☼ Chapter XV ☼

picture; Ankiel Ylisove

song; "Cruel World" by Phantogram

author's note; I wanted to do another double update since it has been almost a month since my last update, but I don't want to rush to finish the chapter. Majority is written, and there is only one part I need to write to add in and then edit, but another update will be coming soon.

This is actually chapter 10 in my original writing, but the chapters are pretty long so I've broken the longest ones in half so it doesn't take an eternity to read. I love this chapter because we get to finally spend some time with my baby, Ankiel.

Tell me what you think of him.

Comment + Vote, enjoy!

__________________________________________________________________

Smoldering sweetness assails me as Derik's mouth merrily greets mine one last time. When he pulls away, his hand that is splayed over my neck rises higher, until his thumb brushes under my eye. A smirk graces his handsome face as I watch him hungrily.

"I'll see you later." He murmurs, the smirk tugging into that familiar wolffish grin. Derik's index finger lifts my chin higher until our breaths mingle together from the closeness.

When he pulls away, I'm left cold, despite the fact we were in the warm corridor just outside my dormitory. The fire that enveloped me a moment before dissipates into nearly nothing, and I strangely feel a sadness coil around my heart.

"See you later." I watched his tall frame retreat back down the hall and couldn't stop the dreamy sigh that escaped my lips before I twisted around and pushed the door open.

A grunt of pain met my ears as the door knocked into something on the other side. "What the—" Ankiel stumbled back, rubbing his temple with a grimace of pain spread across his face. I clicked my tongue, and pushed the door open further. "What the fuck are you doing, Ankiel?"

"Nothing!" His voice was way too loud and way too defensive for him to be telling the truth. I narrowed my eyes before I kicked the door shut with my foot.

"Were you eavesdropping?"

"No." He said too quickly and I quirked a brow as I gave him a dubious look. "You want a burger?" A smirk was born on my mouth as Ankiel hurriedly changed the subject and I shrugged. "I made homemade barbecue burgers. I was gonna watch a movie."

"No Trent tonight?" I quizzed as I moved in the direction of the kitchenette to grab a burger and some of the Lay's chips.

"Nah, he had his own plans, I guess. A date with some girl or something, but yeah he ditched me. What about Lori?" I spread mayo and ketchup on a bun as I listened to Ankiel speak before grabbing a burger, then stacking some tomatoes and lettuce on top.

"I was with Derik all day, so I hadn't text her. She'll most likely barge in tomorrow though." I took a bite of the burger and came back around toward the living room. "What were you gonna watch?" Ankiel made a face as I spoke around the food in my mouth.

"You're a real lady." He commented nonchalantly as he looked on with disgust.

"I never claimed to be a lady." I pointed out after I swallowed, plopping down on the couch beside him and snatching up the remote to the TV. "Let's see what Netflix has." Ankiel popped a Lay's chip into his mouth as he watched me scroll through the "recommended".

"Oh, shit. Pulp Fiction! I haven't seen that in years." Ankiel told me, a huge goofy grin on his face as he pointed at the TV. I clicked the title as I finished chewing and watched as the movie began to play.

"Quentin Tarantino is a genius. Pulp Fiction is good, but Inglorious Bastards is my favorite. Brad Pitt is just fucking hilarious." Ankiel nodded as I took another bite of my burger, a bit of barbecue sauce getting on the corner of my mouth.

"Yeah, I like that one too, but Kill Bill? Uma Thurman is a work of art." Ankiel whistled and I laughed as I chewed.

"I agree. She's such a good actress, and she's so fucking hot." Now it was Ankiel's turn to quirk a brow up at me.

"Sounds like Lori is rubbing off on you."

"Anyone with eyes can see that Uma Thurman is gorgeous, Ankiel." I rolled my eyes at his comment and snorted, but my wide smile didn't slip at all.

"Sure, sure. Just don't let your Mate know you're drooling over other people." He joked, playfully shoving me and causing the plate on my legs to jostle and some of the chips to fall to the plush black carpet at our feet.

