The Draugenir

Chapter 2 -The Veil Is Removed-

“On April 5th, 2009, a house mysteriously burns down which supposedly belonged to a couple and their only daughter. However, the daughter was the only survivor as the bodies of her parents who were supposed to have died in the fire were never found. You were then raised by your grandfather, Zanadis, as his own daughter who took care of all your needs and gave you everything you wanted. It’s almost safe to say that he made you ignorant of the true matter at hand,” Father Bernard explained.

Xermaine just stared at the man as she felt so furious.

“Lies! You’ve brought me here just to feed me crap like this? I’m out of here. Try telling dumb stuff like this to someone who’ll actually believe you", Xermaine said, and immediately walked towards the door with the intention of leaving.

Father Bernard merely sighed as he continued.

“Your grandfather has sold his soul to a great evil.”

Xermaine was almost at the door when she immediately stopped and quickly turned around.

“What do you mean by that?”, she asked.

“Your grandfather is one of the leaders of a cult that specializes in transforming living, breathing people into hideous monsters called ‘draugen’ to do their evil bidding. This goes way beyond what you already know. I’m talking about things that are not meant to exist in our world", Father Bernard paused to let that part sink in.

Xermaine walked back and sat down as she looked at Father Bernard.

“What are you talking about? What cult? I thought the supernatural didn’t exist and what not”, Xermaine tried to make a point.

“Oh, but they do. You just haven’t run into them yet. Well, with a man like Zanadis taking care of you, I doubt you wouldn’t have", he said.

“So, you’re telling me that my grandfather killed my parents, and is part of some cult that turns people into monsters and I had no idea, up until now, and you know all this how?”, Xermaine tried to piece things together.

“That’s because our church specializes in hunting those monsters", Father Bernard answered.

“Oh, I see. Of course", Xermaine didn’t know what to think anymore as she just sat down.

“Fret not, your grandfather actually came to us with a proposition", he started.

“What proposition?”, Xermaine asked.

“In order to secure your protection, he offered himself to us, as well as the locations of the other leaders of the cult. I decided to accept that proposition though I wouldn’t mind ending his life for all the crimes he has committed". Father Bernard looked like he was smiling, but he wasn't.

“That’s absurd. Why would he do that? Also, I don’t think you should casually talk about killing someone’s relative right to their face", Xermaine said.

“Pardon me, but my job requires me to be this brutal, those evil men and their members are quite twisted and cruel. You see. Turning innocent people into flesh, into monsters and setting them loose in convenient places, all in the name of spreading pain and chaos across the continent", Father Bernard said as his tone changed.

“On other matters, we have your grandfather in custody, as we speak. I can take you to him if you want. If you wish, you can hear the truth right from his own mouth", proposed.

“I...I... guess I’ll meet him. I have to know'', Xermaine said, feeling like all that she knew had just been shattered.

“Right this way then,” father Bernard got up as Xermaine followed.

The two entered a dark hallway with only fire lamps to guide their way. Father Bernard came to a halt in front of a huge door with multiple paper seals.

He bit his thumb and drew a symbol with the trickling blood as it started to glow. In the next moment, Xermaine witnessed the shocking scene of the paper seals detaching from the door by themselves as it swung open with a loud creaking noise.

Father Bernard proceeded inside as Xermaine followed, only to now be in a place which closely resembled a place similar to the surface of the ocean. Even though she was walking on the water, she wasn’t sinking, which gave her multiple feelings at once.

When she looked in the distance, there was a man who had several chains and paper seals wrapped around him but he looked perfectly fine. Father Bernard was some ways ahead as Xermaine quickly followed till the two stopped in front of the man. Xermaine immediately recognized the gray hair, yet strong and energetic look that this man had.

It was none other than Zanadis Quist, her grandfather, that had been bound in several chains and paper seals. “Oi, why did you have to bring her here? We made a deal, didn’t we?”, Zanadis spoke to Father Bernard.

“You should at least talk to her before I can do anything. You two have a lot of catching up to do, don’t you? I’ll give you two some space", father Bernard said as he walked away.

“Sly bastard. I assume you’ve heard everything from that old fox, right?”, Zanadis addressed Xermaine.

“Tell me that it isn’t true. That it is all a big misunderstanding. That you’ll soon clear this up and will be free to go in no time”, Xermaine said as tears started to well up in her eyes.

Zanadis looked away, then back at her.

