4

The mere thought of losing Scarlett terrified Nicole to the core, nothing would be the same. Nicole was left a shattered mess when Scarlett stopped breathing, she gave Scarlett a lot of her blood just to save Scarlett and now she was nothing but just a corpse in Nicole's arms. Their friendship was completely different from the way people pictured it. A royal hybrid and a lycan true blood being best friends wasn't something that had a bright future in the eyes of the people but Scarlett and Nicole cared least of what people said. Nicole couldn't describe what she felt when Scarlett hugged her; she was on the verge of losing her mind before that happened, but all too soon, Scarlett's body slumped down showing she had lost consciousness, she was scared something had happened to her again.

"W…what's wrong with her? W…why is…" Nicole panicked.

"She's fine Nicole" Michael assured her.

"All she needs is rest and fresh blood, since she's a royal, she'll heal faster…relax okay," Chris said.

"Everything'll be fine Nicole," Xander said and they left. Nicole sat next to Scarlett; her face was stained with dried tears. She sighed and hugged Scarlett again; she quietly cleaned Scarlett's bloodstained body and changed her clothes. Nicole woke up later that afternoon in her room, she knew she fell asleep in Scarlett's room and that either one of the guys brought her back here. After taking a cool shower, she went to check on Scarlett.

"Where is she?!" The room was empty and the lights were switched off as well, Scarlett's scent was faint, showing that she had left a while ago. "Scarlett's not in her room, she's gone," Chris and Xander immediately went downstairs to the training room to check there while Michael and Nicole were left upstairs. They checked the entire mansion but there was no sign of her, Nicole was frustrated, she went to Scarlett's room to check again and Scarlett was there, dressed and lying down.

A few minutes after Michael took Nicole to her room, a silver mist enveloped Scarlett's body, her eyes flew open and they shone bright silver. Scarlett left the mansion covered in a black cloak. She moved without knowing where she was going. She stopped in front of a mountain in Darkmire forest. Anyone who didn't know what happened to her a few hours ago wouldn't believe it if they were told, she looked as though nothing ever happened. She placed her palm on an ancient symbol engraved in the stone, it glowed bright silver and low rumbling noises echoed in the forest. A stone rolled away creating an opening not far from where she stood. The cave was dark and had an eerie feeling surrounding it but she wasn't fazed and then she took calculated and measured steps into the cave.

The cave was large and empty except for a silver mist that covered the ground from eyesight. The mist surrounding Scarlett's body found its way back to its source, her body collapsed due to the pain but it was bearable at least, her body still emitted a faint silver glow which Scarlett knew was keeping her conscious for the time being, she was grateful though, whatever it was that brought her here was preventing her from feeling excruciating pain and probably dying. She had managed to sit up, her back rested on the wall behind her. The mist gathered in front of her, although she was weakened, she still didn't lower her guard.

A girl formed…a girl that looked all too familiar…it was…her but with silver hair and eyes. "Take this it'll help with the poison," the girl said. A petal formed from the mist and descended on Scarlett's palm.

"Who are you?" Scarlett asked.

"There isn't time to explain, find Gallus…he'll help you…" she tried to say but the mist forcefully pulled her back to where it came from. Like a vortex had appeared in the middle of the mist, it swallowed itself and just…disappeared. Scarlett's body glowed silver again and her eyes turned silver, the effect of the poison was gone, she could feel nothing but utter and sheer relief, she wouldn't have to find her way back home in pain. A portal appeared in front and she walked through it without thinking at all. Scarlett stared at the petal that had now turned itself into a liquid in a phial, she didn't know who the girl nor Gallus was and she shouldn't trust so blindly but…there was this feeling, that feeling that the girl and Gallus would give her answers to the questions she knew one day would be asked so she gulped it down without thinking much about the consequence.

