Chapter 8


    “…That is none of your business, Bart” I mutter.


    What the heck is wrong with him? He looks absolutely furious, and almost disgusted with me!


    “Oh, hell it is!” He shouts. “Why do you think we’re like this, and look like this? I didn’t choose to die at


    twenty-two and be a blood-thirsty monster! Not a single person in this family got to live until they


    were old, nor die a natural death! Some got killed in idents, some had it even worse! But you


    actually fucking went ahead andmitted suicide? What the actual fuck is wrong with you! You’ve got


    to be kidding me!”


    “You know nothing of me! You think I just decided to die on a whim? You think that was a fucking


    tantrum?!”


    “That’s exactly what it is! Selfish bitches who can’t cherish their life when they were humans shouldn’t


    get toe back!”


    “I didn’t choose to be a vampire!” I shout back, annoyed. “You think I just asked Richard to give


    me a reset? I would have died there and then and that was all I asked for! I didn’t choose toe


    back!”


    “Then you shouldn’t have! You’re just a selfish bitch who chose to make a drama out of her life and


    now is having fun ying hertest role! Do you know how many peoplemented under this article


    alone? It’s not like you had nobo-”


    Absolutely furious, more than he is, I walk over, grab his phone and violently throw it across the room


    under his astonished eyes.


    “You know fucking nothing of this selfish bitch!” I yell. “I died all alone in a hotel room in the busiest city


    in the world! I didn’t have a ce to call home, not a single family member to care enough to call me


    when I was about to end my own life! Hell, they couldn’t even be bothered to remember my actual


    birthday, why would they care about my death! Those peoplementing don’t know shit about me!


    June Starr, the rich daughter of a conglomerate mogul, pathetically died alone in her hotel room! You


    think a tabloid about my death is a big deal? I’ve been stered in those shit magazines my whole


    damn life, and I hated every single word they typed! I lost every single friend I ever had for those


    followers! I couldn’t take one step outside without being harassed, I couldn’t see anybody without their


    privacy being invaded! Every time I tried to get a phone to call my friends, within a week my number


    was leaked and I had to throw the damn device away so it would stop buzzing, ringing, driving me


    crazy all over again! Every time I moved, the building would get crowded and I was forced to move out


    again! The only friend I had moved overseas to get peace, and I never heard from her again! Do you


    know what it’s like, to have absolutely nobody to call, nobody to talk to when you’re at your lowest? My


    own fiancé couldn’t care enough to call me, my own father barely remembered I exist at all! Do you


    know why I chose to be an actress, Bart? Why I epted every bullshit movie, the dumbest


    roles? Why I lived for nothing but the next lines to learn, the next scene to shoot? Because I was


    desperate to be on every single screen of the country, so all the people that ever mattered in my life


    would stop ignoring me!”


    He gasps, visibly out of words, but after a while, he just turns to Richard, who is staring at me with


    someplex, undecipherable expression.


    “…You should have left her where she was. No wonder she had so much fun ying one of us. This is


    all just a game to her.”


    “Fuck you, Bartholomew,” I hiss.


    He res at me, and leaves the room. We hear his bedroom door m a secondter. A heavy silence


    befalls the room, and Cata clears her throat.


    “I… I’m going to check the pantry.”


    I don’t care what she does. I cross my arms around me, and just walk to the salon, putting my butt


    down on the couch. I’m still shaking with anger. It’s so annoying that Bart can hear me probably


    anywhere I’ll go in this house… Hopefully, he’s got his headphones on and he’s raging at some game.


    A few seconds after me, Richard walks in the living room as well. He puts Bart’s destroyed phone in


    front of me on the coffee table, and sits down in the armchair, looking at me.


    “…He’s right, Richard,” I mutter. “You shouldn’t have brought me back.”


    “Why not?”


    I turn to him. The question is why did he? His piercing blue eyes got me confused, and too shy to ask,


    which is getting really frustrating. I take a deep breath for nothing but to calm myself down.


    “…I didn’tmit suicide just so I would be brought back.”


    “No one ever dies expecting a second chance either.”


    “But why? …Richard, if I’m going to meet another dozen vampires tomorrow and they have the same


    reaction as Bart, I would rather not. I’ve dealt with rejection one too many times in my human life


    already, I can’t.”


