Blood of The Beast: Revelations

The World's Greatest Father is a Monster

Linkin Park- Given Up

Astra: 

    Mornings are always the roughest. I don't like being out during the day. While I'm immune to the sun's burn as a vampire, I don't exactly crave to be in it. My dad isn't particularly fond of it either. The dark shades resting on his face and the bothered frown on his face is more than enough proof. 

    "Good morning, baby," he greeted me. I pushed my matching glasses up the bridge of my nose and scoffed. 

    "What's good about it?" I asked lifting my head to look up at him. His frown turned into a half-smirk. 

    "I don't like being out here this early either, but we have something to do," he shrugged. "We'll be in the care until late afternoon," 

    The day started a little too early but no different from other days. Sitting in the back of the armored Suburban is more for my sake than his or anyone else's. Mom is going overboard and I honestly can't bring myself to protest. I don't feel safe. There's a part of me that feels like someone is watching and with the way he's always looking around, I know my dad feels it too. 

    "Mom starts Naloc's training today," I tried to make small talk. He looked over at me and nodded. "I heard grandpa yelling earlier," 

    "He doesn't agree with training either of you," he nodded. 

    "I've read the history. Sounds to me like it's mostly guilt he feels," I stated. 

    "Your mother was the first of her kind. Reincarnation is difficult enough done properly. Which was not your mother's case. It will be easier for Naloc. Your mother knows what's she's doing. Grandpa just doesn't what a repeat of what happened to her," 

    "Why-" I paused to look out the window. "Why is Naloc more like mother than I am?" 

    "Naloc is the heir to the beast," he answered sincerely. It's not a proud context nor is it a praise. I think he feels bad for my brother. "He's the next Rogue King and while we've tried to keep him settled, one day he will rage on his own just like your mother did. As an Alpha Male of his nature, his needs as a wolf are as potent as hers. You ask because of your thirst?" 

    "Yeah," I nodded swallowing the hollow ache in my throat. I've already eaten a heavy breakfast and had my fair share of blood packs but it's not enough. It's rarely enough. 

    "It's easy to idolize your mother when she's doing great things day in and day out. But comparing yourself to her is ridiculous. She may be like us but first and foremost, she is what they are," he motioned the wolves running outside of the car. "They understand what we are to an extent. Their appetites are much different from ours because they survive on their instincts. 

    "We survive on our will. Take too much and we are targeted for taking what doesn't really belong to us. Take too little and our will weakens as our bodies demand more of what we will always crave. We have to find a balance. Something to keep us centered. It will take a long time to get there. It wasn't until I found your mother that I had a reason to hold back," 

    "I know. I've read her articles. The Existence of a Warrior Through the Centuries. I've never seen a fangirl more obsessed," 

    "Cheeky," he chuckled tipping my chin with his knuckles. 

    Vampirism is the worst kind of being in existence. There are groups and politicians that gather to debate whether we should all be killed or banished from certain areas of what they call their world. Many of us have been massacred in the pretext of fear. Fear that drives humans to do the ugliest things. Things that are sick even to us who feast on what they are. 

    I love my father. He's always been by my side and he's always tried to make things better, but I wanted to be more like her. I wanted to walk in the light that fills the room when she walks in. Both of them. Both my mom and my brother. A part of me has always known that it's too much to ask for. I just didn't want to be the thing they feared to the point where they'd want to take my life so that they can make themselves feel better. 

    "Sir, we're approaching the compound," the driver informed my dad as the car began to slow. 

    "Astra, I'd like for you to take the high ground. Eighty-six clicks. Five. One hundred and twenty-two clicks. Five. Ninty-four clicks. Five," he instructed. 

    I opened the car window and jumped up into the trees above us. I can smell them. Lycans have a particular scent to them. It's something closer to a rogue than a pack wolf. Rogues have a certain smell as well. I can only describe it as burning sugar. It's sweet, inviting at times, but intimidating in bulk. Lycans, the smell is like burning firewood. Harmless at first, but dangerous when their kind spread out like wildfire. There's one scent in particular. It's itching in the back of my throat. It stands out from the rest of the smells in the area. I can feel the beast in me stirring. My hunger is flaring. It's rare when both my hunger and wolf are as present as they are now.

