Author's Warning: This chapter is bloody. If you have any sensitivities to gore, read at your own risk or ask someone to sum it up for you in the comments.

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My head was spinning.

"I thought you were dead..."

My mother smiled.

"Well, technically speaking, I am."

My eyebrows furrowed and she scoffed.

"I'm a Vampire, darling. Don't you get it?"

I felt my heart begin to beat wildly in my chest.

"Since when?"

She thought about it for a moment.

"A little over eleven years, I should think," the man said.

She nodded in agreement.

"Who is this?" I asked her, pointing him.

She smiled.

"Viktor, meet my daughter Evelyn. Evelyn, this is my brother, Viktor."

"Brother?" I asked incredulously. "You never mentioned-"

"How could I?" She interrupted. "I never even told your father that I came from a family of Vampires until I myself became one."

She stepped towards me slowly.

"You never wondered why I lost so much weight? Or why I never left the house? Evelyn, dear, I thought you were so much brighter than that..."

"Dad told me that you were sick and that you had surgery," I said, stuttering over my words.

She raised an eyebrow at this.

"Sick?" She asked. "Yes, I suppose he probably did think Vampirism was a sickness. I tried for years to convince him to let me turn him, but he never obliged."

"So you were never addicted to painkillers?" I asked her.

She smiled.

"No, darling. I'm addicted to blood."

I shook my head in disbelief. My brain couldn't process the information quick enough.

"What are you doing here? How did you get in?" I asked her, suddenly coming to my senses.

"You should ask your father-in-law," Viktor said, walking over to stand beside my mother.

"Yes," my mother agreed. "Congratulations on your big day, by the way. I would've liked an invitation."

Bitterness laced her sarcastic tone.

"You were missing," I said through clenched teeth.

"That was my fault," Viktor said. "I'm afraid that after we set your house aflame, we had to migrate for a while until we could get a proper plan in place."

"You're the one who did that?" I asked.

He nodded, smiling.

"Did you get my flowers?"

"The tulips?" I asked. "That was your doing too? How did you get into the palace?"

"Again, ask your father-in-law. He's the one who put the bloody flowers there for us."

Everything was crashing down all at once, all of the pieces beginning to fit together.

"Why are you here?" I asked slowly.

It was the only piece I couldn't make fit.

"That, my dear, is for you to find out," my mother said. "Come with us."

She held her hand out for me to take and my eyes glanced over at Liu, who was face down and unmoving, and Jace, who was still groaning in pain.

My mother saw my hesitation and growled in anger. She lunged forward and grabbed me by my hair and began to drag me from the room.

I screamed at the shooting pain in my scalp and tried to kick her.

"Don't make this harder than it has to be," Viktor said, following us.

Seeing the menacing sword in his hand, I complied.

We walked into the ballroom and my mother tossed me onto the ground, pulling a fistful of my hair out with the toss.

I groaned in pain as I struggled to my knees.

The doors at the other end of the room opened and I saw three men prodding Victoria and Xavier into the room, both of whom looking more inconvenienced than frightened.

"Evelyn!" Xavier called out, seeing me.

I tried to stand up, but my knees were swept out from under me and my back hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of me.

"Stay down," my mother said.

I glared up at her as I gasped for air, struggling to catch my breath.

Xavier and Victoria, accompanied by the three men, made their way across the room and over to where we stood.

"Are you alright?" Xavier asked me.

I nodded slowly.

"It was you, you bitch!" Victoria yelled, seeing my mother.

My mother smiled as one of the men hit Victoria in the back of the neck with the hilt of a dagger, the blow sending her to the ground.

"On your knees too," Viktor said to Xavier.

Xavier said nothing as he bent down slowly.

"We're still missing a few," my mother observed.

Viktor looked at his watch.

"They'll be along shortly."

Minutes dragged by in silence as we all waited, although I wasn't sure what for.

The sound of the doors opening on the other end of the room echoed through the silence and we all turned to see Malcom walking into the room, holding Adam by the shoulder.

He guided Adam inside and I sighed in relief as I scanned Adam's body for signs of injury and found none.

"Did he give you any trouble?" Viktor asked.

Malcom shook his head.

"None at all, actually. He seems to be taking the news quite well."

Adam did look suspiciously calm.

Malcom pushed Adam forward and produced a revolver from his waist band. I gasped as he pressed it to the back of Adam's head.

"What do you people want?" I shouted.

"Evelyn," Adam warned.

I looked at him in disbelief before Viktor spoke.

"I want him dead," he said, eyes narrowing in on Adam.

"Why?"

Viktor reached into the breast pocket of his coat. I thought initially he was about to pull out a gun and shoot me for my incessant questioning, but he pulled out a small polaroid and handed it to me.

