Natalia

Chapter 21 - De Clare Family

Eloise De Clare, the oldest pureblood vampire in the De Clare family, most respected creatures in the De Clare Manor and known as the most beautiful vampire ever lived. After she came home from Videric's castle, she has a lot of thoughts in her mind. 

From the weird atmosphere she felt in the palace, to the mysterious glare she received from a mere newborn, Eloise was intrigued to know more about her. She heard stories about that newborn. But she never dreamt of meeting her in person. 

"I wonder..." Eloise breathed out. She struts towards her throne in the vast throne room that was decorated with gold and diamonds. She sat on her throne and crossed her legs. She smiles and slightly bit her lips, letting her blood flow down to her neck. 

Using her incredibly long tongue, she licks the blood before it stains her clothes.

"How does her blood taste like? It must be deliciously sweet,” Eloise sigh.

"She's special. Truly special. I can sense it," Eloise opens the doors with a flick of her finger and watch as her children walk in. 

They both bow down to their mother before they both facing up with troubling looks.

"What is it, Antoinette..." Eloise turns to her son.

"Roman?" Her son looks down at his feet. Eloise stands up and hugged her kids as tight as she could.

"What did she do this time?" Eloise questioned. She heard her daughter soft sob and feels how her son would tighten the grip on her shoulder.

"Did she feed on you?" Eloise asked. They shake their heads.

"She wants to kill us. She wants father's blood. She wants to kill you to mother," Roman blurted out.

"Oh, my poor child. My sweet, sweet child.." Eloise coos and kissed her children's forehead. 

"I promise I won't let her do that to you. I will protect you both till the end of my life," Eloise can’t bear to see her children cry like so. Antoinette looks up to her mother with her eyes soaked in her tears.

"Why did you let her stayed here! She's been killing innocent humans and servants that we have. Why?" Eloise takes a deep breath. 

"Like it or not, she's still a De Clare. She's your aunt. I will deal with her soon. I promise. For now, I stayed in my quarters for the time being. She may be my sister, but she can't easily enter my room. She needs permission to do so. I am still her master," Eloise pulls away from her children with a smile. 

She wipes their tears away and caresses their cheek.

"Despite everything, get yourself ready for the ball. I'm going to introduce you to someone who will make a difference in our manor. Also, you're the children of Eloise and Lawrence De Clare. Be proud of yourself," Eloise smile and watches her children go. 

Once the door closes behind them, Eloise snaps her finger.

"Emery, do you know where Zariah is?" Emery, the dashing vampire appear in front of his master and bow down.

"The flower garden, my lady," Eloise made her way to the door and motion for Emery to follow her. 

Meanwhile, Zariah De Clare was enjoying her night as she admires the flower in the garden. She is known to be the most dangerous yet beautiful vampire after her sister. She is famously known as the golden child for her golden hair. Despite her pure and innocent look, she's far way too evil to be considered as the once innocent child ever again. 

She had committed too many treasons against the Akeldama and her own sister's family, her flesh and blood. Jealousy got the best of her on that dreadful night, a night that was supposed to be filled with joy and happiness, turned to a bloodbath. 

A night where Eloise and her husband, Lawrence supposed to celebrate their twins' birthday, turned to a celebration for welcoming death. Zariah, killed her flesh and blood, brother, Lawrence. She killed her own sister's husband and the father of her sister's children. 

Eloise never felt so much hatred towards a creature. When she arrived at the garden, Zariah was sniffing on the Black Magic Iris.

"Stop threatening my children. Have you no sense of loving towards your niece and nephew?!" Eloise thundered. 

Zariah turns to her sister with a smirk.

"Oh, Eloise. You just came back. Join me on this wonderful night of strolling around our vast garden," Zariah answered but something caught her interest. She leans into her sister and started to sniffed like crazy.

"Oh my... what a scent. It's all over you.." 

Zariah moves to Eloise back and wraps her arms around her sister's neck. Emery was getting himself ready but Eloise forbid him to do anything, for now.

