Chapter 7 Ask And Tell

What did you say to me, brother? ...

Dmitri, standing at the arch frame, with his knuckles closed and numbing. I was pinned against the fridge by Lannister when he showed up. Intensity looms for about a moment, squaring one another. Then with one flick of a second, a sudden feel of movement emerged. Dmitri appeared beside us and grabbed Lannister's arm out of me.

Lannister looked at him very unpleased, saying, "Oh well if it isn't my young brother, your intimidation doesn't frighten me, what will you do? Scare me to death?" He defied.

Without warning, Dmitri kicked Lannister right onto the stomach, lunging him across the room but then he swiftly got over him by the middle of the room and grabbed Lannister mid-air, punching him right to the jaw and sending him right out of the open courtyard outside and smashing the double door as he flies out. It was so quick that I almost didn't see it coming, I ran out following them both as Dmitri came out to the courtyard to give his older brother another wake-up call. Amongst the wreckage and the dusty smog, Dmitri shouted;

"How dare you insult me! You emasculate lowlife, it was surely an expectation such as yourself no doubt but this is beyond your calling ... Where are you and face me!" He angrily said.

The dusty fog has settled and Lannister, kneeled down and holding his abdomen, lays still and recovering from the unexpected tussle. Dmitri eyes on him, all dark crimson aura radiates out and he goes saying;

"Pathetic, this is what you berate me for? Underestimation won't get you nowhere and look at you now, how weak when physique talks rather than your putrid mouth with no action ... I should've expected less of you to do what you said against me, I endured those confrontations of our banter, but I have to admit the human have bested you, a total stranger feeling sympathy and concern without second thought ... It made me admit to myself that I undoubtedly despise you now more than ever and I'm fed up with this quarrel ... then let's dwell on this one and for all and I'm going to kill you for it!" Dmitri said and ran as fast as he could towards him.

All of the sudden, Dmitri stopped mid-step and fell to the ground, beginning to twitch and turn with his limbs and arms flailing out of proportion. His veins are seen, showing off a dark line all across his pale skin, kneeling down and crying in pain, Lannister laughs as he stands up with his arm directly pointed at him, now his dark bluish aura emanated. I started to approach to help but Lannister looked at me menacingly and said;

"Uh uh, where do you think you're going, Hm? If you dare even lay a single finger on him, you'll suffer more than he is, that is if you preferred a certain immediate death sentence yourself... Unlike Dmitri here, natural evolution plays a key role here, you see Vampirs have powers called hex, and my hex is not just healing but quite the opposite, an incantation of ebony ... See my brother here as an example" Lannister said.

I watch in trepidation as Dmitri holds on as far as he can from Lannister's corruption, resisting as long as he could. The inhumane suffering he's going through at the hand of his brother, fueled by dread and pride, he might kill him if this persists longer.

"Let him go, stop this Lannister, you're going to kill him if this continues" I protest.

He laughs, slowly approaching and said, "How gullible, you should know human, you have no upper hand on saying your negotiables as one high Vampir is upon your presence, I might blame you though, this would've happened if you surrender your body and dignity to me rather than eyeing for my imbecilic younger brother over here who I might say am quite impressed how he continued to hold on for dear immortality ... I should give you due credit brother but ... I'm on high ground compare to you"

Lannister upends his hex, strengthening his grip of power against Dmitri. As it intensified, his body twitched and retracted disproportionately, making me sick and powerless. That jerk likes what he's seeing, the suffering he witness, and the others aren't here to counter out this torture. His eyes linger on me, continuingly walking towards me. He's coming back for what he started with his brother pinned down and helpless, I'm in trouble.

Dmitri fights back, he somehow able to look back at me and mouthed that I should hurry out of here but I replied unwillingly to do so. I took my ounce of pride out and stand firm, saying;

"I see how it is, after all the things you've said, it's made clear that you're just jealous and a bully to your brother and couldn't stand a fair fight to be bested 2 times ahead, this is all fair and game for you and this makes it proof of it all, I'm not afraid of you even if I'm standing to no end of guaranteeing to live after this ... And just so you know you'll regret if Eleanore and Sebastian finds out about this!" I said as I was about to shout for help when ...

Lannister laughs rather deranged, stopping me from calling out how disturbing his tone came. His expression changed dramatically, showing of a meaner side of him, he speaks directly as me, saying;

"Defy me rather all you want but be cautious of what you'll do next, human ... You're dead before you even gesture to open your mouth to shout for help ... Rightly so, be corrupted so oblivion I find Eleanore will approve of this but I prefer to slowly see my dear dimwit little brother die by own hex and be rid of the great bloodline he doesn't deserve to have then I'll come for ... YOU!" He said, with the last word resounded rather devilishly.

