Chapter 4(All too familiar)

At the Starlight Orphanage,

Mira was talking to a little girl around the age of four; she had long black hair and lovely dark eyes; she was an orphan in the orphanage where Mira works; Mira has always loved children and has always loved to be around them; she and her friends used to stay at this orphanage but left when they were old enough to live on their own. The system is not the same as it is for humans, who must be at least eighteen to live on their own; in the vampire realm, you can live as long as you can fend for yourself and know and understand the rules.

Rosie is a human; her family was slotted by witches, and ever since then, Mira has always been by her side.

"Happy 5th birthday, Rosie," Mira said, giving the little girl a wrapped box.

"What's inside the box?" Rosie asked, shaking the box, trying to figure out what the content might be.

"I don't want to ruin the surprise, so open your fist."

Rosie hurriedly unwrapped the box, anticipation dancing in her eyes; when she finished unwrapping and opening the box, her eyes widened in delight as she discovered a Barbi doll.

"You always wanted one of them, right?" Mira asked just to be sure.

"Yes, thank you, Mira, but I didn't give you anything for your birthday." Rosie's excited face dimmed almost instantly; she lowered her head, not wanting to meet Mira's gaze.

"Nonsense "Rosie, I didn't need any birthday gifts from you, and by the way, you did give me a birthday gift," Mira said, smiling at Rosie.

"I did? when?" Rosie asked thoughtfully,

"Yes, your cute smile," Mira said, tickling Rosie, making her unable to contain her laughter. Rossi begged Mira to stop, but Mira didn't stop until tears fell from her eyes. Rosie tried glaring at Mira, but it just made Mira smile upon seeing how cute she looked. Rossi then ran off to the restroom feeling pressed.

Mira was still smiling from ear to ear, almost forgetting the problems she had; staying with the kids always lifted her mood. The door opened, and Summer walked in. She threw her bag to the side and sat down on a chair.

"Hey Summer, what are you up to?" Mira asked, walking over to her,

"Nothing, I just got fired," Summer stated flatly as if nothing had happened.

"Again, I think this is the sixth time in two months,"

"Yeah, they don't know what they're missing out on."

"I know right, so tell me what happened," Mira said, wanting to hear Summer's dramatic story,

"I will, but first, do you have anything to eat? I'm starving," Summer said with a pleading look.

"Yeah, go to the kitchen, but don't say..." Summer dashed out of the room before Mira could finish her sentence, "I sent you."

Summer returned with a bow full of spaghetti, Mira had left her to attend to something else within minutes Summer had finished her meal. She went off to the kitchen to drop her plate, when Summer came back to the room, Mira was already waiting for her.

"So tell me," Mira said,

"Okay, you know how my boss is. I was busy minding my own business when a customer came in. I served him politely, but he took my politeness to be foolishness. When I was finished writing down his order, he spanked my bum. I tried not to react at that moment, but when I served him his food, he did it again, and this time I lost it. I kicked him so hard that he spat out blood, but I didn't feel satisfied so I kept on punching him till some moron came and pulled me away. Then can you believe that when my boss came out he told me to apologize, but oh no I refused, so he fired me, but I told him, that he didn't fire me but I quit, then I walked out? What a coward that can't stand up for his employees,"

"Well, you did a good job, and yes your boss is an absolute jerk; how can he tell you to apologize after what his customer did? He doesn't deserve to have you working in his store."

"That was the same thing I said, hahaha; now that I'm back to being unemployed, Phoebe is going to give me an earful this night." Summer laughed to herself, "umm, Mira did you talk to Phoebe and maybe?"

"Summer!!" Rosie exclaimed as she ran up to Summer.

"How are you doing, Rosie?" Summer asked, placing Rosie on her lap.

"I'm fine; did you know that today is my birthday?" Rosie asked, looking at Summer. Summer's eyes widened in realization, and she looked at Mira for help, but Mira looked as if she were going to enjoy the show.

"Of course I did," Summer lied, scratching the back of her neck.

"So you brought me a present, right?" Rosie's eyes brightened with millions of stars.

"Of course I did, it's...err... outside...in the car. Let me go get it." Summer dropped Rosie on the chair and dashed out of the orphanage.

