Chapter-17

-Previously in DiR-

He got up from the bed with his pale face looking paler.

"I wasn't here to bicker." His jaw moved.

"You started it." I said. I wanted to kill him so badly. "You were the first to kiss me."

"You did." He said. "You wanted to kiss me."

"Huh! AS IF!" I sneered.

"Stop the blame game and face it, Karen. You have feelings for me." He said.

"Yeah, I do." I fluttered my eyelashes. "I have ill feelings for you. Your face makes me want to puke."

He chuckled.

"You'll have to admit someday." He said before disappearing.

"That day will never come, Victor." I said to the thin air because I knew he could still hear me somewhere.

***

"To jealousy, nothing is more frightful than laughter."—Francoise Sagan

Chapter-17

-Nate-

The life I was living in this mansion was the life not better than Karen's. I was too a prisoner in my own home.

After waking up from the slumber, the world had changed around me. What had not changed was my thirst for blood and my brother, Victor's attitude towards me. He was the same old Victor who provoked me to kill him. He could do anything to irritate me.

I had seen him travelling through the portals. I never did though. I also wanted to see the other dimension. Was it same as ours was? I wanted to know the people in other world. The whole new world was so tempting. But as the witches suggested, I was too weak to travel and survive in other dimension. The vampires needed a locket to have protection from the sunlight made from unknown magic. The witches were preparing one for me. How long it was going to take was the real question. As soon as I would get the locket, I was planning to travel and show Victor that I was not weak.

I had seen the green stoned locket in Victor's neck many times. He used to boast about it. He was stronger than me because the blood he drank was usually from the vein of a human, whereas I was still trying to live on animal blood.

I wanted a locket like him. It could be a new experience. Meeting new people, seeing new places and feeling the sun on your skin. I would be free.

I smiled.

I was walking down the hallway when I heard noises of Victor and Karen fighting with each other. I had told him not to intrude in her life anymore. But there he was again, to deny my orders and to cause problems for Karen.

As I reached the room, what I saw was totally opposite of fighting.

They were kissing.

Yes, they were kissing. Something grumbled in my stomach. Jealousy. Frozen, I couldn't move from the spot. I wanted to tear everything apart. Maybe kill my own brother. Why? Why was I having so many violent thoughts? She meant nothing to me.

She is just a friend. She is just a friend. I told myself again and again.

I ran from there. Like a coward. I couldn't face the truth. Karen liked Victor. How could she? After knowing everything about him, how could she even stand him?

I went to my room and looked out of my window. The sun was shining, having no effect on the guards of the mansion. It seemed so artificial from distance. The last time I went in son, it had burnt me.

"Nathaniel," The soft voice came.

"Mother," I turned and bent down to welcome her.

She had returned from traveling around the realm, meeting new vampires and old one to give them a hand in understanding what this life of monster meant. She also went to see the oldest vampire, who had the powers to peep into the future.

She was now standing in front of me, as beautiful as ever. There was no sign of tiredness on her face. She was glowing. She seemed to be happy for some reason.

"You look content." I stated.

"I am. The vampires still have the strength and determination to fight the enemy." She gleamed. "They are not giving up and many of them are raising their new vampires to join the army. They want to see you. You've not made any public appearances lately."

I gave her a sad smile at her words.

"Are you feeling alright, my son?" She asked looking at me suspiciously.

"I'm fine. I'm tired of being in this mansion for so long. I want to go out of here and take a look at the outside world." I said, taking my thoughts away from Karen and Victor. "Can I go?"

"Why are you asking permission?" She said. "You can decide what to do and what not to."

I looked at her in surprise. The tone of her voice made me think for a while. Did she mean it in another way? Why did say something like that?

"You're a warrior, son. Like your father, you have to achieve great heights. You've to conquer the land of the cursed." She said. "You can't be weak from love of a human. She is nothing but a feeding source."

She knew. Yes, she read my mind. She knew what I had seen and how I was feeling about it.

My father was a warrior. He had died for our future. He had his faith in me and he wished me to become someone who was fearless and strong. I had to prove myself to him and mother.

I nodded.

"I promise not to stumble on my path." I said.

I closed my eyes regarding the strength of the promise made to my own mother. It meant too much for me. I had to keep the promise till my death.

"I hope so," She whispered in my head.

Mother disappeared after I promised.

I had chosen my path. And it was nothing but the path of destruction. The war was coming and there was no way to end it without finishing the other supernatural beings. I had to focus on that only. I couldn't let myself weaken over a girl so human. She was overwhelmed by her emotions. She had no idea whom she was considering her hero was a monster.

***

"I want some new books." Karen said when I didn't answer her 'hi'.

I pretended not to hear her in the balcony. I was watching the flying birds.

"Nate," She tried again.

Apparently, the birds were more intriguing.

"Are you even listening?" She asked, coming to stand beside me.

Her blood made me sniff in the air. She smelled so delicious. I licked my lips, moistening them and keeping my fangs out of the way. She would be afraid if she saw them. But then, I wanted her to stay away so that I could focus on my mission.

"Why are you behaving like this?"

"Why don't you go and ask Victor to bring you books?" I said angrily, without looking at her. "He is the one who can travel, not me."

-Karen-

"I thought everything between us was sorted, Nate."

"Don't call me that." He snapped at me.

First, Victor was behaving weird around me. I was disturbed by the kiss and secondly, his brother was behaving rudely to me. I wanted to talk to him and he was here in the balcony, replying like he hated me. What was the matter?

