“How could you turn yourself to a vampire?!” Tricia yelled at her daughter, “that is against the very balance of nature that a witch is supposed to keep!”
The emotional reunion was over now, and the older witch was livid that her daughter had done something so dangerous. Nella was causing a terrible imbalance. There was no way nature would allow her carry so much power as a witch and a vampire.
“I was in a really bad place mum,” Nella defended herself quietly, “with you and dad getting a divorce and all…”
“That is no excuse!” Tricia yelled, “you are not a child for crying out loud.”
“She is not the danger here,” the librarian said firmly, “the danger is this terrible thing she says is happening in Darfalls.”
“And what could be worse than this?” Tricia asked, staring daggers at her daughter
“Upir.” Nella said simply.
The name alone sent both Tricia and the librarian reeling in shock.
“She’s back,” Nella continued, “a wizard took one of my vampire friends in Darfalls and used her body as a host for Upir.”
“Oh my goodness.” Tricia said, “another vampire with magic. ”
“We have to do something.” The librarian said.
“I know,” Tricia replied, pacing up and down the room, “some members of the coven might back off when they hear that Upir is involved.”
“But if they do nothing Upir will come for them nonetheless.” Nella said.
“Yes that’s true,” the librarian agreed, “but we have to convince them first. We’ll hold a meeting for the witches of Lighthood coven. Upir is not a foe to be approached alone.”
That very night all the witches of Lighthood coven gathered in the same room that Nella was brought into in the morning.
Kenneth and Evan were asked to wait outside – and they were not happy about it.
“How can we trust this vampire?” One of the witches asked, eyeing Nella suspiciously.
“Because she is one of us.” Tricia shot at the witch who had spoken.
“A vampire is a vampire Tricia.” the witch continued, undaunted.
“She is not lying!” Tricia insisted, glaring at her.
“Stop it you two!” a man who was also a member of the coven cautioned the two women, “stop acting like children.”
“We can make her swear an oath to clear any suspicions.” another woman said.
Soon three of the members took out a large wooden stick and asked Nella to touch it.
She obeyed and was also asked to repeat her story. She did so and declared her innocence.
“And if I lie to this coven may the earth have my blood this very moment.” Nella was asked to repeat.
She did so.
For a moment the whole coven was still, waiting for Nella to drop dead.
When nothing happened, they decided that this daughter of Tricia (with whatever she had done by turning herself to a vampire) was telling the truth.
“So how are you going to help?” Nella asked.
“Upir did not live in any of our lifetimes,” said one man thoughtfully, “she would be hard to tackle.”
“But we could trap her soul in her body and destroy it.” Nella suggested.
The coven murmured in disapproval.
“The power needed for they type of spell could destroy us all.” said one lady.
“It might backfire and end up destroying us.” a young man also said.
“Then what are we going to do about…” Nella was cut short by loud and persistent howls coming from several directions.
“Werewolves,” Kenneth said, going to the window to have a look.
Evan came over and looked through the window.
Werewolves were running wild in the streets!
Cars were being attacked by them and unfortunate people were being bitten and some torn apart. It all looked chaotic.
“Those witches had better be fast!” Kenneth yelled.
One werewolf looked in the direction of the window they were looking through and growled.
Kenneth and Evan pulled down the shutters immediately and stood back, waiting for the werewolf to attack.
Kenneth walked to the room where the witches were having their meeting and started banging on the door.
“Whatever you’re doing I’ll advise you to hurry up!” He shouted, “these werewolves are wrecking the city!”
“This is why we don’t let vampires into our coven.”said a young man in the room, glaring at the door Kenneth was hitting.
“He has a point!” Nella said, “what are we going to do?”
“I think we should start by figuring out what Upir wants to do.” the librarian suggested.
“If we are to go by what we have read about her then all she seeks is to establish herself in power.” Nella said.
“Power over witches, werewolves, vampires and even humans.” Tricia chipped in.
“We know what she wants now – good– what the hell are we going to do about it?!” Nella said impatiently.
“We need to mine her.” a man said.
To mine a person meant to drill into a person’s very soul and discover their fears and weaknesses . It was no small feat and it could put them in danger if the person being mined (which was in this case Upir) were to find out.
“That’s the only way to find out her weakness.” Tricia agreed.
“We’ll need a link.” a lady said.
When a person was to be mined, a link which meant a person who had at least one thing similar in nature to the person to be mined was needed.
“We might need two.” Tricia said.
“Get the vampires Nella.” the librarian ordered Nella.
She obeyed and went out of the room.
“Nella, finally!” Kenneth said once he spotted her, he was leaning against a table.
“There are werewolves going crazy all over the town!” Evan said.
“The library has a magical shield that protects it from…” Nella started.
“Nella the whole town – not just this library – is under attack!” Kenneth shouted.
“We were not playing in there!” Nella shouted back, “we need you guys to come in.”
“Why?” Evan asked.
“We’re going to scry on Upir and we need people that have something in common with her.” Nella explained.
“What do we have in common with her?” Evan asked.
“You’re vampires.” Nella said hurriedly and led the way to the room.
Kenneth and Evan followed her. They found themselves in the same room with about twenty members of the Lighthood coven.
They formed two circles around them and started chanting .
At first Kenneth and Evan did not feel anything but as the chanting increased, they felt a dull vibration in their heads .
The vibration turned to a slight pain and then a head-splitting one.
They held their heads and screamed out in pain.
Each of the coven members went into a trance – like state where they saw Upir holding her head in pain (just like the links). As she screamed, they felt something Iike the cover of a book against their palms.
The links screamed again and hit the ground, exhausted. Upir also fell to the ground back in Darfalls.
“I felt a book.” Nella gasped and opened her eyes.
“It was a spell book,” Tricia chipped in, “there’s a spell in that book that can destroy Upir for good.”
“And did anyone get to see the spell?” Nella asked, helping Kenneth and Evan to their feet.
“No,” said a young man, “but I know the spell book. It’s in this library.”
“Let’s get it then.” Nella said.
“We have to wait till tomorrow,” said Tricia, “if we cast another spell Upir might trace us.”
Reluctantly, Nella agreed that they wait till the following night. She didn’t have a choice anyway.
Come morning the next day Nella was shown the book and it was kept in the care of the librarian. Nella went around the town with Kenneth and Evan for the most part of the day, looking at the damage the werewolves had caused. The whole town was in a state of shock and fear. Nella found it hard to recognize her once cheerful hometown that had turned gloomy overnight. She avoided going back home – she was not ready for a conversation with her mother.
At night, Nella, Kenneth and Evan went back to the library. Surprisingly the door was left open and no one was in the main room. They assumed that the coven was already in the inner room.
Kenneth and Evan waited in the main room while Nella went into the inner room.
Kenneth was about to sit on a table when he heard Nella scream. He and Evan ran into the room and stopped dead in their tracks.
All the members of the coven were lying on the ground in a bloody and mangled mess – they were all dead.