Supernaturals

41. Find the witches

DECLAN

It was thirteen minutes after six. The evening sky was very beautiful, having different colours around as it usually does. I would have preferred to lie down facing the sky and think about making love to Anna. It would have been perfect.

Instead, I was holed up in a room with Eve, Mike, Bruno (one of the alphas) and Shawn. All of them, except Shawn, asked me a series of questions, most of which I have answered—severally.

“Do you think it's wise to believe this fairy that only you have seen?” Bruno asked, in a very unfriendly tone.

“Well, I guess it's better than doing nothing,” I responded.

Bruno narrowed his stare at me. “Doing nothing is better than doing something stupid, trust me on this, boy.”

Holy cow. I hated it when he called me “boy”. It was more about intention than any other thing. Calling me “boy” was a “strategy” he used to belittle me. Couldn't say for sure but that was how it felt to me. I wasn't all that into the energy I was getting from him; it was a sort of passive aggressive energy that could be wrongly perceived as just “attitude”.

I smiled at him politely. “At this point, I don't think any action put into saving our planet can be seen as stupid.”

“Bruno, we don't a lot of options at hand," Eve supported me.

Bruno was one of those people who never had any solution for anything, but would always share their very numerous doubts. Or even straight-up ridicule whatever others had to say. Even now that everyone was, more or less, excited about the news I had, he still had a frown on his face. Too bad no one was looking at him. We had big problems that weren't going to solve themselves.

Dinner was quite different from the usual soup and pasta. All that was available was bread, some honey and three jars of jam— all of which were expired.

I remember Eve asking me whether vampires eat anything. And I replied, “yes, we do.” Of course, vampires could have anything humans had. We were extremely allergic to garlic, so it's best not to give us garlic. Or vervain. Especially vervain. The word alone brought shivers down my spine.

Vampires don't eat because we want to survive. We eat because it feels good to eat. It's just like why humans drink alcohol— just for pleasure. Or addiction. Whatever.

Also, most vampires don't waste their time drinking alcohol. We can't get “high". No drink or drug can get vampires intoxicated or even feel anything at all. So it's just like we only get the popularly less desirable benefit of alcohol.

Today, however, wasn't a day for me to eat because I didn't need to. My portion could be given to someone else who needs it. It was only fair.

While they ate, I noticed that I couldn't see someone. That old woman I spoke to just before the attack. What was that name of hers? Uhm . . . it was Madeline. Oh no, it wasn't Madeline, it was way less fancy than that. I easily forgot names.

I couldn't see the old woman. I asked around and I was told that she was killed by a demon. Some kid claimed to have witnessed her death. Sadly, the woman didn't die a peaceful death. She died trying to save her life and then got her head ripped off before she could get to safety. What a sad world.

Shawn dismissed everyone from the dining room, except myself, Eve, Mike, and quite unfortunately, the absolutely despicable Bruno.

Shawn spoke. “We have deliberated on this, it's our choice to go with the fairy's way.”

Bruno cleared his throat. “For the record, I still think it's a very stupid idea, but don't let my wisdom get in the way of your impulsiveness.”

“I beg your pardon,” Eve shot at Bruno. “We really have no time, and it's quite retrogressive to keep arguing on this.”

“I second that,” Mike said.

Bruno rolled his eyes at Mike. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“It's a non-ancient way of saying “I support that”.” I let out playfully. “No offence, I'm not calling you old.”

“Some taken,” Bruno whispered under his breath.

Shawn, seeing that Bruno managed to close his mouth, continued speaking. “I want this to be fair and not just solely decided by me.”

Shawn went on to explain exactly what he meant. He wanted us to decide who the four people that will go through the portal will be. Each of us would name who we think the four should be.

“For me, I choose myself, Mike, Alex and Declan,” Shawn aired his opinion.

“I choose Shawn, Eve, Mike and Declan," Bruno said. “I think we should go with this.”

Mike said, “I think I agree with Shawn's selection. It's best that way.”

Eve said, “For the first time, I agree with Bruno.”