'You have got to be kidding?!' they were exasperated at the way she just up and disappeared and now she was back. She didn't seem disturbed though which was all they needed to know. They were all in the sitting room when Debbie materialized in front of Nicole, she had just woken up. They all knew a time like this was coming, a time when Debbie would finally wake up and ask about Scarlett and they didn't know what to tell her. It wasn't the girl's fault Scarlett was in that state, this was all Scarlett's fault; her recklessness had almost cost her. Michael and Xander backed out on telling Debbie what happened to Scarlett, leaving Chris and Nicole.

"Where's Scarlett?" Debbie asked innocently.

"She's training Deb and she doesn't want anyone distracting her," Nicole said. Obviously it was a blunt lie because there was no power surge in the house, no signs of Scarlett actually training. Debbie knew Nicole was lying; she wasn't a kid to just flatly believe that sort of lie. When she woke up, she had sensed Scarlett's presence very close but it was very weak, she feared the worst must have happened, it took her self control not to go find Scarlett's room but to come ask Nicole first but Nicole wasn't planning on letting her see Scarlett anytime soon. Chris observed Debbie closely; she had blue sparks in her eyes which meant she was a hybrid. The effects of Scarlett's blood weren't apparent, even though Scarlett's a hybrid, the fact that she had royal blood flowing through her veins meant that the effect of her blood should and still have been apparent effect on Debbie but…it didn't.

"Just tell her Nicole,"

"Tell me what…?" Debbie asked. "It killed her didn't it?" she had prayed and wished that Scarlett's weak presence should be a sign of her surviving. She didn't get why she actually cared about Scarlett being alive this much but she didn't want to hear that the person who had saved her from death was dead.

"Scarlett isn't dead Debbie…"

"Scarlett is strong, she'll be fine…all she needs is rest and blood,"

***

Two days had passed by and Scarlett didn't show any sign of waking up, though she would moan and scream in pain, her eyes never once blinked or moved. Scarlett eyes flew open abruptly, her face and hair were drenched in sweat, her heart was beating fast…too fast which was an anomaly for her, she had trained herself to never let her adrenaline affect her much but this…this nightmare wasn't just those normal ones she'd have when she was a kid, this was different.

She tried so hard to at least get even just a flashback of her nightmare but…nothing, it was all blurry except for the excruciatingly painful headache she got while trying to remember, she couldn't even go back to sleep. She tried hard to clear her head so she could fall asleep; the pain was just too much to bear so she decided to train. Training always took her mind off the worst pain

The training room was fixed; the punching bags were replaced with new ones. She stood in front of the punching bags and braced herself, she knew if she trained she would only stretch her wound which would cause her more immense pain but it was the only solution she thought of to getting herself unconscious right now. She just hoped that they would find her slumped in here when she would eventually go unconscious.

She managed to land a punch but it was weak and it already had her breathing hard, she tried a second punch but the pain was too much, her body emitted a faint purple glow, she clutched her chest tightly and screamed in agony. Scarlett fell unconscious on the training room floor, she moaned in pain, her brows creased and sweat dropped from her face. She felt an immeasurable amount of pain. Her scream was enough to alert everyone and they all ran down to the training room. They found her slumped in front of the punching covered in blood. They took her to her room and were all surprised to see the purple glow brighten and dull. Debbie was torn…she didn't know what to feel, whether guilt, hate and anger towards herself or whether to just start crying, she was meant to be the one going through all this not Scarlett, Scarlett didn't know Debbie yet but Scarlett saved her and only endangered herself in the process and now she was the one suffering.

***

Scarlett was surrounded by dead bodies of vampires and werewolves. Her entire being was bloodied but there were no visible wounds on her. She fumbled to get on her feet but fell due to an attack she couldn't dodge. The left part of her stomach was covered in blood as she fell to the ground in pain, she stared the man in front in her and a devilish smirk was plastered across her face.

"That's not playing fair, you're only attacking because I'm weak," she said. She wasn't bothered about the pain.

