C H A P T E R T W O

Melissa

I’m tired. I say to myself lying down with my arms wide open on the bed. The lights are bright and illuminating before of my eyes making my head dizzy. I snap my finger and turn them off.

‘’What the hell is up with you?’’ I turn around and see Alicia in her bed right next to me. She shuts her book and looks at me.

‘’What happen again? Is it the homework? I mean YEA it has to be. I don’t like Mathew’s class either. It’s him isn’t?? And the homework?’’ She doesn’t even stop.

‘’It’s not the homework’’. I say. ‘’And neither is Mathew. I’m just super tired, I can barely feel the electricity in me.’’

‘’So your saying your powers are dampening?? ‘’

‘’No! My powers are not dampening , and I said I’m tired. Since when are you here? I didn’t even notice you while I got inside.’’

‘’That’s because you were busy talking to yourself. But yea, let me massage your head. You might start feeling better.’’

‘’Sure little sister’’. I say as I close my eyes and lay my head on her lap.

Alicia is the third among we Cross sister. No one would ever believe us when we told them that Patricia was older than Alicia. As a matter of fact Alicia even looked older than me though I was the eldest among we Cross sisters. Alicia has the same powers as my mother. They can both read minds and understand people’s inner feelings. I didn’t inherit any of my parent’s powers. Neither did Patricia and Catherine.

When I was young my mom always told me that I, Patricia and Catherine had unique powers that where a gift from our ancestors. Catherine, The youngest among we cross sisters was gifted by the power of spell. No one in the academy knows how to use spells like her. Our father named her the Goddess of spells. And for Patricia, she has the power to control weather. The weather master.

Erica has the same powers as my father. The power of teleporting. At first we thought Erica was the only one who had such powers, it was later when we realised that dad had the same powers too.

‘’ OH MY! What was that??’’ Alicia pushes my head off her lap.

‘’ OUCH! What was what? Did you just read me?’’ I hold my forehead in pain.

‘’I’m sorry I didn’t want to. It’s just--were you tired because you spend the whole day practicing how to make a lightning bolt?? HA HA AHA! You sounded so serious I thought you were ranting about Mathew or something more important.’’

‘’What’s so funny in it?’’ I say walking towards the dressing table. ‘’I was practicing. Yes I was. It is more important to me than worrying about Mathews useless assignments! What’s so funny about it? And is this why you volunteered to massage my head? To read me? DAMNN YOU ALICIA!’’

‘’I’ll take that as a thank you.’’ Annoying as always!

‘’Take what as a thank you?’’ Alicia jumps off the bed, scared, holding her chest. I flinch from my position as Erica suddenly emerges through the walls.

‘’Can’t you just come through the door you idiot? You scared the shit out of me.’’ Says Alicia with her hands still on her chest.

‘’Well where is it? I don’t see your shit’’. Erica laughs to her own lame joke. ‘’It’s fun you know, one moment you’re in the lobby and then suddenly in your room. Isn’t it a waste of energy to walk thirteen stairs and get up here? Shortcuts are always better.’’

‘’No its not! ‘’I say. ‘’Come through the door next time or I’ll tell mom. What if, what if I was naked right now or changing my clothes?’’

‘’AHHHH that would be a scene to see I guess’’ Erica was good at laughing at her own lames jokes.

Not even a moment later Patricia walks in through the door with Catherine behind her.

‘’What’s with the commotion? We could hear it from the outside.’’ Says Patricia. To which Alicia replies.

‘’Nothing we were just discussing how Erica should not end up seeing a naked Melissa if she teleports in the room again.’’

‘’Excuse me? You fool! ‘’I say.

‘’Why? Isn’t that what you were discussing?’’

‘’Were you even listening?’’. Erica says. ‘’And EWWW GROSS!’’

‘’Ok fine, if that’s not the topic, what is it?’’ Patricia asks. Again.

‘’They were having a conversation over Erica. That she should never teleport to the room instead walk through the door.’’ Catherine says, while she continues staring at her book.