It was a dated picture, probably fifty years old. The edges were frayed and worn and the picture itself was yellowing. Viktor was in the picture dressed in a tuxedo. Standing next to him was a woman who was tiny compared to him. She had blonde hair and a dazzling smile and she was wearing an extravagant wedding gown.

I paled when I saw the bouquet of seven red tulips in her hand.

"Who is this?" I asked him.

He snatched the photo from me and tucked it securely back into his pocket.

"She was my wife," he answered.

"What happened to her?" I asked, almost afraid of his answer.

"Your husband killed her," he responded angrily.

My eyes widened as I turned to look at Adam. He stood there, unexpressive, and seemingly unsurprised by the news.

"You did?" I asked him.

When he looked at me, I saw the flash of guilt in his eyes and Viktor laughed.

"He doesn't even remember," Viktor said to me bitterly.

"Did you know she was a month and a half pregnant with our only child when you killed her?" Viktor asked Adam.

The pain in his voice as he said this made my heart break in sympathy.

"She was killed in a raid," Adam said finally.

I saw Viktor's jaw clench as he said this.

"Ah, so you do remember?" he asked.

Adam nodded slowly.

"I remember all of them."

Viktor was standing rigidly, hands clenched by his side.

"Why did you kill my wife?" he asked angrily, tears filling his eyes.

"I didn't kill your wife," Adam said.

"Lies!" Viktor bellowed.

"I don't kill women," Adam said firmly, eyes blazing. "She was killed by one of my men, who misinterpreted orders."

Viktor shook his head, his jaw clenched shut.

"It was still your fault," he said bitterly.

Viktor laughed when Adam said nothing in response.

"It's ironic, isn't it?" he asked, beginning to walk towards Adam. "The very thing you sought to destroy and make extinct, killing my wife in the process, is about to exterminate the entire Lycanthrope race, starting with you."

Adam's jaw clenched and he made a move to lunge towards Viktor, but Malcom stopped him.

"Ah ah ah," he tisked, pressing the barrel of the gun into Adam's head. "Not a good idea, boy."

My mother grabbed my arm and yanked me off of the ground as Viktor walked closer to Adam.

"I'm not making her watch you kill him," she said to Adam. "I'm taking her to the German boy."

Viktor turned to look at my mother as she said this.

"Oh, that's right," he said. "She is what we promised him, isn't she?"

Viktor turned to Malcom.

"What was it we promised you again?" he asked him.

"The throne and title," Malcom said firmly.

Viktor hummed in response.

"I'm afraid I cannot deliver on that one anymore, old boy."

Malcom's eyes widened.

"Thanks for your help thus far, but we'll take it from here," Viktor said.

Quicker than my brain could register his movements, Viktor pulled a switchblade from his coat pocket and threw it. It caught Malcom in his right eye, blood spurting out of the wound. Malcom's legs gave out before he hit the ground, dead.

I gasped but Adam didn't move, his face emotionless.

My mother began to pull me from the room. I fought back and tried to push her away, but she was much stronger than her frail body would initially make one believe.

She grabbed me by my shoulders and shoved me backwards.

My head hit the heavy oak doors and the room started to spin.

In my lightheaded state, I could barely make out Adam's yelling as she lifted me off the ground easily and carried me out into the foyer.

I tried to fight back but my body wouldn't cooperate. I could barely lift my head as she carried me over her shoulder.

I felt her hand me off to stronger, more muscular arms and I looked up through blurred vision to see Diedrick looking at me in concern.

I shuddered as his hand brushed the hair from my face.

"It'll all be alright," he whispered.

I scowled in response, my body shuddering at his touch.

Looking away from him, I could barely make out the figure of Bartleby's body on the ground beside the coat closet. There was a knife in his chest, staining the white shirt he wore under his tux.

He was dead.

I felt the freezing air hit my body as Diedrick carried me from the foyer outside to an awaiting car. I could see my breath freezing in the air as I let out a heavy exhale. I heard him open the car door and he laid me down in the backseat.

"Here," he said, reaching into his pocket to grab a handkerchief. "I think it's time you slept."

I watched as he leaned over me, one hand holding my jaw steady and the other holding the handkerchief.

I waited until just the right moment before my leg rose in a swift motion to kick him between the legs.

Diedrick grunted in pain.

I sat up quickly and yanked the seatbelt strap around his neck, pulling it with all the force I could muster. He began to swing and push at me, but I sat on top of him and continuously drove one punch after the other into his abdomen.

All it took was one hard hit in the neck on his Adam's apple for him to begin gasping for air.

I took this opportunity to pull the seatbelt tighter and screamed as he swung his fist into my cheek.

It was too late though.

I had pulled the seatbelt too far and it locked up.

I watched as he struggled for his final breaths and the life began to drain from his eyes.

I let out a breath as his body went limp, my own body exhausted from the exertion.

