WARNING: THE FOLLOWING STORY CONTAINS VIOLENCE, CURSING AND MILD GORE

Leah

It's a rather dreary day at school. Rain's streaming down the windows as if attempting to flood the earth, anything; well in particular anyone out there would be soaked in less than thirty seconds. Maybe I should mention, to go along with that, that I'm not exactly known for my exaggeration.

My closest friend in all of existence, Rena, is most likely out there waiting for me to get out of school and tell her what I learned. I'm pretty sure it's the highlight of her day. I'm lucky, or so I'm told, that I have someone who's willing to sponsor an orphan like me to go to school in the first place. Rena, though, doesn't have one. I take her food, clothes, and I would let her sleep in my shelter, but my sponsors won't allow it. I'm really not too sure where she sleeps actually.

I'm not too sure why none of the people around here will sponsor her, I was told that it's because they really don't know anything about her; according to them, she just showed up here and nobody has any idea where she's from. That's why I re-teach all the lessons I learn in school to her, since she can't go to school herself, I mean.

School is extremely expensive, mainly due to the lack of, well, everything. These days all the small, human, towns are so poor we can hardly afford to feed ourselves sometimes. For that reason an orphan needs someone to support them in order to survive. Before Rena had me to support her with whatever I can, she had Linda.

Linda is the owner of the café; she used to give Rena any leftover scraps for food and also some old clothes. As sort of a thank you to her for keeping Rena alive for all those long years, me and Rena go to the café almost every day and buy a mug each of hot cocoa; recently I started doing some work after school, which allows me and Rena to do this.

The most amazing thing is, is that even though Rena is in her current situation, she's probably the nicest and most enthusiastic person I know.

The bell rings loud and clear to announce the end of the school day; I gather up all my things and rush out the door. Surely enough she's out there waiting for me. "Rena!!" I yell, "It is pouring rain! You're going to get sick out here; you don't have to wait for me like this on bad days!!"

"Leah, I've waited for you in worse weather." She responds. Which is true, she's been out there waiting for me in the worst weather imaginable.

"OK," I sigh, "Let's go to the cafe. We can get some hot cocoa there, and I'll tell you about my day." Rena responds with an extremely happy look and a nod.

We don't talk much, well; I don't anyways, on the walk there. Rena can talk up a storm, about anything too, but she's usually a sufficient amount quieter after I get out of school; I guess it's because she's waiting for me to burst with information retained from the day. By the time we get to the cafe she's so impatient looking, it's hard not to smile at her priceless face by this time. "I'll go get the hot cocoa, could you find a table outside?"

"OK, hurry up." Says Rena; with that still priceless look on her face. I then go into the cafe, I don't have much money but I manage to scrape up a little every now and then, it always seems to be just enough.

"The usual?" asks Linda as I walk up to the till.

"Yes, please" I reply. I see Linda almost every day; she's usually working here, well, I guess she does own the place. She grows her own cocoa beans and somehow makes them into my and Rena's daily beverage (every school day at least), I'm really not sure how she does it and I've never bothered to ask either. Maybe I should sometime.

"Here you go, that's going to be $25 dollars."

"Thanks." I reply while giving her the money. It seems like the price of everything keeps going up very quickly lately; I was once told that there was a time, long, long ago, when things were better for us humans. You know, before the apocalypse in year 3000. That's what I learned in school today, and what I'm going to be explaining to Rena. I grab the hot cocoa and walk outside, Rena picked out a good table today, I think. "Is that table the least soaked?" I ask. I said least soaked instead of most dry, because I'm pretty sure all the tables are wet, with this weather. You probably think we're crazy for sitting outside today, but it cost extra money to sit inside, extra money that I, sadly, don't normally have.

"It's the best one I could find." replies Rena, still with that impatient glow. The day that Rena's the least bit patient I'm sure I'll be a millionaire. "Now tell me what you learned in school!"

"Patience is a virtue, remember that?" I sigh. Lately, you see, to help Rena with her patience I've been intentionally procrastinating on telling her what I learned; I usually wait about an hour, because if I waited longer I think that Rena would explode. So for the next hour, we're sitting and drinking hot cocoa in the rain. Here and there I try to bring up some meaningless topic, but there's nothing Rena wants to talk about other than school; for the most part we drink our warm beverages in silence. An hour passes slowly.

"OK! It's been an hour! What did you learn in school! Tell me already!!!"

"Isn't the hot cocoa here great?" I ask through smiling lips.

"Yes! OK! It's great!" Rena's face turns redder and more frustrated than normal. "Tell me about school!!!!"

"Alright" I giggle. "It's such a shame you don't have a sponsor, you would really enjoy school so much."

"If you didn't help me Leah………I don't know where I'd be……." Rena's deep violet eyes suddenly catch a sad and grateful glimmer.

"Don't worry." I try to comfort her. "I'll take care of you." And I really mean that; Rena, although we're not connected by blood, is all the real family I have and I'm all the family she has. "Well, now that we're all done our cocoa, let's go for a walk around town and I'll tell you what I learned in school today." Needless to say, Rena gets her enthusiastic glow back in no time.

"Well, what did you learn in school? Was it interesting? What subject was it? Oh, would you just hurry up and tell me!" By this point the frustrated look on Rena's face is hilarious, and I'm doing everything I can to keep myself from bursting with laughter. After I calm down a bit, I start telling her what I learned today.

"Today was a history day, we learned about the apocalypse. Have you ever heard anything about it before?", after I ask, the confused look on Rena's face tells me she hadn't. "Well, anyway, it happened about 200 years ago in 3000. Apparently, before this time us humans were a lot better off and were the dominant clan among the six. To be more accurate, they thought that they were the only clan in existence. Three of the remaining five clans were sick of hiding, so at 12:00pm, December 31, 2999; they came out of hiding and killed every human in sight. The other two however, Angels and Dark elves, tried to protect any human they could. This event is commonly referred to as the apocalypse."

"Well, I guess that explains why the Vampires, Werewolves and Demons hate us humans so much. But why would Angels and Dark Elves protect us?" asks Rena.

"What I told you is pretty much what we learned; we're planning to cover more about it tomorrow. All we did for the rest of the day was discuss what we learned."

"Could you tell me what you discussed in class?"

"Sure!"

