CHAPTER 3: DARIUS

“Let me get this straight, Marissa. You have been a huntress since you arrived at Arcadia Falls and you have decided to kill my family.” Aiden gauged.

“I will give that a hard pass.” Elijah sniggered as they surrounded her. She threw glances at them, tightening her grip on the two daggers she held. She was waiting for one of them to make a move. Colby sped toward her, seizing her throat and nudging her to the wall, she groaned and the daggers she held dropped.

“Forget you ever met us. Leave Arcadia Falls and never return.” Colby compelled her. She snickered before slipping away from him.

“Do you think that compulsion can work on me? I pray Amaya finds out what you are soon enough.” Marissa hinted.

“Don't you dare try to ruin my dear brother's happiness?” Aiden declared.

“Vampires. The only thing you creatures think of is to feed on us. I will forever hate you and I will never stop killing your kind.” Marissa threatened.

“I will end you before you get the chance.” Elijah giggled before speeding to her, he snapped her neck and she dropped.

“Was that necessary?” Aiden quizzed, his eyes widened in surprise as he placed his hands forward.

“She talks a lot.” Elijah said before strolling toward the bathroom to clean himself up.

“You just annihilated a human.” Aiden barked.

“Huntress.” Elijah corrected him. Aiden sighed.

“We have to get rid of her body.” Aiden said. Beckham sped to her lifeless body.

“I will drop her in the woods.” Beckham informed them.

“Incinerate her.” Elijah shouted from his room. Colby looked at Aiden before forcing a smile.

“Go get some rest brother. We will deal with this.” Aiden told Colby before hurrying toward Beckham who was exiting the mansion.

Whistling as he threaded a lonely path in the woods, he could tell that the whole town was quiet because there was no single soul he could hunt. He didn't hear the heartbeats of passers-by or footsteps strolling along solitary routes or engine revving while driving past the countryside. It has been centuries since he saw his brothers. He couldn't deny the fact that it was his fault. He couldn't control his thirst for blood. He was a ripper and nothing would change it no matter how hard he tried. He smirked when he heard a heartbeat, he had traveled from the woods into the streets. He saw a young girl strolling toward a bungalow that was surrounded by a white picket fence. He sped toward her, startling her when he touched strands of her wavy chocolate hair.

“Who are you?” She asked, looking into his eyes. Darius stared back.

“I'm Darius. No matter what happens, don't scream and answer my questions honestly,” Darius compelled and she shook her head in agreement. “What is your name?”

“Nina Richard.” She replied.

“Be a good girl.” Darius smirked as he pulled closer to her neck, his fangs dropped and he sniffed her vanilla scent, refreshing. He heard her heart throbbing and her veins and arteries pumping thick red liquid. He couldn't wait to rip open her carotid artery. She flinched when she felt his fangs brush against her neck.

“Hey, step away from my daughter.” A black-haired man bellowed pointing a gun at Darius as he stepped toward him. Darius dropped the girl and hurried toward him, the black-haired man shot him thrice, he smirked before he groaned. It was wooden bullets, he looked at his belly, his shirt was covered with thick dark red blood, his fangs disappeared and he sped away.

“Nina.” Lane said holding his gun as he approached his daughter, he put his gun into his pocket before lifting her unconscious body and rushing into his house.

Beckham and Aiden dropped Marissa's body, they returned to the car to bring petrol and a lighter. When they came back to the exact spot, she was gone. How can it be? Was she still alive? They searched the whole woods, but they couldn't find her. With a sigh, they returned to the car.

“She is going to come back for us.” Beckham blurted.

“Do you think she came back to life?” Aiden asked, looking at him before shutting the car keys and igniting the engine.

“We met a few hours ago and she is a slayer. We don't know anything about her.” Beckham critiqued.

“I think we should do some research about vampire hunting.” Aiden said as they drove out of the woods. It has been a long day and a couple of blood bags with a long night's sleep would be perfect. With the family drama going on, he didn't think it was safe to be around any human, especially Lynette. He had to warn Colby to stay away from Amaya before he got himself into trouble. As they drove through the tarred road, Beckham turned on the radio, and music played in the car, filling his ears with melodious tunes. He felt calm and comfortable, he hated being involved in anything that didn't concern their family. Having doubts about returning to Arcadia was one thing, but what if their day of reckoning had come, what if it was time for them to die? He had no memories of his parents, but it didn't bother him since their parents weren't vampires, they must have killed them after they turned. Aiden hit the brakes when he saw a lifeless body lying in the middle of the road, he listened closely but there was no heartbeat, he stepped out of the car and rushed toward the vampire who must be pretending to be dead or had been killed by the huntress.

“Darius.” Aiden blurted.

“Hello, brother!” Darius said as he stood on his feet with vampire speed, they glared at each other.

Marissa fell on the couch, she had returned home and wasn't planning to hunt vampires tonight. Her family secret had been exposed. She was the last surviving bloodline of the Hunter family and she had lived for centuries. Young and beautiful, traveling from town to town and slaying vampires. No one had ever found out about her secret of being immortal except her closest friend. No one had ever found a way to kill her, but the O'Connor family knew she could resurrect from the dead, and they would do everything within their power to bring her down. Marissa wasn't going to let them, she was one tough woman. She had to fight back and become the victor. Marissa had died several times, but when she came back to life, she would hunt down the vampire who knew that she was dead and her secret would continue to be sealed. How would she kill four vampire brothers? She knew how powerful Elijah was and she could tell that he wasn't an ordinary vampire, there was something about them, a mystery that she was going to solve.

