Chapter 7- Unknown Magic

Cassandra

I grabbed a bowl of strawberries as a snack. I've been so hungry and frustrated. It's been a month and I haven't been able to leave this place yet. Duke is hearing none of my constant protests to live freely. I had tried to escape multiple times but Duke always caught me and eventually tripled the security in the mansion.

I angrily grabbed one of the strawberries and shoved it in my mouth. It's been a month and there is still no sign of my brothers and the frustration has been building up inside me.

"What's up?" Drake snuck up behind me, startling me and grabbing one of my strawberries.

A sound between a growl and a snarl left my throat. It wasn't the way I would usually respond but my mood isn't the greatest at the moment. "Put.it.back", I growled, emphasizing every word.

Drake's eyes widened in shock and confusion but he obediently put down the strawberry. "Want to explain what's going on?" he asked and I let out a frustrated and tired sigh.

"Just tired", I lied. He scoffed in a way that said he didn't believe me as he took a seat beside me and gave me a stern look, "talk".

I groaned in annoyance but explained nevertheless. "It's just, I've been here for about a month now Drake. I have a life... I have a family and they need me", I complained and somehow I let a single tear roll down my cheek despite my efforts to keep it at bay.

I wondered where my brothers were. Were they thinking of me as much as I was thinking of them? Were they… alive?

"I'm so sorry Cassie. If I could I would've helped you", he said in a comforting tone. He wrapped his arms around me in a side hug. I cried into his shoulder and he let me vent out all my frustration on him like the good friend he is.

Drake and Anna have been there for me through everything and I owe them so much. Anna is literally the only female I've interacted with for a month excluding the little exchange of words I've had with some of the maids.

Drake's watch suddenly started to beep ruining the calm atmosphere. He stared at it and I could tell he was a little annoyed and was trying to suppress a growl. "I need to go", he said before giving me a small squeeze and quickly leaving.

I had learned that the watch beeping was a sign that he was needed at work, whatever that was. All I knew was that he worked for the King of Vampires though he didn’t seem to like the job very much and tended to stay clear of the topic.

My gaze landed on the bowl of strawberries that had been long forgotten. I let out a small sigh before I continued eating my strawberries. Just as I washed up the empty bowl at the sink, the door opened and the very vampire I was still mad at walked in like he owns the place.

Well, technically he does but I don't really care.

He seemed a little frustrated, well so am I and he's gonna hear a word or two from me.

"What's the big bad vampire so mad about?" I teased, leaning forward on the table and placing my chin in my hand.

"Not in the mood Cassandra", his voice was really low and annoyed and he didn’t even spare me a single glance.

Too bad I didn't care.

"If you can't deal with me then let me go. It's that easy", I snarled.

"No" he didn't even bother to look at me. "I can't".

"But I thought the mighty vampire could do anything" I mocked and began stalking towards him. "You were able to kidnap me in a forest in the middle of the night, turn me into a monster, keep me here and force me into being your 'girlfriend'!" I began to rant, not forgetting to add air quotes in the 'girlfriend' part.

"You took me away from my life and family, disrespected me and just kept me here to rot. Let me go. I don't love you! I never will so just let me live my life and you can go burn in hell!" I screamed.

Duke might have been nice to me this past month and has treated me well but I can't quite forgive him for making my life so complicated and miserable. He has this huge house and an amazing sister and brother whereas I lost the only family I ever had. The only true home I ever had. My trust can't be bought with a few flowers and some attention.

He turned away from me, completely ignoring my outburst as he made his way towards the stairs.

Oh no, he didn't!

I grabbed the back of his shirt even though I knew I wasn't strong enough to make him stop walking. He stopped anyway and sent me warning and angry look but behind it I could see worry and uncertainty in his eyes. They flashed a deep shade of red but it was gone just as fast as it had come.

Was I seeing things? I decided to just ignore it.

"How dare you walk out on me?" I was now on full rage and running off pure adrenaline when my newly acquired claws swiped across his face.

I knew instantly that I had made a stupid move.

A very stupid move.

He let out a fierce growl that had me rethinking my actions. Some of the servants surrounded us, too scared to come close and were trying to calm us down from a distance.

"Please miss, don't anger him anymore"

"Sir, please calm down"

But we paid them no heed. Enough was enough, not everything can be bought with those gifts and sweet talk that he readily provided. His attention won't bring back my family so I don't need it.

I was about to throw an insult but before I could even open my mouth he shoved me so hard, I practically flew backwards and landed on a glass table, shattering it to pieces. I knew he didn't mean to push me that hard judging by the look of surprise and concern that crossed his features. I let out a pained scream as I tried to hold back my tears.

The maids rushed forward towards me to check if I’m all right. The door opened and Drake and Anna had their mouths open in shock seeing the chaos.

“What the hell?” Drake muttered, his voice filled with quiet rage.

Drake’s eyes moved from me to Duke and then turned a bright yellow shade. He seemed like he was about to rush at Duke but before anything could happen, Anna quickly held him back.

Suddenly, some invisible force sent Duke flying in the opposite direction. His body got heavily slammed into a wall and he groaned in pain as he struggled to get up.Everyone gasped in shock.

What the hell just happened?

I suspected that Drake must have done something but seeing the shock and confusion on his face it became obvious that it wasn’t his doing.

Some of the maids turned accusingly to Anna who looked petrified. If there was one thing I knew it was that most of the maids didn’t like or respect Anna because she wasn’t a vampire like them. They only seemed to treat her well when her brothers were present. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t live here.

“I d-didn’t-“ Anna stuttered but Duke raised his hand to stop her. “I know”.

Duke’s bleeding nose started to heal instantly and it made me jealous that I hadn't yet developed my own healing abilities. Drake had told me that Duke had the ability to heal faster than any normal vampire though.

