~Emily~



'Emily, where are you going?" Rowan's voice came again, as he gently approached me.


'I'm going to rescue my sister. She's going to die if I don't rescue her" I said, a tinge of self doubt evident, gradually creeping in me.



I really didn't think much through it, I was just overwhelmed by emotions, clouding my decision.

How am I supposed to rescue Steph from a whole kingdom of vampires by myself.


But Steph! I can't let her go. I'd rather die trying to save her than sit and watch my sister go further away from me.


'Smiley, you can't rescue Steph by yourself. Come on, let's go in and have a drink"


'NO! Rowan I'm going" I said confidence renewed in me.

'I'm going and you can't stop me, you're either coming or not.

If you really love Steph, you might want to be come"

I turned away from Rowan as I walked away from the castle.

'Emily! Wait" Rowan's voice came again. I reluctantly turned to him, he was running in my direction.

'OK, I'll come with you," Rowan said. 'But first you need to eat something, your face looks pale. We move at midnight, that way no one is aware of our movement, OK?"


I hesitated to answer, waiting till midnight might be too much of a stretch for me, but I really need Rowan to come with me.

'OK" I said, shaking my head gently.


As much as I hated it, Rowan was right, I needed a light rest and a good meal. My body was like a massive burden to me. And if I have any shot of rescuing my sister, I need to be healthy as ever.


'You can skip training today, I'll just tell Zayne you're not feeling too well, he'll understand"


'OK, buddy, thanks for helping me" I gave a gentle hug. I was really grateful to Rowan for helping me. I know a part of him is doing was doing this to get Steph to fall for him but I really didn't mind it, I was still grateful"


'I'll come over later and we'll set out to rescue my sister" Rowan whispered to my ear as I broke the hug.

I headed back to my room, collapsing on my bed.

My body was weary, it needed rest but my mind was still too troubled to sleep.

Who knows what they could be doing to her? I shut my eyes to sleep but all I could see was Steph in tears, chained up like a criminal. Her sweet laughter was replaced by screams of agony and pain.

'NO!" My eyes blew open, as I sat upright from my bed.

My breathing was heavy and I placed my hand over my chest.


I can't afford to sleep when all I see is Steph going through hell.


Emily, you can't afford to blame yourself for everything that happens to Steph.


A still voice reached my ears, its tone was very familiar.

'Mom?"

I looked around my room, but I was just to myself.

Emily I'm only in your head. You can't carry the burden for everything, you can't always prevent something from happening to her. But the best you can do is try to fix it however you can.

I believe you!


Mom's voice faded away, leaving me with something to really think about.

I felt a massive burden lifted off my shoulders.

But now more than ever I knew I had to do something to rescue Steph from the vampire kingdom.

But for now, I laid flat on my bed, my eyes gently closed, my heart now a bit at peace.


KNOCK

KNOCK


A loud knock on my door faintly reached my ears.

My eyes fluttered open. I stood up from my bed, my mind was still clouded, as everything around me was dazed.

KNOCK

KNOCK

The knock came again and this time more loudly snapping me out almost back to reality.


Everything clicked back to me.

'Steph!"

I rushed to the window and pulled away the curtains.

There was pitch darkness in the sky. I glanced at the clock hung on the wall, squinting my eyes to see it through the darkness that covered my room.

It read 11:47 pm. It's almost time.


'Emily, it's Rowan!"

Rowan's voice came from outside my door. I rushed to open it.

'Hey, sorry I slept off"

I realised he had been the one knocking repeatedly on my door.

'It's no problem, Emily. So you're better now, right?"

Rowan said, keeping his voice very low.


'Yes I am"


'Okay so I'll go through the base plan. We'll take the shirt route to the vampire kingdom that leads us to the back.

From the last time we were there, they had only two guards at the castle entrance.

I'll take both of them out!"

Rowan said as Iistened carefully.


'Then it'll be a free way to the castle, OK!"


'Okay I got that" I responded sharply.


'OK let's go"

We stepped out of my room as we made our way out of the castle premises.

The whole castle was silent and empty, so our footsteps had to be very cautious to prevent making any noise.

We quickened our steps once we were past the castle, we had to leave as fast as possible before anyone sees us.


We reached the stables just outside the castle. There were about a dozen horses present at the stables.

We decided to take just a single one. We stripped up the horse and got on it. Rowan was to ride it while I sat behind him.


We rode on our horses through the night But despite the situation at hand,I couldn't help but admire the beautiful stars that hung above us.

We rode into the dark forest, shadows lingering at every corner.

I cling tightly to Rowan, as fear grips me. The last time I went anywhere near this forest was when I got kidnapped by the rogue lycans, the bad memories still fresh in my mind.


My heart raced, as we heard distant howls from Lycans.

I shut my hard, praying they don't come after us.

'It's gonna be alright Emily" Rowan's words relieved my weary heart a bit.

