Chapter 38 - Beast of New Orleans

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'Camilla and her sister, Lillian Lewis, had a certain royal air about them. Very well mannered and kind even if her sister didn't look it. I had an encounter or two with Camilla in the local coffeehouse two blocks off the institute and there was some mutual attraction. Later it turned out it wasn't only between Camilla and I, but between my older brother Iden and Lillian as well. Because of our upbringing and etiquette, we asked the ladies to court them and they accepted.

Iden and Lillian were engaged to wed a month after I took Camilla as my wife. In a strange turn of events Camilla learned of my secret and like you, wasn't afraid. Instead she traded my secret for one of her own: immortality. I was right in describing the royal air as it turned out they were originally from Egypt; daughters of the last Pharaoh before the dynasty fell. Isis and Nefertiri were their names. When they left Egypt, they changed their names to protect themselves. Isis became Lillian and Nefertiri changed to Camilla. Since Iden was in the same situation as me, Camilla did not mind me telling this to him. Lillian, however, threw a fit at her. Camilla was all about trust and loyalty, which she now had to both Lillian and me. She would never be true to herself if she had kept something this important from me and she told Lillian this. Lillian left in a rage and cut all contact for almost a month, but seeing as they only had each other, she cooled off eventually and returned to the arms of my brother.

Another three months after that, Iden and I were to leave for business to a neighboring town. Camilla, as kindhearted and loving as she was, had offered herself to me to feed, so that I would not have to leave her alone that night to go hunt or get the urge and lose myself on the trip. We never told anyone of our arrangement, but I suspect Lillian knew. She treated her differently and always voiced her disappointment. Camilla and I developed a stronger connection because of the feeding. We grew closer… both physically and emotionally. Even my feeding had developed a new routine; I would feed from her one day and let her rest for a week to replenish what I took. I never took much from her; always stopped before she got dizzy.

She was happy; we were happy… but Lillian's disappointment got to her slowly. Camilla started getting depressed whenever she was alone. I asked her about it, but she denied it. For a moment I thought that maybe I was imagining it, because whenever I was there, the depression disappeared like snow in front of the sun… The day Iden and I left she waved us off with a smile on her face', Raven smiled and then sighed, '… that morning was the last time I saw that smile… We returned home late that night and I found her lying on our living-room floor- Immortality means you'll live forever; you can't die… yet there she was; the life gone from her body. My marks, in healing process, still on the small of her neck… The one that I had promised to spend all eternity with… gone! I lost it!

My mind was lost to reason and every bit of restraint was thrown out the window. Like a caged lion set loose on his tormenters; that's close to what I felt and my actions that night earned me the title of the Beast of New Orleans'

'The massacre', Julie whispered, 'But I found an article that said your family was killed… did you?'

'Never, I would not hurt the one group that knew how I felt; that knew me… the real me! That article was a month after Camilla's death. Like me Lillian lost it completely. My half-healed marks on her sisters neck drove her into thinking I had killed her; a vampire. The idea seems absurd now considering she's still alive. She would never admit it, but I knew she let Iden bite her once in a while. It's kind of like a drug. If you've felt it once, you'll want to again…

Well, she started gathering a few seasoned hunters and took revenge on my family- the mortal one. My mother's family had moved to the new world and we were still getting acquainted with them. Lillian knew of our last surviving bloodline and she killed all of them. For her sister, one person, she took out my entire family. The people of New Orleans thought it was the Beast that killed the O'Connor family because it happened shortly after what I did. We joined a immigrating group and put yet another home behind us. They never knew who the killer was nor the Beast…

The people she gathered were the first vampire-hunters and it's quite ironic that they keep us from killing humans, when their first kill were exactly that; humans. My family was an easy target, but we brothers, shared in the ritual, were different; we had a lifespan close to Lillian's.

She regrouped to almost a dozen to take us on and kept following us. They dropped one by one, yet we were still standing. Lillian fought Iden, her once fiancé, for almost 30 consistent days… to no prevail. Lillian, the immortal, couldn't be killed and Iden, leader of the clan, could not be killed by any weapon ever made. They hit a wall during that fight. Lillian refused to believe it; she had taken her eye-for-an-eye more than three times over and yet now when she could take real revenge for her sister, she couldn't kill him… couldn't kill me…

Lillian may have agreed to the terms of the treaty, but she would never stop searching for a way to kill us. I could see it in her eyes that day on the field; a silent promise… All these years she's been practically waiting for us to step out of line… but that is all that I can tell you for now'

The girls all had mixed feelings over what they just heard. Raven wasn't just a vampire, he was one of the big boys and there was a huntress out there gunning for his head. HE was the Beast of New Orleans Julie read about, but it was an act of grievance for his dead wife? It's understandable for someone to shut themselves off after losing a loved one, but did that make it right? What he did to all those innocent people?