-end of chapter one-

Celia

Finally! The potion is done! Now we vampires can take back our world!!! The world that should've been ours in the first place, but we were denied that by those filthy humans. But finally, this potion will help us kill them all, along with those other pathetic clans!!!

Right now Carrie is standing across from me, ready to leave as soon as Jake gets over here with the potion. She's going on a very 'noble' mission, the mission to retrieve the hybrid. I think the hybrid's name is Rena or something like that. She's part Dark elf and part Vampire; personally I don't think she'll be of any use at all. So basically, Carrie only thinks she's going on a noble mission. But this is really just an opportunity to test my new healing potion, and Carrie's my test dummy.

"But you can't go! You just can't! You'll die if you do!" cries her sister, Callie, like a pathetic child. Though I have to give the 'child' some credit, the chances are very high that Carrie will die before tomorrow dawns.

"Look," replies Carrie with a hard look on her face. "I have to do this. If we ever expect to take back our world we need the hybrid's power. I'm doing this for the entire vampire race!"

"But-"

"Shut it Callie! I have to do this!' And that ends that argument (I hope). "When is Jake getting here with that potion Celia?" She turns to me and asks.

"He should be here soon." I say, though with my luck I'll have to go find him.

-20 minutes later-

"Oh my, freaking God! I'm gonna kill him!" I yell extremely loudly (hoping that dead-brain can hear me). "I'm stuck walking through these dark hallways, because Jake is a stupid moron! I told him the directions like ten times over! Do you understand where to go Jake? Yes, no problem Celia. I'll be there on time. Well, now look where we are! I swear, the day he can understand instructions better than a toddler, I'll grow freaking wings and be able to freaking fly!"

I stop, not because I want to, but because I'm pretty sure I can hear someone mumbling. Wait, I recognize that voice, Jake! "My time to release my wrath upon him has come, muhahahahahaha-cough-hack-blegh".

"Celia!?" Jake looks at me curiously after my coughing fit. "Do you have a co-?"

"You!" I yell and interrupt him. "I'm gonna kill you!"

-The next scenes consist of Celia beating the living daylights out of Jake and are too violent to write about-

"You're lucky you're my brother, otherwise you'd be dead by now!" I say, as Jake glares at me through black and blue bruises.

"That's not really fair; you know I'm bad with directions!" By this point he's pretty mad at me.

"I told you the directions an- hey! I also gave you a map dim-wit!" Now that the moron has nothing to say, do to my ingenious comeback, I really should get my potion back to Carrie. The test must commence, despite the idiot's screw-ups. "We have to get back. Give me my potion, before I beat the life out of you again!"

"Okay, okay" He says, looking terrified (further proof that my work is done muhahahahaha), and gives me the palm-sized vial that contains my invention.

"Finally…" I say.

-This follows by an evil laugh so long that it could take up to 20 pages, so it is omitted from this text-

"Are you done yet?" asks Jake in that childish annoyance of his.

"I think so-wait, I'm done", I reply. "With this potion, we Vampires will take back our rightful place in this world."

-More evil laughing-

"We should get back now." I say, after my performance, and start walking the direction I came. Jake, of course, is following me (otherwise he'd get lost again).

We walk back into the room where Carrie and Callie are, and see Carrie's vexed face (Callie is still crying like a baby). Pft, if they had to go and search for a moron like Jake in those hallways, then they'd have the right to be annoyed.

"I have the potion." I say, and see that Carrie isn't impressed by my accomplishment.

"Well it took you long enough!" She replies with a tone.

"Look, it was my fault for getting lost… so don't blame Celia." Jake defends, as I give him a hateful glare.

"It doesn't matter now." I say, "Carrie, let me explain the power of this potion before I give it to you." She looks as if she wants to interrupt me and get the show on the road. But I talk before she can. "This is a healing potion. One drop will heal every wound on your body in two days exactly, every drop afterwards halves that time. So, by my math, if you have six or more drops your wounds will heal almost instantly. I'll tell you this once, and if you don't heed my words then I don't give a damn what happens to you. Don't take too much of this potion, or it may kill you. It's very powerful."

"Whatever." She replies unenthusiastically. "Just give me the potion so I can fetch the hybrid." After she says that, I get a little annoyed; but I give her the potion. She grabs it from me and walks out into the rainy night, and something tells me that that she won't be coming back.

Jake is trying to comfort Callie when he looks at me, "So, you're not going to tell her, you're just going to let her walk into that danger?"

"Would it have made a difference if I told that hot head anything?" I ask.

"It doesn't matter!" Jake responds with fury, forgetting that Callie can hear him. "She has a right to know what she's getting herself into and that she could easily be killed!"

"W-what…" Callie whimpers through her sobs. "What kind of danger is she faced with?"

"Look Callie," I say harshly, "I won't be one bit surprised if Carrie dies tonight. She wouldn't listen to me if I tried explaining this danger to her. The hybrid is part Dark elf, so she'll likely be attacked by them. Along with that, she doesn't fully understand that potion and she didn't listen to my warning." I stop talking when Callie falls to the floor, crying for her sister, she can't hear anymore.

I kinda feel a little sorry for her…

-End of chapter two-

Karl

It finally stopped raining; now I'm standing here soaked. Allison is standing across from me; I guess she came to see me off or something like that. No, I know why she came, but she can't stop me from going. I recently heard that the Vampires are plotting to take the hybrid power from Rena.

"Look……Allison…" I say nervously, not wanting to hurt her. "I know it's dangerous, but I have to go save her."

"But why? It isn't your job to take care of her." By this point I can see tears forming in her blue eyes.

"I can't tell you that…but I have to."

"I can see the determination in you, and I know that there isn't anything I can say or do to change your mind. But…..before you go, promise me this…."

"What is it?"

"Please don't die." After she says that I smile.

"Don't worry." I say. "I promise I'll be back all right. Thank you Allison."

I leave, not looking back to see the despair on her face.

Rena, I'm coming to save you. Please be okay.

-End of chapter three-

Rena

The rain finally stopped. Me and Leah are walking back to her house all soaking wet; it got pretty late so she has to get home now.

I wonder what her living space is like?...I don't know because her sponsors won't let me in there. I guess I can understand why, I mean, no body knows anything about me, not even me. She's kind enough to sneak me food and cloths, so I can't complain.