Surprisingly, Dmitri tried to reach out, crawling slowly towards us and said, "Theodore, don't call Eleanore I beg of you ..." He pleaded.

I don't have much choice, I steadily step back as Lannister persists to move forward, Dmitri's smug smile shows, mocking Lannister as he sees him, saying, "You're definitely underestimating me right now, brother ... Such doggedness of stupidity beseechs you" He said.

"I don't believe the ante is on your side, young brother so how are you able to speak such idiocy?" Lannister asked.

Dmitri chuckles despite resisting his painful suffering, saying, "Well, by doing THIS! ..."

Out of nowhere, with a quick flash, Dmitri cast out the hex of Lannister for about a moment, an opening which the bastard was unprepared for and without warning, Dmitri grasped his powers out before his older brother could, turning the tables for him. I stood in shock as Dmitri was able to stand as he could while holding Lannister in his control, seeing him empty looking, twitching crazily and like a shell of his former self. Lannister's hand raises high and casts a healing hex on Dmitri. Afterwards, he steps away a few distance near to me and preparing himself to a payback, with his words chanting in Latin, Dmitri runs fast with his foot raised in the air and with a blink of an eye, Lannister was kicked straight out over the edge of the cliffside, pummeling to his doom down the rocky depths below.

Dmitri turns back to look at me, showing off a small smile but the triumph was shortly celebrated when at the cliffside, a rumble erupts and Lannister swoops up, all wet and dangerously determined from his antagonizing look towards Dmitri to kill him, from limb to limb.

Lannister lunges to the air towards Dmitri, as he confronts him the same, with both of them going to collide to their full force of power. The place starts to change, more unilluminated as they inch towards collision. I crouched down and closed my eyes, preparing myself for a shocking impact when ...

"STOP THIS FOOLISHLY CHILDISH SCRIMMAGE AT ONCE!"

I open my eyes and see Eleanore levitating in the air, her powers rather at full momentum. All around me, time moves still and much of the grassy outside garden is torn and destroyed. I was floating in mid air just inches of the ground as the Countess, in her full power, held Dmitri and Lannister in the air, trying hard to relinquish themselves off her grasp.

"SUCH A DISGRACE for both of you, to use your hexes against your own kin is a crucial transgression and should be severely punishable by death! You both wanted to kill each other so badly then ... I might give you your wishes, be damned with both of you!" She furiously said, eyes all gleaming auburn.

The power she possess, no wonder he's the head of the house for a reason, a much prodigy herself. Eleanore saw me and cede her power that's affecting me, descending to the ground and able to move freely. Calmly as I go, I approach her, she meets my gaze, saying;

"Theodore, behold my full extent of my hex, a demonstration to remind of how one repeatedly disobeys, defames authority or rump up discourse of insubordination for violating sacred law will transpire if provoked, and seeing my own kin broke such covenant upon the high creed of the house will land them both a punishment worthy for them ... which is permanent DEATH!" She said in defiance to me.

Eleanore let's go of her brothers as they fall down to the ground. With quick motion, she levels with them and approaches Lannister, right then and there, Eleanore gives him a painful kick to the stomach followed by a series of punches from all parts of his body. After him, she then crosses her eyes to Dmitri and gives him the same thrashing as she did earlier. Down and weakened, Eleanore brandishes a dagger, never have I seen before and made the two brothers wince at the sight of it.

She held it up high to be seen by all and said, "Death is both you wish to entail to one another, then I'll have the honors to do it for you ... Starting with you, Lannister" With one quick motion, she levitates over to him as she raises Lannister off the ground, the dagger right to the skin where his heart is.

I ran towards them, raising my hand to stop her and said, "Eleanore, don't do it, refrain yourself! It isn't worth it"

Eleanore glared at me, fury in her eyes and said, "How dare you! Why should I stop myself from honoring their wishes? They lay this upon themselves to do such travesty, so human, give me one good reason why I should spare them, especially this ingrate who should I recall gave his word of threatening to kill you and furthermore forcing to abuse you without consent?" She said.

I took a deep breath, looking straight into her eyes and said;

"It isn't right, even though they did something wrong, their family and if what they did is mundane and reckless, family should be forgiven and be shown another chance to change rather than resort to physical confrontation or in your case, death ... I sympathize for them, they're brothers, your siblings and I somewhat relate to them because I have an older sibling at home and if we got into some sort of fight, we bicker and argue but in the end we resolve our problem and apologize ... "

"If you kill them, then you'll lose something important, even Vampirs who are undeniably unfazed, believe it or not, humans and your kind are not that far off similar in showing emotion, case being said you'll correct me later that I'm wrong ... Losing family takes a toll even for you, with them dead, you'll be alone in the empty walls of the manor, with just Sebastian ... That's why I shouted for you to stop, to avoid making a big mistake, one that will never cease the point of no return ..."