"I've always called you that." I said, hurt by his words. "What's the problem?"

"Oh, ask your lover." He turned and his green eyes stared in mine. There was hurt screaming.

"Lover?"

Oh my God! Did he see us...?

"Nate, can you be clearer?" I asked, taking a step back.

He took a step towards me. His fangs shining in the light pouring. His eyes fixed on me, made me scared. He was very angry and I knew this from the way he looked at me. Please don't let him kill me.

"Yes, Victor. You lover." He spit the word lover. "Do I have to remind his name to you?"

"He isn't my love, Nate. I don't even like him. He kissed me forcefully. He compelled me into kissing him and somehow I couldn't stop from doing that."

Why was I explaining this to him? Why did I want him to believe me so badly? Why was he looking so furious to know the truth?

Was he angry because he thought I kissed Victor?

The questions in my head made me have a headache. Nate's eyes were still fixed on me. I felt exposed. I wasn't lying. I didn't like Victor. He was arrogant and had no love for anyone. He was the reason Nate was going through this hell. He was the reason he had lost his love. I hated Victor. And this time I wasn't lying.

Realisation took over me.

"Why are you so angry?" I asked when Nate didn't say anything.

Like something snapped in him, the tension on his face was suddenly gone. It all disappeared, replacing with nothing but an emotionless expression.

"I'm not angry." He simply answered. "I want some time alone."

He was going away but I caught his arm, pulling him. He stopped and looked at me.

"You're behaving as if...as if you like me." I said hesitantly.

"Stop dreaming, Karen." He sneered looking at the sky.

"Why are you looking away?" I asked. "Are you lying to me?"

I saw him taking a long breath and then he turned to me. His fangs were out and he was in full attacking mode. The veins on his neck were visible and his fists were clenched at his sides. There was anger shinning on his handsome features. He had deadly handsome features in anger. I definitely had said something that made him switch over to his bad side.

What would you do if you had provoked a very calm vampire to be angry at you? We all know that the most calm and composed people are the most dangerous when they are angry. And in case of a vampire, trust me I'm correct.

Let me guess, you would have ran away screaming 'help'. No? Would you kick him? Duh, that's not something that can stop the vampire from snapping your neck.

Before I could think and react, strong arms came around my waist dragging me away from Nate. I couldn't breathe for a while. It was too scary. I was at least five steps away from Nate now. He was growling and I saw his eyes widening.

"You're always causing problem, sweetheart." A voice whispered in my ear.

Of course, the strong arms belonged to none other than Victor.

He shifted his position and stood in front of me.

"Stop you monster. Don't hurt my girl." He chuckled.

"I didn't want to. But keep her away from me." Nate said. "That way she will stay alive."

I was surprised how the situation had changed in some days. When I had come here, Victor was the one who wanted to hurt me and Nate was there to save me. But now it had went 180 degrees around. Now, Nate wanted to kill me and Victor was trying to save me from him. Something was...off.

"I'm not going away from you, Nate." I walked in front of Victor. I didn't want him to be my shield. "You're possibly not thinking right."

"Yeah, maybe he is having some allergic reaction to some herb." Victor said, taking my hand in his. "Can't you stay at the back?"

Nate didn't say anything. He kept staring at our intertwined hands. There was hurt and despair in his eyes. He wanted to talk to me but he was always pushing me away. I needed to know his problem. Whatever he was thinking was wrong and my relationship with Victor was not more than of an enemy.

"Leave me, Victor." I said. "I don't want you to come between us."

"I'm sure you want to tell this to Nathan." I swear I heard him smirk again. "He shouldn't try to gain your attention this way. The fangs and all, pretty scary."

He let go off my hand and moved close to Nate before I could blink my eyes.

"You hurt her and I kill you." He warned Nate and disappeared.

"I need to talk to you." I said to Nate.

He nodded.

"I need to know why you are so...sad and angry." I said.

"I don't know." He told me. "I just am confused about things. I try to control it but it pushes its way through to the surface. Is it okay that what I feel for you is not because you have become my donor?"'

I let out a short laugh. He was just that cute. He had always been cute to me. Even when he was angry I could get the feeling that he was pretending to scare me. Underneath the skin of the wolf, he was a sheep. A very lovable sheep.

"Nate..."

"No listen to me." He shushed me. "I'm sorry. It's your choice whom you like. I'm no one to make these decisions for you."

"I don't know what to say, Nate." I said. "I really like you. But love is something that takes time to develop. You know that I can't stay here forever. I had a life outside and I hate you for stealing that from me. All of you have been trying to make me feel home here, but this is not my home. I want to get out of here. To my family. I miss them. I can't spend my whole life rewinding my mind to see the memories of them. It is not working."

He nodded, understanding every word I said. The sadness on his face had grown.

"I know you miss them." He said. "And I'm going to do something about it."

A/N Heeeeeeeeeeeyyy!!! 6k! Wow! I never thought I would ever cross this number :'(

I know the action is lacking and the love triangle is forming (That's what I had for TVD fans and Twihards, right?) but you'll not have to wait for so long as I'll get back to the real storyline in next chapter. Trust me, the action is coming up soon.

DiR had reached #99 previous week! I know, I know it's not a great number but let's just say, I'm impressed.

I'm hoping to break the #99 record this week or next or next to next week or any week. Lol. XD keep on reading and adding this book into your library.

Thank you all for the support.

-M_m