Chapter 14
The night was still dark and cold. The lamp posts were glowing brightly and were the only source of light. Maria and Chris were driving around on the empty road and were heading towards New York –the city that never sleeps. Thoughts were running wild in Maria's mind. The only thing she could think of was what had been happening in the past few days. Ever since she had met her aunt, she had felt her anger becoming harder to control and a darkness inside her growing larger by the second. The thing was, Maria didn't fear it and wasn't scared by it, but instead she loved the feeling of it. Suddenly, Chris came to a stop and Maria did the same. They both got off their motorbikes and looked around them. They were in New York. The roads were busy and the city glowed with excitement. Every building had a sign on it which glowed and shined making the city come alive. Some were about the business and others were advertising different things. Music was being played and people were all wearing something fancy and posh. Maria looked at Chris and suggested, "Let's just do what we came here to do. Are you ready to see your parents again?" Chris took a deep breath when she said 'parents'. He hadn't seen them in years and the nerves began to creep in. Although, he nodded his head and they both began to walk down the streets of New York. After a while of walking, Maria and Chris walked through a dark alley way. As Maria looked up, she could see vampires walking on the rooftop of buildings, watching her every move. Some were jumping down and walking beside them. Whispers, chatter and whistles followed their every move and more vampires began to crowd around them. Soon, Maria and Chris were trapped in a circle full of vampires around each other. Chris stood in front of Maria and put his arms to the side of Maria, making sure no vampire could get to her. Chris only wanted to protect Maria and he would do that with his life. Maria and Chris looked at each other and nodded in agreement. "My name is Chris Matthews, first born child of Arthur Matthews and I am here to see my father." Everyone went quite and the only thing you could hear were footsteps getting closer to Maria and Chris. A pathway began to form and a man began to step into the area. He had a muscular built and a thick, hairy beard. He folded his arms and narrowed his bright white eyes in Chris's direction. He walked forward and every vampire around bowed the head in his direction. He was the leader and no one had the nerve to stand against him. His face was stern and hard to read, but Maria had no trouble reading it. As much as he was trying to keep and straight face, she could see he was overwhelmed to see his son again. His mouth broke into a smile and he wrapped his arms around Chris into a warm embrace. Maria looked down at the floor as she remembered that that was something she could never have again. "It's good to see you again, son." He said as he pulled out of the hug. "What do I owe the pleasure? What do you need?" Chris moved to the side for him to see Maria stood with her arms folded and her eyes cold. Smiling, Arthur said, "Maria Rivers. You've grown into a beautiful young lady." "I would love to chat with you, but we don't have any time. Salice is getting her army ready and is about to do the final step before marching into cities like this one. Is there anywhere we can talk in private?" Arthur nodded and waved his hand for them to follow. The other vampires moved away from the three of them and went back to their normal places in the city and began to guard this area again. They walked inside a bar with a table in the centre with chairs on top. All sorts of furniture were around and it smelt of beer and whiskey. Maria grabbed a bottle of whiskey and followed Arthur into a room. It had two beds in it and a window that was boarded up. Paintings hung on the wall and an armchair sat in the corner of the room next to a small wooden table. "We'll talk in the morning. You both need a good night's rest." Walking out of the room, Maria sat in the armchair and Chris sat on the bed looking at Maria with concern. She opened the bottle and drank lots of it in one go. "What do you think is going to happen when we get back?" "I'm not sure, but I know they will never trust me again and I'm fine with that." Chris nodded and curled up in the blankets. Worry started to enter his mind and he began to get concerned of what was happening to Maria. He knew there was a darkness inside of her: of all the pain she had to go through by herself. The thing that was worrying her was when the darkness would eventually consume her. With that thought, Chris fell asleep, leaving Maria drinking the bottle of whiskey. Maria also knew what was worrying Chris so much. She could feel the darkness in her, but she didn't care. The only thing that was on her mind was winning this war. Over at the pack house, Enzo was staring out into the night as the cold wind brushed up against his face, making his hair stand on edge. He wondered where Maria was and what she was going to do. Although Maria killed his mate, Enzo didn't feel any anger towards Maria. He was sad because he had known her his entire life, but he also felt like a whole weight had been lifted off his shoulder. Not knowing why that was, he started to want Maria to come back so he could listen to her problems and to try and help her through whatever she was going through. Closing his eyes, he turned around and walked back inside.