"Now look what you did." I grumbled as I leaned over to retrieve the fallen chips. "You, know," I started again after I'd cleaned up Ankiel's mess and was sitting upright again. "you're not so bad when you stop being a grouch."

"I am not a grouch." He immediately interjected and I gave him a pointed, dubious look.

"You are too."

"Are not." He crossed his arms and playfully scowled.

"What are you, five?"

"What are you, stupid?"

"Grouch." I countered, sticking my tongue out and blowing a raspberry.

"Loser."

"Ugly!" My finger jabbed him in the chest and Ankiel threw his head back and let out a short, unamused bark of laughter.

"Liar."

"I do not lie." My eyes narrowed at him and he ran his hand through his hair and smirked.

"You just did. I am anything but ugly. So you're a liar." I rolled my eyes, trying to fight the smile threatening to hold my mouth hostage.

"Whatever you say, Ankiel."

"At least you conceded. Guess you're not nearly as stubborn as Lorelai." Ankiel smirked and leant back into the couch before taking a long swig of his soda.

"Conceded? More like I'm not gonna argue with someone who's clearly delusional." Rolling my eyes, I took another huge bite of my burger.

"You just called me ugly, yet I'm the delusional one? Yeah the fuck right, Sonny." At the familiar nickname, a strangeness crept over me--a feeling akin to awkwardness.

Lorelai was the only one who'd ever called me "Sonny" before, so hearing Ankiel christen me the same name was... weird. Even despite the feeling, I still noticed my mouth trying to coil into a small smile. Along with the peculiar sensation was also one of warmth, and homeliness.

It made it all the more strange.

"How did you get so good at cooking? These burgers are the shit." I quizzed him abruptly, trying to back away from the bizarre feeling from a moment before.

"My dad. Mum didn't cook much for us growing up. If anything, she'd make us breakfast or pasta for dinner sometimes, but dad took care of most of the cooking. He's so damn good. I figured I'd learn so I could impress the ladies. Guess it came in handy." Ankiel waggled his brows at me and I playfully shoved him.

"I take it back. It's not that good." Ankiel mocked as if he were offended, clutching his chest dramatically. It's like he and Lorelai are just opposite gendered versions of each other. "Can't let you go getting a big head." I taunted before demolishing the last of my burger.

"Actions speak louder than words, darlin'. You seemed to really enjoy it, so it doesn't even matter what you say at this point." Shrugging, I let the smile from before grace my lips and then turned my attention back to Pulp Fiction playing on the TV.

Samuel Jackson, who was playing Jules in this Tarantino film, was asking "What does Marsellus Wallace look like?"

"Oh this scene is so good." Immediately becoming completely engrossed, I watched the dialogue play out on the screen.

"What?" The man asked, quivering.

"What country you from?" Jules asked him after flipping the table in front of the shaking man. The man stupidly repeated his question from before, only further pissing off Samuel Jackson's character. "'What' ain't no country I ever heard of. They speak English in 'What'?"

Jules tells the man again to describe what Marsellus Wallace looks like, this time pointing a gun at him. And he finally obliges, "He's black!" He shouts, and Jules urges him to continue. "He's bald."

"Does he look like a bitch?" A huge grin breaks out over my face.

Samuel Jackson's delivery of this line never gets old.

"That line will always be funny." Ankiel commented, echoing my thoughts.

We finished Pulp Fiction and Ankiel started Kill Bill Vol. 1 right after. His phone buzzed just as Bill was asking Beatrix if she found him sadistic. Ankiel texted back the person on the other end, and his mood seemed to slightly sour as the conversation went on till Bill shot Beatrix.

"Is everything okay?" Ankiel sighed, but nodded to answer my question.

"It's just Trent." He told me vaguely and I turned my eyes back to the screen. "You know, sometimes he's a real arsehole." Ankiel commented after a little while.