'Do I feel remorse for what I have done? No, I do not', Raven said as if able to read their minds, 'Could I do it again? Yes, without even blinking. The person I was before I met Camilla, died with her'

Marina smiled at those words. 'No he didn't… I've seen him…' Raven turned and looked at her, 'Then you're one of the lucky few'

'So there's more then; that you're not telling us?'

'Yes, quite a lot more. Do you tell everything about yourself? No, I did not think so!'

'You said you knew our grandmother…'

'Ah, that. It was six months after we had left New Orleans that I met her on the Titanic. I instantly liked her feistiness, which I noticed she still has. There was something about her that stayed with me even after I had rescued her and her sister Anne-Marie from the sinking'

'Rescued? Sure, now I believe you. You are just saying that to get back on our good side'

'I just told you that I wouldn't even think twice in killing that many people again and I would lie, because I'm worried about staying on your good side?'

'No, not ours… Marina's!'

Raven lifted his eyebrows and slowly nodded, 'Touché! However, I hardly ever lie Julie. You can ask Rosalie'

'We will, be sure of that!'

'This war between you and the hunters', Marina cut in, ignoring the small war in her room, 'How active is it?'

'It was simmering until last night. Right now, if what I felt was correct, I'd say it's about to become a lot worse'. 'What do you mean?'

'Vampires are as you know, or don't know, only male. A female is forbidden. Because of her rarity she is automatically promoted to queen. A queen is very high maintenance because she feeds on humans and vampires. She prefers the latter, so when a fledgling nearly made us extinct with her uncontrolled feeding my brother Iden forbade it altogether… what I felt last night, was a new one in transition'

'There's a vampire-queen walking around?!', Jane's eyes grew wide.

'No, the transition wasn't completed; I can't sense her anymore. However it was serious enough to have woken up Iden'

'…the man from the tomb…', Jane whispered thinking back on her premonition this morning.

'I didn't mention him being in a tomb-- You saw it?', Raven asked and then smiled figuring out the twins' magic. 'The gift of foresight, I take it. Since you figured out my past, Julie, you must be a past-dweller. Time magic; quite rare in itself'

When Julie squinted her eyes at him, he knew he had hit it right on. 'What did you see Jane?'

'There was a redheaded woman lying on a bed. She seemed…'

'Dead. That would explain why I can't sense her anymore. Go on!'

'Just open ocean, a tomb and someone getting out of it. I woke up after that'

'I didn't know you had that premonition Jane', Julie frowned, 'When?'

'This morning before I read your messages'

'You need to embrace your gift Jane. Iden has been awake since last night, so your premonition is late. Has that ever happened before?', Raven asked.

'No, it hasn't… our magic is slow, but never late,' Julie answered and then it hit her. 'Could it be because of the b-.'

'Wait, it has!', Jane quickly lied and stared Julie in the eyes to keep quiet, 'I remember it happening once, a long time ago when we were children, remember Jules, in our old home?'

'Oh, right, sorry, I had forgotten about that. Yeah, it happens sometimes…'

Raven pretended not to notice that Julie almost gave something away. 'If it has happened before, I'd suggest you get it enhanced instead. It would do a lot of good if it doesn't miss anymore'

'Why are you telling us this?'

'It will only increase your birth-powers meaning you still won't be able to hurt me, so I have no reason not to tell you'. 'Can our grandmother hurt you?', the twins said almost simultaneously.

Raven smiled at that being the first thing they thought about. 'No…'

'So you're saying that right now we're basically powerless against you?'

'Weak, but not powerless'

'Can we immobilize you?'

'No one has ever tried and a willing test-subject I am not'

Jane thought it wise to stop provoking him and she pinched Julie to lay off. If what he said was true and they really were weak against him, it would only be a matter of time before one of them said something that could set him off and then they'd really be in trouble. Best to not let it get that far since no one really knew how much of a hold Marina had on him and they couldn't keep using her as the trump card. What Jane did know was everything Raven had given her about her premonition and she needed to tell Damian the hunt was off. They were too late and, quite frankly, have bigger things to worry about with the even closer clash of vamps and hunters. She reached for her phone and dialed his number; it went straight to voicemail. Three times, same result. 'That's strange… Damian's not answering his phone. He always answers his phone'. 'Try the auction house, maybe he's left it in the car or something…'

Raven suddenly got up with his attention fixed on the door. He motioned for the girls to keep talking like nothing has happened and slowly opened the bedroom door to a darkened hallway. Caught up in his past story, they hadn't realized it had gotten late and no lights were lit inside the house; which also meant Binny hadn't returned yet. They kept talking about nothing, like Raven suggested, but he wasn't out of the door for a second, when they heard a loud noise and someone curse. Raven quickly moved to the sound of the voice; the girls slower behind him. The noise came from the kitchen…

Moving around in the dark hallway, Jane bumped into Raven who stood still in the archway. He flipped the switch, turning on the light in the kitchen, just as Lubinnia's suitcase swung into Chase's back knocking him over. Chase snarled and lunged for Binny's legs. She grabbed a knife off of the kitchen counter, but Raven intervened and yelled, 'ENOUGH!'

