Chapter Four

The blood spluttered over her face as she knelt beside her lifeless father with his head resting on her lap. Her tiny fearful eyes stared upwards. Her mother's face was contorted with pain as the Strigoi drank from her neck greedily. Blood gushed from the wound where the monster had plunged his hand through her stomach holding her in place.

"Run little sky. Run," her mother choked out with her last ounce of strength before her loving eyes turned blank. Her five ft six frame sagged in the Strigoi's hold and with a malignant laugh; he wrenched his arm out pulling guts along with the movement. Amelie's body fell without the support keeping her upright. Kalani's eyes followed as her mother's body crumbled to land over her father's body.

She stared with wide blue and green eyes up at the monster with a bloodstained mouth. A mouth stained with her mother and father's blood. The Strigoi reached out with a sly smile and the small girl cringed away shaking her head. He lost his patience and instead lashed out with his arm smacking her across the snow covered ground. She skidded and rolled as her mind cast itself back to the many lessons she'd obtained over the years from both her parents and the academy.

Something solid and sharp slashed her arm and she let out a whimper of pain. Looking down, she saw blood beginning to drip onto the snow, but she also saw the gleaming silver stake. Several things happened at once. A band of guardians finally reached them rushing through from the forest. The Strigoi was in mid leap lunging for her neck. A column of earth shot up through the thick layer of snow spearing him through the thigh. As he fell, she gathered all the power she could muster and lunged forward with the stake aiming towards his undead heart.

Disbelief shone in his eyes as the silver struck its target and he crumbled. Trembling, Kalani stumbled to her parents. When she finally reached them she collapsed to her knees and wept as she clung to their corpses. She wept for all she was worth and when she thought she had no tears left, still she cried.

Guardians swarmed around the area checking for lurking Strigoi waiting to catch their unaware. Guardian Joseph Maxwell removed his coat and wrapped it around the shaking child. She looked up with guarded. Her hold tightened on her parents as she glared at the guardian. "You're safe now Kalani. You're safe." Joe hushed smoothing hair from the ten year-olds' face. "Easy now Kalani, let them go so we can pick them up."

"They're gone aren't they?" Kalani asked with a choked voice.

"I'm sorry Kalani."

The sky rumbled above them as rain began to fall merging with the sleet. Feeling numb, Kalani allowed Joe to lift her up into his arms and blackness consumed her as voices began barking orders.

Throughout the entire funeral, the only thought that occupied Kalani's mind was her escape plan. For the past week, she'd received more attention than she would ever want. People swamped her with sympathy, some with genuine emotion, others were faked. She already had her bag ready with her mother's silver stake inside several items of clothing and some money she managed to find.

The funeral was held at dawn, her parents' favourite time of the day. The sun was still up but not to the extent that would tire the Moroi. She could still imagine going on the daily walks with her parents at dawn when others were only starting to get up for the night. After the burial of her parents, there was a service held in the chapel for those who wanted to send silent prayers to the deceased. It was during that time that Kalani stole away. she slipped through the crowds, as invisible as ever, sprinted to where she hid the sports bag before rushing to the hidden weak spot she'd found two days ago. The weakened part of the ward was what gave her the idea to escape.

She didn't want a life where the people around her died one by one in this endless war. She didn't want anymore misery. She knew that she had to get out. "Hey, you're that Ivashkov's daughter," a voice called from above her. Her head snapped up to the trees and she saw a red messy haired boy wearing a black suit lounging on a thick branch. He jumped down when he saw her and stepped towards her. She watched him warily for a moment before spinning on her heel. Kalani got one leg through when he suddenly grabbed her arm wrenching her back. "What are you doing? Are you crazy?"

"Let go of me Ozera," she spoke through gritted teeth.

"I can't let you do that. You won't last a day out there."

"Watch me."

"No."

"Let me go," she almost pleaded. The grief and anguish in her eyes stunned him and his grip unconsciously slipped. A grim but grateful smile adorned her round face before she turned around and jumped through the gap. "Oh and Ozera, you might want to tell the teachers that there's a fault here. We wouldn't want to have a repeat of what happened last week." With that said, she left and Andrew-Blake Ozera stared after her retreating figure, disappearing into the darkness of the woods. In the last six years that he'd seen the small girl, he'd never seen so much emotion on her face. She'd always been so quiet and blended with the darkness avoiding social gatherings as much as possible. Silently he hoped for her safety in the outside world.