The Truth

I needed something to cheer me up after that horrible event. I had put on a hoodie just to feel a little safer but it had made me sweat a bit. Also it was nowhere near glamorous enough to be seen by Caelestis. I took it off and threw it on my bed.

When I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror I knew just what would cheer me up. I walked into the bathroom and opened an eyeshadow palette. This would take my mind off the day. I started to smoke out the colours on my eyelids.

Shizuka walked into the bathroom suddenly, I saw her in the mirror, it was clear she had been crying heavily from the puffiness of her face, “Oh, I thought Caelestis would be here with you.”

I tried not to judge her too much but it was difficult. Why would you walk into a bathroom if you assumed two people were in there? That was just asking for trouble. I put aside my insults and looked at her, “No he’s with his siblings, we can find him if you want.”

Shizuka shook her head, she seemed stressed out, “No, I’m just… I think I might have to go back home.”

I creased my brow, “Are you sure?”

“No. It’s the last place I want to be. Being there makes me want to harm myself. But I can’t relax not knowing what’s happened to my family I just…” she said, I was struggling to see her train of thought.

“You can go whenever you like. Don’t go alone obviously,” I suggested.

“I need to get my brothers and bring them here but I don’t think I can even survive the trip back. I'm so distraught… This is a terrible idea but my head…” she started to cry again.

I turned around to look at her, “Katsu is powerful. Talk to him. I can offer you werewolves if you’d like but it’s dangerous out there.”

“I’m aware… I’m going to have to keep thinking, this is a pure death wish,” Shizuka sat on the ground crying.

I didn’t know how to react to that. Despite her helping me out a lot earlier in the day I just didn’t know her that well.

“Caelestis!” I called out.

Caelestis quickly walked into the bathroom. He saw Shizuka and looked just as confused as I did.

I mouthed, what do I do? and pointed to Shizuka. He just stared at the girl blankly. Yeah neither of us had any clue what to do with Shizuka’s tears.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry,” she said through her tears.

“What’s the problem?” Caelestis asked.

“Everything. Being here is the problem, home is the problem, both of them bring me misery,” she wailed. Insult my home again, what is the problem with being here you’re literally safe. But go off I guess. Again I swallowed my insults.

“What would you like us to do?” I asked politely.

“I realise there is no easy answer here, so I can’t force others to make a decision either,” she sobbed.

“Katsu’s siblings are there, your brothers will be fine, don't even worry about that,” I tried to comfort her.

She nodded, “That’s true…”

Caelestis added, “There’s nothing to cry about at this point in time.”

“Yeah so put a brave smile on and go train yourself,” I said trying to cheer her up.

Shizuka sighed and nodded. She then got up and left. I was just left not knowing how to feel. It was like the Amanes had assaulted her instead of me from how she was acting.

Caelestis shook his head, “She behaves like she’s the only one with problems. That’s what she gets when she has two very emotional parents.”

“She literally just came in here and cried… what the fuck? I’m the one the Amanes assaulted and Katsu’s the one who had a parent die.”

Caelestis sighed, “I hate having to interact with her more than necessary.”

“I get it’s a rough time but I hardly know her,” I finished my makeup. A sexy smokey eye, it made me feel a little more like myself.

“I don’t know if she’s really close to anyone besides Katsu, which isn’t good for her. She needs some female friends, honestly,” He looked at me expectantly.

“Just no,” I smiled at him, “I can’t handle constant depression.”

“Maybe we should try and get Kayin to finally make a move on her,” he suggested.

“How would you go about doing that?”

“I’ve bullied him into trying before but she resisted.”

“What if she actually liked being with him?”

“She won’t, he’s trash.”

A very interesting reaction. It seemed that in Caelestis' hierarchy of hate Kayin was higher, and here I thought Shizuka was his least favourite. He seemed to at least care about Kayin.

“Yeah but he’s a pureblood, it might give her some kind of ego boost,” I offered.

“I don’t think she’ll see it like that because of my father and her mother’s past relationship. Plus I think the fact we’re loosely related might turn her off.”

“What do you think Kayin is attracted to?” I asked.