I got out of the car and backed away slowly, realizing what I had done.

I killed Diedrick.

Screaming as a blow to the back of my head knocked me forward, I faceplanted into the side of the car and fell over into the snow.

I looked up to see my mother standing over me. She squatted down and grabbed my jaw roughly.

"You were supposed to go without a fight," she said. "I didn't ever want you to be involved in this."

I groaned as I brought my knee up and hit her in the butt with it, sending her rolling over my head onto the snowy concrete behind me.

Hearing a metallic clatter, I sat up and saw that a dagger had fallen from her pocket.

I stood up quickly and grabbed it.

She saw this and stood up slowly, smiling.

"Go ahead," she taunted. "I don't think you have the willpower to kill your own mother."

I was hyperventilating, the adrenaline racing through my body making it hard to hear or see properly.

My hands were shaking as I brought the knife up in front of me.

"You're right," I said, sighing.

She smiled at this.

"You're already dead."

Her smile fell as I threw the knife with all the power I could manage.

It stopped just short of hitting her in the face as she reached up and grabbed it in midair.

"Nice try."

I cursed under my breath as I backed away and began to sprint back into the castle.

I could hear her following me so I turned and yanked the grandfather clock from the wall and sent it crashing down on top of her.

She shrieked in pain, but I didn't stop.

I kept running, up the staircase this time.

I wasn't sure where I was going, but I had to get help.

Along with my blood rushing through my ears, I could hear her footsteps pounding up the stairs behind me.

I was almost to the top of the staircase when I felt her grab my ankle and pull me backwards.

I tumbled past her, back down the stairs, groaning when I hit the landing.

I couldn't move as I watched her make her way back down the stairs slowly. I was certain I had broken a few bones from the tumble down the marble staircase.

I was struggling to even breathe.

"You gave a good fight," she said, tossing the knife aside, "better than anyone I've ever seen, in fact."

I was gasping for air when she kneeled down next to me.

She took my shoulder in her hands and pressed it into the ground with such a force I heard a crack.

I screamed as the joint popped back into place.

"You're welcome," she said.

I groaned in pain, unable to even speak.

"I didn't want to have to do this like this," she said solemnly.

I felt a chill run down my spine as she bared her fangs.

"I wanted to turn you sooner, but your father made it damn near impossible to even catch you in the house," she explained, brushing my hair away from my neck.

Turn me?

I gulped as she sighed.

"It will only hurt for a few days," she assured me. "After that, you'll never feel pain again in your life."

"You're a monster," I groaned through clenched teeth, finally able to muster a few words.

She shook her head.

"No, sweetheart. That man you call your husband is a monster. If you only knew the things he's done..."

I shook my head.

"You've got so much to learn," she sighed.

I wasn't even able to scream when her head dipped down to my neck and I felt her fangs pierce the skin.

It was unbearable, flashes of white hot pain searing across my neck.

I clenched my eyes shut, tears spilling out of the corners as I felt my life drain away.

I tried to think of all the happy memories, most of them with Adam.

I tried to remember what it felt like to be held by him, to feel his touch.

All of it began to disappear and I found myself fighting harder to breathe.

I felt my heartbeat begin to slow as I heard her sucking at the blood that erupted from the wound in my neck.

Suddenly, her body when rigid and I heard her gasp.

I opened my eyes to see Victoria standing over her, repeatedly plunging my mother's dagger into her back.

Victoria thrust the blade into her neck, sending my mother's body limp, and I felt the spray of blood across my face as she rolled my mother's dead body off of me.

"No, no, no, no," she muttered, kneeling next to me.

She pulled my shirt over my head and I whimpered in pain.

Pressing the t-shirt to the wound on my neck, Victoria began to scream.

"Adam!"

No response.

"Adam!"

Again, no response.

"Listen to me," she said, looking at me with eyes full of tears. "Whatever happens, I want you to know that I am sorry."

I began to cough up blood and Victoria swore under her breath as she rolled me over on my side to keep me from choking on it.

"I'm so sorry," Victoria cried.

I felt my heartbeat begin to slow as the darkening of my view around the edges of my vision closed in.

"Adam!" she screamed.

Her voice rang in my ears.

I coughed again, this time more blood spewed from my mouth and I began to choke.

"Evelyn!"

I heard his voice faintly as I felt my body turn over.

I found myself staring up at Adam's face.

"I don't want to die," I whimpered, feeling the hot tears streaming down my face.

I couldn't hear his reply, the ringing in my ears was too loud.

It wasn't long before I realized that the tears hitting my face weren't even mine.

I guess he wasn't so emotionless after all.

I drew in a quick breath as the darkness invaded my vision entirely.

All that was left was the feeling of my heartbeat inside my chest.

Soon, that was gone too.

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