I'm sure I stand out in any crowd with these cloths though, see, the only ones she could sneak me are the ones that nobody wants to wear. Right now I have a pair of high boots, which are the most normal thing about my outfit; most humans will wear these, especially the leather kind, they are very warm and extremely popular. However, pants are normally worn with these, either over or under; human females normally wear them under the boots and males usually wear them over. I have a short skirt, not that I dislike it, it's just that it's very inefficient and not very warm. All the skirt does is cover me, I've never worn pants before in my life because they are far to expensive. To top off the outfit, I have a pink tank-top, which is essentially the same as the skirt. Normally humans wear thick long sleeve shirts or sweaters. Like I said, the cloths I have are the cheap and unwanted.

Even Leah has a pretty cheap outfit, she is wearing a thick, long black dress, with black cloth slippers. Her outfit is quite a bit more common than mine, however it's still inefficient.

We reach Leah's living space, without much talking. "See you, Rena", she smiles at me.

"See you", I say, and look around. "It won't be too hard for me to find a place to sleep, since it stopped raining. I think it's starting to warm up a little".

"That's a relief. I'd better go now, or my sponsors will be mad at me".

"OK, see you then". I say as she walks into her living space and closes the door. Now to find a place to sleep tonight.

I hear a slight movement and jump, I look and see nothing though I grow a little tense. As soon as I turn to leave I hear a voice call me. My eyes widen and I freeze in fear. I turn around slowly and gasp when I see a vampire, there's no mistaking it, her long silver hair and glowing red eyes…

"Rena", she says, sounding annoyed. "We need to have a little talk…….."

-End of Chapter Three-

Carrie

I've found the hybrid, she's staring at me with a dumb look on her face. Now all I have to do is capture her, turn her into a vampire, and take her back to the fortress.

I lunge at her, and she starts running away, now to chase her out of the town…

"Get away from me!", she screams. She's running as fast as she can, hmph, I hardly have to jog to keep up with her. If she has any of the power Celia said she does, she's certainly not aware of it.

Suddenly she trips over a rock, that's what happens when you don't look where your going girl! I stop running and start walking toward her…

"Heh, I've got you now, hybrid!"

"H-h-hybrid?", she stutters. This is my chance. I grab her, and I'm about to change her-

"Let her go!", I hear an annoying and familiar voice yell, Karl! I turn and face him angrily.

"Stay out of this if you know what's good for you!" I yell, hoping he'll take the hint. But being the idiot he is, he doesn't back off, so I throw the hybrid aside; I'll deal with her later. I get into my battle stance, I'm gonna teach that purple skinned bastard a lesson!

"Bring it on Vampire!", he yells, seeing that I'm ready for an all out war. While he's running at me I drink the potion that Celia gave me, if it heals as fast as she said it does, well, he won't be able to touch me! He sprints and tries to slice me with his sword. I dodge the majority of the attack, and sure enough the rest heals in less than a second… "What!", he exclaims.

"Hahaha! You won't even be able to hurt me until this potion wears off!"

"A healing potion! Is that what you drank?"

"Haha! Your sharp, I see", there's no way he can win– Suddenly I feel a lot weaker, and slower…Is it a side effect she neglected to tell me? Damn it! I'm just a guinea pig to her, she probably didn't tell me how this potion would affect me on purpose! I hope that the side effects aren't to severe. Damn! It's getting hard to breathe! I must attack him before he gets me again!!

I run at him, preparing to use my most powerful attack; I must finish this quickly! I build up my red energy. My strongest attack (also my favorite) is called blood diamond. Our Vampire energy allows us to form a red, diamond like substance. Let's just say that it's not pleasant to get hit with…My attack in particular forms very sharp shards that come together to form a larger diamond shape around my hand. I shatter the diamond and all the shards go flying at Karl. He only manages to dodge about a quarter of them.

Soaked in his blood, he stands up and his blue energy starts to glow around him. His energy forms thin needles…normally I would've been intimidated, however, with the healing potion running through my body, I have nothing to fear! The needles float around him for a while, then they come flying at me. I stand still, not afraid.

"HAHAHA–ugh!" I fall backwards due to the power of the hit, and though my wounds heal instantly, I suddenly feel weaker…and weaker……….–STAB! Karl's sword is thrust through my heart…and I'm loosing too much blood…I-I feel myself slipping. My wound starts to heal……….but I grow weaker………….my…………heart…….is……….stopping-^--^---^----the blackness finally grabs me and pulls me under__________.

-End of Chapter Five-

Celia

"Celia?", Jake asks in a questioning manner.

"What is it, dork?", I kindly reply.

"You told me before that you didn't think that the hybrid would be of any use, yet you sent one of our best soldiers to go get her and you gave her your potion…What were you thinking exactly?"

"Hmmmm…So you want to know what my plan from the start was?"

"Ya…Could you explain it to me?", he finally asks. I'm going to have to draw out this explanation until Callie get's beck in the room…

"Alright, I'll tell you, mainly because this is the most intelligent question I've heard you ask in a long time.", Jake gets a happy expression on his face.

"Thank you, Celia. Your not always horrible and cruel after all…", he smirks. The idiot! who does he think he is to make a comment like that!

"Shut up if you want me to tell you anything!", we both calm down quickly. "Alright, I'll tell you my plan…Only if you intend to help!"

"Damn, I knew there was a catch", he replies. "But okay, fine. On with the explanation." I'm not going to tell him this, but part of my plan was to entice him to ask me for an explanation, that curiosity of his comes in handy once in a while. Anyway, I knew that to satisfy that need of his he'd surly help me out. Ha ha ha!

After a deep breath I begin…"When I said that I didn't believe the hybrid would be useful, I meant that I don't believe it'll help us to get it. Plain and simple. Even if it does have the power it's rumored too it probably doesn't know about it. Heck, it most likely doesn't even know it's a hybrid. So what good will it do us to find the hybrid? However, I knew that this would be the perfect opportunity to test my potion, well that and Father figured out our plans and made them an order. I also knew that this would be the perfect opportunity to test Carrie." I had better stop there before I give away too much.

"I must admit, though, I'm concerned this test won't go anywhere due to how the potion works, I'm sure that Carrie just downed the whole thing…", I pause. Jake looks at me, waiting for me to continue. "The potion works by speeding up the bodies healing process, so if you drink too much of it, it will speed up vital processes in the body, and messing with that can have fatal results. So I'm guessing that if she drank all of the potion and she got a large injury, due to her over-confidence, it will heal fast but she'll feel a lot weaker afterwards."

