Chapter 54

Jasmine


The hidden memories of the past I had been wanting to discover for so long, all struck me at once-- Speeding like a gigantic tsunami and shattering me apart in a second.

Now, I did not want to remember those events again; The fear of going through the same pain shook me to my soul. But I was in that same dimension all again— That very same cursed night, in the middle of the agonizing screams of the people of my kingdom, the sight of the place I called home getting destroyed by the gargantuan flames of fire.

I watched the scenery of the garden getting crashed by the fire, from far away I could see the sight of those dangerous heartless rogues who were killing everyone, neither did they show mercy to the vampires nor did they show to the human. Even the children were forced to face the wrath of those monsters.

My heart stopped, I did not know how I could breathe. The fear that this might be the end of everything left my soul shaken, my heart aching and with all these happening I still remained frozen on the spot not knowing what could I even do.

I wanted to save the innocent people who fell victim to these blood-thirsty rouges for no reason.

But what could I do? I was helpless, a little girl who had no power over anything and witnessed all her dreams crashing down in front of her own eyes.

The opened and my mom entered the room, my perturbed gaze moved to look at her and I asked her the question what was the reason behind this heavy pressure I could feel on my chest after having to witness all these disastrous scenes with my very own eyes.

"Mom? What's happening?"

Her beautiful blue eyes had tears glistening in them. That day For the first time ever I saw the helplessness and fear shading them; The eyes that always showed the confidence that could unnerve anyone were cloaked by the fear today, their shine was overshadowed by the darkness of the tragedy.

"Don't worry sweetheart, we are not going to let anything happen to you," Despite her own restlessness she tried to console me.

She pulled me in her comfortable embrace as he picked me up, keeping me so close to her as though as feared that I'd get lost.

No matter how the situation was, my mom's embrace made me feel safe— It felt like none could hurt me if she was with me.

Little did I know this was our last moment together? That after today everything and everyone I had loved would be snatched away from me?

Mom opened the door of the private hall and entered the room with me in her arms.

The most unexpected scenario unfolded in front of me.

My dad stood in the middle of the hall or I could say a huge heap of dead bodies that included the rouges and a few guards, the blood was trailing down his sharp sword and the stains of the blood tainted his face too. I could feel the anger radiating from him, in this destructive storm and uncertainty that shrouded the entire Vaidel Dynasty he was still standing strong as ever like the unbeatable warrior he was.

A gasp automatically left my mouth as I looked at the dead bodies in horror and then I noticed the blood that now began to trail his hand from the wound I had not noticed till now.

"Dad, you are hurt..." A cry slipped past my lips of mine and the tears streamed down my face.

Dad's gaze shot at me and the anger in them instantly vanished.

"Jasmine..." He rushed closer to us and took me in his arms quickly wiping my tears with his other hand.

"Shhh...don't cry, my princess. I am completely okay." He spoke out, forcing a smile on his face for me despite how terrifying the entire situation was.

"No dad, you are hurt," I sobbed shaking my head, "We need to take you to the doctor."

"Princess, I'll go to the doctor but first I need to take you and mommy to a safe place. You see some bad people have attacked our kingdom, they are very bad and they'll try to hurt us. You don't want that right?"

"No, dad. I don't want us to get hurt," I cried and he once again wiped my tears.

"Then please listen to dad and don't shed these precious tears, Okay? I promise you everything is going to be fine, this is just a bad moment for us that shall pass too."

I believed dad.

Yes, I believed him that everything is going to be fine and we were going to be a happy family like we were once again because he always kept his promise.

But I did not know that promise of dad was going to be the only one that he won't be able to fulfill, I did not l know that everything was never going to be the same.

"Fredrick, these rouges all over the kingdom....what is happening?" Mom asked worriedly.

"Love, don't worry.....I'm here. I'll not let anything happen to any of you." Dad pulled mom closer, pressing a kiss against her forehead.

Even though he was trying to not let his fear become apparent, I knew he too was afraid— Watching the kingdom he had built from nothing to the world's strongest one getting destroyed in a matter of hour had broken him from inside and now what scared him, even more, was our security.

He did not care for his life at that moment, at that moment his only concern was my and mom's security.

"We have to leave right now, Katherine. Some guards had agreed to let the rouges enter the palace in order to save themselves. The rouges are huge in number, we do not have any guards left— Most of them are dead." Dad spoke.

"But Fredrick where will we go? The rouges are everywhere. We have no place to go." Mom said in dismay.

"We'll have to reach the tunnel a mile away, that will lead us out of the kingdom and once we get out of here we can seek refuge from King Elijah, he will help us. But first, we need to get out of here." He handed his sword to mom and picked another one for himself.

