Chapter 3
Cecilia's POV
My heart lurched.
Were they here to stop this? Did they... finally care?
"Dad, Mom—" I tried to shout.
Before I could finish, Albert lunged forward. His palm cracked across my face.
The impact slammed my head against the stone slab. My ears rang.
"You DARE call us that?" Albert's face twisted with rage. "Cecilia, haven't you hurt Lycia enough?!"
I froze. Blood filled my mouth.
Elena rushed over, hitting me wildly. "You monster! Why did you lure Lycia there? You KNEW demon hunters prowled those ruins!"
"I didn't—"
"Don't you lie to me!" Another slap. "Lycia told us everything! YOU asked her to meet you at the abandoned castle! If not for you, she wouldn't be dying!"
I was chained to the altar. Couldn't even dodge. Slap after slap landed on my face until I couldn't feel it anymore.
"Mom, I really didn't—"
"Don't call me that!" Elena screamed. "How could I have a daughter like you?! You hurt your sister once—now you want to kill her?!"
Again?
I suddenly understood what she meant.
When I was six, demon hunters attacked our estate.
That night, my parents were hosting a banquet. The hunters burst in—silver blades flashing, holy water flying everywhere.
Father grabbed my hand and shoved twin sister Lycia at me. "Take your sister and RUN!"
I carried Lycia and ran toward the back mountains. Footsteps thundered behind us. The hunters' shouts closed in.
I spotted a hollow in an old oak and pushed Lycia inside. Covered her with leaves.
"Stay quiet," I whispered. "I'll come back for you."
Then I ran the other direction. Drew them away.
The hunters caught me. A silver blade opened my throat. Blood sprayed. I collapsed, felt my life draining away.
That's when Morag appeared.
"Want to live, little vampire?" she cooed. "I can save you. But there's a price..."
I signed the contract.
The skull mark seared into my chest—agony so sharp I nearly blacked out. But I survived.
I crawled back to the tree hollow, bleeding and broken, to get Lycia.
The hollow was empty. Just blood stains. Lycia was gone.
My parents searched for three days and nights. Finally found scraps of Lycia's dress by the river. They thought she was dead.
Everything changed after that.
They said it was my fault. If I'd run faster, hidden better, fought harder to protect her—
They never considered I was just six years old too.
Later, Lycia "came back." She said a kind vampire found her, raised her for ten years before she found her way home.
But the story she told our parents was different—I'd abandoned her on purpose and run away alone.
They believed her.
After that, they beat me. Starved me. Locked me in the coldest room of the castle for days at a time. No food. No water. Just darkness and Father's whip.
"What? Nothing to say? Still won't admit what you did?!"
I looked up at her furious face. "Mom, I didn't hurt Lycia. Not then. Not now."
"Shut your lying mouth!" Albert roared. "Lycia TOLD us it was you! Why would she risk her life to frame you?!"
I laughed bitterly. "Right. I'm the one who lies. I'm the bad one."
Elena seized my wrist. "Enough talk. Give up the Queen's title to Lycia. You OWE her that much!"
"Marcus already stripped it." My voice came out flat. "The decree should be spreading across the kingdom by now."
Albert and Elena froze. Then joy flooded their faces.
"You finally let go?" Elena said excitedly. "Lycia and Marcus can finally be together!"
Albert nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes! They're perfect for each other. Marcus searched for Lycia for ten years—you never should have gotten in their way."
I stared at their delighted expressions. Something inside me went numb. Just... cold.
"Cedric, start the surgery." Albert turned to Cedric. "The sooner we get the blood, the sooner Lycia recovers."
I couldn't hold it back anymore. "I'm your daughter too! Don't you care at all?"
Elena sneered. "Care about you? After what you did to Lycia? We should've killed you ourselves!"
She grabbed a medicine bottle from the table and smashed it against my head.
Glass shattered. Blood instantly blurred my vision.
"Enough!" Albert caught Elena's hand. "Don't interfere with the surgery. If something happens to the child, Lycia won't survive."
Not worried about me. Never me. Just whether there'd be enough blood for Lycia.
I closed my eyes. Tears mixed with blood streamed down my face.
"Thank you for raising me all these years." My voice was barely a whisper. "This life... I'll use it to repay that debt. We won't meet again."
Albert and Elena both tensed.
But quickly, Elena said coldly, "We don't want your life. From now on, you're no longer our daughter!"
"Right." Albert agreed. "You're not worthy of being our daughter."
They left without looking back.
Only Cedric and I remained in the chamber.
He murmured an incantation. Silver light enveloped me—an anesthetic spell. But my mind stayed sharp. Horribly aware.
When the scalpel cut through my abdomen, I felt no pain. But I could feel everything—the baby separating from me.
That tearing sensation wasn't physical. It was my soul being ripped apart.
When they lifted the baby out, a weak cry filled the air. So faint. Like wind about to scatter.
"Baby—" I tried to reach, but the chains held me down.
Blood kept coming. Wouldn't stop.
Cedric frowned at me. "Damn it, she's bleeding too much—"
The door burst open. Marcus stormed in. "Did you get the blood?!"
Cedric held up a crystal vial filled with crimson. "Here."
"Quick! Lycia's fading!" Marcus snatched the vial and bolted.
Cedric hesitated for one second. Then followed him out.
The chamber held only me and my child now.
The baby's cries grew fainter. Fainter.
Then... nothing.
I tore through the chains with my last strength. Reached out. Grabbed his tiny, cold hand.
"I'm sorry, baby." My tears fell on his face. "Mommy's here now."
The skull mark blazed with agony.
Then the world went black.