"So, what would happen if she got a fatal wound?", Jake rudely interrupts.

"Shut up! I was getting to that…If she got a fatal wound the effects of the potion would speed up her death!"

"What!? So she could be dieing right now?!"

"It's possible that at this very moment she's already dead.", as I said those words my timing was perfect, right when Callie walked in the room. Of course I timed it, drew out a long enough monologue and got to the important part when I herd Callie's footsteps.

"Wha-what!? Why didn't you tell me!?", after she says that she runs out into the night, to find her sister. Just as I planned. Jake starts to follow her, but I stop him.

"Don't go after her Jake!", I yell. He doesn't listen, so I knock him unconscious. "It's not time for you to play you're part in my plan."

-End of Chapter Six-

Allison

I have a really bad feeling….I know Karl will be angry that I'm coming after him, but…..I-I just have to! I'm running as fast as I can, following his footprints. It's a good thing it stopped raining before he left, that way his trail won't be washed away.

I reach a small human town, oh damn! There's so many footprints in places like this! It will be very, very, very hard to pick out one trail from another…oh wait! I forgot the rain! It would've washed away the old footprints, so only the recent ones should be left. phew…As I suspected, I have no trouble finding Karl's trail, and I run through the town to find him. I soon reach the end of the town….Blood! oh no, he could be seriously hurt! I run up to the post-battle-scene and find Karl……..he's barley able to stand….but at least he's alive…

"Allison!?", he gasps. "I told you not to come after me!"

"I had to! I had a really bad feeling…"

"Well I'm okay…….but…….", he trails off in thought.

"What is it?", I ask. As it turns out, though, there's no need for him to tell me……I see Carrie's lifeless body laying on the ground.

"I had to……..in order to save Rena!"

"Oh no! The vampires will be angry now! Who knows who they'll send after us! You just killed one of their strongest fighters!", I can hardly believe he'd be stupid enough to do that! For all we know they will start a war!

"I'm sorry……I didn't mean for this to happen……."

"Let's just get you and Rena back-"

"What the hell is going on?!", Rena shouts. I didn't realize she was awake…

"Look, Rena-"

"How do you know my name!"

"You have to calm down-"

"Don't tell me what to do! What's going on?!"

"Rena!", Yells Karl. "I'm your brother!". Both me and Rena gasp in shock at his revelation. Well now I know why he came to save her…

"What the-", Rena starts to say. She is then knocked unconscious, she falls to the ground and I see Callie standing in her place. She looks distressed and incredibly angry…

"Leave her alone!", I yell. Karl came this far to save her, so there's no way I'm letting the Vampires take her now!

"Y-You killed my sister!", Callie cries. She runs at Karl, preparing to attack.

"Hold it Vampire! If you're gonna fight anyone it will be me!", I yell as I kick her in the gut. I won't let her lay a finger on him!

"Stay out of this Elf!", she screams at me.

"No! I won't let you hurt Karl! So-"

"Allison!", Karl yells. "This is my fight, stay out of it!"

"But Karl! You-"

"I don't care if I'm injured! I'll handle this! Take Rena and get her to safety! Take her and get out of here!". I can't believe he's being so stupid! But at least if I get Rena out of here I'm helping him…

"Fine! But you better win and come back in one piece! You hear me Karl!". As I say that he smiles and nods.

"Now go.", he says.

-End of Chapter Seven-

Callie

I-I can't believe it! I just can't! Won't! My sister is……dead? Gone forever? I just………-just……….Why? Why did this have to happen?! Who do I blame? Do I kill Karl? Was it his fault? Or is it Celia's fault?

"Well, vampire?", Karl interrupts my thoughts. "Are you going to fight me or what?". Of course it's his fault! He's the one who stopped Carrie's heart from beating!

"Why! Why did you do it?", I cry at him. "I'm gonna kill you!". I run at him again, all the while he keeps his cool face. My red energy bursts from inside me, around me, filling me with power, the power I need to defeat him!

I form two daggers out of the blood diamond, one in each hand. He looks at me with a hint of surprise, then he releases his blue energy. Now I've got him! I'm about to slice him with my daggers-he jumps out of the way, Damn!

"Is that the best you can do?", he mocks.

"You wish!", I yell and throw my daggers behind him.

"You missed…" He smirks.

"Hardly!". The daggers come flying out of the ground toward me, and fly right through each of his arms. He screams in pain and falls to the ground. I walk toward him, prepared to make the kill. I grab his hair, pulling his head back, and put one of the daggers to his throat. Now I'll cut his throat open-ulg-What the!

The next thing I know, I'm on the ground with Allison's foot pressed into my neck. "Give it up, vampire. There's no way you're killing him!", she tells me as she pushes her foot harder into my neck.

"Get off me!", I croak. "This fight doesn't involve you!"

"What do you know, vampire!", she yells at me. "You were just about to kill my-….friend…And you expect me just to let you get away with it!". She starts chocking me with her foot. I-I'm about to black out…

"Your a hypocritical little elf.", I hear…Celia…?

"What do you mean, vampire!", Allison responds.

"Giving Karl shit for killing Carrie, when it looks as if you're about to do the same to her sister.", I can't see anything right now but I'm pretty sure she has a smirk on her face.

"That's…", Allison starts to say as she takes her foot off my neck. I slowly start breathing and coming back to consciousness.

"Just get out of here and take the hybrid with you.", she says. She must have a plan, it's just not Celia to give up like that.

"That just seems just a little to good to be true.", Allison says suspiciously.

"Oh please. If I wanted the damn girl I would've taken her by now, killing you if I had to. I just came here to get Carrie and Callie.", She really has a good poker face. "It looks like I showed up just in time.", she smirks Why would she say that? They already killed Carrie! Showing up in time would mean that she would've been able to…save her…

"Fine, I'll take her and go. But you better not come after her later."

"It's a promise, elf.", Celia says, with her still perfect face.

Allison takes Karl in one of her thin arms and Rena in the other. She's a lot stronger than she looks. She starts running back through the small human town. Celia looks at me. "Don't thank me.", she says grimly. "It's sad how pathetic you've become, you're lucky I showed up when I did." She picks up Carrie and starts to walk away. "Don't come back to the fortress until you can fight better than a child. When you come back there will be guards waiting to fight you, and if you don't defeat them they will kill you."

