Fire & Pain - A Vampire's Tragedy
Chapter 25

Sophia

I barely made it back home before six, but when Pascal let me into the house, he didn’t scold me for waiting till the last minute to arrive home. He simply nodded and reminded me that dinner would be ready soon.

I took a shower, snickering to myself about how unknowing he was. That he actually thought I spent the entire day in the forest close by, instead of traveling across the city to meet with Adam. Excitement rushed through me when I imagined seeing Claire again in three days. In only a few days, I could hold her in my arms again, and never leave her out of sight again.

“Dinner is ready,” Pascal called up the stairs as I was putting on my comfy red sweatpants.

My stomach growled, reminding me I hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast. Maybe I should bring a picnic to the meeting spot next time. If we needed to meet again, anyway. My stomach sank. When I get my sister back, what will happen to Adam? Would we be able to meet again? Did we have a reason to? Did he even want to?

I rushed down the stairs, trying to push those thoughts out of my mind. I still had time to think about them when the time was coming. For now, we had to do everything in our power to fix this mess. To do things right. And I’m sure I could help Adam get out of the hands of Samuel, too.

I settled on my spot at the dining table, digging into my food like I had been starving for two days.

“How was your hike?” Pascal asked, not looking up from his plate.

“Great. The hike cleared my head and I could enjoy nature for a bit.”

He glanced up at me, one brow raised. “I see, that’s good. So, did you replace new spots, after all?”

I swallowed the half-chewed piece of meat and almost choked on it, washing it down with a big gulp of blood. “Oh, yes. There was a lot more to be seen than I had expected.”

Pascal nodded, chewing on his bite for an obnoxiously long time, before swallowing. “Carlos won’t be coming tomorrow. He’s out of town for a few days. I scheduled more training sessions with Ottfried instead.”

I wasn’t sure if I was happy about the news or not. On the one hand, I wanted to show Carlos what I had learned with Adam, but on the other, I also didn’t want to see him ever again.

“That’s no problem,” I said.

The remaining dinner time went by in usual silence. We were out of relevant topics to talk about and had no reason to argue. I was doing exactly what he wanted me to do, but sometimes I suspect that was worrying him more than my rebellious self. I hoped my behavior wasn’t hurting our plan, making me look a lot more suspicious than anything.

“Thanks for the meal. I’ll go back upstairs.”

I headed back to my room without waiting for an answer, hoping he wouldn’t come up with any funny idea to stop me from meeting Adam in a few days.

On the morning of our big plan, I woke up feeling as if I hadn’t slept at all. My stomach felt heavy, and I kept waking up bathed in sweat. Pascal left me alone the past few days, not complaining a single time, and it made me a nervous mess. What if he picked up on something, after all? What if the guard had followed me without me realizing that day? Did they know of our plan?

I took a shower to ease the pain in my joints, but it did little to calm my racing thoughts. There were no lessons today. Ottfried canceled last night. He had hurt himself during a training session with another client, and Carlos was still out of town. All the pieces fell together way too neatly. All I could wish for was that luck would be on our side.

I went downstairs to eat my breakfast and choked down the blood. I forced myself to drink it daily, and by now, it didn’t taste as horrible anymore, even when the aftertaste still made me want to throw it back up. But I felt the strength I received from it, and I started to depend on it.

After every training session with Ottfried, I took the time to work on my magic myself. Since my training session with Adam, I haven’t had a chance to show Carlos what I had learned, but I promised myself to rock him off his feet the moment he came back. Using my magic actively using my magical core still didn’t summon the strongest fires around here, but I felt a lot more confident, and less like a ticking time bomb. Especially since drinking blood regularly, I could feel my magic boozing in my veins. I felt one big anger tantrum would burn the house down, so I tried to stay away from activating my magic through emotions, just like Adam taught me.

It was still surprising that he could teach me something so valuable in only a few hours, which Carlos didn’t manage to achieve in years. It made me wonder why Carlos even chose to train me, if he never tried a different approach after his way wasn’t working at all. Was he that reluctant to help me?

After breakfast, I spent a few hours studying before heading to the backyard to shoot fireballs. Ottfried brought metal dummies the other day, so I could use them to practice targeting. He said, even if he couldn’t help me with my magic much, he could still offer advice for control and aim. I appreciated his guidance, and I was glad to have him by my side. Hiring him was at least something Pascal did that improved my life.

It was late in the afternoon when Pascal entered the backyard. He had his coat on, so he was probably planning to leave somewhere.

“Are you going somewhere?” I asked, without stopping, to shoot fireballs against the dummies. By now, they looked more black than silver by all the shots they had received.

“Yes, there is a council meeting I have to attend, followed by a party.”

The flames died in my hands. “Why didn’t I know about that?”

