, and before Lucinda got stabbed. A magic-user with stronger magic than me would be really helpful right now, they would be able to reverse time.

“Yeah, are you guys finished eating?”

Changing the subject was always a good direction to go.

Kiera looked at her tray, she was playing with her food. Chris was writing in a notebook: likely taking notes on the book open in front of him. Connor shook his head and sat across from Kiera.

I smiled. “I’ll be right back.” I ran to the bathroom and scrubbed the blood off my hands. It was stubborn, sticking to my skin until I finally won and my hands were clean. I jogged back to my friends. I slipped into a seat beside Connor, across from Chris. I leaned over the table and looked at the notebook.

Chris didn’t even seem to notice. “Chris?” The title of the page is what drew my attention. “Demon Royalty?”

This time Chris’ eyes shifted to meet mine. “Well, you said that Zoe Hale was royalty and her blood was black. Each species and family within them has their own blood color. I know it sounds weird but normally there are even different shades like dark blue and light blue. However, in anything I have looked at so far, there is only one black. There is no dark gray or anything. And it belongs to the one and only demon royal family.” He got really quiet, clearly trying to hide his horrification about what he was reading. I leaned back to sit again, I looked at all of my friends. They couldn’t be serious, could they? Out of all the crazy things I have heard, this really takes the cake.

“So, you think I’m demon royalty?” I asked, and a part of me wanted to say, ‘Like, just checking to make sure that you guys are truly calling me a demon!’ I didn’t know whether to be offended that they were calling me a demon, amused that my best friends said I was a demon, or honored that my potential family was one of a kind. The blood did surface several more questions.

“Essentially, yeah.” Connor nodded and snatched a piece of meat off Kiera’s tray. She raised an eyebrow at him before stealing a cookie from him and sticking her tongue out at him. Connor narrowed his eyes at her and the mini war started. I rolled my eyes and laughed. While Chris and I were trying to figure out if I’m demon royalty, these two were waging war over food. Immaturity has no limits with them.

“I don’t understand how you guys think I could possibly be a part of the royal demon family, that seems like something that I should find offensive.” I went to grab the notebook from Chris but he pulled it away and glared at me.

“So what? Is demon royalty really that bad?” He snapped, making Kiera and Connor stare at him with confused expressions. He had never defended demons like this before. And, yeah, we all technically had a tiny bit of demon blood in us, being demon royalty is a whole different story. And he was a demon but still he never defended them this fiercely. My mind traveled back to the scar on Chris’ elbow. Call it a hunch.

“Chris. Roll up your sleeve.” I demanded.

“Why-?”

“Just do it!”

He did as I said, and I latched onto his arm. I turned his arm over so that the scar was visible, and grabbed my knife once more.

“Don’t you dare move,” I growled and he froze as I placed the knife against his skin and gently pushed in, just enough for a drop of blood to fall. Only, his blood wasn’t red. It was black, black like obsidian. My eyes met his and he became squirmy. Let me tell you why him being my brother is so weird, when we were fifteen we dated for a short time. We even kissed, and the next day he started acting weird. Saying things like ‘We should just be friends’. There was no way he would keep this from me. Just to be sure, I drew a drop of blood from my hand and black dripped onto a napkin.

“Piper-” Chris started, looking like he had just bitten a chunk out of a lemon. I let go of his hand, and stood up.

“I have to go take care of Lucinda.” I stood up in a daze, trying not to let the tears fall. I hate everything that’s happening. Why did it have to be Chris? Why him? I would rather have found out Julian was my brother. Not Chris. I might as well embrace it though. I always knew something was weird. I always felt the need to be close to him. When he cried, I cried. When he was in pain, so was I. I guess it all makes sense now. However, I really don’t want to be demon royalty, my whole life has revolved around school and friends. Even before I found my family here at the school, I longed for friends.

Connor and Kiera chased after me, Chris likely stayed at the table because he was still trying to process. “What happened to Lucinda?” Kiera asked when it was obvious neither Connor nor I was going to say anything.

“Justin stabbed her.” I saw my two friends gaping at me, and looking like they were going to run. “Guys, chill. Julian helped, she’s asleep in our dorm. He’s watching over her.” That seemed to help them relax. “Julian agreed to help more on the...” I looked around before lowering my voice. “...the blood thing.”

Connor and Kiera gravitated closer to me so that we wouldn’t have to lower our voices. “Hey, did you forget that we aren’t the only people here with advanced hearing?” I did indeed forget, it’s easy to, after all. I guess trying to hide it was futile, and maybe they would just think it was normal, considering I’m a vampire. The dorm was getting close, so I figured there was no reason to discuss this anymore. I still have to apologize to Kiera, who has barely said a word since I snapped at her, and the guilt was weighing on me.