Caelestis huffed trying to think of something, “He’s such an enigma to me.”

I laughed, maybe that was a common theme amongst purebloods, “I see you like to set yourself a challenge.”

I realised we were still in the bathroom and walked out to sit on my bed. Caelestis turned to face me, “Yes, and I don’t know if I do it deliberately or not.”

“You get bored,” I pat the bed beside me and he sat there, I continued, “especially when the lesser vampires aren’t around.”

“I have less people to boss around.”

“What bossing around tips have you got for me?”

“Knowing more about the person helps, such as knowing their weakness and perhaps I guess not giving in to others. You can’t fear what they have to say back to you,” he told me.

“Well I know that I’m the only female wolf born to the pack in almost two decades so I have that power over them,” I suggested.

“Confidence is key,” he smiled at me.

“I have way too much of that,” I smiled confidently, “I called a pureblood vampire, son of Kylian a dork.”

He chuckled, “That’s such a power move.”

“I know,” I smiled smugly.

“I believe that you’ll do just fine,” he reassured me.

“Thank you. It’s a lot of people to be in charge of.”

“I can’t think of anyone more capable,” My heart actually melted at that comment.

“What is this, the flirting is the other way around, you’re totally flirting with me,” I gasped dramatically.

“Maybe that can be a power move also,” he smiled at me.

“Yeah? Did you like seeing all those huge wolves chase after Mik?”

“I’d say that was amusing.”

“We quickly overwhelm the myth hunters. So many jaws biting and their damned weapons, they can’t handle the raw power,” I explained.

“You sure of that?” He looked a little sceptical.

“Unlike school We learn to fight and actually do it,” I lifted my arm to show him a small scar. It was very rare for wolves to retain scars, or any myth for that matter.

He looked at it carefully, “Any cool story behind that?”

“I ran out into battle when I was about ten as a small pup. I was so eager I jumped on a myth hunter and took him down but he did get me,” I smiled a little embarrassed. It would have been better to have a scar with a really cool story, but still it was an impressive feat back then for a pup to take down a myth hunter.

Caelestis smiled, “Adorable.”

I ran my fingers over the scar, “It didn’t heal completely, I suppose it’s the Luna’s way of reminding me to always listen to and remember her words.”

“If only Koneko were still around, she'd have heaps to tell you about scars,” He mocked. The werecat was famous for the bands of scars around her arm and leg as well as a huge gash across her back.

I smiled, “I suppose, I always get really weird around her and your dad. I just don’t know what to say.”

“Me too,” Caelestis agreed quietly.

“Really?” I was a little shocked to hear that, after all he did live with them.

“To a certain extent, so I understand,” he smiled.

I smiled at him, I enjoyed when he showed his vulnerable side. I laid back on my bed and I got a mental message from the Luna through the pack link. The Link was a kind of power or magical connection that wolves in a pack had. It helped us to communicate when in wolf form. It was a telepathic connection. The Luna told me that they had chased Mik and his son down but Lucius had managed to escape. They caught Mik though and they could detect traces of magic on him.

“Ugh they didn’t catch Lucius,” I grumbled.

“He got away?” Caelestis looked at me quickly.

“Something like that. They said it smelt of magic. But they have Mik,” I explained further.

“Does that mean they have someone helping them?” Caelestis asked.

“Potentially,” my brow furrowed, “that’s how Mik snuck up on me. I didn’t smell him at all, not even when he was grabbing me,” I sniffed my wrist again and it was clean, “no trace.”

“So it’s all a bigger conspiracy,” Caelestis pondered.

“It’s strange, who would help him?” That was the biggest question on my mind because as far as I knew I was the only one that could tolerate him.

“Anyone could have that ability,” Caelestis lamented.

“Yeah but no one likes him,” I was angry, I hoped it wasn’t someone I knew, “I want to hunt him down.”

“What motive could someone possibly have, it’s strange. But you might want to evaluate your life, because whoever is helping is against you too,” Caelestis said cautiously.

“The Amanes have nothing to offer them,” I spat.

“So what would they want?” Caelestis asked.