"When did Summer get a car?" Rosie asked, making Mira burst into a fit of laughter.

"I was also wondering the same thing,"

*****

It was nighttime, and it was running heavily; not a single sound could be heard, and the dark clouds covered the moon, giving darkness the chance to prevail over the land.

A young lady with long blonde hair ran through a forest beer-footed, her clothes were soaked from the rain, she had cuts on her face and body, and she was losing blood from a deep wound on her abdomen; she used her hand to cover the wound, but it was useless as blood still sipped through her finger. Her lungs burned due to the lack of oxygen in her lungs, her breathing was shallow, her vision was becoming blurry due to the amount of blood lost and how heavily the rain fell, and she held a book close to her chest as if her life depended on it.

Behind her were seven vampires, each holding a beautiful but strange dagger that glowed in the dark, and they chased the girl with no intention of letting her live; they were hot on her tail as they ran through the forest, jumping trees and leaping from branch to branch trying to get a hold of the girl. Fortunately, the girl was also a vampire. She could keep up, but given her condition, she wouldn't last long.

Phoebe had a plan to get away from the dose hunters, but it was a stupid one, but she didn't have any other option than to risk it." "Phoebe closed her eyes for a brief moment, trying to remember a specific spell, the spell that will boost her energy, strength, and speed for a while, and when the spell expires she will be left powerless. It was crazy, but if she doesn't do it she will die in the hands of those vampires.

She began to cast the spell, but kept mixing the lines; she could hear their footsteps closing in on her; Phoebe prayed for her legs not to give out before she finished the spell; her leg was becoming numb with each step she took; a part of her had already given up, but she still had faith to win; but unfortunately, she fell to the ground face flat.

The grimoire in her hand was thrown a few steps away from her, she dragged her aching body towards the book through the mud and rain. They must not get the book, the words kept ringing in her head as tears welled up in her eyes making her vision even blurrier in the rain, the men stopped when they saw the effect of the dagger kicking in,

She dragged her body as fast as she could toward the grimoire, her hands already inches away from the book, but before she could reach it, a pained scream tore through the silent night. Someone had stepped on her fingers, putting all his weight on them. She tried pulling away but heard her bones crack. Instead, 

The man picked up the grimoire from the ground, and at that moment, she knew she had failed; she knew it was over for her. She faced the ground in defeat and as a failure,

Another scream was heard from her when her hair was pulled backward roughly, she opened her eye to see the person in front of her. It was a man with brown hair and dark eyes that had nothing but blood lost in them; his hair stuck to his face, which was just inches away from hers as a slow but malicious smile made its way to his face;

"Phoebe, did you think you could escape from me? Your friends are already gone, so tell me why you still hope that you will survive after everything you did to me; why do you still fight?" His grip on her hair tightened, forcing a scream out of her lungs.

"Please, stop it," she pleaded, but he just pushed her roughly to the ground. Now she was facing the dark sky as the rain fell on her face. She looked around looking for a familiar face.

Then she saw him, the ghost in the mirror. His eyes were fixed on her; it was like he wanted to tell her something. His eyes held something that she couldn't unravel, especially with all the pain that she felt.

Her eyes kept fluttering due to weakness, she fought the urge not to close them; she needed to survive this if not for herself then for Mira. She screamed in pain as her eyes snapped open when she felt another wave of pain in her chest.

She looked down at her chest to find saw a dagger protruding from it; fresh red blood oozed out of the wound, staining her already stained clothes.

She looked at the man who was the cause of her pain with a teary eye, but his eyes were cold and empty; he looked like a vicious demon whose goal was to make her suffer. He used his foot to push the dagger further into her chest. It was getting hard to breathe, her survival instinct kicked in, and she found herself reciting a particular spell. She choked on her blood a couple of times, but that didn't stop her from completing the spell. She also needed to get that grimoire away from him; this was her only chance.

"I hate to see you like this, Phoebe. Stop fighting and just die; embrace your destiny. I know you are innocent, and it's not your fault for being what you are, but that doesn't mean I'll spear you, especially not after you killed my sister," he said, removing the dagger from her chest and bringing it to her neck. "Any last words?"