It was the next day and the sun was shining and it seemed to be a good day, but Maria knew that wouldn't last long. She looked around the room to see that Chris had already left and that she had fell asleep with the bottle in her hand. She got off the chair and brushed herself down. Walking down the stairs, she could smell the smell of bacon and eggs being cooked, which brought back memories from when they looked after her. She walked down and when Chris saw her, he let out a loud laugh. Maria rolled her eyes as Chris stated, "You look terrible. You shouldn't have drunk the whole bottle of whiskey." "Shut up. It's too early for you judging my life choices." Slurred Maria. Chris chuckled and Arthur placed the food in front of them both as they ate. After they finished, Arthur asked, "What is it that you want to talk about?" Maria looked over to Chris to see his hands shaking slightly, but nodding to Maria. "We came to ask you to help us. I know you don't like werewolves or witches much, but you and your vampires are the most powerful vampires in the world and right now we need your help. I need you to help rescue the Red Moons packs alpha and the other alphas from Salice. Then, if you want to support me and your son, to fight against Salice!" For a while, Arthur didn't say anything. He just exchanged glances at Maria and Chris like he was waiting for them to say it was a joke, but it wasn't. He stood up and walked around the bar, muttering something under his breath. Then, he stopped moving and turned to face Maria and Chris. "All I have ever wanted in all my years of living was peace. Peace between all types of supernatural beings. By me helping you, that could happen, but I know the other vampires that follow me won't agree." "Then make them," Chris suggested with a raised voice as he stood up, "They will listen to you. You're the most powerful vampire and you are too afraid to go against what they want. Just like you always have been." Arthur stared at Chris with rage burning in his eyes. "Careful now, son. We are all monsters here and when you make a monster angry, bad things tend to happen." They both stared at each other in anger and they looked like they were about to rip each other's throats out any minute. Maria rolled her eyes and walked over to them both. Making a loud noise, she grabbed the back of their necks and hit their heads against one another. They looked at Maria with their hands rubbing their heads. "If you have finished squabbling, I would like to get back to business. Is there any way we can get the other vampires to trust us so they can help the other species of supernatural creatures?" Arthur thought about this for a while, but suddenly, his eyes glowed up. A smile spread across his face but then faded when he realised something. "There is one way they could trust you, but it isn't going to be pleasant. Follow me." They both followed Arthur into another room with white walls and wire's everywhere. In the middle of the room, there was a bed with a woman laying on it. Her eyes were closed and her skin was pale. "Mother?" whispered Chris. Then, Maria realised who it was and she began to get confused as to how she got there. Looking at Arthur, Chris asked. "What happened to my mother?" "We were attacked by Salice after you both left. She wanted to know where you were, but we wouldn't tell her. In a result of that, Salice put Crystal under a spell. I don't know what type of spell it is, but all I know is that nothing we have tried is waking her up. If you are able to wake her up, then the other vampires will help you get the alphas back." Maria nodded at Arthur and walked towards Crystal. Her light brown hair was messy and her face wasn't filled with joy, but instead pain. "I must warn you that it may hurt when you try to wake her up."