    The truck came to a stop. I looked at my watch to see I have twenty-seconds to move to my next location. I watched as my father got out of the car. I crouched to push off the branch I'm standing on to move to my next location. I can see them from this position. I have a clear view of my dad and the lycans. 

    "You're a long way from home, vampire prince," the voice startled the wolf in me. I shivered at the sound of it. There's no way this is what I think it is. 

    "Not here to fight, kid. Just passing on a message," my dad greeted him politely. 

    This is the guy that's challenging my mom for the title of Rogue King? It's laughable. Sure, he has potential. There's room for growth but I can feel the wolf inside of him. It comes close to nothing compared to the power of my mother's battle wolf. She was created for the sole purpose of war and this guy thinks he can take her? Ha!

    "What's the message?" the guy laughed. 

    I move to the last location. I'm close to them. He's the source of the scent I'm picking up-on. I easily fought the beast in me back as the confirmation of what's happening made itself all too clear. This is going to be the kind of hell that might make a cute little history book for generations to come. He's not going to like it any more than I do now. 

    "Rethink your position, kid. You have an amazing start in this life, but it's not all glory. Take your pack and settle for what you have. You're scratching on the wrong door," my dad gave his message and handed the lycan my mother's letter. "This is the only chance to back out she's going to give you. I've seen what she's capable of and I can tell you that there are rarely any survivors," 

    "Isn't she your mate? You talk so low about her," he scoffed. Prick. 

    "On the contrary, kid. I love watching her rage. You misunderstand my position. I'd kill all of you right now if I had my way. The new generation doesn't have the stomach for the kind of war we solicit. One of ours is equivalent to about forty of you and that's just a little one," my dad winked at him. 

    I jumped down gripping the lycan that tried to go for my dad from behind. In an instant, our guards surrounded us. The Lycan's eyes met mine for a second. My assumption is completely confirmed now. Does he feel it? Will he acknowledge it? 

    "Run," I whispered into the man's ear without taking my eyes off the leader. I pushed him towards his boss and stood up straight. 

    Another rushed from behind him. My dad held his arm out stopping the rest of us from keeping the lycan away. The girl half shifted into her beast as her body clashed with my father's and she bit him. I gasped taking a step towards them. My dad gripped the girl's hair and pulled her off of him like it was nothing. She opened her mouth wider than normal and snapped her teeth at him a couple of times. My dad covered her mouth with his hand and looked the Lycan right in his eyes. 

    "I warned you, kid," my dad growled. 

    The Lycan's eyes turned pitch black as my dad squeezed digging his claws into the girl's face. She screamed in pain and tried to pull away. He ripped her jaw right off her skull and tossed it in the area between them. They're all watching my dad now completely unaware of what's about to happen. 

    "Astra," my dad turned to look at me. 

    It's not the kind of tone that's trying to stop me from doing what I am about to do. It's more along the line of him introducing me to them. Like here, this is one of the little ones. She'll show you exactly what I mean. There's no going back. I have no control now. The blood, the scent of it has penetrated every instinct in my body and all there is left is hunger. I crouched preparing to spring at anyone who moved. 

    "What's wrong with her?" the lycan asked. 

    "This is just a little one," my dad whispered. 

    The first to move was the lycan I had stopped earlier. I moved without realizing it. A growl ripped out of my chest as I pounced on him and ripped into his neck. The sweet relief of fresh blood hits differently than the blood packs will ever. The rest of them began to scatter. The movements are triggering something deep inside of me. Something I've never felt before. I can hear the lycan telling my dad to stop me, but there's nothing he can do. I've given in and there's no stopping now. 

Alastair: 

    The first time I gave in to the hunger, I killed until I was full and then I killed until the frenzy was sedated. Agathos has taken me to a battlefield in the middle of a fight and I rampaged killing not just one side, but all of them. I slept like a baby that night. 

    It never occurred to me that either of them would be like me. Scylla's power is dominant to mine in terms of genetics. So we both assumed they would be like her. Astra's vampiric side is dominant. Superior to the wolf part of her. With Naloc training, Astra must learn what she is and there's only one way to show her. We can explain and show her all we want but the truth can only be revealed through experience. 