He sighed. “I’ve decided to go there alone to represent the Jones family. I wouldn’t want another disaster to happen like last time during a council meeting and don’t even think about threatening me again. After that, you deserve no party for a long time. This time you stay here.”

I clenched my hands into fists and bit my tongue, stopping myself to scream at him. I knew it wouldn’t help. They took everything away from me, and shouting at Pascal wouldn’t help me to get it back. Besides, I had more important matters planned today than a council meeting and some sort of high-society party in which all people try to raise their noses higher in the air than the person next to them.

I sighed. “I see.”

His eyes widened. “What? No complaints? No arguing?”

I shrugged, flexed my fingers, and tossed another fireball toward the dummy. “Would it help my case?”

He stared at me, shaking his head slowly.

“Then why waste my energy? You’ll do your thing regardless of what I say, and the same counts for the council. You all have given up on me before you even gave me a chance. I’m tired of fighting with you.”

He gaped at me, his mouth opening and closing, but he didn’t say a word.

“I’ll see you later,” I said, sending a wall of fire toward the dummy and Pascal, who stood behind it. He stumbled backward and nodded, before turning around to leave.

“Pascal,” I called after him, and he stopped, looking at me over his shoulder. “Why do you hate me so much?”

He furrowed his brows as he let out a sigh. “I’m not hating you, but I can’t accept or respect you as a member of the Jones family, either.”

I expected his words to hurt more than they did, but after everything that happened between us, it was a more dull pain than anything that would leave me hurting for long. “And why is that? What did I ever do wrong, except having magic you all seem to be scared of?”

“I can’t tell you. There are promises I made with your father, and his death doesn’t make me lose my loyalty towards him.”

I nodded, more questions on the tip of my tongue, but I knew he wouldn’t tell me more. All I knew was that he knew something that didn’t make him like me, and apparently, my father knew those reasons, too.

“Okay, I’ll leave now,” he said when I didn’t respond, and I watched him leave, the guard by his side.

He was such an idiot, everyone was. I didn’t know what they expected from me, but I probably wouldn’t be able to meet those expectations, anyway. They were very good at ignoring that my family got murdered, though. Like I shouldn’t be allowed to mourn or to feel wronged. I lost everyone I loved, and no one cared. But they all care about money, business, and houses. I was so tired of this.

Maybe they should have sent me to live somewhere else when I begged for it two years ago. In a different place, I could have started a new life, with new people, and no one knowing about me or my weird magic. Maybe I also would have people I could count on now. People who actually liked me.

The engine of Pascal’s car roared alive as he drove out of the driveway and onto the road. I listened to the sound of the car disappearing before heading inside. As much as I hated to be out of the loop of my family’s business, I at least had an easier time meeting Adam. It was probably the best thing that could have happened today.

I had just put on tight black leggings and a shirt, half an hour before I was about to leave, when I heard a knock on the front door. My heart sank. There was only one person I knew who didn’t use the doorbell, but knocked instead.

Another knock echoed through the house, and I headed to the door.

“Carlos,” I said, after pulling the door open.

He nodded and entered the house without hesitation, almost as if this were his house.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, wiping my sweaty hands on the fabric of my leggings. “I thought you were still out of town?”

“I would be if I hadn’t been ordered back to watch over you. Apparently, I’m a babysitter now.”

With quick, large strides, he walked through the house and straight to the terrace, sitting down in his usual spot. I followed him, trying to come up with a reason for me to leave this place, but nothing came up. My mind was blank. Dealing with Pascal was one thing, but how was I supposed to deal with Carlos?

“I was about to go on a hike,” I muttered, internally groaning at myself for using the same excuse twice, even if I doubt Pascal had told him about my recent ‘hike’.

He raised a brow. “A hike? When the sun is about to go down?”

I shrugged. “I’m a vampire, so I can see fine in the dark. Besides, it clears my head and I really need some space right now.”

“Is that so?”

I crossed my arms. “It’s not the greatest feeling in the world when you’re left out of things that concern the future of your own family.”

He nodded and leaned back in the chair, pulling his coat closer around him. “Well, princess, I hate to break it to you, but such is life. Regarding your hike, I really couldn’t care less. You can go for your little walk, but if you aren’t back in an hour, I’m going to drag you back here. And you know I’ll replace you.”

I rolled my eyes, ignoring the shiver that crawled up my spine, knowing full well he could replace me, but not if I was better at hiding. “Don’t worry, watchdog. I’ll be back.”

Just not in an hour.

I quickly headed inside and grabbed a jacket, before heading into the forest with quick steps. I didn’t dare to look back and see if he was still sitting there because I could still feel his stares boring into my back. He knew I wasn’t going on a hike, but he wouldn’t replace out what I was doing instead. This was my territory, and no one was going to catch me here - not even Carlos.