The morning sun met Darius in the bathroom, he ran his fingers through his wet hair as cold water trickled down his pale skin, he was the fourth son of the O'Connor family. He clasped his grip on his blonde hair before shaking his head, he stepped out of the bathroom naked before reaching for a towel that was next to the clothesline. He wrapped it around his waist and walked to his room. He could smell the aroma coming from the kitchen, he knew who it would be, Beckham. He was the best cook among the five brothers. He couldn't wait to get dressed, eat, and explore Arcadia Falls because last night he had noticed that a lot of things had changed. After spending some time in the closet, he took out a black top and black jeans with black boots. Black was his favorite color, he loved it because it depicted evil and he was abhorrent. He put his clothes on before speeding to the kitchen.

“Beckham. Good morning.” Darius said without looking at the figure standing next to the cooker.

“We haven't met.” Lynette turned to meet Darius. His eyes widened, he could have sworn that his heart skipped a beat if he had one. He had never seen such a beautiful creature before. Well in his past life he had, but none was as beautiful as she was.

“I'm Darius.” He forced a smile.

“I'm Lynette. I didn't see you at the party yesterday.”

“Um, I wasn't in town. How long have you been here?” He asked curiously.

“I guess you're Aiden's brother. I'm friends with him. We met a few days back and this is a surprise even though he had found out about it.” Lynette explained looking at the food she was preparing. What type of friend would cook for his brother? He looked at her neck, there were no bite marks except if she had been healed of one, he smiled when they looked at each other. Lynette wondered why he was stalking her, he couldn't stop looking at her slender body and smooth skin. She was very enthralling. Darius saw her blood pumping, and his face almost changed, but he controlled himself, it was his first time turning off his rage. He couldn't tell why. Was it happening to him again? Was he attracted to her? He had not been attracted to anyone for the past fifty years.

“Breakfast would be served in five minutes.” Lynette snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Ok.” Darius grinned as he turned to leave, gawking at Aiden who was standing in front of the kitchen. Who knows how long he had been there looking at them? Who knows what he would think of him?

Aiden dragged him to the basement, nudged him to the wall, and he groaned. Next to them was a tall white fridge that was connected to a wall socket.

“Look at that. It's a fridge filled with blood bags. Don't try anything stupid with Lynette because if you try to ruin my life again. I would destroy you.” Aiden threatened, glaring at him.

“I was just looking.” Darius cringed.

“I have warned you. We have everything we want, we are vampires but we walk in the sun because of the rings we have. I have never had the chance to share anything with anyone, but you have countless times.” Aiden snarled, showing him the daylight ring that they had on their fingers ever since they became vampires. A silver ring with a bold O at the top. The O meant O'Connor.

“I promise you Aiden. I didn't come back here to ruin our family.” No matter how innocent he looks right now, Aiden knew he was blatantly lying.

“Did you? A vampire huntress is out there and she knows about us. I think we should be hiding in the shadows.” Aiden complained, feeling relieved. She didn't want Lynette to come to any harm, though he felt guilty that he compelled her, he couldn't deny the fact that they were these little feelings he had for her that were buried deep down in his dead heart. It was like a sea of blood flowing through his veins. He couldn't watch her get hurt and he would do everything within his power to protect her.

“I would be more careful this time.” Darius pleaded.

“That is what you say every day, but if any of us gets hurt because of you. I will torture you. Remember, older, stronger, don't try to challenge me.” Aiden concluded, getting rid of every drop of rage that was clouding his mind, he didn't want her to see him in such a grim mood. He rushed toward the exit leaving Darius behind. Darius exhaled, he traced dots and he understood that Aiden might be in love with her, but he wasn't sure if she was in love with him, he could still take a chance. After all, he was more charming and was everything a woman wanted in a man. What he didn't know was what Lynette wanted in a man. He had to find out.

Aiden took care of his anger, Lynette had served breakfast and was waiting for them to show up. She had told Aiden and he was going to the library to call his brothers who had been working there for hours. One thing about Vampires was that they could read a lot of books in a few hours. Aiden knew that they must have found a clue or something about vampire hunting.

“Aiden. It's nice to see you here.” Elijah who was putting back a book on the shelf said after looking at the half-opened door. Aiden slammed it, he met Colby sitting on the couch with some books around him. They were all open and his thoughts were buried deep into the research he was making. Beckham was sitting on a chair opposite the desk which had different sizes of books atop it.

“Any progress?” He quizzed stepping toward Beckham.

“There is nothing about resurrection here.” Elijah told him.

“We need to keep searching.” A nervous Colby let out.

“Calm down little brother, we are going to take care of this.” Aiden reassured him.

“No. She could ruin my chances of becoming friends with Amaya.” Colby panicked.

“Should I say, lovers?” Elijah razzed. Colby scowled.

“Elijah focus. We haven't found anything related to Vampire Hunting. This mansion has been here since the 1500s. Supernatural has been lurking in this town since we became Vampires. I think there are a lot of hidden secrets that might relate to vampire, werewolf, witch, and mythical creature hunting.” Aiden reasoned.

“I think we should check Arcadia Library. It should have more facts about the ‘supernatural’.” Beckham suggested.