"W-what's wrong with you?"

"Shut up! You couldn't even beat a dark elf that had already sustained a substantial amount of battle damage! And that girl almost killed you! At least your sister served her purpose."

"Don't talk about her like she's some 'science experiment'"

"Was"

"Shut up!"

"Your so pathetic…there's no point in arguing with you. Don't come back until you're stronger!". Celia leaves, carrying Carrie's body with her. Fine, if she wants me to get stronger I will. And I'll show her personally!

-End of Chapter Eight-

Rena

Hmmm? I feel so lost. My eyes slowly open, and I find myself in a strange room. "Where am I?", I ask myself.

"You're in a dark elf hospital", I jump as I hear someone say. I didn't know anyone was in the room with me.

"Who-"

"Just calm down. My name is Allison.", she cuts me off. "I know our hospitals are quite different than your human ones, sorry for the scare."

"It's you!", she's the elf from before. "What's going on? Please tell me!"

"Well I can't tell you anything really. To be honest I'm about as clueless as you are right now."

"You must know something!", she just has to!

"All I really know is that you're a hybrid, a dark elf vampire one I think.", she sighs. "That would explain your physical appearance anyway."

"huh?"

"Your appearance is exactly halved between a vampire and a dark elf.", I am so confused right now. She sighs and continues, "Vampires have fair skin with red eyes and silver hair, while dark elves have purple skin, blue eyes, and black hair, like me."

"Oh, OK….To be honest I'm still confused."

"So am I. But I noticed that you have dark tan skin, purple eyes and grey hair. Your appearance is as close as you can get to an incomplete dominance between the dark elf and vampire alleles!", at this point I'm wondering if those are actually real words she's saying.

"What!?"

"You haven't had much schooling have you?", she just notices. "Hmmm, how do I describe it? you look like someone took a dark elf and a vampire, put them in a bowl and mixed it all together. For example, gray is what you would get if you mixed black and silver together."

"I think I sort of understand what you're saying now…"

"The only thing that's a little off is you're skin color, which is good for you. I mean, if you had light purple skin you might not have been accepted into the human community.". Is she saying that I'm not human? What am I then?

"So….I'm not human?"

"No, you're not. I'm pretty sure you're a vampire and dark elf hybrid, but I really don't know much.", she sighs. "Karl just up and took off to help you, he never told me anything. Right now he's sleeping, so I can't ask him."

"Wait……So how did you know my name?"

"Hmmm? Oh, um Karl mentioned it before he left to find you. He said that he had to 'save Rena', so when I saw you at the scene I assumed it was you. It turns out I was right.", she sighs. "Are you thirsty?"

"Now that you mention it, ya I kinda am…", she leaves the room as I say that. I'm assuming that she's going to get me a drink. She comes back in a minute later with a small cup, I'm so thirsty right now.

"Here you go.", she says as she hands me the cup.

"Thanks.", I put the cup to my mouth-ulgh-What is that smell!?

"Um, it uh, smells weird…..", she looks a little surprised. "Wait, what did you put in here?"

"Just drink it, it will help you."

"Are you trying to poison me!?"

"What!? No!"

"You're probably lying to me about everything!"

"Rena! listen to me!"

"No! I'm leaving! I'm going back home!"

"Don't leave! It's dangerous for you out there!", I stop at the doorway.

"You told me before that you don't know anything. And now I'm supposed to listen to you! Shut up Alli-ulgh", what the-

-End of Chapter Nine-

Jake

I follow Celia through the long, dark halls of the fortress. It could just be my imagination, but she looks more nervous than when we usually have to talk to him. Then again, he can be pretty scary…I just hope Celia can cut out her attitude when she talks to him today. Last time she talked back to him…well, let's just say that I hope it doesn't happen again.

I just got back from capturing the hybrid, after all, Celia said I had to help her in exchange for information. Taking her was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be! Those dark elves were so stupid to freak her out like that! All I had to do was grab the girl when she ran out the door and leave ASAP. I bet you anything that the dark elf is still trying to figure out what happened! Haha!

We reach the big doors that he's always hiding behind. "Celia! Keep the back talk to a minimum this time! OK?", I say.

"Whatever stupid-face. I'm not scared of that coward!", she retorts. Sigh, this is not going to be pleasant…"Let us in! Now!", Celia yells. The big doors open and we walk in the large room.

The room is the largest in the entire fortress. All the walls are a dark red, with peeling paint and chains hanging from the ceilings. In short, it looks like your basic torture chamber, minus the blood and dead bodies that is. He sits at the far end, well, we think he sits. It's so dark…all we know of him is his voice.

"Father", I say. "We have captured the hybrid just as you asked."

"What are you doing here Jake?", his voice booms. "I gave Celia those orders, not you!"

"I'm here as well, Father.", Celia responds

"That's not what I asked!", his voice bangs around the room and hurts my ears. I really want to get out of here!

"Tch. I asked him to help me. That's as much as you need to know.", more like she forced me.

"Don't disrespect me girl!"

"Oh my! I'm sooooo scared of the big scary man who never leaves this room!", she's really asking for it now! Why do I have to be here!? Awww man, I just wanna leave!

"You're not even worth my time! Get out of my sight! Now!", finally!

"I will give you an update about the hybrid later.", I say, it's better than sending Celia back here anyway…

He doesn't respond, so me and Celia leave. After we walk out the doors and they close, I glare at her. "You idiot!", I yell.

"Shut up Jake! I don't need to hear this from you!"

"He could have killed you!"

"He's a coward! He doesn't even leave that room. Am I supposed to be scared of him?"

"Yes! Yes you are supposed to be scared of him!"

"Ya, well that's not gonna happen anytime soon…"

"He got to the top somehow! Just think about that.", I leave. It's no use talking to her. Honestly! What does she think is gonna happen when he has enough of her attitude! Even though she's as cruel as she is, she's still my sister! Obviously I don't want her to get hurt! But if she won't listen to me, well, there's nothing I can do for her…..

-end of chapter ten-

Rena

I wake up on a cold floor. It's very dark here, I can hardly see my hand in front of my face. The last thing I remember was talking to Allison, well yelling actually.................Then I was leaving when.......I guess I blacked out or something. How did I end up here then?