When we finally got there, I heard Julian’s voice pleading with someone. He yelped and we shoved open the door to see him cowered in a corner, Lucinda standing over him. She was holding a lamp above her head, about to hit him again from the looks of it.

“Julian!” Kiera lurch forward, but a pixie isn’t as fast or as strong in her human form as a wolf, Lucinda batted at her and she slammed into a wall. Kiera crumbled to the ground and Julian flinched. His eyes stayed locked on Kiera even as Lucinda turned on him again. Connor and I exchanged a look before we both launched at her. We each grabbed one of her arms and pulled her to the ground. Lucinda roared in anger and flailed with our hold, but we didn’t release her.

“Let me go!” She screamed, managing to kick Connor, but he didn’t move. I glanced at his eyes, and I knew that Demon was out. His eyes were completely black. A growl escaped from deep in his throat, and I guessed there was no stopping him. If he decided to snap her neck, he would do just that. My only hope was that all the training we had done to control his demon side would pay off. It did.

I rolled away as he gripped her neck, and crawled over to help Kiera. Julian was already there, cradling her with his left arm held against his chest. From what I could tell, Kiera might have sprained her wrist. Julian’s injuries were much worse. He may be a wolf, but that doesn’t make him invincible to attacks from one of his own. He had a bad gash on his forehead and his clothes were torn to crap, dried blood matted his damp forehead, and a few drops fell onto Kiera’s shirt. I could tell that he was trying to hold her but something was wrong with his left arm, and it was making that simple task very hard for him.

“How is she?” I looked over my shoulder to see Demon smirk at me.

“She’ll live, for now.” In this form, Demon might still be Connor, but he can also be a cynical bastard. The good news is that he listens to me, sometimes. The bad news is that he listens to Chris all the time. Mainly because Chris has a blood bond with all demons, which is how he can control them. One problem: Chris isn’t currently here.

I turned back to Julian. “How are you?” I asked reaching to touch his good arm though he even flinched away from that.

“Do you care?”

His voice startled me, full of anger. “Of course I care.” My own voice sounded on edge, as if I only partially believed my words. It was true I cared about him, but that could be because of my strange connection to all living things. I couldn’t separate my real feelings from fake ones. I felt like I cared about him, but what if I didn’t?

“I’m sorry, it just hurts,” He whimpered, looking down at Kiera. I sucked in a breath and reached to touch his hurt arm, he growled and jerked away from me again. Kiera must have been knocked out because her head lolled back and her eyes were closed.

“Let me help.” I kept my hands to myself this time, noticing the fact that his eyes turned a bright green. Not the healing powers green, but the wolf green. I heard Lucinda struggling behind me, kicking and punching at Demon. Not that that would do much even if she is a Lupin. Julian’s normal eye color is brown, but I have hardly ever seen that, normally around me he is irked enough that his eyes are green.

His eyes returned to normal and he let out a sigh. “Fine. She broke it.” His eyes drifted past me and I glanced over my shoulder.

“Demon, would you mind?” Demon was strangling her so much that she was gasping for air. He looked at me, then his grip loosened. She glared at him and scratched at his hand, her claws drawing blood, and her eyes practically glowing. If she got any angrier, she would shift, and that wasn’t good for any of us. Lucinda was still considerably new to actually control herself. I heard a bone crack and stood up, “I’ll help in a moment. Hold on, and try not to move that arm.” I crossed the room to where Demon and Lucinda were. “Let her go,” I demanded, and his black eyes met mine. He groaned and let go of her neck, then stepped away with his hands clasped behind his back in an oddly professional stance. Lucinda tried to run away but I was faster, pinning her to the wall with my arm across her chest.

“What? Using her body hit a soft spot for you?” It was Lucinda’s voice but not her speaking. Her eyes flashed black for a split second before clearing to her dark green color.

“Theriomorph,” I growled, they are well known shape shifting demons. They replace the person with themselves, so that wherever they are, is where the person suddenly is. It’s like body swapping. I have never met one, but it is imperative to learn about different demons in history class. Normal schools learn about the World Wars or the Holocaust in History class, we learn about demons and the impact they had on human history.

“Bingo.” It winked at me and I could hear a growl emerge from Demon. I glanced at him, his arms were crossed again his chest. His nails dug into the skin of his arms and he glared at the Theriomorph. My mind started to wander but I brought my thoughts back and returned my gaze to the demon that was now smiling at me. “Has he told you? Do you even know the truth?”

“If you are referring to the fact that I’m part demon, then yes, I do,” I hissed, baring my fangs. Now, normal people or creatures quiver in fear. This one started laughing like a maniac.

“Not that. That’s politics, politics are boring. I much prefer drama!” She giggled then sighed. “Well, I must be going. Maiestas has a big day planned for us demons! Ta ta!” And suddenly she gasped and coughed. I released Lucinda, and she collapsed to the ground, rubbing her neck. She coughed and a few drops of blood dripped out of her mouth. My stomach rumbled but I ignored it and turned back to Julian and Kiera.