Shawn turned to me, “What do you think?”

“I pick myself, Shawn, Anna and Mike,” I replied.

Yeah, no one was expecting Anna's name.

Bruno protested furiously. “One would think a bloody vampire could reason well. Anna? Why on this bloody Earth? It's our mission, not the witches’.”

“A moment ago you were against the idea, and now it's “our” mission?” I shoot at him. “I don't know where you're standing for heaven's sake.”

He narrowed his stare at me and grinned maliciously. “I don't know why you're standing here in the first place— this is your problem and you will never be a part of us.”

Bruno was already on my nerves at this point. Why did he think I wanted to be part of a werewolf pack, or whatever it was at this moment. Shawn was the one who wanted me with them, not the other way around. Yet somehow, that seemed to have gone over Bruno's head.

“Bruno, we are all on the same side here,” Shawn smiled at Bruno and then looked at me. “I am trying to think here, let's not make this any harder than it has to be.”

Shawn was quiet, deep in thoughts, as per usual. The rest of us waited for him to speak.

About five minutes later, give or take, he spoke.

“I actually think Declan has a good point and his point has provided a solution, I hope.” He cleared his throat and sat uprightly. “We need the witches right now as an ally. We share a common enemy, don't we? That's more than enough to make us work together. We also need Anna to get on this plan ASAP.”

Bruno shook his head in what seemed more like disgust than disagreement. “Once more, for the records, I think it's very silly and unthoughtful”

For the records? So damn funny. No one's recording anything. We don't have any other choice either. Why couldn't Bruno see this?

“So that means telling Anna to come with us to Nala,” Eve said. “Well, how do we find her? If they haven't been found yet, then they are a little better at hiding than we are— and that speaks volumes.”

“She told me how to find their territory the last time we saw,” said Shawn, as he fiddled with his hair. “I think we can get there in six or seven hours.”

“When do we head out?” Mike asked. “I suggest we go first thing in the morning, we can't afford to lose any time at all.”

“I agree,” I said, supporting Mike.

Bruno flashed me a mean glare as I spoke. He hated me. He hated everything about me. If I didn't know before, after the last hour, I needed no one to tell me. It was clear that he didn't like me talking, contributing, and perhaps, existing. I was positive that he despised me that much.

“No,” Shawn muttered.

“What do you mean by “no”?” Mike asked. “I think it would be wise to leave that early.”

Shawn looked Mike in the eyes and said “no” again.

He continued, “The morning is still several hours away, I think it's best we leave now. Right now.” He turned to Eve but also shifted his attention to Mike as he spoke. “Both of you get everyone ready, we leave in ten minutes.”

Mike and Eve left immediately.

“Declan, I hope this all works out,” Shawn said. “We have all fought so damn hard to stay vertical till this moment, one would think we would be more confident. Nah. I'm more scared now than ever.”

Me too, I thought but didn't articulate my fears. I am also more scared now. And also lonelier than I have ever been. I don't have Ashley by my side, nor do I have little Rochu. Sometimes it feels like there's nothing to win by just ending the demons and vampires.

This solution provided by the fairy was more than anyone could wish for. If we got this time ring, Rochu and Ashley would still be alive. Thinking about that alone made this crazy world have more meaning to me. I couldn't fail them; I couldn't let them remain dead.

If I ever had a life purpose, I guess this would be it.

Just as I was buried in thoughts, Bruno kept attempting to discourage Shawn from going with “my plan”, saying that I could have cooked this story. Mind you, all of this was happening in my presence.

“Shawn, you have to listen to me, Bruno warned him. “I am older than you and have seen more of this world.”

“Thanks for bringing that up, it was really necessary,” Shawn said.

Bruno shook his head. “You know they say that if it's too good to be true, then it probably is.”

“Maybe it's time we chased something too good to be true since our problems are too hard to be solved,” Shawn shrugged.

Bruno marched out of the room in anger.

“What a boomer,” Shawn joked. “Never has anything to say and never agrees with anything he hears.”

We both laughed a little. It was good we did because we might not be doing a lot of that anymore.