Over at the pack house, Enzo and Freya were beginning to get worried. "Has anyone heard anything from Chris or Maria? I've tried calling them, but they aren't picking up." Asked Freya with concern laced in her voice. Nobody said anything. "Maria said something about trying to get vampires on our side. She probably went to get one of her side." Suggested Enzo. Freya nodded and replied, "She would have gone to Chris's family. He is the son of Arthur Matthews-the oldest vampire. I wish that would help, but I have never been. Only Maria and Chris have been there." "Why haven't you? You're his girlfriend." Questioned Riley. Freya looked in her direction and replied, "I'm a witch and if I went there then I would get killed. Chris was the one who found Maria beside her parent's burnt bodies. He took her back to his home and they all looked after her. When she was around 15, the vampires wanted to get rid of her because they didn't like a wolf with witch powers in their home. They also knew that Salice would try and find her. Eventually, Chris's dad told her to leave and so she did, but Chris went with her. He sees her as a little sister and will protect her with his life. Even if that is the last thing he does." Everyone was silent. No one really knew how much love between the two of them had towards each other until now. Then, Elenor entered the room and walked towards Enzo. "I couldn't find them. It seems like Maria put a cloaking spell over them both so no one can find her." Enzo clenched his hands into a fist. "What if she left something in her cave? There might be something there that can help us find the vampire hideout." Suggested Riley. Nodding, Enzo said, "Good idea. Me and Riley will go and search it while you guys keep trying to find Maria and Chris on the locator spell." Everyone nodded and Enzo and Riley set off towards Maria's cave.
After they climbed up the mountain, they both reached Maria's cave. The fire was still warm and the logs were still partly covered in ash from the fire. "I'll look around the outside while you look around in the cave." Suggested Enzo. Enzo started to look around the outside and found two sets of footprints on the ground. As Riley was searching the cave, she found photos of Maria and Chris when she was younger. She had the same features, but her face was filled with joy and she looked like she was a sweet girl instead of a monster. Riley kept looking around and saw nothing that could help them out. She walked out of the cave and saw Enzo crouched on the floor. "We know they were here, as there are two pairs of foot marks." "All I found were these photos. Maybe Freya can figure out where they were taken." Enzo nodded his head, but there was still something that was on his mind. "What are you going to do when you see Maria? After all, she is helping us get our father back." Riley looked at Enzo and said, "I'm going to do nothing. Ever since she saw her aunt, she had been acting like a monster and now, she has turned into one. Whatever happens is on her." Riley began to climb back down the mountain and Enzo followed after her. Back with the vampires, Maria was standing next to Crystal and Chris and Arthur was opposite her. Nodding her head, Maria placed her hands over Crystal's heart and began muttering words under her breath. A gust of wind flew around the room and everything either fell onto the floor or started to float. Maria's eyes turned red and the strangely, turned black. Chris had never seen this before, but he knew what it meant. Then, Chris and Arthur had trouble breathing. Pointing to the door, Chris and Arthur raced outside and closed the door behind them. Taking a deep breath, Arthur asked, "What was happening? Why did her eyes change from Red to Black?" "It's the darkness taking over her. All of that pain and anger she had bottled up turned into something she couldn't control. That's what that was." Arthur looked suspicious and he said, "That's strange. When Salice put you mother under that spell, he eyes turned black just like that. It's like they both have a connection to each other." "It's something like that. Maria got some of Salice's magic when she was cursed so they are going to have things that are similar. I just hope Salice doesn't know otherwise she will use that against Maria." They both sat down as they waited for Maria to come out of the room. It was nearly an hour that they had heard nothing until the door swung open Maria stepped out. They both looked at her in concern and then Maria stepped out to the side for them to see Crystal standing in the doorway. They both smiled like a Cheshire cat and ran towards Crystal to give her a great, big and warm hug. Maria walked over to the bar and poured herself a drink. She looked over to Chris and he mouthed the words, 'Thank you.' Maria raised her glass and drank it all in one go. All three of them sat together and talked about what had happened while she was under the spell. After a while of them talking, Crystal and Arthur went to tell the other vampires what happened and that they were going to help Maria get the alphas back. Chris sat next to Maria and said, "Thank you for doing that. Luke (the boy Maria loved) would be proud of you." "I hope your right. Now you've talked to your mother, you need to go back to the pack house." Chris looked confused and asked, "Why? What do you need that we don't already have?" "In the room I was staying in, there is a bag of grenades. It's not your usual grenades so you need to be careful when getting them. Once you have them, make sure you aren't followed and follow the white roses. You will eventually find us." Chris nodded his head and chuckled, "Only you would have a bag of grenades in your room and would want to leave a trail of white roses." A smirk spread on Maria's face and they both stood up. Chris hugged Maria and kissed the top of her forehead and ordered, "Stay safe. I'll see you soon." Maria nodded and carried on drinking at the bar. Chris made his way outside to see some of the vampires smiling with joy at Crystal being awake. "I have to leave now, but I'll see you on our way to get the alphas back." Arthur nodded and Chris walked away. Before he was out of site, he shouted, "By the way," everyone turned to face him, "If any of you touch Maria, then I'll kill you myself in the most painfulness way possible." Chris carried on walking, leaving fear in some vampire's eyes.
