That night I find it awfully hard to sleep. My mind is going through everything that has happened and it's like I can't breathe.

After I left the book back where I had found it I went back to the main area in the library. When Etan came back with two cups of coffee I had spent the whole time staring at it and avoiding eye contact. My brother knew something was wrong though and he asked me about it but I had forced myself to smile and act like nothing had happened.

After a few hours of Etan searching relentlessly on where our little brother could have been and me trying to avoid my big brother all together, we decided to call it a night.

That brings me here, lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling. It was only when I came back home when I suddenly remembered the note that was left for me on my bed the night before. I had been too distracted to remember. But now I remember and I'm too afraid to go to sleep.

Morning comes later than I want and I still haven't closed my eyes for more than a blink.

The alarm clock on my bedside table goes off at 6 o'clock and I jump out of bed immediately, grateful that nothing has happened.

After taking a quick shower and getting dressed I remember that I wanted to train with the others today and so I pick a bag, fill it with my stuff and set off.

I stop at the front door when I notice it's raining. I don't have an umbrella and the gym is pretty far from where I live.

I stand there, contemplating what to do when I hear a voice call me from behind. I instantly turn to see who it is.

"Hey Evin!" It's Ariana and she's chirpy as ever. I can't help it as a small smile grows on my face.

"Hey Aria."

"You going training too?" I nod. She smiles and opens her umbrella. "Well come on then! We're meeting a new trainer today and we don't want to make a bad impression now do we?"

We didn't. We practically ran all the way to the gym when we noticed how late it was.

After entering the changing room, we change and go find the others.

To my surprise there are many people training for the Rostra. Well not that many. There were definitely more than 15 of them though.

Amber had asked, more like ordered, me to tag along with them so I can start training hard-core instead of starting slow. The Commander wanted me on the Rostra and to get there I have to train.

As I heard from the whispers around this is kind of like a first session, meeting kind of thing. I spot April in the crowd and walk towards her with Aria. It's not until we get close that I notice her shuffling on her feet nervously. It's a weird sight to see. April is almost always confident about everything. If not confident then she's definitely mad. Seeing her nervous is unnerving.

"Hey," I say and my best friend jumps, giving a small shriek as she turns around to look at me, eyes wide.

She swallows. "Um... hi Evin. I didn't think you were coming today." She looks around anxiously. It takes me a few moments to realize she's not actually looking towards something but rather someone.

I look at the girl standing a few feet away, laughing with her friends. She is gorgeous. Her long dark locks tied up in a high pony tail, she's tall and slim and has black eyes.

I feel a smirk grow on my face as I turn to look at my tense best friend.

She notices me look and immediately drops her gaze to her feet.

"I told you I would come though, didn't I?" I tell her, still wearing the smirk. It's a proud smirk, trust me.

She hums but doesn't say anything. I notice Ariana is gone from my side and turn to see her chatting with a guy. Well more like bickering. I shake my head and turn to April.

"So..." I trail off.

She looks at me quizzically. "So what?"

I nod in the direction of April's crush. She instantly blushes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

I raise an eyebrow.

Even though I would've loved to tease her about this some more I don't get the chance to because at that moment a tall guy with blazing red eyes comes to stand in front of us.

Upon seeing him everyone goes silent and all eyes turn to the Vampire. Well at least I think he's a Vampire, red eyes and all.

His voice is deep and rough when he speaks. "My name is Erik but you will call me Sir. You are here to train and get ready for a war so no playing around. If you don't do as I say you will get punished." I gulp at that. I think everyone does. This Erik is intimidating. "As you have already assumed, I'm a Vampire which means I'm more powerful than all of you combined so don't tempt me to put you in your place." I hear Ariana scoff, and frown. "You will train every day from now on at 6 o'clock in the morning. Try to be punctual, I don't tolerate tardiness."

As Erik talks I notice how stiff he actually stands and the permanent scowl etched into his face. His red eyes blaze as he takes in every single one of us. He looks like he's in his early 30s. Well you can't really know with Vampires. It's possible that he's lived for thousands of years.

I also notice that anyone he looks at averts their gaze and look down in submission. The power he holds emanates from him and it's obvious he can kill every single person in this room without even blinking.

"Today I will fight with every single one of you and see if you're as good as you think you are." Uh oh. I have never done a hand to hand before. I only work with guns and bows. "Anyone who's not good enough is out and I don't want to see their face here ever again. Understood?" Everyone nods and some mutter a "yes sir".

Erik seems satisfied as he starts forward. He points at the tall guy Ariana was talking to before and gestures for the rest of us to start sparring.

After a few seconds I find myself alone while everyone else is already fighting.