I got to my feet, ignoring the glass shards that pierced my back. I let out a snarl of rage and he returned it. The adrenaline helped to reduce the pain and also give me some motivation to take down this blood-sucker.

The servants were now begging us to stop but we just ignored them. This had to end , it's either I leave here or I die trying.

Drake stepped in before we could attack each other, though he threw daggers at Duke.

"What did you do to her?" He yelled in rage as he barred his fangs at Duke and let out a threatening snarl.

"She got what she deserved", he replied with a growl and I became even more enraged. A spark was seen and the next thing Duke was flying across the room again and crashing hard into another wall. It was just as hard as the last one. Everything happened in a matter of seconds, it left everyone in complete shock.

Duke tried to get up and a few servants rushed to help him. His expression showed shock, confusion and anger. The claw marks I had given him continued to bleed and I wondered why it wasn't healing. His gaze landed on me and the anger turned to uncertainty. He seemed to be pondering something before he finally shook his head as if dismissing a thought and started to leave the room.

No one followed him. No one stopped him, not even me. Everyone was still in shock about what had just happened as they stared at the wall that Duke had flown into.

"Holy shit, Cassandra!" Anna exclaimed. I finally pulled my attention from the wall and gave her a questioning look.

"Your back", she stated in panic. As if on cue the adrenaline left me and the pain hit me like a ton of bricks. I winced now fully feeling the movements of the glass shards and the amount of pain and blood it brought.

"Don't worry I'll get you treated", she reassured as she gestured for me to follow her into a room. The room looked like a small hospital room with the signature white bed and walls. It had different type of drugs only that they looked a lot more like the potion I was given during my transformation. They were also different herbs lying around.

Anna instructed me to lay with my stomach on the bed and I did as I was told occasionally wincing in pain whenever a shard of glass moved in my back. "How did this happen?" she asked as she grabbed a pair of hand gloves from one of the drawers.

"I fell on a glass table and it broke in pieces", I replied nonchalantly and I would have shrugged if it didn’t hurt too much to move my shoulders.

"Did Duke do this?", she asked with her protective older sister tone. Which was ironic since she was the youngest among her siblings.

"No?" I lied but then she gave me a narrowed look. "Maybe?" I said reluctantly but it sounded more like a question.

"Did you say something to make him angry?" she asked.

"I told him that I wanted to go home". More like I yelled at him to let me go and told him to burn in hell.

"Home?" she asked making me realize that she knew nothing about that night. The night when Duke had ripped me away from the world I've known for so long. She pulled a glass shard out of my back and I winced a little. "You want to call off the engagement?"

What now?

"Uh... what?" I asked in confusion. Did she say engagement?

"Yeah, your engagement with Duke", I turned so fast I would have gotten a whiplash. The few glass shards in my back moved and tore my skin even more and leaving me bleeding more and wincing in pain.

"Be careful", Anna reprimanded as she poured something on my torn skin which immensely reduced the pain.

"We are not engaged". Like that isn't possible. If we were 'engaged' and I have glass shards in my back, what would happen if we got married?

“I’m not even here willingly”, I further explained. Anna looked horrified and confused all that once.

"What?!” She looked around and lowered her voice. “Is he trafficking?”

I almost choked. “Um… no? He’s just kidnapping I guess and he’s treated me well so far. Y’know before I had glass stuck in my back”.

"So where is your home?" Anna asked, her confusion was as clear as day.

"The mortal world where life was easy and less complicated" I started "A world where I lived peacefully with my family. I just want to get back to my old life".

I lied.

Life wasn't easy in the slightest. I remembered my past which was filled with running, hiding and our struggles to survive. I remembered the flames I had caused and the screams of agony that followed. I never killed but I destroyed, still they stayed with me. My brothers always stayed with me. Even when the sirens blared, Zane would hold my hand and run and Blake and Donald would offer up themselves as a diversion just so I wouldn’t get caught.

Is that the life I want back?

That isn't the life I want to go back to.

That wasn't the life I wanted for me or my brothers at all.

But maybe life was complete as long as I had them. Maybe that’s really all I needed.

I was woken up from my thoughts by a sharp pain in my back caused by Anna who was starting to pull out the shards. "I'm really sorry to hear that. I wish there was something I could do", she sounded sympathetic but I didn't want that. I didn't want her sympathy or her worry, I just want her support.

"Can you teach me how to cope with everything and also help me control these abilities?" I asked her. Maybe if I can get a grip of myself I can finally escape. Run and never look back. “Of course I will", she replied happily. "We can work on it tomorrow".

She pulled out another shard and I bit my lip to avoid screaming. "Isn't there a way to just remove this stuff with witch magic or something?" I ask her through gritted teeth.

"Yeah but it's going to be seriously painful", she answered as she pulled yet another shard out. "Ouch!"

"Speaking of magic, that force that threw Duke, was that magic?" I asked curiously. Anna seemed uncomfortable. “It seemed so. I’m obviously a suspect now. Though it didn’t seem like any magic I have ever witnessed”, she sighed and I couldn’t help but think about how sad she sounded. But she also sounded like she knew something she wasn’t letting on.

"Where did it come from?" I asked. "No idea, but Duke has already started an investigation. Having magic that powerful in the manor could be dangerous”, she answered.

I couldn’t help thinking over her words but mostly I felt bad for her. She was being labeled a suspect but at least her brothers seem to believe she did nothing wrong.

"All done", she announced. I felt a liquid drip on my back and I felt my torn tissues mend back together. I sighed in relief, glad that the pain was finally gone.

"I really need to learn to heal myself", I muttered as I sat up. "Don't worry, we'll work on that", she said with a bright smile.