‘’H- ho- how did you know?’’ Erica looks at Catherine in horror.’’

‘’The situation explains it all. And besides, it’s you Erica. What else would the reason be.’’ Catherine was still staring at her book.

‘’You can use a spell, right Catty?’’ Patricia suggests with a wild expression.

’’At least she won’t be able to get in through walls,’’

‘’You would never do that to me Catty. Would you?’’ Erica looked pretty nervous.

‘’Who said I wouldn’t? Of course I would.’’ Catherine finally changes her gaze turns from the book to Erica.

We start to laugh for a while until a knock in the door distracts us. Everyone gets quite.

‘’Who might it be at this hour? ‘’ I say. Catty puts her book down and looks at me in curious. Patricia walks closer to the door and asks.

‘’Who is it?’’

‘’We are the royal guards.’’

‘’The royal guards? You mean from the Royal Headquarters?

‘’Yes. We were send by the King and the Queen. They are looking for you and the rest of them.’’

‘’Do they mean it’s a royal order from mom and dad?’’ Erica whispers to us.

‘’Of course.’’ I reply.

‘’Are they looking for all of us?’’ I ask.

‘’Yes. They are.’’

‘’What would it be for? Any idea?’’ Patricia looks at me as she continues.

‘’What do we do Melly?’’Asks Catty.

‘’It might be something important. Let’s just go.’’ I say, as I open the door and the rest of them follow me.

‘’This way please.’’ The guards say. We follow them and walk our way to the Royal headquarters. To Mom and Dad.

I want to question the guards but I don’t. What might it be for? I keep thinking the whole time on our way to the headquarters. The academy looks crowded than usual. Students were crowded all together in the corridor. They are gossiping about something. I don’t know what they are talking about. Some are terrified looking at the night sky which was blood red.

‘’Something’s wrong. Isn’t it guys?’’ Catherine steals the words from my mouth.

‘’What’s wrong with the sky? Why is it red? And what is everyone discussing? Is it only us who knows nothing?’’ Patricia nervously looks around at every one.

‘’She is right something is wrong. What happened?’’ Alicia joins Patricia’s conversation.

It is indeed true; something didn’t feel right to me either. The teachers were trying to get the students back to their dorms but neither of them responded, all they did was gazing at the corridors large window. At the sky.

‘’GET INSIDE ALL OF YOU’’. Professor Mathew walked past the crowd and bellowed at the students. Everyone disappeared at ones and the corridors looked empty as if no one was even present here in the first place.

‘’Wait!’’ I say the guards. ‘’Can you tell us what the problem is?’’

‘’You will know sooner. Let’s get inside and you will hear it all from your father and mother.’’ The guards say, and then I realise that we were on the doorsteps of the headquarters already.

‘’This way please’’ The guards open the large door of the headquarters.

I have never been inside the headquarters before. Every time mom and dad wanted to visit us they would come by our dorms or either asks us to meet them in our house which is also inside the academy. During holidays when we go home, it’s hard to even see them. They barely get to stay in the home and we barely have a family time.

I remember mom telling me that the reason the headquarter was inside the academy was because she didn’t want to leave the students and the academy alone no matter what happened. And in order to protect the academy with all her power, both mom and dad decided the headquarters be inside the academy.

It’s different inside the headquarters. There are doors everywhere. One of them is the door to mom and dad’s room. We follow the guards as they walk to the room on the left with the word ‘CROSS’ engraved on the door.

’’They are here your majesty as you requested.’’ One of the guards says after giving a gentle knock in the door.

‘’Let them in’’ Mom replies from the inside. The guards open the door of the room finally letting us inside.

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Vampires don’t feel cold. My mom always told us that during old times vampires would go and hang around humans in winter because it was easier and they would never question us and thought it was normal that our bodies remained cold. If they did in summer, the humans were always puzzled over how our body remained cold and frozen on a scorched sunny day.

