Written by **EYRAM**
That day, while walking home, the dark alleyways seemed… shadier. The walls seemed to close in, and she got this eerie feeling from it all, practically being objective, ignoring the sense of danger, she focused solely on getting home, and indeed, she managed to get home.
But she was shocked, finding out that her dad finally woke up from his coma, but the one who spent sleepless nights next to him, and though he was good at keeping up pretenses, loved him a lot, her twin, Seraphina, was gone, he was not surprised by that, and was just rather dull, and unconcerned after regaining consciousness.
He even showed this sense of being aloof towards Serena, and then it crossed her mind, if she could teleport and read minds, and her sister could manipulate the elements, then it could be possible that this was an enemy, in the skin of her father.
Afterwards, she kept some distance from him, which she could tell he noticed, but did not reciprocate any differently. But then, he randomly said,
"I challenge you to a duel, let's see how the training is going for you" Serena, got scared there and then, if that was an enemy, the guise of wanting to spar was a perfect excuse to weaponize and come at her, even with her guard up, he must be confident in the gap of strength they had, but she took a chance.
And giving it everything in her arsenal, she came out, fully geared in the weapon, holding the sword, and though sluggishly, she could move it now; it was in its sheath, making her gain the buffs it provided, but not the hassle of moving it around, though the weight was still on her body.
She felt at her peak, and as they both made their way to the garden, Jack, unarmed, asked.
"Where is this place? It looks so cheap."
"Well, it's my neighborhood."
"And you openly wore your armor, amidst humans, are you stupid or just bad at learning from your mistakes?"
"I will not stand idle and have you insult me, regardless of our father-daughter relationship."
"Then do not give me a clause to, we're going to the mansion, which car is readily available?"
"None"
"You are not telling me that you cannot even afford a low-end car?"
"Unlike you, some people are underage and cannot be caught dead driving a car, so they typically do not keep one in their house." Her tone was angry, almost screaming, and Jack felt somehow imposed by it. But then he took out his phone, did a little tinkering, and a new Jet-black BMW was parked in her unused driveway shortly.
He sat in the passenger's seat and she sat in the other passenger's seat, passively creating distance between themselves. Serena was literally angry at the horrible personality her dad somehow developed in his coma, but deep down, she wanted, was hoped that it was not her dad, and instead someone who looked like him, in disguise.
Soon, the luxurious mansion came into view, much smaller than many mansions in the city, but the grandest, most stylized one. After they entered the premises, Jack quickly settled his debts by beating up the tax collectors, till they granted him back his assets, and soon they were in the familiar indoor gym. But this time at a boxing ring.
Serena unsheathed her sword and aimed, for the vital spot on his chin that connected a vein to his heart, and quickly slashed, but miles faster than her, her father blocked it and counter attacked punching her in the waist, which she expertly dodged, but her eyes and hair began to turn luminous yellow, even before he started using his shadows, leaving her at a disadvantage so bad.
She was forced into a passive state, but would have been killed several times if her father decided to aim properly; his attacks were frantic and uncoordinated, almost like he was going in for the kill.
She began to sweat buckets, dodging for dear life, her eyes and hair the brightest yellow, and the runes on her skin, that looked graceful, and beautiful were more luminous than ever, she was clearly at her limit, but that was when the star on her hand began to glow, and she managed to escape his full front offensive, and instead of going for an attack, she moved, utilizing his own strength against him, bringing her experience in the mirror to good use.
She was very fast, flexible, and was just becoming more formidable, mid-battle new runes were being drawn on her skin, and she felt herself get mad, intoxicated with the thought of killing her own father, it seemed primal, and maybe the fact that she was hesitant of it actually being him was a driving factor, that brought those thoughts into her head.
Soon, he found himself making more odd turns, and the more he was injured, the easier it was for her to injure him at another place.
But alas, things did not go her way forever; he started to aim for her less and focus on keeping himself intact. One trick could only be used against a single person so many times. And they were at a stalemate.
Soon, he sipped some of the blood in his ring, and then all his wounds were healed, and at that point, her stamina was exhausted, and he was going straight to his peak, not being able to continue anymore, she declared.
"Dad, or whoever you are, I surrender' then he replied
"In a real-life battle, that would be the point you… die. Now, is it obvious how important swordsmanship is?"
Serena did not even attempt to reply; she went straight to hug him and smiled widely. She finally knew that was still her dad. Jack, taken aback, said,
"Serena, I demand you get those hands off of me. I don't do hugs."
"Can a girl not miss her dad?"
"I've been too lenient on you, I said Get your hands off of me." his voice was shouting towards the end, emphasizing some syllables, to give a clear order, full of authority towards him.
Serena said not a thing and made her way out, her dad stopped her, firmly, even going so far as locking her when she said she would not allow him to keep her cooped up, she had a growing company that needed her supervision, but now she was a prisoner, held captive in the house, and he did not even carry on with the training, she was locked in her room.
Serena took out her mobile phone and asked her employees to send her a soft copy of the paperwork, and not too long after, she sent it back to them all sorted out.
Then she began to think of a way out, now that he probably thought she was not going to attempt, she knew this house, and could remember every corner she once explored, but like usual, the difficulty was increased, new hallways were in the house, moved staircases, grander indoor component's which were just hard to move around, with fatal design flaws.
And soon she found herself near the chimney, a way out, she thought, until she realized there was not a trace of fire, just a television that previewed a very realistic fireplace scene, that might fool any guest, but was certainly not a way Santa would use.
She had to find a way out quickly; the place was lined with staff, and if any of them saw her, then her mission would fail, and she would find herself unable to make another attempt with the same odds of success, which were already at an all-time low.
Then, as soon as a staff wafted by, she teleported somewhere out of their perception range, which she had good judgment of. Soon she found herself in a window. She tried to just teleport out of the mansion, but it was like the walls prevented that; they had a silver lining in them. Why would her father, a Vampire that could be killed by Silver, keep it there?
But then she realized how smart that was, his enemies would not know it but he would, and if they try something he might lead them to it, but not dwelling on the matter she soon found herself in a part of the mansion no-one went, the thirteenth floor, the highest, she wafted towards the roof, and on top of the building she tried to calculate a way to land safely.
Then used plastic files as a makeshift parachute and descended. Soon, she found herself in her dad's yard and was at the final hurdle, the gate security. She could tell they were both Vampires of strength that could be at least at the duke level, and they were also knight-type Vampires; she would have a hard time getting past them.
She quickly traversed through the complicated hay that was out of their range. They were on patrol, but one would always be at the door at all times. There was a loop where they both would not be observing just a small area, and she carefully tried to tread across it when she was caught, and Jack announced
"Knights do not let her out, or you'll take her place and be served for dinner." Serena was shocked. What did he mean by 'served for dinner'? She did not know, but was not planning on sticking around to find out.