"Did you devoured her yourself? You naughty, naughty bat!" Zariah whispered.

"Did you get yourself a little nibble for the newborn's flesh as well, Eloise De Clare?" Eloise grabs her sister by the hair and threw her across the garden. The impact that Zariah made destroyed some of the rarest flowers in the world.

"You will not talk to me, the mistress of the De Clare family rudely. Know your boundaries, Zariah. You may be my flesh and blood, but I’m far more superior," Zariah got to her knees and let out a burst of horrific laughter that made even the bravest warrior got to its knee. That's the magnificent power of a pureblood.

"Oh sister, you should consider being more fun," Eloise rubs her shoulder.

"I had enough of your insolent," Eloise walk towards Zariah with her hands flickered with electric's bolts.

"You scared my children. You invaded their dreams. You make them fear their shadows! You cause me a lot of trouble and not to mention you killed my husband, our brother!" Eloise thundered and let the bolts injured her sister. 

"This is just a warning, Zariah. Next time, I will not hesitate to kill you, as you did to Lawrence!" Eloise leaves her sister alone in the garden. Zariah cover her eyes with her arms and lay on the soil. Her tears made the flowers that used to bloom perfectly, withered from its glory. 

"You're just a pawn in my game, Eloise. One day, I will be the one who sits on the De Clare throne. Not you," Zariah promised herself.

***

"King Videric, Queen Olympia and Natalia," Videric said to the guard. The guard could sense a human presence but he controlled himself when Natalia grip on her sword handle.

"Of course. Please enter. But your weapon must stay here," Natalia shakes her head. 

"My weapon stays with me," Videric noticed Natalia was being hostile.

"I'm sure Lady De Clare wouldn't mind," Videric used his power of hypnotism to controlled the guard's mind.

"Of course, my king. I'm sorry," Videric smile and lead his wife to the ballroom. Ambrose once again fascinated with all the beautiful creatures that attended the ball. 

Some of them dance, some talking to each other animatedly, some even being anti-social. But when queen Olympia walks in, Natalia notices their blazing orbs landed on the king's wife. Natalia's hand never left the sword's handle at all.

"Lady Antoinette, Lord Roman, its good to see you both again," Both of the raven hair twins turn around and surprised to see the king. 

They both offer their hands to the king and Queen.

"It's nice to see you too, Videric. We're sorry to miss your wedding. We're not in a good shape," Videric kissed Antoinette's hand and looks up.

"It's fine. This is my dear wife, Olympia," Every single vampire gasps when the human queen kissed Roman's hand. Roman smile.

"Such honor to finally meet the bride. And who are you?" Roman asked about Natalia.

"Oh. I'm sorry. This is Natalia. My servant," Natalia bow down to the twins.

"Your scent. it's familiar.." Natalia was confused by the claim.

"Seems like I can't see Queen Thana and Essence anywhere," Videric changed the subject. 

"Oh, they are here," Zariah made herself known and Natalia watched as every single vampire moved further away from the golden-haired woman. Zariah walks up to the king and his wife.

"You never change, Videric. Always the one with the madness going on," Videric laughs. 

"And you, you never change from being the evil one, Zariah," Natalia's eyes widen when she heard her next victim's name. Natalia held a tight grip on the sword handle. She was thinking about how can she killed such alluring being like Zariah. Zariah noticed a pair of eyes staring at her. 

She sniffs the air for she senses something interesting.

"You must be the newborn," Videric nod.

"Yes, my lady. She's the one. My creation," Zariah made her ways towards Natalia and walks around her. She stops behind the newborn and sniffs her neck. 

"What an alluring smell..." Zariah's hands were on Natalia's neck, feeling the blood flow on the newborn's veins.

"Oh my.. the veins that visible upon my sight is such a wonderful view for a vampire," Natalia can feel Zariah breathing on her neck.

"Zariah, don't be rude to our guest," The melodious voice once again made Natalia weak on her knees. 

Zariah manages to capture the newborn before she falls on the floor.