I stand there awkwardly when the girl April was crushing on before walks up to me. "Hey. I'm Janette."

"Hi. Evin," I say with a smile as I shake her hand.

I hear a grunt and crunching sounds and everyone goes silent as we all turn to look at the guy who was fighting with Erik on the ground, his eyes closed in agony. He seems to get over it though as he stands up again. Erik nods and seems satisfied.

He turns to us. "Did I tell you to stop?"

Everyone averts their gaze and starts sparring again.

I turn to Janette and she nods at me as we both get into our stance, guards high up.

She throws a few punches and I try my best to dodge them but a few make contact. I try to attack back but I don't have the chance to as she sends punches and kicks over and over again. I think I'm gonna have bruises everywhere.

Soon I find myself on the ground. Janette stops and looks at me. "You're new aren't you?"

I stand up and nod.

She sighs and looks at Erik. "He's gonna fight with everyone today and if you're like this it won't even take him two seconds to beat you." She frowns looking at me. "I'll teach you how to do this but you owe me one." I smile at her and nod and she smiles back.

We spend another half an hour sparring and Janette teaching me how to avoid punches and kicks and how to fight back. Erik has fought with many others and has beaten them all in a few minutes.

I'm still fighting when I feel a gaze on me. I stop and turn to look at the source, finding Erik gesturing me to go to him. I gulp.

I'm not ready.

Janette sees this and puts a hand on my shoulder to comfort me. She smiles a little and pushes me forward.

I take a deep breath. I need to do this.

On the way I see April and Ariana fighting with each other. I even see Etan fighting with another guy. They all turn to me as I pass them and walk up to Erik. They know I can't make it.

I finally come to stand in front of the Vamp. Only now do I notice how taller than me he is, I have to crane my neck to be able to look at him.

You need to do this Evin.

Erik doesn't wait for me as he starts throwing punches. I dodge them with the technique Janette showed me, keeping my arms up to keep them from hitting my face. I don't fight back, I just defend myself as he throws punches to my stomach and kicks me legs out from under me.

I go down with a yelp but he doesn't stop there like he did with the others. He crouches down on top of me and grabs my neck, choking me.

I hear everyone turn silent as they turn to look. I grab Erik's hand trying to get it to release its strong hold but to no avail. My breath soon leaves me and I feel myself starting to slip into unconsciousness.

"Fight back! Come on!" I hear Erik yell at me. I don't know how to. I try thinking of a way out of this but I'm losing oxygen fast and my brain doesn't work. I panic. You need to do this Evin.

I see an image of my little brother looking at me with sad eyes.

My eyes widen and every other thought leaves my mind. I feel the necklace that Doc gave me burning around my neck. I feel my eyes changing. I feel more powerful.

I see Erik's eyes widen a little before, I don't know how but, I throw him off of me and stand up, a new found energy filling me.

I smirk as I see Erik on the ground staring up at me. Boy, does this feel good.

In a blink Erik is standing in front of me, throwing a punch in my face with the speed of light. I dodge it and run behind him, my speed matching his, if not faster. I push my elbow into his back and he grunts, turning around and trying to kick my feet out from under me again.

I dodge his leg and throw a punch in his stomach and another one in his face all the while keeping the smirk firmly on my lips.

It feels like I'm not me anymore, I'm someone else and all this person wants to do is to kill, kill, kill.

I abide.

As we fight I move in lightning speed and soon the Vamp is on the ground. Everything around us blurs out and all I see is him looking at me with wide, frantic eyes, breathing hard.

I on the other hand am calm, the smirk still on my face. He's just a Vampire, I'm a Phoenix.

As I think this I feel fire surround me and distant screams and gasps. They're far away though, the fire is not.

I breathe it in, feeling the power every flame gives me.

The flames circle around me and behind my back, forming my wings, hot blue on the inside and red close to the edges. They burn bright as I close in on Erik. The stupid Vamp will learn not to challenge me again.

He cowers back in fear. That's it. You should be scared of me.

I bring my right hand up and point my palm at him. The fire inside me stirs and gets ready to hurt him, kill him. It feels good.

It doesn't last long though as I feel water make contact with my skin and wings. It hurts so much. I scream in agony and step away from the Vamp. The water keeps coming though. Even though it's just a few drops at a time it has me on my knees. I fall to the ground, hugging myself.

I feel the sizzling on my skin and it hurts a lot. It's like being cauterized.

I feel my eyes changing back and I turn to look at the person pouring the water on me. It's Etan. I look at him with tears in my eyes. I feel my wings fade and the power leave me. Now that I can think straight I'm really grateful Etan got me out of that state. It was like I had no control over my body.

My big brother looks at me with sad eyes as I start to lose consciousness. I welcome the darkness.