Untrustworthy

Chapter 10

"Vira?" Ureth's voice wakes her from the memory, "Are you okay?" His voice floats through the darkness. Everything blurs back into vision. She sees Ureth boredly awaiting their departure.

"Yea, I'm fine." She replies, shaking her head. Vira seats herself on the curb.

"Darling, you must stand. Sitting on the ground is almost appallingly uncivilized." He stares down at her. She emerses herself in thought, replaying her vision over and over again in her head. There must be some technicality, some loophole. Of course, she kind of screwed herself over by not actually reading the contract, then again, she'd never even seen it. In fact... "That's it!" She shouts in joy.

"What's it?" Ureth growls, hoping she hadn't come up with a way out of it.

"If you recall, prince, on the day of the signing, who exactly was there?" She asks, a clever smirk on her face.

"Well, you and I of course..." He pauses, thinking for a moment. "Then there was your King and Leo, of course, why?"

"Can you remember what the King said to Leo?"

"He yelled at his son for being late, then informed Leo that he had legal business to take care of, after that he said that your prince would have to sign you away..." Ureth trails off, his eyes flying open in realization, then relaxing. "So what if it wasn't you that signed the contract? The signature still stands whether it's yours or not."

"But you know who signed the contract, correct?"

"Yes." He confirms, "Leo."

"Yes, it was Leo who signed the document that bound me to you." She stands, slowly making her way back to the house. They haven't gone far, she's able to open the door and still find the two friends standing there in disappointment. They look up to see her; Vira grins to Knithe, opening her arms. He jogs to her, wrapping his arms around her happily. "It was Leo. Leo was the one who signed the contract!" She giggles to him in excitement.

"What of it?" Ureth stalks up to the pair, Knithe puts up a hand to stop the on-coming vamp.

"Leo is dead." He grins, "The contract is void."

"What? It can't be!" The prince's jaw falls, "Fine, have it your way. I leave you with this, dearest Vira," He glares heavily at the couple, "I will have you, one way or another." He turns then, storming from the room. Everyone cheers, only Vira keeps her demeanor, watching him warily and pondering his last words. She feels Knithe's lips on her cheek; she turns to just stare at his smiling face, sliding her arms around him as he has her.

"Finally! I have you! There's no one that can stand in our way now!" He kisses her once on the lips quickly, then pausing, he frowns to her silence. "Is there?" He asks carefully. Vira only glances to Knithe, then back to Ureth. Knithe understands, but he isn't afraid. Knithe's arms pulls from around her; he slips from her grip, she watchs him as he stomps up to Ryan.

"How could you let him in?" He yells,

"I didn't trust Vira!" Ryan retorts. Vira feels insulted, glaring at Ryan.

"What do you mean?" Knithe asks, his voice calming.

"Ureth came here looking for Vira, when I told him she was out, he asked if he could wait for her." Pat explains, "I let him, wanting to know what this guy wanted with your Vira or what she might have wanted with him. He told me that they knew each other from childhood, but I swear I didn't know they were engaged!" Knithe turns to Vira to see how she's taking all of this. He sees her hurt expression and rushes to cheer her.

"Hey, look, it's not you, that's just how Ryan is..." He stumbles swiftly to make up for his friend's mistake,

"No... No, it's fine." She stops him, holding a hand up, not allowing him to come any closer. "I think I just need to take a walk." She swivels on her heel, now facing the door and stomps out.

The sun rises over the buildings, painting the sky a blood red to show that it was dawn. Vira sits atop the roof of a skyscraper, watching the clouds move, her feet dangling over the edge and touching nothing. It feels nice, like she's floating, especially the breeze that caresses her every now and again. Not a single sound catches her ears but the twittering of the morning birds. She sighs, a part of her wishing to get her old life back. She was alone, no weird feelings, Leo would never have caught her, Ureth would never have found her with her constant moving, and best of all, Knithe would have felt no pain because of her. Perhaps she can get that life back, but then she thinks of what she'd be giving up. All the work that they put into it, all the times Knithe risked his life, it will have all been in vain. Then again, she needs to find her sister. After all, Mira is out here somewhere, looking for her. She toys with the golden tiara that she pulls from her leather belt. It shines in the sun's light. She grips it tightly, her head bowed, eyes closed, her mind flooding with painful memories. Vira pulls herself up, jumping down from the building. She lands on her feet in a crouched position, glancing around to see if anyone had spotted her. After seeing the city is empty, she runs towards her old forest home.