"There, there... it's just the lady of De Clare," Zariah helps Natalia up and was surprised to see how well equipped the newborn body is with weapons. "

You truly are a servant," Zariah whisper and went to her sister's side.

"I'm sorry for her rudeness. She can be quite a handful,"

Everyone heard the waltz music playing. Videric smiles and offered his wife his hand and lead her to the middle of the ballroom. Roman offers his mother his hand and he too leads her to the dance floor. Natalia was not ready when she feels her hands being snatched and being lead to the dance floor.

She was shocked to see its Zariah De Clare. Once again, the whole ballroom gasps. They were whispering about how such a creature could capture Zariah’s attention. Even though Zariah is evil, they still want to be part of the dance. It's not every day they get to see the De Clare sister dance on the same dance floor. Natalia never knew she could dance perfectly. She never even dance in her whole life especially the waltz.  

It was when Eloise cut in that Natalia feels her knees began to shake again. Eloise chuckle and lead the dance perfectly.

"Oh come on. I'm just a being who can easily control your mind," Eloise watched as her sister threw a tantrum behind the newborn.

"Hey! You took my partner!" She yells in the middle of the dance, gathering everyone's attention to what is happening.

Eloise twirls Natalia towards her kids and faces her sister.

"You want to dance as well, sister?" Eloise grabs Zariah by the hand and waltzing around the dance floor, showing everyone how perfect the De Clare sisters are. They have a beauty beyond compare and mysterious aura that made everyone wonders about them. 

It was when Eloise dipped her sister, she smiled.

"Oh, Zariah. You have a gorgeous figure. But you have no sense of remorse for anything. I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry I failed to be a good older sister," Eloise looks up to Videric and nods. Videric sighs and pulled his wife closer. 

Videric turns to Natalia and gives out his signal. Natalia looks down at her trembling hands and wondered if she can do it. Natalia nods back nevertheless and watches the king lead his wife somewhere else. Her grip on her sword handle tightened as her mind went back to the moment when Geva explained to her about Zariah's powers and strength. 

 "We can sense you're troubled. Is there something we could do?" Lady Antoinette asked the newborn. Natalia shakes her head and bow to the pureblood vampire.

"It is something only I can do and only I can deal with," Natalia excuse herself and disappeared from everyone's eyesight.

***

Natalia quickly covered herself from being seen by the De Clare staff. She takes a peek before continued to followed Zariah's scent. After she stormed out of the ballroom, Natalia tried to follow her but it's hard to move around undetected. 

The De Clare manor is filled with guards and servants. That includes Emery, the handsome vampire from before who's not afraid of anything. Natalia looks around the hallway that is decorated with gold. She wondered just how rich the De Clare family is.

Natalia tightened her grip on the sword handle before walking down the stairs that probably lead her to the dungeon. As she steps afoot at the last flight of stairs, she heard a screeching scream of a female voice and followed by a loud moan. 

It's pitch black down here, but Natalia has a good sense of direction. When she hit something that was on the floor, she was disgusted when it's a human, already dead. Natalia kneels, she feels a bit pity for the human. But when she looks up ahead, her pity turns to horror as she sees more dead bodies scattered to the very end of the hallway. 

Natalia stands up and determined to find the culprit who's been killing all of these innocent people. When she the only door that's in the dungeon, she asked for permission to enter. Suddenly the door open on its own and Natalia walks in. Zariah was surprised to see the newborn while devouring a human. 

"Zariah De Clare.." Natalia calls out. 

Zariah released the human's and let his body fall on the floor.

"I thought I smell you," Zariah gave Natalia a wide grin before wiping the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Come forward," Zariah ordered. 

When Natalia takes a step forward, the room was lit with candles and it made the newborn eyes widen. She tried so hard to look away but somehow she can't. Zariah gave Natalia a sly smile before pouring a generous amount of wine into an empty glass. She turns back to Natalia who is now kneeling on the floor. 

"What? Do you hate the decoration? It's just art, Natalia," Zariah takes a sip while enjoying the sight.

"You... made ornaments out of human organ.." Zariah laughs.