"Kill whichever bastard comes in the way," Dad told mom and she nodded.

My mom took me in her arms once again, "No matter what, don't loosen your hold, okay?" She asked and I nodded despite the constant fear that was eating me up.

Something about that night was utterly terrifying. Not just the rouges and the sight of blood, it felt like it was not the night it was a storm dressed up in disguise that has come to tear our lives forever.

And then they exited the room, dad stood in front of us keeping me and mom behind him as he cautiously began leading us outside.

Just when I had thought something about this silence in the corridor was not right, a few feet away the sight of a few rouges drinking blood from a dead vampire came into our eyes.

And just they spotted us, growling all of them speeded towards us.

A growl emitted from dad too and with his sword, he tore the first rouge from the middle.

As the other rouge tried to reach me and my mom, before mom could anything dad grabbed him by his neck and pushed the word dripping in the other rouge's blood in his stomach, and just before I thought it could not be any worse than this, he moved the sword upwards.....

Dividing the rouge's body and head into two.

I wanted to scream but suddenly I had just lost my voice, the scene had shocked me so much that I could not even scream. Every cell of my body just froze in horror.

The only reaction was that some more tears managed to roll down my cheeks in silence.

The last rouge that was left decided to pounce at him and he tried to bite his neck but this time it was mom and cut off the head of the rouge with one swift movement of the sword in her hand.

The blood came splashing down at the side of her face but it did not bother her.

All I could see in her eyes was rage and determination to save her daughter and her husband.

"We need to get Martha," She told dad and the realization seemed to pass through his eyes.

Without saying anything else they both rushed for Martha's room which was situated a bit far away from where we were, and soon as we reached there then both mom and dad's of their feet halted.

Another group of rouges was there, they were larger in size and number.

The thought of them harming my mom and dad made me want to crawl back into the corner with them, I wanted to save them but at the same time, we had a much bigger of a responsibility ahead of us. Martha was in that room and she needed to be saved.

"Love, stay here with Jasmine," Dad said to mom, his cautious stare looking at those rouges as if to plan his next move.

"Fredrick, they are so many..."

"I'll be okay, don't worry," Dad assured her and glanced at me before giving a nod as if to pass the assurance towards me.

And then he was there, in the middle of those monsters who pounced at him all at once.

In a matter of a blink of eyes, dad had them all falling on the ground with either missing limbs or torn into pieces, his shirt was soaked with blood and the sword weighing with it too.

Finding there was no sign of the rouges, mom sprinted towards Martha's room, and hastily knocked on the door, "Martha, It's us. Open the door."

The shuffling was heard and she opened the door, she too looked afraid most importantly bewildered with the entire situation.

"Your Majesty," Her voice was shaking with panic that was both visible in her eyes and words, "What is happening?"

"We don't have much time, Martha. First, we need to get out of this palace," Dad spoke, "Come with us."

For the sake of the situation Martha did not question anything, she followed us immediately.

I tightened my hold on mom, the screams and shouts from afar were buzzing in my ears. Everything was painful for me to witness, I could not understand what was the reason we were being attacked, why we were being forced to run away from our own kingdom, and why fate pulled this cruel decision against all of us.

The only thing I knew and understand at that time was that I wanted my parents to stay with me; I wanted our family to stay just the way it was—The four of us.

But if only I knew I was going to lose the two most important people of my life today!

As dad began leading the way to the secret exit at the backside of the palace, we heard it.

The awful sound of the numerous rouges advancing at full speed was heard.

Our eyes looked back in horror, and yes there they were. The blood dripped from their fangs, awfully structured faces, and skin paler than average vampires but the blue veins looked like ink punctured into their skin.

They look disgusting just as their nature.

Without a second thought, dad came forward to protect us.

The worry flashed in mom's eyes too and the situation only got worse as more and more rouges began arriving.

"Martha, hold her," My mom handed me into Martha's arms.

"Mom..." Scared and crying I tried to reach her but she ran into the middle of these rouges just like dad.

One after one, she too was tearing the rouges apart without a sign of mercy like dad was. And I was there, witnessing my parents...fighting for our survival with the last drops of their strength.

It was terrifying for me, the memories etched in my heart that'd always pained me.

Within seconds the entire place smelled like dead bodies, blood, and flesh.

My parents were covered in blood, and it took me a bit to realize in this fight of kill or die, my parents had gotten hurt too. And the proof was the wound of my dad's arm being extended till his elbow that was supposedly the deed of the rouge's nail and an injury on my mom's neck.

But none of them seem to care for that, there was indeed a concern in their eyes but that was for the moment they'd look at me.

