The true form of a queen

　　Irena’s POV

　　We had finally lured out the witches of the daughters of the bloodville cult and engaged them in open combat, the plan seemed to be working as after Magnus successfully destroyed ‘the child of the mother,’ they seemed weaker and didn’t stand a chance against us.

　　We tore through them like scissors through paper.

　　Evaded their attacks and powered through their efforts.

　　Everything seemed to be going well but something bothered me.

　　Throughout the fighting, it seemed like I had spotted Agatha a few times in passing but I could never seem to come face to face with her.

　　Almost like she was avoiding me.

　　And that couldn’t stand, I needed to kill that bitch, for everything that had happened, she needed to die at my hands, it was her destiny.

　　I declared it so.

　　For the longest time as the fighting raged on I couldn’t properly track her, but as we progressed the battle and the witches dwindled in numbers, I felt I had time to actively look for her and so I did, I caught her in my peripheral vision once again, but this time I locked onto her and chased her down she couldn’t run me it was impossible I caught her with ease and turned her to punch her right in her dumb face.

　　Just before I could punch her, I realized that this wasn’t Agatha, something was amiss, I chased Agatha and I caught Agatha. There's no confusion there, but now the bitch I have in my clutches is just some random witch.

　　I had to understand what was going on, and so I invaded the little witch’s mind.

　　She tried to hide the fact but I knew right away.

　　Agatha wasn’t here, there was something she tried even harder to hide.

　　‘Distract the queen long enough for the mother to take her heart’ take her heart, the words stewed in my mind for only a few seconds before my eyes widened in realization.

　　“Alexey, she’s after Alexey,” I said out loud with shock in my voice as I snapped the witch’s neck.

　　Agatha wasn’t here, she had never been here, she knew her child was dead, all she needed was enough time to go after Alexey and get her revenge without my suspicion so she had her little witch cast a spell to distract me.

　　Alexey is in danger again because of me, I have to get to him quickly before she does.

　　I sped away from the fighting leaving the other vampires to finish off what was left of the witches’ ranks.

　　I had to get to Alexey quickly, I felt like an idiot for not seeing this coming, how could I not?

　　All of these prophetic dreams and you can’t show me that my boyfriend is going to be targeted by a thousand-year-old witch with a grudge!

　　I was upset and scared.

　　So very afraid for Alexey.

　　Afraid that I might not get there in time.

　　That I might be too late.

　　That I might get there to find Alexey dead.

　　If she hurts him this whole world would burn around her.

　　I can’t let her get her hands on him.

　　Agatha must not touch Alexey.

　　I rushed over to my house where I found three of her witches waiting outside for me this confirmed my suspicion.

　　Agatha would wait until I was present before she attempted to harm Alexey, she wants me to watch her do it.

　　I had no time to spend on minions and so I quickly did away with the three witches before they could even get into their battle stances.

　　I separated them from their bodies. It took me all three seconds to execute the act so flawlessly.

　　And made my way into the house fully prepared to let all hell loose to protect Alexey.

　　I made my way through the halls of my house tracking the stench of the black arts to my bedroom. I tried to open the door but found it locked and so forced the door open, ripping it clean off of its hinges.

　　I proceeded into the room to find Alexey dazed, he seemed dazzled by some sort of spell.

　　“So good of you to join us, Irena, it’s been too long,” Agatha spoke in a snake-like tone, she hadn’t aged a day since the last time I saw her, but she was certainly different.

　　This wasn’t the timid girl Magnus and I scared away after we murdered her sister, this person was way more assertive, far more confident the air about her oozed confidence, I could feel it.

　　Agatha seemed like a completely different being, no longer the young witch who was only just coming into her power, this was an achieved sorceress, this was ‘the mother’, the legendary witch of bloodville, and that meant something.

　　I guess hundreds of years will do that to a person.

　　And now she stood in front of me smiling in a sinister manner holding the man I love hostage to further her ambitions for revenge.

　　“Let him go, Agatha, you will have just this warning,” I threatened as I slowly drew closer. I hoped to get close enough to lunge at her too quickly for her to make any sudden moves.

　　“Let who go, Alexey?” She inquired in a mocking tone,

　　“But we’ve become such wonderful friends, isn’t that right Alexey?”

　　“Wonderful friends,” Alexey responded, completely confused. I don’t know what she was doing to him but I needed to get him away from her.

　　“See, we’re all friends here,” she said smiling as she turned to Alexey and kissed him passionately.

　　I was enraged. I screamed at the top of my lungs as I bore my fangs and claws, completely revealing my true vampiric features.

　　I had forgotten entirely about that stupid detail whereby as a vampire who had compelled a human I could not reveal my true vampire form to that human and if I did then all the compulsion would come undone and the memories from the moments of compulsion would come flooding back, and I had compelled Alexey plenty of times.

　　In my moment of white-hot rage, I shifted to my true vampire form as Agatha broke her kiss with Alexey and he looked at me, immediately screaming in fear and retreating backward.

　　“What is that thing?” He screamed in fear, I could see it in his eyes, pure dread he was petrified.

　　“That’s your girlfriend Irena, isn’t she beautiful?” Agatha spoke as Alexey fell backward losing the legs from underneath him.

　　“Irena?” He called out to me his voice shaking in terror as he looked at me in my true form.

　　“This doesn’t make any sense,” he continued to try and rationalize the situation he found himself in, a skeptic who didn’t believe in anything was face to face with the love of his life, his girlfriend, a fully transformed vampire, this must have been too much for one man.

