Diedrek

This information is all news to me. I knew my father and many of his closest men like to go out for the hunt as they call it. It entails running as far as they can go before they smell humans around in the dead of night, and surprising them before they drink them dry. Sometimes they'll play with their food a little before eating. It's my guess that is what he was going to do with her.

It wouldn't surprise me if he claimed her as his meal that night. My father always loved the young girls, they were naïve and fresh in his eyes. He could manipulate them to his liking. There were times he would bring the young girl to the mansion after all the other humans were dead. I don't know entirely what he would have planned for the young ones. All I know is you could hear them crying and screaming behind his closed door.

Those nights and days I stayed as far away as I could. I knew he could do the cruelest things. I have witnessed it with my own eyes. I just never saw the point in terrorizing the humans. Yes, we need their blood for sustenance. It is what we survive on, but there is no need to torment. This kind of thinking is what makes me weak in my father and brothers' eyes.

"What did you see when you first touched me?" Kyla's voice brings me out of my thoughts and back to the now.

Her bold question has a sinister smile growing along my fathers' lips. "I saw who you were the moment my fingers contacted your skin. I could see everything. How powerful you would make my boy over there." My father's head nods in my direction.

"So, you kept me alive instead of feasting on me so then we could meet and Diedrek would become even more powerful." The words come out strong, there isn't a doubt in her mind of what she proclaimed.

My father simply nods his head at her. There is silence for a few minutes. No one utters a word as we all watch the two sitting at the end of the table with laser focus. One an ancient being, who fought his way to the top ranks. So, he could become king of all the vampires. The other a whimsical young woman that still isn't sure of all her power. Yet somehow, she is standing up to the boogeyman himself without a freight.

"Bullshit." I hear Darius coughing from the other side of the table at Kyla's response. I pay him no mind; all of my attention is on the man I loathe with my entire being. He doesn't take likely to people being rude in his company. I have a feeling I may need to step in here shortly.

"Excuse me?" His voice comes out menacingly. His eyes have returned to their red hew. His knuckles catch my eye as I see them turning white and drops of blood coming from beneath. His claws have obviously grown along his fingernails and are cutting his skin. It doesn't faze him in the least.

"You heard me. I call bullshit. I remember that night. The carnage of everyone dying around me. The smell of the blood made my stomach queasy causing me to double over as though I was going to vomit."

She moves closer to his face. "Throughout all of that I remember you dragging me along the ground to the bushes. You tried to protect me from the evil that was happening around there." She closes her mouth, her eyes studying my father up close.

Her words have me holding my breath. I cannot believe what she is saying. There is no way in this world my father would protect anyone from the evil he had caused. Looking directly at Kyla's face there is no doubt in her eyes. She strongly believes her words. Which brings me to question what he was up to that night? More importantly what could he be up to here and now?

"Nonsense." All eyes turn to Alaric.

"There is no way our father would protect a human girl from any carnage that was going on. Given that he was the root of it all that night." He scoffs at her but to my amazement she doesn't move one inch.

Facing her I see the two are still in a standoff with each other. Could she be right?

"She is not wrong." Everyone gasps in shock. The sound of chairs scraping along the floor lets me know some are standing at attention.

"Why would you protect her? A young innocent girl that night. Someone that you wouldn't give a damn about?" I cannot help the bitterness of my voice. This is the one monster in this world that is always playing head games with me. Since I was a young boy, he would manipulate and deceive. I need to know what his angle is here.

"Simple," He breaks eye contact with Kyla to look over at me.

"I know I could use her to control you into doing my bidding once you hit ascension." He shrugs as he too stands from his chair. He wipes the side of his mouth with his napkin. Acting as though he has no care in the world.

"Once that night comes. Which is a mere three days away now, I will have everything as I have always wanted. We can take down the Rebels for the last time. All the vampires will come under my control whether they wish to or not."

He looks at me and I can see the evil within those irises of his. The cruel smile that grows on his lip's seals it all. "I will have order of everything in this world. Something I have been waiting all these centuries for. The time has finally come. You two will give a few heirs and I will train them to be my most loyal soldiers. Just like your brothers." He nods to Alaric and Rowland who now sit straighter in their chairs. Feeling proud of the relationship they have with our father.

I watch as he walks around the side of the table, stopping right behind Kyla and me. He places a hand on each of our shoulders, closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "Yes," His eyes open and he looks down at the two of us. "The things you two will be able to do together will be extraordinary." He smiles a full-blown smile, showing his purely whites.

He bends down and moves closer to Kyla's head causing my body to grow with tension. I hear him smelling her essence as he hums with pleasure.

"Perhaps, sometime soon I will see what has my son so infatuated with you." That's enough to make the beast inside me awaken.

Throwing down my napkin I begin to stand. My father steps back and drops his hands from our shoulders. Before I can turn toward him and show him just what I have to say about that Kyla speaks, "You kept me alive to someday become your toy." That has me freezing. My entire body feels numb, my stomach feels sick.

She turns in her chair to face him, "It wasn't just for Diedrek. Sure, you saw that together we would have great power and that we could give you the most powerful heirs this world has ever seen, but I remember the way you looked at me."

She looks away from my father and down to her lap. "I remember the way you caressed my skin. The things you said to me." She looks up at my father with pure hatred in her eyes. "I remember everything."