Five
1088 Words
“You’re right, there really isn’t much about this Order thing,” Chiara woefully said as she closed an old, thick book and placed it aside. She pinched the bridge of her nose and sat back on the sofa. She sat in the mansion’s library with Dorian and Mary; Dorian, who had suggested they look for literature regarding the women that visited earlier that afternoon, and Mary, who had nothing to do that day and wanted to spar with Dorian, yet ended up being pulled to help in the library.
Old books and other publications dating back centuries were strewn all over the tables, floor, and chairs—the picture of a nightmare of every librarian who would have to sort all of those afterwards. In the middle of the mess was Chiara on the sofa, Dorian standing by a shelf, and Mary lying on her back on the floor.
“Same here,” Mary yawned as she stretched her arms and sat up. “Are we sure they exist? Maybe we should look for the keyword ‘cult' or something similar.” Chiara knew she meant that as a joke, but with their fruitless search for almost an hour, she was starting to entertain that idea.
“Oh, but there is this part here,” Mary added, handing Chiara the book and pointing at a subsection, “where monsters—the townsfolk called them night creatures—that almost massacred an entire town, draining people of their blood or turning other people into monsters themselves—sounds familiar?”
Dorian placed the book he was reading back into its place on the shelf, then moved beside Chiara and leaned down to take a look at the book. “What happened?” he asked Mary.
“It just stopped,” Mary shrugged. “Like for some unknown reason, the attacks just stopped.”
Dorian suddenly stood up straight then made his way back to the book he was previously holding. “Oh, I think I read something similar to that,” he said, quickly turning the pages. “Hold on,” he muttered a few seconds before his face lit up. “Here. Almost the same thing happened at a small town, but the terror stopped all of a sudden upon the arrival of a mysterious woman,” he summarized for them.
“They make it sound like they’re a vigilante or something,” Mary said with a chuckle, playfully trying to use her toe to flip a page. “Is that the right term? Vigilante? Mysterious superhero?” she mindlessly asked.
“What happened next? Did they say anything more about the woman?” Chiara asked Dorian.
“No other details were given, but—Ah, but according to historians, the town underwent the same terror a few decades later.” Dorian went quiet for a few seconds as his eyebrows slightly met in the middle. “Only this time, it was on a larger scale that almost killed all of its inhabitants. The town was abandoned after that, only to be populated again after many years have passed.”
“So, mysterious superhero vigilante goes away, and the vampires are back?” Mary asked, giving up and just lying supine on the floor to stare up at the ceiling. “Is that what we’re assuming from all this?”
“Did they state a date?” Chiara said.
Dorian quickly checked what was printed again then shook his head. “Around a hundred and fifty years ago, but there is no exact year.”
“That’s around the same year I was born, then. When I was allegedly supposed to take the reins,” Chiara thoughtfully supplied.
“The Chosen Vessel,” Mary said, repeating what she had eavesdropped from the earlier conversation. “It doesn’t have much of a ring to it, doesn’t it?” she craned her neck to look at Dorian and Chiara.
“I think it is quite catchy,” Dorian admitted, making Chiara lightly chuckle and Mary roll her eyes.
“Mr. D, your name is Dorian freaking Dupin and you’re old as hell. Of course, you think it’s catchy.”
“Hold on,” Chiara piped in as she suddenly thought of something. “If no one has been taking the vampire thing under control, how come they haven’t dominated the world now?”
“It may not seem like it, but take a look at what Callahan did,” Dorian answered while he began picking up books, “and how easily he had done it. Vampires do not sit in power under the spotlight, but they control them behind the scenes.”
“Like puppet masters. Respect,” Mary muttered, pushing a few books towards him with her foot. “So, let me get this straight, are we saying that this Order of women are not all that bad?”
“I do not actually know,” Dorian answered with a sigh.
“I think they’re pretty much like superheroes,” Mary said.
“They just threatened to kill Dorian, though,” Chiara argued.
Mary narrowed her eyes for a second as she thought. “Morally gray superheroes, then,” she corrected herself, just as they heard a knock on the door. Clarissa walked into the room, and a frown formed on her face as soon as she saw the state of it.
“Children, I think that’s enough research for tonight. Dinner is almost ready,” she stated, not even bothering to take another step in.
Mary sat up and looked at her with an eyebrow raised. “Clarissa, you know these two are like thrice your age, right?” she asked.
“As I am yours,” Clarissa sternly replied.
Meanwhile, Dorian stood by with a small smile forming on his lips as he thoughtfully said, “I quite like being regarded as a young person.”
“Clarissa does feel very maternal,” Chiara agreed. “She reminds me of my own grandmother.”
“Now that that’s settled,” Clarissa said with a pleased smile, “please clean up your mess and be ready for dinner.”
“Aye-aye, cap,” Mary gave a small salute as her grandmother left, but as soon as the door closed, Mary smiled at the other two and said, “Good luck with the clean-up,” with a wide smile on her face; then, fast as the wind, she was gone, leaving Chiara and Dorian with all the mess.
- Writer
