After lunch, we went to the self-defense class. I had to retake Karate because Cammie said I was so out of practice. But I wasn't going to argue with her. After the incident last night, I guess it was a miracle that I could come back in one piece. I would go and find Octavia in the Garden later. I couldn't wait to hear what she would say after I told her about my father's evil brother. Things just kept filling in the blanks.

Once we got into Karate class, Cammie started teaching me some Kong Fu concepts.

"When you meet someone stronger than you, remember never attack them first."

"So I have to wait until I get my butt kicked?" I asked Cammie.

"That's not what I mean, but I'll show you," Cammie said, walking to the middle of the matted floor. "Now, attack me."

"Scuse you?" I said, "You don't want me to break your neck, do you?"

"If you can," she shrugged confidently.

"Alright, suit yourself," I said and then took a few steps back, preparing myself to attack. "Ready?"

Cammie just smirked and held her ground firmly. I intended not to use all of my strength. I was just planning to catch her by surprise.

But as I advanced toward her in bullet-speed, Cammie turned somewhat aside. And I felt her hand snaked to the back of my neck and twirled me around in a smooth motion, and I found myself crushing on the matted floor ten times harder than usual.

My head swam through outer space for a full minute before I was back to earth, along with the jarring pain in my body.

"How could...you...?" I groaned, rolling over in agony.

"Remember, ladies, with just a little understanding of comparative anatomy and physics, you too can put a grown man, or even a vampire on the ground," Cammie lectured to the audience, who was just Alyssa there. "It's not about strength, it's about movement. You might be faster and stronger than me, but I'm the one who got all the right moves. So fair's fair."

"You mean it's not muscle, it's physics?" Alyssa said.

"Exactly," Cammie said.

I got up again and took a deep healthy breath.

"Teach me everything you know, Master," I said with a bow. Cammie glowed a little at the remark. But after practice, the only skills that I really excelled at were dodging and jumping out of Cammie's reach. It only took the school bell to save my life. I wonder if I was actually vampire enough.

Then I got cleaned and excused myself to go to find Octavia at the Garden. Familiar music echoed through the wood, floating marvelously in the evening breeze. I opened the old wooden door and slipped through it. Walking toward the broken fountain, I still didn't see any sight of Octavia. Suddenly a gust of wind brushed past, I turned around, and she was right behind me, smiling like a mischievous angel.

"No use trying to scare me anymore," I said.

"Why are you so late?" she asked and slipped her hands around my waist, pulling me to her.

"I started my Karate with Cammie this afternoon," I told her, fidgeting around in her arms a little.

"Oh, good for you," Octavia smiled when she saw me blushing hard.

"Yeah," I said, "I got fewer punches than usual."

Octavia laughed melodiously, her light-brown eyes dancing. I just liked this innocent moment of her. Then she brought her face closer to mine and planted her soft lips on my reddened cheek. But I had to sigh, knowing I was going to spoil the mood.

"Um...Octavia," I said. "I have something to tell you."

"Oh?" She said as her nose was tracing the outline of my jaw and down my neck faintly, "Do you really want to talk about it, baby?"

Oh god, Octavia! I just wanted to throw myself all over her with that last word, but I tried to recollect my thoughts back.

"I...er...I dreamed about my father last night," I finally said, making Octavia freeze. Then she released me. Octavia seemed to understand something unusual, and she motioned for me to sit down on the grass under an oak tree. After we were settled, I didn't wait any longer before I launched into the whole story.

"Do you think Viktor is really behind everything?" I asked after I finished.

"I'm not sure about that, but your dream was telling us something," she said.

I thought of my conversation with Cammie and Alyssa. How my Phantom DNA could access to events in the past. Maybe father and I were having empathy-link through our vampiric DNA or some sort of mysterious bound.

"Octavia, do you know where the Underworld really is?" I asked.

"Underworld is just the name that the vampires use. You can't find it anywhere on the map. It's not a place you can go to visit, but at the same time, it's everywhere." Octavia said. "The royal families from the ancient world divided the human world into territories so that they can rule in secret. Russia is still the largest one to these days."

"They also have the king of kings," I said. "He looked so old."