"Hello?", I say, hoping someone can hear me. There's no answer. My eyes start adjusting to the darkness better, but I must be dreaming! My hand........My skin, it's so pale! I know I have tanned skin, so why is it almost white now!? I really don't know what's going on! "Hello?", I yell as loud as I can. Still no answer.

The place around me looks ratty and old, I swear I can hear small rodents scurrying around, and something dripping. Is there a leak in the roof or something? I still can't see much, but I can tell that the room I'm in is rather large.

I pull on my hair in frustration-wait! My hair! It's.........White!? First my skin, now my hair!? What's going on!? What happened to me!?

I remember the conversation I had with Allison now.....She said that I'm part vampire and dark elf. She also said that vampires have silver hair, pale skin and red eyes......Well, I have the hair and the skin, what about my eyes? I look around, trying to find something I can see my reflection in.......-I can only move my leg so far, is it attached to something? I look and find a chain!? Someone doesn't want me to leave, obviously...Well, the chain looks a little shiny, maybe I can see my reflection.....!My eyes are red too! Did I turn into a vampire!? OK! I must be dreaming! This whole thing's a dream! It's just too far fetched to be true!

"So what?", I yell. "I'm Rena, a dark elf vampire hybrid? And a vampire tried to capture me, but my "brother" the dark elf saved me? Then his girlfriend, Allison, shows up and I go unconscious somehow? Then I wake up in a "dark elf hospital" and Allison tells me that I'm this "hybrid", then I try to leave and black out somehow? Then I wake up in this ratty place? I must be dreaming!"

"You're not dreaming",-! Who was that!?

"Who are you!?", I yell. "Tell me!"

"Relax, I just came here to talk to you.", says the stranger. A boy about my age steps out of the dark shadows, he's obviously a vampire. "My name is Jake.", he says. "How are you Rena."

"Well, that's a stupid question.", I retort. "I've had the worst night of my life, and now I wake up chained to a freaking wall! How do you think I am? Huh?"

"Actually you've been out for two days already; and just in case you haven't noticed yet, you've been turned into a vampire."

"It would've been nice if you told me that sooner, so I didn't scare myself when I saw my reflection!", I'm still yelling at him.

"Rena, calm down."

"And another thing, how on earth do you know my name! Oh, let me guess, you were stalking me because I'm the "Hybrid". Also, don't tell me to calm down!", Jake seems like such an idiot!

"Actually, I'm not sure who spied on you, if anyone did. And the reason I know your name is because I listened in on your conversation with Allison, before I knocked you unconscious and took you here."

"Oh my, that's so much better.", I glare at him. "So since you know so much, how did I become a vampire?"

"I made you one. It's easier than most people think."

"So you just bit me and made me into this?", I say gesturing to my face.

"Well it's not quite that simple.", he remarks with a laugh.

"You just said it was easy! What's up with you people and always changing your story!"

"What do you mean by you people?", he smirks. "How many vampires do you actually know?"

"It's all of you! Vampires and dark elves-"

"Woah! Don't lump us in with them!"

"I'll do what I want!"

"You know…", his expression suddenly becomes cold. "You should watch your mouth around here. There are many vampires who would've killed you for saying that, despite the orders to keep you alive."

"W-what?", I shiver. What kind of terrible place am I in?

"And for all you know, I could be one of those vampires…", I back up against the wall and stare in horror at him….as he slowly walks toward me. He comes uncomfortably close and looks at me face-to-face. "I could kill you right now if I wanted to. You're so vulnerable it's pathetic…"

"Get away from me..", I whisper. He grins, evilly, and laughs.

"Though, I kinda like you. I really just came here to talk in the first place…", his expression becomes more calm and friendly. "Sorry for scaring you, I couldn't resist! But seriously, take the warning. Not everyone here is as friendly as me."

He looks at me and sighs. "Did I leave you speechless or something? You seemed so spunky before."

"Spunky? What's that mean?"

"Attitude."

"Oh…sorry about that…"

"You're actually apologizing to me?", he looks at me with genuine surprise. "The person who captured you, turned you into a vampire, and chained you to a wall? I didn't see that coming. If anything I should apologize."

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why did you do all that to me? Why do both, the vampires and dark elves, want me? What do you want with me?"

"Geez… You sure ask a lot of questions, don't you? Well given your situation I guess I can't blame you…", he looks at me. "Anyway, to answer your question, I was ordered to. It's not like I wanted to capture an innocent girl and put her through this crap. As for what they want, I was told that it's your hybrid power, though I don't know how they'll get it. And I don't want anything particular with you, I was just following orders."

"So I am this hybrid? I'm not human?"

"That's all true. It must be hard for you to swallow, since it goes against everything you've known since you were placed in that human town…"

I wonder why…why vampires and dark elves hate each other so much? What happened between them? Is there more to the story then I learned from Leah?

"So…why do you guys hate the dark elves so much? Leah said it was because they protected humans during and after the apocalypse….but I'm not sure if there's more to the story?", he stares at me, a little surprised.

"Well, whoever Leah is, she doesn't know much about our situation. We hated each other long before then."

"Why?"

"This may sound far fetched and you may not believe me…"

"Try me."

"Alright. At the beginning of time, when the earth was first created, God created the earth and the animals. However, before he created humans, he created us; Vampires, werewolves and demons. The idea was that we were more similar to the animals we lived with. However, we were too evil and God tried to wipe us out, but he couldn't quite get all of us. So after he created us, he created angels and dark elves to protect the humans.

For years and years, until the apocalypse we were at each others throats, humans just didn't know what was going on behind the scenes. They were ignorant, and stuck in their own little world where everything belonged to them. Let's just say we got sick of it, and tried to take our place in the world. However the dark elves and angels continued to protect the humans, thus starting this war.

That's why you're in such a bad situation here. You're a hybrid, between two clans that have a deep hatred for each other. That's why both sides are fighting so hard for you, and even I don't know if either side wants you alive…"

I just stare at him. I don't know what to say to that. I guess now I know why everyone hates each other…..

"So, why don't you hate me?", I ask.

"I try not to be like every other vampire. I don't judge someone just because their from a particular clan, 'cause it's not like anyone can chose how or where their born."

"Oh. So what are they gonna do to me…..Am I gonna die?", I can feel my eyes starting to water.

"Hey, don't cry. I don't know what's going to happen", he suddenly grins. "But I think I can find out for you if you like…."

