Bite or Howl

Chapter 22

Chase POV

"Mommy, what's happening?" Catherine and I look out the window, eager to see the chaos outside. Catherine grunts and moves back, dragging the table with her hands and pulling it under the window. She dusts her hands on her dress then climbs onto the table, making her twice as tall as she normally is. Now my eyesight is just on her shoulder when I look over to her. There was a loud bombing sound that awoke us from our sleep, disturbing our peaceful slumber against our sheets and dragging us to the nearest window. Our mother's footsteps slowly come closer as she paces to find us. The night sky that was once midnight black has been lit up with fireworks. Red and orange flares being shot up into the sky with loud booming sounds.

"Mommy, there are fireworks!" Catherine exclaims, looking back at our mother that had appeared beside us. She points out into the sky and smiles eagerly. My mother makes a confused face then takes another step forward, locating herself behind us to get a view of the so called fireworks that's being held at 2 in the morning. But when her gaze meets them, her face is the absolute opposite of Catherine's.

I hear her mutter something then bringing her hands to her mouth. "Oh gosh." She mumbles. I had never seen my mother so shocked before. She'd always been such a beautiful woman with long locks that were stained a dark brown. Her skin was so pale and smooth but when she cried, it grew a tint of pink and her eyes screamed red underneath her white skin. "Come now, go back to bed." She stutters, picking up Catherine and dragging me along with her. She holds Catherine up by her right hand and holds mine with her left.

After that day, I remember waking up to shouting every morning. Pots clanging and making a huge noisy clatter. My mother would always scream and beg for mercy. But I never knew what from. My father had been out most of the time, fighting alongside my uncle. But when he'd come home, he'd go straight to bed. Tired and exhausted. But now from the fight. The fact he knew he was doing something wrong yet still being tied up to do it.

I never knew that my father had killed millions of innocent people alongside my uncle Cassius. It broke me when I found out. I always wanted to make him proud. My mother always told me, "I'm proud of you, my son." But the one person I really wanted to hear it from never said it. Nor did I ever see him until he'd taken over the kingdom. After my father had ruled, my mother's smile had slowly started to appear on her face again. Her skin had turned pale and her eyes were no longer red. She was happy. But my father never told me he was proud of me.

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"I need extra people going around and collecting every single person in the city. No one is to be left behind, do I make myself clear?" The guards in front of me nod. I dismiss them with my hand and they start marching towards the exit that leads them to the north side of Mount Verona. "I need men around the castle as well. Someone had been killed and I need you all to run errands everywhere." I instruct the next group of people. They nod and walk out, splitting into groups as they roam the castle. Goddamnit, I think to myself. I could be saving so much time if I weren't doing this. It wasn't my job to go around instructing guards. It was Nick's.

But now wasn't the time to think about Nick or his commitments. Right now, I needed to get to the borders. I walk over to the front of the castle, anticipating what I would face in the next hour once the creatures arrive. The black witches are powerful, they don't bear the mercy us vampires do. But in a time of war, I doubt anyone ever does.

But as I neared the tall metal front doors of the castle, I halted in my tracks. The red carpet underneath me that rolled from the door to the front stairs was cold underneath my shoe's sole. I could feel the uneasiness of the vibe around me. Something in my gut told me to turn back but I knew better than to fleet from danger. So I stepped closer. The door was in eye's reach but I couldn't see clearly to make out what was making me feel so eerie. So I continued to come closer.