    Her power is otherworldly. Stronger than mine. Stronger than Brandon's. The boy has no idea what I've just unleashed on him and if she kills him, there's no one to challenge Scylla anymore. The problem takes care of itself. 

    "Stop her," he shouted as Astra easily cut through his friends 

    "I can't" I shrugged covering the bite mark on my forearm. "Even if I wanted to," 

    "This is what you are?" he asked shaking his head. "Everything they say about your kind is true," 

    "Yeah," I nodded. "And it's barely scratching the surface," 

    "Monster," I reached for him gripping his wrist. I dug my fingers into his skin drawing blood. 

    The kid didn't hesitate to transform. As strange as it sounds, the kid gives me chills. The roar he let out shook the ground we stand on. I smiled letting him go impressed with his strength. He pulled away just briefly to catch momentum. He charged at me as I licked his blood off my hands. Now, anyone with a blood relation to him will be easy to spot. He didn't make it to me. Astra pulled him away tossing him over her head like it was nothing to her. 

    "Astra," I called her name. Her eyes are glowing red with hunger and the only ones left are the guards. "Astra, honey. It's dad," I put my hands up in front of me to try and catch her attention. If he bites me, she'll just sleep. "Astra?" 

    I almost had her. Like her mother, she's fast. The sound of our wolves crying out for help is a misfortune. Not a single one of them survived. I sighed going over to the truck to wait for her to calm down. In the distance, a loud pain-filled howl made her stop. I turned to look at her to see that she's frozen in place. 

    "Oh, no," I cooed as red in her eyes gave away into the darkness. 

    The beast in her responded to the pain the boy had just displayed. The howl that came from her shattered the glass on the passenger side of the truck. I pulled the whistle Scylla had given me from the inside of my jacket and blew into it. The wolf in her instantly released Astra. I rushed over to her to keep her from hitting her head as she fell.

    "Daddy?" her soft baby blue eyes looked up at me with fear in them. 

    "Hi, princess," I whispered holding her to me. She looked around to see what she had done. Her eyes filled with tears and she shook her head. 

    "I couldn't stop," she cried. "I couldn't stop," 

    "I know, honey," I pulled her closer to me. "I know," 

    "What's wrong with me?" she shook her head. 

    I've never been good with words, that's Scylla's thing. She loves the sound of her own voice and always knows exactly what to say. All I can do is sit here with her as she makes sense of what she is. What she's capable of. I didn't understand why Scylla refused to train Naloc from an early age until now. There's an ache in my chest that had been reserved for my beloved mate. To hurt for someone who is in pain is a different kind of suffering. A very different kind of destruction. 

    "Why don't you wait in the car while I clean this up?" I asked. She looked up at me completely distraught. 

    "I'll help," she shook her head. "Just tell me what to do," 

    Pride is an even worse pain. Astra doesn't know this yet, but she's going to love what she is. What she is yet to become. I'm not worried about the path she will walk because like the rest of us, there is a fighter inside of her. If that boy really does belong to her, she needs to learn that she isn't going to need him to feel complete. That boy has hatred tainting his soul because of what we are. Because of what happened to him, and Astra. There isn't a single hateful bone in her body. Just like Scylla. She's going to do what she believes is the right thing even if the boy doesn't want anything to do with her.

    "We have to burn all the remains," I nodded as I helped her to her feet. 

    "Okay," she sighed. "Step back," 

    I did as she asked. Astra shut her eyes and reached up for the sky. A storm cloud gathered in the already dark sky above us and thunder began to crackle. She growled when the lightning flashed. When she opened her eyes again, they're glowing white. The lightning flashed again before three bolts came down as if she were pulling them in with her hands. She redirected the lightning in smaller bolts setting what remains of the bodies on fire. The bodies were turned into ashes in seconds. 

    "I forget," I whispered mostly to myself. 

    "Is that all?" she asked taking the flames back into her.

    "That's all," I confirmed. She got into the car and didn't say a word as we drove back home. Odin has grandkids and they can channel his power.