I look up at him, surprised. "You're going to help me?"

"I don't see why not. I hate it here anyway.", He stands up and starts to leave. He turns to me, "I'll come back soon. See you Rena."

He leaves. I think I'm going to die here….The question is how and why…

-End of Chapter Eleven-

Jake

OK! I have to find out what their planning to do with Rena, I kinda like her and…..well I dunno, I just don't want her to get hurt…

I turn left, down another hallway; I'm going to see if he'll tell me what's going on. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that he's in that room, he's always there…I finally get to the big doors and knock. There's no answer. I don't dare go in without permission…but………..

I slowly open the door, flinching as it makes a screeching noise. I stop and wait for a response…….there's nothing……….The door is only slightly opened, but I can slip through. I squeeze through the door as silently as possible…..as soon as I'm in……-it slams behind me!

I jump and run into the shadows to hide.

"Who was that!", I hear my his voice boom.

"I'm not sure, master; I shall go and see." I'm not sure who that was….one of his many servants I'm assuming. I back up in the shadows more…….I hope they don't find me! His servant walks up to the door and looks around….I don't think he can see me. The only place there's light in this room is in front of the door, so he shouldn't be able to.

I move, silently, away from the door…..this way, if he follows the sound of my running earlier, he won't find me…

"There is nobody to be found, master."

"Well there has to be someone! Doors don't open and close on their own!" he yells………..oh crap! I hope they don't find me! "Check everywhere!" he yells again.

"Alright"

I hear walking…it's getting closer and closer to me….I…..I have to get outta here! I do the only thing that crosses my mind, I run for the door. I'm almost there! I'll make it!-Arrrgghh! His servant grabs my arm and twists it behind my back**-Snap-**! I cry out in pain as my arm breaks, and fall to the floor. I can feel tearing as the bone snaps; searing and burning pain spreading throughout me as I scream out.

"Who is it?" I hear his voice say.

"It's your son, master, Jake. I broke his arm."

"Very good, now bring him to me."-! Am I going to see his face!?

"Very well", his servant drags me through the room, closer and closer to where my father

is. He stops dragging me, I look up and…father?

His face is long, like Celia's. He has rather large, mean-no- crude is a better way to describe it, glowing red eyes. They seem to be redder than any other vampire's I've ever seen…His nose is long, and his mouth is hung in a bored looking frown. His skin is pale, like the rest of ours. His hair is about shoulder length, about the same as Celia's; it's kinda messy looking and it's, of course, silver. In fact, he looks a lot like Celia! I wonder if that explains her cruel nature…

"Why are you here Jake?" my father asks. I'm too stunned to speak. "Answer me. Now." his eyes turn cold. He looks at his servant. "Break his other arm, now." he orders.

"As you wish master." crap! –Snap-! I call out in pain and try to jerk away from his servant, causing myself more pain. I look up at my father.

"Answer me if you don't want your legs broken too."

"I-I need to know….what are you going to do with Rena?"

"Could you not have just asked and avoided this pain?"

"Answer me dammit!" I glare at him, though I already have an idea…no…I know what he is planning to do. I just want to hear the words to confirm it… He looks down at me, quiet for a moment and his servant shuffles a little, allowing me to hear a slight clinking noise in his pocket. Keeping a straight face I locate the sound.

"Jake, my son, have you forgotten the position you're in right now?" he replies coldly. "Break one of his legs."

-Snap-!-Aaaahhhh-ulgh. My leg breaks just above the knee. There's no way I'll be able to move properly now. In the process of attacking me he flipped me to my other side, still holding me down, one of my arms, though broken, manages to grasp the clinking object I snatched from the larger man, and hides it underneath me and then I slip them into my own pocket.

"I have told you and your sister not to talk back to me, countless times I might add."

"Please tell me what you're going to do to Rena." I plead, tears about to spill over as I grimace but do my best to hide the pain tearing through me.

"Why do you have to ask? I'm going to kill it of course!" he says with a laugh. "Her power is in her blood, if I want it I have to drink her blood."

"You-" a growl escapes me but is cut off.

"I'd watch my mouth if I were you."

I have to get out of here and warn Rena! But I can't move….

"Get him out of my sight." his servant dumps me outside the big doors. After they close behind me I try to move….-Ulgh! I can't! But I have to! I have to put up with the pain if I'm gonna help Rena! She doesn't know what's going to happen, I have to tell her!

I manage to stand up, sort of, by filling my head with these thoughts. I limp as fast as I can. But before I help Rena I have to find Celia's lab. I know where it is; when I get there I'll take her healing potion. It's my only chance now!

I round a corner, then another and another and another, until finally I make it to her lab…Good; she's not there so I can sneak that healing potion! I walk in and start searching…

Damn! It'd be nice if she put labels on these things! Not everyone can differentiate potions by a fraction of a shade of a specific color or some other crap like that…There! I think I found it! I run up to the table in the middle of the room, the color looks similar to the potion I had to pick up before…

I pick up the vial and look at it from every possible angle…then I pull out the cork and sniff it, it smells musty (kind of like old meat combined with something that is way too sweet). Not that smelling it helped me, I've never smelt any of Celia's potions before because she's warned me countless times about their toxic fumes, I was just curious.

Well, I have to take this since I'm running out of time and all. I might as well drink the whole vial-wait- Didn't this cause Carrie's death? I wasn't there so I don't know for sure but…Well, Celia said that six drops should heal anything instantly…so…I'll just take a sip, that's gotta be about the same amount and I don't have time to be exact.

I put the vial to my lips and, apprehensively, take a sip (a bit more than I planned). I can feel my bones heal…unevenly. I try as best as I can to not make a sound, as much as this hurts I can't afford to be found out. It's a bit easier to walk-I suddenly feel weaker…slower…my eyes start to close- No! I have to get Rena out of here!

Now I'm running, if you want to call it that, to Rena…I run and run and run as best as I can with a screwed up leg…I'm almost there, I have to warn her!

I stop running when I get to the door to the lower compartments of the fortress. I open the door and…there she is, Rena is chained to the wall in the far right corner. She stands up when she sees me, she looks shocked…probably by my appearance…

"Jake!" she exclaims. "What happened to you? You look terrible!"

I walk up to her…It's so hard to stand right now…I can feel myself falling…Rena runs up to me and I wrap my arms around her for support, my head's resting on her shoulder…

"You stink", I bluntly point out. "But you're pretty and that kinda makes up for it…" I go on mumbling.