    A smile appears on his lips.


    “They already know who you are.”


    My jaw drops.


    “What?”


    “You underestimate my children if you think they wouldn’t be interested in their younger sister’s


    whereabouts. No one here simply starts over, Hera. Your human life might be over, yet it does not


    simply vanish from your memory. June Starr will still be a part of you, and you cannot hide her forever.


    Not from your family.”


    Iy back against the couch,pletely defeated. Damn it. So it’s already toote? …What will the


    others say, or think? There is just no way they will all be as nice and understanding as Catherina or


    Richard…


    “How are you enjoying London?”


    The sudden shift of topic takes me by surprise. I nce at the night outside, and shrug.


    “Not as bad as I thought… I doubt Bart’s going to take me out again though.”


    “He’lle around.”


    A brutal noise of someone kicking the floor answers Richard. Bart, you ass.


    “Anything you want to do with your new freedom?” Richard asks. “Once Riki is done with you.”


    Right… I have a very long time ahead of me now. It’s nk in my mind, though. I’ve spent so long


    stuck between four walls, with nothing to do but watch shows and movies, I don’t even know where to


    start with what I want to do. The truth is, being in London makes it a bit easy. Back in New York City,


    every time I stepped out of a building, I had to run to the car and quickly move to some shooting


    location or a red carpet. I can’t even remember thest time I simply went to a supermarket, or a coffee


    shop. I couldn’t help but nce at the ones we walked by earlier, but Bart would have thought I was a


    bit mad if I’d told him I wanted to walk around some tiny corner shop… It’s not like I’d even be possibly


    wanting to buy a candy bar or something. Plus, I always have some intense self-awareness of


    cameras, even the surveince ones.


    “Hera.”


    Richard’s voice snaps me out of my thinking.


    “You can do whatever you want, now,” he gently says.


    It’s like something unlocks. A wall crumbles, and that heavy, heavy pressure I have felt on my heart all


    along just vanishes. Right… I’m free now. There are no more cameras, no more fans or stalkers. No


    manager to control my every movement, no agenda, no fiancé to tell me what to do. There’s literally


    nothing, no one expecting anything of me anymore. To my surprise, a teares up, and I wipe it


    quickly, a bit embarrassed. Richard is still staring, with that faint smile.


    “I think… I’d like to go shopping,” I mutter. “I kind of want to have my own clothes, I don’t have anything


    here…”


    “I’m sure some of your older sisters will be happy to take you.”


    I nod. That’s if they don’t hate their selfish bitch of a suicidal little sister… I’m still bitter about Bart’s


    reaction. I nce down at the phone, but truthfully, I don’t really feel sorry about having smashed it.


    “Anything else?”


    “Just… Normal stuff,” I mutter. “Hang out with people… learn to be Hera the vampire.”


    “That’s a good start.”


    “Do I have to… pay you in some way?” I ask, a bit worried. “I mean, I don’t have any money for the


    clothes, but if I can repay youter, I will.”


    Do vampires even work? Bart and Cata seem to stay at home all night and day long, is that the norm? I


    mean, it’s not like they really have an issue with food nor lodging… But Richard chuckles.


    “I appreciate the thought, but no. I can provide for my new child, and you’ll only get to make your own


    money when you actually feel like it. For now, you do not need to worry about that.”


    That’s good. I can’t remember managing my own money nor buying anything for myself in the past few


    years, so it’s actually a bit thrilling. I wonder if there’s a budget or something though. It’s not like I got to


    wear much of those popr brands before. While I was wearing stuff from high-end brands and custom


    creations for the sake of the screen, I always envied the young women my age for doing their own


    shopping, chatting about thetest trends and actually owning clothes that smelled like them… Well, if


    Richard can own a house like this in the middle of London and a Private Jet, I doubt my shopping


    habits will bankrupt the Heartgraves family anytime soon…


    “So… What do you usually do when you’re not hunting?” I ask, ncing around the living room.


