9

Scarlett relived her nightmare all over again. At first she thought it was the pain from the injury and the poison that was messing with her head and mind but even now when she was strong, the nightmare was even stronger. She felt numb, her entire body ached as her nightmare replayed over and over again in her mind, beads of sweat formed on her forehead and she clutched the sheets so tight her nails pierced her palms. She moaned in pain, turning and twisting.

He attacked her again, he was fiercer and the poison felt more real, the pain caused by it was way worse than Black's bane. The pain Scar felt was immeasurable and mind numbing, it was like getting a body part torn off. He beheaded her best friend and brother again, the scene repeated itself over and over again and it was just too unbearable to watch, next was the rest of her family, he slaughtered them like meat that was to be weighed and sold. She wanted to stop him, but she couldn't move. She screamed in agony as she shut her eyes. Her eyes flew open and they were silver, tears flowed from her face and dropped but burned before they reached the ground as though there was fire underneath.

The way her figure flashed around as she drew her silver sword from their chests, she didn't bother if she was being too brutal, blood sprayed all over her body and face with every strike. He stabbed her even deeper with his sword, she fell to the ground as blood flowed like water from her lips and chest. A man appeared in front of her draped in a black cloak. She lay half dead on the bloodstained ground slowly going through the agonizing pain of healing, her blood still flowed. Something in her changed…or rather died, the part of her that always made her rational in times like this, her humanity was dead, those beautiful blue sparks that showed she had her humanity intact were slowly fading.

Scar stared at the man in front of her, her vision once again blinded by anger and something unknown. She attacked with every ounce of energy she could summon, even with all her barely healed injuries. He let her attack him, pouring out the anger that was bottled up. He seemed to be enjoying it but he knew if he let her continue, he would most probably end up being killed so he stopped her. She yelled at him as he immobilized her, her rationality was back a while sooner. She realized it was him and apologized for hurting him. She begged him to let her go but he didn't. He didn't want her to lose the will to continue fighting but she had already lost it. She was exhausted and she looked dead with an empty and hollow gaze in her eyes.

"Just let me die, Nicole's dead, Zev, Xander, Chris, Michael, they're all dead, I failed to protect them, I let them die…please," he made her look at him. He didn't say anything; he just let her cry out her pain, anger, frustration and resentment. When he was sure she had calmed down, he explained to her that her family was safe and they were alright. She didn't believe him, how could he say that when they had been killed right in front of her very eyes? She didn't reply but just kept sobbing and then all of a sudden, she felt large hands hug her. When she looked up, she found herself staring into the beautiful grey eyes of her brother. Her face struck with shock.

Scarlett's eyes flew open, dread filled her entire being. She felt cold, the hair on her skin stood and she knew that someone was in her room. She lay still on her bed and the strange presence remained standing at the edge of her room where the light didn't illuminate. She expected whoever it was to come out since she was very sure he knew she was awake but he stayed still, she couldn't sense him moving but he was staring at her. He felt oddly familiar but she wasn't sure. She wanted to be on high alert but she felt strangely safe with this person that was in her room, she didn't know when she drifted off to sleep without the nightmare for the first time since they first started.

She didn't want to open her eyes; she had finally slept without that nightmare. She didn't want it to end just yet, sleep was really what she needed right now to escape all the responsibilities that she had but if this was just her dreaming, she would open her eyes and be welcomed by her nightmare, either way she wanted to escape both although that wouldn't be possible, she at least wanted to give it a shot.

"Open your eyes," he ordered. His voice also sounded familiar.

"What are you doing here?" she sat up and saw a silhouette of a man's figure standing in front of her bed.

"I thought you wanted to see me? How was your sleep?"

"You know about my nightmares?"

"I was dragged into it,"

"Do you remember anything about it? Even the slightest detail?"

"Sorry kid, it all skipped my memory the second you woke up,"

"Oh…thanks for a peaceful sleep…you got me those clothes,"

"I didn't think you'd know it was me,"

"Why…you say you want nothing but yet your approach implies you do want something from me, what is it?"

