Chapter Twenty Six: Hell is on Earth

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Eugene cradled Annalise in his arms, hefting her up from the sofa and to the spare room they had been using. Gently, he let her down, carefully supporting her neck till the very last moment. He sat besides her on the cream covers, the bed lightly creaking under his weight. Slowly, he moved the stray tendrils of hair from her eyes. It had grown, in the year she'd been gone.

His mind instantly snapped back to the TV, that was silently humming in the other room. Supernaturals had gone public. And there was no turning back now. Something, something like this would go down in history and his brother and Annalise were at the forefront. For once, in all his years of living, Eugene Cubert did not know what to do.

He clutched Annalise's lifeless hand tightly, it was eerily reminiscent of the time they'd recovered her body. How cold and comatose she had been back then. Looking up at the ceiling, he tried to reign in his tumultuous emotions. The whole plan had been mostly his idea.

Harvey had been right. It was stupid.

Eugene raised her hand to his face, softly kissing the inside of her palms.

The fault was his alone to bear.

.....

A few days had passed, and she still hadn't woken up. Eugene had hardly moved from the spot next to her, only to occasionally get blood and smoke. He was rooted, like a tree, unwavering in his devotion.

All that had been on the news lately, were talks about Supernaturals. Who they were, how did they come to exist and what they were going to do next. Harvey's and Annalise's face had been splattered across the internet for everyone to see. Alongside several of the Revolution.

It was only a matter of time before one of Harvey's neighbours connected the dots.

The news were calling for action. Yet despite this, a small handful of people were campaigning for their innocence. Including a couple of the hostages Annalise had saved. They had come forward, conducting all sorts of interviews to speak for them, how they had tried to stop the attack.

But that didn't stop the wave of media that campaigned for their total annihilation.

Sometimes, Eugene thought, as he stared through the open window, he could see why the Revolution had become a thing. Humans had been the one to shoot Annalise, shoot first and not ask questions. Guilty until innocent, and so typically human it made him sick.

He had finally mustered up some sense of responsibility and answered the myriad of phone calls he had gotten. Sven, a trusted member of his Clan, had begged him to come with them into hiding. Into the Swedish countryside where no one would bother looking to wait until it all blew over.

But how could he? Not when Annalise was here, comatose to the world.

Temporarily he put the man in charge, despite his appearance of a young teen, the vampire was almost as old as him. Having turned at a young age, he retained most of his childish features. But he was more mature than the rest, and Eugene trusted him to look after the Modesto Clan, while he dealt with business here.

From now on, he and Sven would only communicate through letters. It was safer that way.

-----

Another two days had passed. Eugene's patience was wearing thin. He was this close to tearing his brother's ponytail out. But Harvey had insisted there was nothing more he could do but wait. And, despite everything, no matter how reluctantly, he trusted the witch.

Victoria and Dawn had finally returned from their quaint little English cottage, resurfacing at the news of Raul's injuries and Annalise's. He could hear them shouting in the living room, from the spare bedroom. It was nice to know some things never change.

Cassius had returned from Clan business, having helped some of the vampires evacuate from the city. It was almost like before. Before.. Before all of this.

-----

Three days passed, Annalise still hadn't woken. Eugene was losing hope.

---

It took two antagonising weeks for her to wake.

--

Annalise

Before she could dwell on it any longer, the door slammed open, ricocheting off the walls. "ANNAAAA!!" A surprising voice shrieked, as a brown blob of hair obscured her vision. Two arms wrapped themselves around her torso, a head nudging into the side of her neck.

"Oh Anna, I missed you!" Dawn cried, exuberant as ever. Just as loud as she remembered her to be. She smiled into the freshly washed ponytail, bringing her arms up to hug the Vampire back. Wincing at the fresh bite of pain as she did so.

Several more footsteps resounded throughout the bedroom and the half demon looked up, only to be face to face with Victoria. She seemed disinterested, picking at her red nails with a grimace, but even Annalise could see the lines of worry creased on her forehead. Behind her loomed Raul, ever imposing and besides him was Cassius.

The group of vampires that had been with her since the start of all of this. Annalise clutched Dawn tighter, with a grin. But it didn't last long. The atmosphere was so thick she could cut it with a knife.

"What's wrong?" Annalise asked apprehensively, eyes glancing over each of the vampires. Eugene couldn't meet her gaze.

"What are you on about? Shouldn't you be focused on recovering or something?" Victoria huffed sarcastically. It was good to see nothing had changed on that front. But she could see the diversion from a mile way.

They were keeping something from her.

Hazel eyes narrowed. As she softly pushed Dawn back. The vampiress rubbed her red eyes, tilting her at the sudden movement. Annalise ignored it, in favour of scouring around for the TV remote. It was usually kept on the bedside table. Luck was on her side, as she found it the first time round.

Eugene stood up as if to stop her, but then thought about it again, sitting back down on the bed as if all life had drained from him. Annalise turned on the TV. It was adjacent from the bed, sitting up on a mahogany cabinet.

A woman, with greying hair at the temples, stood besides an adolescent teenage boy with hazel eyes, and soft brown hair.

Her mom. Her brother.

"That witch stole my dead daughter's face!! That's not my Anna, no no, it's not. My daughter died years ago. Those, whatever they are, need to be stopped before more  grieving families are hurt." Her mother spat, with pure vitriol as she was being interview for UK News.

Annalise's heart dropped. The TV remote slid out of her hands. 

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Authors Note: 

Hey guys i hope you're well! Let me know if you enjoyed this chapter! What do you think about that little twist at the ends there, how do you think Anna's going to react? 

Thank you so much for 10k reads!! Can you believe it! I think i've been writing this maybe for two/three months max? So im incredibly grateful to all of you. Every like, comment, and read. 

It means more to me than you know <3 

Also, i've got another work in the process called Royally F**ked, its a fantasy romance mixed with a little bit of tragedy. So if that's your type of thing, give it a go and let me know what you think <3 

Love you lots, 

Sam.E 

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