Blood of the Skies and Shadows - Chapter Twelve

Hey everyone, I finished another IAN chapter! I really enjoy writing him, it's a change from writing Lexi's character because their personalities are so different. Ian is a badass type but wants to care and doesn't know when to do when he actually does! Anyway chapters are coming and in chapters to come there should be more of Demetri's perspective! He hasn't had much action in my plans, he..he..he, so I haven't had much time to write in his view, and I feel bad about that so I am writing his view right now. And so though most of the chapters are in Lexi's view I will try write more Demetri and Ian as well. Please don't blame me for being late I'm posting as fast as I can, thank you lovely readers for your patience he..he. Next chapters are coming!

Love, Caelia.
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Ian.
A crowd of muffled voices woke me from my sleep, most were shrieking and arguing over something. It was good sleep too, the dreamless kind, so I was more pissed than ever. I didn't know when I'd fallen asleep but my instincts didn't seem to think I was in danger, so I guess I turned off at some point.

"What the hell is going on out there?" I muttered, gritting my teeth and sitting up. I leaned myself against the cold granite stoned wall.

"It seems they've found the human they need to kill. A human girl who lives with a group of vampires. Apparently they're going to kill her when she joins up with her vampires." Gabe's gruff but strong voice said aloofly. My whole body stiffened at his words.

"Did you get a name?" I demanded furiously. My fists clenched and unclenched at the endless thoughts.

"Alexia or something." He murmured, harsh coughs following his words. Venom swelled in my mouth and my fangs started protruding again.

"So why the hell are they arguing?" I asked, trying to keep cool.

"There's someone who wants to keep her alive for longer. That he'll be able to capture her and use her to make someone obey them. If they have her at hand they think she'll be easy to kill off." I almost laughed but realizing the situation of everything thought it would make me look insane. But Lexi being someone easy to kill? I really couldn't imagine it! I smiled and could only hope Demetri or someone else would get her away before anything captured her.

"She's special to you, this human girl. I don't understand she is human while you're a shadow. Why?" He asked me, as if he'd seen this before. I knew the answer but it was hard to describe in words.

"I'm not giving up anything to a silent guy who won't talk in return. But why do you want to know anyway? You sound like you've asked this question before." I said brusquely. Yeah, I was being sort of a dick but that was my vampire side slowly taking over me.

"Fair enough. I ask you this question because I have in reality witnessed this before. Someone powerful, a close friend of mine, he fell in love with a human girl. I didn't understand why and at that time I was ordered to watch over them carefully because their love was forbidden, so I befriended her and lied to that friend and in the end when they needed my aid the most instead of giving it to them I followed my orders and betrayed them." He finished. His strong voice actually thick with regret, guilt and sorrow. I'd only really ever heard a voice like that once, from Demetri when he admitted he killed Lexi's parents.

"Why didn't you just ignore your orders?" I asked bluntly, hiding the anger I felt. It was like Demetri, Helios and Lexi all over again.

"It isn't that simple, where I am from orders from above cannot be disobeyed. I was created not born like humans or some shadows are. If we do not follow orders our punishment is cruel where painful and slow deaths are kind. We have no choice but to follow." Gabe said sharply, his voice becoming steely and serious.

"There's always a choice. No matter what the consequences, you always have a choice." I argued, just as sharp and edgy. I started remembering killing all those innocent humans and shadows. The boundless fear in their eyes, the hate. I could've prevented that, but I didn't. I chose not to.

"There always is." I murmured.

"Why did you become a shadow? I know you weren't born as one." He asked, there was sadness in his voice like he understood the feeling.

"I'll tell you my story if you tell me yours. Same deal, Gabe." I said, sounding like I was drunk because of the damn defeat and understanding between us. I could hear his rough little laugh between some quiet coughs.

"Deal." He answered. I sighed and lay back down on the cot, arms behind my head. Outside was still in chaos, there was a bit of snarling now too, but I couldn't care less when I was stuck in a freaking tomb.

"I was born in 1894 the older of my brother and me. I was twenty human years old when I was awakened in 1914 with my brother. Our family was rich, one of the upper class. I was stupid and arrogant as any rich guy would be, but the upper class was a cruel and cold world so my brother and I learned to be independent and cruel as well. I'm sure you've heard of the sinking of the RMS Titanic of 1912. We were on that ship, with our parents because they wanted us to officially debut into society. And we did successfully. But when the ship went down our parents didn't survive but we did, barely. After the whole incident we were told our parents didn't leave a will so we lost all our wealth and upper class status, the only noble thing about us was our name. Without anything we resorted to living on the streets, we survived by working jobs we've never even done before and we did them better than everyone else, so we decided to rise again after becoming the best of the lower class.

Through less than moral and legal ways my brother and I recovered rapidly, we made connections and rebuilt both wealth and status. We regained everything we had and more within a year and a half. But someone had noticed us, it was a vampire named Ruby. She posed as one of the ladies of upper class, but we knew she wasn't a normal lady, even so my brother became infatuated with her. He wanted her hand in marriage so in other words he fell for her trick. She brought her so-called 'father' to their fake marriage meeting. He was the leader of a vampire clan. Helios. They both admired our power and saw the usefulness in us so they awakened us. At first I didn't mind because I liked the power and advantages they offered. But it changed the moment I saw a human being putting their life on the line for people they didn't know against creatures like us.