But today I feel different. It's winter and I am feeling cold too. The chills are giving goose bumps all over my body. The atmosphere inside mom and dad’s room looks really tense. Both mom and dad stand still facing the large window in their room. And just like everyone else, they were looking at the sky. The red sky.

‘’We are here mother.’’ I say, we curtsy.

Both mom and dad turn around and give us a satisfying smile. It looked like they were proving to us that everything was alright. But it wasn’t. For all that I know, something didn’t feel right to me.

‘’Come here to me my daughters.’’ Mom says as she embraces all of us with open arms. Dad walks towards Catherine and hugs her patting her head and then stroking her raven black hairs.

‘’My little goddess is here.’’ He says, smiling at her.

‘’How have you been father?’’ Catty says in a soft voice. ‘’And is everything alright? What is it that you were looking for us at this hour father?’’ Dad gets silent at Catty’s questions. And after a while he looks at mom as if asking for her help.

‘’Do you know why the sky is red today?’’ Mom says as she walks towards the window again. ‘’It’s red because she is awake, and the red sky is a sign of her awakening.’’

‘’She? Who is this 'she'?’’ Patricia asks.

‘’Krulisa. She was summoned by her followers an hour ago.’’ Dad says in a tensed voice.

‘’Who is Krulisa father?’’ Catherine holds his hands in hers.

Both mom and dad exchange glances and then mom continues.

‘’Krulisa is someone we knew once before you were all born. She is a vampire but nothing like us. She just wanted something more, something more than happiness. She wanted the whole world. She wanted to destroy the human kind, take over the world and rule over us all. So your father and I both casted a spell on her and locked her up then buried her deep. The spell would not last forever. We knew that. Your father and I decided to fight her again if she ever wakes up. But things didn’t turn out the way we wanted.’’

‘’What happened?’’ I ask. My body was slowly shaking in fear.

‘’This time she is not coming for us. She is going for the immortal hearts.’’

‘’What are the immortal hearts?’’

She takes a deep breath and continues.

‘’The three powerful hearts that can give one the power of immortality and also the power to defeat anyone. Most importantly it gives you the power to get rid of any sort of spell and wipe out human kind.’’

‘’Something this powerful actually exists? Why didn’t you ever tell us?’’ Patricia walks forward closer to me.

‘’We never expected that she would go looking for them in the first place. And if Krulisa gets them, she will have the power to dis…’’

‘’Destroy everything we know you explained that already. But why didn’t you tell us about this before?’’ I ask again. ’’Tell us.’’

‘’We thought it was good if you didn’t know.’’ Dad comes in moms favor. No one ever knew about the immortal hearts. Except for your mother and me, no one other than us knew about it.’’

‘’How did she know? Kryuliga or whatever her name is, how did she know?’’ Erica walks towards dad.

‘’We don’t know.’’ Mom says. ‘’It even hurts me that we couldn’t save the secret.’’ I can see tears pouring in her eyes.

‘’It’s okay mother.’’ Catherine walks towards mom and hugs her. ‘’It’s going to be alright. Is there any way we can help?’’

‘’That’s why we called all of you.’’ Dad says, staring from mom to me. ‘’Your mother and I have decided to send you all to the three major institutes.’’

‘’The three major institutes? Are they another hidden immortal thing?’’ Erica asks.

‘’No. No they are not Erica!’’ Dad says as if irritated by Erica’s wild guessing. ‘’The three major institutes are the places were the immortal hearts are hidden. It was your great grandparent’s palace.’’

‘’All three of them?’’ I ask.

‘’Yes. All three of them were their palaces. One was built for your grandparents, one for your great grandparents and one for me and Victoria. Your grandparents buried the hearts to save it from evil vampires like Krulisa. After your they passed away, both me and Victoria decided to leave the palace and built this academy. We decided to live here.’’

‘’Why did you leave?’’

‘’The mortals. We were scared the mortals would get aware of our existence. And speak about a decent neighbourhood, we were surrounded by mortals. Soon after we left the mortals took over the three palaces and made them into mortal institutes. A school for the mortals.’’

