--Sorry that it has been so long but life gets in the way. Between school and life in general, my story took a back burner.--
"I might be a what?" Rhiannon couldn't help sounding incredulous. She didn't want to believe Natasha but how else could she have these thoughts and feeling. Could they be from a previous life? She had heard about previous lives before but the people who had experienced them had always died, "What do you mean? Reincarnated. You know what happens with past lives. They kill people; the forces cause the body to overload. No one I have ever read about has survived," she started pacing across the ground, "Why are you telling me this?"
I told you this because you have a right to know. I also knew the woman you were reincarnated from. Her name was Tanya. I saw you one day and thought she was back. It was a jolt to my system," Natasha turned from Rhiannon and wiped the tears from her eyes, "Would you like to know more?"
"Yes, I would, please." Rhiannon answered.
"Then follow me," Natasha started walking across the cemetery at a fast pace.
Rhiannon had to walk at a slower pace because she couldn't see the low headstones. She took a step forward and felt herself start to fall, but she never hit the ground. Instead she felt a pair of arms around her waist and felt herself be put upright.
Natasha felt Rhiannon's body against her own and wondered if she would be able to keep her hands to herself. "Are you ok?" she asked.
"Yes, I am. Thank you. I'm sorry. I seem to be slowing you down." Rhiannon told her.
"No, it's my fault. I forgot I was with you. I can see the stones so I don't trip but you can't see without the moon or sun." Natasha explained.
"So, it would seem we are both at fault," Rhiannon replied.
"Yes, it would seem so. Come on, take my hand. I know of a way to get there faster," Natasha held out her hand.
Rhiannon placed her hand in Natasha's and felt a flare of heat right to her core. "Where are we going" she asked.
"You'll see. Just trust me." Natasha thought of Alina's castle and seemed to disappear from the cemetery and appear somewhere in the mountains. A select few knew exactly where Alina's castle was. Alina had a spell put on it to make sure that anyone who was there that was uninvited would forget the location as soon as they left the land and they had no way of communicating it to anyone outside of the property line.
Rhiannon stumbled as her feet met the ground and a queasy feeling entered her stomach. She felt like she had just gotten off of an upside down roller coaster.
"Did you have to run so fast?" Rhiannon asked.
"I'm sorry but I couldn't risk being followed. Many would love to overthrow Alina and take her place as queen or king of the vampires. I can not risk it." Natasha replied.
"Alina...My mother, Alina." Rhiannon felt as if the air had been sucked from her lungs.
"Yes, Alina. She is the only person who can explain all of this." Natasha turned to go inside.
Rhiannon followed at a slower pace, looking at her surroundings. Her mother didn't spare any expense. The yard was full of many different types of flowers and shrubs. They were in bloom which was confusing being on a mountain surrounded by snow.
"Are you coming or are you going to stand there staring?" Natasha asked from the doorway.
"Yeah, I'm coming. I was just looking around. It's so beautiful." Rhiannon told her.
"I know. It never fails to amaze me that she made it this far." Natasha replied. "Come on, this way. We have to hurry. If I know Alina then she already knows you're here and why."
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"You would guess right, Natasha. I knew you were here before you ever crossed my borders. My seers told me to expect a special guest." Rhiannon turned to see a beautiful woman with long auburn hair with red streaks through it, walking toward them. As the woman got closer, Rhiannon saw aquamarine eyes and a small, sloping nose. She looks just like me, Rhiannon thought.
"Rhiannon, come here, child." Alina asked her, not knowing what was going on inside her head.
Rhiannon walked to her mother, wow, her mother. It didn't seem real.
"You seem troubled, child. What is going on inside that head of yours?" Alina asked her.
"I didn't know about you. Now looking at you is like looking at my reflection. I could be looking at a mirror for all I knew. Why did you agree to keep me a secret? Do you know what I had to endure from her? Didn't you love me enough?" Rhiannon couldn't help what she was saying. It didn't dawn on her that you don't talk that way to royalty. She was too pissed to care.
"Never think that I didn't regret my decision every day of my life. I loved you. I didn't want you to grow up ridiculed and laughed at. You are different. You can walk in the sun whereas most of our kind is pushed to the darkness. Your friend here" gesturing to Natasha, "is one of the lucky few who can bask in the daylight and not die. I wanted you to have a different life."
Alina turned to walk away, "Wait, I need your help." Rhiannon called after her.
Alina turned back, "I know. Follow me. There isn't much time. Midsummer is almost here. That is when all will unfold."
Rhiannon knew that Midsummer was one of the most powerful days of the year and that it multiplied a witches and vampires power almost tenfold.
Rhiannon followed her mother into the solar where she saw tempered glass. So that is how many vampires were able to sit in their houses with the windows uncovered. Rhiannon felt a presences behind her, turned and almost walked into Natasha.
Natasha put her hands on Rhiannon's arms, "Are you Okay?"
"Yeah, I wasn't paying any attention. I thought I saw something in the windows. Almost like a shadow or something you see out of the corner of your eye and when you turn to get a better look, it disappears." Rhiannon told her.
The look on Natasha's face seemed to be of fear. "Alina, you need to come here."
Alina came back to where they were standing, "What is going on? You look as if someone walked over your grave. Oh, bad choice of words."
"Well, I was just telling Natasha that I thought I saw a shadow cross over the window but when I looked again, it had disappeared." Rhiannon explained.
Alina suddenly turned and almost ran from the room, "This is worse then I thought. We need to hurry. Someone is here and they are not welcome but that doesn't seem to stop them. They want you and I won't let them have you."
They walked from the room and followed Alina through the house and many secret passage ways until Rhiannon couldn't remember where to go to get back to the entrance.
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Finally, they reached a dark room. Natasha saw Alina searching for the light switch. She knew that Alina didn't need it but Rhiannon did. Some things she may have inherited from her mother but that wasn't one of them.
"What are we doing here?" Natasha asked.
"This is where all of the visions are seen from the seers. Every single one of them is recorded into a database for future reference." Alina explained.
Alina finally found the switch. Illuminating the room, Natasha looked around and saw protective markers on all of the walls and doors. In the center of the room, a woman sat in the lotus position on a high rise section.
"Welcome all who enter my domain. I see that we have a few issues to discuss. But one is one important then the others." The woman said as she opened her eyes. Natasha saw that they were a milky blue, the woman was blind.
"Yes, Natasha, I am blind. I was not born this way though. Just cursed I guess, to be made this way when my powers became too much." She answered.
"How did you..." Natasha started to ask.
"Know. I see all and hear all. Even the thoughts that you don't say out loud. They are as clear as your sight." The woman moved to stand, "But enough of that. I see that you are in need of some guidance."
Rhiannon walked to her and stopped short. "What do you mean guidance? All I want to find out is why I was told that I may be a reincarnated vampire hunter. I know what happens to people who are plagued by their past lives. They die and no one has figured out how to stop it from happening. I just want to be normal. I hate the fact that I was born to be both a vampire and a vampire hunter. There is a little irony in that. How can I be both?"
"Just as the one who came before you was. She knew what she was and she knew that she would never be able to be both. So she chose. Now it is you turn to choose. You need to pick, night or day. Your life has been planned out this far but this is you destiny. To chose a life with the family who condemns you or the woman who cares for you"
"Choose... What do you mean? I can't choose between my families? That's like asking me which hand I like better, my left or right." Rhiannon replied and turned to leave.
"If you don't make a choice then you will die. You have one week and then you will be at war in yourself to make the choice that will change your life forever." The woman said and went back to her high rise section to resume her lotus position.