“He has…. Children…” I tried instead to think of what the Amanes had. Four children, one female. That was something of value but I don’t think Rose was the focus. They also had a place to stay even if they were just a parasitic presence there. But they were a presence inside. My face dropped. That is what they had, access to the Hirasawa mansion. I sat back up.

“Tell me what you think their motive is,” Caelestis said urgently.

“Do you think it’s possible that… the person wanted access to your house and Koneko and he was their way in? Mik has loved Koneko in the creepiest of ways despite her rejecting him and being in a relationship of her own. So do you think that all of Koneko’s years of ignoring him turned him spiteful?”

Caelestis snorted a little, “It wouldn’t surprise me if that were true.”

“The myth hunters…” I said under my breath, there wasn’t anyone else it could be. They had the resources to give out power like that.

“So what did they want with the house? The people in it?”

“Take down Koneko, the biggest threat… then the next would be,” I looked at him, a little shaken.

“Who are the people you think are most at risk?” He asked urgently.

“Your parents!” I yelled, scared for him.

“You think that’s who they’re after? I hope they know that,” he looked really worried and like he was going through his mind.

“How would they know they’re next? But surely they must be the myth hunters have always been after vampires, ever since the war and Stone,” I explained.

“I know that, but why would they get Mik’s help? It’s a strange tactic.”

“Insider knowledge?”

“What would Mik know, I barely know anything myself.”

“I suppose not much but he could find out. History shows Natasha has always had a soft spot for him.”

“How foolish,” Caelestis mocked but there was a tone of concern under that.

“Do you think I could be right? It’s typical of Lucius and Mik to squander their power on assaulting me,” I said darkly.

“I think it definitely has credit. But I don’t know what the adults know,” he gave me a small smile.

“Do you want to act on it? I don't really have a place to get involved,” I asked him. I wished I could do something myself. It would be so exciting but I would likely be too nervous to speak to Kylian.

“We can at least try. We can’t let the Amanes get away with whatever,” Caelestis said darkly.

“What if I’m right? Will I prove myself?” I looked up at him.

“To who?” He asked.

I shoved him, “You, duh.”

“Why would you need to?” He looked at me confused.

I smiled to myself, “No reason…”

He gave me a strange look, “Hmmm. Anyway, it’s worth caution.”

“Can you contact your parents? Maybe get them to teleport here secretly,” I suggested.

“I’ll look into protecting my parents. You focus on this Mik mystery,” he told me and I smiled.

I hoped this meant that he trusted me as a kind of strategist for him, that would be the goal. I decided that I wanted to be around him more, we had a great connection. “Will do,” I told him.

He leant forward and kissed me on the cheek. It was cold and soft like a flurry of snowflakes. It excited me but as always I was left wanting more. This greed built up inside of me.

I blushed, “Oh how polite.”

“I better try contacting them,” He closed his eyes and concentrated. I supposed he had a mental connection similar to what I had with my pack.

He kept his eyes closed for a while, I stared at his beautiful face. He had such perfect pale skin but up close I could see the blue veins running through his face giving it that cool toned look. Was it strange that I was so attracted to a myth that was so close to being a literal corpse?

His eyes then fluttered open once again that that ruby gaze fell upon my face.

“What did they say?” I asked.

“They’re going somewhere safe,” he said, sounding relieved.

“Did she know who did it?” I asked softly.

“Only suspicions. But she seems to think that it’s Lorelei,” he said.

“Lorelei? I’ve never heard that name,” I thought of all of the historical figures of recent times but I couldn’t think of any called Lorelei.

“Stone’s daughter,” he explained.

“He had a daughter!” I was reeling, completely shocked. One of the most awful vampires in history had a daughter and she killed Koneko. I needed time to process.

“She is also Shizuka’s half-sister,” Caelestis added.

So Miyako… she really was into pure evil huh… This news would destroy Shizuka even further… I paused for a few moments just thinking. “So Stone’s daughter killed Koneko… my gods…” I finally said.

“It seems that way,” Caelestis said matter of factly.

“I’m scared,” I whispered.

“I don’t blame you, we can only guess what she’s capable of,” He said, sounding very worried.

“They will be safe so I suppose it’s ok,” I knew I sounded worried too.