‘’So you’re saying we have to go live with mortals in order to protect the institutes and the immortal hearts from Krulisa? ‘’

‘’Yes. You are right my daughter. This is the only way we have. Both your mother and I can’t do anything because the institutes are a place for youngsters like you.’’

‘’We will do it.’’ Catherine volunteers before any of us get to even think. ‘’If this is the only way, we have no choice but to do as you say Father. Right sisters?’’

‘’She is right father.’’ Erica joins catty. So do Patricia and Alicia. I think about myself. They are right. This is the only way. After hearing everything about someone like Krulisa, I can’t stand a chance to let her take over everything. I have to join my sisters. If this is the only way, I have to fight.

‘’We will do it. We will go to the institutes and save the immortal hearts.’’ I say. Joining my sisters.

‘’I am so proud of you all.’’ Mom says, wiping her tears.

‘’I have faith in you all. I know you can do it.’’ Father says walking next to mom’s side.

‘’So when do we start our journey? How do we let the mortals know we are coming?’’ I ask. Interrupting the moment.

‘’You will have to leave right now.’’

‘’Right now?’’ Alicia asks. ‘’But how can we just walk inside the institutes with no notice? I mean, shouldn’t we at least let them know that we are coming?’’

‘’If that’s your concern, your father and I have already sent one of our guards to let them know. And besides, they are already waiting for your arrival.’’ Mom says.

‘’So is it only us? No one else?’’ I was not sure if I was supposed to ask such a question.

‘’No Melissa. No one else. It’s hard for me to trust anyone in the academy other than my own daughters.’’

‘’You said there were three institutes that have the immortal hearts. How are we five supposed to protect all three of them?’’

‘’She is right mother.’’ Patricia joins. ‘’How are we going to do it alone?’

‘’Not all of you are going in the same institutes.’’ Mom says. You will split up in to two and go to each institute. Melissa you will have to go alone.’’

I can do it alone. Besides, I am even stronger when I am alone. The only reason that wasn’t satisfying was the fact that we will all be separated. I won’t be even able to know if my sisters are safe. And neither will they be aware if I am safe.

‘’I can do it alone mother.’’ I say. ‘’But I can’t let the rest be alone on their own.’’

‘’That’s why they will be going in pairs Melly. I know you’re worried as an elder sister.’’

‘’We can do it sister.’’ Patricia says, before mom can even complete her sentence. ‘’We will be fine. It’s you we are worried about. Are you sure you will be ok alone?’’

‘’I will be. As long as you guys are fine. I am fine too.’’ I give them a satisfying smile.’’

‘’So its decided Melissa you go to The Journey Institute, Patricia and Alicia to The Prestige Institute and Erica with Catty to Heatherhalls Institute.’’ Father says. I can see his face full of worry and sadness. It was both mom and dad’s first time sending us away on a mission.

‘’I hope you are fine my love.’’ Father says hugging catty. Catherine was the youngest and still learning about her powers. Both mom and dad loved catty the most. And I know how it feels for them to send their most loved one in this dangerous mission. To them it’s like feeding five young lambs to a hungry wolf.

‘’I am going to be ok father.’’ Catty says. Her voice is heard like a whisper from dad’s chest. ‘’I will be ok. Besides I am the goddess of spell right?’’ She unlocks dad’s hands from her shoulders and smiles at him. I can see she was crying as well. But still, smiling.

‘’Yes my daughter.’’ Father says, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. ‘’You are indeed the goddess of spells.’’ He hugs her again. Mom joins too, so do Patricia, Alicia and Erica. In the end I do too. I hope this is not our last hug. I think as we stand there hugging one another. I wish we could be like this forever. I hope we get back safe once everything is over. I hope we get back soon and have this same hug again. My mind keeps whispering to me. I smile as I think about a family reunion after everything ends. Suddenly the smile in my face vanishes and then I start sobbing. Just like the rest of them.

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