writergirl1's Diaryland Diary

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Chapter 15

Amari stood in the library and looked out at the fields behind the house. He watched Asher flirt relentlessly with an uninterested Raya. He noticed the gleam in Asher�s eyes when he looked at her. Amari did not like it.
Malcolm interrupted him, �Just leave them alone, Amari. They can both take care of themselves.�
�I told you all not to get too personally attached to her before we started this mission. What we are doing is a job. If he gets too close, we will fail,� Amari explained.
�Fail what? We�re on the winning side. It was your idea not to tell them the entire story. If he wants to play the hero, let him, it�s not going to change the outcome and we both know that,� Argued Malcolm.
�You don�t get it. The plan was to isolate her from everyone in her life. We have been successful up to this point. Now he is becoming one more of her allies that we must do away with. I have already killed one brother for this little game, I don�t want to do it again.�
�Maybe you should have told them the truth from the beginning, then we wouldn�t have this problem, would we, brother?�
�It would not have changed a thing,� Amari stated. �It is his fate to be with her. But I thought that I could prevent it. Now he is one more problem for us to deal with.�
�You can�t do anything without her finding out that you have been plotting with Santino this whole time. So, you mine as well just leave them alone and watch how it plays out. She doesn�t even seem interested in him, she�s still heartbroken over the human boy.�
�That will change, Malcolm. And with this partnership, she gains power. She is already unstoppable. Leo and Tristan will follow us, whichever direction we lead them in. But Asher, he�s always been strong willed. And love is only going to make it worse. Once she stops rejecting him, we�re in trouble.�
Amari jumped away from the window. Raya had stopped in the middle of the field, turned around and looked him directly in the eyes. He was sure she knew something. With all of the spells and potions he had used to block her from reading his mind, she had gotten through before. He would have to be more vigilant in the future.
�Malcolm, keep an eye on them for me,� Amari ordered. �I need to hunt, I�ll take Tristan with me.�
�Sure thing, boss,� Malcolm grumbled.
Amari left the room and began looking for Tristan. As soon as Malcolm closed the library doors, Leo stepped out of his hiding place behind a bookshelf.
�Do you believe me now, brother?� Malcolm asked Leo.
�You knew about this all along?� Leo asked, unable to hide his anger.
�He told me the story when we arrived at the old woman�s house. I knew you guys wouldn�t believe me and he would have me killed if I had turned on him. We must stop him,� Malcolm warned.
�We need to tell Raya. She trusts Amari. She�ll let him get too close if she isn�t warned,� Leo told him.
�I don�t know if that�s a good idea, brother. Tristan says he�s been feeding off of humans. He will be stronger than us all. He could easily take us out, one by one.�
�But, Raya is powerful. And she does fine without much blood at all. I don�t think he has an advantage over her,� Leo pointed out.
�I�m just not sure telling her is the best idea, yet,� Malcolm explained. �I have grown to care about her and I�m worried that it may cause her more harm to know the truth. I know that she will confront him and I don�t think it will end well for her.�
�If she�s unprepared to face him, it will end even worse. We should at least let Asher know so that he can be on the look out for anything weird,� Leo suggested.
�We can talk to Asher later tonight. We can at least make sure that he does not leave her alone,� Malcolm finally agreed.
�Good, but I still think we should fill Raya in on everything.�
�Soon, Leo. Just give me time to figure everything out,� Malcolm said, leaving the room.

Asher cradled the sleeping baby close to his chest and walked along a path that wound around the woods. Raya was a few steps ahead of him and he found it hard to take his eyes off her. He just wanted to remember every moment that they spent together.
�It�s so pretty out here,� Raya pointed out. �No wonder Santino chose this place to hide out.�
�I don�t think Santino cares much about the scenery. It was probably the only place he could find. It is pretty perfect, abandoned, secluded, huge, plenty of places to hide.�
�I�d live here for the rest of my life if I could,� Raya admitted.
�Why is that?� Asked Asher.
�Think about it. You said it yourself, it�s huge, secluded, abandoned,� She explained. �It�s the perfect place for a vampire. There�s no one around for miles, so no neighbors to notice that you aren�t aging. But there�s enough land that you could rebuild or just stay busy walking around all of it. I think it�s perfect.�
�Yeah, but it�s already full of bad memories. You were changed here and then almost killed in the same room,� Said Asher.
�That wouldn�t bother me so much. I�m kind of okay with the fact that I am a vampire, now.�
�Why are you okay with it?� Asher questioned her.