“I’m afraid it’s all true. Big surprise, right? I didn’t want you to know about this dark side of mine, since it could ruin everything. As for your parents…that was totally my fault. They refused to hand you over to me for your own good, so I had to kill them and dispose of their bodies. Thanks to that, I was able to keep you safe from the church and other potential enemies. But now things have changed, I can no longer protect you from what’s to come. You’ll be much safer with the church for now", Zanadis ended.

Xermaine was speechless as she fell down to her eyes. Tears started flowing down her cheeks as she thought about all that had been revealed to her.

Several thoughts flooded her head until she finally remembered something.

“That night, the day my parents were murdered. It was you who spoke those words, weren’t you? My parents never introduced you to me, so I didn’t recognize you", Xermaine asked.

“Yeah, it was me. After killing your parents, I erected a barrier around you and set the house on fire. After the police and the fire service came to put a stop to the fire, you were the only survivor and as the only relative you have, you were entrusted to me", Zanadis answered.

“So, all that he said. About you selling your soul, committing all those atrocities. Is it all true? Turning people into monsters, killing innocents?", Xermaine asked once more.

Zanadis didn’t answer, but the look on his face only confirmed what Xermaine had been told.

Xermaine entered a crouching position as she started to weep heavily. Father Bernard was watching everything from afar as he had a sad look.

“You’re a monster. I never want to see you again", Xermaine said after calming down.

“I understand. You’re better off without a sinner like me”, Zanadis said with a smile.

Father Bernard came back to them as Xermaine got back on her feet and wiped her tears with her left palm.

“Take good care of her, okay. She’s all I have left", Zanadis said to Father Bernard.

“You keep your end of the bargain too. We’ll protect her with our lives”, Father Bernard said as he turned to face Xermaine.

“Let’s go", Xermaine nodded in response as she followed Father Bernard out of the place.

“Ah, I’m glad I got to see her one last time. What a fine lady she has become", Zanadis said to himself as the place grew quiet once more.

Once outside the door, Xermaine stopped a few paces behind Father Bernard.

“So, what is happening to me now?”, she asked.

“Good question. We have decided to entrust you to the care of one of our most elite agents, called a ‘draugenir’. You’ll be living with him in a house specially prepared for you two. I hope you’ll get along with him”, Father Bernard answered.

“Oh, I see. Wait, I’ll be living with a guy in the same house? Is that appropriate?”, Xermaine asked.

“Well, you don’t exactly have a choice here now, do you? You’ll have to live with that from now on. Ah, and also no more school for the time being. You’ll be confined indoors”, Father Bernard added after a quick thought.

“You have got to be kidding me. Well, my guardian is behind bars for serious crimes against humanity, so I can’t really complain", Xermaine said.

“Well, not exactly behind ‘bars’, but yeah, that about sums it up. I’ll be taking you to meet the draugenir, so please follow me", Father Bernard proceeded out of the hallway with Xermaine behind him.

Father Bernard walked all the way to another space as only nuns were around. One of the nuns saw Father Bernard and Xermaine walk in as she went to meet them.

“Oh, Sister Hana, is he already in?”, Father Bernard asked.

“Well, yes Father, but he’s not exactly in a good mood”, sister Hana said with a complex look.

“Ah, I thought as much. No need for your concern, I’ll take care of things now. You head back", Father Bernard assured her.

“Yes Father", she said and walked away.

“Now let’s go meet your new guardian", Father Bernard said with a smile.

He then opened the door to the room, as a young man was seated in one of the sofas with his arms crossed.

He wore black trousers, paired with black sneakers and a black leather jacket as he had great style.

He had a very sour expression as he immediately turned to look at the two who had just entered the room.

“Took you long enough. I was getting tired of waiting”, the young man spoke with zero respect.

“Is it okay that he talks like that?”, Xermaine asked, quite surprised.

“Don’t worry about it. Xermaine meets Seth, Seth meets Xermaine", Father Bernard introduced the two.

“So, she’s Zanadis’ granddaughter. I’m surprised he didn’t usher her into the cult too. I wonder how a mass murderer like him was able to keep your existence a secret”. Seth didn’t pull any punches with what he said.

“Does it really have to be him? Can’t I get another elite agent to take care of me? I don’t like him", Xermaine asked Father Bernard.

Before father Bernard could answer, Seth stepped in.

“You should rather be thanking me for agreeing to such a role. The other elites would’ve killed you on the spot just because you’re related to the Zanadis.”

“Oh. Good to know,” Xermaine quietly said.