"Let's go," Dad ushered and we had taken just a few steps toward the door of the secret passageway, the worst decision to show up.

The cruel part of our fate decided to show its effects.

The sound of not one or two, but hundreds of rouges approaching us at full speed from miles afar.

Finally, the doubt and a bitter realization passed through dad's orbs.

He seemed to understand that we couldn't, maybe the fact that was going to snatch him always from us—It was not possible for us to fight such several rouges all at once.

"Fredrick, we need to run," Mom spoke hurriedly grabbing dad's hand and attempting to pull him with her but dad did not budge.

"Dad, come on. They'll hurt us!" I began to panic.

"Fredrick, what are you doing? We need to run!" Mom once again tried to pull dad but his reaction was the same.

Silently dad turned to face mom and us, he slowly moved closer to mom softly cupping her face in his hands.

Something about his gaze did not feel right. The sudden gloom and a bitter decision that shaded them did not feel right.

"My love....." He sighed, and a tear finally slid down his cheek.

I could see mom's horrified expression, she seemed to understand what was going on in his mind before he had even said it.

"Fredrick, no. N-No, don't you dare to do something like this," Mom's voice trembled, and her hands shook as she grabbed onto Dad's hands in the fear of losing him, "If we have to leave it'll be together or not!"

"We need to save Jasmine, our daughter. Her life hasn't even started yet," Dad pressed his forehead against mom's, the melancholic expression covering his features, "We need to make this sacrifice, it's for her...for us."

"We will go together, Fredrick," Mom sobbed, not willing to agree with, "The exit is so close, please...don't do this to me."

Martha too crying but she did not say a word, I could not even speak even though I wanted to shout at the top of my lungs and tell him that he was not allowed to leave me; I needed him, I needed him as much as I needed my mom.

And what was more terrifying than watching mom break down like this was the fact I could see that Mom had already lost this argument with dad.

Dad was taking such a decision that was going to separate him from us and once it'd happened that was no option of going back.

"No," Dad softy whispered, kissing mom on the lips, "I need to stop them, if I don't then none of us will stay alive. You have to support me as you have always done, you know whatever I am doing is for us."

"How can you ask me to support you in this, Fredrick! You know I can't live without you, you know it very well.." Mom completely broke down.

"We have no option, my love," Dad looked on the verge of letting go of his tears yet he held himself strong for us like he always had, "We need to do this. And if anything happens before reaching the tunnel you know what to tell Martha to do, erase everything."

Mom did not say anything else, she looked at dad with her tear-filled eyes, and then she hugged dad as tight as she could...for one last time.

I was witnessing my family getting broken apart but I was unable to do anything, watching the most unexpected happening right in front of my eyes put me to the point where I couldn't move or speak but only cry in silence.

As she finally broke the hug and looked at dad, dad just held her...looking at her lovingly. Watching her with all the love he had for her before he walked toward me.

"Princess," he took me in his arms from Martha, kissing my forehead and cheeks, "I love you, and remember no matter how far I am....I'll always be watching you."

"Don't go, dad!" I sobbed holding onto him as tightly as I could, not wanting to let him go, "Please don't go, you promised that you'll always be with me. I can't live without you."

Dad sucked in a breath, I knew he was breaking down from the inside and I knew what the consequences of letting him go would be— Fighting hundreds of rouges alone would not be possible for him, he was all alone against them.

"I am sorry Princess," Tears streamed down his face, "I don't want to leave you, but for now I don't have any option left. But you know I love you more than anything in this world, you are my life." He peppered my whole face with kisses and then he tried to pull away but did not let him go.

I held him with all my strength— The small attempt of a little girl to save her father, to stop him from going away from her.

"Don't go, Dad, I beg you!"  I sobbed.

Still, now a bit of hope was alive within me that he'd listen to me and agree on going with us.

But once he passed the silent request to mom with his eyes and no argument came from her side instead she began to pull me away from dad, all my hopes crushed.

"Dad! Don't leave us, dad! Please!"

I cried, I begged and tried with everything I had but in the end, he slipped away from my arms and that was forever.

He looked at me with a melancholic smile before his eyes locked with mom.

"So this is it, my love," dad said, his words trembling and eyes filled with tears, "I'll meet you at the other side."

"I love you..." Mom whispered, the tears constantly sliding down her cheeks and the ache of her heart visible on the broken expression on her face.

"I love you too," And with that dad turned around and sprinted in the direction of the blood-thirsty rouges with the sword in his hand and his head held high.

"DAD!" I shouted but this mom turned around in the opposite direction and ran into the dark passageway.