�I don�t know. I guess just �because there isn�t anything that can be done about it. I�m just trying to accept everything and get over it,� Raya told him.
�Ray, you are allowed to be angry and hurt and to have feelings about stuff. Many horrible things have happened to you, it�s okay to be upset. You don�t have to just ignore everything,� He informed her.
Raya argued, �I�m not ignoring anything! I�m just choosing not to get upset about things that I can�t control. It�s a waste of energy. I�d rather hang out with you and Giana and enjoy myself a little.�
Asher shook his head and they continued on, in silence. The air suddenly changed and Raya began to shiver. The wind blew hard and cut right through Asher�s clothing.
�We�d better get Giana inside,� He said, turning toward the house.
They had only walked a couple of steps when the sky suddenly turned black and a heavy rain poured down on them. Asher knew that there was something weird about the instant weather change, so he grabbed Raya�s hand and pulled her toward the house, running as fast as he could.
Asher took the porch steps two at a time and burst through the door. He ran to the living room and set Giana on the couch before realizing that Raya was not with him. He ran back to the door but it had slammed shut right in front of him. He pulled at the handle but it would not budge. Finally, he picked up a bench that sat next to the door and threw it through the floor to ceiling window that framed the door.
The window shattered into a million pieces and Asher jumped through the opening that it left. He landed on the porch in a pile of glass shards. He stood up, picking chunks of the window out of his palms. He looked all over the porch, but Raya was gone. It was as if she had vanished into thin air.
Asher ran around the house, looking everywhere he could think to look. But, she was gone. There was no trace of Raya anywhere near the house.
�Malcolm! Leo!� He screamed.
Leo came running out of the house and into the front yard. Malcolm came running around the house and stopped next to Asher. They stared at him for a moment, calming their nerves
�What happened?� Malcolm asked.
�She�s gone. Raya just disappeared,� Asher exclaimed, still glancing around the grounds for clues. �I think it�s Santino. We were outside and everything was fine, then in an instant, the sky was black and the wind turned ice cold. It was something evil. I ran in the house and put the baby down and I came back and Raya is gone! Where is Amari? Is he back from his hunt?�
Leo shot a glance at Malcolm who stared at the ground, thinking.
�What? What was that supposed to be? What aren�t you telling me?� Asher asked.
�Look, Amari is not on our side,� Malcolm began. �He brought us here to help defeat Raya. He is working with Santino to isolate her and put her in a place where she has no one to rely on. He saw you guys together and got pissed.�
�Why? If he was going to kill her, why would he care if I�m being nice to her?� Asher demanded.
�Because it�s your fate to be with her as long as she lives,� Malcolm admitted. �Amari didn�t want you to know because he didn�t want her to have any allies.�
�She�s going to fall in love with me?� Asher asked, feeling his heart sink.
�She probably already has,� Leo told him.
�So what, you guys were going to help him kill her?� Asher asked, furiously.
�If I wanted any part in killing her, I wouldn�t have told you or Leo,� Malcolm pointed out. �I want to defeat him and Santino. I�m guessing they are the ones who took her. Santino can do everything that Raya can do, so I�m sure he can transport them anywhere he wants.�
�She could be anywhere,� Asher stated, feeling defeated.
�We�ll find her, Asher,� Leo swore.
As they spoke, a large bolt of lightning struck the top of the mountain behind the compound. There was a massive explosion as four different bolts struck a group of trees and sent debris flying.
�She�s up there. We need to get there, now. Leo, stay with the baby,� Asher ordered. �Malcolm and I will go get Raya.�
Leo ran in to the house to find Giana and called for Asher. When Asher and Malcolm arrived in the living room, they saw the empty couch where Giana had been lying. Asher dropped to his knees and took a breath.
�We need to get to them before Santino kills them both,� Asher stated.
�Let�s go, brother,� Leo agreed.

Raya could not see much from the ground where she was sitting, tied to a large tree trunk. Santino was pacing back and forth, silently. He appeared to be communicating with someone his mind, Raya could not guess who. She wanted to just blow him away with her mind, but the lightning that had struck the tree had left her thoughts all jumbled. She could not concentrate long enough to muster any power.
A rustling in the leaves took Raya�s attention off Santino. She looked around her, trying to see into the darkness. After a moment, the noise stopped and Raya saw Amari coming up the side of the mountain ten feet away from her. She breathed a sigh of relief and immediately felt her mind clear.
Her relief faded when Amari reached the clearing and Raya saw her daughter in his arms. He walked right passed her and handed the infant to Santino. Raya�s heart dropped and tears filled her eyes.