"Aren't all Nephilim?" He laughed at my comeback, and shook his head.

"His brother isn't nearly as brooding and gloomy as Trent, or any other Nephilim I've ever met. But, I guess, Trent has more reasons to be brooding than Sawyer." I suddenly was reminded that my IOS Mentor and Ankiel and Lorelai's family knew each other well. Lorelai had even said that she'd known Sawyer for quite some time, since she was a young teenager I believe.

"Right. Sawyer was probably a gloomy asshole too before he met Eloize." I smirked at my words, but Ankiel's mood seemed to continue to go downhill. When he didn't say anything for a while, I asked again, "Are you sure everything is okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Trent's just having some issues right now. That's probably part of the reason why he ditched me today." Slowly nodding, I didn't prod any further, but Ankiel opened his mouth again. "He had it in his head that you and him were Mates."

Pure, unadulterated shock churned through me and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep the emotion off my face. "Why would he think that?"

Ah, fuck. Did this have something to do with me being crapat?

"Well, the reason why is also part of the reason why we left the Academy, so I really don't think I should say. It wasn't about me. Trent... went through some shit a few years ago, and he planned to leave alone. I didn't want him out there by himself though. It just wasn't right, you know. And we didn't tell Lorelai because we knew she'd want to come, but it was too dangerous for a kid like her. She was only sixteen at the time."

I stared at Ankiel silently, listening intently to his reasoning and suddenly truly understanding. There was a lot of danger waiting around every corner for a Royal outside of the protection of the Elders.

The Academy had several Veils put in place by Ancient Sorcerers and also always had Protectors doing rounds all over the perimeter of campus to keep Novices safe from outside attacks. Not to mention everyone here was training to be a soldier. There is strength in numbers, so leaving Lorelai at the Academy was definitely the safest option.

"I didn't know." I said slowly, realizing that I'd been such a cunt when Ankiel and Trent had returned. I wonder what it had been that drove Trent away, especially when his brother was here. I didn't know really anything about his and Sawyer's parents, but a piece of me got the impression that the Codaihme brothers were the only family the each of them had. It was why Sawyer had been so relieved when he returned.

I also remembered that his relief had quickly melted into worry. Did he know what drove him away, or was he also left out of the loop?

"No one really knew anything. We gave the smallest amount of detail possible to protect everyone, and to protect Trent. It was just the best choice we could've made at that time." Ankiel stretched back on the couch, kicking his feet up onto the coffee table again. "Thanks for being there for Lori. I know she needed someone, and I'm happy she wasn't alone all this time."

A part of me was still mad that they had left her alone and I had to comfort her when there was really nothing I could do or say to ease her missing her brother, but I was beginning to let that anger go the more I understood about why they chose to leave.

"It's no big deal." My words were slow as the friendly sadness that always lived nearby started to caress me again. "I needed someone too. Her and Genevieve really became my family here. Lorelai really became like a sister to me."

"I'm happy for you too." Ankiel responded nonchalantly and I snapped my eyes to him, again surprised by his words and how calm he is when speaking such a sentiment. "I wasn't the one who was left, but I know how painful it is to be away from your sibling, so I'm happy for you too." Despite his bittersweet words, Ankiel didn't look me in the eyes.

"Hey, it's okay, Kel. I know everyone knows about my family. You don't have to feel weird about saying anything."

It was true that I was all the talk of the Academy when I was enrolled as a Novice. Everyone knew that I was Princess Sonya Reinove, the Final Child of the Reinove bloodline. Everyone knew that my mom was killed, my sister and dad abandoned me. Everyone knew everything.

These things that I would probably regard as deep, dark secrets--trauma that dwelled in my nightmares and in the not-so-deep recesses of my brain, everyone knew all about them. These wounds were behemothly agape for any and all onlookers to gawk and rubber-neck at. It made it all the more painful sometimes. And other times, it made me all the more resilient.