I lost it! I kept crying and wanting to go to my dad. I was little then but I knew the consequences, I knew those rouges will overpower my dad because of their huge force and dad will die.

I bloody knew every possible thing that could happen but I was helpless.

I mourned for my dad, the loss of him. The sacrifice the cruel fate took from him. I just kept crying in helplessness.

And my mom did what she had to, killing everyone who came in the way. Bearing the pain of the loss of her mate, the loss that can never be fulfilled she kept fighting to save her daughter.

The determination of a mother kept her standing on her feet, showing the world that she might be a human but there's nothing a mother could not do. She killed, she bleed, she hurt but she kept herself together. Killing every one of the rouges that decided to pounce at us.

My mom fought and stayed strong despite the loss of my dad that was eating her up from inside, breaking her down into pieces that she could never collect together ever again.

But then came the worst moment-- Right a few feet away from the tunnel there was a huge number of rouges. Some were drinking on the blood of the dead vampires and some were just looting the gold ornaments. Mom looked at me then at the rouges there and the ones who had not noticed us standing behind one of these brick wall's corners yet but it was true that they would notice us if we stood there for any longer.

She put me down to my feet and sat on her knees in front of me to match my height.

"Listen to me very carefully, sweetheart," She began, "There is going to be a day when you are going to get more than everything you lost today, you are going to find someone who will love you as much as me and your dad did and treat you the way you dad treated your mom. Today, it's just a part of our fate we could not avoid— This was meant to happen."

"You are going to find the people who are going to care for you and give you the life you deserve, you'll find happiness once again. You might not find me and your dad beside you but we'll be there; You might not be able to see us, but in your heart, we'll always remain in silence...."

I knew what mom was trying to say, I knew she was planning to leave me too.

"No mom, you can't leave me. First, dad left me, and now you...no mom! I won't let you go." I held onto her as tight as I could, but for some reason, I already knew I was not going to succeed in stopping her.

"We love you, you are our little angel. But sometimes we have to let go of the most precious things to our heart because we have to keep them safe, away from the demons."

"Your Majesty, I'll distract the rouges. Please don't do this," Martha requested with her tear-filled eyes, "Please listen to me."

"They will chase me first Martha, I am their main target after Fredrick; They can sense that I am the queen and that has made me the main target and human blood will attract them the most." Mom said.

There was no space left for argument after what mom said because what she'd said was a painful reality. Martha fell silent and the grief and the very same helplessness I had been facing since the very moment I had seen this horrendous attack began....Our lives taking an opposite turn shaded her face.

"Mom! I won't let go! You both can't leave me like this!" I cried out.

"You are strong, Jasmine and you have the strength to fight the whole world," She was crying too yet she was not going to change her decision, "But Martha here will make it easy for you, you won't need to live with these burdening memories and grief today's loss will cost you. You won't have to be involved in this world where there are only fights and thirst for blood— You will have a life where there'll be no hindrances in the path of your happiness." She kissed my cheeks

"Mom...please don't leave." My voice was barely higher than a whisper.

"Martha, you know what to do, take her and go. And once you reach the other side of the tunnel safely do what I have told you." Mom stood up but I wrapped my small arms around his waist, burying my face into her belly and letting go of my sobs that too were a silent plea.

"Promise me, you'll never let her go into something that'll put her life at risk, you'll never ever let her know who she was and what happened today and her identity. You'll never remind her about us, this place, these memories. Promise me, Martha." Mom said to Martha.

Martha held her hand and nodded, "I promise."

"Wipe every bit of her memory, Martha. And change her, change her identity. She should never be exposed to the world that took away everything from us, from her." She sighed and began to pull away from me.

I tried, I tried with all of my strength to stop her but.....Just as I had failed to hold onto dad, I failed this time too.

I lost my mother too...

"MOM, NO!"

Mom tore herself away from me, looking at me one last time with her eyes full of love and regret before she grabbed a dead girl from the countless dead bodies remaining all around her and ran.

All the rouges followed her in an instant and she went out of my sight.

I tried to scream and attempted to chase her but Martha picked me up and ran towards the tunnel despite all my struggles to get myself out of her hold and run towards my mom, her mouth chanted something I did not know, and soon as she engulfed me everything faded into the darkness with the sound of the tunnel's entrance closing.

I did not know that the best day I was going to wake up, I'd be a completely different person and I'd remember nothing about this tragedy and my parents who saved my life by sacrificing theirs.

That was it.....The end of the Vaidel Dynasty— My home.

A bolt of lightning struck me and I felt the weight over my eyelids vanishing into something unknown giving me the chance to open my eyes as who I was--A vampire; Jasmine Doloris Winchester.