After a while, Chris arrived back at the pack house. As he was walking back inside, he could hear voices being raised and shouting. He entered a room to see Freya shouting at Enzo. "What is going on here?" Everyone looked at Chris with shock written all over their faces. Freya ran up to Chris for a hug, but he moved out of her arms and stared at her with anger. "Where have you been? We've been trying to track you and Maria down. Is Maria with you?" questioned Enzo. Chris shook his head and responded, "She had to stay behind for business. Anyway, I can't be staying for long. I have places to be." "What do you mean she is staying behind for business? Where is she?" asked Freya as her voice began to shake. Chris took a deep breath and said, "She is with my family and you'll soon see what I mean by business." Everyone looked around at each other in confusion and Freya asked, "Can I have a moment with Chris alone, please?" They all looked at each other before leaving the room. Chris turned around and asked, "What do you want?" "Why are you being like this? Is it because of Maria? Are you still defending her after everything?" "Yes I am. I will defend Maria no matter what she does because she is my family and I know what she is going through." Freya narrowed her eyes and raised her voice. "What do you mean you know what she is going through? The only thing she is doing is ruining this pack's life. Before she came, they still had their alpha and they still had Sara." "Their alpha would have been taken anyway. Maria gave them a warning. It's not out fault they didn't listen to it." They both took a deep breath and looked away, but Chris couldn't contain himself anymore. "Maria is feeling all alone and like the whole world is against her. The only thing she has left is the darkness that is going to consume her. No matter what she has been through, she's still just a girl, but after one bad thing, all you see is a monster." "It's not just about killing Sara. I heard what happened at the fighting pit. She killed someone for sport, Chris. How can you be okay with that?" "Because I've done worse," shouted Chris with anger glowing in his eyes, "I've killed people for blood. I felt lost and like I was alone, just like Maria. That's when I saw her crying beside her packs burnt bodies. She gave me another reason to live and to keep fighting. If you think she's a monster then you clearly don't know the real me, because she does what needs to be done while I'll do whatever I want when angry." Freya looked at Chris in horror at what he just said. "You're not the man I fell in love with." Freya blurted out. Chris looked at Freya and said, "This was never going to work." Leaving Freya in tears, Chris walked out of the room and into Maria's. He could only see red and everything made him angry. He wanted to lose control and hurt everything and everyone, but he knew he couldn't. He kept thinking back to Maria and how much she needed him even if she didn't know it. Back in New York, Maria was telling the other vampires the plan to get Mark and the other alphas back. "When we get there, we will split up into three groups. Group 1 will be getting them out of the building and back to safety. Group 2 will be protecting Group 1 and making sure nothing happens to them. Group 3 will be the distraction. They will be drawing Salice's men outside and fighting them there. I will let Arthur choose who will be in what groups as he knows you best. I will be in Group 1 and Chris will be in Group 2. We will leave in 15 minutes." Everyone nodded and Maria walked back inside, leaving Arthur to sort of who is in what group. When Maria entered, Crystal was drinking blood out of a blood bag. She wiped the blood off her face and said, "It is lovely to see you again, Maria. Thank you for getting me out of that sleeping spell." "It was nothing. I wish I could stay for longer, but I must be going." Crystal nodded her head and replied, "I just want you to know that your parents would be so proud. Luke would also be proud. He really did love you." Maria nodded her head and remembered the moments they spent together. She also remembered that they were going to leave the warriors and go someplace away from everything until they figured out a plan to defeat Salice. She also remembered the look on his face when she killed him in the arena. "He still would have been here if I didn't kill him. I need to leave." Maria walked away from Crystal, ignoring everything she was saying. When Maria got outside, vampires were getting onto motorbikes and some were getting into cars. "Let's go to war."