�Amari?� She whispered.
�Goddess,� He greeted her with a nod.
�What are you doing?�
�I�m staying alive, Raya,� Explained Amari. �Your side is the losing side and I couldn�t let you drag me down with you. You understand, don�t you?�
�No,� She stated, feeling the tears running down her face. �I thought I was your sister?�
�Oh, come on! Did you really buy all of that crap? I was just trying to gain your trust, so I could lure you closer and finish up the job.�
�Let Giana go!� Raya screamed.
Before anyone could respond, something flew through the air and landed on Amari, knocking him to the ground. When the commotion stopped, Raya saw that it was Asher. He was wrestling around on the ground with Amari. Punches were thrown back and forth. Asher pushed Amari away from him and got on to his feet. Amari jumped and Asher and sent him flying across the clearing where he crashed into a tree and knocked it to the ground. Raya felt a scream escape her throat.
She closed her eyes as Amari circled Asher�s lifeless body. She heard branches cracking and could only imagination what was happening. She opened her eyes when she felt the rope around her hands being pulled. She looked behind her to see Malcolm cutting the rope in two. Leo was crouching behind him. He held a finger to his lips and walked in the other direction.
When Raya looked back, Asher was standing on top of Amari and holding a thick tree branch to his neck. She glanced at Santino and saw that he was still holding Giana in his arms. She saw something silver glistening in one of his hands. She focused on it until she could make out the shape. It was a knife.
Santino looked into her eyes and spoke in a voice louder and more sinister than anything she had heard before. �Goddess, make your men stand down or I will slit the baby�s throat!�
The vampires did not need instruction, they all stopped and inched toward Raya.
�Now, I tried to do this the nice way, Raya Stevens. But you didn�t want to cooperate. So, now I have to force your hand. I want your friends gone, I want them all dead!� He screamed.
�I won�t do that,� She stated.
�You will do whatever I command or I will kill your beloved daughter,� Threatened Santino.
�Why are you doing this?� She questioned him. �What is this all about?�
�I want power! Why wouldn�t you? You could have all of the power in the world and not even have to work for it. What is keeping you from just taking over the world? You could kill all the humans with a single thought and rule the people of the night.�
�I would never do a thing like that,� She pointed out.
�Oh, you will, Goddess. I will get what I want out of you, if I have to kill everyone you ever knew to do it.�
�Why don�t you just do it yourself?� She asked.
Santino paused.
Raya answered her own question, �You don�t have the power to, do you? You�re weak and you need me because I am more powerful than you are.�
Santino put Giana on top of the large boulder he had been standing next to and charged at Raya. Asher and Leo both launched themselves at him and he tossed them through the air like rag dolls. Malcolm tried to attack but was thrown, head first, into a large Spruce tree.
Raya saw Santino coming straight at her. She ripped her hands out of the rope and jumped to her feet, moving out of his path. Santino kept running and ran into the tree stump, flipping over it and landing on his back. Raya spun around to face him as he picked himself up off the ground.
He began to come toward her, again. She slowly stepped the other way so that they were facing each other, walking in a circle. She was waiting for his attack but he just kept circling. Raya knew that if she made the first move, he would be expecting it and have a better chance of fighting her off. So, she circled as well.
Everything happened rather quickly in the next few minutes. Later, she would realize that her biggest mistake was focusing all of her attention on Santino.
Raya felt someone wrapping their arms around her waist. By the time she turned to see who was there, Amari�s fangs were lodged in her throat. She let out a scream and gasped for air. Raya closed her eyes and imagined inflicting pain on Amari. She felt her blood boiling with rage for the vampire who was trying to destroy her life. He suddenly pulled away and when Raya glanced over her shoulder, she saw that Amari�s face was scorched. Her blood had literally boiled and his skin was melting away, leaving blisters in its place. He fell to the ground and struggled for air. She could see that his mouth and throat were still burning.
The sound of twigs breaking told Raya that Santino was on the move again. She whipped around to face him and caught him trying to escape. With a nod, Raya ripped eight large trees out of the ground and dropped them in one heaping pile, blocking Santino�s path. He turned around and stood very still, looking her in the eye.
She almost felt sorry for him. The feeling passed as he headed for Giana. Raya braced herself against a fallen tree trunk and summoned all of the power she could muster. She raised her arms in the air and flung them in Santino�s direction. A purplish light came shooting out of her palms and shot straight into Santino�s chest. She held her arms out as long as she could before falling to the ground.