    I didn’t pay much attention when I angrily barged in, but it’s actually a prettyrge one, enough to hold


    two three-seat couches and two armchairs in a half-circle, a bar, a cab with a lock, and a couple of


    big bookcases. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many books in a building that was not a library… I


    wonder what’s in that cab too. Some secret vampire stuff? There’s arge t screen above the


    firece, and on the ss coffee table, arge and fresh flower bouquet. There are also more of what I


    suppose to be Catherina’s nts, taking a spot on the bookcases or hanging on the wall. In fact, the


    whole room is a nice bnce between the old but well taken care of oak furniture and some modern


    things like the radio on top of the cab, the modern bar, the ss coffee table and the tv. One of the


    doors on the side leads to what I assume to be a back garden, the other two to the kitchen and the


    main corridor.


    “Everyone has their own hobbies,” Richard smiles. “I have some work, but feel free to cook with


    Catherina, or find a book to your liking. I would have suggested you ask Bartholomew for a game,


    but… My guess is that he’s not in the ideal mood for that, right now.”C0pyright ? 2024 N?v)(elDrama.Org.


    I nod, and look around the room. There are so many books… Perhaps I should catch up on some


    history before meeting the others? I wouldn’t know which century to start with, though. My eyes fall on


    the little locked cab again, and Richard notices.


    “…Curious?”


    “Is it… something I can look into?”


    “At your own risk,” he smiles enigmatically. “But I’m warning you, it’s pretty addictive.”


    Is it alcohol, or drugs? Well, he said I can look… While I’m pondering, Richard gets up.


    “I have to work now, Darling, but you cane up to my office anytime. Be careful not to bother Agnes


    again, she likes her alone time.”


    My guess is that she likes to be alone all the time, but I don’t say it out loud, and just nod obediently. I


    watch Richard leave the room. I still have half a billion questions up in my head, but the night’s been


    eventful enough… For now, I’m just curious about that cab. I get up, and go to check it. As


    expected, it’s locked…


    “Hera?”


    Cata is standing on the doorstep, a whisk in her hand.


    “…Richard said I could take a look, but it’s locked,” I exin.


    “Oh, the key is hidden behind the Thesaurus, Dear. You can take it, but make sure you put it back after,


    and don’t tell the others! They always end up fighting so we have to confiscate it…”


    They end up fighting? What the hell is this about… I find the tiny key, and get to the cab, a bit


    excited. My bet is on some special stach of blood, or perhaps some drug? Cata goes back to the


    kitchen, and I open it. There are four boxes. I grab one, and open it.


    …A ystation? I chuckle. There’s a ystation, and a good dozen games, with two brand-new


    looking controllers. I check the other boxes. There’s a Wii, and even the recent Switch. I can’t help but


    laugh. Then again, thest thing I expected to see. I grab the Switch and a couple of games to try. I


    can’t remember thest time I got to y a video game… I lie on the couch, a bit excited with the


    console. All the game entries are taken, but the first one belongs to Bart. Without a hint of remorse, I


    erase his data and start a new game. That’s the selfish bitch for you, Bartholo-ass…


    After what feels like just a couple of minutes of thoroughly enjoying hunting monsters, a gentle knock


    grabs my attention.


    “Hera Dear,” says Catherina. “They should all arrive in just a few hours, and the night is going to be


    long once the family’s gathered. Why don’t you go and get some sleep now? I will wake you up when


    Riki arrives, she should be here around six.”


    “I will. Thanks, Cata.”


    I turn off my game after saving it, and put it back into the cab, the key back behind the Thesaurus.


    ying and forgetting the real word for a bit did me a lot of good… I feel a lot better when I slip back


    into the night gown and under the sheets. I have no idea howte it is, and I don’t care much. I’m both


    worried and excited to meet the rest of the family tomorrow, but I shift my excitement to the


    appointment with Riki first. I just can’t wait for a change…


    “Wake up Doll!” A sudden shout wakes me up. “Time for a makeover!”


    I open my eyes to see a young woman with the most colorful hair I’ve ever seen at the end of my bed,


    standing against the window with her hands on her hips, a big smile on. A female vampire, by the


    fangs.


    “…Riki?” I guess, still half-asleep.


    “The one and only! Come on, get up! Chop-chop! We’ve got a lot of work and only four hours!”


    *