“No!” Kenneth shouted, standing up, “abyssal magic is the cause of all that is going wrong here, we can’t use fire to fight fire.”
“This is the only way.” Theo replied.
“And then what?” Nella asked, “we get abyssal magic, we can do our magic without Upir’s interference and then what? If all the beings from the abyssal realm couldn’t stop her from tearing the veil then what makes you think we can just because we have a little abyssal magic?”
Kenneth sighed.
“I just want all this to end,” Theo said, “we’ve lost too much already. Upir is gaining new ground every day and if someone or something doesn’t stop her she’ll probably destroy us all.”
“Or make us her slaves.” Kenneth quipped in.
“We have to do something, and fast.” Theo said.
Just then, Evan woke up and started his babbling.
“We have to do something about him too.” Theo said.
“It’s not safe for him to be this dumb at this time.” Nella said.
Kenneth walked to Evan. Then he carried him across his shoulders.
“What are you doing?” Nella asked.
“You’ll see.” Kenneth said.
He started walking to his basement.
Nella and Theo followed him.
Nella was scared, was Kenneth going to kill Evan, this time permanently?
“What are you doing Kenneth?” She asked, alarmed.
“Relax,” Kenneth said and continued descending the stairs.
The basement was larger than Nella had thought it was. A musty smell hung in the air.
Kenneth dropped Evan to the floor and went in search of something.
“Kenneth you’ll have to kill me before I’ll let you kill him!” Nella warned.
Kenneth did not reply. He simply dragged out a brown coffin and placed it at the center of the basement.
Theo watched on keenly.
Kenneth opened the coffin and brought out a wooden stake from it.
“I’m not going to kill him permanently,” he said, “we need to keep him safe, he’s not fit enough to fight and he’ll only slow us down.”
“I thought a stake through the heart could kill a vampire, permanently.” Theo said.
“A common misinformation,” Kenneth replied, “we vampires can regenerate, and the brain is in charge of that regeneration – not the heart. So if you stake a vampire, he dies, but when you remove the stake…”
“The regeneration takes effect,” Theo completed, understanding, “because the brain is in charge of the regeneration.”
“Smart boy.” Kenneth said drily.
“But since the brain is in charge of regeneration, then why does the vampire not just wake up when it’s still staked?” Theo asked.
“Because it’s hard to regenerate when there’s a stake in your heart disrupting the healing process,” Kenneth said losing his patience, “now that we’re done with ‘How to kill a vampire 101’ can I get please get back to what I was doing?”
Nella solemnly carried Evan to the coffin. She gently laid him in the coffin.
“We’ll come back for you Evan.” She whispered into his ear.
Evan only spat and babbled in response.
Kenneth sighed again and raised the stake.
“Sorry man.” He said as he stabbed Evan’s heart.
Evan’s face contorted in pain and finally his body grew cold and grey.
Kenneth closed the coffin and pushed it to a wall. It was well hidden behind boxes of old pictures and clothes.
“Why do you have so many old pictures and clothes?” Theo asked.
Kenneth stared at him as if he was mad.
“I’ve lived for over 500 years,” he said, “what do you expect?”
“Evan is safe in the coffin,” Nella said, “now let’s find a way out of this horror movie we’ve gotten into.”
She walked up the stairs. Kenneth and Theo followed suit.
Upir and Lehi were back in the house of Tira.
Tira had regained consciousness but she was weak. The children still would not talk, but at least they were fed and alive.
The dead child had been enbalmed and kept in a room. Lehi wondered how they managed to enbalm the body when they could not leave the house. Well they were witches after all, Lehi reasoned, they had their ways.
Upir wanted to torture Tira like the previous time, but she was feeling weak. She knew that the message she had sent to the witches had drained her energy. She asked for all the books that had to do with her. Tira was all too glad to consent.
Upir wanted to read the books carefully. She wanted to know just what this generation saw her as. Upir meant to keep Tira and her family imprisoned in their house until she decided to kill them.
As they made to go, Lehi saw Rose by one of the children, she seemed distant.
“Don’t you think we should take the children out of here?” He asked Upir.
“Why?” Upir asked, “they all belong to the same accursed lineage.”
“But… they are innocent,” Lehi replied, “they don’t even have magic.”
Upir thought for a while. Who would tell people that the great witch Tira had been placed under house arrest by Upir. How would they know unless someone went outside to tell them?
There were only two children left. She would take one with her and drop her wherever she lived.
As Upir made to take the hand of the girl, she started yelling and screaming.
It was strange because since Upir’s first visit, she and her brother had never uttered a word. Now all of a sudden she saw screaming at Upir to leave her alone.
Her brother held her hand and attempted to drag her from Upir.
Even Rose could not act for a moment, she was too surprised by the children’s sudden action.
They were barely six years, but they felt that if they let Upir take one if them away, they would never see each other again. They preferred to stay together and get the worst from Upir than to be separated.
“Leave her alone you witch!” Rose spat at Upir even though she was held fast to the ground by Upir’s magic.
“They’re twins,” Tira said weakly, “they have never been separated before, they can’t take it.”
Upir tried to drag the girl but when she realized that the children were insisting on being together, she let the girl be.
Of course, Upir could have dragged the girl, she was much stronger anyway, but there was something about the way the twins fought to be together, perhaps even die together. It reminded Upir of the fact that even in such a world ridden with betrayal, lies and selfishness, pure relationships like the one between the twins still thrived.
Upir stared at the twins for a while and walked away.
Lehi went over to Rose, unsure of what he was doing.
“Are you okay?” He asked, kneeling beside her.
“Don’t touch me!” Rose yelled, standing up. She had been freed from Upir’s spell since Upir had left the house.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” Lehi said calmly.
Rose gave him a stinging slap and shoved him roughly.
But she is going to hurt to you, Lehi thought to himself.
“What do you want from me?!” Rose screamed.
At a loss on how tell a lady who had just lost her neice and her freedom that he loved her (or at least he thought he loved her) Lehi just shrugged.
“I just wanted you to know that I … that I wouldn’t hurt you or your family,” he said, “you’re Upir’s enemies, not mine. Well at least not yet.”
Lehi almost slapped himself. What the hell did he mean by yet?! Way to go Romeo.
Rose looked at him with eyes that, if they could kill, would have impaled Lehi.
“You are really taking your time Ah’Lehi.” Upir said, poking her head through the front door.
“I’m coming,” Lehi said and looked at Rose for a while.
Then he walked out of the house. He knew what he wanted from Rose, but how to do it would be an uphill task…