Chris was just about to leave when he saw Enzo staring out into the sky. He walked over and asked, "What's on your mind?" Enzo looked to Chris and said, "I have a feeling something terrible is going to happen and there is nothing I can do to stop it." "I have that feeling too, but I just have faith. Have faith in yourself and the people around you." "How is Maria? I need her by my side. I don't know what to do without her being here to help. I feel like I am letting my people down and Maria always knew how to help." Asked Enzo. Chris chuckled and looked at him. His eyes showed he was being serious and Chris replied, "She is doing fine. She just needs our help because the darkness is getting stronger and is taking over her magic. With us by her side, she will be fine. It sounds like you like her too." Enzo didn't say anything. He just thought about the possibility that Chris might be right. What if he did like Maria? Chris figured out what he was thinking and said, "It seems like you have a lot to think about, but if you do like Maria, then you are going to have to work for her. I need to be going and you need to prepare the pack house for the other witches, wolves and vampires coming. When we come back, we will be bringing a gift." Enzo was confused by what he meant as a gift, but let him leave without any drama being caused. Chris was halfway through the forest when a trail of white roses appeared. It was Maria telling him where to go. A smile spread across his face and he followed them in vampire speed. After a hour or two, Chris came to a stop when the white roses disappeared and he could hear Maria shouting his name from behind him. Turning around, he could see her bright blue eyes glowing up at the sight of him. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered, "No one hurt you?" She shook her head and smiled at him. He kissed her forehead and she asked, "What happened with you and Freya?" Chris looked away and shook his head saying it wasn't meant to be. Maria looked down at the floor and held his hand, "You still got me and you still got them." Chris smiled and Maria turned away as her cheeks went red. "Stop it. We need to keep moving." Chris chuckled and followed after Maria.
Back at the Red Moon pack house, Enzo gathered his pack and began to speak about what was going to happen, "People from the Emerald coven, the warriors and the Silver Moon pack will be joining us either tomorrow or the next day. There may even be vampires, but that is not justified yet. We must make sure we stay strong and do not fall for any tricks they play on us. We all need to get along and if you fail to do this then you will be dealt with by me. Do youunderstand?" Everyone nodded and raised their hand into the air. "Once they arrive, we will get my father back home and destroy Salice once and for all. I cannot promise that you will all survive, but I can tell you that lots of you will.I will bring you more news by tomorrow." Everyone left and Enzo went straight back inside, refusing to talk to anyone. His mind wasn't in the right state and he didn't know what to do. Riley had walked over to Maria's cave and began to think of all the things she had done for her. She had helped her out so many times and then Riley called her a monster. Riley didn't know what to do, but a voice broke her thoughts, "Thinking of Maria, aren't you?" Riley spun around.It was Freya. Riley nodded and wondered why Freya was here. "I don't know what Chris sees in Maria or why he thinks she can be saved. All I see is a monster and I'm sure you can understand that." Riley didn't want to admit it, but she felt she could trust Freya for some strange reason. "After what she did to Sara, I just can't see her same." "I get that. That's why I need your help. If Chris thinks she can be saved then we need to try and find out why.After all, she has helped us in some many ways. Will you help me?" Riley didn't know what to say or why she wanted her to help, but she liked the feeling ofbeing needed. "I'll help, but what do you need me to help with." "I need you to help me figure out what Maria is feeling so we can stop her from becoming Salice."