Enlightenment

Part 44

              After her last announcement she had started to sob even harder, although being a vampire a single teardrop hadn’t actually left her eyes. Awkwardly I knelt in front of her, trying to meet her gaze.

“I’ve done a lot of things that I’m not proud of too, it doesn’t matter you are still my sister.”

She shook her head, “when you- when you realize, you will kill me… and I deserve it, I should be burning in hell now!”

I frowned and cautiously took her hand, “Beatrice… please just tell me, what did you do?”

Whatever I did, nothing could have prepared me for the next words that left her mouth; “I killed Father.”

I stared at her numbly for a moment, the cold feeling of shock slowly creeping in. Some horrified part of my brain couldn’t comprehend the words that I slowly repeated out loud in an attempt to understand. “You… killed… our… father?” my voice sounded unbearably fragile, even to me. She mutely nodded, and my mouth kept moving, “You- you-“

“I’m so sorry-“

              Suddenly I launched myself at her for the second time that night, only this time instead of being relieved a cold black fury enveloped me. She barely reacted as I grabbed her by the neck and slammed her into the wall, cracking the back of her head on the plaster. My wordless scream, wrought with my renewed grief and rage ripped from my mouth before I snarled at her. “How could you!” I slammed her into the wall again, “HOW COULD YOU!” In the background I vaguely heard Jamie shout my name, but I ignored him. He couldn’t do anything to stop me now.

              So far she hadn’t responded to my screaming, but unexpectedly I saw her own anger flare up in her eyes. Taking me by surprise she shoved me back, sending me flying into the opposite wall, “HOW COULD YOU?” she screamed back at me, “YOU LEFT! We all thought you were dead, we mourned for you! But instead you had just decided to run away with him! We thought you were dead, DEAD Jadeine! You left me, you own sister without a single word, and Father! He was never the same!”

              After I had pulled myself up I simply stood and stared at her, renewed guilt washing through me. I had always regretted leaving them; I had just never anticipated it would have such a dramatic affect. Although I wasn’t sure I could bring myself to forgive her for the death of our father, I couldn’t blame her. After all; I would have killed him myself if William hadn’t have stopped me. I watched as the anger slowly drained from her features to be replaced by a kind of exhausted sadness, finally she spoke again, her voice shockingly soft after the shouting. “Why?”

              I wasn’t sure if she was asking me why I left, or why I didn’t tell her, or why I allowed myself to be turned into this creature but my answer was simple;

“I loved him.” and I had, I had loved William with all of my heart. If I was truthful with myself I still did, despite the fact that now I loved Jamie too. But William was gone, dead and I knew he wasn’t coming back. She looked saddened by my words, and slowly nodded to herself, accepting my answer. I couldn’t hold the curiosity that was building in me any longer, “Beatrice, Bee… what happened to you?”

Abruptly her features turned hard as she buried any emotion that she was feeling, her voice was cold;

“I made a mistake.” She paused considering whether to tell me or not before speaking, “when you left… at first Father mourned, but then suddenly he started… drinking. I didn’t find out why until a few months later, he told me one night when he was too out of it to care. It was after you… visited, he didn’t know how to cope with the knowledge of what you were.”