"In the case of that jerk who's going to force me into something I'm against to, he has problems that needs addressing, but I don't see death as a solution and he only needs to talk to someone about it and fix the situation he's having ... which is with Dmitri. It's a simple sibling rivalry, a common occurrence even Vampirs aren't immune to. So, spare the bastard, I feel he learnt his lesson by now, he's just misguided ... So please, Countess Eleanore" I said.

She looks at Lannister and Dmitri carefully, eyeing them for just a few moments then the brothers slowly descend down the grass, Eleanore descends down afterwards with her powers steadily dissipating. She glares at the brothers who's still shaken from their close verge of death, then she looks at me rather fine, saying;

"What a strange human you are Theodore, very strange indeed ... You seemed to unexpectedly surprise me without warning by your humanistic demeanor ... You should know, in Vampir society, munities such as this kind are not to be tolerated and be put into execution without fair judgement, hence why there's only a collective of high houses standing, a survival of the fittest if you will ... But, you did have a good point even though I'm against it, arguments aside ... I'll let this bypass for now and be on my way, letting Sebastian know that there's another slew of damages needed for repairs" She grimaces at the mess been made and strides off inside.

Looking back at Dmitri and Lannister, their auras are slowly sipping out again, I approach them and see them eye to eye. They ease their shoulders, both of them backing down. I smug smiled and said, "Good, I talked her out of it so jinxed it and not repeat that horror display of your sister ever again, lucky for you both she listened to me and I'm a human"

Both of them are silent but I know they see my point with Dmitri, commenting, "Even though I don't agree completely on most occasions but Theodore, I somewhat agree with you even though I dislike it but I had to" He said.

"Agreed, no kidding" Lannister said, who chimed in. Dmitri glares at him as he just shrugs back.

We were just standing there, looking at the surrounding damages ensued as Sebastian came in, taken aback by the destruction as he looked at us, saying;

"What on earth inside the mantle's core, the Countess isn't speaking tongue, this vandalization ... It's unbearable to watch, YOU TWO be happy she didn't eradicate you both and bend the rules for both of you, THIS kind of carnage WILL NOT happen again in this manor, are we clear?" He said rather angrily.

The brothers nod at him, he approaches closer and looked at me, in a quick change to a rather fine mood, saying;

"Theodore, Eleanore has quite taken a liking to you, never to mention that in front of her and you did something new in this manor that I never thought might happen, I solemnly give your wit and valor a high praise as such ... And I also came here to recite a message for you and the brothers, quoting 'Hence damages are estimated and in need of immediate repairs, the ballroom is unfitted to continue our today's activity, with consideration and level of stress followed, I Eleanore postpone the activity today and be it dismissed immediately, furthermore it will resume tomorrow at the other open gardens at first morning', so you three at free to go" He said.

Sebastian excuses himself and heads off inside. As I look at him go, I glance back and see Dmitri giving me a pensive look and said, "Theodore, may I ask if all of what you said earlier, inside the kitchen and otherwise are true and not just an elaborate excuse to emancipate yourself out of extreme harms way? To put it simply in human words, 'to save your bacon out of the fire'?" He said, looking at me with a critical eye.

I nodded without hesitation and said, "Yeah, everything is 100% true, even though I said some harmful things back then because of the way you treated me verbally and or interactively, it doesn't change my perspective of mine to regret saving you, it's quite the opposite actually ... So even if you're a supernatural being or a regular human, if someone needs help then I'll come to aid who's in need, disregarding my own safety if I had to" I said to him.

After saying my piece, Dmitri just squarely stares back, pondering my answer in deep thought. I don't know why he's asking that sort of thing but I don't mind answering, as long as he doesn't lash out again and get Eleanore in a more bad mood again. A few moments later he replied;

"Theodore, since we're dismissed early by Eleanore, why don't you join me back to the tower from last time, hang around, grab something to entertain sumptuously and spend the afternoon throughout without disturbance ... And to recall, you disrespectfully slept whilst I'm talking to you, to justify you having the obligation to requite your mistake and also having me carry your flesh of weight back to your room ... Furthermore, this is a form of invitation, nothing more and means nothing else" Dmitri said.

"Ofcourse, sure and why not, right? Since it is a personal invitation after all" I said.

Dmitri sighs and started walking towards inside the kitchen, I was about to follow him when Lannister clears his throat, getting my attention, I glance at him and I think he was about to say something but Dmitri who's already nearby the kitchen entrance, shouted for me to come and ignores his brother, not even recognizing him there. I shouted back that I'm coming and left, I looked back to Lannister one last time and I gave him a small smile before retreating inside, leaving him there by himself.