　　“What the fuck is going on?” He continued to look for reason and logic in the situation, I feared that the weight of the revelation might shatter his mind completely.

　　“Ugh, my head hurts!” He exclaimed as the memories started to flood back into his mind all at once.

　　“A creature like you doesn’t deserve love,” Agatha declared as she stood there cackling hysterically as the situation unfolded.

　　I paid her no mind and tried to rush to Alexey’s aid but he pulled away in fear, he was wary of me, and at that moment, my heart truly broke.

　　“Alexey it’s me, it's Irena,” I said as I tried to draw closer and close the distance between us but he simply retreated further.

　　I looked up at Agatha who stood there still cackling and I lunged at her taking her through the wall behind her and through the one after that, but she continued to laugh.

　　“Poor Irena, does your boyfriend not wuv you anymore?” She mocked as she cackled loudly.

　　“I’ll give you something to laugh at bitch!” I cursed as I punched her across the face repeatedly on the ground as she lay on her back and I took my position on top of her to get all the leverage into every punch she bled from her mouth and I felt her jaw crack underneath my fists but he continued to laugh and grin through her bloody teeth.

　　“You’re one crazy bitch, I wonder if your baby laughed so much when we set it on fire?” I said trying to rile her up and it worked.

　　The laughing stopped abruptly and the expression on her face changed to one of pure rage.

　　Good, now we’re on the same page.

　　“Die!” Agatha screeched as she forced me off her and sent me flying upwards to the roof till I hit it and fell back down in front of her feet as she had already gotten back to her feet.

　　“Wow, you screech just like your baby, I can see where he gets it, or I should say got it as your baby is now deceased,” I continued to mock as I slowly tried to make my way back up to my feet.

　　She kicked me in the face just as I got on my hands and knees and sent me flying to the other end of my large hall.

　　I lunged out of the rubble and dust and slammed into her, which sent us both flying to the other wall, I got up off of her and she tried to do the same but I kicked her in the face again and again sending her back down, the force was so great that we made another hole in the wall.

　　But she simply sent me flying again, we locked horns in a fight that was a thousand years overdue, and today once and for all this blood feud would come to an end.

　　We met each other blow for blow, I evaded most of her attacks and healed from the once that hit while she simply regenerated and healed from the injuries I inflicted on her.

　　At one point she threw a backhand toward my face hoping to catch me off guard but I simply caught her arm and pulled it off from the rest of her body.

　　She turned away in pain only to turn back suddenly with the arm fully regenerated, this time she caught me with the backhand.

　　The fighting raged on, I was tired and slow from all the fighting that I had done prior.

　　I was a lot weaker and a lot slower than I would normally be and she knew that it was part of her plan.

　　If Agatha hoped to defeat me then she could not fight me at my full strength.

　　But even with what seemed like a flawless tactic to her, she could still only just barely keep up with my strength and speed.

　　Perhaps I was further invigorated by her involving Alexey in the issue that we had shared for over five hundred years, she brought Alexey into our five-hundred-year-old blood feud and endangered him, and even kissed him in front of me, she put her filthy lips on my man.

　　She had to die.

　　And she was slowly realizing that there was nothing she could do about that.

　　Agatha, fearing defeat cast a spell that sent blinding light straight into my eyes.

　　I was virtually blind and that’s when I felt it.

　　The sharp piercing feeling of being stabbed, followed by the very distinct burning feeling of obsidian.

　　Agatha had just stabbed me in the side with an obsidian stake, she plunged it in deeper and pressed me up against the wall, I cried out in pain as she twisted it in.

　　“I said, die,” she whispered in my ear trying to plunge the stake even deeper.

　　“Get the fuck off me!” I exclaimed as I shoved her off and sent her flying across the room once again.

　　I quickly pulled out the obsidian stake and tossed it aside. I assumed my fighting stance again, waiting patiently and anticipating her next attack, despite the immense pain I felt.

　　Agatha pulled out another obsidian stake and rushed at me. I tried to dodge but found myself rooted to the spot unable to move because of the pain I was in.

　　She closed the space between us quickly and jumped up to gain more force before bringing the stake down on me, this time piercing my shoulder and sending us both falling to the floor.

　　She had me on my back as she propped up on top of me struggling to plunge the stake deeper still while I tried to keep her from doing that.

　　We both had our hands on the stake and then she suddenly pulled it out of my shoulder, the pain was maddening, so much so that it stole every last bit of strength I had left.

　　I laid there and watched helplessly as she raised the stake over her head, preparing to bring it down hard to stab me in the heart this time.

　　“I said, '' Die!” She yelled through her maniacal laughter, she had won.

　　I lay there with my eyes closed in acceptance of my fate, hopefully, the world carries on well enough without me.

　　Hopefully, they find the defiler and stop him.

　　Hopefully, all of my vampires survive to live long happy lives.

　　Hopefully, Magnus finds true love.

　　Hopefully, Alexey can forgive me.

　　The obsidian stake pierced through the skin and straight through the heart, it was an instant kill, I heard it tear the flesh, I heard it go in, and yet I felt nothing.

　　I opens my eyes to find Agatha with an obsidian stake sticking out from her chest and Alexey standing behind her, he had fought through his returning memories and the vision of me in my true vampire form to come to my rescue.

　　Agatha screamed as she aged into dust.

　　Alexey laid beside me breathing heavily from exhaustion as he said through his heavy breaths;

　　“So, my girlfriend is a vampire?”