The light disappeared, leaving Santino staggering and trying to find his balance. He set a hand on the boulder and lowered his head. Raya held her breath.
He raised his head and looked at her to speak. �We could have been together,� He told her.
Raya had not had the time to respond when she saw Santino�s skin begin to glow. It had a red glow to it, as if he were on fire inside. Controlled by Raya�s thoughts, Santino�s body began to burn from the inside, out. She saw flames trickle out of every orifice before catching on his clothes and in his hair. Through the flames, she saw his evil face, screaming in pain. The flames engulfed him until she could not make out the shape of a man anymore.
Then, in a sudden burst, the flame blew up to a height well above the treetops and then sucked itself back in and vanished. Not a trace of Santino was left behind.
�Nice work, Goddess,� Malcolm congratulated her.
�Are you okay?� She asked, running to his side.
�I�m fine, check on Giana,� he ordered, politely.
Raya walked to the boulder and picked up her baby who was, amazingly, sound asleep. She rocked her in her arms and kissed her forehead. Asher limped over to them and slid his coat around Raya and the baby.
�You did it!� He pointed out.
�Yeah, but there�s one more loose end we need to tie up,� Raya said, pointing to Amari.
The traitorous warrior was still lying on the ground, clutching at his burned skin. He was barely breathing and moaning in pain. As Raya approached him, he held up a hand to her. She pushed it away and turned back to Asher.
�This is your call. You guys can decide what to do with him,� She told him.
Malcolm stepped forward and placed a hand on Asher�s shoulder. He said, �I will make this decision. Amari turned on all of us. He cannot be trusted. We have no choice.�
�I agree,� Asher stated.
Leo joined them as they picked up the sharpest tree branches that the could find. Raya turned around to hide the tears in her eyes as they stabbed the stakes into Amari�s chest. His body curled in on itself and gave out one last breath.
Raya started down the steep mountain. Malcolm, Leo and Asher quickly caught up with her. Asher put an arm around her and Leo took Giana out of her arms.
Malcolm was the first to speak. �You know, we are freakishly fast, we can practically fly down this mountain, if you want to.�
�I kind of just want to walk,� Raya mumbled.
�Why don�t Malcolm and I take Giana home and get her tucked in? You guys can take your time,� Leo suggested.
Raya simply nodded her head and the three of them took off, leaving her alone with Asher.
�How are you doing?� Asher asked.
�I don�t know. It�s not fun killing people,� She pointed out.
�It was completely necessary, Ray. You did what you were born to do,� He assured her.
�I guess so. It still feels weird. I know they were both pretty evil and would�ve killed a lot of people. I guess killing anyone isn�t really something you ever get used to, huh?�
�No. But, if you got used to it, you�d be a monster like them,� He told Raya.
�You�re right. I guess I just have to move on,� She stated, taking Asher�s hand in hers. �I was really scared when Santino threw you through that tree. If any of that had pierced your skin, you could�ve been seriously hurt.�
�Nah, I was fine. Not even a scratch,� He bragged.
�Maybe not a scratch, but you are walking with a limp,� Raya teased.
�I�m okay. I�m just glad you�re in one piece. I did kind of want to be the hero and tear Santino to pieces, but I guess it worked out anyway.�
�It worked out. Just leave the hero stuff to me,� Raya advised.
Asher laughed and they walked in silence for a few minutes.
�What do you think happened to Tristan?� Raya asked. �He never showed up for the fight.�
�Honestly, I think he�s dead,� Asher said, flatly.
�Why would you say that?� Raya demanded.
�Well,� Asher began. �He was on a hunt with Amari when everything happened. They�d been hunting together a lot lately, so either Tristan was on his side and he ran away from us, or Amari killed him for not being on his side.�
�Huh.� Raya did not really want to discuss the fighting anymore. She knew how much more of it there was still to come. Everyone had talked about the swarms of vampires, werewolves and witches that were supposed to come after her. She figured that it would happen soon since there had not been any attempts yet. Someone had to try to defeat her. Raya was sure that she would wake up one morning and find an army of evil beings waiting for her.
And there was still the matter of her grandmother, whom no one had made any mention of. She was an enemy and eventually they would have to deal with her, as well. Raya thought about Jake and how hard it would have been for him to see his grandmother killed, even if she had not been his real grandmother. Watching a cute, little old woman die was not going to be a highlight for Raya, either. She actually dreaded to confrontation and hoped that maybe it would not be necessary. Maybe had all been part of Amari�s plan to destroy her. Maybe she was not evil and he just made it appear that way. She had not been there when Santino attacked and she had never made a move against any of them. The only information that they had on her was from Amari, and it could have been all a lie.