"I think the real question is why not?" Zariah places the glass on the side table and stands up. She kicks the dead human being down the stairs and walk towards Natalia.

"I know why you're here, Natalia." Zariah kneels and lifted the newborn’s chin.

"You want to kill me, am I correct?" Natalia feels like her body is shaking uncontrollably.

"That... my.... task... yes.. correct.." Zariah shows her award-winning smile and released her chin. 

"How do you expect to kill me with you sitting on the floor like this?" The pureblood asked.

"I... have no... idea.." Natalia chuckled at her situation.

"I can't... even... lifted my... sword.." Natalia laid down on the floor with a small laugh. Zariah stands up and wondered why she seems acceptive of her fate that may come. 

"Do you know what happens if you were bitten by a pureblood?" Natalia closes her eyes and shakes her head.

"No.. my lady.. but... before I decided to find you, I know I will have some trouble to continue my task. I am, afraid.." it took Zariah's interest.

"Afraid? Why is that?" Zariah walks around the newborn. 

"I heard stories about you.." Zariah hummed. 

"Stories? Awwww. I'm so famous. But did you know how suffered I am being the youngest child of this so call De Clare," Natalia slowly open her eyes and saw Zariah's crimson orbs?

"Do you know how suffered I am watching the man I love, marrying the woman I look up to," 

"Is that why you killed Lady Eloise's husband?" Zariah chuckle.

"Lawrence was our older brother. But he saw Eloise's charming feature rather than an innocent young vampire like me. He chooses Eloise," Natalia tried to get up to a sitting position. Somehow she feels that the weird power that holds her down slowly disappeared. 

Natalia grabs her sword handle and faces the pureblood. Zariah smile and used the power of her mind to control the newborn.

"When you were bitten by a pureblood, you are blessed with some of the pureblood’s power," Natalia can't move at all now that Zariah had full control of her power. 

"Which of my divine power do you want?" Zariah whispered as she tilted Natalia's head. She removes the strand of hair from blocking the newborn's neck.

"Hmmm... I can feel your blood moving through your veins. Sweet, sweet blood. Hmmm.." Zariah hummed.

"Let's make a deal. I'll make sure to be as gentle as I can. Okay?" Zariah began to lick a part of Natalia's neck for her to bite on. The last thing that Natalia remembers was her neck being devoured by Zariah.

She can't move. It was when Zariah released her venom that Natalia began to scream as loud as she can. She feels her body shutting down, she feels Zariah's is taking over her body. 

Zariah noticed how her victim's fangs protruding from her lips, telling her she's parched. The pureblood smirk. She released the newborn from her monstrous bite and watch as the newborn tried as hard as she could to stopped her body from morphing. 

Zariah's sinister laughter echoes in the empty dungeon.

Meanwhile, back at Videric castle, Geva and Katarina were in the kitchen, making dinner together.

"I'm worried about her," Katarina let go of the dishes she's doing and face Geva who's chopping some vegetables.

"I am worried as well. But she's with Videric. Everything should be fine," Katarina released her anger by punching the upper cabinet. 

"Ugh! Why does he order us to stay here while she's risking her life killing that pureblood! We should help her!" Geva calms the werewolf down.

"We should cook before they come home. That's what's important," Katarina sigh and continued to do the chores. 

"Hey, Geva. You ever came across Zariah De Clare before?" Katarina asked. Geva sighs heavily.

"Hundreds of years ago, I did. She nearly killed me. But my sisters. They save me from her fatal blow, sacrificing themselves for my sake," Katarina regrets it when it gave Geva a bad flashback. 

"I'm sorry. I shouldn’t … " Geva waves it off.

"It's so long ago. But because of her, I promised myself I should get stronger. And here I am. Well, before Valentina stripped me of my glory days," Geva chuckle. Katarina smile but something suddenly came to her mind. It made her wolf reacted as well. Geva and Katarina look at each other with horror in their eyes.

“The bond … its … gone …” Katarina stuttered as she looks at Geva who looks like she experienced the same feeling.