Chapter 2.1

"Which would you rather have first: the good news or the bad news?" Hathor asked as she and her granddaughter took a seat on the sofa.

"I'm not sure I want to know either," Oriana groaned, "but if I must know, then go ahead and tell me. Good news first I guess."

"For starters, the amount of poison he administered is such a small amount that it shouldn't harm you much at all. Secondly, with my blood coursing through your veins, you should be significantly more immune to any illness or poison in general. Basically, you might feel a little weaker, but it won't get in the way of your daily activities."

"So you're saying I'm going to get over it and be fine? How is there bad news?"

"Here's the catch, young one, I didn't say you'll get the poison out of your system. The fact that he gave you so little, especially when he knows your heritage, is troublesome. I fear he and his sister have sinister plans for you. I need you to be wary of anyone who approaches you outright; they might be planning on slowly feeding you more and more poison until you are too weak to live."

"Let me get this straight. You're saying this man--"

"--Theron--"

"--Theron, is planning on slowly killing me."

"Yes.

"So what am I supposed to do!" Oriana roared at her grandmother, irked that she was so calm about this. Her own kin's life is at stake and she doesn't even seem to care.

"I don't know!" Hathor exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air, "Theron and Theresa only approach me on their own terms; I have no knowledge of their whereabouts otherwise. They're considerably older than you and as cunning as it gets."

"Can't you just use your magic to find them?" Oriana said as if she had pointed out the obvious.

"No. Vamps are immune to the power of life. I am the Goddess of motherhood and childbearing; I give life and I use my power to manipulate it. Vampires are not alive and thus cannot fall victim to my will. Sometimes, like now, I wish they were in my dominion, but most of the time I want nothing to do with those foul, undead creatures."

"Don't worry Grandma, I hate them too," Oriana said with a hint of a smile while placing her hand atop Hathor's.

"Please be careful, my child. I'll try my best to find them, but you should be wary of any vampire that crosses paths with you," Hathor warned one last time, before disappearing.

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When Oriana got back from her afternoon run the next day, Ray took the time to convince her to go to the local consignment store while she sold some of her paintings and Ary's inventions. She was getting older, and seeing her sister wrapped up with Drake had her feeling lonely. Seeing no future suitor in her life, she dedicated herself to finding a potential husband for her niece.

As soon as they entered the shop, Ray cued in on the live entertainment. Seeing that the man was around Oriana's age, the wheels in her head started spinning.

"Oriana honey, I'm just going to go talk to the consignor. You're welcome to look around, as long as you let me know if you see anything you like," she said with a wink.

"Oh come on it can't be that boring, there's nothing to look at in here anyway. They don't even have working light bulbs," Oriana retorted, deliberately ignoring her Aunt's remark.

"Just do it for me, okay?" Ray said, turning her bottom lip out into a pout, "Saying hi can't hurt you know!"

"Fine," Oriana ushered Ray away with a whisk of her hand before muttering under her breath, "But I'm not really in the market right now after the whole man-seducing-with-poison thing, or whatever that was."

Once Ray had stopped looking over her shoulder, urging Oriana to strike up a conversation with the man, she slowly approached the guitarist and opened her ears to the sound. It was the most eclectic playing she had ever heard.

He brought his head up and upon noticing he had an audience, he stumbled over a few notes before blushing and ducking his head. Bringing the music through a perdendosi, he finished the song and set his guitar back in its case.

Sticking out his hand, the man introduced himself as Katib Shalaby. After finishing the introductions, Oriana couldn't help but ask about his accent. As the man chuckled, Oriana realized she was being rude and went to say so.

"Do not worry, I am not offended Miss Amarel. I get that question a lot, and as such I am prepared for it," he quelled her fears, "I hail from Al Simhara, Egypt and have recently arrived here on Hammond Island."

"A worldly guy like you chose to come to this remote island, of all places? Surely nothing can be as interesting as the great pyramids and tombs from your country," Oriana asked, unable to keep her tone from turning flirty.

"As of now, I think I've seen something that could top all the wonders of the world," he said in kind.

Blushing at the compliment, Oriana tried to silently chide herself for falling for a mostly-unknown man's charms so fast after her incident. Having no luck, she glanced back up at Katib to see the same goofy, yet flirty expression written on his face.

Reaching a lull in the conversation, Oriana broke up the pause by asking if Katib would want to meet up sometime later this week.

"I was thinking about grabbing a drink on Friday; you're welcome to join me if you'd like," she offered.

"That would be great," he pleasantly smiled before picking up his case and starting towards the door, "I'll be seeing see you then."

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Time had been passing slowly since she met Katib, so she called up her siblings for some catch up at the beach. Seeing that Melainn was already wiggling her toes in the cool water, she approached her brother and inquired about their lives away from home.

Oriana was shocked to learn her brother was already working his way up the law enforcement ladder, but what really surprised her was that he was married with a kid on the way.

"Angela and I never really connected back in school, but when I ran into her on my way to work one morning and saw those eyes, I knew she was the one. We didn't even date very long before we decided to get married, but with her being pregnant we couldn't really wait."

"That's... crazy Caolan! I feel like you moved out yesterday and now you have your own family and everything. How about Melainn? Does she have anyone special?"

"Nawh, she's too immersed in her writing to even notice boys these days. I wonder if she even knows she's going to be an aunt, and she lives with me!" he laughed before asking of Oriana's life, "How's life been with the moms? Are they driving you crazy yet?"

"It's not them that's driving me mad, its Drake! He keeps insisting that I get a job, but I don't even know what I want to pursue. He makes me want to pull my hair out; I wish I could just choose something and have him lay off for a while," she said, frustrated.

"You could write like Melainn, or cook with Elly? Be a teacher?"

"Nothing sounds vaguely inspiring, Caolan. I've covered all my bases."

"Wait, there's a job opening in my department at the station. You should apply!" Caolan said, suddenly excited, "We could be partners and everything!"

"Cay--no offense, but that doesn't sound fun either," Oriana stubbornly replied.

"Oriana, you're going to turn down the opportunity to keep the streets safe at night? Rescue kidnapped children? Save potential victims from death before it's too late?" Caolan said heroically, "Come on, just try it out. For me? Please?"

"When you put it like that, I guess it won't hurt to try it out," Oriana replied, while silently hoping this could keep her safe from further harm, "Just one question: do they teach officers self-defense?"