Chase stopped mid-lunge and threw her a fiery look. If looks could kill, Binny would be a pile of ash. 'I caught him sneaking in the backdoor, just as I came home', Binny explained, 'WOAH!' Binny jumped to the other side of the dining-table at the sight of Chase's fangs. 'He's a vampire!!!'

'Thanks for the obvious, Buffy! You have one under your roof and you're startled by me', Chase sneered.

Binny's eyes immediately turned to Raven. 'I knew it! I had a feeling something was off with you, but I didn't know what…'. 'Now you do-'. She looked from him to Marina to the twins still standing away from Raven. They all knew and were okay with it?

Raven walked over to where Chase was and he got up from the floor. 'Iden's awake…' Chase looked away slightly, realizing what it was he felt that night. 'Why is Iden awake?'

When Chase didn't answer, Raven grabbed him by the throat and squeezed until he looked at him. They had a staring contest for what seemed like forever and then Raven growled. 'A hunter, Chase! Of all women –a hunter-!! What were you thinking?!'
'I don't know, master Raven! At first I needed information for Calum… after that it just happened. It wasn't exactly like yours, with the suspense and danger of making a wrong move, but I don't know-there was something'

'Something?! Enough of something to make you LOSE ALL SENSES AND TURN HER!!!!', Raven bellowed in his face, 'Now she's dead, BECAUSE OF YOU; The treaty is void, BECAUSE OF YOU; A lot of people are going to die in the next standing, BECAUSE OF YOU!!! So tell me WHY you deserve life?!'

'I… don't…', Chase strained at the pressure Raven was putting on his neck, 'B-but… I didn't turn her- she bit me. There wasn't enough blood to complete the transition… and I know it would've passed out of her system if master Calum hadn't twisted her neck'

'Yes, because it happens all the time'. Raven spat out sarcastically. He sighed and released his hold on Chase. 'I knew something would break the treaty someday… never really put you in the mix'

'You're just gonna let him go?', Binny let out astonished.

'Killing him won't turn back the clock and now he gets to see the repeat of history his little mistake brought upon us. Not that it was all him… As with all things foretold, they never tell you exactly what sets them into motion'

Things foretold. 'You know about the prophecy?', Jane, Julie AND Binny said simultaneously.

Raven immediately turned around at that. 'There are more than a billion prophecies in the world, but do tell which one you are talking about?!' Afraid of looking at each other  and give anything away, all of them looked at him without saying a word. 'No? No one? Then let me… You presumed I knew about a certain prophecy meaning it has a direct, or indirect, link to vampires. There aren't that many about our existence. You, learned about my past and drove all the way over here to tell Marina, when a simple phone call to get out of the house – we’ll explain later—would have sufficed. You're family, so labeling that action with concern is only natural, however… you are also witches! So a prophecy containing vampires and witches. Your grandmother is Rosalie, one who used to predict in earlier years, so I shall take a gamble here and say it is one of hers...', Raven kept a close watch on their faces to see any hint of being on the right course, when he stopped on Marina's and the frown of thought left his face.

'In the line of noble men…', he whispered, 'That must be the Astor line. But you are not a witch… unless, your powers are dormant. It runs in the women folk of your family so it must be... Surprising twist of fate. I was hoping I would be the one to find you.  Sure, I meant to kill you the moment I did, but now here I am- smitten with the one that could potentially destroy our entire existence! Surprising indeed'

'Kill her?!'

'Where is your sister Marina?', Raven continued, ignoring Binny.

'I don't have a sister! Just me and my brother Michael'

'I believe you do… Did you ever finish reading your father's journal?'

'Yes, and there was nothing in it about a sister. You think my father was unfaithful?'

'The other witch of the prophecy is a woman of the DiGorgio family', Chase chipped in, 'Calum had me looking into her'

'DiGorgio? As in Rinka DiGorgio?', Jane asked.

'Yes, you know her?'

Jane grabbed her phone and tried Damian's number again. 'That's where I saw them before… her eyes. She has the exact same eyes as you and uncle Jacob. Rinka must be your half-sister', Julie whispered. She looked back at where Jane stood and the latter shook her head. Damian still wasn't picking up. Julie tried Rinka's number.

'And Calum knows about her. Won't be too long before he finds the link to Marina. He's getting desperate; especially with Iden awake. He's going to do whatever it takes to get her on his side and if she doesn't comply…'

Julie gasped finishing that sentence in her mind and Jane squeezed her shoulder. 'It won't work. Now that I know she's family, her magic makes more sense. She has Gram's gift – she'll see him coming'

'Let's hope she does – for her sake!'