I started realizing I was killing innocent people, people who had families and didn't have to suffer a cruel life but I was deciding their fate when I decided to end their lives for someone who only saw himself. When something ended Helios' reign, I decided I wanted to live peacefully, you know without killing. And so I followed a vampire leading the rebellion, the human that changed everything also, I guess, followed him. My brother didn't think the same though, he followed Ruby, though he hates me for what I did, I don't regret it but I don't like how we've changed from we're our only family and we have to trust each other to he wants my head." I said, feeling a breath of relief leaving my lungs. Damn, I never knew it was this hard to keep all this inside.

"You're a vampire." He said matter-of-factly. I rolled my eyes but actually it made sense.

"We live on these tablet things this vampire Demetri has been developing. You drop it into a glass and it breaks and turns into synthetic blood." I answered and shrugged. It tasted fine, not as good as human blood but it was better than killing. A long silence followed, it wasn't awkward, it was one of those ending silences. But his wise voice broke through quietly. Guys that have voices that sound like they're millenniums older than you, which he probably was, that don't know you are so damn knowledgeable sometimes.

"So the human girl who made you realize all the sins you were committed is the girl, those things out there are hunting? She is also the one that you are in love with?" He murmured. No cough interrupted the silence. Sins? I guess you'd call it that if you were Christian or really...old-fashioned and I guess this guy was more 'old-fashioned' because he sounded like he was there when mankind was created or something. Besides 'the hell was I going to say? Yes? Was I really going to admit that? I had no clue? Even though I did. No? Then I'd be lying. Shit, do I really want to decide? Before I got a chance to answer, the silence already did.

"I was correct." He said flatly. I closed my eyes and tried to think of something to say. Whatever. Before I realized a few minutes had already passed. I opened my eyes again and asked some questions of my own.

"So now you my whole story and figured out the other parts of it, what's your story?" I asked, sort of irritably. He sighed inevitably and started speaking but not without coughing harshly in between sentences.

"I was born a long time ago. From a time where they didn't exactly record time exactly right, so I don't remember really. My father was very dutiful and though he loved my siblings and I, he was very distant, we rarely saw him. We only followed what he wanted us to do without question because it was expected of us and he taught us it was the right thing to do, but one of my brothers started thinking of other things, of disobeying him and rebelling. My brother and I were really close, we're actually twins. I hesitated and was uncertain because he continued saying things that would go against everything my father had taught us, but I followed him anyway.

He also took many of my siblings with him. After a while I did not see the good in any of my twin's reasons so I turned back to my father, hoping he would forgive me and he did, though I was infamous throughout my siblings but still very powerful amongst them, so they thought I would be useful. My father ordered my siblings and me to battle against them, with my other brother leading, he and my twin never got along so he was rather glad about it, and in the end we won the battle. After that battle my father forced him and the others to leave. Our home was supposed to be a very good and righteous place but after all that I'm not entirely sure.

My brother saw my betrayal as more of a reason to fuel his anger through his actions so tried to overtake our home again but wasn't able to so he tried other places that were under eye of my father, with the help of some others we stopped my siblings, though there were casualties. Whatever Isabeau is trying to achieve now, it has something to do with my siblings but my brother in particular now. That is why she has need of me." He finished, his voice seemed strained but not because he was injured but because this was obviously hard for him to talk about. If he was going to figure out things about me, then I was going to do the same whether this was hard for him or not. I was an ass and I was going to become a tougher one if anything since I was stuck in this tomb with Gabe for what seemed like a while.

"So you decided after you went against your daddy once that you wouldn't do it again and should betray your close friend or I'm guessing one of another of your close brothers and the human girl he loved instead?" I guessed, picking from my brain what he told me before. His coughing regained, more brutally this time.

"Yes, that's correct. But I regret that decision very much. After seeing their love replay in my memories, I realize my father taught me that love is the most beautiful thing in the world, but he didn't realize some loves he never guessed were possible actually happens no matter how rare it is." He answered. His strong voice was full of grief and regret. After a fraction of a second of deliberation, I spoke.

"So apologize to your brother." I said frankly. He chuckled lowly. I scowled.

"It isn't that simple. After I betrayed him he was sent home and my siblings all saw him as a traitor like me, and because of what I did the girl he loved was destroyed." He stopped abruptly, but it sounded as if there was something more he wanted to say, but I didn't push him, not that I didn't want to. But honestly what could I say? Things were pretty messed up with my own brother. I couldn't imagine how bad things were with his. I sighed, feeling worn out for some reason.

"We've both messed up pretty bad, Gabe." I said, closing my eyes ready to rest since I had time. I never really did when Lexi was around looking for trouble or when Demetri needed powerful vampires who know what they're doing to control places like the Nightingale or when he needed a guardian for Lexi. I heard a snicker and sound like 'Mhm' agreeing with me. I snickered darkly back and drifted off.