Staring at the tomb I realized how blessed I am. My life may be full of mysteries and a ton of unsolved puzzles, but compared to hers, my problems are just mere dusts.

She suffered a great deal of loss; her first love, her humanity, me, her husband and Will. It was something that not every person could easily cope with.

She was strong – very strong.

Now I finally get it why there's still a lot of people looking up to her, even with the taint she had on her name, their love for her never faltered. My mother was an awesome person, and it sucks that I wasn't able to meet her in life.

I'm sorry, I misjudged you mom.

I stood up and picked a wild flower that I saw on our way here, I then put it on her grave. "There. Next time it will be a bouquet." I said while cleaning up some of the twigs that decorated her dwelling.

When I looked back at Dan, he had this amused face on. "What?" I asked.

"You two would've been great together." He said and rested his back on a tree behind him. "Should I continue on with the story?"

"Yes. I think my heart had taken enough break. Now it's ready to take on more stabs." I said and he laughed.

"Well, that time when she left. Everything was chaos, in the council, and in the Carius household as well. Divina and the rest of her family fought for Victoria's innocence, they believed in her. But the council did not. Her actions stirred up the potentiality of all turned in your race. And seeing Marcus favoritism for your mother, the queen removed him from his seat. Not many knows of it, because they made it look like he quit his job, to travel the world and plant his seeds on numerous women."

Hearing that just made me all furious. Like someone literally lit up my tampon, which turns out to be a piece of dynamite – and all my rage just exploded, inside out.

"Obviously, because that queen bitch hated my mother." I said interrupting him, again. He chuckled at my use of words.

"You're right. But do watch your tongue kiddo." He paused. "They knew about my close relationship with your mother, and my knowledge of her abilities. So they've assigned me to hunt her." He stopped and looked at the tomb again. His face had a lingering hint of sadness. It was probably really hard for him. "And that was their biggest mistake. My goal wasn't to catch and turn her over. It was to find clues that would prove her innocence."

He then looked at me, waiting for me to guess what happened next. "And you did, didn't you?" I asked with a smile.

He nodded. "I knew every trick she has up her sleeves, because I taught her everything. She was my first and best student." He paused again and sighed. "So, I found the boy's clothes, inside a tree in their backyard, where she hides most of her hunter's possessions. Hidden there, was also the tranquilizer she used on her son. With that, I was able to put the puzzle together, and found out who the real suspect is – or so I thought. But when I checked at the biopsy again, they said that the father had suffered stroke. And I guess, he died first before Will munched on his arm..."

I cut him off. "Maybe Will tried to save his father by trying to turn him."

"Yes. That's what I thought as well. And I have a big hunch that there was a foul play behind that. I knew her husband. He was healthy as a horse. So I had my suspicions. I then went back to her house and looked for more clues." He stopped and took a breath.

"Why are you stopping on the good part?" I asked and shot my hands in the sky.

"I'm building up tension." He said and smiled, while stretching up his upper body.

"Oh come on old man. Give me some slack. I'm itching to know the rest." I said, desperation was obvious in my voice, and probably with my face as well.

He laughed loudly and continued where he left. "So, I searched every nook of their house, and found the most odd thing – a hole, small as an earring was on their kitchen's window. It was impossible to find it at first, but I eventually did." He paused and looked at me. "The kitchen was where they found Arthur's dead body. So, any idea how that would connect to his death?" He asked, like he's giving me a test or something.

And it's a good thing I'm a big fan of detective movies. With much thought, I came up with the weirdest, yet I think was the closest thing to his own theory. "A dart. He was shot with it."

"Yes. Very good. Clever girl." He said with a proud face. "It was also the first thing that came to my mind when I saw it. So, I went back again to check on Arthur's body, looking for any signs that would support my dart theory. And at the highest part of his neck, hidden under his hair, was a swelling mark – like an insect's bite. I took a closer look and found a needle, almost as thin as a strand of hair, still stuck inside his skin."

"Wait. Was there someone with you at the morgue?" Well, I was just guessing with the morgue, I don't think he would dug up a grave again and again.

He shook his head. "I snuck in when no one's there." I laughed at his spy attempts. He may be a hunter, but he's more like a mix of both.

"So did you find the real killer?" I asked, hopeful that he did.

"Sadly, no. The tracks had long been gone. Even that needle was of no help."

"But that's enough proof to clean my mother's name right?"

"Yes." He said, but then his expression seems to tell me that his next words will sound like a bad news. "I thought that it was a good thing to find your mother first and tell her everything. Then we'll both go to the council and clear her name together. But..." He looked at the ground, like he made the wrong decision.

"She didn't want the truth to be told." I asked and he nodded. I then run a hand through my hair, while sighing heavily. "Why?"

"Because your brother will be in danger. And knowing Marcus was removed from his seat, he doesn't have the power to lift any punishment thrown on Will. Yes, he was just a child – a child of a turned. The council will simply revolve on that fact, and find ways to punish him. So Victoria thought it was safer to leave things as it is. That way she'll be able to protect her son."

Ugh. I scratched my head. "Damn. This is so annoying!"

"I know. I was frustrated as well when I heard her reason, but I understood perfectly well. If I were in her shoes, I'd do the same." He paused, when he saw me about to open my mouth and interrupt him, again. "How I found her?" He guessed my next question, and I nodded. "No one knew of her past life, except for me. She grew up here. So this is the first place I looked for her, and my instinct was right. She was here, living a simple life – making strawberry jams for a living." I smiled at the thought of her.

But then my face fell when that question disrupted my line of thoughts. It was the first one that I asked him, when I first saw her tomb, but was left unanswered. "So, what happened to her?" I questioned him while looking at her grave. "How did she die?"

I thought turned were immortals...

"I failed her. I didn't know someone was following me when I came to see her. And... it was too late, when I returned. Her house was burned down, and found inside, was her body." A tear fell from his eyes, as he too had looked on my mother's tomb. "This was the first place she showed me when I was here. So I buried her in her favorite place."

I wiped the tears that fell on my cheeks. "So movies are real. Fire does kill vampires."

He sighed. "No. She was decapitated."

***

Omg. I just finished making the plot for the finale. I think next week will be the last update. And I'm actually thinking of making a second book, probably.

GOLDEN SHIT! WE JUST HIT THE RANK! Yes, caps-lock because the feels~