"What's going on Jake!?" she whispers. "Please, tell me."

"My..my father, h-he wants to kill you…" I say between breaths.

"I already know I'm going to die here, just call it a hunch…" she wraps her arms around me.

"No…no, I won't let you die Rena."

"How on earth would you be able to help me right now Jake? You look like you're about to pass out…" she sighs. I move my arm from around her and reach into my left pocket; I pull out the keys I found in my father's servant's pocket.

"I grabbed these while my father's servant broke my leg…I don't think he noticed, heh heh heh"

"Jake you idiot!" she whispers. "Well, at least you're sort of okay; something tells me that this could've turned out a lot worse…"

"Let's see if one of these keys will work", I say. I move my arms from Rena and she loosens her arms from around me. I bend down and try key after key on the chain around her ankle. About halfway through the loop of keys (and that's a lot of keys), one of them finally works and the chain falls from her ankle to the floor.

"Wow!" she exclaims. "I think I forgot what it's like not being chained to a wall."

"That's great and all", I say as I stand back up. "But we have to get you out of here right away. You have no idea what they'll do to you."

"Do you know the way out?" she asks with a serious expression.

"Yes. I'll lead you to the exit." The closest one is the door Carrie left through to capture Rena before. "One more thing before we go." I say. "If I'm sent to capture you again, which I hope I'm not, it's nothing personal."

"I got it. Now let's go."

I grab Rena's hand and we start running, as fast as I can go, down the long hallways to the door. Ten minutes pass……then another ten…….and another ten, until finally we make it to the right room. We stop running. Taking deep breaths I point out the door.

Rena looks unsure. "Run" I say.

"Jake!" I hear Celia yell. "What are you doing!?"

"Run now Rena!" I yell at her. She nods and sprints out the door as fast as she can, I run up to the door and block it.

Celia looks at me with terror in her eyes, but she doesn't try to stop me and get Rena……..that's not normal for her…

Before I have time to say anything, Father's servant appears in the room, he's the same one from earlier! He looks at us coldly.

"You let her get away", he states with his deep monotone voice. "Now you have to face the consequences." He runs toward me…

-End of Chapter Twelve-

Rena

Huff……huff….I'm running, I don't know where. All I know right now is...huff…to run away….far…away. I don't stop running, I'll never stop running!

My legs feel like they're going to fall off my body soon….but I can't stop running.

Huff…huff…huff

I can feel myself tripping and falling, over and over, getting a new bruise every time. And every time I get up and keep running again.

The sky begins to change from a dark blue to an orange, then to blue as the night fades into the morning.

That's it….I just can't run any longer…I fall to the ground and…

-End of chapter thirteen-

Jake

It’s just a cycle, everything that’s happened since I helped Rena escape. They break our bones, torture us and, well basically they beat the crap outta us. Then after all this they use Celia’s potion to heal whatever wounds they give us; it must feel terrible for her to have her invention used against her in this way.

I just hope I can get outta this, and if I do I’m going to leave the fortress. Maybe I’ll see Rena again, she’s such a beautiful girl and she’s friendly even under the worst circumstances. Just the thought of her makes me smile. I keep replaying the moments I had with her, and the moment when she ran outta that door. When she left the fortress I felt glad, relieved and happy that she was gone from this horrible place.

Common sense tells me that she could be dead, but I know, I just know that for some reason she’s alive somewhere out there. When I get outta here, ‘cus I will, and I’ll make sure of that, the first thing I’m gonna do is find her.

Me and Celia are in a small dungeon cell, similar to the one Rena was in, but smaller and mustier.

Celia has had an emotionless face since we’ve been put in here, she won’t talk either. What are you thinking about Celia? Do you blame me for all this? Do you blame Rena? I’ve tried asking her this but she just stays quiet and stares into the distance. The only response I’ve gotten outta her is a slight cringe at the mention of Rena’s name.

I can hear a faint dripping, because these dungeons always have leaks. The sound never stops and I’m starting to think that it’s a form of torture. The distance seems to fade to black, so I can’t really see anything.

Me and Celia aren’t chained to a wall, the reason we can’t move is because we are fed barely enough to survive, and also because out arms and legs are broken. All we do is sit motionless, in silence (except for the dripping that is) until they decide to come and have their “fun” as they call it.

In fact…I can hear footsteps walking toward us right now…

-End of Chapter Fourteen-

Rena

I awaken in the same strange place as I did a couple of days ago. The dark elf hospital!? Am I really here?

“Yes, you are.” I hear a familiar voice…Allison? Did she respond to me…I hadn’t realized I’d said anything out loud…guess I was wrong.

“Allison?”

“Yes, it’s me.” My vision returns and I recognize her small face and intense blue eyes. Her ears extend horizontally from her head and come to a downward point. Her skin is a dark purple and her jet black hair reaches her shoulders.

“What am I doing back here?” I ask.

“I found you near the clearing where the battle occurred earlier. You looked terrified and exhausted…what happened…if I may ask?”

“Well…I remember Jake coming up to me in that place where the vampires took me…”

“You mean the vampire fortress?”

“Must be…anyway, he looked like…well, hell…and he said that I had to get out or they would kill me for my power…whatever that’s supposed to mean...” I pause to take a breath…the memories are coming to me as I explain, so I can’t recall anything clearly. Everything is so muddled in my head right now and it’s driving me crazy. “He had some keys with him so he unlocked my chains, and then he took my arm and we ran toward the exit. When we got there, a female vampire showed up but she didn’t try to stop us and Jake looked really surprised. Then he pushed me out the door just as another vampire showed up. I ran and ran and ran until I couldn’t anymore. Then I passed out and woke up here.”

“Are you okay?” Allison asks with a concerned look on her face.

“Ya….I think so anyway.” We both stay silent for a while…

“Look, um…” Allison starts. “I know that you probably have no idea what’s going on, and I also know that you may seem calm right now, but you’re really confused and scared.”

I stare at her in surprise…I don’t know what to say. I can feel my mouth hanging open and feel my eyes go wide. Tears suddenly start streaming down my face and before I know it I’m sobbing.

Allison wraps her arms around me and I press my face into her shoulder.

“I’m so sorry Rena…I really am.”

-End of chapter fifteen-

-End of Part One-