River of Blood

Chapter Twenty

There's no doubt that they were wrong. Evangeline is literally nowhere in sight.

"Why are we still sitting here?" Annalise asks, her green eyes narrowing at Constance. The other girl gives a disinterested look back.

"You tell me." Constance stands. "Evangeline's emotions are completely gone, right?" She asks Judi.

"She told me that's what would happen."

"Do any of you know how old she is? Like...rough estimate."

"Uh..." Aquila trails off. "All I know is old enough to have been one of the only creatures to interact with a hunter and get away."

Constance's jaw drops. "Wait. Are you saying that we're looking for the Dusk?"

"What on earth is the Dusk?" Annalise asks, folding her arms over her chest. "Our friend's name is Evangeline."

"Evangeline." Constance smirks. "Didn't realize Dusk had a real name."

"Are you saying Dusk is Evangeline?" Aquila asks slowly.

Constance glances around the group of girls. "Do you have any idea who Dusk is?"

"Not one." Judi murmurs.

"Dusk. You know what that word means, right? Dusk is the state or period of partial darkness between day and night. They named a vampire who could walk in the night and the day Dusk. It is said that they are the oldest vampire on the planet and murdered their creator because they wanted to become human. When that didn't work, they realized they were stuck. So many stories surround Dusk. How they've survived the hunters, left entire cities in shreds, and even became best friends with the leader of the Fae. The true leader."

Annalise sharply inhales. "No one knows about the true leader besides the Fae. How would she know?"

"She's been alive for centuries." Constance shrugs. "Apparently Dusk also rules over the supernatural in some way; although, they've never actually seen them in real life. Dusk just makes the rules that we all abide by. And if someone falls out of line..." Constance slits her throat.

"Aren't you human?"

"Parents very overprotective. Plus, my family once had a witch in the bloodline, but I didn't get any of the powers from them. My sister did, though." She shrugs. "I just know a lot about the supernatural world because of them."

"You know more than I do." Aquila whispers. "And I am mythical."

Constance laughs lightly. "I only know so much. There's a lot that's never been explored. The fact that Dusk is a woman makes it so much more impressive that she has stayed in power for this long."

"We never said our friend was Dusk."

"She's the only creature to face the hunters and survive it would seem. How did you get away?" She asks Judi.

Judi swallows. "Evangeline."

"And when Hollow Hall was attacked, how did you guys survive?" Constance turns towards them.

"We didn't know you knew..." Annalise trails off. "Evangeline."

"Have you seen her so things you can't explain? Things a vampire shouldn't be able to do?"

"What are you getting at?" Annalise crosses her arms over her chest, fire burning in her soul. She'd heard rumors about Dusk. She'd never heard that Dusk was a vampire, however. Her parents always told her that Dusk was some sort of creature that kept everything in order. No one knew about Dusk until they broke one of the fundamental laws they'd put in place nearly a millennia before. Annalise had always assumed Dusk doesn't actually exist. She was some sort of myth. But then again, so is she.