"I don't play fair Quinn,"

"Dempires aren't cheats, attacking when your opponent is weak is nothing but a shameless show of cowardice," she said as she managed to get on her feet.

"Spare me the lecture Quinn…"

"Who do you think gave the poison asshole…it was Claire, your so called love who poisoned you with her own blood so the antidote had to be her blood and here you are now, standing in front of me and about to kill me…go ahead, it's about time I died anyway,"

"Y…you dared to lay your fucking hands on Claire, I'll kill you!" he screamed and lunged an attack at her but a blond dempire stopped him.

"Let's not get rash here…I wouldn't say that if I were you Quinn, let's see what Ms. O'Connor has to say about you dying first…I'm not that merciless to not let you both say goodbye to each other, I admire your relationship with her," the blond said. "Don't get me wrong princess, I appreciate you saving my brother but we hate to owe people so if you die, we don't have to owe you anything," a man appeared holding Nicole by her hair.

"Don't move Scar…there's poison…" Nicole barely said, her entire body was bloodied and beaten up. Scarlett's eyes flew to her bleeding abdomen, she had even forgotten about it, the blood had turned black and she had stopped healing but…how? She had avoided every poison they attacked her with.

"Don't pull her into this. This is between you and me, Nicole isn't even a vampire not to talk of a demon, let her go,"

"She'll get in our way if we let her go princess and we can't let that happen…can we?"

"Scar…" Nicole whispered and flashed a weak smile at her. Other men appeared holding her entire family, they too were looking as bloodied and beaten up as Nicole.

"Nicole…let her go, don't pull them into this, please…don't," Scarlett screamed. "Please don't do this," Scarlett cried.

"Scar…" Zev barely whispered; half his face was burnt.

"Zev…please," she begged. Tears fell from her already bloodstained face, Scarlett knew she would lose it, she would have lost it hours ago if not for the thought that her family was alive and were waiting for her to return, they were the only things keeping her sane right now. The blond man smirked at her, he was handed a sword from one of his men, that sword…Scarlett's eyes widened in shock, how did he? He didn't hesitate and with precise movement he slit Nicole and Zev's throat at one go. Blood sprayed like water on her face. It didn't take much time; their bodies fell headless to the ground with a slight thud while their heads were thrown at Scarlett's feet.

Scarlett's knees gave away and she fell to the ground helpless, speechless, her hands dangled at her side. She stared at the dead, bloodied and headless bodies of her entire family in utter hate, resentment and anger. This…this was her fault, they were all…gone and there was nothing she could do about it. Her eye color switched from black, scarlet to grey, her entire family was murdered right in front of her own two eyes; her parents…everyone she knew and loved, killed with no mercy, they were all beheaded in front of her. They wanted her to lose her sanity right? Oh she was losing it alright…she would end everyone; no one would be spared from this! The bloodlust from her was so intense, her constant change in eye color sent shivers to the rogues.

"Wrong move princess, you should've listened to your friend," he attacked her but her figure wasn't there anymore. Scarlett's figure flashed and disappeared from everyone's sight. All the dempire's men lay dead on their ground within seconds of Scarlett's disappearance, both vampires and werewolves, torn pieces of body parts were everywhere.

"You killed them all, my entire family!!!" Scarlett screamed. Red, silver and black lights bursts from her body, her eyes were a mixture of red, black, silver and grey, large silver wings grew from her back. She attacked him relentlessly until he was barely breathing and just as she was about to land the final blow, she fell to the ground, her hands grasped her throat and chest, she was barely breathing and she knew it was the poison, her eyes returned to normal color, part of her body was burned and blood flowed like water.

"Say g…goodbye Quinn," the blond dempire said as he plunged the sword deep into her chest. She screamed in pain and her eyes flew open.

***

Sweat dripped over her face, everything was a blur to her; she couldn't remember anything about her nightmare. She was in too much pain due to her wound, she fell back on her bed and drops of tears trailed her face as she lost consciousness yet again.