"I know. But just because everyone knows doesn't mean it makes it easier. It probably just makes it worse that everyone knows." I once again was overcome with the odd feeling from before about Ankiel.

It was so off-putting how intimate the conversation felt, how warm and so easy. It was similar to the feeling I had around Lorelai and Derik and Genevieve, as if I recognized Ankiel as my family too, even though I didn't really know him that much.

I was both disgusted and intrigued by the feeling.

☼

Decadent and saccharine ruby life coated my fingertips and lips, and a wicked grin ripped the corners of my mouth away from each other, up toward the blue-black of the deep night sky. Her blood still coated the surface of my tongue, and the feral satisfaction that fermented underneath my skin was wildly addictive.

As it had grown later, the nighttime breeze picked up, whipping my long, dark coils around my face and obscuring my vision. My memory conjured up the petrified scream of that redhead girl as her sister choked to death on the last of her crimson vitality. It was a godly sensation.

My legs took me faster as I heard Trackers' steps to my left, and I veered far to the right. Malicious laughter bounded around the trees, and I gradually realized it was mine. I was cackling like a maniac, and I felt like it. My lucidity was weak, too drunk on the kill to really hold on to any semblance of control.

One Protector twisted around a tree and grasped me by the neck, his large hand encircling my throat effortlessly. My smile never faded though.

With a flick of my wrist, the Protector abruptly lurched back, gurgling and choking as I watched with almost child-like fascination. I could feel the gruesome squelching of his organs as the black tendrils squeezed them from inside his chest.

Of course I had surpassed the ability of a lowly Tracker. Darkness had granted me too much Power to be taken out by the likes of some turned worthless little shit like this one.

Come back to me, his voice whispered into my subconscious and I pushed off again in his direction, suddenly and urgently needing to feel him again. To feel him beside me, upon me, and inside me, and I continued on.

It was too easy. That farsa was so unguarded, and she was there. She's so beautiful. I relayed back to him, licking my lips as the image of her jade eyes, wide with terror entered my mind.

Some part of me hated to see her so full of fear, just as she was the night Meredith was killed. But another part of me revelled in that fear; it's deliciousness was recklessly undeniable on my tongue, and I wanted another taste--desperately.

You did good. Now come back to me, Cetilayn. The man told my sister, and I felt myself being ripped away from her form.

I had been... her. My sister and I were one in this dream, or I guess it was a nightmare. All her thoughts from that night at the farsa were mine, but now I was severed from her body. Instead, I was floating above her, looking down on her as she ran towards the mysterious man's voice. Her brown skin had returned to its normal shade, no longer washed out like when she was going through the Change.

And Cetilayn's curls had become the voluptuous wonder they always had been my whole life. She didn't look as though she had aged a day, however. Everything about her from the youthfulness in her face, to her petite frame showed me that she Changed at nineteen, probably shortly after she left home.

The aura surrounding my sister was thick and alluring, however. She was like a succubus, radiating hot and untamed sex, but she was still beautiful, nonetheless. Just like she was in my memory, just somehow... so much more so.

Besides the energy pulsating around her body, two more things were evident. The first was her eyes. She was born with the same jade gaze I had, the same one Meredith had too. But Cetilayn's eyes were like two lumps of black coal, with an unnatural and brilliant crimson ring around the irises.

The second thing I noticed was the tendrils of blackness that slinked along beside her, just at the precipice of her care, following her.

Cetilayn had Changed, and she was plagued by Darkness. A Sanguis Rogue.

My heart shattered at the information. Now it was impossible for us to ever see one another again because if I ever crossed paths with her, I couldn't hesitate to turn her head in to the Elders for her crimes.

☼

"Sonny?" Ankiel was sitting beside me, peering at me worriedly. My bare feet were kicked up on his lap and we both were still on the couch. Kill Bill was still playing on the TV, and Beatrix was slamming Buck's head with the door to her hospital room. "Can you hear me now?"