"Well, the king of vampires," Octavia breathed. "He's a direct descendant of the originals. He was elected as the ruler of the Underworld, managing the rest of the royalties to sustain the peace."

"Was there a war before?"

"Maybe,"

"And your mom was from Italy?"

"Her ancestors were the Romans," Octavia said. "She used to be a representative of the Royal Council."

"But now, Aldric is in charge," I said dryly. "And he seemed hardcore."

"Did anyone say anything about the prophecy in the court?" Octavia asked.

"No," I said with a shrug. "As far as I remember, the prophecy is like a taboo. No one said a thing about it except for the king."

Octavia fell into silence again. I studied her smooth elegant face from the side. And when she turned back to me, our eyes met. For a moment, we were lost in each other's gaze. Octavia narrowed her eyes to my lips.

"Come here," she said, opening her arms to me. There was something about her that pulled me in. I shifted myself over, but Octavia just pulled my waist onto her, making me straddle on her lap. She stared up into my startled eyes.

"Octavia..." I whimpered as her arms wrapped around my body tightly, pulling me closer against her. I placed my hands on her shoulders, half-heartedly pushing myself away, but this sudden intimacy weakened me to the bones. And I thought I was strong.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything if you're not ready," she said, tugging a strand of hair behind my ear. "I just think we can seek some comfort from each other."

I bit my bottom lip slightly, trying not to blush so much.

"Can I kiss you?" Octavia said again, her eyes searching mine through her long curved lashes. And how could I resist such a face? Slowly and timidly, I nodded. Octavia smiled and drew her face close. I leaned down to meet her halfway. And the moment our lips touched, dancing butterflies burst inside my stomach. I felt the dizzying excitement going through every vein in my body. Octavia lapped her soft silky tongue over my teeth. I opened my mouth and took her in, enjoying the taste of her sweet-scented skin. Our bodies pressed against each other, slightly rocking to the rhythm of our kissing tongues.

Octavia's moans echoed from the depth of her throat, which made me smile. I had control over her this time. But my breathed shortened as her hands roamed around my back and inside my skirt. This felt too good to stop, yet I knew I had to before I lost myself.

"Octa..." I tried to speak through our locking lips.

"Mmm?" she said softly. I didn't know whether it was just her moan or her response since she was still sucking away at my mouth. I had to push her shoulders down, parting our lips soundly. I leaned back for some air, and we both were breathing hard.

"We..." I said as I was able to breathe normally again. 'We need to find your aunt, Octavia."

She looked at me for a moment and then straightened herself a bit. I wanted to get off her lap, but she kept me tugged in place.

"But I don't know where she is right now," Octavia sighed, leaning over to rest her head on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and smoothed her beautiful golden hair.

"How do vampires keep their connections?"

"Well, they're like any secret society," she said. "They can be anywhere, connecting each other through some identities, like symbols, codes, or even family crests."

Then Octavia looked up at me with curious eyes.

"You have any of the above?" I asked.

"No," she said. "My mom only left me with this flute and her diary," she said, sensing something behind my question.

"I just think that if we can find someone who knows Florentine..."I started to explain, but Octavia shook her head vigorously, stopping me on the track.

"It's dangerous, Vivienne. You can't let anyone else know about us."

"I know! But the undead had already found me!" I said. "It's just a matter of time that they will come back again. We have no time, Octavia. We've got to start the search for your aunt."

"As I said, Viv, I have no idea where she hides."

"We can find someone who has connections," I said. "Someone who knows just about anybody."

Octavia was so still as she looked at me, she could have been a statue.

Then she asked. "How?"

I pulled my necklace through the collar of my shirt. The black gemstone in the middle shimmered in our sight.

"We can use my father's royal crest," I said,

I was still thinking about our discussion while I was in the limo, heading out of school. The last light of the sun had gone out, so it was quite dark already. I rested my head on the headrest and tried not to let my mind overwork. Maybe I need to absorb everything by osmosis. That way, things would slow down like evolution and easier to adapt.

As my eyes traced over the shadowy wall of trees along the road, I saw a figure moving inside the wood down the hill. I could see far and incredibly clear in the dark that I was sure it was a girl. I immediately asked Denial, a middle-age limo driver, to pull over.

"What is it, Miss. Petrovna?" He asked me, looking through the one-way glass window.