Kiera was just starting to wake up, and every time she moved Julian whimpered. “Julian, let her sit on the bed while we get you to the healing faeries.” Something about Sublimis is that they can heal virtually everything except for themselves, and that tends to make them vulnerable. Julian looked weary, but gave in and let her curl up within the black and white folds of her bed. He cried in pain but I handed him an ice pack and made a makeshift sling for him to wear.

We had just stepped into the hallway when I saw Chris looking solemn.

“Do you think you’ll be able to get there by yourself?” I asked and he nodded, then proceeded to stumble down the hall. I walked up to Chris, he stopped but didn’t meet my eyes. I let a tear fall and he looked at me, I started crying as he wrapped his arms around me. We slid to the floor and he held me close to him. “I’m so sorry,” I sobbed.

“You apologize too much.” He observed, which served to make me laugh. He wasn’t wrong. The truth is, I guess I just feel like I have to apologize to the world for even breathing. Like somehow everything that happens is my fault.

“Are you really my brother?” I asked abruptly, feeling him tense up.

“I think so. I guess I have always felt a strange connection with you. I thought that maybe if we were together the feeling would go away. It didn’t so I tried to distance myself from you a little bit. Clearly that wasn’t working.” He sighed, “The one thing I can say for sure is that I love you.” At first I thought that having feelings for two people was bad but he had been supportive of my feelings for Connor and from that support emotions flourished.

“I love you, too, Christopher. I could never hate you, you’re my friend. My family. And I don’t mean because we are related. I consider Connor, Kiera, and Lucinda to be a part of my family too.” I pulled away from his embrace and he helped me to my feet. “I understand what you are talking about. Ever since that first time I saw you, I have felt drawn to you.” I gave him one last hug then walked back into the dorm, wiping my eyes. Kiera was sitting up on her bed looking confused and horrified at the only window in our room, while Lucinda was staring wide-eyed and harboring a fresh cut. The window was shattered and Connor was nowhere to be found. My heart almost stopped as I darted to the window, and climbed out of it without thinking. Chris and Kiera followed but Lucinda stayed. Doors are overrated.

We ran to the forest surrounding the school, I screamed Connor’s name. After several screams we found him on the edge of the forest, some lady was trying to drag him into a vortex of wind. I attacked her, breaking Connor free of her hold and kneeing her in the gut. In return, she punched my stomach and sent me flying into a tree.

“Piper!” I heard Connor’s voice, full of concern. I pushed myself up and saw the woman walking towards me. I hissed, eyes closed, then conjured every ounce of power I had. My eyes snapped open in time to catch her fist. My eyes were bright red and full of anger. I shoved her fist and it connected with her head so hard I could hear her skull crack. A beam of light quickly flashed at me from the crack, making me yelp. I used her own arm to flip myself onto her back. She barely had time to attack me before I grabbed each side of her head, twisted, and pulled. I let go so her newly detached head rolled until it fell off the edge of the cliff.

I leaped off the lady and the momentum sent her body sprawling. I stood up straight and beamed at my friends. However, my eyes locked with Chris. I tried to walk to him but the wind was pulling me away. We tried to get to each other but something kept us away. Then I felt a pair of arms around me, forcing me to fall.

I screamed when I thought we were falling off the cliff but then I heard him. “Piper. I got you.” Connor. I opened my eyes. I could see his ruffled black hair but the light surrounding us covered his face. I squeezed my eyes shut and buried my face in the crook of his neck, soaking in his warmth. I was just thankful we were not falling. I spoke too soon.

A moment later, when I opened my eyes, we were falling. I started flailing but Connor held me tight, my arms were trapped against my side. I tried to scream but my throat was dry. My vision was blurry but I could make out different shades of red and orange.

I squeezed my eyes shut as tight as I could again. We landed and I landed with a thud, the momentum bouncing me off his chest and making me finally land on my back. I winced. “Fuck. That hurt!” I sat up slowly, rubbing my back.

“Piper? Are you okay?” I hear his voice and turn to look at him. The pain was still there but it dulled when he stood up. I let Connor help me to my feet and dust myself off. I smiled at him but jolted and jerked away when I saw eyes were black.

“Damn it, Demon! You scared the shit out of me!” I punched him in the arm and he regarded me with a look of utter amusement.

My nose suddenly registered the smell of burning trees. I tore my gaze from Demon and looked around us. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. We were surrounded by trees. But not just any trees, these trees were all set ablaze. They clearly weren’t getting any smaller. They were in their natural form. Underneath our feet was molten rock and hits of lava. The sky was red and there were distant screams of agony. The smell of death was enough to make me want to vomit. Against my own will, I grabbed the front of Demon’s shirt and pulled myself close to him, I buried my face in the soft fabric. To my surprise, his arms wrapped lovingly around me. Tender yet with a force that made me feel like I was being claimed.