"What?" I moved to sit up and felt a rush of dizziness cascade over my entirety, stringing along an enormous tide of nausea as well. Gagging, I moved quicker to run to the bathroom. Dunking my head into the toilet, I vomited up my burger and chips.

Ankiel was there in a moment, standing only a foot away and texting rapidly on the phone. "When did you discover you were a Seer?"

"A few days ago." I told him as I reached up to flush the toilet. "That was only my second vision. I hope this gets easier."

"Uh, yeah." Ankiel scoffed, moving a step closer with my toothbrush. "You didn't seem like you could even tell that you were starting to have one."

"But you could?" After wetting my toothbrush and smearing toothpaste over it, I stuck it into my mouth to scrub away the remnants of the puke.

"You told me that you were Seeing something. But when I tried to ask you about it, you seemed confused, like you hadn't said anything at all. And then you started to tell me what you were Seeing anyway. By the way, very creepy. Your eyes glazed over completely and changed to a murky yellow color. They were open, but it was like you weren't even here."

I spat in the sink and rinsed my toothbrush out before shutting off the faucet. Turning to Ankiel, I swallowed my anxiety to ask him, "What did I tell you I saw?"

"Not much, really. You said you could still taste her blood, and it was... good. And you said you could hear 'his voice, calling to you'. But that's about it. The rest of the time you just sort of mumbled to yourself." I nodded and slowly turned to place my toothbrush back into the holder beside the sink. "What did you See, Sonny?"

Cutting my eyes away, I could feel my heart begin to hammer wildly against my ribcage. The anxiety started to crawl over my skin, and my tongue began to tingle behind my lips. My sister was a Sanguis Rogue, and she killed that girl at the farsa. I know she was associated with that redhead in my combats course, so the dead girl was most likely supernatural.

Cetilayn murdered one of her own, and that meant she was punishable by death. If I told Ankiel, he wouldn't be able to keep it a secret from Head Vierseut if he was questioned about the murder. He could be called in for his association with me, a witness.

I wanted nothing more than to protect her, despite the fact she abandoned me. I knew now that she had been there that night Meredith was killed. Cetilayn said she remembered the fear on my face from then. She said she liked to see me afraid.

Tears sprang to my eyes and I felt a bone-deep despondency grow inside me. I mourned again for my loss--the loss of my sister, this time to Darkness and not her own fear. And I mourned for Cetilayn, for the loss of herself.

She has succumbed to the Black Force, and even though I didn't know if it was by choice or because Cetilayn wasn't strong enough to fight it, I wanted to save her--and protect her.

"I don't remember." My eyes met Ankiel's desperately, and he watched me expressionlessly. The tears couldn't be contained any longer and like a burst pipe in the winter, it exploded out of me once again.

The rage couldn't be quelled or swallowed. My pain, the anger, the betrayal all became too much to hold on to on my own. The weight of it drug me to my knees and I knelt down onto the cool tile of the bathroom floor again.

Soul-wracking and spine-quaking sobs exited my body, and I couldn't recognize my own voice. Ankiel stood for a second and just watched me bawl before he knelt down beside me and wrapped me into his arms. There was no strength in my body to deny the comfort, so I cried into his shoulder.

Cetilayn and I had once been everything to each other. We were best friends and confidants. We were partners in crime. We loved each other deeply and fully, so much.

We were sisters, but now we had to be nothing.

Not even she would stand in my way of avenging Meredith. Cetilayn had been there that night. She had seen my fear. She probably saw Meredith's murder and she did nothing. Cetilayn was not my sister anymore; she was my enemy.

I would keep the secret of her Rogue status, because I wanted to be the one to make her pay for her crimes. Cetilayn had better pray to the Goddess that she never crosses paths with me because I will not hesitate to eliminate her.

The tears that were rolling down so rapidly a moment before came to a screeching stop as these thoughts infiltrated my mind. I was done mourning the loss of my sister.

All that was left to do now was to get rid of the walking shell that looked just like her.