Chapter Five

Aurora was speechless. She wiped at her tears and turned away from the window. “I don’t believe you Jasmyne. Why are you making up such lies?”

But instead of apologizing, her sister got to her feet and repeated the words that had sent her mind reeling.

“Aurora, there are no monsters. A long time ago Stefan told me that when the tribe came into our village and you saw your parents killed you were beyond upset. He said you made up some wild story about monsters, maybe to make everything seem less real. He said you believed the story for so long that by the time you grew up, you could no longer tell what was real and what wasn’t. But it wasn’t real Aurora. There were no monsters. Another tribe killed all of our parents, that’s all.”

Aurora grabbed at the dresser just to keep herself from falling. “No, I saw them with my own eyes.”

“No sister, you didn’t. It’s just a scary story you made up as a child to try and understand what happened. I don’t blame you and I’m not judging you. It must have been awful to see your mother killed, and in a lot of ways it makes sense that you’d bring this up now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, maybe when you saw Stefan’s body it brought back the same kind of trauma you experienced when she was killed. Maybe you’re falling back to that same story now because it helped you then.”

Aurora let go of the dresser and paced the room, desperate to believe that if she kept moving her sister’s words would not take hold.

“Do you have any proof?” Jasmyne continued. “You said you’ve been trying to figure out what these things were. Did you ever find anything?”

“I did,” Aurora gushed. “Here, look…”

She pulled at the cord around the small velvet couch and tipped its contents out onto the bed. A claw, curled and ravaged by time, fell out onto the quilt. “I found that by the doorway the next morning. It belonged to one of them.”

Jasmyne picked up the claw and held it toward the ceiling light. It was as long as her finger and extremely sharp. “Aurora, this could have belonged to any predator on the plain. A wild cat, a juvenile bear, anything...”

“No Jasmyne, you’re wrong. I also have research. Reports of people seeing strange creatures, and news stories of mass killings just like what happened in our village. They were in other countries, but -

“Aurora, people claim to see things like UFOs and Bigfoot all the time, but you and I both know that’s not true. And of course, there are killings on the news. Humanity has lost its mind. That doesn’t mean monsters murdered our parents.”

“I know what I saw. You don’t forget something like that sister.” She took a deep breath and tried to steady herself. “And how do you explain my vision and the fact that vampire turned up here? There are no vampires left Jasmyne, and yet he was here inside this house.”

“Yes, where he killed Stefan. Aurora, I won’t tell the others about this, but you need to pull yourself together. I know Stefan was your brother but conjuring up some childhood ghost story is not the way to deal with his death.”

“How dare you,” Aurora hissed, flames igniting in her eyes. “Get out of my room.”

“Sister -”

“I said get out Jasmyne, now!”

When Jasmyne left Aurora slammed the door with so much force that tiny splinters of wood fell away from the wall. If Stefan was still alive, he could explain everything. H could have told her why he had made up such lies, but he was dead. Murdered by that vampire.

Aurora pictured her brother lying on the floor, his face covered in blood. As she replayed the words her sister had said, she was overcome by a hate so powerful that a hot wind began to rush around the room. It shifted papers and lifted the curtains like an invisible hand. None of this would have happened if that fool had not broken into their home. None of this would have happened if he didn’t exist. Unable to hate her brother and unwilling to accept what Jasmyne had told her, Aurora directed all her rage toward the vampire. Her sister was right. To hell with the treaty and whatever he was supposed to do for her. He had to pay.