I almost pushed away but it felt nice to be held by him. I started to feel lightheaded and coughed. Blood splattered onto my elbow as I coughed. I went limp in his arms and he lifted me, bridal style. “I have you, Piper. No harm will come to you.” Even as Demon, his voice is soft and caring.

I don’t know how much time has passed before we are at a large palace. It’s colored blood red with different detailed designs. The doors are tall and Demon slams into them so we crash through and into a common room. A woman is standing there and I barely catch a glimpse of ebony hair when my vision goes black.

I didn’t dream - which I was thankful for - and woke up peacefully, for once. I was still hungry, but just the sight of Connor asleep on the chair beside me made the hunger subside. The room was familiar to me, like a distant memory, one that was having fun hiding from me. I saw two beds; the one I was in, and one that was nearly a replica of this one. I slid out from under the thick red blanket and crossed to the other bed. Its color was dark blue, contrasting with the red of virtually everything else in Hell. I saw a picture sitting on the mahogany bedside table, and lifted it.

“Oh, god.” I covered my mouth. In the photo was me and another kid, we were with two other adults. A man and woman. The woman was older, and the perfect representation of the two kids. The man looked beaten up, but happy, as he hugged his children and kissed his wife. I recognized the man: he was my father. Tears fell as I thought about the crash, and how devastated I was to find out I had been turned into a vampire, and would have to remember the pain forever. Then I looked at the little boy, who was laughing with me, and saw his pink-ish white hair and pale skin. “Chris,” I sighed, tempted to fall onto his bed and never get up. I hugged the picture frame to my chest. “I always wanted a brother,” I whispered as if he could hear me from wherever he was.

“And now you have one.” I turned to see Connor smiling at me. “I could always tell you guys were so much alike. All I knew was that you were brother and sister. I had no idea you were twins.”

I sat the picture down and crawled across the bed I had woken up in. “Twins?” He leaned closer to me as I stopped. We were merely inches apart.

“Indeed. I will let the queen explain more later, you must feed.” He moved aside the loose hoodie, leaving his neck exposed. I was confused. What did he expect me to do? I’m not exactly a fast learner.

That’s when it clicked. “Connor, I can’t.”

“Pipes, you have to feed on someone. The queen doesn’t have blood on tap. Come on, just a small taste.” Connor leaned closer. I tried to move from him, which put us in an awkward situation. I trusted him enough that I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. My back was flat against the bed, his body pressed against mine. The smell of his blood was strong enough to make my fangs become visible.

I realized the smell of salt and rusty metal was somehow appetizing to me. It filled my nose and registered in my brain with an overwhelming urge to take a bite right into his savory skin and feel the warm, smooth blood flow into my mouth and down my parched throat, but it was a little too overwhelming.

“I can’t....” The struggle to not bite him was too overpowering, and I knew I would give in before he gave up.

My eyes met his, and if you can use compulsion on a vampire, he totally did, because my body reacted without thinking. I flipped us over, now I was on top. My fangs punctured the tender, butter-like (without the grease) skin of his neck. My eyes slowly closed. His blood tasted even better than it smelled. As I drank, I almost forgot about everything. All I could remember, or all I knew, was that I could still feel Connor close to me. He was still alive, and I’d be damned if I let him die- .

My eyes went wide as I jerked away from him with enough force that I stumbled onto the ground. I was panting and wiping my chin with my arm. Connor pushed himself onto his elbows, one hand clasped over his neck.

In an instant, I was on my feet. “Connor, I’m so -”

“I swear if you say ‘sorry’, I will throw something at you. I told you to bite me. How are you feeling?”

I scoffed. “How am I feeling? I should be the one asking if you’re okay!” He stood and walked to me. My breath hitched as he stood close to me.

“Piper, I’m fine.” Connor did look fine, but looks can be deceiving. I wouldn’t truly know how he actually was doing, until he nearly fell down stairs or something.

A sharp rap on the door pulled me from my thoughts. A lady appeared in the doorway, wearing a dark shade of red like blood. Her skin was pale and clear of blemishes, her lips were painted red and her eyes glowed the color. A golden tiara sat upon long ebony curls or hair. It looked like she had a professional maid do it for her, pulled back into queenly braid. She smiled warmly at the two of us, though her eyes were fixed upon mine. “Piper. It’s so nice to see you up and moving around. Have you fed yet?”

Connor and I answered in unison, “Yes,” and looked at each other. I cleared my throat to break the growing tension. “So, um, who exactly… uh, who are you?” I asked uncertainly.

Her smile faltered slightly, then she stopped smiling overall. “You really don’t recognize me, Mea puella? What a shame.” She sighed, and after a short pause, she added, “You see, I’m your mother.”