Ishani had felt the poison begin to seep into her veins. She woke briefly, looking around for the attacker with every intention of destroying it, but there was nothing to be found. After a few short moments of panic, she slipped into torpor and the nightmares began.

She was twelve again, lying cozy in her bed on the verge of sleep. Then she heard a crash and a scream coming from the living room. Jumping out of her bed, she rushed down the hall to the sound of her mother’s sobs. She entered the living room in time to see a man bend over her mother and tear out her throat. The blood spurted forth and spattered onto Ishani’s face and nightgown as she stared at the body of her mother.

The shock of the nightmare had faded over a century ago and now she simply stood, twelve years old, silent and seething as she watched her soon to be brother of the blood kill her parents. She knew he would look up and see her. Knew he would take her by the hand and lead her to his car. He would take her to his sire, who would take pitty on her and raise her as best he could until she became of age. Then, he would ghoul her.

A flame of rage ignited in Ishani’s chest as she realized Final Death was not an option. She had not completed her vow to avenge her parents, the entire reason for her accepting the embrace. Her sire and “brother” were still out there terrorizing other families and she had done nothing about it. Instead, she had allowed herself to get caught up in the politics of her Requiem. She could not allow herself to slip away.

She grasped onto the small flame and nursed it, causing it to grow. She went over everything that had happened to her after her parents were murdered. As her life began to run through her mind, the flame became a roaring fire, filling her chest with the burn. Finally in one huge surge of rage and hatred, the flame shot through her veins. Her body jerked with the pain as the molten lava of hatred branded itself into the very essence of her soul.

The poison in her blood evaporated by the heat of her rage. The connection to Yama, God of the Underworld was also burned away, leaving nothing behind but the ashes of memory.

As the blood in her body boiled, causing excruciating pain, it turned…….changed……became something more. Something different.

Then suddenly the pain was gone and the bonfire died down to smoldering flames, leaving the body and mind weak and exhausted with effort.

Ishani opened her eyes.