Phoebe nodded her head slowly as she stretch her wounded hand towards him, he just smiled seeing how low he had bright her,

"You want me to hold your hands," he asked raising an eyebrow. Phoebe just nodded her head at him. He came towards Phoebe squatting down to her level, he hesitated in giving Phoebe his hand but looking at his fellow vampire looking at him in anticipation decided to just give Phoebe, what's the worst that could happen anyway? he thought to himself.

Phoebe smiled mentally as he stretch his hands towards her. This is what pride could do to a man. She held onto his hand as tightly as she could before concluding the spell; his eyes widened in horror as the realization dawned on him.

Phoebe began to feel stronger and him weaker, when the rest realized what was happening, they rushed toward her, except the guy with the silver hair, but she was quick to create a barrier between her and those vampires.

She wasn't at her full strength yet, but she was stronger than before, and despite this vampire losing some of his strength, he still kept struggling to overpower Phoebe.

She didn't want to get caught once again, so she let go and gave him a flying kick that went him stumbling away, dropping the book on the floor. Quickly,  she got hold of it and started casting another spell.

She made an illusion of herself holding the grimoire, and then the illusions scattered through the forest, confusing the vampires.

She ran as fast as she could; she didn't know how long the illusions would last, so she didn't want to waste time. She looked behind her and saw the silver guy just standing at the same point he stood, looking at her with a faint smile on his lips before he disappeared.

She made her way out of the forest, but strangely, she found herself in a strange but yet familiar building. She brought the book closer to her chest as she held it like life itself.

She looked around but found nothing but a slightly open room, so she walked in to see what was inside—maybe her friends, she thought.

She walked into the old yet very family room; it felt like she had gone back in time as the room looked old; she saw a piano, a king-sized bed, a mirror, and a cloth-covered painting; the windows were closed with thick curtains; and a coffin that lay by the side of the room.

Her body moved to the painting on its own; it was like her body had a mind of its own. She walked towards the painting and took the cover off. She froze when she saw the person in the painting; it was herself, but she looked different.

As she was about to touch the painting, she saw another slightly open door by the corner. She walked fearlessly into the dark room; she was even surprised by her courage.

Yes, she was naturally fearless but not stupid; she always thought before taking any drastic steps,

Though her pride can sometimes make her take unnecessary steps, she still used her head.

She walked deeper into the dark room; she didn't know why, but she felt at home there. Suddenly, she noticed a man chained to the wall; he was on his knees, his long, dark hair covering his face like a curtain; his upper body was exposed, exposing his well-built body and hard abs.

She stopped a few meters away from him when he growled at her. He lifted his head, and at that point, Phoebe became frozen, not with fear but with a foreign feeling; she didn't understand the feeling she felt by just looking at his face her heart stopped.

He had metallic eyes, long dark hair, and from his sharp jawline to his broad shoulders could make any girl die in his arms. he appeared pale and skinny as if he hadn't eaten anything in years; his lips had lost their color and had already broken due to lack of moisture; he had bags under his eyes, but despite his poor condition, he still looked extremely handsome.

Her hands reached out to touch him, but something inside her told her to run, as fast as she could, but she didn't. "She took small steps toward him, but as her hands were about to touch him, he called a name, with live u. his eyes,

"Iris, Iris," his voice was so gentle and familiar and so was the name, Phoebe felt like hugging him but before she could, the sound of glass breaking distracted her, she looked over to the direction of the sound came from, and found a mirror that was broken to tiny piece.

Suddenly a figure began to emerge from the broken glass, the figure was covered in blood. The figure began walking towards her but Phoebe couldn't move due to fear, but as the figure could touch her with its sharp claws the sound of chains breaking echoed in the room and suddenly a fight broke between the figure and the chained man,

Phoebe wanted to cast a spell at the figure but she was suddenly dragged out of the room by the ghost, Phoebe pulled away from his hold in anger,

"Why did you do that, I want to help," Phoebe yelled but the guy just smiled at her before placing a finger on her forehead,

"Thank you," he said, and that was all Phoebe saw before everything went dark,