Vira arrives at the old cabin, staring at the point of it's roof for a moment. She then turns her eyes to the door, entering slowly. She feels an odd presence, both familiar and yet, new at the same time. She gazes around slowly, scanning the room for any life. She hears a sigh from the other room, her old room, the room her mother died in. She flees to that room, stopping immediately in the doorway, eyes widening at the sight. There, on the floor, with a smug grin on her face, is her twin. Vira opens her mouth, but with all of her confused emotions, she can't even think of the words to say.

"Morning, Vira." Mira stands, putting a hand on her hip. She still wears the black suit of the warriors in her original monarchy. Vira walks forward slowly, still unable to say anything. She can only stare at the ground, is this really her sister? The one she hasn't seen in thirteen years? She asks herself, stopping right in front of the figure. Vira looks up to her mirror image, the only difference being the jet black hair. She lifts her left hand slowly, stroking a single finger down her sister's face. Her lower lip shivers, as though she's actually about to cry. She flings herself forward, throwing her arms around Mira.

"Praise God!" She shouts, "I've found you, at last!"

"What are you doing?" Mira shrieks, "Get off of me!" She lifts a hand, bringing it down upon her sister's face. Vira falls to the ground,

"B-but sister..." Vira's hopes crumble, her dreams crashing. "What's wrong, Mira? Don't you still love your old sister?"

"No! Of course not! Why would you need my love? Everyone else loves you!" She snarls.

"What do you mean?" Vira asks, lifting herself from the ground.

"Leo chose you over me!" Mira crosses her arms, "Why wouldn't he have me? I look just like you! What makes you so special? Because you're the good one of us? Stupid man! That's the very reason you left the monarchy!" She bares her fangs, "You wasted it! You wasted his love! The love he could've spent more wisely on me! The whole time your were building up Leo's love to waste, you wasted Ureth's love as well! Afterwards, when you left the monarchy, they offered me to Ureth and he still rejected me though you'd done the same to him his entire life! Even mother loved you more! You never got into trouble! It was always me!" She booms, Vira can only stare. After a long moment, Vira closes her eyes, bowing her head and tightening her fists.

"Fine then, sister, if you feel that way. I won't let you continue to spread your evil!" Her eyes fly wide, fire captured in her pupils.

"Ah, but Vira, I'm committing evil right now." Mira grins,

"What?" Vira's eyes narrow in suspicion,

"I was sent here by Ureth to distract you while he destroyed your little boyfriend." She falsely cooes, cackling. Vira's heart slows, she feels sweat begin to bead on her forehead.

"Knithe." She whispers breathlessly,

"That's right," Mira nods, "Ureth and I ran into each other on his way back to the fortress. Together, we easily came up with a plan, I could distract you while he could kill Knithe." She grins, "As Ureth saw it, we both won, he could have you and I could watch you suffer, just as you've made me suffer. The one thing Ureth didn't take into account, was your independent nature. He thinks that you feel you need a man to survive, but I know you, Vira, you can stand on your own." Her eyebrows furrow, she bears her claw-like fingernails that could grow on command, as Vira's could. "He believes that if Knithe's out of the picture, you'll need him to keep living. You did me a favor by not letting him get to know you, that played right into my plan. You'll refuse to be Ureth's even after he rids Knithe from the picture, won't you?" She asks. Vira will seem weak if she says no, but she'll be dancing right into her sister's claws if she said yes. She only stands there, staring at the floor. "I asked you a question!" Mira shouts, "Answer me!" Her growl falls. Vira nods slowly, she can't deny that she'd never fall into the arms of the man who'd killed her love. "So this works out even better for me. He kills Knithe, I kill you, and Ureth is left alone and loveless. I get to see you all suffer." Mira giggles in delight at the thought of their pain.

"You won't see any of us suffer!" Vira shrieks, shoving her sister and running from the cabin. She has to save Knithe. How could Mira treat her sister in such a way in the comfort of such a sacred place? The house, the very room where their mother died and Mira raves and rants about how she wants to watch her sister suffer? Vira rips through the forest at an unrealistic speed to both human and vampire. She can't let Knithe die, it's her turn to rescue him. She feels a searing heat on her feet; she glances down to see that she was melting the rubber on her shoes. She tears them off, tossing them with such power that when they hit the wall of concrete a building, it dents. One shoe clings to the brick of the building with it's tar, the other sticks for a moment, then beginning to fall. Before the shoe hits the ground, Vira is gone.

Vira arrives at a horrid scene. Ryan lay on the floor, unconscious and bloody, sitting in a corner of the living room. All except for Knithe, who stands but three feet from Ureth. Both are crouched, hissing and snarling at each other, readying for battle.

"Stop!" She screams. They both quit their positions and turn their eyes to her.

"Vira, go!" Knithe orders, pointing to the door.

