The Queen And The Freak

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Before I could fall on the floor, I regained my consciousness by biting my lower lip with my upper fangs. It surely hurts, but the arrow got its poison, and I need to fight it by drinking my blood.    

I finally got up on my feet, and I saw the woman with a concerned look on her face with teary eyes.    

Why is she crying? I did not die.    

"Claudette," she muttered.    

How the heck did she know my second name?    

"Who are you?" I curiously asked her. But instead of answering me, she touched my face, and tears finally fell from her warm blue eyes.    

"You're alive," she said, and her touch was so soft.    

She caressed my cheek, and then she hugged me.    

Well, this is weird. It's like I know her. Is she my mom? No, Marge said that she's dead. Maybe she’s my sister. She looks so young. Or my twin? Damn, this is crazy!    

I broke off from her hug, and I stared at her like I was looking for an answer. I need answers. I went in here for it.    

"My child." And she said it. Mom. She is Mom.    

My tears are building up in my eyes, but I held them back.    

"Are you my... mother?" I asked her, and she nodded while crying. She's my mother.    

"Oh, Claudette! You're really here. Are you all alright? Don't worry. I'll punish that guard later for...." she began, but I cut her off.    

"Where were you?" I asked her as I remembered that everybody made me believe that my mother is dead. I went through a lot without her.    

"I'm so sorry, dear. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have left you. I should've brought your dead body with me." She explained, and I showed her a perplexed look on my face.    

"Wait, what? Did you leave me? All these seventeen years, I believed that you were dead. That's all that they said. Marge even said that. That all you've left for me is this necklace. But you are alive. Why did you leave me?" I confessed and showed her the necklace, and I really want to ask her why she left.    

But she showed me a puzzled face in reply.    

"Seventeen years?" She asked me, and I nodded my head.    

"Yeah, I'm seventeen years old. Why? You have not answered my question." I answered, and she took a deep breath.    

"Can we talk inside my room? I will tell you everything, and it's a long story," she asked me as she turned her back on me to walk inside.    

"Yeah, sure! That's what I came for." I uttered as I followed behind her.    

---    

"Claudette, you need to change your clothes. You’re wet. Here," she said, and I can see jeans, shirts, and underwear floating in front of me.    

Ooh, this witch magic is so cool! Just like my… telekinesis. Oh, damn.    

I am changing clothes in my mother's bathroom, and fudge, a bathroom alone is like a freaking five-star hotel room.    

And I went out, and I saw her just came inside from the door. She talked to somebody outside because I could hear it. I forgot to turn back to human mode. "So, um... Are you hungry?" She nervously asked me.    

Why is she acting shy towards me? Well, I should be the one who will be shy because I'm freaking borrowing clothes. And thankfully, she didn't let me wear their kind of clothings. It's weird but so elegant at the same time.    

"Uh... No. Not yet. I drank a liter of blood before we got here." I replied, and she lightly nodded.    

"How did you get in here? I thought Cassandra's having a vacation at her best friend's house," she asked me, and she walked near where I was.    

"We teleported from her friend’s mansion. And Cassandra told me that I should see their queen, so I would know something about me being a witch." I began and paused because I needed to breathe.    

"Um, in case you don't mind, Mom. Can I ask you a favor?" I continued and asked her. Then her face lightened up.    

"You called me mom." She let out, and she warmly smiled.    

Then I saw a tear escaping from her eye again, and I truly feel so bad for making her cry.    

"Yeah, you're my mother. Right?" I answered, and she nodded. What's wrong with her always crying?    

"Yeah, what favor, dear? Anything you want, I will give it to you," she replied with teary eyes. Can’t she just stop tearing up? I'm gonna cry, too, so it would be fair.    

"Uh, can you bring me to your queen? I really need to ask if I am a witch or something else. I don’t know if I’m a vampire or whatever. Sander told me she knows a lot of things about supernatural beings." I asked her, and she gave me a sweet smile in reply.    

"You are with the queen, my dear Claudette," she answered, and with that, my jaw dropped with my eyes wide in surprise.    

Why didn't I notice she's wearing a damn crown? And that woman earlier called me her highness?    

"Oh, fudge! Forgive me, Your Highness! I’m so sorry. I didn’t know." I cursed and kneeled in front of her while bowing my head. I am giving my respect.    

"Hey, Claudette, you don't need to do that. I am your mother. Stand up, please." She told me.    

"But still, you are the queen," I insisted, and I looked at her in awe.    

Wow, she’s a queen! My mother is a queen. And what does it mean? I’m a… No way!    

"Come here, my dear," she ordered and held me by my shoulders.    

I stood up, and she led me to the couch, which was looking so expensive.    

"Sit. I need to tell you everything," she spoke, and her face turned into something serious.    

"Okay," I mumbled and took a seat beside her.    

Geez, now I'm feeling so nervous.    

It’s time to know the truth.    

---    

After my mother told me everything, I have learned that I was born 239 years ago.    

Fudge it! Am I that old? Crazy, right?    

And my mom is 267 years old. She gave birth to me when she was twenty-eight, and I was born dead, and she was still a princess by that time. She had a tragic romantic relationship with a vampire. Yes, now I know that my dad is a vampire. But he is not just any ordinary vampire.    

My father was the prince of the vampires at that time I was born, and later on, became the king. He was the reason why there's peace between the vampires, the witches, the werewolves, and other supernatural beings.    

The previous vampire king disapproved of his son's relationship with my mom because they are not alike. A witch and vampire being mates are never acceptable. But I am their product. Look at me, I think I’m fine.    

And also for my mom's side. Mom gave birth to me in Transylvania because she escaped from her parents and ran away with my dad.    