I opened the car door to crawl out, "Nature call, Mr. D. I'll be right back."

"Alright," he said. "Don't be too long."

Luckily, he wasn't one to ask questions. Without any delay, I ran into the dark wood, sprinting toward that person. I sniffed the air for any scent I might recognize. Then my feet froze on the ground because Jacques was here. I almost turned around and walked back to the car after that, but my curiosity got the best of me again.

"What's she doing in the wood?" I muttered to myself then followed the scent. After a few minutes of walking, I found her standing alone, doing nothing in particular. I quickly moved behind a tree, spying on her. Jacques's pale arms spread out to the sky. Her eyes closed as if she was concentrating on something. Was she doing some witchcraft around here?

Suddenly, I broke a twig under my feet, and the sound must have reached her ears because Jacques's sparkling eyes snapped open. She turned around quickly.

"Who's there?" she said.

I stepped out from behind the tree, "It's me."

"Me who?" She demanded. I rolled my eyes. Some people really have bad eye-sight.

"Vivienne," I said again, walking directly toward her. Jacques nervously took a step back when she saw me.

"What are you doing here?" Jacques asked. And she was staring at me like I was a hyena. Then, I realized she wasn't actually looking at me. She looked at my eyes. Cammie and Alyssa might have gotten used to the bizarre glow of my pupils, but Jacques wasn't close to that point yet. I quickly fished out my sunglasses from my skirt pocket and put it on. Jacques seemed to relax a little.

"I should ask you that question," I said later. "Aren't you supposed to be in the mansion?"

"None of your business," she muttered back.

"If you're still roaming around trying to suck people's energy, then it's my business."

"Oh, so only you can be around drinking people's blood?" She raised a mocking eyebrow at me, "Aren't you like a human by day and vampire by night, then?"

"I don't drink blood!" I said, almost stomping my feet in a childish tantrum. "You'd better get back to your suite before I lose it."

"Oh, now you're threatening me?"

"I just warn you, Jacques. There are horrors out there," I said.

"You meant horrors like you," She said with a nod. Oh gosh! Maybe we were destined to be natural enemies after all.

"Whatever," I said, giving up. "Your life."

As I turned to walk away, Jacques's footsteps also ventured into the opposite path a few minutes later. Suddenly I felt a rush of a chill running up my spine. This time, the feeling was even creepier. The smell in the air started to stink. My nose wrinkled out of disgust. I started to locate where the smell came from, and it seemed to float from where I had met Jacques. Turning around quickly, I dashed back to the spot where I saw Jacques. But now the girl was standing with two men in complete black. I could hardly see their faces, but I was within a range of hearing the conversation.

"Do you know a girl by the name Vivienne?" one of them asked Jacques. I caught my breath in my throat. Jacques's back was turned to me, so I couldn't see her face, but at the same time, I was astonished that these strangers knew my name. And worse, I knew they weren't just ordinary strangers. Jacques looked tensed as if she knew there was something wrong with these guys too.

"I don't know who you are talking about," she replied, keeping her voice calm and strong. I couldn't believe what I had heard, she could have told them, but for some stupid reason, she didn't.

"What a pity, then," another guy spoke, smacking his lips. I made out their red glowing eyes under the hoodies now.

"Eddie, don't make a mess," His partner warned.

"But I'm hungry now," Eddie snarled then turned back to Jacques, "Come on, little candy, you smell so mouth-watering."

"Get lost," Jacques snapped. Eddie growled and bared his teeth.

"Jacques run!" My adrenaline rushed through my body. Jacques seemed to be rooted in place as I darted out as fast as I could. At the same time, one of the undead guys grabbed her by the shoulders. Jacque yelped. He was about to bite into her, but I came to hook my arm around his neck just in time.

"Let her go, dead face!" I hissed. Another guy came at me from behind, but I kicked him with all my strength. He went flying and hit his back against a tree. The one who grabbed Jacques released her as I started to choke the life out of him. He pried me off his shoulder, but I swiftly turned myself back before delivering a hard kick right into the vampire's gut. He was sent straight into a bush ten feet away.

I turned to face Jacques who was standing with her eyes widened.

"Run!" I said, grabbing her hand and pulled her along.