Alexia sat comfortably on the chair as she was about to have her breakfast. Her parents were present with her in the dining room. As always, Lucy had made them breakfast. This time it was a piping hot meal of pasta dipped in cheese.
Her parents chatted away and laughed as they ate their food. Their voices sounded distant to her. She was lost in her own thoughts as she unconsciously twirled her pasta with her fork. She stared into nothingness as she went on with the strange habit.
"Alexia?" Lucy called out to her daughter in concern.
Hearing her name startled her and brought her back to her present reality. She raised her brows at her mother in response.
"You've not touched your food. Are you even here with us?" Her mother asked.
"You seem lost Lexi, what's on your mind?" Aaron asked. He was also concerned about his daughter.
Alexia stared at her parents for a long time. She studied their different clothing which somehow complemented themselves.
Lucy was clad in a blue silk dress. Aaron had on a black shirt and denim pair of pants. The choice of clothing were both different yet complemented each other.
She opened her mouth to speak but her words got caught in her mouth. Where was she supposed to start from? What was she supposed to tell them? What if it was just a dream and nothing more? What if it had no meaning at all?
"You know you can talk to us both sweetheart," Aaron announced to his daughter. This was his way of encouraging her to speak her mind and not to be afraid of expressing herself.
"Dad? What does a phoenix mean to you?" Alexia asked instead.
Her father stared at her puzzled for a long time as if trying to analyze exactly what was in her mind.
"It means reborn. Rise from the ashes. A second chance," Aaron explained.
She slowly nodded her head as she took in the information. The part about second chances seemed to ignite something within her but she shrugged it off.
"Dad, do you know anybody with a phoenix birthmark?" Alexia asked.
Aaron stopped to think as he blinked his eyes every now and then. "There's only one person," He finally said.
"Who?" Alexia asked as her expectations rose to the peak.
"Damon and I'm not sure it's a birthmark. I think it's a tattoo just like the rest of his body," Aaron explained.
Just like that, all of Alexia's hope shattered to the ground. The smile that had started to form on her face faded away.
"Don't you know any other person?" She asked.
Aaron shook his head. This indicated that he only knew Damon as the one person with a phoenix tattoo or birthmark.
This also explained why she thought the phoenix had looked familiar. It looked exactly like the one Damon had on his chest. This was extremely strange.
"Eat your food Lexi before you start working yourself up about phoenixes," Lucy advised.
Alexia turned her attention back to her food and forced a spoon into her mouth. The food tasted good but she was not in the mood to eat it. She had lost her appetite. She was more concerned with finding the woman who had the phoenix birthmark than her own appetite.
Due to the fact that her mother forced her to eat, she was able to munch down four spoons of the pasta before giving up and getting out of her seat.
"That reminds me, what happened to you last night? You came back looking so unkempt and disordered,"Aaron asked.
She widened her eyes in shock and regained her composure. She thought about the previous day's event. Her fight with Ciara. She still had cuts and bruises from their fight but she did her best to hide it. The last thing she wanted was for war to break out.
"I just went out as always. Hiked a bit, hunted and trained. At one point, I tripped," Alexia lied.
She didn't want her father to go angry and attack the werewolves. Was she protecting them? She asked herself. She shrugged it off. That was impossible. She couldn't possibly be protecting them.
Aaron stared at her for a long time, as if trying to detect the lie in it. "You should be more careful next time. I can't have you getting hurt. Not with everything going on," Aaron finally said.
"Yes sweetheart. You're our baby. You need to take care of yourself and you're the only one who can do that best," Lucy joined in.
She only nodded her head in response. She got up and adjusted her black t-shirt which was worn over blue denim jeans and brown boots.
She went back upstairs and stood by her balcony. She folded her arms and looked at the world. Their house was surrounded by a few trees which led to more hunter houses. The Hunter clan was surrounded by iron bars as gates. This was done to keep Intruders out.
Suddenly, she felt a great pull in her chest. She grabbed the railing of her balcony as she hadn't expected such pull. Somehow, it felt familiar. It was like a vibration deep within her. It was as if it was pulling her towards something. Beckoning her to go further.
So she followed the pull. She walked out of her house and went where the pull took her. It was strange that she was following a pull but with all the strange things lately, this kind of felt normal to her.
She got into one of her father's cars. She felt as if it was going to be a long walk if she chose to walk there. She got into her father's Toyota and drove out of their yard.
The pull she felt deep within was her only beacon pointing the directions for her. She zoomed out of the iron gates and entered the woods. She drove on the cleared paths and stayed out of the trees.
She soon realised that she was driving into the town. At this point, she had no idea where this pull was leading her but deep down, she felt excitement as it surged through her. She felt alive. Her curiosity was at its peak.
She soon entered Greenville. The sun had already dipped below the horizon. She quietly drove by as she tried to search for anything out of the ordinary. Alexia didn't even know what she was looking for in the first place.
She found a place to park. When she did, she got out of the car and stood still. The pull was still there and this time it was stronger than before. She was indeed in the right place.
She started to walk towards the pull. There were a few people on the streets. Nothing seemed strange and no one even paid attention to her. She wasn't a new person in their town. She used to come over occasionally and most times, she had saved many of them from the other creatures without them even realising it.
Suddenly, she noticed someone. A man at the end of the road. His back was turned. He gave off a strange aura. The aura was cold and it crept down her spine. It made her feel uneasy. His attention was on something. She started to walk towards him.
Then it all made sense. He was a werewolf. What was he up to? She asked herself but the only way to find out was to approach him.
She was just about to reach him when the werewolf went into attack mode. He wasn't attacking Alexia though. But he was after someone else.
He was chasing a human. The person was hooded and terrified but this person didn't stop running. The person's life depended on it. She couldn't really tell who it was but she knew it deep within her guts that it was a woman.
She chased after them. She knew she had to save that human from the werewolf chasing her.
They entered a dark alley and she reduced her pace. They were at the end of the alley. She slowly approached and poked out her head before making the turn.
When Alexia peeped through, she saw the werewolf pinning her to the wall. He held her by her neck and relieved her above the ground.
She was choking and struggling against his grip. Alexia could hear the woman's shaky intake of breath.
"Where is it?" The werewolf asked in a hoarse voice.
"I don't know wh— what you're talking about. Let me go!" The woman struggled. Her fear was evident in her voice.
"Maybe you need some form of encouragement!" The werewolf growled and revealed his claws.
This was her cue to intervene and she took it. "Let her go!" Alexia ordered.
The werewolf stopped, dropped the woman and turned to her. He growled menacingly.
Alexia revealed her knives and rolled them around her fingers. She smirked. She knew she was going to enjoy every moment of it.