My ears couldn't believe what I was hearing. The real Stella was the girl I met on my first day back at the college.
"This is why she stopped coming to class," I uttered as sadness swept over me.
I've only met her once, and that one time I met her was more than sufficient for her to end up a target for these vile creatures.
"That would be why." Brandon grinned.
"Why her?" I gritted my teeth. "I barely knew her! So why her!"
I was angry beyond my grief as my fists clenched at my side.
"At first, we did target Nora, but you knew her too well. We needed someone fresh and new to the campus. Stella's background and her new appearance at the college were more than perfect. She had one class with you, and her brother's death fit perfectly into our plan," Roxy revealed.
"I hate to break this up, but we need to get her out of here because Kai will be coming." Athena cut in.
"Right, grab her, Bella!" Brandon demanded, and the next thing I knew, the Wing vampiress swooped forward and snatched me in her grasp.
My body thrashed and smashed everywhere as she darted away before she threw me into a thin blanket of icy cold snow.
"Ah!" I gasped, reeling back as my left hand slipped off the icy cliff's edge while I was disoriented and dizzy as I was unaware of my surroundings.
Thrown to the edge of the cliff by Bella's powerful force, I barely avoided landing on my stomach by managing to brace myself on my hands, hips, and legs before I nearly slipped off the edge.
Below was the icy deep sea that was quite the distance down.
Tides crashed against the rocky lower cliff as I froze, peeking below in utter shock. Waves would retreat into the sea, sweeping ice chunks along, and then a massive tidal wave would crash into the cliff with such force that snow crumbled off the edge. I scooted my body away from the edge before I stood up, peering at my surroundings.
Dusk shimmered a golden glow across the sky. Turning around, all the vampiresses and Brandon formed an arched line to prevent me from any chance or thought of escape. Tranquil silence filled the icy scattered bare thick and thin trees that stretched beyond where my eyes could see from behind them. Spooky wind blew, making the flimsy tree branches creak and shiver against the hanging ice and the clumps of snow that clung to them. I was in some kind of remote area that was by the ocean, I mentally noted.
"Enough stalling! It's time we get this over with!" Athena barked, standing off to my right.
I screamed the first thing that came to my mind to delay their plan. "Why are you with Athena? She was on the opposite side in the Second War! She didn't believe anyone's species should have married different species!"
"You silly girl, Seth's and Athena's Covens have been long-time allies with ours. Most of us are long past the Second War," Bella rebutted.
"Then why are you doing this?" I dug for more answers to keep them talking while I pressed my stomach to wake one of my babies to summon Kai.
"Don't even try waking those precious unborn babies!" Bella warned. "They're sleeping under my soft lullaby."
"Answer my question!" I snapped, realizing it was futile to try waking my unborn babies.
"Revenge!" Roxy growled.
"You can't take revenge on the Collin Coven! You can't kill me until after the vote!" I snapped, yelling louder than the unforgiving waves below us.
"We can!" Brandon bellowed. "We're finishing what was started long ago! This is legal warfare!"
"You'll risk losing your granted humans! Kai will destroy all the humans in your Coven if you touch me. Am I honestly worth the risk of your Coven?" I guilted them out, which seemed to work until their dismal eyes blared in redness, which blackened their expressions.
"They're already gone," Bella revealed. "Long ago, after our allies, Darlene's Coven had fallen by the Collin's Coven. Vlad ordered his army to wipe out our Coven completely, because we were helping Darlene's family. They detained every small vamp child and infant in our Coven. Kai detained our older brothers and sisters, including our parents. He detained unborn babies who were our little nephews and nieces! Our great grandfather surrendered and pleaded for mercy on his knees for his Coven, but Vlad showed none and detained him and our great grandma."
"Your Headmaster was your great-grandfather?" I noted as I uttered. "The Collin Coven weren't about to let their females become enslaved breeders to Darlene's Coven!"
Bella replied, having a calmer tone of voice, while dismissing that last part, "We are the third generation born from our Headmaster, like your unborn babies. Roxy and I were only fifteen at the time, while Brandon was three. We've been plotting our revenge for over thirty thousand years!"
"I'm sorry for what happened, but killing me won't make the pain go away." I reasoned as my heart poured out for them.
I didn't want to think the Collin Coven were the villains, but I knew by their voices that what was done to them was considered injustice.
"Our pain doesn't matter. What matters is we make the ultimate sacrifice by getting rid of you and Kai's offspring," Brandon declared.
"Please, you can't do this!" I pleaded as Bella's song hummed in my head.
"Good, yes, beg, just like everyone in our Coven did before they were detained. Whoever wasn't detained remains enslaved to them to this day!" Roxy bitterly said.
"Turn around and jump off the cliff, my dear!" Bella's mellifluous vocals sang to me, and my feet started to shift towards the cliff.
"No..." I struggled, fighting my feet to stay put.
"Nail her heart, Bella. Her feelings for Orlando are locked away inside it. It will weaken Kai when their connection gets broken," Athena revealed.
"Shall we see what sort of secrets we have tucked away?" Bella's straight teeth and fangs showed, grinning at me. "Yes, I agree." She parodied me, shaking her head "Yes" while I shook mine with a "No."
"Please, don't do this!" I implored again as her fingers curled her long nails like a witch casting her evil spell upon me.
Sharp stabbing pain struck my heart like a bolt of lightning. Every memory I had with Orlando flashed and overflooded my memories. All the smiles we shared and the kisses I once melted for gave me goosebumps. The way he never missed a chance to hold me when I was ever feeling sad or if I had a strange nightmare all replayed in my heart.