With food in hand, we head to the tower to enjoy our afternoon. This will be a new experience considering Dmitri personally invited me by asking, which is different from the last time so I'll have to see how this goes.

It's early afternoon and Dmitri and I are hanging out at the tower, while I was trying to get a signal for my phone, Dmitri is getting something to drink downstairs. Moments past and still can get a single bar to send a quick overseas message for my parents, the young and grumpy Vampir enters the room with a very elegant looking glass pitcher with this strange liquid and lemon slices bopping about inside it. I was very invested in getting a signal that I didn't even notice him getting inside.

As he settles down the glass pitcher nearby, he notices me frantically moving about the room and said, "Theodore, is there something a matter with you? You're holding out that contraption and should I be worried about it? OR in any case get all defensive?" Dmitri said, preparing his fight stance.

I chuckled at his remark and without further success gave up flailing my phone around high in the air, I replied, "No need to panic, I was just trying to get some signal for my 'contraption' which is called a smartphone ... a modern human device, well it isn't working so I better put this away before you blow a gasket" I said, taking a sit.

Dmitri, ever so confused, takes the pitcher and pours us some of the weird liquid, handing me one as he takes a sip in his. I was hesitant to drink it, knowing that people or characters are not human, except for Sebastian but still. He noticed my doubtful look at my glass and said;

"With all due respect, are you expressing dislikeness against my drink that I personally requested be made by Sebastian who he inquired to myself as he quoted, 'follow my fair instincts and he'll appreciate the special drink' with a guaranteed 'thumbs up' gesture ... He told me humans such as yourself liked this kind of beverage" Dmitri said, feeling offended at my refusal to take a sip of the drink.

I shook my head quickly and replied, "No don't get me wrong, I don't dislike your drink, it's just that ... I haven't drunk this kind of beverage that is very almost red-ish pink-ish colored liquid in my life and since your Vampirs, I apologize to speculate but I'm surmising this is ... human blood were or I going to drink" I said.

Dmitri scoffs and was aggravated by my comment, telling, "To correct your doubts for the drink I requested, this liquid is not human blood, Sebastian mentions and was correct of your frightened thought, the liquid in mention is as he tells me in every syllable, its red 'lem-on-ade' a special colored beverage that is popular in the country of Ireland"

Red lemonade? Never been to Ireland and if it's made by a half-human so I look at it and bravely take a sip and it was very delicious tasting. I gulped down half with Dmitri's smug all over his face.

"You see, even though I want to endanger you in a series of ways, but I never 'kid around' as you humans would understand ... And not to keep on track, you've been with us for 2 days now, trusting one another must start if we want to work on getting our curse be rid as soon as possible" Dmitri said, slightly fidgeting while taking his sip.

"Well if you put it that way then thanks for this redish - pinkish colored lemonade, it was a first good impression on me and I like how Sebastian made it as per your request, I appreciate the gesture" I said to him.

As we drink our red lemonade, I look around the room for the first time, seeing it more lit up and spectate the surroundings better. I was deeply invested in admiring the tower's items and aesthetics, I didn't realize Dmitri was talking and got mad at me for not paying attention. He was telling me something important and I apologize for spacing out due to being distracted by his escape room.

"... repeating myself, I'm saying is I humbly express my gratitude towards you as a form of a 'thank you' for handling my very temperamental older sibling earlier, I don't normally express this and this confrontation is already making me uncomfortable but a due to speak out myself towards you is in order, so 'thank you', Theodore" Dmitri expressed, giving a small nod.

"No problem ... I mean you're welcome Dmitri, so no sweat I mean I had to stand up and tell her what she needs to hear, I don't appreciate that kind of behavior towards you or anyone, human or Vampir so that's fine" I said, taking a sip of my almost empty cup.

He slightly smiles at himself and offers me to refill my cup. I gave it to him as he poured me my second drink. We were silent for a few minutes, admiring the cool wind and warm shade of the afternoon when Dmitri looks at me and infers remembering something.

"Theodore, I remember you owe me something, involving a participation of yourself being integrated into a form of a question that you shall answer truthfully and honestly, as compensation for sleeping whilst I'm speaking towards you" He said.

"Okay, I have nothing to hide and give my word of answering it fair and honest but as long as it's not a personal question, then I'll answer" I said.

"Alright, a very obedient approach, I'm starting to like your cooperation better and much happier to know your human secrets and eventually dooming your kind by telling me in honesty to what I'm about to ask you, what a disgrace for predestining humanity to armageddon by unveiling this secrets to me" Dmitri said, smiling giddily to himself.

Confused by what he just said, I'm ready to answer his question, even though I'm starting to get nervous to responding to it. And the questioning hasn't even started yet.

I'm just hoping the question is normal ...

Because, I feel it's going to be freaky.

I wish my hunch is wrong.