Shoot the Messenger

Hi, this is Kaya. I'm not sure how to preface this story, so I'm just going to jump right in.

We made a big mistake. And now we're trying to figure out how we can fix it... and if we can.

Okay, that's actually too far ahead of myself. I'm going to backtrack a little. As Fiona said in the last post, Nutcracker is over, and we're really happy with how it went. It was a lot of fun, but totally exhausting at the same time. We're ready for a vacation. Today in the late afternoon/evening, our dance school had our annual holiday party for everyone, whether or not they were in Nutcracker. Then very early tomorrow (like 4 a.m.) I'm headed to the airport to board a plane to start on my way to Idaho for Christmas, and some of the other girls are also headed different directions too.

We were anticipating a pretty crazy couple of days. We had no idea.

Fiona and I were worried today at the party because Marie-Grace and Cécile didn't show up. They'd said they were going to be late - they couldn't come till the sun set - but they planned to be there. We didn't hear anything to indicate that had changed, so it made us nervous when even by the end, they never made it.

I suggested that on our way home, Fiona and I could stop by their house and make sure they were okay. What we didn't bank on was that we haven't talked to them about the specifics of their living arrangements since we found out they're vampires... so before, they might not have told us the truth for the sake of safety. We walked up the driveway, and noticed that the abandoned house next door must have burned down recently. It still smelled like charring and smoke. I'm not sure why that made me feel nervous, but I couldn't help it. We knocked on the door - and a very polite woman told us that no one named Cécile or Marie-Grace lived there, and she didn't know them.

Fiona and I both glanced over at the burned shell of the abandoned house. I hastily thanked the woman, and we hurried away. I was starting to feel sick to my stomach, because I had a feeling I knew where the girls really live. Or lived... because there was hardly anything left. Just a bunch of debris on the ground, and a few charred standing beams.

I hoped that I was wrong. That I was just being dramatic. I mean, what were the chances we'd guessed right? Then I saw something purple and soft hooked on the back fence that was far enough away from the house that it was still standing. I carefully picked my way through the wreckage, and took it down. It was a lilac-coloured shawl, one we've seen Cécile and Marie-Grace both wear to ballet sometimes.

This burnt-out shell of a house was where they'd been living. And now they're gone.

I took the shawl with me, and we walked home in silence. When we got there, I told Inna what we had found. That's when, together, we realized our mistake.

When we got the warning about The Elders - the powerful old vampires who are making our lives difficult - we thought the danger was mainly to Tabitha, Clare, and Inna, so those were the people we were focused on protecting. We didn't even consider the fact that the Elders might shoot the messenger they'd used to deliver the warning.

We're pretty sure that's what happened, though. They haven't found Tabitha and Clare, and although they know where Inna is, in spite of their threats she's pretty well-guarded. They might manage to overpower our group, but it wouldn't be an easy job. They'd have a big fight on their hands.

But... they also couldn't go too long without doing anything at all, because it would make them look weak. So they went for the most exposed target, even if that target was peripheral at most to their goals.

We blame ourselves. It never even occurred to us that Cécile and Marie-Grace were in danger. If we had known, we would have insisted on bringing them here so we could protect them. We didn't realize they were living in some abandoned house, probably all by themselves. We would have helped. Now it's too late.

We don't know for sure that they're dead. They might be. I hate to say that, and the idea makes me sad and sick, but if they were in the house at the time of the fire, even a vampire wouldn't have survived. Especially if they'd already been staked or something. It's also possible... and I hope this is true... that the Elders took them away somewhere, or they managed to escape and run away.

The family members who are staying here are going to keep looking for them. Those of us who were supposed to leave are still going; we don't want to arouse more suspicion, and there's not much we can do at this point anyway.

I really hope we find out some good news. At the moment, all our hearts are pretty heavy.

Love,
Kaya