Not long after we were almost past the forests, and the vampire kingdom was almost in sight, an evil fortress draped in darkness.

Rowan brought the horse to a halt.

'Are you ready Emily?" Rowan asked in genuine concern, but yet assuring.

'Yes I am" I answered doubt lingering in my mind.

As we approached the castle gates, the air around us turned cold, the scent of blood thickened.

'Phew!"

I took a deep breath.

'We'll get her back" I said, a sudden fire ignited in me.

'Yes we will," Rowan nodded his head.

We easily rode past their markets, farms and towns, there was not a single vampire outside their homes.

We then reached for the castle.

Rowan gently stripped the horse to a nearby tree a few distance away from the vampire castle.

We walked the remaining metres on foot.

We hid behind a bush, adjacent to the gate of the vampire castle.

'Okay, you stay here, I'll take out the two guards at the front"

Rowan took the brave step, as he cautiously approached the guards from their left, while I remained hidden behind the bushes.


His movements were silent and silk, he reached a fair distance from them without them even knowing.

And with a large swipe of his massive hand, he took one of the guards out, his body dropping flat on the ground.

He quickly placed his hands, across the lips of the other, stopping him from calling out the attention of anyone from the castle.

He struggled vigorously for air, hsi body shaking vibrantly. But Rowan's massive grip was unwavering.

His eyes began to flutter, as he struggled to breath. And soon his eyes shut gently. Rowan laid him flat on the ground along with the vampire he knocked out cold.

With no waste in emotion, he brought them to another bush, concealing their bodies from anyone. He then used a thick brown rope, its surfaces harsh, to tie up their hands and legs and even their mouths stripped too as well.


'Come on, Emily let's go!" Rowan called me out from the bushes, his voice was as light as the wind.

But I was able to grasp what he said.

He walked up to meet him. Together we entered the castle premises.

We walked cautiously through the castle hallway.

It's our shift, Moss. Come on, if Vodka finds you slacking off you're dead meat.


Distant voices reached my ears, they were just around the corner.

We had to hide somewhere.

Rowan grabbed my hand and pulled me over to hide by a wall. It caused a soft yet audible noise.

'What was that?" One of the guards said, as he turned in our direction.

He gently walked up to our direction.

My heart was pounding intensely, I shut my eyes just whispering prayers to myself.


He was just a few steps away from us. 'Michael, come here!"

His partner called him, causing him to stop in his movement.

He stood there for a few moments staring at the wall, his brows furrowed.

'Bro, now!" His partner's voice came again.


'Maybe it's just rats" he scoffed as he turned away and walked up to his partner.


I breathe a huge sigh of relief, we just escaped sudden death maybe. We waited till they were a large distance away from us before continuing.

'But now that we were in the Castle premises, how do we find where Steph is?"

I said to Rowan, causing him to brainstorm.

'I know where they keep prisoners. Steph might be there"

'Where Rowan" I asked impatiently, there was an uneasy feeling about their castle. I just wanted to get Steph and leave as quickly as possible.

'Last room at the upstairs hallway" He immediately took my hand as we took the stairs.

We tried to be as silent as possible in our movements.

We walked past every room without any problems until it was one left between us and the prison cell.

'Emily, wait we have to be careful about this room"

Rowan said in his feint voice as he held me back from passing.

'This here is Vadka's room, the vampire king.

He can smell Lycans from a distance away. He'll definitely know we're here"


'I'm going alone then" I said without thinking too much. I was willing to take the risk for the sake of my sister.

'Are you sure, Emily?" Rowan asked. I nodded in reply.

'Okay take the keys,I took them off the guard I knocked out, one of them should be for the prison"

Rowan handed a bunch of keys.

'Phew!" I took a deep breath before going. I tried to walk as silent as possible, my steps were very light and silk.

I carefully walked past Vadka's room as I continued to the prison cell.

The room had a narrow passage which led me to a dark underground room.

'Steph?" I called out into the darkness, my voice very faint.

'Emily?" Steph replied, her voice cracking.

'Yes, sister!"

I walked over to where the voice came from, squinting my eyes trying to see Steph.


'I'm getting you out sis" I found her cell, as I jingled the keys, trying to find the one for her cell.

'Yes!" I finally got, opening the cell as Steph walked out.

Her face was pale, her body was feeble, her dry lips lunged for water.

She opened her arms for a warm hug, forgetting all the bad blood and hatred she once bore for me.

'Come on let's get out of here" I held her hand as we ran out of the prison cell. We carefully crossed Vadka's room, but this time our steps quickened a bit.

'Come on Rowan let's go" We met up with Rowan and carried on.

We tried our best to run away as fast possible but also as silent as night.


We were almost out! The empty large fields are just some footsteps.

'Get them!"

A stern voice ordered and then a strong hand grabbed me tightly from behind.