"Happy birthday,"

"What? Today isn't my…"she stopped short. She grabbed her phone from the bedside table and checked the date. Today, the first of July and her birthday, how could she forget the day she always anticipated for?

"It's not a bad thing to forget your birthday, you've been occupied lately," he said. She stared at him trying to decipher his thoughts. He said he wanted nothing from her, but his actions were in contrasts to his words. Why was he doing all this? She was tired of asking that question knowing he would just say nothing again or we'll talk soon. This man was just as complicated as her grandfather but her grandfather was way worse.

"You don't love me do you?" she blurted. That was the only reasonable explanation she thought of, not like she knew what it meant to love someone outside your family, she just wanted to ask. This wasn't just about the throne, there just had to something else.

"What makes you think I love you kid?"

"You've been helping me since I woke up after my accident, you got me clothes when I needed them, you brought me a human when I needed blood and you bought me clothes from my favorite fashion line…Nicole said something about a secret admirer, is that what you are?" she said.

"You're talking as though you know nothing about the topics admiration and love but…no kid, I don't love you, my heart belongs to someone else," he said and she nodded. "Enjoy your birthday Ms. Quinn and I promise we'll have a decent conversation soon," he said. She was sick of hearing promises of having conversations, her grandfather promised her that and even now she hadn't talked to him properly yet and then there was this dude. He left her staring at the ceiling in her room.

"I can't believe I forgot my birthday," she said as Nicole walked in.

"I didn't think you'd remember yet," Nicole said. Scarlett turned to her; Nicole had a sly grin on her face.

"You knew I didn't remember?"

"Obviously…happy birthday bestie,"

"Thanks Nicole,"

"Alright let's get you into something nice,"

"Why?"

"Today's your nineteenth birthday Ms. Quinn; don't tell me you want to sit in your room all day,"

"I actually don't have any plans,"

"Ugh, you're the worst…but I was hoping you'd say that, we've planned everything, you'll love it," Nicole pulled her up from her bed and dragged her to her walk-in-closet. "We have to get you into something that screams Scarlett, how about something red?"

"I'm not sure about red; I don't really like the color,"

"And your name is Scarlett," Nicole scoffed. "Perfecto, muy perfecto," she said holding a white turtle neck shirt that had black rhinestones fixed onto it. "It spells your name," Nicole continued rummaging through Scarlett's wardrobe until she found a pair of black jeans with white sapphires embedded on it. The jeans had zippers in front; the knee was ripped and stitched back. "This definitely screams Scarlett, you'll look perfect," she said and dragged Scarlet to her shoe closet. Nicole brought out white boots with black strips and handed them to Scarlett. "Now go have a shower," she said and pushed Scarlett towards the bathroom. Scarlett got out of the bathroom a while later and found Nicole sitting on her bed staring at something.

"What's that?"

"Wasn't this your mum's?" Nicole said holding up a black box with a transparent cover. Inside was a chain necklace of a half heart. On it was Zev's name. Scarlet materialized beside Nicole in an instant, she stared at the necklace baffled she always thought she would never see this necklace ever again

"I…it was my mum's, she always wore it, the one with my dad has my name on it," Scarlett explained. Nicole gave her the necklace and she stared at it as though analyzing whether or not it was real or fake.

"One of the maids came in it with, she said it's a gift from someone," Nicole said and gave her a piece of paper that read 'To my darling Scarlett'

"This is from my mum,"

"Happy Birthday Scar,"

"You knew?"

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you, they wanted to tell you themselves,"

"What about Chris and Michael, do they know about it?"

"Yeah, they came over while you were unconscious…I really wanted to tell you but Ramona begged me not to and Regina threatened me," Nicole said and Scarlett smiled.

"Definitely my mum and grandma, thank you so much Nicole,"

"Scarlett Nicole, we're ready to go, we'll be downstairs waiting,"

"We need to get dressed; I promise you'll love this,"