2|The Forgotten Ones

Sonja was long gone, but Luca was still seething over their encounter as he roamed the deathly silent rooms of the old manor, replaying their confrontation like a record stuck on repeat.

He didn't realise how much rage and hatred he harboured for the witch until she showed up on his doorstep, unannounced and uninvited.

Twenty years had done nothing to cool his fury.

He'd wanted to kill her right then and there, but his mind somehow won over his emotions. Sonja could still be useful to his plans.

Still fuming, Luca stalked through the courtyard to what remained of the grand library in the manor's west wing. By the time he made it across, he was drenched to the bone from the rain falling in torrid sheets. It was almost as if the heavens above were weeping with him.

The weakling humans cowered close together in the corner of the room at the sight of his shadow looming over the doorway, despair and panic gripping their fragile hearts.

"Please, let us go." The woman wailed in her hands, her long pale locks falling around her face. Luca didn't have to look into her sea-blue eyes to know she was afraid. Her terror, oozing through her pores, was so palpable he could taste it in his mouth. But, he wouldn't allow her fear to derail his plans. She had a job to do.

"We won't tell anyone." The man, tied to the girl only by their unfortunate fate, tried to bargain for his life in a shaky voice. Luca paid him no mind, his sharp gaze falling on his companion.

Wordlessly, he held out his hand to her. But, she ignored it and curled herself into a small, tight ball as her whimpers echoing on the cold stone walls reached fever pitch.

"Don't make this harder than it has to be," Luca said in a voice barely above a whisper. When she didn't show any signs of complying, a brief flash of his fangs was enough to get her scurrying across the floor. She held out her shaky hand, her bony shoulders slumped in resignation.

"It will be over before you know it," he promised as he picked her up effortlessly and carried her to the cellar in the main house.

"I want to go home," she said, her painfully thin body trembling violently in his arms as the rain and fierce winds snuffed out her loud wails.

"Soon," Luca soothed her with a smile.

"My parents are looking for me," she carried on in a futile attempt to stop the inevitable.

"You don't say," he drawled softly, his face devoid of feeling.

She was lying. Nobody was looking for her. No one knew she was missing. He always picked the ones nobody cared about. The forgotten ones.

"Please, I'll do anything, just don't hurt me," she sobbed pitifully as Luca carefully placed her on the stone floor in the hallway outside the cellar.

"I'll give you anything you want."

"Of course, you will," he assured her with a quick flash of his fangs.

Turning to the ornate-looking door, he banged his fist on the ancient wood, rousing his brother and the others from their famished slumber.

"Your meal's here!" he announced. His words barely carried through the thick walls of the cavernous room, but the rustling on the other side of the door confirmed they'd heard him.

"You're back—" Julian croaked in a frail voice.

It pained Luca to hear his older brother, whose booming baritone voice had terrified even the fiercest of their foes, reduced to a mere shadow of his former self. But he was tremendously relieved to know he was still holding on. Returning home always filled Luca with dread, because he never knew what he'd find.

"Got back an hour ago," he yelled through the door. "Feed for now. We'll chat later. You need to save your strength."

He knelt in front of the young woman and propped her against the wall closest to the cellar's sealed entrance.

"This won't take long," he told her as he kissed her forehead lightly.

Her fear was almost tangible, that he could almost touch it. Not for the first time since the witches locked his brother away, Luca hated himself for everything he'd done. Not just to her, but to all the prey he'd lured to the manor over the years. But what other choice did he have? With the cellar firmly sealed, the clan had to feed on the life force of those around them, or else they'd perish. The latter was never an option for Luca.

The growls on the other side of the door were faint at first, growing louder the longer they had their fill as they drained the energy from the girl.

The scratching sounds on the wood as they attempted to get closer to the energy source unnerved Luca. He wanted to leave the basement and retreat to the crypt, but he couldn't. He had to sit through their energy exchange and watch over the girl to ensure they didn't drain her to death.

Back when they were still experimenting with psychic feeding, the body count was exceptionally high because of their sloppiness. But over the years, they'd improved their technique and learned to curb their hunger and take only what they needed.

Soon, the feral sounds in the cellar reached an unbearable crescendo, and Luca hated Sonja and her coven anew. He'd make them all pay, he vowed. Every one of them would pay for reducing his brother to a mere animal.

He turned his attention to the girl, panicking when he saw she'd turned deathly pale, and her pulse was almost imperceptible. Julian and the others would drain her to death if he didn't move fast. He pulled her away from the door and carried her to the cot in the corner of the room, her frail body hanging limply in his arms.

He summoned his butler, and in a flash, Nelson appeared beside him like an apparition. He'd aged considerably since Luca saw him last over a month ago.

"Sir." He bowed, tilting his greying head slightly.

"Please take care of her." Luca nodded at the unconscious woman.

"Certainly, Mr De Lacroix." The butler bowed again and retreated from the room with the blonde in his arms. He'd nurse her back to health, and when she was well enough again, Luca would compel her and return her to her old life.

Alone again, Luca approached the cellar and sat on the cold concrete floor, his back pressed against the door.

"Where's April? Is she okay? I miss her so much!" Julian said from inside the room in a much stronger voice. But the yearning for his mate was undeniable and couldn't be mistaken for anything else.

Luca pondered his question, wishing there was an easier way to tell him about April's betrayal.

"There's something—" he said, but quickly decided against it. He knew his brother. If Julian found out what April had done, the truth would devastate him to a point where he gave up all hope of ever getting out, and he couldn't have that. Not when they were so close.

Besides, he reasoned, it wasn't his place to tell him. April would have to clean up her own mess.

"What is it?" Julian asked, his tone wary.

They hadn't seen each other in two decades, but their bond was as strong as it was when the witches chose to play God and freeze time for all of them. Julian knew he was holding back stuff from him, but Luca couldn't bring himself to crush his spirit. The truth would destroy him.

"Nothing," he lied. "April's great. She should be here soon. She and Andrew got held up in Briardale."

Julian was quiet for some time, absorbing his words, listening to everything he hadn't said, and Luca babbled on, filling up the uneasy silence with updates of their plans. Before long, the conversation turned back to Julian and the others when Luca asked after everyone.

There were ten in the cellar when the witches sealed it up, but only five remained now. The others had slowly lost their will to live when they realised it would take years for their plan to come to fruition. Giving up was much easier than facing a fate far worse than death. It had damn near killed Julian and the others to watch them die. But it was nothing compared to the guilt they felt for feeding on them. For weeks after, each death filled them with self-loathing and fierce hatred towards the Youngbloods for reducing them to cannibals.

Luca was relieved to learn that the remaining five were still holding on. Even the clan's newest member, Warwick Kent, was doing okay. They'd all secretly thought he'd be the first to die, because when he walked into the cellar that fateful night, he wasn't a vampire. But he'd surprised everyone, and his will to live had given them the strength to get through their darkest hours.

"How are Andrew and Rosalie?" Melanie, Luca and Julian's cousin, asked after her brother and his girlfriend.

Like Warwick, she wasn't supposed to be in the cellar that night, but she'd taken Andrew's place because he couldn't attend court.

After many assurances on Luca's part that everyone was okay, the clan allowed him to take his leave. He was exhausted and wanted to rest before April and Andrew's arrival.