With all that had been going on, she would never be allowed to go and speak with the woman, alone. And Raya knew that none of her warriors would agree to go back to the woman�s home, just in case. Raya knew that there must be more to the story, whether her grandma was an evil woman or not. But, she was not sure exactly how to go about finding the whole story.
Their already small group had dwindled down to four vampires and a baby. Everything would be harder to accomplish now. The only thing that Raya was completely sure of was that she was tired of losing allies. She would have to fight even harder to make sure that nothing happened to anymore of her friends.
It was still hard for Raya to believe that she had lost Jake, Amari and possibly Tristan. She felt as though she had lost a small part of herself with each of them. Jake leaving had been a crushing blow. Her heart still ached when she thought about him. Raya wondered where he would go. He could not really go home, there was nothing there to go back to. He had missed too much of the school year to make up and his dad was still an alcoholic. She hoped that he would find somewhere else to go, for his own sanity. Even if he did not want to be with her, Raya hoped that he would find happiness somewhere in the world.
Amari�s betrayal had been almost as bad. Raya knew that Jake still cared and believed in their cause. But Amari had betrayed them. He had lied and schemed against her and made it to look as if he had been one of them. The worst part of all was that Amari had taken Giana and tried to use her to threaten Raya. She considered this the worst possible thing that anyone could have done to hurt her.
Raya quickly decided that Amari had deserved exactly what had happened to him. She was not the type to hold grudges, but Raya could have not seen herself ever being able to forgive him, even if he had survived long enough to apologize. Which, she doubted he would have done, anyway. If he had lived, Amari would have kept trying to kill Raya. He had deserved to die, Raya thought.
With that thought, Raya felt as though her transition into a monster was complete. After all, being glad that someone had been killed was not a normal thought for a typical high school student. Raya was realizing that she was as far from typical as anyone could get. Here she was, strolling down a mountainside with a three hundred year old vampire who looked just a couple years older than she was. Not a typical evening by any means.
Raya and Asher reached the house shortly after midnight. The walk had not cleared Raya�s mind as much as she thought it would have. It left her feeling even more anxious than she had been before the fight. Time to really think about everything that was happening was probably not the best thing for her right now.
Asher sat down in a rocking chair that had been placed on the houses front porch. He motioned for Raya to sit in the one next to it and she did. She looked up at the sky for the first time all evening and realized that there was a full moon directly above them.
�Do you think that things will ever slow down and just be normal again?� Raya asked.
�Not any time soon,� Asher told her, honestly. �I think that this is just the beginning.�
�I know we still have to figure out what was going on with grandma. And there�s supposed to be all kinds of evil beings coming after me. But once that�s all over, do you think it�ll be done? Or is this something I�m going to deal with for the rest of my life?�
�I don�t know, Ray. I hope it stops one day. I mean, I don�t want to have to protect too forever!� Asher joked.
�Yeah, yeah.�
�Seriously though, there�s always going to be evil in the world. And you are the one appointed to stop it all. So, I think that there will be excitement forever. I don�t think it�ll be all fighting and war, but that will be a big part of your existence for a while,� Explained Asher.
�Well, that�s awesome. I love a good war,� Raya stated, sarcastically.
�I�ll hang around until it all calms down a bit,� Asher promised.
�At least I�m not alone, I guess. I want to go and see Grandma.�
�Why would you want to go back there?� Asher asked.
�I just want to know the whole story. We got all of our info from Amari and now we know that he could not be trusted, so I�m curious to see if he was lying or not. She may be an ally and we don�t even know it.�
�And what if she is another enemy?�
�Then I will destroy her.� Raya explained, �I need to know for sure. I would hate to burn a bridge without all of the facts.�
�Okay, just give it a couple of days. I�ll talk to my brothers and see what they think of the idea. I�m sure that they will understand.�
�I�ll give you two days and then I�m going back, with or without you guys,� She promised.
Asher laughed. �Haven�t you figured out yet that I�m not letting you go anywhere without me?�
�I�m actually counting on that,� Raya informed him.
The two stayed up all night, talking. Raya had not realized how long they had been outside until the sun began to rise. She was beginning to feel like she and Asher would be great friends for all of time. They had so much in common and Raya knew that one day it would turn into more than a friendship. But for now anything more than friends felt like a betrayal to Jake, even though he had chosen to leave her side when she had needed him the most.
Raya said goodnight to her friend and headed upstairs to take a long shower.

10:05 p.m. - 2009-10-05

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