4. DRUMOND
1759 Words
The tightness in my chest remained as Jonathan drove towards Hotel De Gracia. He wasn't wrong about being an excellent driver. If I didn't know better, I would have admitted the lad was better at driving than I was. He kept his eyes on the road and so did I. I looked at the moon and it's calmness. I felt it's whizzing effect on me. For a night so Serene, I definitely witnessed wierd things. First was Jonathan coming back from the dead, and now the feeling about that vampire.
Why did I feel this way? Why did it feel like I have known her for all time when I only met her today? And that feeling I was getting, the feeling of desire and pain and lust, I have never felt that about any woman before, and certainly not about any vampire. And why did she smell so good? I closed my eyes, and I tried to reanimate her smell. Lilies. The smell came to me just as I imagined it. And those eyes, beautiful and sharp. Her lips were so plump and full. She was so beautiful, too beautiful to be a living-dead vampire.
I sighed. Jonathan looked at me for a moment and returned his eyes back to the road. I wondered what was going on in his head, how he was feeling. He was not showing any emotions. That got me worried a bit. A normal person would be freaking out by now but not him. He seemed to be taking everything so easily. The calmness with which he drove reminded me of my sister. He was a lot like her in so many ways.
"How are you holding up?" I asked him
"I'm fine." He replied
"Are you sure? You just knew about the existence of vampires and werewolves and you have been attacked twice tonight. You should be freaking out right now. Why are you calm?"
"You actually want me to freak out and the you will feel better?"
"Yeah. I want to see some emotions. Unless it's not the first time it has happened to you."
He didn't say anything.
"Earlier, I could have swore you died in the car. Your bones were broken. You had no pulse. How are you still alive?"
"I don't know. I just can't seem to die. All my life I have been hunted. People have tried to kill me, steal from me, kidnap me like those vampires and in these encounters, I always got hurt. But I heal faster than normal. I have been killed twice already and I am still here. I don't know how. I always saw myself as a freak but until tonight, nothing in my life made sense. So forgive me for not reacting the way you would have wanted. This is actually the normal I have been looking for."
"You are excited."
"I want to know what I am. I need answers too. I want to know why the vampires are after me."
"Me too. I will find you those answers. I owe it to my sister." I said to him as he continued driving. The rest of the short journey was silent. Soon we were in the parking space of Hotel De Gracia. As usual, the attendants rushed down to help but I got out before they could. Jonathan, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying this newly found royal treatment. I led him inside and boarded an elevator. I had to see Radcliff as soon as possible.
"I saw them all glaring at you. Did you do something wrong?" Jonathan asked as we ascended towards the fourteenth floor. Radcliff's working office was located there.
"Let's just say, me being in this place at all is a terrible sin."
"I see."
The elevator stopped and we walked into the corridor that led to Radcliff's office. I knocked before I opened. He was sitted on his sofa, eating a chunk of raw meat with cutlery. When he saw me, he slowly put the food away and continued to stare. Then I realized he wasn't staring at me, but at Jonathan.
"Did you bring a human here?" He asked. His tone was ferocious.
"He's not technically a human..."
"What is the meaning of this Drumond? Have you forgotten our rules?"
"No, I have not. I am a prime alpha and my actions have reasons. This is Jonathan, my nephew."
"What nephew?"
"My sister gave birth to him twenty years ago. And until tonight, I did not know the vampires were on him."
"Vampires? What are you talking about?"
"If I hadn't been there, they would have taken him in his apartment. They even came to my house and nearly succeeded in killing me and grabbing him."
"Why are they after him?"
"I do not know. But it has something to do with the æye. Do you know what that is?"
"I do not know. That is an old tongue though. Extinct now. Where did you hear it?"
"My sister told me. And I have reasons to believe Jonathan is this æye. I came here to leave him in your care while I went down to take a look at the old books. Maybe I will find something there."
"Go ahead. He is in safe hands. Nothing will touch him here."
"I am certain of that."
I said and quickly walked out of the room. The old books I wanted to find were kept in a library underneath the hotel. The books were records of time passed. Stories about our origins were never recorded. I always found that strange. The oldest books in the library dated back to about two hundred years ago. I hoped it had what I wanted.
I got to the library. There were some werewolves working there, cleaning the books. They bowed when I entered and I told them all to leave. I wanted the whole place to myself. I began to search the books, reading the ones with captivating titles first, but I got nothing. Then I began to read those about lineages. Crix's family dominated that book. They were the only pack whose members consisted entirely of born werewolves. That always made them feel somehow superior to the rest of us. I threw the book away and saw a little journal. I picked it up, opened it and saw that it was a book about dreams, more like prophecies. I began to slowly read through and then my eyes caught a symbol on the upper right hand corner of the page I was reading. It was identical to the birthmark Alma had. But this couldn't be her journal. It was too old. The person this journal belonged to had some sort of connection to Alma.
I opened another page and suddenly, the word æye caught my eyes. I couldn't make out the words before it but it seemed like the person was describing something. I looked closely.
"The æye, neither vampire or werewolf, or both, has the power to take out the cure from a vampire or werewolves veins and pass it to another vampire or werewolf. Doing this will Heal the latter of it's curse, but the former dies in the process. But to do this, the æye needs their power to be activated. They must go to the isle of discord and pour out their blood to the holy grounds. Then they will receive the power from the heavens."
I could not believe my eyes. This was the reason why the vampires wanted him. They want to gain the ability to walk in the sun while at the same time wiping out all werewolves. But if the werewolves got their hands on the æye first, we would wipe out the vampires and cure out moon rage. I had the chance of redeeming myself from the mental pains I have placed on myself when I murdered those werewolves. I took the journal and rushed up to Radcliff. Jonathan was sitted by the side, trying to solve a puzzle Radcliff had given him. When Radcliff saw me, he put down the pen he was writing with and walked up to me.
"Well? Did you find anything?" He asked.
"I did. The vampires want him because Jonathan has the power to take away their sunlight allergy."
"What?"
"Yes. Apparently, the cure to each other's problems is tied to our life force. It flows in our veins and Jonathan can access that power, take it out and cure us from our moon rage. But taking the cure kills it's carrier."
"This is a chance to wipe out the vampires once and for all. We will also regain our freedom. We must turn Jonathan into a werewolf at this moment. He will be the first member of your pack."
I was suddenly alarmed.
"I do not think that is a good idea. We have to leave him the way he is."
"Turning a person does not eliminate their gifts. It makes them stronger infact. That is the best way to secure our victory. With this weapon at our side, we will be unstoppable."
" But I don't want him to be a weapon to be used and discarded."
"That is what he is meant to be. It's his fate."
I looked at Jonathan who had been eavesdropping on our conversation. I signaled for him to get towards the door. He stood up slowly and walked there.
"I cannot do that you asked Radcliff. He will remain this way, a human, not a werewolf. I will not turn him."
"I wasn't asking. I gave an order as the head of the table."
"Then I must disobey." I said and dashed out of the room, grabbing Jonathan with me. I heard Radcliff growling and transforming behind us. We quickly got to the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor. I did not want to fight Radcliff. This place was lurking with werewolves. A fight here will definitely cost my life.
When we got to the first floor, everything was still normal. Then I touched my pocket and saw that I had dropped the journal. s**t. Jonathan and I walked out but as we were about getting inside the car, a transformed Radcliff dashed out and growled angrily at us. We quickly got into the car and drove off. He knew better than to follow us.
I did not know where exactly we needed to be, but I had one place on my mind. Yet again, I needed her help.
- Writer