But the bad news was I am dead, and the war was starting between the three races because of them being together and in love and breaking lots of rules. And the werewolves were trying to take advantage of the conflict between the Northern Witches and the Vampires, so they could get rid of the royal bloods of both races and rule them all. Those monsters really are sneaky as heck.    

Some vampires betrayed their king and joined the werewolves and killed him. So, my dad had to fulfill his obligations as the prince, so he became the new king.    

The great war lasted for a month, and it only ended when he had requested a peace talk to every leader of each race. He was a very wise man, but the queen of the Northern Witches, which was my mom's mother, still didn't approve of their relationship. So in exchange for peace, my parents should never see each other again.    

Mom didn't bury my dead body in the ground, instead she constructed a small shelter that serves as my grave where she engraved my name on it.    

And she doesn't have any idea why I came to life after hundreds of years. Well, truth be told, me, too.    

I also told her that the vampire leader right now is named Flaviu Rusu, and he's not my father because my dad's name was Dracovick Sperova. I admit, he got a cool name.    

From what I have heard, the Vampire King Draco has put himself to sleep years ago, and when the time comes, he will rise from the dead and rule again. And Mom told me that maybe it was because he was in his hibernation that I came to life, that maybe we are cursed. And she got the point. Then she told me she needs to look it up and consult someone to know the truth about whatever curse my father and I have. It’s truly bothersome, you know?    

The queen also wanted to know who Margarette Kendall was and how she found me. She wondered how Marge got an Octavia, this crystal in my necklace, because it is really hard to find and so expensive. In case if Marge is a witch too, she can have it, together with some other magic crystals of the witches. I learned that there are three others—the Mirak is for making portals to go to other places, it’s the one I thought making them teleport; another one crystal is the Haram, which the seer uses, because it makes the person who possesses it see the events in the future, and there are very few of it; then the last one is the Verdana, and it is said that the elders have destroyed it, because it's the one that could make curses.    

And my mother realized that maybe her father, the previous king, had a Verdana and used it for my father and me to curse us. And it explains why my mother’s father suddenly disappeared without a trace as it is said that you can only use it one time but in exchange for the death of the beholder. And it really is so complicated.    

I wonder why he would do that to me and my dad. Why don’t they want me to live? Maybe because my parents were the reason for the great war? I don’t know.    

And something suddenly made sense to me. Mom confirmed to me that I could be a human and have a human aura and form if I had my Octavia necklace with me. That means Marge is a witch, too, because I saw that she has an anklet that has a crystal, like this one that I have. Now, that explains why I can't sense her supernatural aura if I'm a vampire. Mmm, sneaky Margie.    

We talked more about witches and their abilities, and the vampires. And I learned that we are called the Northern Witches because the witches’ race around the world is divided into two. There are Southern Witches. And I told Mom that we’ll talk more about that race when we have some other time, because I can feel my tiny brain is about to explode with too much information.    

---    

We are now at the dining table, and we are about to eat breakfast. And I am now facing a lot of meat, and I don't eat meat. I'm a freaking vegetarian.    

"What's wrong, Claude? You don't like the food?" My mom worriedly asked me.    

Well, we have agreed that she'll call me by that name, and I didn't argue because she's the one who gave me that name. And by the way, my mother's name is Claudia Cavanaugh. She’s a part-time architect in the human dimension, particularly in Ontario, and she’s a full-time Queen of the Northern Witches.    

"Well, if you didn't know, Aunt C, Blairie is vegan." Cassandra butted in, who was sitting in front of me with a long table in between us.    

The quite annoying part of this reunion with my newfound family is the witch best friend of the girl I like most is my cousin. Cassandra is my cousin. Her mom is my mom's younger sister, Alexandra. They own and manage a huge medical school and hospital in the human world, still in Ontario. And Sander is attending that school. She is still pretty young because her mother and her father got married twenty years ago. And now, she teases me for being two hundred and thirty-nine years old, that I'm a freaking grandma. Screw her!    

Well, she's not really annoying but rather weird. Pryce's best friend is my cousin. That’s great, right?    

"Oh, is that so? Cook some vegetables for the princess." Mom ordered the chefs, and with that, my eyes went wide. Geez, being called a princess is so damn weird.    

After eating, we decided to go back home so that Pryce's servants won't go crazy about why Sander's gone and Pryce is still asleep.    

My cousin put her to sleep when we left, and she will only wake up if Sander wants to wake her up. What a witch, right?    

Mom has mentioned that I also have my witch powers but still haven't arisen yet, because my vampire blood is more dominant than my witch blood. Mmhmm, I really am a witch. Yeah! And I now know that witches aren’t totally like the ones I knew. They are super cool with super cool abilities.    

I have learned that every witch has the damn coolest power ever. It’s like a gift of power in naturally controlling an element you are born to have—fire, water, wind, and earth.    

Sander's gift is controlling water. My aunt Alexandra is water as well. Mom is the wind, and I'm expecting that mine will be like her, too. But we still don't know.    

The power of controlling fire was not that common because there are only seven Northern Witches who have had that power since their existence. And two of them were my great grandparents, who both died more or less five thousand years ago. The others are also dead. And the only one living was the witches' head of their council. She's more than three thousand years old, and she really is so old but doesn’t look that old.    

Now, I feel so excited to know what gift I will have. And they said that the remaining abilities to make spells, other witchcraft, and stuff have to be learned over time.    

As Cassandra and I went home, I promised Mom that I'd visit her often, and I'll bring Marge with me the next time I go here.    

And after bringing my cousin to her room at Pryce's mansion, I decided to come back later since Pryce mentioned last night that the three of us need to go somewhere today. It's Saturday, and we're free to go wherever.    

I am so excited. It must be another date.    

And suddenly, my excitement decreased when I remembered that there is a third wheel, my cousin. But anyway, at least I can see my crush, so it wouldn't matter.