He couldn’t find it. 

He didn’t have his necklace. 

Usually, the little piece of jewelry didn’t attract the attention of others. Neither the thin gold chain nor the green pendant with a tear-drop form were that great. It could pass for a lover’s gift, something cheap but with a lot of sentimental value that he wore every day. 

But it wasn’t from a lover, nor a friend. It was from the only person in his whole life that took care of him since he was little. The one that raised him, loved him and protected him. 

That necklace was the last thing he gave to Dara, the only thing he carries from the magic world, even though it’s something he could easily obtain here. He couldn’t have lost it, he never took it off!  

There was only one option, a moment when he was careless enough to lost it. No... it wasn’t lost, it was stolen. And Dara knew who did it. 

Without thinking it twice, Dara headed to the culprit's place... the base. 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- 

After throwing the two guys standing in front of the door away, Dara stormed into the room with glowing eyes and his power deforming the air around him. His aura was dark and heavy, lifting his hair and clothes, making him look more like a fierce shadow than a person. 

People watched him with awe and fear, not daring go near him. Humans didn’t react well at the presence of other creatures, even less if they were more powerful than them. And all the people at the base were fucking cowards, just like the ones he knocked down the day before, at the alley. They were the same kind of people, the same bunch of assholes trying to earn a place on their oh-so-called family. They were fucking hypocrites, blaming their difficult lives and problems just to justify the fact that they were fucking criminals. At the end, that place wasn’t more than an organization made from blood. They were not family, nor brothers. They were indispensable and replaceable.  

The world, whatever it was, was a cold place. 

Seating on a desk in the middle of the room, was Carla. The woman that had treated him somewhat like a younger brother since he entered that wretched life. She looked at him with a cold face, but under her harsh expression the disappointment was noticeable. Her eyes gleamed slightly.  

But he wasn’t going to give in to her gaze. At the end, she was the same as the others. She was not his family, nor his sister. She was nothing. 

And Dara was used to being alone.  

“Give it to me. You probably heard the rumors, or the guys told you directly. I want my necklace. Now.” 

She seemed almost disgusted. 

“You... it can’t be. You can’t be human. You look... like a monster.” 

Dara laughed. So now he was the monster, huh? They were the ones dedicated to hurt and kill people. But the monster was Dara. 

“You are no one to say this. You can be human, but I saw you break more bones than any other creature I've ever known. Now, tell me where the guys are. I want my necklace back. Now.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t even know what are you or what you want. Dara, we gave everything to you. I treated you like my own-” 

“I AM NOT YOUR LITTLE BROTHER! I am nothing to you, and you mean nothing to me. This is not my family. The only family I ever had only left this necklace for me and I-!” He took a moment to calm his breathing, trying to ignore the fact that his dark eyes were glassy too, that even in this moment, he was capable of feeling. He wasn’t a monster. “-and I need it back. So, if you don’t give it to me for good, I’ll bring this damned place down. Understood? 

Carla stood up, banging his hands against the surface in front of her, ready to shout something back at him. At this moment, the unshed tears on her eyes were noticeable, and Dara felt a throb in his chest. She... she almost seemed like a broken-hearted big sister. 

But just as she was going to speak, they were interrupted when a stumbling boy made his way inside the room that served as an office. His eyes were big with fear, and his body shook with force. He looked horrified, and somehow, Dara could recognize his expression... 

He was one of the guys at the alley. He was laughing while his “big bro” held a knife against Oliver’s throat.  

Bringing all of his attention to the boy, Dara didn’t even lift a finger, but his all-black eyes and the force of his magic were enough to make him squeal like a little child. 

And, in some way, he was one. He looked to be on his fifteen or sixteen, still an adolescent. How ironic it was, that a child was the only one with the courage to approach him while the others had run away when a few of their mates were sent flying against the tables and couches of their shabby “home”. 

“I-I p-promise... we didn’t take anything!” 

Slowly, he made his way to the boy, who tried to shrink on himself even more. Dara didn’t say anything. His look was enough. 

“Please, I’m saying the truth! The others, and our big brother... they all ran away with fear, and now they look like... they are out of their minds! People don’t believe us when we tell them what happened, and they say we went mad, or that the drugs we took were too much and screwed our minds. I’m begging you, please don’t hurt Big Sis. We were wrong... but we didn’t take anything from you.” 

The young boy had started crying, and only then Dara tried to calm down. His eyes went back to normal, and the power around him stopped lifting things in the air. He glanced at Carla, who observed everything with disappointed eyes. She didn’t seem scared anymore about the fact that Dara wasn’t human. Maybe she knew more things that she showed.  

But that didn’t matter, because she looked away from him, focusing on the other boy. She went and helped him calm dawn, making him sit on a chair and breath in and out. Only after he was a bit better, Carla spoke with her voice devoid of emotion.  

“Go. We have nothing for you here, you heard him. If I find something about your necklace, I’ll let you know. But for now... just go.” 

Without anything to say, he just turned and went out of the room.  

Why? Why was he the one feeling like shit, like he made the things wrong? 

Why was he the one feeling guilty about treating people who robbed others for a living like they deserved to be treated? 

He made his way out of the building, looking at the destroyed furniture and the people trying to help the ones that he had hurt. At the sight of him, they scattered away like insects, leaving him alone with the traces of blood that he had caused. He stayed there, looking at his own hands that, apparently, only had one purpose: to hurt others. 

He thought of the promise he made with himself. Then the one he made with Adrian... his ex-roommate was just trying to help him, and he went and did all those mistakes again. His whole life, mistake after mistake. He brought his hands to his face, and almost could feel blood on them, even though he hadn’t hurt anyone with them.  

He thought about the boy inside the office, only sixteen years old. At his age, Dara was a criminal at the eyes of the society, too. He had blood in his hands. And there he was, feeling powerful enough to judge people like some kind of god, when he had done the same things in the past. 

He thought of Carla’s eyes when he had said those cruel words to her... 

He really was a monster, wasn’t he? 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. 

Nikolay 

The (now) purple-haired vampire was laying on his bed, playing with a beautiful necklace. It was so satisfactory to see the thin chain between his fingers, and the pretty jewel was so smooth... he couldn’t stop looking at it and touching it. 

When doing some errands, he had found this very interesting object. 

Vampires had their senses ten times more developed than a human. And that meant he could see things that others couldn’t from afar. When he was passing by an alley, he saw something shiny in the middle of the dark. Who would have thought it would be a very pretty necklace? It was a rare thing, to find something so beautiful in such a disgusting place. He wondered who had lost it, and in what circumstances.