"No, Vira, stay." Ureth grins calmly, "I'm glad you're here." He approaches her slowly, she clenched her fists. "Oh Vira, I don't want to fight you." He jumps forward once, landing right in front of her. She takes a few steps back. Knithe lurches forward, but Ureth turns quickly and delivers a spinning kick to the face. He falls to the ground, pain jabbing at all areas in his face. His vision is blurred, the only person in the room he can see even semi-clearly is Vira.

"Knithe!" Vira shrieks, trying to rush to him. Ureth grips her arms; he yanks them behind her and holds them in place. "Let go!" Her screech pierces the night air, "Get off of me!" She struggles against the vampire prince's grasps

"Nice to see you again, Vira." Mira appears from the dark hallway,

"You!" Vira spits, "What are you doing? What's going on?" She snarls, trying to rip herself from Ureth's grip, but to no avail.

"Oh yea, you remember what I told you before? Back in the cabin?" Mira asks, "It was all a lie. Except for the part where the prince and I met and came up with a plan to ruin your life, that was true. You see, our actual plan was this: Ureth holds you back, while I kill Pete." She grins grimly, "I knew that when I told you our false plan, you wouldn't bother with me and you'd try to go save your boyfriend. That's why I didn't try so hard to keep you from running back home. Ureth wasn't going to kill anyone, he was only going to fake it, then hold you back when you arrived. Aren't we brilliant?" Mira asks, giggling slightly. "Now I get to see you and your boyfriend suffer. I have no interest in hurting my son-to-be King, Ureth."

"No! You're sick and demented!" Vira shouts, gazing helplessly at a nearly unconscious Knithe.

"Why thank you, love." Ureth kisses her on the cheek, Vira jerks her head away from his lips. Mira leans down, grabbing a handful of Knithe's hair and pulling his head up by it. He lets out a low groan,

"Oh Pete." Vira whimpers miserably, her body shaking all over. Mira lifts his head up about two and a half feet, pulling a bit of his lifeless torso from it's rest as well, then shoves his face into her knee as hard as physically possible. "No!" Vira screams, "Why?"

"The reason you're here?" Ureth asks, "We wanted you to watch, just to make you suffer a tiny bit more." He chuckled, "Just as you made me suffer when we were small!"

"You liked that, eh?" Mira asks Ureth, "How about this?" She shoves her foot into his side as hard as she can. Knithe cries out in pain,Vira writhes in agony. Mira and Ureth laugh with delight. "Now, for the main attraction." Mira lifts his head again, holding her fingertips on his neck.

"No! What are you going to do?" Vira shrieks, "Leave him alone!" She yanks and pulls at her arms, kicking Ureth relentlessly.

"You waste your energy." He growls,

"Then I'll do so 'til I have none!" She feels herself slipping from his hands lightly. She focuses all of her strength, concentrating on just getting away from Ureth. With all of herself, she yanks her body one last time, freeing herself from his grasp.

"Get back here!" He stumbles after her,

"No!" Vira flicks her hands, making her fingernails grow. She whips around, slicing them through his neck. He stands for a moment, blinks twice, then his head comes tumbling off his shoulders. It falls to the floor, the eyes lifeless. His body falls down after it, landing with a thud. The pool of blood between his head and his body creeps out slowly. She turns, but the sight stuns her. Mira has already plunged her nails through Vira's love. Mira smiles, pulling her nails upward. A sickening ripping noise echoes through the chasm that Vira's mind has now become, followed by cracking. His throat's skin tears jaggedly, revealing his pale insides. His bones bend and snap as Mira's fingernails rip through them. Knithe is dying. Vira screeches, speeding toward Mira in a fit of rage. She pushes her nails into Mira's chest, lifting her with all the strength of her anger and planting her against the wall. "I've spent my entire life searching for you, trying to protect you." Vira growls lowly, glaring into the face of her dark-haired mirror. Her sister's jaw drops, choking noises eroding from her throat. Her eyes are wide with shock and agony. "I loved you." Vira twists her claws, hearing her bones crackling. "I just wanted you and I to be a happy family and you do this to me!" She shoves her nails in deeper, Mira lets out a light, raspy gasp. "It's over, dearest Mira." She rips her nails from her sister's chest, watching as she falls to the ground. She lay on her stomach, trying to regain her energy. Vira lifts her foot, slamming it down on Mira's skull. She feels it crack beneath her, a noise sounding eerily close to a tree toppling over fills the room. "I love you." Vira whispers to the now dead girl below her. She turns her back on her sister, looking to her dying love. She slowly steps over to his mangled body. He chokes and coughs, trying to speak. "Shhh, Knithe." She whispers, "I love you too." She kneels down to him, tears streaming from her eyes as she bestows upon him, one last kiss.